App reviews: Candid, Mimo

Candid

Can a social network support both anonymity and - a much rarer quality online - politeness?

That's the aim of Candid, which is designed to let people unburden themselves (or just have silly conversations) without fear of harassment. The app does not identify people by name and encrypts your data. It also promises not to share personal information or collect your IP address. Users can join groups based on their interests - "Washington, D.C." or "Food" - to join in the chatter. Random usernames are assigned to each post and only stick with you through a single conversation.

Candid's secret sauce is in its artificial intelligence moderation, which aims to weed out bad actors by analyzing the content of posts and keep hate speech and threats off the network. It also has other interesting features; for example, its algorithm tries to weed out false information by marking certain items as "rumor" or "true." Conversations on the network - even about politics and other controversial topics - are, by and large, polite. That's a good sign and shows that the algorithm seems to be working.

Free, for iOS and Android.

Mimo

Looking to get a little programming knowledge on the go? Mimo offers courses in several languages, including Apple's Swift, Java, SQL and C#.

The app's simple design and succinct explanations make it stand out from the pack. Online programming tutorials, such as many online courses, can often lack either practical exercises or quality explanations of exercises.

Mimo provides a nice balance of the two, aiming to offer hands-on experience without making users feel like they're in over their heads. The reading level of the app is probably best suited to older kids and adults, but a sharp younger kid should be fine.

An app alone may not turn you into a master programmer, but this is good if you want to get a handle on the basics or do basic research on how you should invest your time.

Introductions to courses are free, while more advanced courses require you to subscribe for $6 a month or $50 a year. (You can subscribe for life for $150.) A subscription guarantees you access to future courses and material. Free for iOS.