Tips and Tricks Daily

Stop Those Annoying Browser Prompt Asking For Your Location or to Send Notifications

2018-01-30T15:17:00.000+05:30

If you've grown tired of answering those annoying browser prompts every time a website wants to show you notifications or know your location, you can turn the messages off forever with a few clicks in every major browser. Scroll down below for your browser and where to locate the appropriate settings in Chrome (desktop and Android), Firefox, Opera, Edge, Internet Explorer and Safari (desktop and iOS).

Chrome

From the dropdown menu, select Settings > Advanced (scroll down) > Content settings.

From Chrome's content settings you can click into 'Location' and 'Notifications' separately to disable each. This will block the pop-ups forever while also preventing websites from knowing your location and sending you notifications.

Chrome (Android)

The exact same settings exist on the mobile version of Chrome found in Android devices. Although we wouldn't outright disable location settings on the browser like we'd do on the desktop (for obvious useful reasons), if one of your favorite websites annoys you with these kind of prompts, you can always disable them on a per-site basis.

From the Chrome menu button on the top right corner, select Settings. Under Settings, scroll down to Advanced > Site settings. There you will find discrete settings for both Location and Notifications, the default is set to "Ask first," you can set those to "Block" which will stop sites to prompt you for either.

Firefox

In the address bar type "about:config" and hit Enter. Accept the risk when prompted.

If you made it under the hood safely, use the search bar to find the following entries: dom.webnotifications.enabled and geo.enabled.

Double-clicking on each entry will set their values to false, which is what you want to do if you're trying to disable the pop-ups.

Opera

From the drop down menu, select Settings and then go to the Websites tab.

Location and notification prompts are both listed halfway through the website section of Opera's menu settings -- set both of them to "do not allow...".

Microsoft Edge

Open Windows 10's Settings (search 'settings' via Start), then go to Privacy > Location.

Scroll down in this section to 'Choose apps that can use your location' and you can customize the settings for Microsoft Edge along with other applications. Note that disabling 'Location service' on the top of the same page will block all apps from using your location.

Open Edge's settings menu, go to View advanced settings > Notifications (manage).

Websites that can show notifications will be listed here so you can customize which ones are able to send them. Likewise, from the privacy settings in the Windows 10 menu mentioned above, the notifications section will let you block them from all applications.

Internet Explorer

Open IE's dropdown menu, go to Internet options, select the Privacy tab.

In the privacy tab, uncheck 'never allow websites to request your physical location' and then click into "Settings" for the option to uncheck notifications from when a pop-up is blocked (this isn't the same as the notifications blocked in other browsers but nonetheless noteworthy).

Safari (macOS)

From Safari's drop down menu, select Preferences then go to the Websites tab. On the left side menu you'll find Location and Notifications.

On Location, you will find per website settings based on the currently opened tabs. But to deny location to all websites, on the bottom right corner select where it says "When visiting other websites:" select Deny.

On the Notifications settings, uncheck the option where it says "Allow websites to ask for permission to send push notifications."

Safari (iPhone /iOS)

On iOS devices, location settings are more strictly managed by the operating system. Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services. Find the setting for Safari Websites and set it to "Never."

- techspot

7 Android Settings You Should Change Right Now

2018-01-30T00:49:00.002+05:30

Android comes with a lot of features, but not all of them are enabled out of the box. With the ever-growing feature set, it’s easy to miss those deeply buried Android settings that can enhance your experience.

Whether you are looking to fine-tune your privacy and security or boost performance, here are some changes you should make in the Android settings menu.

1. Hide Sensitive Content From Lock Screen

Since Android 5.0 Lollipop, you can interact with the notifications directly from the lock screen. While this is convenient, it also means that anybody can go through your notifications — even when your phone is locked.

Fortunately, there’s an option to hide sensitive notifications on the lock screen.

First, you need to secure your Android phone with a password, pattern, or a PIN. Once you do, here’s how to hide sensitive notification content.

Open Settings > Notifications.
Tap the cog icon on the upper-right of the screen.
Tap On the lock screen.
Select Hide sensitive notification content.

Sensitive notifications will show “content hidden” instead of displaying the actual message. You’ll need to unlock your device to view the message.

If you would like to hide sensitive notifications on a per-app basis, select Show all notification content. Hit back and you should find a list of installed apps. Tap on the app you’d like to hide sensitive notifications from, then tap On the lock screen > Hide sensitive notification content.

2. Opt Out of Personalized Ads

There’s a shocking number of things that Google knows about you. Its huge tracking system is the reason why you see such precisely tailored ads. For instance, if you search on your desktop about noise-canceling earphones, you might quickly start seeing ads for them around the web.

If you’re paranoid about your privacy, there’s an easy way to turn it off.

Open Settings.
Navigate to Google > Ads.
Enable Opt out of Ads Personalization.

Note that while you’ll still see ads in ad-supported Android apps, they’ll not be based on your interests.

3. Enable Auto-Lock and Power Button Instant Lock

By default, your Android phone’s screen turns off automatically after a set period of inactivity to save battery. But the lock screen only kicks-in a few seconds later. Mischievous people can potentially access your unlocked device if you leave it unattended during this period.

It’s recommended to lower your screen timeout. To do so, head over to Settings > Display > Sleep. Select the lowest acceptable number of seconds after which your screen would turn off.

Once you’ve lowered the screen timeout, it’s time to force the lock screen to kick in as soon as the screen is turned off.

To do so, navigate to Settings > Security > Automatically lock.
Select Immediately.
On the same page, enable Power button instantly locks.

Note that this setting might be located elsewhere depending on your Android manufacturer. An easy way to find the appropriate setting on any custom Android skin is using the search option in the settings.

4. Disable Doze Mode for Specific Apps

Introduced in Marshmallow, Doze is a nifty feature that helps you save battery on your Android device. The basic idea is that your apps “sleep” while your phone is off, preventing them from running amok in your absence.

While this works great for most apps, you might get delayed notifications from your favorite messaging apps. Also, you might experience issues with VPN apps as they need to run constantly in the background. In such cases, Doze mode can do more harm than good. Fortunately, Android lets you disable Doze mode on a per-app basis.

To do so, open Settings > Battery.
Tap the three-dot overflow menu button.
Select Doze and app hibernation.
Tap the app you would like to exclude and select Don’t optimize.

Note that you should create exceptions only for the apps that really need it, otherwise they can cause a major battery drain.

5. Enable Persistent Number Row in Gboard

If your job involves dealing with numbers, it can be cumbersome to toggle your keyboard between the number and the alphabet mode.

If you use Gboard, which I guess most of you do, you can enable a persistent number row at the top of your keyboard. It’s a great way to utilize the growing screen real estate on mobile devices.

To do so, open Gboard.
Hold the emoji/cog icon and tap on Gboard keyboard settings.
Tap Preferences.
Enable Number row.

You should see a persistent number row at the top of your keyboard. This can help you substantially increase your typing speed.

6. Enable Instant Apps

Instant Apps are a pretty innovative idea: you can check out Android apps without having to install them, thus saving time and data. It started out as an Android Oreo-exclusive feature, but Google started rolling it out to devices running Lollipop or later a couple of months ago.

Instant Apps are disabled by default, but enabling them is just a flip away.

Open Settings > Google.
Enable Instant Apps.
Tap Yes, I’m in to confirm.

Once you enable it, simply search for the app on the Play Store. The Play Store listing supports just 5 apps for now: BuzzFeed, NYTimes, RedBull TV, OneFottball, and ShareTheMeal. To try an Instant App, tap Try Now besides the Install button.

To search for other Instant Apps, search for the apps from your mobile browser.

7. Move Chrome’s Address Bar to the Bottom

Reaching the top of the screen, especially with just one hand, can be quite a pain. Chrome’s address bar is placed at the upper-half of the screen, making it harder to reach on larger-sized phones.

Thankfully, there’s a quick way to move Chrome’s address bar to the bottom for easier access.

Type chrome://flags in Chrome’s address bar and hit Enter.
Find Chrome Home and enable it.
Tap Relaunch Chrome.
Tap the Recent button to open up the multitasking screen. Swipe away Chrome to force close it.
Re-open Chrome.

You may need to restart Chrome a couple of times to make it work. It’s kind of weird, but this is how it works for now.

That’s it! The address bar should be moved to the bottom, thus making it more accessible than ever.

Make the Most of Your Android Phone

Tweaking these settings will help you get the most of your Android device, without dramatically changing the way you use your favorite operating system. Whether you’re looking to protect your privacy or enhance your everyday Android experience, a few tweaks are all you need.

Which of the above settings have you changed on your Android phone? Do you know of any other settings that can help you level up your Android experience? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

- makeuseof

10 Best Apps to Hide Photos and Videos on Android

2018-01-29T23:42:00.001+05:30

Our whole personal life is now wound up in the smartphone we carry along in our pockets. We capture a multitude of photos and videos, which you may want to keep private. But, it’s possible that your phone can accidentally fall prey to someone’s hands or you may just pass it over to a friend unaware of their true intentions. Well, if you are an Android user, you don’t have to worry, as there are several great apps to hide photos and videos on Android. Well, we’ve compiled a list of the 10 best photos and video hider apps on Android:

Best Photos and Video Hiding Apps for Android

1. KeepSafe Photo Vault

If you’ve used an Android app to hide your private photos or videos, you’d surely heard of KeepSafe Photo Vault. It’s been around for quite a while and is still one of the better apps to safeguard your media from others. The app has bagged massive updates over the years, making it cleaner and easy-to-use by all.

It provides you the usual PIN, pattern, and fingerprint authentication options, post which it shows you a clutter-free and categorized folder grid. You can jump into any of these folders to add and protect your private photos, videos or personal IDs. You can create new folders of your own, share them with other KeepSafe users and back up all of them to their private cloud space.

KeepSafe brings along a ton of advanced security features, such as fake login PINs, break-in alerts (where a selfie of the intruder, along with time and date of unsuccessful attempts is logged), and disguising the app with a different front-end via Secret Door. But, all of the features are hidden behind a paywall and I recommend you get it if you’re really looking to protect your private media.

Key Features: easy-to-use, colorful and loaded with extra functionality, most of which have to be enabled with a Premium subscription.

Download (Free, in-app purchases start at $0.99)

2. LockMyPix Photo Vault

Among the whole lot, this was my favorite pick for guarding my photos and videos against the nosy crowd. Called LockMyPix, this aptly-named app is designed to provide the safest photo vault for protecting personal all your media files. It is backed by a military-grade AES encryption standard, locking your files behind a PIN or pattern.

It renders an intuitive user experience, enabling you to encrypt your photos/ videos directly from the homescreen of the app. You can even instantly click pictures and add them to the vault in a jiffy. The add-on features allow you to unlock the app using your fingerprint, shake the device to lock the vault and even hide LockMyPix from the app drawer. The cheery on top being that you cannot screenshot the app when it’s unlocked, which now also adds to the privacy and security of your content.

While the free version offers you a host of functionalities, you also get the option to set up fake login credentials in the Pro variant. This feature will come in handy when someone is pestering you to unlock the app but you can give them access to a secondary vault with a fake PIN. The only drawback of this app is that you cannot backup private photos/ videos to the cloud.

Key Features: ultra-secure photo vault, which uses AES encryption and doesn’t even let you capture screenshots of the contents within.

Download (Free, upgrade to Pro version for $1.99)

3. Hide Pictures & Videos – Vaulty

Vaulty is yet another well-known and reliable photo/ video hiding apps, which may look a tad bit dated but performs its job perfectly fine. You can simply jump into the app, select the media files you want to hide from the gallery and password protect it from the outside world.

The highlight of Vaulty is that it captures “mugshots” of intruders, who try to access your vault but fail to enter the correct password. You will instantly know who tried to intervene in your private space, the moment you unlock the app. This feature is available for free to all users, which is unmistakably a plus.

You also get the functionality to create multiple vaults, with separate passwords, to store different types of photos or videos in each one. You’ll, however, have to upgrade to the Premier subscription if you want to backup your files to the cloud or remove ads from the app.

Key Features: extremely simple to use, there’s almost no learning curve. You can create multiple vaults to hide a variety of media files.

Download (Free, upgrade to Vaulty Premier for $9.99/month)

4. Hide Something

With close to 5 million installs in the bag, Hide Something is one of the most trouble-free apps for hiding photos and videos on your Android device. You can protect your files from inquisitive users via PIN, password, or the fingerprint sensor. The process of transferring new photos or videos to the ‘invisible’ folder is as simple as sharing a file with the Hide Something app.

You also get access to a mini collection of beautiful themes, support for a variety of media file types, an advanced image viewer and fake login mode to further protect your privacy. Hide Something is also particular about not being detected, so it doesn’t show up in the ‘recently used’ list.

But, the feature that takes the cake for me is that the app backs-up all your private media files to Google Drive and makes it possible for you to browse them with the desktop browser. This simplifies the process of sifting through and accessing photos or videos for the end user.

Key Features: uber-simple and secure from the get-go, but adds a cherry on the top with the desktop browsing feature.

Download (Free, get premium license for $2.99)

5. Vault

All aforementioned apps are restricted to hiding just your photos/ videos, but the Vault is an all-around app which helps safeguard more than just media files. It can hide all your phone data, be it SMS, contacts/ call log or even apps, which houses all your private info.

Aptly named Vault, this app brings along all the necessary features you’d expect to find in a privacy-focused app used for hiding personal stuff. You have the ability to create fake or multiple vaults, make the app’s icon disappear from your home screen, or record break-in alerts. You also get free cloud backup support.

But, my favorite feature of Vault will have to be the incognito browser that has been baked right into the app. You can browse the Internet without leaving any trace of all your expeditions on the web. This functionality can be seen as being similar to Firefox Focus (which was one of our best app picks for 2017), which does not record what you’re surfing on the Internet.

Key Features: an all-in-one privacy app, which enables you to hide almost anything. You also get an in-app incognito browser.

Download (Free, in-app purchases start at $0.99)

6. Private Zone

If you’re looking for an app that does a lot (I mean, a whole lot) more than simply being able to hide your photos or videos, then Private Zone should be the perfect pick for you.

This app is definitely useful for guarding your private photos, videos or apps, but has also brought along a variety of features for privacy-obsessed people. Here are a few of the top features of the Private Zone app:

Free Private VPN service
Custom Lock screen app
Phone Anti-theft Features
Harassment/ Spam Call Intercept
Boost – RAM Manager
and other privacy controls.

Though Private Zone is laden with several cool features, it’s at the expense of your peace of mind. The app is filled to the brim with ads, which can get frustrating for users. But, it can be avoided by picking up the premium subscription for the app.

Key Features: packs a whole lot cooler privacy-focused features than you’d expect. It has been designed for privacy fanatics.

Download (Free, in-app purchases start at $0.99)

7. GalleryVault – Hide Pictures And Videos

This is one of the most popular photo and video hiding apps in the Play Store, with more than 10 million downloads. GalleryVault enables you to quickly hide and encrypt your photos, videos and any other files that you do not want others to see. By putting all your private media in a secure vault, the files are encrypted and nobody will know of its existence of the same.

GalleryVault has a simple and elegant interface, which provides you access to all of your hidden photos or videos in a jiffy. It supports all popular features, that you’d find in any decked-out privacy protection apps. This means you get the shake to lock, break-in alerts, fake login, fingerprint authentication, stealth mode, hiding files in SD cards, and more.

In addition to protecting your photos and videos, Gallery Vault also supports GIF playback, private browsing within the app, and a video editor to enable you to piece together a story using your hidden content. Isn’t that a great feature to have when you’re compiling a birthday surprise video for your friend?

Key Features: a decked-out privacy protection app, which hides most of your files and is packing a private browser and video editor as well.

Download (Free, upgrade to Pro version for $5.99)

8. Hide Files – Andrognito

Andrognito, which is an abbreviation for Android + Incognito, is one of the more secure privacy protection apps. It allows you to hide your photos, videos and other files behind strong layers of military-grade AES encryption standards, while storing the files in the cloud to free space on your device.

The free version of this app enables you to hide apps in just a single vault, but you can purchase the PRO version to create more private vaults, access your vaults via the cloud backups on multiple devices and gain access to additional features. It will also remove intrusive ads that annoy me almost instantly.

Unlocking the PRO version of the app will get you the fake vault spoofing, invisible icon, fake force close, and custom theming feature as well. But, the simplistic interface of this app had me attracted to it in the first place.

Key Features: stunning material design UI, with strong AES end-to-end encryption and cloud backup feature, makes it a definite pick.

Download (Free, in-app purchases start at $0.99)

9. Piktures – Beautiful Gallery

Taking a step away from privacy protection apps, I’d now like to suggest you a handful of photo gallery apps that provide you the functionality of hiding photos and videos. Piktures is a sleek-looking app that makes it easy to access all of your device’s media files, but we are interested in the ‘Secret Drive’ feature.

You need to swipe from the left to open the hamburger menu and access the secret drive. The Piktures app lays intense focus on privacy and makes you step through multiple hoops to enable this feature. Once this feature is enabled, you can long-press any picture or video and tap the “Secure” option in the menu bar to shift the file to the secret drive.

The app may not provide the users a variety of add-on features, but you’re free to create multiple vaults to segregate the media you want to hide from others.

Key Features: a stunning photo gallery app, with a secret drive that acts like a photo and video hiding vault.

Download (Free, upgrade to Premium for $5.99)

10. F-Stop Gallery

If you didn’t already know, F-Stop is one of the most well-known image gallery apps that’s available on the Play Store. It has an intuitive and lightweight user interface, which makes it easier to organize all your photos and videos.

The app brings along a lot of features that will improve your gallery browsing, sorting, and tagging experience. You can sort images simply dragging and dropping the files, but we’re here to discuss the privacy features of F-Stop.

The app has two such features, which enable you to exclude (read: hide) folders with your photos or videos from the gallery by adding a .nomedia file to the same. And you can also protect single media files simply by password protecting them. This secure folder is accessible from the hamburger menu on the left.

Key Features: a full-fledged gallery app, with an image editor, filters, privacy protection and a lot more.

Download (Free, upgrade to Pro version for $4.99)

Best Apps to Hide Photos and Videos on Android

If you’ve been concerned about the privacy of your photos/ videos of recent, then I’m sure that at least one of our suggestions will help curb your anxiety. The hiding of private media content in secret vaults will take the weight of someone getting to them off your shoulders. So, do any of these privacy protection apps meet your criterion?

- beebom

Secret Whatsapp Features You Should Know

2016-08-05T18:18:00.003+05:30

Once a small startup, Whatsapp has significantly grown into the most popular social messaging app with around 1 million active users. Though you may use it daily, you might not know the cool and secret features.

Use Classic Typewriter Font

In order to change the font of your messages, use ` symbol 3 times on both sides of word. For instance, “` Hello “`. You can create this symbol with Android keyboard but it is not available on iOS keyboard. If you have an iOS device, just copy and paste “` symbol and use it on both sides of word.

Broadcast the Same Message to Several Recipients

In the top left corner of “Chats” screen, there is a feature known as “Broadcast Lists”. This way, you can send one message to several contacts without letting them know. It is much like “Bcc” button. Instead of using Facebook to invite people to the event, or asking several people if they like to play football without having to setup group chat. All you need to visit Chats – Broadcast Lists – New List and add your contacts and draft your personal message and send it to all. Their reply and the message will be shown in private chat with each user. But it will have a small megaphone icon with it. Your contacts will never know that the message was sent to everyone.

Find Out Who is Closest to You

In order to figure out who your best friends are on Whatsapp, go to Settings – Account – Storage Usage on iOS device. Here you will find a list of groups and people you text on Whatsapp apart from overall interactions you’ve had with the person. If you choose “Size” at the bottom of screen, you can find out who spent the most data on using Whatsapp.

Bold, Italics, Strikethrough

You can easily format the text in messages on Whatsapp. You have to add symbols on either side of words. If you want any word to be bold, add asterisks on both sides of sentence or word, for example, *bold*. To write any word or sentence in Italics, use underscores, e.g. _italics_. To strikethrough your message, add tildes, i.e. ~strikethrough~. You can add several symbols on either side of words to use multiple formats, e.g. _*bolditalics*_.

Check Whatsapp Data Usage and Cut Down

In order to check out how much data Whatsapp is using, just visit Settings – Data Usage – Network Usage. In Data Usage, the amount of data used by Whatsapp can be controlled when you disable the option to auto-download audio, images, documents and video when you connect your phone to Wi-Fi. To reduce data usage for Whatsapp calls, you can choose Low Data Usage mode.

Control What Private Info to be seen by Unknown Users

If you have been added to group chat with unknown people or your Tinder conversation is moved to Whatsapp but you don’t know where it’s going, you can control what info such users may know about you. Just go to Settings – Account – Privacy and then change Profile Photo, Last Seen and Status to Contacts. This way, only your contacts can see your picture in your contacts list.

Share Documents

You can share documents from your cloud storage accounts like iCloud Drive and Google Drive in Whatsapp Chat. Go to upwards arrow to the left side of text window and then go to Share Document and choose where to share your document from, such as iCloud Drive and Google Drive.

Read Message without Letting them Know

If you want to take time to respond to a message without letting other person see the blue ticks, this secret may help you. You can read their message without letting them know. Once you get the message, instead of opening it, dismiss notifications on home screen and turn Airplane mode on. It will block mobile data and Wi-Fi and keep any new message from coming. Read the full message. Close the app and turn Airplane mode off. Despite reading the message, it won’t display blue tick to the sender. You can also turn off read receipts totally. You have to head to Settings – Account – Privacy and turn off Read Receipts. You can also share latest Whatsapp status to look cool.

- whatsappstatus247

How to Connect Your XBOX One to your PC for Streaming on Microsoft Windows 10 OS

2015-09-01T21:07:00.001+05:30

When Microsoft said that everything under their brand would be One Family, we should have taken it all quite literally as the word ‘one’ had a major significance.

Though its happening in mid-2015, but it was planned long ago.

Remember the day you woke up to the news stating ‘Sky Drive is now One Drive’, or the evening your XBOX One finally arrived?

Microsoft has been focusing heavily on the power of ‘one’ and is now working on the lines of one brand – one product – one family, where smooth engagement is guaranteed across all platforms.

No matter which windows device you are using, if you are on the windows 10 OS on all devices, your experience is guaranteed to be more or less the same across all three of them.

Microsoft has given it a bigger, 360 degree approach this time, and the company has been working really hard on coming out with an operating system which takes everything into consideration.

The company has been coming out with a large number of innovations in the past, and everything that has been ‘traditional’ has been discarded this time.

No matter if you’re on the windows PC or the windows mobile OS, or you’re using a console to play games, your experience will not change, all your files will still be accessible from all your devices, and all the data that Cortana has learnt about you will be spread across all devices.

You should ideally be able to connect your XBOX easily with your computer, however, in case you cant do it, check that your Xbox One console allows SmartGlass connections.

You’ll find this on the console by going to Settings, selecting Preferences, and then selecting Allow SmartGlass Connections.If you still can’t connect, try rebooting your Windows 10 PC and your Xbox One console.

You can now play games on your PC from your XBOX console using the ‘game streaming’ feature. Game Streaming is the ability to play Xbox One games remotely from your Xbox One console on any Windows 10 PC on your home network.

This feature allows you to leave your living room and play your favorite Xbox One games anywhere with access to your home network.
Game Streaming uses the power of the Xbox One console to manage the game. Your Windows 10 PC becomes a remote second screen so you can roam freely around your home while continuing to enjoy your Xbox One console and games.

Gaming on Windows 10 has been emphasized for a very long time and Phil Spencer had made it very clear that the days to come are going to be exciting times for Microsoft.

- therem

How to Make Google Hangouts Your All-in-one Messaging App

2015-09-01T20:59:00.003+05:30

Today, keeping in contact with family and friends can be done in many ways such as video calling, voice calling, text messaging, etc.

A number of instant messaging apps have come up in the market for Android, iOS, and Windows devices. Among these apps, Google Hangout stands in the category of all-in-one messaging app.

Google hangouts for Android is called all-in-one because through this you can send text messages and MMS messages, hangout to hangout message at free of cost, video calls, voice calls, etc. Not only this, you can even make phone calls to anyone located in any part of the world for free. Very recently, Google has launched a new version of hangout that is available on Chrome, iOS and Android devices. However, here we are going to focus on its Android version. Let’s have a look at its features first.

Features of Google Hangout 4.0

User Interface: Google hangout for Android has been decked up with signature green style. However, it has not adopted the full material design outlook. In this interface, you will see three tops such as messages, contacts, and dialer. Swiping in from the left edge, you will get a drop-down menu where you can switch between accounts and adjust other settings. Moreover, the navigation through the app is quite easy as you have many Google’s apps before.

Text message: This is an important feature of the app that can take the place of both of your SMS/MMS app and text messaging app. you can send hangout to hangout messages for free over WiFi or internet connection. This feature is quite similar to WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Line. However, the only difference that lies here is hangout messages are shown here in green while SMS appears in white. If the person to whom you are connecting to has both hangout and carrier number, you can choose between the two options for sending messages.

Video calls: With Google hangout you can replace Skype on your Android phone. If you use hangout on your Android device, you can make video calls by tapping the video button in the top right corner of the app.

Audio calls: Audio calling is another exciting feature of hangout. You can either dial from the dialer tab featuring in the main menu, or you can tap the call button. These voice calls can be made with the help of Wi-Fi or the internet connection, and the good news is that it won’t use the minutes like your cellular plan.

Installation of Google Hangout in all-in-one Messaging App

To enable these features on your Android device, make sure you download the latest version of Hangout 4.0. After that, you select the slide out menu and then settings. While downloading hangout, you will get the option of setting it as your permanent texting app. if you want to enable this option, click on the SMS disabled option and select hangout from the list of installed texting applications.

Next, click on enable merged conversation. This combines SMS and Hangout conversation one single platform. While replying through text message, just touch the icon featured at the left of the screen to switch to hangout or SMS or Google Voice. Similarly, to use Google Voice, go to the account settings under Google account where you will get two options to choose such as your Google Voice number or carrier to reply to texts. If you select smart reply, the hangout will automatically start responding with the number the text has been sent to.

Therefore, if you want to make Google hangout your all-in-one messaging app, these steps will certainly provide the best user experience!

- boosharticles

New Windows 10 Shortcut Keys – Get A Printable List

2015-09-01T20:44:00.003+05:30

With a new operating system comes a new list of shortcut keys and Windows 10 is certainly no exception. Let’s take a look at what’s new in Windows 10.

Hit the Windows key to open and close the Start Menu.

+ A will open the Action Center.

+ C will launch Cortana into listening mode.

+ E will launch File Explorer with the Quick Access tab displayed.

+ H Opens the Share charm.

+ U launches the Ease of Access Center

+ Enter launches Narrator.

There’s a long list of the new commands and Microsoft has a nice printable, version available that lists everything.

To download a complete, printable list of Microsoft shortcut keys, click here.

- WS

5 Amazing Instagram Tips You Need to Know

2015-08-22T14:57:00.000+05:30

Are you obsessed with photos? You probably have installed Instagram on your Android phone or iPhone.

This photo sharing application has more than 300 million people who use it on a monthly basis. However, just like many other apps, there are lots of hidden features that only those who are more than the common user of the app will know.

Well, there is nothing to worry about if you are one of these ‘common’ users as we have rounded up the top 5 amazing Instagram tips you need to know. Using these tips, you will be sure of making your photos become a standout among others as well as reap you some outstanding compliments.

One image, different perspectives

If you thought Instagram was all about one image and one shape, then you are in for a shock. There are third party apps that can be used to make some amazing changes to the shape of photos and make them look almost different, or still, place several photos in a single gram. These apps can also let you add frames as well as put music to videos.

Android and iOS users can make use of apps such as PhotoShake!, PicFrame and Diptic. Photo Grid for Android is also another option.

Give your photos the Lux aspect

Underexposed Photos will for sure, look very dull and poor. What do you do? Make them Lux. After capturing your snaps, locate the sun symbol and tap on it. Using the slider that shows up, adjusts the saturation of the snap and you will see a totally different photo.

Toy around with photos

Instagram for Android and iOS is equipped with quite a number of tools. If you have ever wondered how photos of the whole earth come to look like a very tiny object, there is room for you to try it on this photo sharing app. You can use the tilt shift feature to make some amazing changes to a photo.

Just find an image and choose a filter. Follow it by tapping on the wrench icon located at the lower end of the photo and then slide right to reveal the “Tilt Shift” feature. From here, you can choose linear or radial, depending on your taste and finally, select the checkmark in order to save changes.

Accessing Instagram on the web

Instagram is not just a mobile application meant for use on iOS and Android devices. If you feel like using your PC, there is still room for visiting Instagram.com and once you sign in, you will be able to access your feed, comment and like photos, as well as carry out various searches. However, this Web version will not let you add or edit photos on your account.

Creating video clips

Instagram made an attempt to topple the services of Vine by coming up with a video feature for its users. Using it is very easy. You can easily create 15-second video clips by sliding the tab from the camera to video recording icon and then hold down the red button to begin recording a video clip. When done, tap on “Next” and then choose whether to apply a filter or not. Proceed by selecting “Next” where you will be able to pick a frame for the cover shot. Your video clip is now ready for sharing.

- boosharticles

Top 5 Best Free to Download and Install Messenger Apps for Android and iOS

2015-06-18T02:09:00.001+05:30

Instant messaging is with no doubt the trending way of keeping in touch with friends and relatives from all over the world.

What makes it a top option is due to the fact that it is very easy to use than making a phone call or maybe trying to find someone physically, which can be very expensive.

Despite the fact that 2015 is here, there are still some cell plans that don’t come with unlimited messaging subscriptions. Furthermore, there are numerous cases where the users want to continue a conversation they started on a phone, on a PC. These, among many other reasons, have been at the center of the growth and development of the messaging or messenger applications. In this regard, here is a list of the top 5 best free to download and install messenger apps for the Android smartphones and iPhones that will make your communication life extremely free and incredibly easy.

Google Hangouts

Just like any other Google product, Google Hangouts is a very easy to use app. If you are a member of the Gmail family, you will have a very easy time adapting to Hangouts as it comes with lots of similarities with the chat service of this email client.

Simply download the app on your phone and you will notice lots of similarities with the desktop client. You can add as many contacts as you want, as long as they have a Gmail account. You can start a conversation when on your way to work using your phone and continue it from the PC at your office desk. It is still possible to pick up the conversation from where you left when having lunch, using your phone or tablet. However, there is no support for Google Voice and navigation can get a little tricky if you are not that tech savvy.

Skype

Skype is another great way of keeping in touch with your relatives from all over the world. There is no fee required for signing up for an account on Skype. After signing up, you will be able to make free voice and video calls to any other Skype user as well as make affordable calls to the non-users of the app using SkypeOut. Skype allows the users to attach photos, videos and other media files to messages and share them with friends, whether they are online or not.

As you may have noticed, Skype offers calls to the non-users of the app on landlines and mobile phones, which is one thing that makes it a standout among others in this list.

Viber

Viber makes instant messaging in the 21st century a very simple thing. You can send a text message, voice note, video or even a photo to a friend using the app. Unlike the above mentioned apps which require an email address to sign you up for an account, Viber will ask for your phone number only. This then becomes your identifier as your friends will use it to identify you on the platform.

Viber allows its users to make free voice and video calls as well. Furthermore, it follows in the footsteps of Skype by allowing the users to make affordable calls to the non-users of the app, using the ViberOut feature. The app also includes games, public chats as well as a detailed collection of stickers. It can be used on mobile phones, tablets and PCs and it exhibits one of the best syncing capabilities across all supported devices.

WhatsApp

You can send your friends voice, text, video and photo messages using WhatsApp. The app is free to download and it can be installed on nearly all mobile platforms. Just like Viber, WhatsApp will ask for your phone number to create you an account. The app automatically pulls a list of contacts based on the numbers stored in your phonebook, thus saving you time you’d have wasted on searching for new friends.

WhatsApp recently added a voice calling feature, but there is no news of video calling facility. Unlike all the other apps listed here, WhatsApp will start charging a fee of $0.99 per year after using it for free for the first one year.

LINE

LINE can be termed as a combination of instant messaging and social networking services in a single messenger. You can share videos, photos, sticker as well as texts with any other user of the app. These entire updates can posted to a personal timeline where friends can also comment, share as well as like; just like with the case of the social networking sites Twitter and Facebook.

LINE allows its users to chat in groups as well as make voice and video calls to others. LINE comes with a collection of games that the users can play against one another. Furthermore, the app allows the transfer of funds using LINE Pay. It is also one of the first apps to make its way to the Apple Watch and Android Wear. LINE is free to download and install and it can be used on all major mobile platforms.

- ordoh

Google Hangouts 5 Tips And Tricks for Windows Phone, Android and iOS

2015-06-17T22:39:00.001+05:30

In the race for being the top application to provide access to internet communication for free, Google has not been left behind.

It has jumped on to the bandwagon with the launch of Google Hangouts.

Google hangouts was preceded by Google talk. Although the services provided were same as those of Google hangouts, hangouts has a lot of new features that qualifies it as a good VoIP app – so much so that the application is now also used widely as a business communication tool among professionals.

If you have not had much experience with the application, you can follow the tips and tricks in order to use the application better.

The application can be used more conveniently with the help of keyboard shortcuts. Pressing the question mark can help you activate or deactivate the microphone at your convenience. Keyboard shortcuts make browsing the web easier and older chat messages are more easily accessed.

Google hangouts can be used to send messages and these can be sent with the help of commands. Typing “/to” before the name of the individual can help you send messages across.

Instead of sticking to the laptop microphone and speakers while you are on a voice or video call, the audio output would be much clearer if a user opts for the usage of headphones.

Corporates draw the most benefits from Google Hangout’s screen sharing feature. The application mirrors this feature from the Skype.

Simply by clicking on the share screen offer, you can share the screen with your friend or colleague and make work easier. Choice can be made between choosing either specific windows or the whole screen.

Google Hangouts can also be a very cost effective means of using VoIP by managing the amount of data you use. This can be done by toggling between normal quality voice calls and HD quality voice calls, which generally trend to consume more data.

- therem

WhatsApp Improved Privacy – Top Tricks and Tips

2015-05-28T20:33:00.001+05:30

WhatsApp currently has over 800 million active users and it is growing pretty fast, especially after the developers have finally brought the Voice Calling feature to the application.

When it comes to our privacy, we always want to be sure that our personal data never gets into the wrong hands. This is why today we’re going to give you a few tips that will improve your privacy while using WhatsApp.

Turn yourself invisible

In case you don’t want to be disturbed on WhatsApp, you can always make yourself invisible. To do this, go to Setting->Account->Privacy and set who can see your“Last Seen” or “Status”. At the same time, you can disable the “Read Receipts” option, which will not allow the sender to know if and when you’ve read the message that (s)he sent to you.

Setting a PIN code to WhatsApp

Do you usually share your mobile device to your friends, so that they can check out some videos on YouTube or play a game they like? Are you sure that they are not going to open the WhatsApp application and read your private messages? Well, if you don’t trust your friends, a good idea to stop them from checking your WhatsApp messages is to set a PIN code to the application. As you already know, WhatsApp doesn’t come with a PIN code and this means that you will need to install a separate application to lock it. On Android devices you will need to install WhatsAppLock, which will allow you to set a pin to the WhatsApp application.

Blocking a stolen mobile phone

In case your mobile phone has been stolen or if you lost the device, then we suggest you to “block” WhatsApp as soon as possible. To do this, you will go to your carrier and ask the operator to “kill” the SIM card from your stolen/lost device. After that, ask them to give you a new SIM card with the same number. Insert the new SIM card to a smartphone, install WhatsApp and use your mobile phone number to get verified. Once you get verified, the WhatsApp account will be automatically deactivated from the lost/stolen device.

- ordoh

OnePlus Two is Coming next Week, What to Expect?

2015-05-28T20:30:00.000+05:30

The OnePlus One was considered by many to be a flagship killer in 2014.

The reason was simple, as the phone packed more than great specs and performances and the price was on the lines of the middle range phones. This year, the Chinese company expects to have the same success with the OnePlus Two, a phone many consider will shake the technology world. Here are the preliminary specs of the phone.

Design and Display

The OnePlus Two will keep many of the core design lines of the OnePlus One. The phone still has almost no bezels, which allows the users to take full advantage of the display, while holding a relatively medium phone in their hands. The display size is set at 5.5 inches with resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels. The only downside is the weight of the phone, as the OnePlus Two weighs 166 grams.

Hardware and Operating System

The OnePlus Two will feature the same chipset as the HTC One M9, the Snapdragon 810. Even the clocking power is the same, with the more powerful cores clocked at 2 GHz. The device boasts of 3 GB of RAM and is available with 16 or 64 GB of internal storage. The downside is there is no microSD card slot, but if you purchase the 64 GB version, the likelihood is that you won’t need a microSD card. The OnePlus Two will come with the latest, Android 5.1 Lollipop out of the box.

Camera

Preliminary rumors are that the OnePlus Two will feature a 16-MP camera sensor on the back with dual LED flash. There is no optical image stabilization. Also tipped is a 5-MP front snapper.

Price and Release Date Rumors

It is all but confirmed that the OnePlus Two will be available from Monday, June 1st. As for the price, the CEO of OnePlus Pete Lau said last week that a price of $400 seems more than reasonable to him. The phone will again be available via the invite-only process.

- ordoh

WhatsApp Calling Not Activated? Here is How to Solve It

2015-05-28T20:24:00.001+05:30

Since its announcement on January 2015, WhatsApp calling has been a much-anticipated feature of this popular multimedia application for several reasons: for people with Wi-Fi and or unlimited Internet connection, this VoIP-based system of communication with other WhatsApp users is cost effective.

It is also reliable, very easy to use, and works well with both local and international numbers. As of March of 2015, individuals no longer have to speculate on WhatsApp’s voice calling feature.

With the following guiding steps, you can activate WhatsApp voice calling feature in your smart phone and enjoy its innovative features:

Download the Latest Version of WhatsApp

WhatsApp is a dynamic application that ranks among the best multimedia applications in the market. To satisfy the needs of users and optimize its performance for the better, its developers release frequent updates that are attainable via Google Play and Apple App store. The latest update, for instance, has not only improved its performance, but also introduced its much coveted feature, voice calling.

To activate it in your phone, therefore, the first thing you should do is update your copy of WhatsApp to the latest version. This is not as hard as it sounds. Navigate to Google Play Store and load the application.

On its home page, open Apps settings by clicking the three dashes on the top left corner and clicking My Apps. Navigate to WhatsApp and update. If you are among the lucky few who get WhatsApp Voice Calling activated automatically, your old home page will now have three tabs, “CALLS, CHATS, and CONTACTS.

Unfortunately, if you do not see the three tabs, you must receive a call from a contact with WhatsApp voice call activated in his or her smart phone to solve this problem. Read on for detailed instructions on how to do this manually.

WhatsApp Calling Voice Activation

If you have WhatsApp installed, have updated it to the latest build, but the WhatsApp Voice Calling feature does not work, do not lose hope. You can solve this problem easily by doing the following: first, identify a friend or colleague with WhatsApp’s Voice Calling feature activated.

Contact him or her via WhatsApp chat and ask him or her to call your phone number from within the application. Once you receive the call, let it run for two to five seconds, hang up, and close WhatsApp. The next time you open WhatsApp, the three tabs, CALLS, CHAT, and CONTACTS will show on the screen, indicating that you have activated voice call.

Since its launch by WhatsApp Inc. in 2009, WhatsApp is now one of the most used applications by smart phone owners worldwide. It is flexible, very easy to use, and comes with many innovative features that improve the lives of its users positively.

For instance, a part from sending unlimited text messages and or sharing multimedia files (audio and videos) with friends and colleagues, you can make voice calls with your contacts via its innovative VoIP protocol. All you have to do is update WhatsApp to the latest downloadable build and receive a call from a person with WhatsApp voice call activated to enjoy its myriad of benefits.

- ordoh

WhatsApp Free Download – Hidden Tips and Tricks for Group Messaging

2015-05-28T20:18:00.000+05:30

WhatsApp is one of the applications that you might consider installing on your smartphone. The application has become quite popular and now there are 800 million active users who log into their accounts, to chat with their contacts every day. There are a lot of secrets that the WhatsApp Group messaging feature comes with and today we’re going to tell you about a few of them.

WhatsApp Group Tips and Tricks

Deleting your message

Sometimes, you are in a rush and you might send a voice, video or image in a group chat where you are not the admin. Well, unfortunately, you are not able to do anything, as the message will be sent to all the group members in the next second. This means that you will need to ask an admin to remove the voice clip, video clip, image or message that you’ve sent.

Deleting a WhatsApp Group

If you are the admin of a WhatsApp Group and you decide to delete the existing group, then these are the steps that you will need to take. Usually, when you are an admin in a WhatsApp Group, if you select “Delete and Exit”, the WhatsApp Group will not be deleted and it will just randomly select a new member from the group and give him/her admin rights.

To completely delete a WhatsApp Group, you will need to remove all the members from the group (one by one). When all the members are removed, you will be able to select “Delete and Exit Group” and the Group will be completely deleted.

WhatsApp Group Chat – who read your message?

In case you didn’t know, you are now able to see who has read your message. You will get information about all the users who checked your message and the time when they read it.

To see all this information, you will need to tap on the WhatsApp Group Message you’ve sent and select “Info”. After that, you will see all the people who’ve read your message. In addition, you will also see who has received the message, but didn’t read it yet.

Delete media from WhatsApp Group

If there are a lot of members in your WhatsApp Group, then you will most likely get a lot of spam messages such as voice clips, video clips or images. In case you notice a voice clip, video clip or image that should not be in your WhatsApp Group, just tap and hold on it and delete it.

You can also go to the Group Info section and select “Clear Conversation”. This will delete all the voice clips, video clips and images from the chat.

- ordoh

Best Whatsapp Privacy Tips to Help You Stay Secure

2015-05-25T20:57:00.001+05:30

As they say, with great power comes great responsibility; when you stay connected to the web all the time on the whatsapp or any other app, you are bound to be noticed.

It leads to a lot of privacy concerns that you could actually avoid.

Whatsapp has become more of a necessity than a luxury, because if you like to stay in touch with your friends and family, you have to stay online. But, the problem is that a lot of issues occur because of being constantly online, including people stalking you, viewing your photos, keeping track of your status messages and so on. By default, anyone who has your phone number should be able to monitor you from multiple perspectives, which you can avoid by tweaking the settings accordingly.

Hide your last seen time

This is one important privacy concern for most people as it shows when you are online last time. Some people tend to misuse this information which you can switch off. Go to settings, account and find the privacy option. This is where you can get most of the job done including hiding your last seen status. The only drawback is that when you switch off, you won’t be able to see when other people came online. Privacy comes with a price, for sure.

Hide your profile photo, status

The Settings -> Account -> Privacy is the menu where you should head, to hide all your information including photo, status and other information. Everything can be tweaked here and some of them come with a condition that when you hide yours, you won’t be able to see others as well. But, as long as you are not stalking people or following them virtually, this shouldn’t be a problem at all.

Lock your Whatsapp

For the iOS users, this is going to be a really tough call because there is no option to lock your messaging app to secure your messages, unless you choose to jailbreak the device. On Android, it is much easier to do using App Lock. There are many apps that you could download including Smart App lock, App Lock, and the popular Message and Chat Block. Even Windows Phone users can do the same task by using an app named Whatsapp Locker. It is surprising to see that Apple, which always offers the best for their customers doesn’t have a proper answer for this feature while every other platform does.

- culturemob

Have You Been Blocked On WhatsApp?

2015-05-25T20:53:00.003+05:30

If you have ever managed to irritate or annoy somebody on WhatsApp, then there is a chance that the other person may have taken steps to block you. However, this leads to one very important question, are you able to tell if you have indeed been blocked or are you left just wondering if they have gone quiet and will come back to you later?

WhatsApp Made It Difficult.

The first thing we should mention is that WhatsApp themselves admit that they did not make it straightforward for you to see that you have been blocked as instead they didn’t want to hurt your feelings. However, that does not mean that it is impossible because there are a few tell tale signs that can at least show that there is a distinct possibility that the person you have been chatting to has indeed had enough and blocked your name.

Things To Look Out For.

First of all you should see if you can still read the last time that they were on WhatsApp to you, which is called their time stamp, as this can be a good indicator as to whether or not you are blocked. If you cannot see the time, or even their online status, then the chances are you are blocked.

Another way of telling is with the actual messages. WhatsApp adopted a two checkmark idea with one meaning it has been sent to their phone and the second one meaning they have read it. If you have sent a message to them, then it will show the first checkmark, but if that second one never appears, then this can be more evidence that they have indeed blocked you.

A final thing to look out for is if you know that they have changed something on their profile, such as a name, status, or their profile image and yet what you see is the old one and nothing is different. That is because if you are blocked, then everything stays the same in this respect and at this point it is perhaps the best indicator that this individual has had enough of you.

So, even though WhatsApp made it difficult:

You can still spot some clues that you have been blocked.
Their time stamp stating the last time they were on WhatsApp is no longer visible.
You cannot see their online status.
That last message you sent only has one tick next to it.
They have changed their profile, but you see their old one.

They may not be guarantees that you have been blocked, but if you have all of the things noted above, then it is at least a good indicator that this may very well be the case. What you then do is up to you, but at least you can stop sending messages to them via WhatsApp as it really is a complete waste of time.

Perhaps at this point you should give them some time to come around or maybe just move on and accept that you have lost a WhatsApp contact, after all there are only another 700 million of them out there.

- culturemob

Find Out Who Blocks You on Facebook

2015-05-25T20:48:00.000+05:30

While it is possible to get blocked on Facebook, there are, unfortunately, no easy ways of finding out if you have been blocked or not. Nevertheless, there are indirect methods you can use to determine whether someone has blocked you from Facebook rather than stewing in curiosity. Here are ways to find out if someone blocked you on Facebook.

Finding If You Have Been Blocked Through A Friends Search

In most cases, the person who blocks you on Facebook is someone you were friends with previously. You should search for the person on the friend’s list using their name.

If you cannot find the person’s name in the results, it is possible you have been blocked. It could also be that they have deactivated their account or changed their name and profile picture.

Finding Out By Reporting a Conversation

This method is good for people you were previously friends with you on Facebook and you had conversations with them. The method involves the use of the Facebook tool used to report spam and abuse from users.

You should open a conversation you had with the person, and click on the “Actions” button, then select the “Report Spam or Abuse” option. The next step involves three options, and you should select the third alternative : “Report conversation participant(s)…”.

In the next step, anyone who has blocked you will have the word “Blocked” next to their name, while those who have inactive accounts will simply have the word “Report” next to their names. This is obviously an extreme method, but it can help settle doubts you might have on whether or not you have been blocked on Facebook.

Other Methods Of Finding Out Whether You Have Been Blocked

The methods above are great if you do not want anyone else to know whether you are concerned that someone has blocked you on Facebook. If you are up to it, you can also use direct methods. For instance, for someone you were previously quite close, you can contact them and find out if they have blocked you for some reason or another.

Another method would be to contact mutual friends and see if they can view the person’s profile on Facebook. If they can and you can’t, then it is a clear indication that you have been blocked. However, if they also cannot see the person’s profile, it is an indication that the Facebook account is no longer active.

Conclusion

If you suspect that you have been blocked on Facebook, you can always take steps to confirm your suspicions. Typically, the person’s profile becoming inaccessible through your profile is a red flag, although it could be the result of that person deleting their account. Direct ways of finding out if you have been blocked include asking known mutual friends if they can access the person’s Facebook profile.

If you would prefer not to draw as much interest to yourself, you could always report a conversation as spam or abuse, and Facebook will tell you outrightly if that a person has blocked you or just deleted their profile.

- ordoh

Windows 10 Operating System – Is this the Last Version?

2015-05-18T22:41:00.001+05:30

Rather than keep on rolling out a newer version of the renowned Windows OS, Microsoft is weighing the option of regularly improving the platform via rolling out major and minor updates.

If this is true, Windows 10 will be the last OS from Microsoft. This news came from Microsoft’s own developer evangelist at the Ignite Conference in Chicago a few days ago. According to him, Windows 10 is the last version and as such, everyone at Microsoft is busy working on this OS to make it the best. It is no wonder this OS is taking a little longer, before being released in full to the public.

Windows 10 to be improved through regular updates

This does not however mean that the Windows operating system will soon be disappearing. Hell no! This won’t be happening; rather, Microsoft will simply change the way its improvements are distributed. Instead of coming up with a whole new operating system like with the case of Windows 8 and Window 7, Microsoft will instead roll out improvements, just like with the case of Windows 8 and Windows 8.1.

Windows 10 will be a service that will be delivered on a continuous basis. Updates will keep coming in and improvements as well as new features will come in through small and regular packages.

Windows 10 has been anticipated by many and since Microsoft announced it earlier this year, thousands have signed up for the Windows Insider Program that involves testing the beta version of this OS. These are the first people that Microsoft expects to start using this OS once it is launched this summer.

Windows 10 to power a variety of devices

It is very hard and early to argue that Microsoft will change the Windows 10 moniker. However, this company is full of surprises and we might see something else come in rather than the usual Windows. This cannot however be confirmed as the company only claims that it will focus on updating the OS as well as allow functionality on a variety of devices that include PCs, phones, Xbox, Surface Hub as well as HoloLens.

Microsoft has labeled the new Windows 10 as the future of computing. If this is true, then we may see this OS stay in use for a long time to come.

- ordoh

Twitter Tips and Tricks – Becoming an Instant Hit on Twitter

2015-05-18T22:38:00.000+05:30

One very simple thing to become is a Twitter pest.

This is a person who explodes out tweets that have nothing to do with their profiles, constantly begs people to follow them in their tweets and or messages, as well as that who keeps spamming the same links.

When it comes to Twitter, be the best, not a pest. The worst thing to be doing on Twitter is begging people, for instance, to follow you, liking a re-tweet or even liking a follow, since these make you look like having limited brain or mental capacity on top of looking desperate. Someone may think begging people to follow you on twitter will or may get you suspended.

How to get more Twitter followers

Well, it may not. But the bad news is that it labels you as a ‘pest’ among the other twitter users. This actually results in some people having to stop following you on Twitter. To be a winner on Twitter, you simply follow people you think or feel might be interested in you and your thoughts hoping that they will do the same for you – follow you back – for the vital thing on Twitter is not getting immediate followers; rather, more people will naturally follow you over time as other people start to know and follow you.

When you post relevant tweets on Twitter regularly, people will naturally start following you. You have to keep them interested in your posts before they start thinking that you are a pest. If your profile is related to new car models, your followers might grumble if you start making posts about high heel shoes or something else not related to new car models.

The only way to become this is to maintain the skill of coming up with unique content in each and every tweet. Proper usage of the services provided by Google Alerts, Hellotxt.com and Twitterfeed.com helps keep your name clean and distanced from the pest tag. If you don’t have many different pages to post, there are various URL shortening tools that can be used to change the links of these pages. These tools enable you to make numerous and different links that automatically point to the same page.

At this point, you should be having some concrete knowledge regarding the major things that are to be considered when it comes to becoming the best on Twitter and not a pest. In addition, by now you know some of the tools that have been developed to aid in the creation of status updates and posting them.

Bottom line

With these tools, hopefully, you can become one of the best on Twitter and realize the constant success this app can bring to your business or brand; otherwise, people on Twitter will label you a Twitter pest and once you get this label, it is almost impossible to get rid of it. In addition, if more than enough people report you to Twitter due to your ‘pest’ behavior, Twitter reserves the rights to suspend your account.

All in all, you should use the best twitter tools presented to you to avoid becoming a Twitter pest and become a Twitter best.

- ordoh

Top 5 Android Music Player Apps for 2015

2015-05-18T22:23:00.001+05:30

Music is a very essential part of our lives in the present date.

Thanks to the many powerful devices we carry in our pockets, music has become part and parcel of most people’s life, especially when on the go.

The smartphone, for instance, has made it possible for the users to get rid of dedicated music players that dominated this industry a few years ago. While it is true that most people love listening to their favorite music using their Android smartphones, the need of a sleeker, cooler Android music player cannot be taken for granted.

Android devices come with a stock music player which is also very simple and easy to use; however, there are better options out there and they can be downloaded from the official Google Play Store. Here’s a closer look at the top 5 Android music players that will take your music listening experience to the next level.

Poweramp Android music player

If you are after a feature-rich Android music player, then Poweramp is just what you are missing on your Android smartphone. Together with its attractive interface, you won’t get tired of the features and capabilities this app offers. Among the most notable feature of Poweramp music player re stereo expansion, crossfade, an optimized graphical equalizer, gapless playback, dynamic cue, support for .cue files, as well as theme support, among many others. Poweramp music player will let you customize your listening experience; however, you only get the free 15-day trial period, after which you must purchase the full app.

Shuttle music player

This is a little-known app, but with it you will have one of the most powerful Android music players. Shuttle music player for Android devices is a premium music player that offers a sleek UI that is very simple to use. It’s true to say that Shuttle lacks in features; however, it is also true to say that this lack of features is compensated by the app’s great performance.

Better still, you will come across features like gapless playback, theme and lyrics support as well as sleep timer, among many others. If these features are not enough, you can get the Shuttle Plus premium version, which brings with it a lot of other cooler features such as folder browsing and tag editing.

PlayerPro music player

Over the years, PlayerPro music player has remained to be a top Android music player thanks to its ability to play audio and video files. In essence, PlayerPro music player will give you a two-in-one app for playing both your video and audio music files.

What makes this app a top option for playing music on Android devices is its support for a wide variety of codecs. Furthermore, you will come across great features like tag editing, skin support, mixable audio effects, sleep timer, a graphical equalizer, gestures and many others. PlayerPro comes with a free trial version; however, it is the paid version that will unleash the real monster in this Android music player.

DoubleTwist music player

The DoubleTwist Android music player is not a new name on the Google Play Store and this can be attributed to the fact that the app can easily sync iTunes as well as its podcast managing capabilities. This music player comes with a very simple and easy to use UI, making it one of the most top-rated apps on the Google Play Store.

You won’t miss any of the usual premium features of the Android music players on DoubleTwist music player; however, you will get more on this app. For instance, Magic Radio, which is a new music subscription feature is made available. Even though this music player is free for all Android users, those who want to see the real power of DoubleTwist music player must make some in-app purchases. Alternatively, you can subscribe for the Magic Radio service and still unlock the premium features of this player.

Equalizer + music player

Just like the name of the music player suggests, the selling feature of this player is the equalizer. This app works as a music player as well as a frequency equalizer. You will come across 5 bands and 10-band equalizer presets. The users of Equalizer+ have the opportunity to set their own equalizer preferences. The app also comes with features like professional sound rendering, contextual music search, media bass-volume control, background player mode, visualizer window and many others. The interface you get on the Equalizer+ music player will give you a refreshing and vintage feel.

However, you will have to make some in-app purchases in order to unlock lots of other premium features that include dual screen, fade, bass boost and many others.

Other Android music players worth mentioning

As noted earlier, there are lots of Android music players that you can choose from. While the above list might be representing the top 5 Android music players, the list is not exhaustive. There are other music players that are worth mentioning and in case you find none of the above to be good enough for you, feel free to check out apps like n7player, Neutron, Rocket Player, FlipBeats and Google Play Music.

- ordoh

Can Google Play Card be Used to Shop at Amazon?

2015-05-18T22:20:00.000+05:30

Have you started receiving gifts for this Easter holidays? Many people are waking up to the great convenience of virtual gift cards to help show appreciation to loved ones.Google Play cards, essentially meant to be used in purchasing items on Google Play app store are especially thoughtful gifts for a host of special occasions.

But the gift idea can be a spectacular failure if the person who is awarded the gift card does not own an Android smartphone or tablet. It would be such an amazing turn of events if such a Google Play card can be redeemed on Amazon.com as well, can’t it?

Can Google Play Card be Used to Purchase Items on Amazon.com?

The simple answer is NO. Amazon does not allow a buyer the option of redeeming Google Play cards for any sort of virtual or tangible consumer products on the online store. But there may be a way to round about this as will be discussed below:

Using Google Play Card Discounts for Amazon Kindle Apps

The only way you can enjoy your Google Play card on some Amazon product is if you get to install some Google Play apps on your Amazon Kindle. For this to happen, you have to enable your Amazon Kindle device to install applications from sources other than the official Amazon App Store. This is known in technical jargon as ‘sideloading’.

Sideloading your Kindle to Accept Google Play Store Apps

Swipe down from the top of the home/ main screen and then choose MORE> DEVICE> ALLOW INSTALLATION of APPLICATIONS – From Unknown Sources. Now turn this option ON. This done, you can now navigate to the location from which you want to install the third party app in question. Specifically for Google Play items you will have to go to the URL www.play.google.com as the Google Play app is not compatible.

Sideloading your Amazon Kindle device does not necessarily put your data at risk provided you only install apps from sources you trust. As a general principle, if the app you are downloading on Google Play has plenty of positive reviews, you can be pretty certain it will not cause any security concerns. Moreover, if you require a gift card to download an app, it is then obvious that the app is not available for free download.

Almost invariably, malicious code is usually attached to apps offered for free.

If you are concerned about the safety of your Kindle device and data, you need to consider only momentary sideloading. As such, it makes sense to offset the permission to install third party apps as soon as you are done. The process of doing this is the same as illustrated except (of course) you turn the option of installing apps from unknown sources off.

Have you recently received a Google Play Card and cannot decide what to do with it. This happens a lot to people who do not have Android devices. It would be an enormous help if you could use the gift card to buy items from Amazon.com but this is not the case. As we have illustrated above, all is not lost if you have no compunctions about sideloading your Amazon Kindle device to accept Google Play store items.

- ordoh

Fixing WhatsApp Sending Photos Issues On iPhone

2015-05-18T22:18:00.000+05:30

Sending photos is one of the most used features on WhatsApp. However, there are some issues that sometimes stop us from sending pictures, and one of them is the bad internet connection.

If you are trying to send a photo on WhatsApp when you have a poor internet connection, it will take a long time and in most of the situations, you will fail to send the photo. However, sometimes, you can encounter problems when sending photos, even if you have a good internet connection.

Today we’re going to give you some tricks that will help you send photos on WhatsApp without facing any issues.

Fixing WhatsApp sending photos issues on iPhone

Clearing WhatsApp Chat history

We recommend you to clean up the application from time to time. Even if you don’t have any memory issues on your iPhone, you should clear the WhatsApp chat history frequently, especially if you use a lot this application. In case you don’t want to lose the chat history, make a backup of the chat and restore it later. When the WhatsApp chat history has been cleaned, try sending photos and see if it works.

Resetting the Network Settings

The internet connectivity issues can usually be solved by resetting the network settings. To do this, go to the Settings of your iPhone and tap on General->Reset->Reset Network Settings. The iPhone will reset the network settings and, after that, it will reboot. As soon as the reboot is finished, try connecting back to the internet and see if you can now send photos on WhatsApp.

Rebooting the iPhone

Usually most of the issues that we have on iPhones can be fixed with a simple reboot of the device. So, try to reboot your iPhone by holding the sleep/wake button for a few seconds until you notice a “slide to power off” button. After the device is turned off, hold the sleep/wake button until you notice that the device is starting up.

Fast Solution

First of all, you will need to turn off the Wi-Fi or Mobile data on your iPhone (the one that you currently use to connect to the internet). After turning off the internet connection, turn on the Airplane mode from the Control Center. After a few seconds, turn off the AirPlane mode and turn back the internet connection data (Wi-Fi or Mobile data). After a while, turn off the Airplane Mode, then turn on the Wi-Fi or Cellular Data.

- ordoh

Secret Features Of iOS You Should Know About

2015-05-18T22:15:00.001+05:30

iOS has evolved over time, starting off a software with basic features, and receiving more and more features, becoming “mature” and full of options. The problem is that not all users are curious to explore its “depths” and they’ll never know about those hidden useful features. In this article, we’ll make a list of important hidden features or commands which will make your life more exciting.

Believe it or not, but Siri (personal assistant) can read everything that’s in front of her, and to turn on Speech Selection, you will have to go to Settings>General>Accessibility>Speech. Besides, you can ask Siri to take you a selfie by telling her “Take a selfie”. She will launch the Camera app and you will take that photo. And there are more things that Siri can do. She will tell you which planes are flying above you” when you ask her “What planes are above me right now?” Also, you can teach her to pronounce names properly and to no longer mangle contacts. Siri recognizes songs in iOS 8 and she will display a list of songs you’ve asked her to identify.

As you know, you can change the ringtone and set different sounds for your alarm or messages. You can use the device’s own sounds or download from the internet, select a different song for each person from your phonebook, to be able to recognize who is calling. But, in addition, you can enter silent mode and when someone is calling you, you will hear a vibration. The good news is that you can customize vibrations by going to

Settings>Sounds>Ringtone>Vibration>Create New Vibration.

Other things you can do in iOS: capture photos and videos in secret; swipe on the digits in the iOS Calculator app and delete them without even pressing a button; turn on Grayscale Mode in Settings>General>Accessibility to pretend you’re watching a classic movie’ hide photos in the Photos App by tapping and holding on a photo until you’ll see the Hide option; hide your Caller ID; filter messages; hide applications from the home screen or create a black home screen; create nested folders to get rid of the multiple folders for the same type of app; find out how good is your cellular signal strength by getting numbers, not bar; capture photos while you’re recording a video; find your phone even if the battery died in the meantime; hide your App Store purchases and control when you want the store to ask for your password etc.

- ordoh

Tips and Tricks of Using the Apple Watch – Siri, Alerts and More

2015-05-18T22:08:00.001+05:30

The Apple Watch was announced sometime back and now that this device is already in the market, there is a lot that you really need to learn, in order to unleash the full power of this amazing wrist watch.

Back then, when this watch was announced, very few people had even a rough idea of how the watch would look like and now that we’ve finally had a glance at how this device looks like, it is time to learn more about using the Apple Watch. Whether this phone will be a hit in the market is still a question that only time can answer. However, there is word on the street that Apple has already sold more than 2 million units of the Apple Watch. This is despite the fact that there are pre-orders that are meant for July delivery, since Apple has not yet rolled out all the models that are expected for this device.

This is just a slight indicator of what destiny this watch has in its hands. However, Apple has the advantage of being a known brand, boasting premium devices that are usually priced heavily and no wonder, there are users who will still buy the $17,000 model just because it is from Apple.

If you are a gadget lover, the sight of the Apple Watch will bring sheer delight in you; however, others see this as a chance to mock the upper class, with quotes like “the Apple Watch is worth the price of a kidney” flooding numerous social media platforms. Better still, the Apple Watch has a lot to offer and this has nothing to do with the swag that many think this watch is all about. In this regard, here are a few tips and tricks you could put to use as you try to find your way around this prestigious Apple Watch.

Using Siri

Siri is the popular voice assistant from Apple that the users of Mac OS X and iOS enjoy on their devices. Now that the Apple Watch has arrived, Siri has found a new partner and for sure, the two are doing great. All you need is say something to your watch and the tasks will automatically be executed. With the screen size of the Apple Watch, the icons are obviously small. To open Siri, you can either say “Open Siri” after pressing the digital crown or simply say “Hello Siri”.

Mute alerts

Alerts can be a very good thing indeed; but, wait until you are in a meeting and one of your crazy alerts sounds. Don’t wait for this embarrassing moment to hit you; instead, turn off the Apple Watch alerts by going to the Apple Watch app and then tap on “Sound and Haptics”. Follow this by clicking on “Cover to mute” and then cover your watch’s display for a few seconds. This will enable you to easily turn the Apple Watch alerts to mute.

Accessibility

To ease the accessibility of the Apple Watch, Cupertino developers opted for two crucial features. These are the ‘Voice Over’ feature and the ‘Zoom’ feature. To activate the accessibility features of the Apple Watch, click on the digital crown thrice. The features must also be activated on your iPhone and to do it, tap on “My Watch>General>Accessibility>Accessibility shortcuts”. You also have the option of using Siri to do all these. All you need is to request this voice assistant to do the tasks of Voice Over and Zooming.

Screenshots

Taking a screenshot using the Apple Watch is a very easy undertaking; however, some of us find it a little confusing. If you want to take a screenshot, you’ll have to simultaneously click on the digital crown as well as the side knob.

- PAU

Candy Crush Saga Will be Bundled by Default into Windows 10 OS

2015-05-18T22:05:00.002+05:30

The title must have immediately surprised a lot of readers, because Microsoft operating systems have always been choosy about the software they bundle within.

But, with changing times and things that people love, it looks like Windows 10 is going to take a drastic turn. The team is not only going to introduce new features like a voice assistant, metro apps in a desktop environment and a brand new browser, but also going to loosen their restrictions on the available games. Solitaire, which used to be a fan favorite for many years, was removed from the bundle due to unsaid reasons. Players who love the game have to manually download it from the store. It has been confirmed that the game is coming back once again as part of the OS; but that is not all!

Candy Crush Saga, Really?

It is completely absurd to know as to why Microsoft would go with such a game for their Windows 10 list of bundled games. While it does have a colorful interface and some good puzzles to check out, the game has gained a negative reputation for making players pay too much cash to unlock levels or solve the puzzles. It is a free to play game and personifies the world of Android and iOS where unsuspecting new players are lured into checking it out.

Once they come in and learnt the basics, they will find themselves at ease. After solving a couple of boards, you will soon lose yourself into the game which is when it starts becoming difficult and the number of moves will go down. The only way to continue is to be extremely patient or start paying cash without questions. People love the game and it looks like that’s the factor that made Microsoft include it without questions.

Automatic Installation

In their official blog, the company confirmed that they are always working with partners to bring good games to the upcoming operating system. Windows 10 doesn’t have a release date yet, but a leak from AMD confirmed that it is coming this July.

The official statement confirmed that Microsoft is more than happy to bring such a popular to the operating system on launch. Besides, they added that while classic games like minesweeper and hearts does have their respective places, a game like Candy Crush Saga brings a new lease of life to the platform besides wooing millions of gamers who are so addicted to this title.

- PAU