Want to have the songs you Shazam automatically added to Apple Music or Spotify? In this tutorial, we'll show you how to do that on your iPhone or iPad.
Steffen Reich
I'm an Apple enthusiast by all measures, but that does not keep me from calling a spade a spade when it's needed. Living in Melbourne, Australia. Follow me on Twitter @melbsteve !Speed up or slow down iTunes playback for podcasts, audiobooks, and music with Speed-Up
Still enjoying iTunes despite the beautiful mess it has become on macOS? If the answer is yes, perhaps listen up for this one. Every once in a while, seemingly low-key and low-price apps pop up in the market, claiming to have identified an imperfection or gap in Apple’s software, and in the next breath promising the fix for it. Some of these apps are superfluous to the user for the simple reason that the touted feature is already in place in Apple’s mothership software (in some shape or form), other apps are gimmicky or overly flawed.
Speed-Up for Mac firmly sits in the opposite camp, the one where ostensibly small apps are extremely wholesome and deliver on the promised goods. So what does it promise you ask? Put simply, to speed up or slow down your iTunes playback, an option otherwise notably absent on macOS. If this sounds surprisingly succinct or sober to you, that’s because it is.
Speed-Up treasures simplicity over bells & whistles, and is probably worth a look if you have ever caught yourself wishing for a speed lever in the thick of an Audiobook or Podcast session on your MacBook.
How to teach your iPhone or iPad to recognize people’s faces in the Photos app
Organizing one’s photos by date or occasion is by far the most common methodology in photography, and of course why wouldn’t it be? The simple fact of the matter is that a chronological structure of photos satisfies most search requests because you pretty much know immediately where to look for a certain snapshot. With that said, more unconventional efforts such as accumulating every single photo taken by the beach or all shots of your family ever snapped, quickly render the chronologic album structure rigid and dated.
How to turn off notifications for specific podcasts on iPhone
Getting too many podcast notifications on your iPhone or iPad? Learn how to turn off alerts for specific podcast shows without unfollowing or unsubscribing from them. We will also explain how to turn off all notifications for the entire Podcasts app and share what to do if you rely on third-party apps.
How to enable automatic downloads for your favorite podcasts on iPhone or iPad
Learn how to have the Apple Podcasts app automatically download your favorite podcasts on your iPhone or iPad, so you have sufficient episodes to listen to, even when you have no or patchy internet connection.
Apple wants to zero in on ‘Pro’ segment, but what about the large majority?
In a statement warmly welcomed by us internet folk, Tim Cook recently proclaimed "you will see us do more in the pro area." In our circles, this is unquestionably good news, as we all foster an insatiable appetite for new innovations, be that on a hardware or software level. More pro is great, however I invariably had to spare a thought for the average, not-so techy Apple customer.
I’m talking about the type of customer that after owning their iPhone 6S for more than a year, still has little concept of what 3D Touch does. Or how about the one that loves their new MacBook, but will gaze at you with a stunned expression when you introduce them to Force Touch on their trackpad. This is by no means meant to sound snarky or patronizing, because as a matter of fact, I don’t blame them for not knowing - I blame Apple for failing to take everyone along for the ride due to poor communication.
Shifting up the ‘Pro’ a notch in the future sounds great, that said how do you straddle the line between pleasing us tech-warriors and not entirely overwhelming a large majority of users, a majority already only privity to roughly half of the juicy features on their devices? Apple needs to find some cogent answers to this issue, and rather than creating a two-tier system in their hardware sold (labelling only some products 'Pro'), I contend that software could be the key.
Neverthink takes cues from TV era, plays videos in place of programs
If you sampled a bunch of people and asked them about their favorite downtime activities, chances are there would be a fairly even split in numbers between respondents choosing a good book over other forms of entertainment and those drawn to the audiovisual media instead. Folks of the latter segment know best for themselves where to get their daily dose of videos from, but places such as Netflix, Youtube or Hulu are generally speaking a solid bet. Internet empowered services aside, there is credible chatter that in the shadows of society, some renegades continue to resort to a traditional TV set for their spate of mindless diversion.
Whether you find yourself all too often hunting for new videos to watch during lunch break or you identify with the dwindling TV crowd, a brand new app called neverthink could be for you. That’s because it marries the old-fashion convenience of always-on programming with the excitement of the sometimes mercurial internet. Neverthink wants you to never again think about what videos to dig up next and their way of going about it is unique enough to potentially strike a chord with you.
The best sleep tracking apps for Apple Watch and iPhone
Tracking your sleep routine can often lead to insights into all sorts of habits or quirks detrimental to a good night’s sleep. Before Apple Watch, apps promising to analyze your nightly resting patterns and devise remedies to improve on them were already plentiful. Yet after the release of the wrist-worn gadget, a new surge in the category ensued for its ease of use on watch and enhanced precision in measuring body movements at night.
In order to single out the creme de la creme of applications, we have put through their paces both standalone sleep trackers on iPhone and an array of apps requiring the assistance of Apple Watch.
No matter if you rock iPhone and Apple Watch together or solo, find out below which sleep trackers are worthwhile your time and money.
The best weather apps for iPad
Legend has it that weather apps are about as old as the App Store itself. Their popularity has always sprung from the simple fact that some people like their weather forecast to be scientific and precise to a T. Some like it punchy and condensed, while again others might just want it to be a visual treat. On iPad, it's much more than a matter of taste though, because whatever Apple's rationale, an in-house application for weather is still notably absent.
As a result of this choice, a number of third-party apps have become household names as weather surrogates on Apple's tablet. Even in 2018, some of the old-timers remain too cogent to overlook, but newer arrivals are starting to give the traditional go-to apps a run for their money. Thusly on merits of capabilities and originality, here are some of the best weather apps for iPad you can choose from today.
The best flight tracker apps for iPhone
To many of us, the airplane has become as normal a means of transportation as the train or bus. By extension, when a family member or close friend is up in the air these days, tracking their journey on our smartphones has turned into a popular way to vicariously keep an eye on them. Ultimately, regardless of who is boarding the plane, the perks of having information about a flight in the palm of your hand have been recognized by countless travelers, which has given rise to an almost indefinite number of flight trackers.
Giving all of these a fair shot is difficult, however a lot can be achieved just by compartmentalizing the vast array in what’s current versus what’s stuck in the past, or which apps offer additional value beyond the very rudimentary basics. In applying these filters, a large number of flight trackers already fall flat and surprisingly few worthy candidates remain standing.
We have weeded through that list to single out the best flight tracking apps available as of today. The four winners picked operate on notably different value propositions, proving that not all flight trackers are completely interchangeable. Find out below which one is the best pick for you.