Category: Software (Android)

It’s the start of the year, and we’re all a bit skint.

I spend a lot of my day on my smartphone. However, I perhaps use it very differently to many others. Instead of browsing Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, you’ll instead find me working. Using either a Notepad or the official WordPress app to write stories, or editing and sharing …

The top 5 Android games that my wife seems to be addicted to

My wife asked me for help with her smartphone last night and I started asking about some of the games installed on there. I figured that some apps were worth removing, but she was definitely not willing to do that. I find her in the middle of cooking, …

Senior Safety App – Review

If you have an elderly friend or relative, you’re naturally going to worry about them. However, that friend or relative may not necessarily worry. They might be too proud to have alarms or monitoring systems installed in their home and it could be tricky to even approach the …

Sega take a slightly different direction..

Think of a name like Sega and you’re instantly transported into a world of Sonic the Hedgehog, Outrun and Earthworm Jim. They’ve long been associated with classic video games but now Sega Games are going in a slightly different direction. Sega Networks, who are a division of Sega …

App downloads, usage and spending on the up

Getting a task done on a Chromebook, for me at least, often find me browsing the web for a solution. I usually put in what I’d like to do, followed by the word “online”. As an example, “convert DOC to text online” or “notepad online”. However, apps are …

Assess, analyse and improve staff performance. AssessTEAM.

If you work hard, and you’re lucky, one day you’ll become a manager. You might be a team leader or a shift leader. However, one thing that will have stuck with you on the way up the career ladder is the good and bad experiences where your work …

Facebook for your furry friends – PetScene

Say what you want about Nicole Appleton, she has some lovely puppies. The All Saints star is here to promote a social network for you pet. Yes, a social network for your pet. Now sure, you’re probably thinking that this is all a bit bonkers, but stay with …

My love for Monkey Island has returned..

Back in the day, and I’m talking way back in the day (anyone remember the Amiga?) I I used to love adventure games. Yes, it was a few years ago, but the graphics were just good enough to make you believe that you were stepping into a different …

Easy Logger – A hidden mobile tracking app

There’s plenty of monitoring apps out there but, if you want to pay absolutely nothing, the new Easy Logger app might be of interest. It’s for Android and you will need to side-load an APK, but for precisely nothing per month you’ll get full logging of all phone …

Nokia 2 with 2 days battery!

Nokia, currently owned by HMD Global, is trying to make the next breed of handsets relive the glory days of strong battery life. This is something that has not been possible with the current era of smartphones. The new Nokia 2, which is due for release in the UK …

Memory running a little low? Here’s some tips on clearing storage

I review a lot of phones and one trend I’m definitely seeing is the addition of “phone health” apps. On Android they’re designed to keep your phone in shape. To make sure that rogue apps aren’t running in the background, sucking memory, power and space. Space, no matter …

When a smartphone helps you with your backpacking

If you’re travelling light then, even if you’re going ultra-light like I’ve done on my various charity bike rides (which, of course, I don’t like to talk about), you’re going to be taking your smartphone with you. To be honest there’ not a great deal of places where …

Maintenance software goes mobile. What benefits can it offer?

Have you ever heard about CMMS? Well, I hadn’t either. Not until I recently moved jobs. It stands for “Computerized Maintenance Management System”, or sometimes “Computerized Maintenance Management Software” and is basically a way to replace the classic pen and paper documentation. Back in the “old days”, if …

Bug bounty on offer as Google goes for a big clean-up

It’s pretty simple logic when you think about it. If there’s apps and manufacturers out there developing ways to disinfect and clean up your Android phone, then there’s obviously some apps out there that are misbehaving. Just this week, Google started pushing to get this fixed, with a …

Distracted by your phone, but still need to use it? Try this.

If you constantly get distracted by your smartphone, there’s a simple fix. Just turn the thing off. Leave it in a cupboard. However, if you need to actually do work on your phone then… well, it’s easy to get distracted by Facebook messages and tweets appearing on the …

When you’re the IT guy in the family..

At the weekend I had “that call”. I’m sure many of you will have had a similar call from a friend or relative. It happens when you somehow become the “computer guy” and you seemingly have the ability to fix anything relating to tech. In this case, it …

Tesco launches Tesco Pay+

I’m getting in the habit of not carrying cash much now. There’s several benefits to this. For starters, everywhere I go there’s the “tap to pay” machines and I tend to use my phone. Also, there’s the added benefit of using the, “Oh lads, can you get the …

Want to launch your own tech start-up? Get some tips from these companies.

Although tech can sometimes be a little imposing, it can supply the tools and the solutions for endless business opportunities. Some of the UK’s greatest start-ups have technology to thank, and this is especially true with companies like Uber and Swifkey. The mobile app industry has grown to …

Specialist app store opens up for Android customers

Just last month we covered the fact that Google Play is now listing real-money gambling apps. For quite some time before, the iPhone and Android stores have differed in this respect. On the iPhone, you could download gaming apps that let you transfer your own cash into an …

Some of my favourite iOS and Android games

Some of my favourite iOS and Android games I tend to see the same games being played on the bus to college in the morning, but I’m a little different. My choice of apps, and the games I have installed, isn’t always mainstream, but I enjoy them all …

New Android vulnerability allows fake installer screens

Many of us will probably be getting numb to the fairly regular security warnings that become inextricably connected to our smartphones. There’s an acceptance of risk when we download apps, and we freely skip past that screen which tells us just how many permissions an app requires. Now …

Head back to the 80’s – Golden Axe

Anyone remember Golden Axe? Well, me neither, but this new / old SEGA game is now available for both Android and iOS. It’s free to download and play but you’ll obviously get a few ads to pay for the thing. You can though, if you wish, remove all …

Top five ways to store money on your phone

I drive my wife crazy on a weekly basis it seems. It tends to happen when she asks if I’ve got any loose change. I don’t. I very rarely do. At work, the vending machines and the staff restaurant – they’re all “tap to pay”. When I go …

Why Sports Betting is suddenly appearing on Google Play

If you’ve spent any time browsing Google Play recently, you may have spotted that something has changed. The Play Store here in the UK, until very recently, not allowed gambling with “real money”  in apps and games. Now though, following an update to the developer policy page, you …

O, O, O. It’s Magic. You know. Never believe it’s not so.

I’ve just got back from the Coolsmartphone canteen, where I’ve high-fived almost everyone because I’ve crow-barred the this song into the title of this article. For the uninitiated, head to the bottom for “Magic” by Pilot, and re-live the 1970’s, baby. But wait, before all that, we’ve had …

Home, Sweet Home. NAS and WiFi picture backup

At home I have a NAS box. I originally purchased one of these because I’ve somehow used all the storage that my cloud provider had available and the cost to upgrade was nothing short of insane. I’d tried other providers, however the cost, the reliability, and the fact …

Register and check callers via the Telephone Preference Service

A lot of smartphones now come equipped with a blocking system to let you stop unwanted calls from repeatedly bothering you. On the HTC U11 I’m testing now, you can see that in action below.. However, in the UK we have something called the “Telephone Preference Service”, or …

Keeping an eye on the little ones

With my son getting to a “certain age”, he’s now off on his own. He plays in the local park and goes on his scooter with his friends. Even as a geeky phone guy, I really didn’t want to give him a phone. Like most kids, I knew …

It’s Friday, here’s an advert

It’s Friday. Friday at last. Last night, whilst randomly looking for a YouTube video (and I’ll be honest, I was trying to find some Leslie Chow clips because I’m a bit bonkers), an advert appeared before the video. You know the sort, it’s one of the many YouTube …

SEAT Adds their very own Android Auto app to Google Play

The car company has now become the “first European industry to feature an app that is compatible with Android Auto”. The SEAT DriveApp is available only for Android at the moment and supplements the other Android apps that the company has already added to the store. It’ll let …

Jobrapido – Find your next, or first, job

Fancy getting a new job? Well, you’ve definitely got a choice of apps to deliver the very latest opportunities. In days of old (which really wasn’t that long ago) we’d have emails delivered with the latest opportunities. Sure, it worked and you could customise the mails that came …

Going fishing? Try these amazing angling apps

My father-in-law is a keen fisherman. Or angler. Or fish catcher. I’m not honestly sure of the term, but I had a strange and yet straightforward question recently. “Are there any decent fishing apps for my phone?” Well, I’l confess to not knowing the answer to that one, …

Alcohol! Phones! It’s a double win!

Meet me and you’ll soon learn that I have a penchant for beer. Perhaps even the odd cocktail. This love of alcohol has sometimes caused problems though, and when you’re attending a swanky PR launch for a new phone with free alcohol … well, things can get blurry …

Bookee App Review: Tinder for Betting

When I was a lad we used to go and meet girls at the park or maybe at the local nightclub. Now, with powerful smartphones, you simply swipe your finger across the screen. In a way it can be a little disheartening to see everyone communicating via a …

Design your own smartphone game on paper, then play!

I walked into the kitchen this morning to find my son drawing what appeared to be a platform game on a piece of paper. When I asked what he was doing, he told me that he was designing his own smartphone game. “That’s nice”, I thought, but then …

Time-killing apps for your holiday

Go on, have a look on iTunes and you’ll see over 2 million apps now. That’s a pretty massive selection, and means that everyone in the Republic of Macedonia could have one app each. At the top of the app charts you’ll find a constantly shifting set of …