Google Docs offers enough word processing features to help you do...

Google Docs offers enough word processing features to help you do your job.  Credit: Newsday/Google

Even as some Long Island offices and businesses tentatively reopen, many will do so on a limited basis or continue to let employees work from home. These apps, among the most popular productivity apps in May, can keep you working efficiently in this transition period.

HotSchedules

(iOS, Android; $2.99)

Leisure and hospitality businesses have been the hardest-hit sector on Long Island during the pandemic. But as local restaurants prepare to reopen for dine-in service, furloughed employees will be called back. HotSchedules, a website and app focused on restaurants and the hospitality industry, lets managers create and edit schedules that can be accessed easily by employees. Employees can ask for schedule changes and get approval via the app.

Your Phone Companion

(iOS, Android; free)

This Android-only app has been at the top of Google Play’s free productivity chart for months for good reason. Your Phone Companion allows you to link your phone to your Windows PC and easily access apps and notifications from your phone on your desktop or laptop. For example, if you get a text on your phone while you are working on your Windows computer, respond on your PC instead of pecking away an answer on your phone.

Grammarly Keyboard

(iOS, Android; free)

It’s hard to type on a mobile keyboard, which makes it easy to make embarrassing mistakes. If your work-from-home documents and email are becoming laden with typos and grammar errors, this add-on can clean and polish your prose. The app replaces the keyboard on your mobile devices and adds real-time spelling, grammar and usage checking as you type.

Google Docs

(iOS, Android; free)

At your workplace, you may have Microsoft Office products at your disposal, but if you are using your home computer to do work, you may not want to spring for the pricey Microsoft Word. This free and widely used word processing app from Google may not have all the features of Word, but there are more than enough to help you do your job. You can also open and edit any Word documents that come your way.

Stay tuned

What are kids watching as they shelter-in-place during the pandemic? “More of everything,” says Nielsen. During midday hours, TV viewing time by kids ages 6-17 rose as much as 300 percent compared with the same period a year ago. As for adults 25-54, their TV viewing also rose, most notably in the New York market, where daytime viewing rose 114 percent.

Microsoft: Beware of malicious Excel files

Microsoft is warning of a “massive” coronavirus-themed email phishing campaign that uses attachments with Excel macros to unleash malware on your computer. The email purports to be sent by Johns Hopkins Center with a subject line “WHO COVID-19 Situation Report.” Microsoft says if the attachments are opened, they could install a remote access application that could allow cybercriminals to take over your computer.

— PETER KING

Facebook expands in India

Facebook is investing $5.7 billion in Jio Platforms, the company controlled by Mukesh Ambani, Asia’s richest man, as it seeks a broader foothold in India. Jio’s e-commerce assets include digital apps and a wireless telecommunication platform. The partnership allows Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg to step up his expansion in a country that is rapidly embracing online payment and e-commerce as more people get smartphones

— BLOOMBERG NEWS
From Love Lane in Mattituck, NewsdayTV's Elisa DiStefano and Newsday deputy lifestyle editor Meghan Giannotta have your look at ways to celebrate Valentine's Day this year. Credit: Randee Daddona, Gary Licker; Newsday / A.J. Singh

Put a little love in your heart with the NewsdayTV Valentine's Day Special! From Love Lane in Mattituck, NewsdayTV's Elisa DiStefano and Newsday deputy lifestyle editor Meghan Giannotta have your look at ways to celebrate Valentine's Day this year.

From Love Lane in Mattituck, NewsdayTV's Elisa DiStefano and Newsday deputy lifestyle editor Meghan Giannotta have your look at ways to celebrate Valentine's Day this year. Credit: Randee Daddona, Gary Licker; Newsday / A.J. Singh

Put a little love in your heart with the NewsdayTV Valentine's Day Special! From Love Lane in Mattituck, NewsdayTV's Elisa DiStefano and Newsday deputy lifestyle editor Meghan Giannotta have your look at ways to celebrate Valentine's Day this year.

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