Taxify rebrands to Bolt
Taxify has recently changed its name to Bolt, allowing users to request taxis, as well as ask for scooters, motorbikes and other public transport means. According to the company, this update brings the brand identity in line with the company’s broader vision of transportation that has expanded from ride-hailing with cars to motorbikes and scooter sharing.
The app now serves 25 million customers in over 30 countries. It currently provides its services in six African countries, claiming to connect drivers with passengers in more African cities than any other ride-hailing platform. It has plans to further expand its offering in east and west Africa and South Africa during the course of 2019.
It is also the first company to bring ride-hailing and scooter sharing together in one app and is currently working on expanding the scooter sharing service across a number of cities.
The new brand will gradually be rolled out across Bolt’s global markets over the coming weeks.
Users of the current Taxify app don’t have to make any changes to their current app, as it will automatically update to reflect the Bolt changes.
Platform: Android and iOS
Expect to pay: A free download
Stockists: The app can be downloaded directly from the Bolt website here.
Samsung partners with Calm
In an attempt to give its users the best health and well-being support, says Samsung, it has partnered with Calm, an app that helps people with sleep, meditation and relaxation.
To activate the app, one would need to access the Mindfulness app under the Samsung Health function.
Users then create a Calm account and are able to access a variety of programmes to reduce stress, anxiety and insomnia. Programs can be personalised on their smartphones and can be controlled through the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active.
Stress and sleep levels are monitored through the app and tips are given on how one can deal with anxiety, insomnia and stress.
All in all it sounds like a cheaper alternative to a therapist, but a user does need a Samsung Galaxy Watch Active and a Samsung Galaxy smartphone running Android Pie.
Platform: Samsung Galaxy smartphones running Android Pie and a Galaxy Watch Active
Expect to pay: A free download
Stockist: Visit Samsung Health here for downloading instructions.
Click here to read about South Africa’s latest ride-hailing app for shuttles, an app to assist HIV counselling for children, and an app that securely stores one’s passwords.
LÜLA opens up to investors
Cape Town based ride share app LÜLA, meaning “easy” in isiZulu, connects corporate commuters with private shuttles. It works much the same as Uber in that users can request, track and pay for their rides in real-time.
The company recently announced that it is offering 8,49% equity through the Equity Crowdfunding platform, Uprise.Africa. It is aiming to raise R2,5 million via the platform by attracting everyday investors to join, and this money will be used to expand operations to other parts of South Africa by hiring new team members, acquiring more partner drivers, scale up operations and further develop the technology.
Platform: Android and iOS
Expect to pay: A free download
Stockists: To Invest in LÜLA click here, or download the app here.
KidzAlive Talk Tool
Keep A Child Alive and Zoë-Life, in collaboration with the Qualcomm Wireless Reach Initiative, have launched the KidzAlive Talk Tool App. It is designed to equip healthcare workers with the education they need to provide age-appropriate HIV information to children and adolescents, as well as to their primary caregivers.
The idea came about due to primary caregivers’ fear of getting their children tested because of the possibility of having to disclose an HIV-positive result, and the resultant stigma of living with HIV. Healthcare workers are often overwhelmed by the difficult task of talking to young children who are at risk and who require counselling and testing. They express a lack of confidence in how to approach these conversations and often do not have child-friendly job aids to assist in the process.
The KidzAlive Talk Tool App provides healthcare workers with the support they need to interact with children and their caregivers in an age-appropriate way. Healthcare workers use the app to engage children in the animated journey of a frog named Sibusiso as he goes for HIV testing, learns his positive status, and comes to understand the importance of adhering to his treatment.
The app has built-in prompts to assist healthcare workers in guiding children through their own journey of HIV testing, learning their test results, overcoming the stigma and learning about prevention and healthy living.
KidzAlive Talk is available in three languages and includes interactive games, which keep the children focused and engaged and increases their retention of information.
Platform: Android and iOS
Expect to pay: A free download.
Stockists: To find out more about the KidzAlive Talk Tool or to download the app visit their site here.
Click here to read about an app that securely stores one’s passwords across multiple devices.
LastPass
With just about every website needing a unique password consisting of uppercase, lowercase, numbers and a range of other funny characters, it is becoming more and more difficult to remember exactly which password goes where – unless you write it down, which defeats the purpose of a password. The LastPass app manager lets you save your login credentials in a safe, secure way. On top of that, it can help generate nearly impossible passwords for one to use – all of which is controlled with one master password. It has cross-platform support, so you can use it on computers, mobile devices and tablets.
There are various other password managers, but the clean, easy to use layout of LastPass makes it feel like a no mess, no fuss app. In addition, it offers an extra authenticator layer, to prevent hacking. Bear in mind, though, that there is no such thing as being hack-proof. Vulnerabilities were revealed in the app in February 2019, and it had to move past to fix a breach in 2015. However, no master password has been comprised in its 10-year history.
Platform: Android
Expect to pay: A free download
Stockists: Download the app from the Google Play Store here