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

New Browser Extension "Turn Off The Lights" Gives YouTubers The Feel Like They're In A Cinema

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.

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

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.

New Chrome Add-on Lets You Watch YouTube Videos While You Search, Browse — Similar to YouTube Mobile App

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.

New Browser Extension "Turn Off The Lights" Gives YouTubers The Feel Like They're In A Cinema

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.

Groopic Solves The Group Picture Taking Woe — Includes Photographer In A Group Picture Too (iOS)

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

No matter how sophisticated online project management tools have become, chances are you still have this inseparable dependence on this classic, antiquated messaging platform ever created: emails.

Juggling through tens to hundreds of emails a day is the new normal nowadays, all the more if you work online. As a web developer myself, I constantly get batted with emails coming from sources like Basecamp, Asana, Project Turf and Trello. Add to that are the random newsletters, pesky marketing, and social media alerts.

And I tell you, sifting through unread emails is ain't fun.

Thankfully, Nick Timms has come up with a clever idea. And it's no clichéd idea, as the way you engage in emails is now about to change.

His recently launched app Drag, currently available as a Chrome extension, seeks to allay your email fatigue (or at least makes emails a lot less boring).

Gmail's Addon Streak Lets You Monitor, Track If Emails Are Read, Viewed By Recipients

What is Drag?


Drag is a browser add-on that transforms your Gmail messages into a manageable, much-organized list just like Trello. If you're familiar with the simplicity and intuitiveness of Trello, you'll surely love Drag.

Once you install Drag, you no longer get to see this boring list of email messages:



Instead, your inbox gets upgraded into this neat, intuitive layout:



And the fun doesn't end there. You can drag items from one column to another. Sweet.

Installation


Getting up & running is no rocket science. All you need to do is to install the Chrome add-on and connect your Gmail account. It's that easy. See Drag in action below:


The Good


Being able to organize your inbox messages into a Trello-like, draggable Boards is a welcome and refreshing take. And I think Nick's team must have hit the sweet spot for doing it first.

The Bad


As with the rest of the apps in the wild, there will always be some limitations. Drag currently supports Google Chrome and you can only use it on a single Gmail account. Multi-Gmail accounts support is in the works and Drag team hopes to roll this out within this month.

How To: Automatically Send Email Messages At Later Time


Rummaging through emails is the first thing I do in the morning. And I admit it, it's the same thing I do before I hit the bed. That chronic habit stems not from wanting to do and meet those tasks head-on, but because I want to know the size of my tasks in a given day, set priorities, flag those that need immediate attention, and see if I can spend more time on Facebook ranting by dropping the others in my procrastination basket. And Drag is sure going to alter that.


Drag Declutters Your Inbox, Turns Gmail Into Manageable, Organised Lists Similar to Trello's Boards

As what ultra-minimalist Steve Jobs famously once said, we “improve by removing more”. That's one of the guiding maxims of Apple that helped propel its way to greatness in the techno-wizardry scene.

Now, if you're convinced with that guiding principle of Apple, why not apply that same ethos into how you consume your music and movies?

I'm talking about those classic wired surround speakers & subwoofer systems sitting on your desk right now and all its tangled wires glory. While this wired speaker system works just fine, why not free yourself from all these clutter and get that simple joy of wireless you deserve?

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

If you have a good old non-wireless loudspeaker lying around in the corner, don't throw that just yet. The truth is you can make it "cool" again by repurposing and turning it into a wireless Bluetooth speaker so you can wirelessly fire up your favorite Spotify playlist from the comfort of your fingertips.

Play Music On Your Wired Speaker System Wirelessly from Your iPhone, Android

Step 1 Get your preferred Bluetooth Audio Receiver from your favorite shop like Amazon. I scored a decent Bluetooth Receiver from Lazada for only Php 330.00 ($7). Sweet.

Step 2 Do the one-time setup. These Bluetooth Stereo Receivers usually have this simple setup:

  1. Plug in your speaker's 3.5mm stereo jack into the Bluetooth device
  2. Pair your Bluetooth Audio Receiver with your iPhone, Android or any Bluetooth-enabled devices

You're done!

You can now listen to your favourite music from iTunes or Spotify while you can freely move around.

Image source: nerdtechy.com

How To: Make Any Wired Speaker Into Wireless Bluetooth Speaker for Less than $7

Call it an early Holiday treat!

After years of waiting, Netflix has finally heeded everyone's call and just rolled out an update on their iOS and Android apps which now lets you download Netflix movies and shows offline so you can watch them on your iPhone, iPad or Android even without an internet connection.

Netflix first broke the news on Twitter which must be making everyone excited, YES, me included!

Netflix Now Lets You Download Movies, TV Shows To Watch Offline On iPhone, iPad, Android

So, starting today, you'll now be able to download select Netflix movies and TV shows so you can watch them on the go without mobile data. Of course, you need to update your app first to enjoy this Netflix offline playback support.

One big caveat though is that only select movies and TV shows are available for offline view, and it can vary region-to-region. But they do plan to expand their catalog as soon as the required licensing arrangements are made with its content partners.

How To: Send, Save Quora Answers In Pocket and Read Offline

While not all Netflix contents are available for download offline, it is still a welcome addition considering the pricey mobile data rate which could inflate your bill.

Finally, Netflix Gets Offline Playback Support for iOS iPhone, iPad and Android

Ever ran into a problem trying to download an email attachment in Gmail but you can’t because Gmail's virus scanner says it's a virus and unsafe to download?

Well, you’re not alone.

Few days ago, I ran into the same problem trying to retrieve my old email attachment in Gmail I sent five years ago. The file contains an executable file I wrapped in a zip file. But Gmail deems it as a malware and they cannot allow me to download the file at all cost (see screenshot below).


Gmail's Addon Streak Lets You Monitor, Track If Emails Are Read, Viewed By Recipients

Here's an explanation I got from their support page:

As a security measure to prevent potential viruses, Gmail doesn’t allow you to send or receive executable files (such as files ending in .exe). Executable files can contain harmful code that might cause malicious software to download to your computer. In addition, Gmail doesn’t allow you to send or receive corrupted files, files that don’t work properly.


It does makes sense, and it's a proactive step imposed by Google to prevent malicious programs to get inside and contaminate our computers.

But in case you need to access blocked email attachment and you're certain it's just false positive, then, here's a neat trick on how to circumvent this restriction and download blocked attachment in Gmail.

Bypass Gmail's Virus Scanner and Download Blocked Gmail Attachments

The trick is easy. Just launch your Gmail account in a third party desktop app like Outlook for Windows or Mail for Mac.

For Mac Just launch Mail app. Be sure to add your Gmail account in your Mac and navigate to that account to get all your emails.

Once you get there, rummage through your inbox and search for the email attachment you want to download.

How To: Automatically Send Email Messages At Later Time

For Windows Be sure you have your Outlook or Windows Mail correctly setup. If you're on Windows 10, the setup should be pretty straight-forward.

Once your Outlook is up, just search for that particular email attachment and you should be able to download it without any problems.

If you find this tip helpful, would appreciate if you can share it to your friends :)

How To: Download Blocked Email Attachment in Gmail — Bypass Gmail Virus Scanner

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

Previously on this blog we have talked about Cloud Save, a nifty Google Chrome extension that lets you right-click any in-page links & files and save them straight to the clouds.

We've also talked about Mover.io, a much advanced cloud files manager that consolidates all your virtual drives so you can manage all your cloud files in one centralised dashboard.

And now I am thrilled to introduce you yet another rare gem on the web that you'll gladly welcome in your productivity arsenal: Ballloon.

New Web App Ballloon Tranfers Files to the Clouds in Seconds




Ballloon is a brand new web service that lets you save files directly to your cloud storage accounts like Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, Box, etc. It eliminates the need for you to manually download files from the web, whether it's a 1MB audio file or 800MB zip file. Use Ballloon' web app instead to automatically save them to your DropBox or any cloud storage accounts of your choice. You just have to provide a direct link and you're done.

All it takes is your Google account to get started and you can start connecting all your cloud storage account and start Ballloon transfer in seconds. You can also assign a default remote directory every time you initiate a transfer for each cloud storage account.

There's also an official Google Chrome extension you can use, but that's optional. So for those who don't want to bloat their browser with add-ons, the web-based version is already pretty much functional and it works like a charm.

The Good

Ballloon is FREE, and the guys behind it promised that there will always be a free plan should this app matures into a full-blown premium web app.

User interface is also a delight to use, notably modern and straight-forward to navigate; from signing up all the way to connecting your cloud storage accounts, the whole process is seamless.

Access, Manage All Files Stored Across Multiple Cloud Accounts All At Once


What really makes Ballloon stand out is the fact that it moves your files amazingly fast (and I mean it). A 4MB audio file for instance takes only five seconds to arrive in my Google Drive. A 150 MB backup file from my other blog only takes 50 seconds to arrive on my Google Drive.



Think of server-to-server communication; no more delays regardless of your internet speed. And transfers take place in the background; you can close your browser's tab once you've initiated the transfer and your files should arrive in its destination shortly.

The Bad

Apparently only the following cloud storage accounts are supported:
  • DropBox
  • Google Drive
  • Copy
  • SugarSync
  • One Drive
I hope they can add support for other cloud storage providers like Amazon, Rackspace and even FTP. If they can bring this integration while maintaining the same level of speed I used to enjoy today, I'm happy to fork out a few bucks and be one of their premium users.

Check out the FAQ page for more information.



LINK: Ballloon

Ballloon: Directly Save Large Files To DropBox & Other Cloud Accounts In Seconds

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)

As someone on Quora once said, “Quora is a giant campfire where random people come along, sit down, and tell their stories”.

Quora, without a doubt, is one great platform where Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, James Wales of Wikipedia and countless others including world-renowned NASA scientists, astronauts and engineers converge and embark into a stimulating and immersive discussion of just about anything.

So it's normally safe to assume that Quora hosts a plethora of smart & insightful discussions, answers and thoughts from qualified & experienced people with different professional background which are sure a delight to read.

Curiosity.com: Get Answers To Life Biggest Questions From World's Brightest Minds

And if you're like me who doesn't have the luxury of time to immerse and browse through Quora during the day, you probably have wished to just feed those interesting reads to your favourite news reader app like Pocket so you can read them later offline.

The thing is: Quora hasn't have this feature yet nor Pocket has integration support for our beloved Quora.

But fret not, there is a way out..

Add “Save To Pocket” Button In Quora for Offline Reading

Meet Quora Save To Pocket, a Google Chrome extension that allows you to push contents from Quora to Pocket. With this extension, you can save any answer, question or blog post to your Pocket account straight from your Quora feed. Sweet...

How it works

The add-on works this simply:

You install the Chrome extension. Once added, you connect the app to Pocket via the standard OAUTH authentication protocol, and you're done. Save to Pocket link should now automatically appear on every thread and answer on Quora, as seen below:


Wikipedia Gets Export-To-eBook Feature, Lets You Export Wikipedia Articles Into Instant Free e-Book

Pocket actually has its own vendor-specific browser extension that makes it easier to add links to your Pocket account. The problem with their official browser extensions, when used in Quora pages, is you can't selectively add those specific answers you find interesting. And considering how Quora renders its pages, Pocket's official add-ons meet an incompatibility with Quora as yet.



LINK: Quora Save To Pocket (Chrome)

How To: Send, Save Quora Answers In Pocket and Read Offline