Category: Software and apps

BBC launch iPlayer Kids app

If, like me, you have a little one in the house, you’ll know what a minefield it is keeping them safe while letting them having access to the internet. My little boy loves to watch people gaming on YouTube, but sometimes what appears to be a suitable clip …

Masquerade gets face swapping

Yes, it’s the app that tests your laughter muscles and your ability to spell “masquerade”. Also known simply as MSQRD, we’ve been raving about it for quite some time. Now there’s another update, with six more masks added. You can see what you’d look like with your son …

Google Photos automatically creates your holiday albums

I love the Google Photos app and, with every iteration, it gets better and better. Google have announced that it will automatically curate the best photos taken during a holiday or an event, then create a new album. All of your holiday snaps will be collated and sorted into your …

Difficulty seeing a doctor? Get an online one instead

Last year my son ended up in hospital with meningococcal septicaemia. It was a scary time, and I’ll admit that I completely lost my rag with the local GP surgery. Our town had seen the closure of a local surgery, and we’d been shipped across to another surgery …

Windows Phones – HERE no more

Windows Phone and Windows phone users will, if we’re brutally honest, have got used to developers skipping their platform. Those cool but perhaps not “massively used” applications are nearly always available for Android and iPhone, but when it comes to the Microsoft mobile platform, you simply have to …

OnePlus release a gallery app.

Last year I managed to bag the latest flagship from OnePlus pretty quickly. However, surprisingly I quickly found that there was no gallery app installed to view my creations. After years of Android ownership this was the first time I’d come across this situation (or lack of). Now …

Minecraft is taking over our world

Minecraft has been driving me a bit mad in the last few days. The Minecraft server I created stopped working and, even after I got it working again, it refused to work with my son’s newly-updated version of Minecraft. You have to understand what a huge problem this …

Restore photos and pictures with EaseUS MobiSaver for Android Free

The worst feeling in the world. Well, perhaps one of the worst feelings in the world, is when you accidentally delete something. It’s one of those “Oh no” moments, and I’ll confess that I’ve done it fairly recently. You know me. I’m the guy that carries around 40GB of photos …

Android Pay arriving in the UK at the end of next month

After what feels like an age it appears that Android Pay is finally making the journey across the pond to the UK. The Telegraph is reporting that Google will launch the mobile payments system in the UK at the end of March. Since Apple Pay’s debut in the …

Google Play Music + Podcasts

A long time ago (in a galaxy far far away… no, not really) in the early days of Android, there was an app called Google Listen. This was one of the earliest podcasts apps. It was really popular and I used to really like it. Why? Because it …

WhatsApp grabs one billion users

Well, personal experience already led me to think that WhatsApp was becoming pretty commonplace, but now we’ve got the figures to back it up. The messaging app now has one billion users sharing 42 billion messages per day, 1.6 billion photos and 250 million videos.   To get an …

Google updates its Now Weather app

To be honest, Google Now just sits in the background of my phone, and it’s one of those features I forget is even there sometimes. Until I get a notification that is, and realise what a really useful app it is. Well, Google has announced that the company has …

Android or iPhone for gaming?

Mobile gaming is an industry that is growing stronger each year with increased revenues every quarter. Whether you are playing an online game or an online casino (온라인 카지노) having the right mobile phone can make a difference in enjoying the game or not. Check our list of …

WhatsApp becomes free a FreeApp

This is a messaging app which has become hugely successful. Most have installed it without considering the tiny cost which is levied after a year of use. Even with that cost, it’s still way cheaper than sending video and pictures through MMS. Now the owners of WhatsApp, a …

iOS 9.3 – Relax, you are in good hands.

Unusual title, but the new iOS 9.3 has moved with the times and is thinking about you. The latest update incorporates a new mode called “Night Shift”, which helps to reduce the exposure to blue light. The latest reports from health experts have recently stated that looking at …

Ford and Fiat Chrysler to support Android Auto

Las Vegas isn’t filled with just gamblers and drinkers this week, oh no. It’s a tech-fest as the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) kicks off and the very latest gadgets get shown off. Two big car manufacturers are there too – Ford and Fiat Chrysler. They’ve announced that Android …

What can parents do to save their kids from Cyber Bullying?

I’m conscious that, as my kids hit their teenage years, it becomes a pretty complicated phase in life. As parents we didn’t really have many of the problems that children have today. They’re now connected to the web and a lot of interaction is done online. We didn’t …

A little extra Christmas cash is always welcome

Yes, it’s that time of year again and we’re all a little bit short on cash right now. I think this year I’ve been a little too sensible and I’ve actually bought all my gifts already, meaning that my bank balance – and any cash set aside for …

Case of the missing Microsoft OneDrive storage

Remember recently when Microsoft announced that it was going to reduce the storage it offered on OneDrive, and that the unlimited tier was going away because some people were treating it as – well, unlimited? I know that some people were using up to 75 TB of that …

Christmas Tree Lights Slow Down Your WiFi

Double checking the date to ensure its not April the 1st, today Ofcom warns Christmas Tree Lights can slow down your home WiFi and have released a smartphone App that allows you to check your connection. The app tests WiFi signals to ensure data flows uninterrupted between your …

Will you really be playing games on your smartwatch?

Nowadays, we can have computers in our glasses and in our hands. With the right gadgets we can even have social media updates displayed directly in front of our eyes. Humanity, it seems, have taken one more step towards becoming cyborgs. The latest piece of wearable technology to …

18 fun little games I’ve tried

Do you love gaming, but are looking for some new games to pass the time? You can get started for free at Grizzly. In the meantime, have a look at 18 of the addictive little games I’ve tried that you may not have heard of. Monsters Ate My …

Samsung pay coming to UK

Samsung pay, which is the company’s mobile payment system, is reportedly coming to the United Kingdom, China and Spain in the first quarter of 2016. Currently only limited to a number of handsets, Samsung Pay, has not been as big as Apple Pay to date. However, one way …

YouTube kids coming to the UK and other regions

My little boy loves YouTube: he particularly loves watching people playing Lego video games. But I’m constantly worried he might come across something inappropriate for him. Seven months ago, I thought my prayers had been answered when YouTube announced its YouTube kids app. However (unsurprisingly, yet again) unfortunately …

Get your HUKD on for Black Friday

While I’m not a firm favourite of the idea of yet another day dedicated to spending money, we’ve got to admit that HotUKDeals (HUKD) has continually saved us some dosh on the things we were already going to have to splash out cash on more than one occasion. …

Get the Deezer Geezer for 6 months Free(zer)

Following a rather mad advertising campaign, Deezer have a little gift for Three customers. Their paid-for service normally costs £9.99 for the ad-free, high-quality, off-line-listening version. That monthly subscription also lets you import your dodgy MP3’s that “fell off the internet” and delivers unlimited mobile listening. However, if …

Google slips YouTube Music app into stores

Remember Google Play All Access, Mountain Views Competitor to Spotify and Apple Music? Remember that since Google never ever releases just one version of a product, as it always seems to want to compete against itself, that it brought out YouTube Music key? It went one step further …

We won’t be seeing a Nintendo mobile game this year

Mobile gaming is the future. As smartphones and tablets become more powerful day by day, more and more people get hooked by mobile games. For the first time this year, worldwide  revenue from mobile gaming will surpass that of console gaming. It is, no doubt, surprising that Nintendo, …

18,000 Android Apps spy on your SMS messages

Not something we usually consider as mobile phone owners, is that question of “Where did my application come from? What platforms does it use?” Both questions tie into: “What permissions does my applications require?” Sadly we rarely think of any of these questions, therefore we put our trust …

Can your smartphone really improve your maths?

I’m currently spending quite a lot of my evening helping my son with his homework. Part of that is maths, and things have either changed a lot since I was at school or I’m just incredibly rusty. I’m perhaps the lazy one, not my son. I pick up …

Z3 or Z3c owner? Want to test Marshmallow?

I like the Sony Z range. They look like well-designed and distinctive pieces of kit, but I was a little hesitant. I never knew what their upgrade strategy would be from handset to handset, so when I heard about this Concept for Android initiative, where Sony allows you …

HTC unable to commit to monthly security updates

Android security is once again in the news for all the wrong reasons after the latest round of vulnerabilities have made international press. The background problem is that Android is supported on multiple platforms via a wide range of manufacturers from Samsung to HTC, and all those in-between. …

Starbucks ‘order ahead’ service coming soon

Put this one squarely into the ‘First World Issues’ box. Just picture the scene: you’re on the way to work or on your lunch break, you don’t have long to get back to the office but you absolutely, desperately, madly need a skinny mocha choca latte frappe with …

Where have you been this year? Find out easily with Google Timeline

If you’ve got yourself an Android handset then I can safely bet that it’s silently tracking your movements. Even if GPS is off, the network location will be logging your position. We’ve covered the fact that you can access this stored data before, but after logging in last …

New BBC iPlayer features announced.

iPlayer is one of the most popular apps out there. The BBC has had great success with it, with a staggering number of downloads per month. To its credit, the BBC routinely updates the app (albeit not the Windows Phone variant). The most recent version brings a series …

Omni Swipe launcher hits 100 million downloads.

Add-on launcher Omni Swipe (previously called Lazy Swipe) has surpassed a milestone only achieved currently by 97 other apps. They’ve hit the 100 million download limit. The theory behind the app is simple. Once installed you get a quarter circle segment displaying the most recent apps you’ve used, …

Skyscanner Flights – A real world test

What with the delightful weather we are having here in the UK, you may not have noticed that it is, in fact… summer. Do you feel that you need to get a bit of sun on your bones, or you fancy whisking your loved one away on a …

The Angry Birds have returned for a second (?!) adventure

Everybody used to have Angry Birds installed on their smartphone at one point. Now things have changed a little, at least in my opinion. Anyway, despite a FEW Angry Birds versions in-between (y’know, like Angry Birds Seasons, Angry Birds Rio, Angry Birds Space, Angry Birds Star Wars and …

Amazon launches streaming music service in the UK

Hot on the heels of Apple, Amazon has just launched its own streaming music service in the UK.  This is certainly a crowded market place these days, and Amazon’s mission is not helped by the fact that it has significantly less music than its rivals.  It claims to have …

Latest YouTube update brings video editing.

The YouTube app has recently been updated, bringing changes to the user interface – now across the top of the screen are 3 tabs these being Home, Subscriptions and Account. From the Home tab you will be served up recommendations which are based on your watch history. Plus YouTube will now …