Disillusioned with social media, a pair of American tech entrepreneurs decided to launch an app that encourages people to interact in real life. Co-founder and epidemiologist Jesse Berns explains why that meant making an unexpected shift to Aotearoa. While Covid-19 forced most businesses to change their plans one way or another, few seem to have … Read more
Tinder became the world’s most popular dating app by promising serendipitous connections with online strangers. But there’s nothing random about the way it works, explains Matt Bartlett. While most leisure activities were throttled by the Covid lockdown, others thrived – just ask any of your friends who did Yoga With Adrienne. Another unlikely winner? Dating … Read more
A week ago, New Zealand launched its official contact tracing app to help in the fight against Covid-19. How does it compare to some of those overseas? NZ COVID Tracer has been live for less than a week and so far it’s been downloaded by more than 400,000 users. The current version of the app … Read more
Speed is of the essence when breaking any chains of transmission, and that’s where contact tracing apps come in. The Spinoff’s coverage of Covid-19 is funded by Spinoff Members. To support this work, join Spinoff Members here. As Aotearoa New Zealand celebrated another day with no new cases of Covid-19 on Thursday, the Johns Hopkins global … Read more
The official contact tracing app, released to aid in the fight against Covid-19, is now available for download. So what does it do, what’s good about it, and what are the problems? What’s all this then? As of last night, the government has an official contact tracing app. It’s called NZ COVID Tracer, and is … Read more
It’s a crucial factor in keeping the spread of the virus under control, but there’s a whole lot more the government needs to consider than what is technically possible, writes Andrew Chen. Now we’ve exited level four, how do we keep the Covid-19 cases down? A critical part of the puzzle is contact tracing. In … Read more
Sam Brooks takes a look at new American streaming service Quibi, and asks what sets it apart from all the rest. So what is Quibi and what makes it different? Quibi is a new streaming service based out of the US with one twist: you can only watch it on your phone. Or, to use … Read more
For those keen to avoid the long and awkward queues at supermarkets, there may be a new technological solution. Long supermarket lines have become the bane of the lockdown era, with many people worried that the overcrowding and long wait times may burst their bubbles. Those concerns have prompted a Dunedin-based software engineer to create … Read more
There’s never been a better time to connect our tamariki with nature than now. Paul Ward, co-founder of the gamified learning platform Wild Eyes, explains how. Thanks to Covid-19, cabin fever is on the curriculum for primary and intermediate school kids and their parents. Keeping Kiwi kids active, curious (and awake!) during lockdown – let … Read more
A team of volunteers have built and launched an app over the weekend in the hope of uniting New Zealanders to help each other through Covid-19. Its creator explains how Voluntarily.nz works. New Zealanders are rapidly entering isolation as we try to contain the spread of Covid-19. My company Vend sent our global workforce home … Read more
Justin McLeod invented the dating app Hinge twice: once for smartphones, and once more for romantics. He talks about why being open to change is the best path to true love. Six years ago, the online dating service Hinge threw all its money into a launch party before its app was even approved by the … Read more
Managing your money isn’t all about Excel sheets and financial diaries. Here are just a few apps we recommend to help you on your way. Money Lover This probably sounds bizarre, but there’s something oddly therapeutic about monitoring your money with an expense tracking app. Not only does it help keep how much you’re spending … Read more
Earlier this week, a Twitter thread demonstrating the power of new face-swap app ZAO attracted tens of thousands of retweets. The user behind the thread, Auckland artist and game developer Allan Xia, explains what ZAO is, and what it means for your rights over your own likeness. Last Friday, a face-swap app called ZAO went … Read more
Is Slack really the force for productivity it claims to be, or just another form of social media in disguise? Jihee Junn talks to Slack co-founder and chief technology officer Cal Henderson on the right (and wrong) ways to use his messaging platform. Every morning, Cal Henderson spends around 50 minutes walking to work, not … Read more
In our Q&A series, The Lightbulb, we ask innovators and entrepreneurs to tell us about how they turned their ideas into reality. This week we talk to The Curator’s Marica Frost who went from dealing with refugee law to building a free virtual wedding planner from scratch. First of all, give us your elevator pitch for … Read more
How is Facebook not just eroding our privacy, but changing our lives – and not just our lives? Most of us know tech platforms such as Facebook and Google track, store and make money from our data. But there are constantly new revelations about just how much of our privacy has been chipped away. The … Read more
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand, with the interview available as both audio and a transcribed excerpt. This week he talks to Romer founder Emily Heazlewood. We’ve all been … Read more
Two 20-year-old Auckland students have created an app that combines the brevity of Q&A platforms like Yahoo Answers or Quora with the visual nature of websites like YouTube or Instagram. Now, they’re competing against 11 other teams all across Asia in one of the biggest student tech competitions in the world. A few years ago a … Read more
What role can technology play in our overburdened, underfunded health system? Jihee Junn spoke to some of the innovators working to ease the pressure on healthcare in New Zealand. Health has become a major focal point for the tech industry in recent years and nowhere has this been more apparent than at CES, the annual … Read more
Cars, campervans and now food: There is no end to the sharing economy, and a serial entrepreneur is making your kitchen the scene of his latest venture. Business is what Daniel Kieser breathes, sleeps and eats. Literally. You might wonder why the South African-born entrepreneur wanted to launch his latest digital platform, Dine at Mine. … Read more
At the beginning of Te Wiki o Te Reo 2018, a new app was launched that translated images into Māori. Karyn Tattersfield looks at the legacy of John Moorfield ‘s famous dictionary, and the revolutionary new technology of Kupu. The extent of the late Professor John Moorfield’s impact on te reo Māori is hard to quantify. … Read more
Keen to cure your addiction to the small screen? Alex Beattie has nine quickfire suggestions. A flash on your screen, a ‘vrrrr’ in your pocket, the universal ‘DING’. The digital world is rife with distractions, some of which are by design. Thanks to smartphones and social media, we live in an attention economy where the … Read more
You can download your friendly local website’s mobile application for zero dollars – now with variable text size and search functionality. Update December 2019: The Spinoff app now comes with search functionality and the option to increase text size. Find the text-size option at the top of each post, and the search bar by scrolling … Read more
She’s the founder and CEO of beauty-booking app Flossie, controls the agency for social media influencers and sits on the board of Kiwisaver darling Simplicity. So why did Jenene Crossan hit rock bottom? Content warning: this post contains discussion of suicide and suicidal thoughts. I’d been keeping my powder dry on writing this. But today, having … Read more
Every week on The Primer we ask a local business or product to introduce themselves in eight simple takes. This week we talk to Parkable co-founder Brody Nelson whose business is using technology to shake up traditional parking. ONE: How did Parkable start and what was the inspiration behind it? Parkable started in 2015 when its … Read more
The honesty box our cashless society has been waiting for has arrived in the form of an online app. Jihee Junn talks to the Taranaki-based developer behind My Honesty Box to find out how it works, why it doesn’t take commission, and how it already has interest from vendors in the United States. Honesty boxes … Read more
An app that gives parents important information and rewards them for attending appointments is being tested on the East Coast. Rural New Zealand gets the sharp end of a lot of our worst stats – suicide, poverty, unemployment, health and wellbeing. Nowhere more so than the East Coast of the North Island, which includes the … Read more
Every week we ask a local business or product to introduce themselves in eight simple takes. This week we talk to Alex Vaz and Nik Ellis, founders of an app that links up builders, plumbers and other tradespeople with jobs that need doing around the house. ONE: How did Tradee start and what was the inspiration … Read more
A new app seeks to simplify the complexities around sex, consent and what is or isn’t allowed during intercourse. Law professor Simon Connell looks at the implications of LegalFling. It seems that there’s an app for everything these days. Cue Dutch company LegalThings, whose app called LegalFling purports to solve the tricky problem of sex … Read more