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What’s Appening: Overdrive and Atomas

Welcome to What’s App-ening, your weekly source for the latest and greatest in mobile apps.

This week, I’ll be reviewing two apps. The first is Overdrive, a free app that allows you to read and listen to e-books and audiobooks through your local public library.

Unfortunately, Overdrive doesn’t support the WSU library, but if you have a library card with a local library, you have access to thousands of books through Overdrive.

Overdrive.PNG
OverDrive is an app that will allow you to download books onto the app or your browser at your leisure. (Screenshot by Leah Higginbotham) Photo credit: Leah Higginbotham

To begin, you need to log in with your library card, and from there, you search for books.

There’s a decent search tool in the app, but if you misspell titles frequently, prepare to get frustrated, since the app automatically erases the previous search once you click in the search bar.

Additionally, the cataloging system could be better, as the search results often come up with irrelevant titles.

That aside, there’s a great selection of books and audio books that can be downloaded into the app or your browser for up to 14 days.

Additionally, the layout is very user friendly, and the app serves its purpose well.

If you’re not in a time crunch, you can hold and preview books through Overdrive as well. And if you’re sharing a device with a child, you can even set parental locks on the catalog if you don’t want little eyes coming across Stephen King’s “It,” especially during this current clown paranoia.

Overall, I give Overdrive four out of five stars, with the catalog search difficulties knocking it down one spot.

But let’s say your readings, are done and you want to relax a little. That’s where our second app this week, Atomas comes into play.

Atomas.PNG
Atomas is a matching game based on the elements. (Screenshot by Leah Higginbotham) Photo credit: Leah Higginbotham

Atomas is a simple yet addicting matching game where you line up elements of the periodic table around a circle and attempt to combine them into larger elements.

You use different atoms to combine and move elements in different ways.

The game mechanics are simple, but the longer you play, the more difficult it becomes.

Although Atomas is scientifically inaccurate, it can help students to learn the names, symbols and atomic numbers of elements as they play. Not to mention the game is entertaining, and a great time killer. I give it five stars.

Atomas is free on iTunes and Google Play.

Thanks for reading Wildcats, and until next Friday, you know What’s App-ening!

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