Cassidy James Blaede
Contributing since February, 2021
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4articles
About Cassidy James Blaede
Cassidy loves designing, building, and writing about delightful digital products—especially when they revolve around open technologies.
Latest Articles
Google's polishing up its emoji — probably for Android 12
Nearly everything outside of faces has been tweaked or entirely redrawn
Google delivers its Android and Chrome OS emoji through the open source Noto Emoji project, and its latest release is a big one. Our last update arrived back in September, and now this new revision is making tweaks all over: refining colors and textures, updating shading and positioning, and covering everything from numbers and symbols, to fruits and veggies.
Hands-on: New budgeting app is a drop-in replacement for Simple, and I love it
Simple may be dead, but DAS Budget copies its best budgeting features and works with nearly any bank
On the day of Simple’s scheduled migration to BBVA, a new and Simple-inspired budgeting app has emerged: DAS Budget. A Simple user himself, developer Anthony Alves first reacted to the news of the bank's shutdown much like I did: By trying out nearly every alternative bank he could. After being similarly disappointed, he decided to shift his focus, trying new budgeting tools instead of banks, but the overly complicated options left him (and all of us) unhappy. What he really wanted was Simple's user interface yanked out and plugged into any bank. So, that's exactly what he built, and I love it.
Android 12 adds Emergency SOS with five taps of the power button
A quick way to call emergency services without looking at your screen
Google has added a new Emergency SOS feature to Android 12. After turning it on, five quick presses of the power button will launch a countdown to call 911, or presumably your local emergency services. The number to call for help can be changed, but note that changing it from the default will require your phone to be unlocked in order to work. The countdown tells you to "stay calm" and gives five seconds to cancel with a swipe.
There’s no good replacement for Simple
Alternatives exist, but they're all lacking in one or more critical ways
Simple, one of the first and most popular Internet-only "neobanks," is being shut down by parent company BBVA US. As a result of the news, Simple users have taken to social media, Reddit megathreads, collaborative spreadsheets, and—of course—a Change.org petition to deal with the fallout. I've spent the last three weeks alongside them, scrambling for a replacement to share with you.