Tech review: Apps that bring Disney magic to you

The Disney Team of Heroes app celebrates real-life superheroes, including doctors,... — The Disney Team of Heroes app celebrates real-life superheroes, including doctors, nurses and support staff at children's hospitals. Credit: Newsday/Disney

By Peter KingSpecial to NewsdayNovember 29, 2019

The Magic Kingdom has extended its realm to the land of apps. Disney boasts some of the most popular Android and iOS apps, with a roster of games, streaming services and travel-related apps. These four apps are helpful and fun, whether you’re going to Disney or Disney is coming to you.

Disney+

(iOS, Android; subscription)

One of the most anticipated launches of 2019, Disney+ burst on the scene in November and zoomed to the top of the Android and iOS app charts. The $7-a-month streaming service opens the vaults to Disney, Pixar and Marvel movies, classic TV shows and new programs. While most people opt to use Disney+ on newer TVs where they can take advantage of 4K streaming, you can use your login information across all devices.

My Disney Experience

(iOS, Android; free)

If a trip to Walt Disney World is on your holiday or New Year’s bucket list, this is a must-have. You can access an interactive map that gives you directions as you make your way around the park, see waiting times for attractions and rides and access a schedule of parades — and where to find Disney characters who will greet you and take a photo with you.

Radio Disney

(iOS, Android; free)

Disney has launched the careers of numerous music superstars, including Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato. Radio Disney is a free service where you can hear hits and access music videos of present and past Disney stars as well as other top artists such as Ariana Grande. Want to catch a rising star? Check out the NBT (Next Big Thing) feature.

Disney Team of Heroes

(iOS, Android; free)

Disney’s stable includes Marvel’s superheroes, but this app celebrates real-life superheroes: doctors, nurses and support staff at children’s hospitals. The goal of Disney Team of Heroes is to interact with participating hospitals to make children’s medical stays less frightening. (Only a few hospitals are participating now.) It can also be downloaded as a standalone app and enjoyed by any kid for its collection of fun games.

Smashing success

A glitchy unveiling of Tesla’s Cybertruck doesn’t seem to have stemmed car buyers’ enthusiasm. Tesla chief executive Elon Musk said the electric carmaker received 250,000 orders for the truck less than a week after it was first shown. At the much-hyped, live-streamed unveiling, metal balls thrown at the truck’s “shatterproof armored glass” cracked two windows. The truck, which resembles a boxy armored vehicle, goes into production next year.

— PETER KING

Snapshot of snapshots

How many photos do you have stored on your phone? Research by software maker Avast using data from Android phones shows Americans have an average 646 photos saved on their phone, but that only ranks 30th worldwide. South Koreans save the most — an average 1,417 per user. Worldwide, women had about 200 more photos saved on their smartphones than had men.

— PETER KING

Walmart’s Jet jettisons NYC business

Walmart’s Jet.com subsidiary is ending its fresh-food delivery business just a year after introducing the service in New York City. The retailer will close a Bronx warehouse and let drivers go, resulting in the loss of between 200 and 300 jobs. The move is the latest example of the declining importance of Jet, a business Walmart paid $3.3 billion to acquire in 2016 to reach urban millennials.