iOS 14 is coming to iPhone! Just like Apple’s previous releases, the upcoming iOS 14 is packed with features that will redefine everyone’s iPhone experience.

One of iOS 14 much-awaited features is the introduction of Picture-in-Picture (PiP) playback on iOS (finally). That is, with PiP officially coming to iPhone, you’ll be able to multitask and navigate to other apps while a small, resizable window floats on your device’s screen.

iOS 14’s Picture-in-Picture playback will be officially supported on iPhone’s stock apps like FaceTime and Safari. In Safari for instance, you can play whatever video source and enable Picture-in-Picture with just a few taps. This makes it possible to do PiP on YouTube as long as you view it inside Safari.

But, what about PiP in YouTube app?

Unfortunately, PiP isn’t automatically enabled on third-party apps like YouTube. It’s up to individual third-party apps like YouTube to follow suit. And if for some reason Google won’t update their official YouTube app and bring support for PiP, then, here’s a neat trick to do Picture-in-Picture in YouTube app.

What you need:

  • Shortcuts iOS app installed
  • A copy of YouTube App PiP Opener by Nangu

Using Shortcuts to Enable PiP on YouTube iOS App

  1. First off, add YouTube App PiP Opener shortcut and ensure it’s shown in Share Sheet (this is a one-time setup)

    ios 14 youtube app picture in picture

  2. Ensure you allow custom shortcuts to be ran. Go to your device’s Settings > Shortcuts and enable Allow Untrusted Shortcuts
  3. Launch YouTube app. Play whatever video you want.
  4. While video is playing, hit Share icon. This should bring iOS’s Share Sheet.

  5. Tap on YouTube App PiP Opener. It should launch and transfer video playback to Safari.
  6. Just go fullscreen and tap the PiP icon. You’re done.

See, we’re exploiting Shortcuts’ app to view YouTube videos in PiP mode. Not the most elegant solution but it’s a nice workaround while waiting for YouTube’s turn to finally bring Picture-in-Picture to its official iOS app.

How To: Watch YouTube, Netflix on Sticky, Floating Window While Keeping Other Apps Opened

How To: Use iOS 14 Picture-in-Picture on YouTube App (No Jailbreak)

UPDATE: Sleep timer is already a built-in feature of Spotify on iOS. So no need to use the Clock app nor install additional app.

UPDATE: iOS's latest built-in clock timer is now up and working again. So no need for you to go through the entire process detailed below and download another app. Learn how to Use iOS Clock Timer App As Music Sleep Timer for Spotify, Apple Music, etc

World's finest apps do not always come perfect. And that does not exempt Spotify, our personal favorite music streaming app.

Spotify's latest iOS app is still deprived of the most sought-after functionality as a music app: a sleep timer.

You cannot fall off to sleep while Spotify is playing in the background as it will obviously drain your battery. You don't want to get up in the morning with your phone's battery dead, right?

Enable, Make Spotify Web Player Working on iPhone, iPad, Android

In this post, I'm going to show you how you can easily add that Sleep Timer functionality to your Spotify iOS app so you can still sleep to your favorite tracks without leaving your iPhone/iPad's battery dead empty.

Automatically Shutdown Spotify At Predefined Time With Music Sleep Timer (iPhone/iPad)

Spotify Sleep Timer

As I mentioned above, Spotify's iOS client doesn't have a sleep timer functionality bundled to the app as yet. So we'll be taking refuge to another app called Music Sleep Timer to do job.

Download Audio MP3 Directly to iOS Device Without Using iTunes

Music Sleep Timer is just another FREE iOS app designed to kill any media playback active on your iPhone or iPad. It works exactly like the sleep timer on your TV or airconditioner. Just launch Spotify, set the timer and sleep to your favorite tunes.

Music Sleep Timer is not only useful to Spotify. You can also use it to other music apps like Pandora or any podcast or audiobook apps.

How to use:

  1. Download and install Music Sleep Timer [iTunes link]
  2. Once installed, open Spotify & begin playing.
  3. Press the Home button to send the music player into the background.
  4. Launch Music Sleep Timer and start timer, as seen below:

You're done.

IMPORTANT: Be sure to leave Music Sleep Timer active in the foreground for the sleep timer to work.

While waiting for Spotify to finally bring the most-coveted sleep timer functionality in their next update, you may try Music Sleep Timer to temporarily do just that.

Got a another way to set sleep timer on your Spotify iOS app? Buzz off in the comments below and I will update this entry :)

How To: Add or Set Music Sleep Timer To Spotify iOS App (No Jailbreak Requried)

Learn how you can use IFTTT as an iOS photo spy software to secretly copy every single picture taken on your spouse or kid's iPhone, iPad. Automatically get a backup of every iOS photo including selfies, n*des and other inappropriate snaps.

WARNING: The author shall not be held responsible or liable for any misuse of the app detailed on this post. The method outlined below can get you in serious trouble. Do it at your own risk.

Been fiddling around with IFTTT few days ago and I accidentally discovered that you can actually use IFTTT iOS app as a FREE spy app to secretly collect, monitor every single iOS photo being taken on your spouse or daughter's iPhonE, iPad. Good news is: the process is no rocket science and you don't have to spend a penny nor you need to jailbreak your iOS device to accomplish this.

For the uninitiated, IFTTT (If This, Then That) is a massively popular web automation service that allows you to automatically perform certain actions based on your conditions (or triggers). IFTTT termed them as recipes, and there are plenty of recipes flooded out there that should help you save time by automating certain asks. One good example is you can get SMS alerts from specific email addresses, or you can let your device to automatically send screenshots to your email.

Remotely Get a Copy of Every Single iOS Photo Taken on iPhone Without Getting Caught

Step 1 Compel your target to install IFTTT. Sure it won't be a problem as IFTTT has hundreds of awesome recipes up its sleeve. If you know your partner's iTunes account, then, that's a bonus as you can install the IFTTT straight away.

Step 2 Once you've successfully installed IFTTT, best to burry it in the Utilities folder or anywhere that's least accessed.

Step 3 Enable Background App Refresh for IFTTT. This ensures that all new photos are uploaded to IFTTT server when online. Go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh

Step 4 Disable IFTTT's iOS Notification to ensure your target won't get notified every time the recipe runs. Go to Settings > Notifications, select IF and turn off Allow Notifications slider.

Step 5 Create a new recipe with the following trigger and action:

TRIGGER: Any new photo (under iOS Photos channel)
ACTION: Send an email (under Gmail channel)

See video walkthrough below.

Be sure to save your new recipe and you're good to go!

Now, every time a new photo is added on your target's phone, you will automatically get notified via email including the link of the newly added photo, as seen below:

Caveats

a) The target's iPhone or iPad should be connected to the internet for this remote photo spying method to work. Not necessarily connected all the time but should be connected once in a while so IFTTT can push new photos to their server.

b) Data delivery is a bit delayed.

I don't want this recipe to be called as an exploit but rather a heaven-sent functionality you can use to spy on anyone's iPhone and be in the know what your daughter, girlfriend or wife is up to.

Use IFTTT As A Spy App: Secretly Copy, Collect iOS Photos on iPhone, iPad (No Jailbreak)

best ad blocker for ios - block facebook and youtube video ads

The release of Content Blocking Extensions on Safari back in iOS 9 days was met with excitement among iOS users, who've seen the barrage of ads assaulting their iPhone screens from time to time.

With Content Blocking Extensions finally supported on Safari, iOS users now have complete control over the level of privacy-invading adverts and trackers they are willing to tolerate.

While we do believe ads are necessary nuisance to skip paywalls and keep everything free online, some web pages are just plain annoying, deliberately degrading user experience by bombarding us with ads and popups.

If you're just as fed up as me and want to block ads on iPhone including those pesky Facebook ads and YouTube ads that's cluttering your iPhone screen, then, read on!

Meet Wipr: the Best and Last Ad Blocker You Need for iOS — Blocks Facebook and YouTube Ads Too

Forget about Adamant, Purify, or Crystal. Those popular content blockers on iOS just don't make the cut. I had an unpleasant experience with those apps that I decided to completely remove them for good. And not too long ago, some of those well-advertised apps even caught receiving $$$ from big-time advetizers in exchange of whitelisting their ads.

Wipr is heaps better than them. It works just as promised without compromising your iOS browsing speed. And it's regularly-updated list of trackers ensures all ads, trackers, cryptocurrency miners, EU cookie and GDPR notices are all blocked.

One thing I appreciate about Wipr is this bold promise of transparency:

"No one can pay to unblock ads. There are no acceptable ads. Wipr only answers to you."

Which means, no single advert gets whitelisted.

Wipr works in Safari (for now)

You can best appreciate Wipr if you regularly use Safari on your iPhone. It's tough on ads and gives you speedier browsing experience. One reason why a website takes ages to load is because of multiple trackers and adverts competing a slice of attention from you as user.

With Wipr, not only can you save precious data but websites now load significantly faster.

Block ads on Facebook and YouTube

Wipr also blocks Facebook and YouTube ads on iPhone's Safari. If you primarily use Safari to access web pages like Facebook and YouTube, Wipr is a must. I've long uninstalled YouTube and Facebook apps in an attempt to limit the amount of time I spend on these apps. But if I needed to quickly see Facebook updates or binge watch on YouTube, I just turn to Safari.

How To: Watch YouTube, Netflix on Sticky, Floating Window While Keeping Other Apps Opened

Wipr sets you back around $1.99, but it's worth your money considering that you can now permanently block ads on iOS, including that on Facebook and YouTube ads. (Download Wipr)

How To: Block Ads on iOS, Including Facebook Ads and Youtube Video Ads (iPhone & iPad)

App makers outside Apple know best what needs to be developed and what's not. Users'thirst of really useful, great apps are not left in the wild unnoticed. In fact, it motivates and drives competition among developers who create a great selection of apps for us to enjoy.

Unfortunately, great apps don't easily make its way to Apple's AppStore. Not because they're too buggy or useless but because of Apple's restrictive policy, preventing developers to accomplish something great.

5 Essential Android Apps That We Wish Existed On The iPhone

In this post, we're going to explore some of the great, useful apps that exist in other mobile operating system but not in non-jailbroken iOS. These are apps that are sure a big hit and will make your iPhone a little less dumb once made available in iTunes.

Smart app protector to password-protect individual iOS apps without Jailbreak

I have a non-jailbroken iPhone 5 and just like you, I've been looking for iOS apps similar to Android's AppLock so I can restrict access to some of my personal & finance apps by protecting them with a password. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to have a way out except for iAppLock, a jailbreak app that can password-protect apps in iOS devices.

The reason why Apple can't approve such apps is that it is a violation of terms for an application to make a system-wide change and make a password for individual app. Applications have to one-by-one add password locks if they want to. Yeah, I know. It sucks!

More in this category:

How To: Remotely Lock, Password-Protect Your Lost/Forgotten Phone Thru SMS
How To: Password Protect, Lock Google Chrome Browser
How To: Lock, Protect Certain Programs Installed On Your Computer

An offline answering machine for iOS

Offline Answering Machine for iOS is undoubtedly one awesome app! This is a kind of software that automatically answers phone calls with your pre-recorded greeting and records/saves the voice message straight to your iPhone, bypassing telco's voice mailbox service. Not only can you cut your phone bills but sure you can avoid unanswered phone calls from important people.

Back in Symbian days, Voice Inbox is one of my must-have apps that does just that. If you still have s60v3 phones, you should go and get this app. Things you can do with it: replay voice messages anytime without calling an operator, see the name of the caller (not just a number), call back in a click.

As yet, neither Android nor iOS has an app for that.

A call-recording software for iPhone

Being able to record phone calls (and even Skype calls) is sometimes necessary, most especially if someone is giving you important directions over the phone. If you're confused or unsure what your mom or boss has said, you can turn to the recorded phone call and listen it once again.

Both Android and Symbian have decent working apps for that. For iOS, I can't still find any.

Tasker-like automation app for iPhone

If you've been on Android in the past, you should have already heard about Tasker. Tasker is an award-winning app that brings complete automation to your Android device.

There are plenty of automation options you can exploit with Tasker; it can automatically send SMS to your parents when you're leaving the house, it can automatically switch your phone to “Silent” mode when you're in office, among others.

Automate Your Phone: Let Your Phone Perform Certain Actions Based On Your Location

While there's IFTTT for iPhone you can explore, Tasker is far more advanced and feature-rich as compared to IFTTT.

AdBlocker for iPhone to block pesky ads popping on your favorite game/app.

There's no need for me to enumerate the pros of having an ad-blocking software installed on your iOS device. Unfortunately, ad-blocking software are too controversial that they don't even make their way to Play Store or AppStore. Unless you do the risky business of jail-breaking or “rooting”, you can block ads on your Android or iPhone.

Have something to add on this list? Buzz off in the comments below. :)

5 Essential Non-Jailbreak iPhone Apps That Apple Should Allow In App Store

turn off geotagging iphone

iPhone and iPad camera has this built-in geotagging feature that automatically attaches your current location (aka EXIF metadata) every time you snap a photo. This geotagging support enables iOS to organize your photos by location, making it easy for you to browse through your past photos including personal travel photos and selfies.

Easiest Way To Play YouTube in the Background on iPhone, iPad + Auto Play While Keeping Other Apps Opened

Most iPhone and iPad have iOS camera geotagging enabled by default. You can tell if photo geotagging is enabled when you go to iOS Photos > Albums, there’s a Places folder where all your photos are displayed on a map.

A lot of people may find it cool that their iPhone detects their location and attach it on their selfies. What these people don’t realize is that they’re exposing their exact location coordinates which could turn them into easy prey from people with malicious attentions.

So, if you’re uncomfortable about unintentionally sharing your location data and want things a little bit private, it’s highly recommended to permanently disable geotagging on iPhone before finally sharing them online.

Here’s how to turn off geotagging on iPhone 6, 7, 8, XR, iPhone Max Pro & iPhone 11

  1. Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services

  2. Tap Camera and set Allow Location Access to Never.

    remove geotagging iphone disable geotagging ios

Preventing iOS from geotagging your photos should be that easy. Once done, it should remove geotag from photos on the iPhone moving forward.

How To: Block Ads on iOS, Including Facebook Ads and Youtube Video Ads (iPhone & iPad)

Please note that past photos with existing geotag won’t be removed. You’ll have to use EXIF remover such as Metadata Remover EXIF GPS TIFF or EXIR Purge to strip off sensitive metadata from iOS photos.

How To Turn Off Geotagging on iOS to Permanently Remove Locations from Photos on iPhone

There’s another iOS text bug making the rounds of the internet today that renders anyone’s iPhone useless. And Apple is currently rolling out a patch to fix this so be sure to update your iOS immediately to iOS 13.4.5 beta.

So, the offending text is a combination of an Italian flag emoji and Sindhi character. As soon as it arrives on your inbox as a text message or through your WhatsApp or Messenger, your iPhone will become unresponsive, forcing it to restart your iPhone.

Apparently iOS has an issue dealing with that offending text as soon as it arrives in your notification tray, causing it to exhaust all its internal resources and eventually crashing your device. This is similar to the 2017 iOS text bug that crashes your iPhone as soon as you get a message containing a specific Telugu characters.

This Website Lets You Prank Your Friends with Fake System Updates

Apple is said to be seeding out an update to fix this Italian emoji and Sindhi bug. So be sure you’re getting the most recent update from Apple. Alternately, you can temporarily disable notifications from your iMessage, WhatsApp, and Messenger.

Anyone Can Remotely Crash Your iPhone thru SMS with this iOS Text Bug

Not everyone has the time and skill to generate a simple 2-3 minutes social video for Facebook or Instagram. Stitching your video clips and adding music can be all easy to achieve on iOS, but adding styled, custom text? It can be bloody difficult feat especially for a non-techie person who easily gets intimidated by video editing apps.

iOS' built-in video editing app iMovie doesn't make the cut either. Their “Add Text” overlay functionality is just plain boring, unusable. iMovie is decent enough in combining your clips with nice transitions and custom audio background but not in adding custom styled text.

The hunt for Canva for video

I had this interesting challenge last week where I needed to add a few texts to my travel videos. And me being a non-multimedia person, I'd rather do it straight on my iPhone and totally skip the headache of editing them with Adobe Premier or Quik, which for me are all complicated to use.

With that said, I had to check out and try nearly almost all video editing apps on iOS that allow me to add a text overlay for my videos. Some are very promising but one app that really stood out: Vont.

What is Vont?

Vont, currently available on iOS, lets you add highly customizable text overlays to videos. You have the flexibility to choose your own font or use Vont's font collections, change font sizes and colors. And the best part? It lets you insert multiple text overlays to any given video timeframe.

New AI-Powered Apps Help You Generate Captions, Hashtags for Instagram

And the fun doesn't stop there. Vont also lets you add transitions to each text overlay, giving you full control how you want your text enters the viewport.

Here's Vont in action:

It's easy to imagine Vont as Canva for videos. First off, Vont interface is so neat and it's a delight to use, almost similar to Canva.

For the uninitiated, Canva is a must-have app that lets you create professional-looking photos and banners for all your social media needs. Its suite of pre-made layouts makes it easy to create graphics, cards, flyers, invitations, and posters straight from your iPhone or iPad.

How To: Watch YouTube, Netflix on Sticky, Floating Window While Keeping Other Apps Opened

The true strength of Canva lies in its ability to let anyone — with or without design experience — generate professional-looking visuals for their marketing needs.

Now, if you're looking for Canva for video alternative offering the same editing experience, then, you've got to check out Vont.

Vont: Canva for Video Alternative that Lets You Easily Add Custom Text to Videos (iOS)

No matter how good the apps management is of a certain operating system, in its course of use it will eventually gather junk files.

Junk files are basically files or data that have once been useful but is irrelevant for the time being. After you download a game or an application, sometimes it will have to download additional files for it to work properly.

When you're finished playing the game or using the application, it's recommended to remove the app, especially if it's a free app, to recover space. This is a good practice as some applications have background processes running and using that precious battery power unnecessarily.

However, some apps don’t have a thorough uninstallation script and that leaves a lot of files in your system. Most devices don't offer expandable storage space, specially iOS devices, which leaves you with a meager available space for your media. It's time to get rid of junk files from your Android/iPhone device.

Add More Space To Your iOS, Android Devices By Removing Junk Files

Allow us to share an Android and a free iPhone application that will help us get rid of junk files on your Android and iPhone devices in no time.

PhoneClean Removes Unnecessary Files On Your iPhone, iPad & iTouch (link)


PhoneClean for iPhone is a desktop application that runs on a windows PC. When you connect your iPhone for charging or syncing on iTunes, why not take an extra time to clean up and get rid of those junk files on your iPhone? iOS maybe the “most advanced” mobile operating system but it still uses caches and temp files to keep things going. By getting rid of these junk files, this allows us to open heavy websites and resources intensive application faster because our device has more free space to use.

Recover All Accidentally Deleted JPEG Files, Photos On Your Android Device

PhoneClean is free to use and, as expected from an application that deals with iOS devices, has a pretty straightforward interface. PhoneClean is also smart enough to allow you to keep some cache and offline data like news, articles, magazines, and book data you’re subscribed to.

Get PhoneClean for free and reclaim what is rightfully yours.

1-Click Cleaner Quickly Cleans Up Your Android Phone (link)


Just like iOS on iPhone, the Android operating system on your Android device uses caches and temp files too. This can include old SMS, browsing history, call records, and other files on your SD card. The difference with this app from the one from iPhone is that this application runs on the device itself.

1-Click cleaner can help you to easily get rid of junk files on your android device with, well, 1 click.

Password Protect, Lock Certain Applications Installed On Your Phone

With 1-Click Cleaner, you can clear all the cache that eats up your storage space, uninstall applications, clear application data, and force stop running application. You can also mass delete SMS based on contacts, unknown senders, or delete all.

Unlike other advanced android applications, you don’t need a rooted device for this to work.

Get 1-Click Cleaner from Google Play now.

Free Up Your Phone From Temporary, Unnecessary Files With These Junk Cleaner Apps [iPhone & Android]

If you're a long-time Android power user who just switched to iOS, you would want to warn everyone how hard it is to enjoy the kind of customizability and convenience that Android brings to the table. For sure iOS has the kind of mobile experience that's missing on the Android, and so does the Android to iOS. But if we are to weigh both based on the criterion of which one gives the best mobile experience, Android, well for me, is the real winner.

Remotely Lock, Password-Protect Your Lost/Forgotten Phone Thru SMS

The following 5 Android apps hopefully explains why Android is the best platform & why it can make your digital life a lot easier compared to iPhone:


1) Tasker (link)

Tasker is one of the Android apps that makes every iPhone user jealous. This $3.00 USD app makes your Smartphone extra smart by automatically executing certain actions based on the profile or criteria you created. You can define a set of instructions/actions which will be automatically performed by your phone in response to events such as location change, time of day, among others.

Example: you can automatically put your phone into silent mode when you're entering on your office, or you can automatically send an SMS to someone when you're leaving the house. There are myriad of automation options you can exploit with Tasker, making your Android experience utterly unforgettable.

2) Astro File Manager (link) & LCG X-Plore (link)

On the iPhone, it's cumbersome to do simple things like unzipping a file, view a PDF, view office files, and even do a simple job of organizing your files straight from your iOS device. Even sending email with multiple attachments & deleting multiple photos inside the iPhone's Gallery are impossible.

How To: Transfer Files From PC To Android Phone Via Wi-Fi (And Vice Versa)

I wish file managers like Astro and LCG X-Plore are available too on the iPhone. Both apps give you full access to your data on your mobile device. And the bonus: these apps have built-in viewer of office files and are bundled with cloud storage integration.

3) Wifi Kill (link)

Now, let's talk about evil: how many times have you wished you could disconnect other devices connecting on a congested wireless network so you can enjoy the extra bandwidth juices on that network? Yes, you can manage and "kill" other devices with this awesome root-only app: Wifi Kill.

4) AirDroid (link)

Your Android experience won't be complete without AirDroid. With AirDroid, you don’t even need to touch your phone in order to use it. The app allows you to access your device remotely by going to AirDroid website and scanning the QR code on the page. The free version of the app lets you do things like reply to text messages, organize your photos, and play music -- all from a web browser while the paid version lets you remotely access your camera and helps you locate a missing or stolen device.

5) SuperBeam (link)

SuperBeam makes transferring of large files as convenient and fast as it should have been. SuperBeam allows you to share large files between Android devices at a blazing speed using WiFi Direct. If WiFi Direct fails, you can even use existing WiFi network to move files from one device to another. Go check out SuperBeam at Play Store.

Backup, Save SMS Text Messages To Gmail All At Once (Android)


Those are my shortlist of 5 essential Android apps that hopefully will make their way to iOS!

5 Essential Android Apps That We Wish Existed On The iPhone

Remember the Software Data Cable for Android I mentioned before? That was really a clever tiny piece of  app that every Android user should install. Why? Well, you better see my previous post about it here: How To: Transfer Files From PC To Android Phone Via Wi-Fi (And Vice Versa).

If you ever wished you could do almost the same thing on your iPhone or iPad and make your life a LOT easier, well, then, you've got to check out PushBullet.

PushBullet is your Swiss Army Knife for anything wireless


As a long-time Android user who just switched to iOS, I hate it when moving files & information from my computer to iPhone is such a difficult feat. The same frustration you get when you copy contents from your iPhone to your Mac or Windows PC. And that's the problem that PushBullet is trying to solve.

What is PushBullet

In a nutshell, PushBullet makes it really easy to send files, ebooks, links, and virtually any  media files from one device to another. Whether you're pushing files from your Windows computer to your iPhone, iPad or Android, the process is absolutely painless. All you have to do is to right-click the file or link and select the destination device and voila, you can instantly go right to that file/link by tapping on the notification you get on your Android or iDevice. And no, you don't have to be in the same wireless network to make PushBullet works.

Browse, Access Your Photos From Your iPhone, iPad To Your Computer Over Wi-Fi

And if you have an Android device, you can even automatically “push” all your calls and SMS alerts to your computer so you  won't miss important calls and text messages even if your phone is on silent mode or in another room. Unfortunately for iOS, PushBullet doesn't have this feature yet. But given the more open iOS8.0+ architecture, I believe this feature is currently in the works (check out the paid app Notifyr for iOS, it works almost the same).

Why is it useful?

PushBullet's homepage already has a detailed information on how it works and how it becomes so handy, but allow me to point it out here.

With PushBullet, you can easily:
  • Send files from your mobile device to your computer with one click (or the other way around)
  • Receive calls, SMS and other phone notifications straight on your computer

And if you're on Android, there are whole lot more you can do with PushBullet like being able to reply text messages straight from your computer.

Final Verdict:

PushBullet is a simple yet powerful push notification service designed to make all your internet-connected devices “work” together. It's a godsend  web service that you will surely appreciate especially if you're dealing with multiple devices. PushBullet is currently available for iOS, Android and as a browser extension for Chrome, Firefox and Opera. There's also an unofficial paid app PushPal for Mac users.

Transfer Large Files Between iPhone and Other iDevices Over Existing Wi-Fi Network

LINK: PushBullet

Must-Have: PushBullet Makes Your iOS, Android and Computer "Work" Together

Probably one of the most requested features on iOS is the ability to schedule text message to be sent at specific date and time. Being able to automatically send an SMS at future date and time is prove useful especially for those people who want to plan in advance.

We've previously talked about SMS scheduler options before to send a timed message but that list is now too outdated and requires a third-party app to work.

Now, the BEST SMS scheduler for iPhone is here. This method probably is the easiest and quickest way to send SMS on iPhone at specific date and time WITHOUT a third-party app

Here's how to schedule a text message on iPhone without jailbreaking or third-party app

  1. Be sure you're on iOS 12.1.3 or later
  2. Download and install Siri Shortcuts by Apple. It's coded by Apple so it's 100% safe.
  3. Once installed, grab this Send delayed text Siri Shortcuts. This is the magic sauce to make auto-sending of iMessage a breeze.

  4. Now to schedule text message, go to Siri Shortcuts app and from Shortcuts' library tap Send delayed text

  5. Select contact to whom you want to send a scheduled message
  6. Write your Message

  7. Select predefined Date & Time you want your scheduled message to be sent

And you're done! Your message will be automatically sent at predefined date and time.

Use IFTTT As A Spy App: Secretly Copy, Collect iOS Photos on iPhone, iPad (No Jailbreak)

So there. We're basically exploiting Siri's Shortcuts capability to send schedule text message at later time.

Final Verdict

The introduction of Siri Shortcuts from iOS 12.0+ and later truly brings a surprising level of extensibility in the walled garden of iOS. Go, give Shortcuts a try and explore the pre-made Shortcuts to get things done fast!

Send Automated, Scheduled iMessage, SMS on iPhone - No Jailbreak and Third-Party Apps Required

Local Files Not Syncing on Spotify iOS App? Here’s How to Fix

There’s this recurring issue of Spotify that we’re all too familiar with: local files stored from our computer suddenly don’t sync over to Spotify’s iPhone app. A quick Google search reveals it’s an issue affecting thousands of users. And sure it’s straight out annoying, considering that you lose access to tens or hundreds of local tracks coming from sources outside of Spotify.

Spotify, despite being the streaming behemoth that she is, is still marred with performance and playback issues that are too random that sometimes you get a random fix. This Spotify syncing issue usually happens immediately after a major update on its iOS app. Spotify could be introducing new features or purging locally stored data, causing synced local files to get wiped out.

Why Local Files Are Not Syncing on Spotify

There are a few reasons why local files fail to sync. First, you might have unknowingly deleted or moved the local files on your laptop. This action of course confuses the Spotify app on your desktop so it can no longer locate the local files. Second, for local syncing to work, in your Spotify desktop app, you’ll have to “Download” those tracks as well.

How To Fix Spotify Local Files Not Syncing

If you’re sure your local files are untouched and you encounter this Spotify synchronization issue. Follow these steps:

  1. Ensure you have the latest copy of Spotify installed both on your iOS and desktop app, and ensure you’re connected to the same network
  2. Restart both apps on your iPhone and desktop
  3. On your desktop, ensure you “Download“ the entire playlist where your local tracks are stored
  4. Go back to your Spotify iOS app. Go to Settings > Local Files and ensure Local audio files is toggled.
  5. Navigate to that same playlist and click the green "Download" icon.

You’re done. For best results, also ensure your iPhone is not on “Low Power Mode”. Low Power Mode limits background activity such as downloads & syncs.

Local Files Not Syncing on Spotify iOS App? Here’s How to Fix

On average, I get around dozens of promotional spam text messages in a week from different lending companies offering their loan services. Not to mention the pesky offers from my telco and its merchant partners who aggressively promote their products through SMS.

Getting 20 unsolicited SMS in a week may not sound like a lot. But I felt harassed knowing that they have access to my personal contact number and they can anytime shoot me an unwanted SMS without my permission.

Truth is, while the internet is still the most effective place to attract customers, a handful of marketers still turn to robocalls and SMS marketing as a way to generate leads. They’ll assault your iPhone’s inbox with offers and yes, even dirty texts containing links of adult websites. And the most clever part is: they’ll use a different random number to text blast; not too easy to block and stop.

Well, not until today.

How To: Block Ads on iOS, Including Facebook Ads and Youtube Video Ads (iPhone & iPad)

If you’re using the iPhone and tired of getting spam text messages from lending companies and random people, now is the time to take action and permanently block those spam messages. And nope, you don’t have to jailbreak your iPhone just to accomplish it.

Meet VeroSMS, the Best iOS App to Block Spam Texts on iPhone by Keywords

Upon hearing VeroSMS’ promise of permanently blocking unwanted SMS, I didn’t easily get excited, to be honest. First, I thought it’s not at all possible to manipulate iPhone’s SMS inbox considering the well-protected iOS ecosystem. Or, even if you can do it, you’ll have to engage in the risky business of jailbreaking.

But I was wrong.

VeroSMS works flawlessly during my test and I don’t even have to upgrade to a $2.99 premium version just to get the job done. This iOS-only app automatically blocks incoming SMS matching my custom-defined keywords.

No more nasty alerts from spammers. All unwanted SMS are automatically rejected under SMS Junk tab in the iPhone’s Messages app. Yep, the nice thing about it is while iPhone won’t alert you for incoming spam messages, the app still keeps a copy of every unwanted SMS so you can anytime check back.

How To Stop, Block Spam Text on iPhone by Keywords or Phrases

Getting started is easy. All you have to do is:

  1. Download and install VeroSMS from App Store.

  2. Launch the app. If this is your first time opening the app, you’ll be asked to Enable VeroSMS Spam Filter. Just go to Settings > Message > Unknown & Spam. Under SMS Filtering, enable VeroSMS.

  3. Navigate back to VeroSMS app. From Blocklist section, you can define your own keywords

    The paid version already comes with crowdsourced keywords so you can pretty much skip this step. However, you can also add your own, localised keywords, which makes this app really useful.

  4. Now, see your iPhone magically junks those spam text inside your iMessage app. All matching text messages will be stored in SMS Junk tab. And you don’t hear a notification when a spam text arrives.

Note: Only those SMS coming from unknown phone numbers will be filtered out by VeroSMS. If a text message comes from someone in your contacts list, VeroSMS will see it as important and it won’t tag it as spam.

How To Automatically Block Spam SMS By Keyword on iPhone (No Jailbreak)

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you needed to play that awesome YouTube channels containing your favorite music covers straight from your iPhone or iPad? Well, probably, not once.

While consuming those eargasmic treats and performances from your favorite artists is a straight-out simple to do on YouTube's official iOS app, you'll be forced to keep the YouTube app opened or else video playback will stop as soon as you exit or open another app.

How To: Download Specific Parts, Portions Of YouTube Videos

YouTube makes money through ads. So it just makes sense for them to disallow video playback in the background on iPhone or Android to maintain the ad impression count. In the current YouTube iOS app, there's no background playback support and it's always impossible to continuously enjoy YouTube videos while you're busy browsing Safari or chatting a friend on Messenger.

However, if you really need to play YouTube in the background on your iPhone or iPad while giving you the freedom to open other apps, here's a simple trick.

How to add background playback support to YouTube on iPhone, iPad

The quickest way to continuously play YouTube in the background on iOS is to play it in Opera Mini.

Once you have Opera Mini installed, just launch that browser and go to youtube.com and search for your video or you can simply paste the video URL in the address bar.

As soon as your YouTube video begins to play, click the iPhone's home button to exit the app, which normally pauses the media playback. Next, bring in iOS' Control Center and hit on the Play button to continue YouTube's media playback.

You should be able to continue to audio-stream that YouTube video, as seen below:

This trick works well even if your lock screen is active or you open other apps. And the best part? It can auto-play succeeding videos as long as you enabled auto-play in the video player and iPhone's Background Refresh is turned on.

How To: Watch YouTube, Netflix on Sticky, Floating Window While Keeping Other Apps Opened

YouTube, being the second largest search engine in the world, hosts a staggering 5+ billion of videos as of 2018, ranging from user-generated tutorials, guides, music videos, movie trailers and more. With that figure, it's easy to see why the video platform snags a whooping 500+ millions of views daily on smartphones alone.

Easiest Way To Play YouTube in the Background on iPhone, iPad + Auto Play While Keeping Other Apps Opened

iphone simultaneous front back recording

Apart from the updated keyboard, new editable emojis, system-wide dark mode, and other tiny yet much-needed bells and whistles, iOS 13 also brings a plethora of enhancements under the hood.

One of them is the introduction of a new API that lets you use both front and back camera of your iPhone to simultaneously record all the action in front and back all at the same time.

We saw it from a demo at Apple’s event last week, which showed an iPhone 11 Pro with Filmic Pro installed that delightfully activates and captures both front and ultra-wide back camera.

Newer versions of iPhones will certainly get this multi-cam sessions support. At the recent WWDC event last week, Apple also confirmed that the same multi-cam recording functionality will also be supported on iPhone XS and XR. That’s pretty much good news.

Apple's New Patent Gives iOS Quick Access to Camera, Bypassing Passwords & Biometrics

Filmic Pro, being one of the biggest names to incorporate this feature on its app, is said to be releasing an update to its app later this year.

However, if you want to try it yourself right now without spending a penny and see how this front and back simultaneous recording works, then, you’ve got to check out Dualgram.

Dualgram: Use Your iPhone’s Multiple Cameras To Record Back & Front All At The Same Time

Dualgram was a brainchild of Junda Ong, who says there are so many occasions where he wished he could capture all the actions on both sides of the phone. And he’s not alone. Imagine you’re in your vacation abroad and wants to update your family back home and so you excitedly update them with your pictures and videos. Isn’t it cool to show all the sights in front of you while at the same time showing all the fun right behind you?

A multiple camera recording isn’t new. In fact, it’s been around for years on select Android devices — and it proved to be fun and more personalized.

With the latest iOS 13 and Dualgram, finally you can try it on your iPhone.

Enable Front & Back Simultaneous Video Recording on iOS 13 with this App

Set up sleep timer Spootify iOS

Music streaming giant Spotify silently rolls out an update to its iOS app which finally brings a sleep timer support for its app. No need to separately launch the iPhone’s Clock app.

Setting up a sleep timer on Spotify

To set up a sleep timer on Spotify, be sure you’re getting the latest update of the app. While your Spotify songs are playing, launch the Now Playing screen, tap the tiny three dots that sits in the upper right of your screen, and then scroll down a bit until you see the “Sleep timer” option. From there you can set a timer from 5 mins to 1 hour.

To turn off sleep timer on Spotify, just redo the above steps and in “Stop audio in“ screen, just tap ”Turn off timer“.

How To: Watch YouTube, Netflix on Sticky, Floating Window While Keeping Other Apps Opened

As a music app, a sleep timer is a hotly-requested feature of Spotify which lets you doze to your favorite songs without draining your iPhone’s battery. It’s a feature first introduced to the Android version last year. iOS users, on the other hand, resort to the iPhone’s Clock app to stop audio playback on Spotify at a predefined time.

Spotify iOS App Gets Native Sleep Timer Support

Recently on this blog we have talked about Software Data Cable, a truly nifty Android application that makes transferring of large files between wireless devices less of a hassle. Software Data Cable uses existing WiFi network to move and download files from PC to Android phone (and vice versa).

Software Data Cable is a must-have app for the Android! If you haven't checked it out yet, click here.

Turn Any Printed Documents, Notes, White Board Discussions Into PDF Using Your Phone

If you're wondering about how to do almost the same with your iPhone and Mac, well, then, good news! Deliver for Mac and iOS comes to your rescue when transferring large files over the air.

Deliver Lets You Transfer Large Files Between iPhone and Mac Using Existing Wi-Fi Network

Deliver for Mac and iOS exactly does what the title goes—it delivers files from one Mac or iDevice to another over wireless network. Deliver requires no pesky clicking and configurations and it is extremely fast and easy. All you have to do is download, install, and launch the app on your local network and you're good to go.


Here's a quick guide on how to transfer large files from iPhone to another iDevice over Wi-Fi network with Deliver:

Step 1 Download and install Deliver for iPhone, iPod and iPad HERE. For Mac, get it HERE.

Step 2 Launch the app. It should bring down a quick introduction on how to use it. But here's the gist: tap or click on a little bubble icon.

Note: you also need to launch Deliver on your Mac or any iDevice you wish to send your files to.

Step 3 Clicking on that bubble icon should bring up a list of other devices connected to the same network running Deliver. Just choose the one you want to send a file to and then click or tap the plus button.

Note: don't click the text button (looks like a rectangle with three lines), it's for sending a text message.

Step 4 From the list of available iDevices, just choose what you want and then Deliver will transport your file in an instant. You'll be surprised by how fast your large-sized files make it from your iPhone to your laptop.

Best Motion Detection, Sensor Apps for the iPhone, Android and Symbian

Deliver for Mac and iOS is definitely a must-have app you should install. But just as nobody is saint to give anything useful for free with no flaws, you may also experience frequent crashes on your Mac. Deliver for Mac is a little buggy and the interface definitely needs a face-lift. The iOS version, on the other hand, works perfectly so hopefully the Mac version will catch up soon.

How To: Transfer Large Files Between iPhone and Other iDevices Over Existing Wi-Fi Network

Now you can download MP3 files on the fly without using iTunes using the MP3 Music Downloader Free.

One drawback with Apple’s iPhone, iPad, and iPod is that you cannot download MP3 files directly to any of these devices. You have to go through the long process of downloading the MP3 on your computer first and have an iTunes app installed in your computer to move those music files to your iDevice. It can be actually troublesome for many iDevice users.

Download YouTube Video As Audio MP3 Online FREE

Now, thanks to the developer gods from WebTechies, an India based IT company, there is an awesome free iOS app called MP3 Music Downloader Free that lets you download MP3 files directly to your iOS device without the aid of iTunes.

Download MP3 Audio Files Directly To Your iPhone, iPod or iPad Without iTunes (link)

Presently featured on the Apps Store for FREE, all you need to do is to download the MP3 Music Downloader Free from the WebTechies.org website and you’re all set to go.



The free app allows you to either download or listen to an unlimited number of legal MP3 songs from any online music website you select. Remember that the music needs to be legally available or the app will not work.

Play, Stream All Music Files, MP3 Saved From Your DropBox

MP3 Music Downloader Free comes with its own MP3 Song Seeker to help you find the music you want to listen to or download. It acts like a search engine to comb through the music site open in your browser tab. You can download individually using the manual controls or download all songs you select all at once.

There is also a Download Manager to keep downloads organized and que songs properly on the download status bar. Should your iDevice go into Standby Mode while you’re downloading, the download will continue running in the background. Once you’ve finished downloading the music you can immediately play them on your iPhone or iPad. The music player is similar to the iPod player, another practicality for iDevice users.

Link: MP3 Music Downloader Free (iTunes)

Download Audio MP3 Directly to iOS Device Without Using iTunes

Since its debut, Apple Music has seriously got some mixed reviews both from critics and fans alike. Some discontented Apple fans called it “a nightmare” while others lauded it as a refreshing and a nearly perfect music app.

And if you are one of those Apple fanboys who are convinced that Apple Music is the best music app in the planet, then, you don't want to miss out this one cool interoperability feature of iOS and OSX: wirelessly control, play Apple Music on your PC/Mac using your iPhone or iPad as a remote.


DokRemote: Remotely Control Your iPhone, iPod Music Player Via Web Browser

Spotify Connect is one sought-after, premium-only feature of Spotify that lets you control the music from any phone or tablet using the Spotify app. And if you're looking for Spotify Connect alternative for Apple Music, then, good news is you too can have the same wireless convenience at no cost!

Play Apple Music Through Your Speakers, Mac or Apple TV Using iPhone, iPad as Remote

Follow this step-by-step guide on how to remotely control music playback active on your PC, Mac using your iPhone or iPad as a wireless remote.

  1. Download and install Remote on your iPhone or iPad

  2. Once installed, enable Home Sharing on your iPhone. You'll be asked to login using your iCloud account. You should see something like this:

  3. Turn on Home Sharing in iTunes on your computer or Mac. Go to File > Home Sharing > Turn On Home Sharing. Once enabled, your Remote app on your iPhone should automatically retrieve all your music collection and display them on your iDevice.

    Use IFTTT As A Spy App: Secretly Copy, Collect iOS Photos on iPhone, iPad (No Jailbreak)

  4. Let's test it. Browse through your iTunes library on your Mac and play whatever playlist/albums you've got. As soon as you hit the play button, your iPhone should automatically pick the track actively playing your Mac, as seen on the video below:

You're done! You can keep the music flowing on your Mac from anywhere in your house using your iPhone or iPad as remote.

Works flawless on my iPhone 5 (iOS8.4) and Mac (Yosemite).

Caveats

Apple's official Remote app for iOS only allows you to choose music you've added on your library. The app can't let you search for new songs in the cloud just like what you normally do on Spotify Connect.

How To: Transfer Large Files Between iPhone and Other iDevices Over Existing Wi-Fi Network

How To: Remotely Control Apple Music on Computer, Mac Using iPhone, iPad