Apple may not always be ahead of its game when it comes to digital consumer tech but its Apple Watch proved otherwise.

A 64 years old in Norway recently gets its dose of fortune when he was saved by his Apple Watch after he suffered from a major fall in his bathroom while being alone in the middle of the night, resulting to bone fractures in his face.

The local emergency service nearby was immediately alerted, well, thanks to his Apple Watch he was wearing which able to detect a hard fall and automatically notify the nearby emergency services.

The Life Saving Power of Apple Watch's Fall Detection Technology

Apple Watch 4 comes with a clever feature called Fall Detection that automatically detects hard falls and notifies nearby emergency services with your exact location and medical records. Your Apple Watch will automatically initiate a call to nearby emergency hotline if you're unable to respond to its on-screen alert.

Of course, your Apple Watch has to be set up first before you can take advantage of this life-saving feature, like who to call in case of emergency and your medical records.

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

So, if your mom or dad suffers from hypertension or heart-related problem, maybe the life-saving power of wearable tech like Apple Watch can do wonders.


How Apple Watch's Fall Detection Saves One's Life and How It Can Save Yours

Gone are the days when one has to frantically tidy up his room or home office and make it less embarrassing before the scheduled video Skype call.

Video conferencing giant Skype is rolling out an update to their desktop apps that subtly blur your background in real-time while video chat is underway. It's an experimental feature made possible by Microsoft's proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) trained to detect human forms like hairs, hands, and arms.

Skype's background blur ensures the communication from both parties are as frictionless as possible, free from distractions (read: laundry all over the place) and little surprises (kids), ultimately saving you from the embarrassment in the process.

Here's How To Enable Background Blur On Skype

  1. Ensure you have the most recent copy of your Skype app. Go check your app and see for updates.
  2. Every time you receive or initiate a video call, hover around the Skype video button and toggle "Blur my background".

    You can optionally set this in the app settings if you want to globally apply it in future video calls.

While Skype's background blur experimental feature is as promising as it can get, the video conferencing giant emphasized that it is still in its infancy and that its AI may not always work as expected.

"We do our best to make sure that your background is always blurred, but we cannot guarantee that your background will always be blurred."

See Skype's official announcement here.

Skype Launches Experimental Feature that Blurs Your Background, Thanks to AI

Google launches Password Checkup, a Chrome extension that alerts you if your login information appear in a data breach known to Google.

Several months ago, the internet is awash with news of data breaches and scandals perpetrated by bounty hunters, ransomware and bored security scientists. A handful of apps and services have been affected including Yahoo, Spotify, Netflix, Facebook among others.

The incident expectedly sparked outrage, prompting tech companies to revisit and beef up their cybersecurity and alert its millions of users to change their passwords immediately.

Yours truly wasn't spared from these leaks. A few months ago I discovered that my Spotify account had been used somewhere by a device I don't recognize, which fortunately had been patched up by Spotify. And of all the horrors of data leaks affecting my own personal account, the one that takes the cake: I discovered that my Gmail login information was publicly being dumped in a public domain for everyone to see.

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

That's where I began to take a serious look and acknowledged that there was indeed a data breach going on, prompting me to add few more security layers to all my online accounts including setting up two-factor authentication (2FA). Lucky to those who constantly monitor their online activities, but for those uninformed users who remained clueless of their exposed credentials, they might be in big trouble.

And that's what inspires Google to launch Password Checkup, a Chrome extension that alerts you when your passwords are no longer safe and prompts to re-secure your account.

How does it work?

As soon as you install Password Checkup from Chrome web store, every time you sign in to any sites, a hashed and encrypted copy of your login information are sent to Google in the background and it alerts you when your username and password are publicly exposed on the web. Password Checkup will then prompt you to reset your password immediately if it's deemed unsafe to use.

How does Google know if my passwords are no longer safe?

Google keeps a copy of virtually any dumped usernames and passwords publicly accessible online. And that makes it possible for Password Checkup to do a quick lookup against Google's internal database of around four billion usernames and passwords crawled from popular dumping sites like Pastebin and Github.

Google's Password Checkup is not the first of its kind that helps you identify if your accounts have been compromised. Popular password manager app 1Password previously gets Watchtower integration that compares your credentials against Have I Been Pwned's database.

New Chrome Extension by Google Scans All Your Leaked Passwords Online, Alerts You To Update Your Credentials

Ever wanted to watch your favourite movies and TV shows on Netflix or YouTube while opening other work-related apps? Well now, you can continue to look busy and pretend working while enjoying your guilty pleasure movies on Netflix and YouTube.

Being able to dock YouTube or Netflix videos on a nice, overlay window that floats over other opened apps is one great feature Google Chrome and Firefox could introduce to its core. Sadly though, that picture-in-picture (PiP) feature is currently not supported in their recent version for both Windows and Mac. So we are all left in the dark, given the classic option of staying within the browser to continue watching your favorite stuff.

But, someone decided to change that.

A Chrome extension called Picture in Picture for YouTube & Other adds an unofficial PiP support for Chrome that works well with YouTube, Facebook and Netflix. Which means, you can pop out virtually any active playing video into a small, draggable mini-mode window that sits nicely on top of other opened apps.

Watch Netflix, YouTube in Foreground While Keeping Other Windows Opened

Picture in Picture for YouTube & Other promises to give you the best viewing experience (and distractions) on popular sites like YouTube, Netflix and Facebook. Essentially, it lets you watch Netflix or YouTube videos on overlay mini-window that floats over other opened windows.

Here's How to Watch Netflix In Floating, Resizable Windows

  1. Launch Google Chrome and install Picture in Picture for YouTube & Other. Installation should take no more than a minute. Once installed, you should see this icon:

  2. Now, go to Netflix or YouTube and play a video of interest.
  3. Once a video begins to load, click on that tiny PiP icon. Netflix or YouTube video player should automatically dock at the bottom right of your screen as an overlay. Feel free to drag or resize it.
  4. Now, head back to whatever it is you're working and continue juggling emails or pretend you're busy writing stuff, etc.

Get Instant Lyrics for Grooveshark, Spotify and YouTube Web Players with This Cool Add-on

The really nice thing about this Chrome add-on is that it continues to play your Netflix or YouTube videos in a nice resizable floating overlay even if you're opening other apps like office apps, CRMs, code editor, and just about anything. Just make sure the video is actively playing in a tab.

Here's me watching Polar on Netflix while opening my code editor.

Here's yours truly listening to TED Talks on YouTube

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Now feel free to share the good news below using social buttons below or subscribe via email to get notified for goodies like this in the future.

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

Near Lock, one of the coolest iPhone apps in the App Store, has just updated their iOS app with full Siri Shortcuts support.

For the uninitiated, Near Lock lets you automatically lock/unlock your Mac when you're near your computer without even touching it. It uses proximity sensor to detect your iPhone's distance and automatically lock your computer if you're away. Once you're near your workplace, Near Lock automatically unlocks your Mac.

Near Lock is really one powerful app that saves you time while keeping all prying eyes at bay, whether at home or at your workplace. You don't have to touch your machine to lock your computer for a quick break or type your password to log back in to your computer.

Now, an even more powerful Near Lock is here with full integration to Shortcuts, a Siri feature introduced last year.

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But why bother asking Siri “Lock my Mac” or “Unlock my Computer” when iPhone can automatically lock/unlock your computer when you're near? Isn't it a counterproductive to automation action we expect?

Well, the shortest answer is: Near Lock sometimes miscalculates your iPhone's distance to your Mac. It cannot sometimes automatically unlocks your Mac even if your iPhone sits just beside your computer. And it randomly locks your Mac while you're in the middle of something even if your phone remained just beside your Mac.

Using Siri Shortcuts to Lock, Unlock Your Mac with Near Lock

The unreliability of Near Lock's proximity sensor-based locking/unlocking makes Shortcuts integration a welcome addition to its feature packs. By simply asking Siri “Lock my Mac” or “Unlock my Mac”, that's already a nifty productivity hack.

Here's How To Use Siri To Automatically Lock or Unlock Your Computer

  1. Download and install Near Lock on your iPhone.
  2. Download and install its Mac App. This tiny app simply works as a connector between your iPhone and Mac.

  3. Turn on your Mac's bluetooth and launch Near Lock on your Mac for pairing (you only need to do this once).
  4. Turn on iPhone's bluetooth and open Near Lock on your iPhone. It should instantly scans your computer to pair. Once your Mac is found, it prompts you to enter your Mac's password. This is a one-time setup too.

  5. Now that your Mac and iPhone are successfully paired, click on that tiny Mac icon.

  6. It should bring you this.

    Remember Near Lock's proximity-based auto locking/unlocking unreliability so we will not use that. Leave that un-toggled/disabled as seen above.

  7. On your iPhone, go to Settings > Near Lock > Siri & Search > Shortcuts and define your own Near Lock shortcuts or you can pre-made shortcuts to lock / unlock your Mac.

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

You're done. You can now just say "Hey Siri, lock my computer" or "Unlock my Mac". Here's Siri locking and unlocking my Mac in action:

How To: Automatically Lock, Unlock Your Computer with Siri

If you've been a long time user of WhatsApp for Android or iPhone, you probably have noticed that nice floating video player that pops up right within the app every time you click on a shared video from YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Streamable. That feature is called Picture-in-Picture (PiP) launched back in December last year.

Now in what seems to be an attempt to inflate the amount of time you spend on WhatsApp, the same PiP feature is now available in WhatsApp Web. Which means you can now chat with your friends and watch shared videos from YouTube or Facebook WITHOUT leaving the app. Sweet.

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The update comes from WhatsApp Web version 0.3.2041, which is expected to be followed by a few more enhancements later this year like dark mode, face recognition and more.

How to open shared YouTube/Facebook videos within WhatsApp Web

  1. Ensure you have the most recent version of WhatsApp Web. WhatsApp normally auto-downloads whatever updates available. If you think you're not getting the update, you may need to hard-refresh your browser or clear cache/cookies.
  2. Now, on your computer head to https://web.whatsapp.com/ and follow on-screen instruction.

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Support for PiP for WhatsApp Web may not be a big update for some but it's a welcome addition to those heavy WhatsApp Web users.

WhatsApp Web Now Lets You Watch Shared YouTube, Facebook Videos Within the App

Unlike Apple's streaming app rival Spotify, Apple Music still lacks the option to play your audio collections in web browser.

In case you find Apple's iTunes music player straight up complicated to use or you want to save some precious memory by skipping the iTunes player, there's now a web player alternative for your Apple Music listening needs.

Musi.sh Lets You Play Apple Music in Web Browser

Musi.sh is a new web app that lets you access Apple Music in a web browser. It basically is just another way to access your Apple Music on a website instead of launching the official app.

The Good:

Neat UI almost feels like a native app from Apple and works surprisingly fast. We were impressed.

How To: Quickly Move, Import Your Spotify Playlists To Apple Music

Being a web app, you can play your Apple Music collections straight from Google Chrome, Firefox or any web browser of your choice. All you need to do is to authorize the app to access your Apple Music library and you're good to go.

Go, check out Musi.sh

Musi.sh: The Best Apple Music Web Player Alternative - Access Apple Music on Web Browser

DISCLAIMER: This is my first Shortcuts created for the sole purpose of demonstrating how powerful Shortcuts is. With the right mix of macros, it is now possible to text blast any phone number using your iPhone. Please use it at your own risk.

Have you ever thought of pranking your friends by SMS bombing them with unlimited number of text messages? Or you constantly receive text scams and you just wanted to return the favour by text blasting them?

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

Whatever your motivation is, it's now possible to text blast straight from your iPhone with ease.And no need to jailbreak or install a risky, third-party app.

Here's what you need for SMS Flooder for iPhone

  • A Shortcuts app by Apple (requires iOS 12.0 or later)
  • An unlimited SMS subscription from your telco

Here's how to text blast on iPhone - a free SMS bomber for iOS

  1. Add this SMS Blast / Bomber Shortcut
  2. To text blast a phone number, simply go to Shortcuts app library and click on SMS Blast / Bomber

    Clicking on that Shortcut prompts you to add recipient

  3. Add total number of SMS to send

  4. Add your custom text message

Now let the Shortcut do its thing in the background. Go get some popcorn and binge watch on Netflix while you pester that nasty spammer in the background! :D

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

I'll probably go to hell for creating such Shortcut, but I find it fun to prank those spammers who keep on sending unsolicited messages.

How To Text Blast in iOS - This Shortcut Lets You SMS Bomb Any Number from iPhone

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

A once in a lifetime moment unfolds just in front of you. Maybe it's a comet, or that rare humpback whale joyfully leaps out of the water.

So you decided to take your iPhone out and capture that moment. But by the time you've slide your finger to launch your camera app, the whole thing is over. It's gone!

Well, we've all been there. Thanks to our often walled iOS where launching an app can sometimes take five seconds or more.

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And that's exactly what Apple seeks to solve. In the future iteration of iPhone, you can snap just about anything as it happens in front of you even without sliding your finger or unlocking your phone.

Soon You'll Be Able to Snap Photos without Unlocking Your iPhone

Apple recently filed a patent that automatically activates its built-in camera app without even interacting or sliding your lock-screen. The patent describes multiple detection methods which can detect an intent to capture a photograph or a video.

This works by detecting the movements of a device using sensors such as the iPhone’s accelerometer, which can pick up movement, speed, and direction.

New iPhone App Automatically Captures a Photo of Anyone Who Touches Your iDevice

Apple pretty much sums up the inspiration behind this technology. It says:

Mobile devices often include a user’s sensitive personal information… or installed applications that provide quick access to the user’s private data [so] a user often locks these devices using a password or his biometrics.

While this locking capability protects the user from identity theft, having to take the time to enter a password or biometrics to unlock the device may not be desirable when the user requires quick access to an application.

For instance, if the mobile device is locked when the user wishes to capture a fleeting moment on camera, the user may miss the opportunity to do so since he has to take the time to enter his password or biometrics to unlock the device as well as locate and activate the camera application.

Sliding your finger to bring the camera app is one thing. But pointing your device directly to the object while lock screen is active is another thing.

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