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Many actions you perform on your mobile phone are repetitive, such as taking a photo and sharing it, checking in at favourite places, looking up places we are visiting in Wikipedia and so on. There is a well known app called IFTTT (IF This Then That) that automates tasks on mobile phones. Less well known, but more powerful is Microsoft’s on{X}.
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- Written by Roland Waddilove
- Created: 11 November 2014
Fitness and activity tracking has suddenly become a hot topic and there are numerous apps, bands and watches that promise to record every move you make. Apple has built in a Health app to iOS 8 and the iPhone 6 tracks every step you make, Microsoft just launched a wristband with tracking capabilities and a HealthVault website, and now Google has launched its own app. I have been running Google Fit for the past week on my Samsung Galaxy S4, so how has it been?
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- Written by Roland Waddilove
- Created: 07 November 2014
Flappy Bird was one of the success stories of the year and as soon as the app for iOS and Android devices it took off, dozens, perhaps even hundreds of clones were made. Even now, a search for Flappy Bird in the iOS App Store or Google Play Store will result in lots of clones.
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- Written by Roland Waddilove
- Created: 28 October 2014
Some people play games and have lots of games apps, other people like photography or social networking, and they add all the relevant apps. I like news apps – everyone has their own favourite use for their phone, apart from making calls, and mine is keeping up with the latest news. Especially technology news. I have more news apps than any other category. One I have been using a lot lately is Google News and Weather.
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- Written by Roland Waddilove
- Created: 05 October 2014
Privacy issues are a constant concern for many people that use mobiles phones, tablets and the internet. Only recently there were leaked photos of naked celebrities, but privacy is not just about pictures we don’t want other people to see. Privacy is also about preventing people and companies from tracking your activities as you browse the web, not sharing your name, age, phone number, location, hobbies and interests with all and sundry.
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- Written by Roland Waddilove
- Created: 17 September 2014
How many times have you lost your phone? No, not really lost it, but lost it in your home. You know you had it last night, but this morning when you get up, you cannot remember where you left it. Is it under the bed or the sofa? In the lounge or the kitchen? Has the dog picked it up, drooled all over it and dropped it in his basket? Android Device Manager can locate it for you.
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- Written by Roland Waddilove
- Created: 12 September 2014
There are many fitness tracking apps for smartphones that are able to monitor running, walking, cycling and other activities and we are spoilt for choice. Moves is an interesting one because it works automatically and you don’t need to manually start it and stop it. It just works. Link it to HealthVault and it becomes even more useful.
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- Written by Roland Waddilove
- Created: 07 September 2014
Public Wi-Fi networks are very useful and it is great to be able to get on the network and access the web, email, online video, music and more. The only snag is that establishing a connection isn’t as easy as it could be. Passpoint changes all that.
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- Written by Roland Waddilove
- Created: 02 September 2014
Suppose you have a file on your tablet that you want to access on your phone. What if you have taken a photo on your phone and want to edit it on your tablet. How would you send a web link from a phone to a tablet or tablet to a phone? All these activities and more are possible with a free app for Android and iOS called Pushbullet.
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- Written by Roland Waddilove
- Created: 25 August 2014
The lock screen on Android phones and tablets can be very irritating because it often shows very little that is of interest and at best there is just a clock. It also gets in the way and you have to swipe the lock screen away to get to the phone’s features. Lock screen apps are one way to make it more useful and Chronus can be used to show the weather, calendar events, email, news reports and more.
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- Written by Roland Waddilove
- Created: 20 August 2014
The Google Play App Store for Android users is packed with great apps and it is fun to browse the titles and install them. However, it isn't ideal browsing the store on a small screen, such as with a mobile phone. You don't have to because you can browse the store on your computer instead.
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- Written by Roland Waddilove
- Created: 13 August 2014
The amount of data their mobile phone uses is a constant worry for some people. The problem is that most contracts have a data limit, sometimes as little as 500MB. There are penalties for using too much data, so Onavo Count will tell you exactly how much you have used and the amount remaining.
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- Written by mike-j
- Created: 09 August 2014
Another question is, does it need to locate you as accurately as it does? The answer is, probably not. Your phone could be working hard to determine where in the world you are down to the nearest few meters, but is this just a waste of processing power and battery life? Most of the time, yes.
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- Written by mike-j
- Created: 04 August 2014
Some people say that the brain is like a muscle and like any other muscle, if you exercise it, it will improve. It won’t get physically larger like other muscles do, but it will become more efficient and you can increase your brain power. Lumosity and Fit Brains are two competing brain training apps for Android that are designed to make you smarter.
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- Written by Roland Waddilove
- Created: 27 July 2014
There are lots of battery managers in the Google Play Store and it is a popular category. Is this because it is easy to write battery-saving apps or because lots of people need them? It is probably a bit of both. Battery Doctor is one example of a battery extender that is very popular, with millions of installs.
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- Written by Roland Waddilove
- Created: 19 July 2014
Battery life is a constant problem for Android phone users and it just isn’t as good as our iPhone-owning friends. Apple’s battery technology is clearly the best, but a lot of the time, the poor battery life on our Android phone is partly our own fault and it is down to the apps we install. Here’s what you can do.
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- Written by Roland Waddilove
- Created: 13 July 2014
Who remembers Age of Empires on the PC? It was released in 1997 and there were several follow-up titles over the years. Colonies vs Empire is similar and it is a real-time strategy game that involves building a city and an army. The army can be purely for defence or you can attack and plunder neighbouring cities. The way you play is up to you.
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- Written by Janine Jones
- Created: 08 July 2014
I lost my phone at the weekend. I knew it was in the house somewhere, but it wasn't on the table where I usually keep it. Finding it was pretty straightforward...
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- Written by Janine Jones
- Created: 07 July 2014
You wait ages for an update and then two come along at once. Well, almost at once and Android 4.4.4 has quickly followed 4.4.3. The two updates mostly fix bugs that were afflicting phone and tablet users with Android 4.4.2 and there aren't that many obvious changes, just a tweak here and there.
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- Written by Janine Jones
- Created: 27 June 2014
Poor battery life on your mobile phone is a constant problem and it affects a lot of people. Some owners cannot get through a whole day without connecting their phone to a charger. What is wrong and what is the solution to high battery drain and short battery life? It could actually be caused by almost anything, so let's take a look at a couple of typical cases.
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- Written by Roland Waddilove
- Created: 21 June 2014
