Thing 19: Evaluation

I've had a love/hate relationship with this dear 19 Mobile Things project. It was tough sometimes to find the off-desk time to get it done, but I know it was also good for me to learn about different apps. Even if I don't continue to use them, having some familiarity with them is a good thing. And let's be honest, any excuse to bring Kpop into the mix is worth my time, right? Other than spreading the love of Kpop, the biggest take-away is that I found a new game, Bubble Mania, for Thing 16. I'm currently on Level 186 and going strong!

My favorite Things, besides raindrops on noses and whiskers on kittens, were the ones in which I found useful apps that I will continue to use even after this program ends. Just this morning, I was using Wunderlist (Thing 5) at the grocery store for my shopping list. Many of the other apps I find useful are ones that I was already using, like Messenger and Hoopla. Most of the apps I downloaded for this program have already been deleted from my phone because there isn't enough space to hold all of them! I'm just keeping the ones I feel will continue to be useful to me.

If this were to be done again, I think I'd recommend extending the amount of time available for each Thing. When I got behind on them due to other responsibilities in my job, I felt very overwhelmed.

My general response when I didn't get my Thing done.

Additionally, I know many felt a lot of pressure to complete each and every assignment to the fullest. Some of the assignments took quite a bit of time, especially the ones that required us to create content. I think just requiring participants to explore the apps and write their opinions on it would be less time-consuming. I understand the assignments were done to make it entertaining (like writing a story, having a conversation all in questions), but I think not everyone had the necessary time to complete them.
 

How I look on the outside about completing 19 Mobile Things

How I feel on the inside

And how I feel about life in general

If I had to describe this experience in one sentence, I think it'd be "It's tough and challenging, but that's how it is when you push yourself to learn something new."

Thing 18: Find, Discover, & Share

I downloaded BAM for this Thing. It nicely lays out apps sorted into different categories so you can search based on their purpose/subject. You can look at Top Apps, New Apps, Tools, Productivity, Shopping, Health & Fitness, and many other categories. You can also receive recommendations based on what you already have installed and what's popular out there.

My one problem with this app is that the Google Play Store app does essentially the same thing and it's already installed on my Android. I can look at Top Apps, Games, and Family apps, as well as others listed under a gazillion other categories, many of which are similar to those in BAM. Users may prefer the layout in BAM, but as far as I'm concerned, the Google Play Store does a good enough job for me. Space on my phone is at a premium (gotta fit all those Kpop songs on there) and I don't really need a duplicate app.

Chanyeol wonders why I would need two apps that do the same thing