As we’ve always said, If you can dream it, we can build it — that’s our motto! Over the past decade, we’ve worked shoulder-to-shoulder with clients all around the world to commit to that motto. We couldn’t be happier to see it pay off.

And to that, we would like to extend a huge thank you to the Techreviewer team for naming us a top app development company in the US. The review list of leaders was compiled based on the expertise, experience, and reliability of the development companies. To make an assessment Techreviewer collected information about our services and client’s reviews. Their research placed us in the list of mobile app development companies out of over 500 competitors. Here’s to a big win for Dogtown Media!

As a prominent iPhone app developer in San Diego, we here at Dogtown Media, foster a collaborative experience with our clients to take their dream concept and turn it into a reality. We emphasize an iterative approach of ideation to creation to deliver functional apps that solve real-world problems. It’s these principles that have allowed us to thrive as an app development agency since 2011, and receive awards such as this one!

Our Reaction

To receive this recognition puts us over the moon! It’s always deeply satisfying to receive awards such as this, signifying we are on the right track! We also want to thank each and every one of our clients who believed in our mission to bring their innovative app ideas to the market. 

When we receive this type of feedback it reinforces that we as an app development agency are on the right track. We’ve worked tirelessly to deliver high-quality projects to our clients. This award shows we’re on the right track. We can’t wait to continue on this journey and help our clients develop new exciting revenue opportunities.

With the help of platforms like Techreviewer.co, we hope to continue to reach a greater audience of companies where we can deliver value through our application development services. Here’s to a successful 2022! We hope our dedication to our craft continues to foster these exciting accolades!

Our Reaction

Techreviewer.co is an online agency reviewing platform that conducts annual research to deliver market leader lists. Based on their industry-leading investigatory practices, Techreviwerer is able to identify market leaders are for a given industry.

Techreviewer prides itself on delivering high-quality agency rating services as an independent IT market research and analysis company. The platform helps to find the best companies that provide high-quality IT services for an array of services. As a result of objective market analysis, the Techreviewer platform determines the most successful and reliable IT companies in the industry. Techreviewer’s ranking lists help organizations select the right technology partner for their business needs.

From tweaking the way users

If you’re a longtime Instagram user then you likely know that Instagram feeds used to only exist chronologically. That all changed in 2016 when Instagram switched to an algorithm-based feed to create an optimized content delivery system for users. This algorithm, however, has been a sore subject within the Instagram community and has sparked immense criticism surrounding the social media platform.

As a leading app developer, it’s our driving commitment to stay ahead of all things tech trends. We understand how dynamic the mobile app development space is and it’s our goal to look through the noise and understand the important changes in the trajectory of the app development space. To that, it’s important to assess any major changes that come about for these massively influential apps. So let’s dig in!

The Future of Instagram:

If you’ve gotten used to the current UI/UX of Instagram, sorry to say, things are about to change. Instagram users have created such a commotion around the issue that during a Senate subcommittee hearing in December, Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, promised the chronological feed would make a comeback due to its profound popularity among users. And, as promised by Mosseri, Instagram is now working on new feed options that are being tested in three different versions:

Home 

The “Home” feed is one that active users will be familiar with as it’s how Instagram organizes their feed currently. With help from an AI-based algorithm, the “Home” option monitors past activity and suggests new posts for users based off of this data. 

Now, as we discussed briefly, this is the same algorithm that has created an ongoing uproar by the Instagram faithful. So, going forward, this option will allow users to view more posts from users and accounts they don’t currently follow, but they won’t be forced to use this option as there will be others to choose from. 

Following

The second option is the “Following” feed, where users can choose to display posts from the accounts that they follow in a chronological order – the option that Instagram users have been begging for. In other words, the “Following” option is the full-fledged Instagram experience, where content is presented in an organized, chronological manner. 

Favorites

The final option is the all-new “Favorites” feed, where Instagram users will be able to see posts from accounts that they mark with a star. With this option, users are able to limit the number of posts they see on their personalized feed. In other words, the new “Favorites” feed will be populated with content from the accounts that a user chooses (i.e., friends, family, and/or certain creators).

If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It: A Lesson for Developers 

So, why is Instagram reverting back to a chronological feed? As a top iPhone app developer in Chicago, we get this question a lot from our clients as we bring their innovative mobile app ideas to the marketplace. 

Well, a better question may be to ask why they broke away from the chronological option in the first place? As we discussed previously, Instagram parted ways with chronological order in favor of an AI-powered predictive algorithm that was intended to study users’ interactions with the app and display results based on this data. In essence, Instagram was basing user feeds on things they’ve viewed in the past, a common AI practice in the ecommerce space. 

However, Mosseri and Instagram recognized that with this new algorithm there was a rapid decline in the number of people checking their feeds regularly, suggesting that the AI algorithm was not showing users what they wanted to see. So, Instagram is choosing to revert back to the old chronological way as this feed option will allow users to customize the app to their liking, in turn generating higher engagement with the app. 

The fact of the matter is that Instagram had a feed option that users enjoyed as it was accurate, quick, and simple, and yet the company opted to “fix” that option and rely on an algorithm that ultimately failed. In other words, the chronological option should have never gone away in the first place. Instagram is an app designed for users to browse and discover things they like, and relying on an algorithm to choose these things for users is simply counterintuitive. 

Nevertheless, Instagram is finally getting it right (again). These new feed options will give users the freedom to virtually hand-pick their own content in descending order as they scroll down from the top of the app. And, while the new options are still in the testing phase, it is suspected that these options will be rolled out to select users soon and the global rollout will be completed within the first half of 2022.

Welcome back to our second (and final) post about 5G’s impact on the Internet of Things (IoT) and tech in general!

In a recent survey, Jabil asked 204 stakeholders directly involved with 5G network implementation about what the near future looks like with this disruptive technology. In the first post of this series, we covered their thoughts on when 5G will become mainstream, which regions of the world will lead the charge, and how business applications will fuel its growth. In case you missed it, you can read it here.

In this post, we’ll take a look at the main drivers behind 5G, why it will change telecommunications as we know it, and the challenges impeding its adoption. Ready to get started? Let’s go!

Smart Cities and Industrial IoT Will Drive 5G

Over the next couple of years, survey respondents expect two things to drive widespread 5G adoption: faster, better video streaming and industrial IoT development. However, when looking out further down the timeline, roughly 50% of respondents believe that smart cities will be the dominating driver of 5G, followed 10% of respondents placing their bets on connected vehicles.

Emanuele Cavallaro, Jabil’s Senior Vice President of Access Communications, believes the difference in short- and long-term drivers can be attributed to the amount of structure needed for each. Essentially, both video and IIoT will require some slight tweaks to tap into 5G’s potential. But smart cities and connected vehicles (both of which are still in conceptual phases to some degree) will require more drastic industrial shifts to implement 5G.

How 5G Will Unlock New Business Value

So far, we’ve covered some potential uses and prime industries for 5G. But what exactly are the main reasons 5G will be adopted? According to 95% of Jabil’s survey participants, 5G technology will unlock new business models. 89% of respondents think 5G will open up opportunities for new telecommunication companies to rise.

The arrival of 5G will allow organizations to create new value chains and open up new revenue possibilities via the further digitalization of practically all industries. As a result, telecom companies will have more options for new services, income streams, and ecosystems than ever before.

Moreover, companies will be able to become nuanced in the services they offer by targeting different economic or industrial groups. This means 5G could completely disrupt the current telecom business models which are standardized with variations in pricing plans.

88% of survey respondents also believe that 5G capabilities will enable the next “killer app” to arise. But while researchers are already racing with ideas about how 5G can fuel artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR), nobody really knows what this application will be.

Part of the reason why this is so difficult to predict is due to 5G itself. Previous wireless generations were geared towards solving a specific need. But 5G isn’t directed toward a specific application demand; it’s coming to meet a general demand for more bandwidth and better efficiency.

The Obstacles in the Way of 5G

With all of the potential and benefits it houses, 5G seems like an inevitability. But implementing this new technology across the world unsurprisingly comes with its fair share of challenges. 41% of survey respondents believe that the biggest obstacles to adoption lie in the technology itself.

Per 53% of participants, the sheer complexity of 5G will be the greatest technological challenge to overcome. Ideally, 5G will eventually provide gigabit-speed mobile service and wireless fixed broadband through new spectrum bands and radio access types. All of this should result in the formation of a single 5G network. But today’s systems and protocols cannot support the level of service needed to make this happen.

After the complexity of 5G itself, the second-highest technological problem according to 49% of respondents is the availability (or lack) of spectrum. Regulatory agencies are currently opening up parts of the spectrum in the millimeter wave region, but the industry hasn’t quite caught up to this — you can’t exactly go buy a 39-gigahertz phone right now that you can safely press to your head. Besides this, the millimeter wave isn’t cost-effective or ubiquitous yet.

63% of survey participants also see the lack of 5G-enabled devices as a tough issue facing adoption. But major companies and manufacturers are already beginning to produce 5G-capable phones. As we approach the widespread arrival of 5G, more companies will most likely follow suit.

All of these obstacles add up to an insurmountable challenge when tackled alone. That’s why 99% of respondents think additional resources and expertise from partners and suppliers will be needed to overcome these impediments. Respondents believe that interoperability standardization (a common issue for the IoT market) and cost-effective equipment will be the main barriers necessitating teamwork.

Are You Ready for a Future With 5G?

5G is on its way to all consumer-level devices, and we can’t wait for faster download speeds and more seamless Internet of Things (IoT) interactions. The possibilities were already endless with IoT, but adding 5G into the mix will only boost the quality and user experience of IoT applications even more.

Jabil surveyed 204 executives and over 1,000 employees in companies with 5G network development for its 5G Technology Trends Report. The survey respondents were asked about consumer adoption, challenges of 5G, and how 5G can be applied across industries. Let’s see what they have to say about the future of tech and IoT with 5G!

When will 5G Become Mainstream?

Over 60% of the survey respondents believe that 5G will hit mainstream status sometime by 2021. 20% believe it will take until 2022, while 11% expect it will take until 2023. A small minority (5%) of responses suggested five or more years until 5G becomes mainstream.

Interestingly, the answers were stratified by age group, and Jabil found that younger executives were more likely to believe that 5G will become mainstream sooner rather than later. 79% of millennials think consumers will adapt quickly, compared to 59% of Gen Xers and 34% of baby boomers.

Companies like Verizon and AT&T are already making a big push for 5G-enabled smartphones. Verizon even launched 5G networks in a few cities across the United States, including Chicago and Minneapolis. Sprint kick-started the 5G roll-out earlier this year by announcing it would bring 5G to four cities: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, and Kansas City.

Consumers usually follow the lead of the companies, so Sprint and Verizon’s initiative helps bring 5G to every consumer much faster. Considering Verizon plans to bring their 5G city number to 30 by the end of 2019, consumers won’t have to do much to reap the benefits of the 5G roll-out.

5G Won’t Be Rolled Out Collectively

While Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T are already rolling out 5G networks, the same can’t be said about other telecom companies. Most organizations (about 56%) are still working out the architecture or implementation plan for their 5G offering.

Put simply, it comes down to which company has more funding and budget to dedicate to new technologies. AT&T and Verizon are established, commonly-used telecommunications services and can hire the required amount of partners and experts to get the job done earlier than the rest of the pack.

Looking at companies regardless of their industry, almost 25% are in the field trial or service development stage, while almost 20% are in initial deployment.

Where Will 5G Become Mainstream First?

Since 2015, China has already outspent the US in 5G infrastructure costs by $24 billion. The country built 350,000 new 5G sites in the same time it took the US to build 30,000 cell sites. And that’s not all — China plans to continue investing heavily in 5G infrastructure, to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars, according to New York-based consulting company Deloitte.

However, 67% of respondents said that when 5G does become mainstream, it’ll start in North America first. On the other hand, 12% of executives believe Europe will lead 5G adoption.

Nokia says that their push to be the first to bring LTE to North America resulted in profits upwards of $6.6 billion over five years compared to their competitors. As a result, U.S.-based telecommunications companies are racing to become the first comprehensive provider of 5G to North Americans.

According to a report by Ericsson, all major U.S.-based communication service providers plan to roll out 5G by late 2019. By this time next year, we could be utilizing consumer-grade IoT applications that work quickly and accurately across our house, office, car, and gym.

Okay, maybe that’s a dream for now, but one thing is for sure: The countries who get to the finish line first will have major competitive advantages over the rest of the world for quite a while as the others play catch up.

Business Applications Will Help Accelerate 5G

About 75% of the Jabil survey respondents believe 5G will come to business applications before consumer-grade applications. One of 5G’s most important use cases will be enhanced mobile broadband (EMBB); this new technology increases data transfer and download rates, 360-degree video streaming, real-time translation capabilities, and better opportunities for virtual and mixed reality applications. Since businesses will take the lead on these new capabilities, that also means they’ll have worked out a considerable number of hiccups before they reach consumer applications.

But besides this trial-and-error phase, employees will greatly benefit from 5G in a number of ways. Commuters could connect to their network while traveling below-ground to work; meanwhile, remote workers would feel more “at home” with smart offices where devices are connected and seamlessly communicating. Meetings will become more engaging with 360-degree video and real-time translations for internationally-based employees.

Outside of the office, EMBB will start to benefit consumers in a variety of ways. It will bridge the gap in life-or-death situations, like autonomous driving, due to the speed of the network. Healthcare applications, like wearables or remote surgery, could produce and transfer more data for a more holistic real-time picture of the patient’s health. The applications across industries are literally endless and can’t possibly be summed up in one blog post.

Ready… Set… Go!

At this point, the race to implement 5G comprehensively could be seen as an “International Race to the Top”. No country wants to get left behind, but many will inevitably deal with 4G for the next five years as infrastructure and engineering costs lower over time.

Because it will optimize a variety of performance factors like latency, power consumption, operating cost, and bandwidth, 5G will open up a plethora of new capabilities for IoT devices and other technologies.

Want to learn more about what 5G means for the future? Check out Part 2 now!

The transition to 5G, short for fifth-generation cellular networks, will forever change how we use smartphones and emerging technologies. Are you ready?

Unprecedented Potential

Before we begin, let’s start off with exactly what 5G is. Technically speaking, 5G is a set of rules and practices used to establish the operations and functionality of a cellular network. This includes aspects such as the radio frequencies employed, as well as how devices like antennas and computer chips transmit radio signals and share data.

Back in the 1970s, cellular engineers agreed upon a set of specifications to uphold for cellular networks. These specifications and resulting implementations get upgraded approximately every decade. So 5G is the fifth iteration of these specifications for wireless networks.

To utilize 5G, consumers will need to get new phones, and carriers will need to install new transmission equipment that is able to handle the new service’s capabilities. But convincing either party to do so shouldn’t be too challenging when they consider the benefits. With new mobile internet speeds, playing mobile games, shopping on your favorite app, and watching live sports will all get a revamp. Some experts even expect 5G to allow people to download entire movies and seasons of shows in seconds.

It’s worth noting again that smartphones will be far from the only thing that 5G affects. Other technologies and devices dependent on wireless networks, like drones, industrial robotics, cars, and security cameras will also feel the effects. 5G will also foster faster innovation and growth for disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence (AI).

With that being said, it’s really no wonder why leaders of countries like the U.S. and China see these new networks as a major competitive advantage.

So, just how fast will 5G be? Obviously, the answer depends on a variety of factors like where you live and which wireless carrier you use. During testing, Qualcomm stated that it was able to reach download speeds of 4.5 gigabits per second. But you should temper your expectations a bit; the San Diego-based developer of hardware said that initial median rates of 1.5 gigabits per second are more likely.

To put this in perspective, that’s basically 20 times faster than what 4G can offer. During testing, this median speed resulted in a typical movie being downloaded in 17 seconds, a fraction of the usual six minutes required on 4G.

When considering speed, latency is just as important to consider as pure download and upload rates. Latency is the lag you experience when you issue a command to your smartphone and wait for a response. With 4G, a lag of 50 to a few hundred milliseconds is normal due to the signals passing through multiple carrier switching centers. It’s also common for bits of your data dropped during transmittal when they are not essential for the task you are completing.

5G will cut latency down to only a couple of milliseconds and should be much more reliable in data transferring. This will open up a plethora of new capabilities.

For example, you can say goodbye to those clunky headsets required for virtual reality (VR). With 5G, VR developers will be able to delegate some device responsibilities to other machines wirelessly, meaning we’ll be one step closer to VR goggles the size of eyeglasses.

Similarly, we’ll be able to experience augmented reality (AR) in real time. Patrick Moorhead, an analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, says it will now be possible for people to point their smartphones at a sports event and see statistics superimposed on players as the game proceeds.

Should We Buy 5G Phones Right Away?

As with any new technology, there’s still a lot of infrastructure groundwork and kinks to work out for 5G. Michael Thelander is the president of wireless consultancy Signals Research. Here’s his take on the situation: “I wouldn’t buy a 5G phone until it supports 5G in one of the lower-frequency bands. For all operators but Sprint, this means at least late 2019, and more likely 2020.”

Still, that hasn’t stopped insiders from showing their excitement. This year, 5G technology is a big part of major trade events like the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and MWC Barcelona in Spain. And as manufacturers like Samsung demonstrate their prototypes, other device makers are racing to catch up.

Everyone’s gearing up for a faster future with 5G. And once it’s here, things will never be the same. What are you most excited about when it comes to 5G? Let us know in the comments!

At Dogtown Media, we specialize in mobile app development, grounded with expert knowledge in the internet of things, fintech, medical tech and user interface design. We are determined to take on your next project and create an app that will help your business grow.

Clutch, a company that publishes unbiased reviews of B2B companies, has featured us once again in a recent press release of top California mobile app development companies.  We’re excited to share that we have been featured highly in their directory list of the top mobile app developers in California. This honor adds to our previous recognition as a top California Mobile App Development Company on DesignRush.

Clutch’s ranking algorithm takes many pieces of information into account when displaying companies on their directory pages; the most important part of Clutch’s ranking algorithm is client reviews. To date, we have received over 20 positive reviews. Our clients aren’t shy to share their successes with Clutch:

“Dogtown Media developed a solution for a project considered impossible to do in the tech world.”

“They were extremely responsive and supportive and I never felt like I was working on anything on my own.”

“Their work has made my life easier by automating features in the app that I was doing manually.”

In addition to our feature on Clutch, we were also mentioned on their sister-site, The Manifest.  We are pleased to announce that we were listed as one of the top mobile app development companies in the world on The Manifest.

Here at Dogtown Media, we are ready to improve your business by creating vital apps that will allow your business to access your consumers at all times.  Our team will work directly with your business to assess how to stand apart from competitors as well. We look forward to taking on your next project!

Each year, Clutch publishes a press release naming the top service providers within certain industries. We’re proud to announce that Clutch has named Dogtown Media among the world’s leading mobile app developers this year.

We’ve also been listed on Clutch’s sister website, The Manifest, a B2B news website that helps buyers through the process of selecting a vendor. Manifest also ranked Dogtown as one of the top app development companies in the world.

Founded in 2011, Clutch is a Washington, D.C.-based research firm that leverages unparalleled market insight to determine the leaders across numerous industries. With unbiased case studies, industry trend analysis, and business market comparisons, Clutch’s data-driven platform allows clients to find and connect with top-tier companies who can solve difficult challenges.

Clutch’s directories adhere to this meticulous, data-centric approach; it’s organized to list the most credible firms first. Credibility is gained by attaining client testimonials and market presence. Essentially, the directories allow potential buyers and clients in need of partnerships to visualize their different options with a holistic perspective of each company.

Check out some of the reviews we’ve received so far below!

Webdam is a digital asset management software company. We re-developed their platform from the ground up. Here’s what they had to say:

“Dogtown Media’s work was a massive improvement from the previous app version and received high praise from customers… They were extremely responsive and supportive, and I never felt like I was working on anything on my own.”

We also got the opportunity to help the University of Oklahoma improve its app with more student-centric functionalities and geolocation capabilities. Here’s their feedback:

Another client required an app for the University of Oklahoma. Here’s what they had to say:

“Dogtown Media’s expert team inspires confidence throughout the project by communicating clearly from the start. They bring creative ideas to the table at a reasonable value… Their work has made my life easier by automating features in the app that I was doing manually.”

The past few weeks have been surreal for Dogtown Media. Recently, we made the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest growing companies in the United States for the second year in a row. Not long after, we were honored again by being included on Clutch’s list!

Both are incredible awards we couldn’t have imagined attaining when we first started developing in L.A. in 2011. We’d like to give a big thanks to Clutch, Inc., our team, clients, and community — none of this would be possible without you.

From humble beginnings as a mobile app developer in Los Angeles, we’re extremely proud of the work we’ve accomplished so far and we’re also very excited to see where the future takes us. We can’t wait to create more amazing mobile experiences for the world to enjoy.

If you have an idea but don’t know where to begin, reach out anytime — if you can dream it, we can build it!

Whether you’re a mobile app developer or small bakery shop, tax reforms affect all business, big and small. This is especially true if your business is just transitioning to earning more than ever, as the tax code becomes more complex and difficult to navigate without professional help.

In a piece recently published by the Association for Competitive Technology (ACT), also known as the App Association, our CEO Marc Fischer discusses the good and the bad that this new tax reform brings for small businesses. Check out some of our favorite highlights below!

Born an Entrepreneur, Taxed to Death

Like many small businesses, it often felt like we were hopping through hoops and over hurdles in the dark as our Los Angeles-based development studio navigated the topic of taxes. One particular year, we tripled our revenues over the last year’s numbers. To our dismay, our exponential success quickly became a problem.

Our company was set up as a limited liability corporation (LLC), meaning that taxes on business income was paid through the business owners’ personal income tax returns. You can imagine what an unpleasant surprise this was for Marc and Rob!

LLCs are what 90% of small business owners use for their business tax setup.

The Silver Lining

Small businesses create 64% of our nation’s private sector employment, but they face the heaviest tax burden when tax season comes around. And even though tax reforms often have a negative connotation, the new tax reform offers some benefits for small businesses across the country.

The new tax laws lower tax rates for LLCs from 35% to 20%. They also offer better payroll deductions. Additionally, equipment expensing was raised to $1 million. These three major changes give businesses back a lot more money, time, and deductions to keep operations flowing more smoothly.

Some New Challenges

Don’t get us wrong, though, there are still a lot of challenges small businesses face every day because of the same tax reform. The new tax legislation is convoluted and complex, so a lot of the money that small businesses can now save will be spent directly on accountants, tax advisors, and business consultants.

To that end, we encourage anything we can do to simplify small business’s tax operations while optimizing the IRS’s ability to carry out any necessary auditing. We are in full support of the House and Senate to improve tax auditing by passing the bipartisan Preserving Taxpayers’ Rights Act.

Implications from the Broader Tax Reform

This particular legislation offers taxpayers and small businesses the ability to resolve tax audits in an IRS Office of Appeals, rather than going to Tax Court. Since there is no official law that encourages taxpayers’ right to Appeals, this Act hopes to add that sentiment into their overall bill.

Additionally, the bill places ceilings on types of cases that the IRS can litigate in Tax Court, which would return a lot of power from the IRS back to taxpayers and small business. The only way the IRS could override the taxpayer’s appeal is if the taxpayer previously acted to create a high probability of tax avoidance. This would certainly help those companies and taxpayers who made a mistake on their return to save time, effort, and money by avoiding Tax Court.

And although the statute of limitations for the IRS for businesses is three years of records, the IRS often overrules this limitation with a “designated summons”, which is a subpoena for more relevant information from previous years.

Building Better Bridges

One of the most important aspects of the Preserving Taxpayers’ Rights Act bill is that it would restrict the type of sensitive tax information that outside firms can access during tax audits. Privacy is one of the most important aspects of society and relationships today, and this gesture of goodwill would certainly protect many taxpayers and small businesses.

Continuing to create legislation that pushes back against abuse of authority by the federal government is essential to shield taxpayers and small businesses. Checks and balances should create very low potential for power abuse by any one branch of government, and that’s a big reason why we support the Preserving Taxpayers’ Rights Act.

What are your concerns about the new tax reform? What do you like about it? Let us know in the comments!

It takes true innovation and grit to persist with creating your vision. This is even more so when the problem you’re trying to tackle is not only difficult but one that is personal to millions of people around the world.

We’re extremely proud of our client, GreyMatters, for winning the apps category of Fast Company’s 2018 World Changing Ideas Awards!

An Epidemic That Needs Attention

Alzheimer’s disease and dementia are awful illnesses that rob people of their memories. Both have been growing to epidemic proportions; more than 5 million people in the U.S. are afflicted with Alzheimer’s. That number is expected to reach 14 million by 2050.

Jennifer Rozbruch can vividly remember when her grandmother started losing her memory to dementia. It was 2013. While Rozbruch was attending New York City‘s School of Visual Arts for her masters in design, her mother was taking care of her grandmother.

Something immediately stuck out to Rozbruch: “My mom was able to connect with her in ways that other people couldn’t through music from her youth, telling stories from her early life, and looking through photos with her. I saw how much her mood and her manner changed when she was engaged in this way. She went from barely communicating and having no short-term memory to being able to sing the rest of a song’s lyrics on her own.”

An App to Access Memories

Rozbruch decided to translate what she witnessed into design for her SVA thesis. From the moment we heard about her unique idea, we were onboard to help her develop an app that could make this a reality. The end result was GreyMatters, an iPad app that acts as a link to the past for those with Alzheimer’s or dementia.

GreyMatters lets caregivers arrange memories like stories, photos, music, and pop culture content from the past to form a storybook. It can be difficult to interact with people afflicted with Alzheimer’s or dementia. A familiar context is key to setting the tone, but this is easier said than done. GreyMatters provides a way to alleviate this stress and structure interactions to be more positive and productive.

With the ability to easily access a tune from Duke Ellington or a clip of Katharine Hepburn, GreyMatters streamlines interactions with Alzheimer’s or dementia patients to be more meaningful. “People have been using photo albums and scrapbooks for a long time,” Rozbruch says. “This streamlines everything, and makes it easier for people to tap into memories with their loved ones.”

A World-Changing Idea

Since its debut, GreyMatters has had more than 8,000 downloads. Currently, Rozbruch is working on a sharing feature that lets family members collaborate in the app regardless of where they are located.

Words can’t properly express how proud we are of GreyMatters for winning the apps category of Fast Company’s 2018 World Changing Ideas Awards! We’re also extremely grateful for the opportunity to get to help with such an amazing endeavor!

Alzheimer’s disease and dementia can be terrible, painful experiences for a family to go through. Rozbruch and GreyMatters remind us that innovation can shine a light on any problem, no matter how dark.

At its core, social media functions as a modern avenue for information exchange. This is a huge (if not the main) reason why this technology niche is affecting so many facets of our lives. One new trend springing up across social media platforms is the integration of a location-based feature to show you content that’s more connected to your local community.

A More Relevant Front Page?

Perhaps first in this foray for social media giants, Reddit, the popular news aggregation and discussion site, began testing the concept of tailoring its home page based on the visitor’s location only a few months ago. Before this update, users loading up the main page of Reddit would see a list of hyperlinks leading to forum-like discussions of everything from cute cat GIFs to an obscure fact that a user learned that day.

The home page still has this type of content, but now integrates it with categories based on your location. For example, if you’re in India, you’ll probably see user-submitted posts from the “r/India” and “r/cricket” communities. You are also free to change your location to anywhere else in the world to see relevant content to the selected area.

Known to be one of the first places that breaking news gets exposure, the app development company proclaims itself to be the “front page of the Internet,” and many see this new localized feature as a way to simultaneously keep that title and users engaged.

Your New Local News Bulletin

Google recently announced its own unique take on local news. Called Bulletin, it’s a platform that allows anyone to publish news through blogging, images, and video. Uploaded posts by users become visible in Google’s results, so people searching for local current events can easily find them. The San Francisco development giant’s main objective with this new outlet is to emphasize “hyperlocal community news from citizen journalists.”

Budding journalists in Oakland, California and Nashville, Tennessee are the first that get to try Bulletin out. Users not only have the ability to continuously update their feed, but they can also see statistics on their viewership. Aside from exposure, other incentives for consistently reporting are unclear at the moment.

An Algorithm Optimized for Local Outlets?

Facebook also announced plans to tweak its algorithm to start circulating news from local outlets in its News Feed. Many people perceive this move to be a calculated refocus from national political issues back to personal interactions. It’s also believed that this move may also help with impeding any influence, propaganda, or interference from entities with ulterior motives.

The social media platform explains the basic concept behind the update: “We identify local publishers as those whose links are clicked on by readers in a tight geographic area. If a story is from a publisher in your area, and you either follow the publisher’s Page or your friend shares a story from that outlet, it might show up higher in News Feed.”

Engagement at an Industry’s Expense

There are only half as many newspaper jobs as there were 15 years ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Many critics of the above-mentioned announcements feel that these tech titans partially responsible for this decline now seem intent on keeping local reporting alive. Essentially, they’re skeptical of the motivations behind these moves and think that, as usual, these companies are after user engagement, not enlightenment about current events.

These critics support their argument with the fact that all of these companies are leaning on users to report, and this sort of guerilla news blogging could never replace the integrity that established local reporters provide. They also believe that this inherently opens the opportunity for fake news and different kinds of platform abuse. At this point, it’s unclear how Google and Facebook plan to moderate their news features for accuracy, but it’s definitely a necessity.