A pointless rip-off of a pointless app: Meet Yup, India’s version of Yo!

We’ve already discussed before how pointless the Yo app was and even though the app has seen some new features like the ability to send links, start Hashtags and follow third-party services, the idea of just ‘Yoing’ people borders on lame.

Of course, when there’s an idea that creating some serious buzz in America, an Indian rip-off is never far behind. So now Gurgaon-based Nucleus Research has launched its own version of the Yo app and called it Yup! Yup that’s right, they didn’t even choose a name which started with a letter other than Y.

The app which is currently available on Android, is going to be available on Apple and Windows Phone 8 soon. Interestingly when you head to the developers’ site, it takes to you to a bunch of terms and service which point out that any copyright violation will be dealt with in a court of law. The irony is hard to miss.

According to a press release, the company has also roped in singer Yo Yo Honey Singh as their brand ambassador. Take that Yo, Yup! has the singer whose name might have really been useful for your brand.

Also if you download the app, he will be your first (and possibly only) friend on the app. Honey Singh had this to say at the launch of the app, “I am excited to become a part of YUP!team as this gives me an opportunity to engage with my fans in a unique way. My fans can now interact with me and share their feedback by just Yupping me anytime, anywhere. Join Yup! to become a Yup Star.” Put away that bottle of vodka and we suggest your start Yupping to Honey Singh on your mobile.

So what does the app do? Well you can send a Yup! to your friends once you download the app and convince other friends to do the same. According to the company, here are some scenarios in which you can send or say Yup:

1) Yup! to say Good morning – receive Yup when your coffee is ready.
2) Yup! when you reach home, work or getting late at night.
3) Yup! when work is done – bank, office task or you finish a meeting.
4) Yup! if you making a plan.

And of course who can forget the most useful one “Yup! to interact with Yo Yo Honey Singh.” The app allows also you to send more than a Yup, but you’ll have to add contacts and can’t do the same with just the two default contacts (Honey Singh and the Yup team.)

The things you can send to your contact other than Yup are “Miss Me?, Love Me?, All Ok? Coffee? Let’s Go? Reached? Can Talk? Party?” So each of the messages you send via Yup! will have a crazy question mark at the end and we can’t help but wonder why. Somebody should point out that Miss me and Love me with a question mark at the end sound just so damn needy or creepy depending on who sends it.

Since Yup! has so many uses, we came up with two other scenarios in which you can rely on the app.

When the girlfriend/boyfriend is harassing you on WhatsApp or Hike with questions like “Are you leaving me? Are you cheating on me?” Just reply with a Yup! It will definitely revolutionise break-ups. When your boss asks if you’re quitting, just send a Yup. If like you feel Yup doesn’t have enough swag, we suggest you use Yo.

So what does the app look? Exactly like Yo. Yup, true story. The UI is like Yo, down to the colourful blocks for the various buttons.  Even the purple and green colours are taken down from Yo and so is the font.

So how is it like to use the app? Well after sending a ‘Yup’ to Honey Singh, we waited a while for a reaction or some kind of a response, but got nothing. Maybe we should have sent him a Yo. Even a bot saying ‘Yup’ back in place of Honey Singh would have been nice but sadly it was not to be.

Given that the app is a total rip-off of the Yo app, (which itself has limited uses) it’s a little surprising that the company expects to have 50 million users by the end of 2015. Whether or not Yo will try to have the app removed from the Play Store remains to be seen. But we won’t be surprised if it’s booted out before it hits the ambitious goal of 50 million users.

5 must-have Android apps to make you smarter and more productive

We’re halfway through 2014, Google has just wrapped up its annual I/O developers’ conference in San Francisco, and a long Fourth of July holiday is behind us.

So now seems like a fitting time to look at some of the best Android productivity apps of the year. Some are brand new, others are not -- though usefulness is the real point of these apps, not how fresh out of the oven they are. But all are worth downloading and trying out.

Yahoo Aviate

I never would have thought something from Yahoo would improve the overall experience with my Android phone, but Yahoo Aviate -- which just came out of beta and is available in Google Play -- pulls it off.

Android Work: What IT pros need to know
Aviate is an Android launcher that Yahoo acquired in January. Android launchers basically make it easier for users to access apps and features from their devices. I know, this sounds overwhelming, but the right launcher can really improve your smartphone experience.

And Aviate likely will be the right launcher for many Android users, especially those who tire of the cumbersome displays and features on phones that have been altered by manufacturers under their license agreement with Google.

Aviate excels at organizing your apps in a logical manner. As you can see from the screenshot, it groups apps by category, so my productivity apps (Dropbox, Google Drive, Evernote, etc.) are all in one place at the top of the screen, instead of being interspersed in alphabetical order or by frequency of use.

Below that are categories for entertainment, music, social and transit apps. Users kick off the set-up process by selecting their 10 most important apps (which will be featured on the Aviate home screen) as well as five important apps categories. After that, Aviate takes over.

Even better -- and I’ve only just begun to use this feature -- Aviate will feed users contextual information throughout the day, beginning when they wake up and the app automatically shows them how long they’ve slept (not sure how it does that, to be honest), along with the day’s news and weather. During work hours, Aviate will present a screen with productivity apps, event listings, and directions to the user’s home. Aviate also will automatically give users on the road the latest local traffic conditions and directions back home.

As with any apps that provide a new interface, users can get lost in Aviate’s many swipe screens, and I somehow the screen with the 10 most-important apps I chose was altered so that I was getting apps grouped in categories. Then the apps wouldn’t work when I tapped them. It turns out that I had taken a screenshot of screen listing apps by groups. I just had to hold down the screenshot and swipe it into the trash bin.

My big concern with Aviate was how (and if) it would play nice with Google Now, which I rely on heavily throughout the day, especially on my smartphone. The good news is that Google Now works seamlessly with Aviate. This is particularly important given the latest update to Google Search, which includes a function that allows users to voice-activate Google Now from any screen (and not just when the Google Now widget (and microphone) is visible.

In the week or so that I’ve used Aviate, it’s made my phone easier to navigate and use. I recommend giving it a try. You can always uninstall it or revert to your phone’s old look by accessing Aviate’s settings and tapping “Show previous homescreen.”

Contacts+

I’ve been using Contacts+ for about a year and it’s one of the most useful apps on my phone.

Just as Aviate organizes your apps by categories, Contacts+ organizes the wide variety of real people for whom you have email addresses, phone numbers and social media accounts.

Tap on a name in your Contacts+ directory and you are presented with numerous options for contacting that person, including text, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, and even telephone. If you have an address for your contact, you can even tap the Google Maps icon and get directions to them.

Lumosity

Our fast-paced digital world doesn’t suffer fuzzy thinkers kindly, so it behooves working professionals to stay on top of their game. And while there are plenty of fitness apps out there to help keep your body in shape, this Lumosity app from Lumos Labs provides workouts for your brain.

We’re not talking Candy Crush and Angry Birds here, people. Lumosity was developed by neuroscientists to help improve users’ memory, attention, mental flexibility and speed, and problem solving.

The app tailors its mental challenges to whatever the user would like to work on.  Under “memory,” users can choose training that would allow them to lose fewer objects, remember people’s names, learn new subjects quickly, or keep track of multiple ideas. Choices under “attention” are to avoid distractions, concentrate better, improve productivity and precision, or focus longer on important tasks. There also are four options under mental flexibility, speed and problem solving, but you get the general idea.

As for the games themselves, they’re light on bling but heavy on challenge. For example, the goal of the “Speed Match” game is to improve a user’s “initial identification and analysis of incoming sensory input” by having users indicate whether a shape that pops up on their screen is identical to the previous shape.

Granted, there are no egg-stealing pigs to bombard, but all apps have their shortcomings.

Lumosity will run users through about five mental exercises before declaring their training over for the day, which is a good reminder to use your sharpened brain for the challenges of real life.

Smart Voice Recorder

There are a lot of voice recorder apps for Android, but I like Smart Voice Recorder  by Smartmob Development. I keep the app icon on my homescreen for easy access when I need to record a thought, an interview or a conference session.

Smart Voice Recorder has a very simple user interface and a “silence skipper” option, so dead time isn’t recorded. Once you’ve recorded something and saved it, you can rename the file, set it as a ringtone, notification or alarm, and share it via Dropbox, Evernote, Google Drive, Gmail, email and text.

That’s pretty much all that Smart Voice Recorder does, but it does those things well.

Mobile Backup & Restore

Some apps are valuable because users rely on them daily. Others are valuable even if they are hardly ever used -- because they help prevent disaster.

Trend Micro’s Mobile Backup & Restore falls into the latter category. This free Android app makes copies of whatever you ask it to and keeps them in the cloud until you need them.

This backup app requires you to create an account after download. Once you do, you can choose what the back up from the following categories: Contacts, Calendar, Call History, Text History, Photos, Music, and Videos.

Backup and Restore offers only 50MB of free online storage space, so I use it for smaller text and contact files. For $19.99 a year, you can get 5GB of storage space.

You can set Backup and Restore to automatically back up designated files on a daily or weekly basis, as well as transfer files to another device.

App to delete messages before it's received

Worried about a wrong message sent to your boss, parents or colleagues? Now you can delete it instantly before they read it.

An app called ''Invisible Text'' allows its users to permanently delete a message preventing it from reaching the other person. But with a clause, it can only be deleted if it hasn't been already opened by the recipient.

Another amazing advantage of the app is its timer facility, which allows the user to set a timer for a message to self-destruct itself if it is not read within a stipulated amount of time.

The app works for all kinds of messages be it videos, texts, voice or picture messages.

The app is available on Android, iOS and BlackBerry devices using a technology that combines message encryption with device pairing.

"To date, no other solution can ensure secure data transmission between two devices, including a smartphone, smart TV, computer, tablet, radio or webcam," the company said in a statement.

The recipient of the text you want to delete must also have "Invisible Text" app on his phone.

Now, app that helps extend smartphone battery life

A researcher in the US has developed a new smartphone app that can help you minimise energy consumption and extend the battery life of your cell phone.



Y Charlie Hu, a professor in the Purdue University school of electrical and computer engineering, has created the app named Estar that shows how quickly other apps will drain a smartphone battery, and offers energy efficient alternatives.

"We created the free Estar app specifically to empower smartphone users to extend their smartphone battery life by exposing energy footprints of all the popular apps in the app market," Hu was quoted as saying by The Journal & Courier.

The app provides users with information so they can make more informed decisions on whether they want to avoid downloading power-hungry apps or remove such apps that were previously downloaded.

Estar, which is available for free in Google Play, displays a colour-coded, five-star energy rating for each app that shows how fast an app will drain the phone battery relative to other apps in the same category.

Users can then use this information to make decisions on which apps they choose to download, including energy-efficient apps, those having high energy ratings by Estar.

The app also reports on the energy drain of apps already downloaded and running on the user's phone to identify and warn the user which apps are draining an excessive amount of battery.

The user can then take actions such as stopping or removing the app to extend the battery life.

WhatsApp Voice Calling Feature Spotted in Yet Another Leak

If media reports are to be believed, mobile messaging service WhatsApp is set to launch a free voice calling feature for its 600 million monthly active users. A website claiming to have obtained images of the upcoming voice calling-based interface of the app suggests the feature is coming soon.
"The leaked images of the upcoming user interface shows that the app has been enabled with other language translations which will be displayed at the time a person receives a call via WhatsApp," a report on thefusejoplin.com stated.

The translation feature available in the latest version of WhatsApp has made it clear that the voice-calling plugin is on its way. While the voice calling feature is all set to be released on WhatsApp, there is no update if there is going to be a similar feature on Facebook, the report added.

This is not the first time the voice calling feature has been tipped to arrive soon on WhatsApp. CEO Jan Koum himself promised the feature at MWC for a Q2 2014 launch. "We are going to introduce voice in WhatsApp in the second quarter of this year. I think we have the best voice product out there. We use the least amount of bandwidth."

Koum at MWC said the voice service will be deployed for Android and iPhone this spring, with Blackberry and Microsoft and Nokia phones coming later. Soon after this announcement, a leak revealed the company had already begun testing the feature, with the service being spotted in screenshots of Hindi translation requests.

Screenshots of the translation requests, visible to people who volunteer to do translations for WhatsApp, had showed various strings that are required to be translated for Hang up, Incoming call, and Outgoing call. Since the translating of UI elements is normally one of the last stages in app development, it was then expected the voice calling feature would come quite soon - however, the service is to roll-out, nearly 5 months later.

Facebook-owned WhatsApp has witnessed a 15 percent rise in its traffic since the acquisition. WhatsApp has crossed 50 million active users in India alone.

Matter app will add 3D backgrounds to your photos

Fancy adding 3D backgrounds to your photos right from your iPhone or iPad with the Matter app which is up for grabs on iTunes? This iOS tool is designed to let users make some creative 3D changes to pictures clicked through their Apple devices and then export these as plain old images or even video loops.



If you use the provided background sensibly in your photographs, then there good chances of the result turning out nicely. That’s because the 3D objects you can choose from within the Matter application are made to look somewhat realistic with the inclusion of reflections and shadows. You will be able to see what we mean by checking out the image posted below.

The shadow of the 3D structure can be adjusted to match the rest of the photo in which it is inserted. The positioning, strength and opacity of the shadow may be altered. What’s more, there’s an in-built editor which also permits users to erase parts of the 3D object in question. Customers get to pick from 4 packs of backgrounds covering basic geometric shapes to architectural pieces.

The 3D item you’ve added to your picture can be rendered opaque, reflective, translucent or refractive. As for the videos, you could choose from effects which make the concerned object pulse, spin or hover with the frame. The direction and rotation speed can be fine-tuned too. The Matter app is supported by Free for All community images which can be edited and shared by just about any user.

If you’re willing to cough up $1.99, the Matter app is all yours as a 26.8MB download. Here’s the link to the iTunes page hosting this Pixie creation.

WhatsApp hits 600 million monthly active users

In the six months since Facebook announced it was buying the messaging app, the service's monthly active user base has grown by 150 million.



It appears WhatsApp's popularity hasn't slowed since Facebook announced it was buying the service in February. The messaging app's CEO and founder Jan Koum posted on Twitter Sunday that the service now has 600 million monthly active users.

"Now serving 600,000,000 monthly active users. Yes, active and registered are very different types of numbers..." Koum tweeted.

WhatsApp is the maker of a 5-year-old mobile messaging app for exchanging texts, photos, and videos. The application is in the process of being purchased by Facebook for around $19 billion in cash and various stock options. The proposed deal has been approved by the Federal Trade Commission, but Facebook still needs to get international regulatory approval before it can complete the purchase.

In April, WhatsApp announced it reached the half a billion users milestone and that people share 700 million photos and 100 million videos on the app on a daily basis. At the time of Facebook's buyout announcement, WhatsApp had about 450 million monthly active users.

At $1 a year, WhatsApp is a cheaper alternative to SMS for those users in emerging markets, and appears to be already growing Facebook's total audience beyond the 1.23 billion people using the social network -- though it's unclear just how many people use both apps.

Screenshots show Google working on a redesigned Hangouts for Chrome codenamed ‘UltraViolet’

According to new screenshots posted by Caschys Blog (above and below), Google appears to be working on a new Hangouts experience for Chrome currently dubbed “Ultra Violet.”

Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of information currently other than what we can see in the screenshots. What we do see is a much slicker UI with some navigation changes and new floating, circular icons for contacts that look at lot like Facebook’s chat heads. On top of the improved contact management, there also appears to be a conversation view showing all active conversations baked into the main chat window.

We’ll have to wait and see if this is something Google is testing as an add-on feature, or something to replace its current Hangouts Chrome extension entirely. It could also be a first look at how Google might redesign the Hangouts experience outside of just the Chrome desktop extension. Head below for another screenshot:

7 alternatives to Facebook Messenger

Facebook had a lot of people talking this week about new changes to its popular messaging app – if you want to chat on Facebook, you'll have to download the separate Facebook Messenger app and keep it running at the same time as Facebook.



"That's kind of a pain," says Facebook user Stephanie Smith. "I think it's easier to just press one button, have one click and have it all in an integrated service."

Her sentiments are not unique -- so we went out and surveyed great alternatives to Facebook Messenger for those who don't want to have that second app running all the time.

The advantage of a chat app over straight texting on a phone: Fans say chat apps are more reliable than standalone text apps on phones, because it's internet based, you don't have to worry about your texts not going through.

• What'sApp (Free, Apple, Android, Windows, Blackberry) is the most popular stand-alone chat app, with 450 million users. Facebook snapped up the service earlier this year, for $19 billion, but has yet to make any substantial changes. WhatsApp is more popular overseas than here, as a way to make global texts for free. "It's the easiest way to reach my international friends," says Kelsey Doorey, who runs the Vow to be Chic startup here. "You can contact people who live all over the world."

• Viber (Free, Apple, Android, Windows, Blackberry,) Also popular worldwide, with 300 million users, Viber is more than just free texting – it also has a new desktop app that lets you make free phone calls and texts worldwide to other Viber users from your computer. Japanese media company Rakuten bought Viber for $900 million earlier this year.

• Google Hangouts (Free, Android, Apple.) The old Google Talk chat service morphed into Hangouts in 2013, and while Google hasn't released usage numbers, Hangouts offers video chat and a very cool feature only available on Apple devices – free phone calls to any number in the United State or Canada, from within the app, without having to pay carrier charges.

• MessageMe (Free, Apple, Android) is designed with group messaging in mind. Like Viber, it has a desktop app to keep the conversations flowing between mobile and desktop. "MessageMe has been one of our favorites," says Bob Wall, the Chief Technology Officer for start-up Washio. "One of the nice aspects is that you can do video, you can do photo, you can do text, you can look up pictures from the internet and put them right in there. So it takes messaging like one step further."

• TapTalk (Free, Apple, Android.)The new service advertises itself as "one to one pics and videos in a split second," Wall's Washio boss Jordan Metzner, is a big fan. "It allows you to send a really quick image, or video to your friends, and it knows your location as well. And it's almost instantaneous. So the moment you send it to your friend, you can't send that same picture to someone else, you need to send them a new picture."

• GroupMe: (Free, Apple, Android, Windows) is a way to text beyond one-to-one, with multiple friends.

"I've used it on trips with groups of people, and it's easy," says Giselle Andrea of Los Angeles. "To stay in touch with people."

• TextPlus (Free, Apple, Android,) has both free unlimited texting, and free phone calls via a TextPlus generated phone number to the 60 million TextPlus members. Outside of the network is two cents a minute.

Google Play Music offering free songs from Nirvana, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Daft Punk and others

Are you looking for a new playlist to get you through your morning commute? If so, Google Play Music has nine freebie tracks up for grabs that might make that ride into work, school or wherever a little bit smoother. Songs like Drake’s Hold On, We’re Going Home, Kendrick Lamar’s Bitch Don’t  Kill My Vibe, and Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream are all on the house!

If those aforementioned artists don’t float your boat, Rihanna’s We Found Love, Daft Punk’s One More Time, Jason Aldean’s My Kinda Party, and Luke Bryan’s Crash My Party will only cost you a the time spent pointing and clicking on the button marked “free.” Still not sold? How about Lorde’s Royals or Nirvana’s Lithium for the low, low price of nothing? There’s no telling how long these tracks will remain free, so if you’ll want to move quickly to take advantage of this offer.

8 popular messenging apps that will make socializing easy for you

Often blamed by telecom operators for the death of the SMS, messaging apps gained prominence around the world rather quickly, and continue to dominate app stores. And analysts at Macquarie [a global financial services provider] have estimated that the global user base of messaging apps will grow to 2.9 billion users in 2017 from 1 billion-plus currently. Here, we look at a few often-used options — listed with their number of users — and check out features that have contributed to their popularity. 



Line 
Number talk: Crossed 400 million registered users in April. 
Although voice and video calling as well as the text messaging are its mainstay, it is the app’s selection of stickers that have become a rage. Distinctly Japanese, and sporting manga expressions at times, the range includes popular characters like Pokémon, Doraemon and Hello Kitty as well as some that are well-known around the world, like Donald Duck and Snoopy. Time-limited promotions also take place. For example, Pray for Philippines stickers were available after a devastating typhoon hit the region. The proceeds were donated to help the victims.

Facebook Messenger
 Number talk: Crossed 200 million monthy active users in March.
The app is connected to the social network and can tell you who is on Messenger or currently active on Facebook. This allows you to stay updated on latest posts and happenings even on the go. And, in a move that is likely to get more people on the service, the social networking giant confirmed on July 28 that it will be removing the messaging feature from its mobile app over the next few days, and requiring people to use its stand-alone Messenger app instead.

Viber Number talk: Crossed 350 million registered users in June. 
What sets this app apart is that it allows users to make unlimited calls or send as many messages as they want to anyone, anywhere in the world — so long as they also have the. And if that doesn’t drive home the point, the app claims that their “sound quality is much better than a regular call (sic)” on its FAQ page. 

WhatsApp Number talk: Crossed 500 million active users in April. 
Probably the most-used cross-platform messaging app, it won its millions of subscribers by keeping things simple. Replacing the SMS with a two-step set-up process, users can also send group messages, pictures and videos, as well as GPS coordinates. Ad-free for life, there is no charge for using it in the first year. However, one needs to pay $0.99 annually after that. But despite the nominal fee and the fact that video calling is still unavailable, its wide subscriber base makes it a popular option when going in for a messaging app.   


BlackBerry Messenger 
 Number talk: Crossed 160 million registered users in June.
Last year, in a move to win back subscribers who had moved on to newer platforms, BlackBerry announced the roll-out of its instant messaging service, BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), for Android and iOS phones. According to @BBM, more than 10 million downloads took place in the first 24 hours. What works for BBM is the end-to-end encryption that is available. Also, privacy is maintained as one has to approve requests and only then can people be added to chat lists.

Snapchat  Number talk: Crossed 30 million monthly active users in December 2013.
Introduced at a time when privacy concerns dominated newsprint, the app gained instant popularity because users could set a time limit for how long the recipients can view images or videos before they disappeared from their devices. Also, this content was not supposed to be stored on the company’s servers. However, these claims took a severe beating when on May 7, Snapchat settled with the Federal Trade Commission in the US over allegations that it deceived users over the amount of personal data it collected, and was responsible for a security breach that impacted 4.6 million customers.  

Hike 
 Number talk: Crossed 20 million users in June.
There has been buzz around this new entrant for its ability to send messages even when offline. And the question on almost everyone’s mind has been — how does it work? Turns out, one just taps on any undelivered message and selects the kind of offline message you want to send. If you choose to send it via Hike, it’ll go from a VMN (virtual mobile number). Select your own number, and the phone will send an SMS for which you will be charged as per an operator plan. 


Telegram Number talk: Crossed 35 million monthly users in March.
The messaging service places a premium on security and allows users to control the level of privacy they want. Those interested in maximum privacy can opt for Secret Chats, featuring end-to-end encryption to ensure that a message can only be read by its intended recipient. As part of this service, nothing is logged on the servers, and one can programme the messages to self-destruct from both devices. And if that’s not enough, servers are spread all over the world for security, and the company claims to deliver messages faster than any other app.

4 awesome paid iPhone apps you can download for free right now

These are paid iPhone and iPad apps that have been made available for free for a limited time by their developers. There is no way to tell how long they will be free. These sales could end an hour from now or a week from now — obviously, the only thing we can guarantee is that they are free at the time this post is published. If you click on a link and see a price listed next to an app instead of the word “free,” it is no longer free. The sale has ended. If you download the app, you will be charged.

With that disclosure out of the way, here are four paid iPhone apps that have just gone free on Wednesday.

Notifyr

Notifyr is a terrific app that will let you pair your iPhone with your Mac to give you your iPhone notifications right on your laptop or desktop computer.

Notifyr shows all your incoming notifications from your iPhone on your Mac.

With Notifyr, you’ll never miss a notification again: you can keep your phone in your pocket and still know what’s going on. You can read your incoming WhatsApp messages, see who’s following you on Instagram or read any of the other kind of notifications from any app on your iPhone. It’s also possible to mute notifications from any app you like.

Once paired, you’ll never need to open the app on your phone again. When the connection gets lost, Notifyr will automatically reconnect to your phone once it becomes available again.

Because Notifyr uses Bluetooth Low Energy, you can keep using Notifyr all day without it draining your battery.

Notifyr, which normally costs $3,99, will be “free every other day for 7 days starting the 6th of August,” its developers say.

WriteRight

As its name suggests, WriteRight is an app whose sole goal is to help you be a better writer on your iOS device by giving you a ton of suggested synonyms and antonyms so that you don’t use the same boring old words again and again. This could be particularly helpful for BGR writers so that we don’t use the words “awesome,” “amazing,” “gorgeous” and “killer” too much in our sensational headlines.

WriteRight is the best writing app with countless synonyms, antonyms and phraseology for iPad, iPad Mini and iPhone, built upon Markdown. It makes smart replacements preserving conjugation, gender and number.

WHAT’S UNIQUE ABOUT WRITERIGHT?

WriteRight offers you synonyms or antonyms together with phraseology.

WriteRight recognizes conjugated words, either feminine or plural, or in different tenses and persons in the case of verbs.

WriteRight replaces words with their conjugated synonym counterparts, matching gender and number, person and tense.

WriteRight is capable of identifying and replacing not only single words, but multiple-word expressions, phrasal verbs, adjectivals, adverbials and prepositional phrases, even in their conjugated forms.

WriteRight normally costs $2.99 but you can now get it for free for an undetermined amount of time.

Timeless: The Multiple Countdown Timer & Stopwatch with Style

Simply put, Timeless wants to be the only stopwatch app you’ll ever need, as it will allow you to set up multiple countdown timers for different events and activities.

Timeless is a countdown timer and stopwatch application that combines a very simple and fast interface with powerful features like multiple timers, labeling, gesture based controls, Focus mode and colour themes.

A list of features that you’ll love:

* UP TO 60% FASTER (NEW) We’ve completely re-engineered core parts of the app to make it even faster to load and handle your timers.

* UPDATED FRESH NEW DESIGN (NEW) Timeless has been redesigned to look and feel even better!

* COUNTDOWN SECONDS (NEW) You can now set seconds for your timers

* FAST & EASY THEME PICKER (NEW) Use a different colour theme for each timer

* STOPWATCH & COUNTDOWN TIMER Timeless works both as stopwatch and a countdown timer!

* MULTIPLE TIMERS Timeless lets you run up to ten timers simultaneously. Just swipe left to add a new one!

* LABELS ON TIMERS You can add a label on each timer so that you know which timer is up.

* PRESET TIMER DURATIONS Timeless saves the timers you setup so that you can create presets for quick access.

* THEMES Choose from a variety of carefully crafted color themes to match your style or the occasion. More coming soon!

* INTUITIVE GESTURE CONTROLS Timeless allows you to use simple gestures as shortcuts to simple tasks like:
– Start/stop each timer by double tapping on the screen
– Swipe left to add a new timer
– Shake to reset the current timer
– Swipe left or right to navigate though timers

* MULTIPLE TIMERS VIEW Rotate clockwise for an overview of all your timers. Start or stop each one you like in a single tap or change their order.

* SINGLE TIMER VIEW (“Focus Mode”) Rotate counter-clockwise to view a large version of the running timer. This mode prevents the phone from locking so that you can easily check the timer’s progress.

* NOTIFICATION CENTER INTEGRATION Never miss a notification. Timeless runs in the background and when a timer expires, it notifies you through the iOS notification center.

* RUNNING TIMERS BADGE A little badge on the app’s icon lets you know how many timers are currently running.

* SOUND EFFECTS THAT ENHANCE ACCESSIBILITY Sound effects make the app even more friendly and fun to use! Each sound has been carefully selected to match each interaction so that you can practically use the app without even looking at the screen.

* NOTIFICATIONS SOUNDS Choose from a list of carefully selected audio notifications. More coming soon!

Countless normally costs $0.99 but is now free for an undetermined amount of time.

Cavesweeper

And finally, we have Cavesweeper, a fun little game that mixes the classic formula of Minesweeper with the thrills of playing a dungeon-crawling RPG. The setup is very familiar but instead of watching out for mines as you click on tiles, you’re watching out for scary monsters that are lurking in the depths.

Reveal the soul gems of monsters in this addictive puzzle game inspired by Minesweeper, NetHack, and Diablo. Fight your way through the deadly cavern, defeating enemies, finding loot, and meeting crazy characters who will assist you on your quest. When you play Cavesweeper, no two games will ever be the same!

Compete on 6 Game Center leaderboards and conquer 40 achievements in this value-jammed game. Cavesweeper features NO in-app purchase and NO advertisements.

Cavesweeper normally costs $1.99 but is now free for an undetermined amount of time.

The Best Android Apps of 2014

The Best Android Apps of 2014 are here: 

There is a lot of competition among the app developers to get listed in the top lists. The popularity of the apps and the number of downloads made every day plays a direct role in ascertaining the revenue one can make from the world of apps. Those who are wondering what the top apps in 2014 would be, can check out this list.

Start

We all want to have greater customization choices with our phone. Start is perhaps one of the most powerful apps for all those who want to reach out to their favorite apps even in the locked screen mode. This app is so designed that you can have up to 24 different apps of your choice in your lock screen itself. You can choose them manually or let the app configure it for you automatically.

It is available for free and can really offer a dynamic change in the way your phone looks, feels and operates.

Agent

Want to improve the performance of your phone? This app offers you 5 different agents that can make your phone a lot smarter than what it is. It comes with a battery agent which allows you to conserve your battery so that it will last longer. Further, there is a meeting agent that will turn your phone to silent, depending upon the calendar notes and reminders about the meetings you have set. There is also a sleeping agent that will deactivate a lot of features and put your phone to silent when you go off to sleep. These agents help in making your phone smarter.

Battery Defender

Most of us are tired of the quick battery drainage that happens very often. By using this free app, you can derive the maximum use out of your battery. This app disconnects the Wi-Fi and data connection when you are sleeping. You have the option of setting your sleeping time. It also changes your synchronization time to 15 minutes. This saves you significant battery storage.

Mumble

If you are tired of your phone vibrating at specific times and you want larger control over it, this app will turn out to be handy for you. Mumble is a revolutionary app because you can sense the length and content of the message even before reading it. You can ignore annoying messages and even fix typos.

Secret

Want an anonymous place for ranting and finding others who believe in the same things as you? This is the perfect app that allows you to share your thoughts and complain anonymously. You have the option of adding images, emoticons and graphics. You can blur captures and enliven the conversation too. Those who are looking for such an app will definitely love what this one has to offer.

These are the best apps of 2014 in the Google play store and there are many other choices to pick from too.

Top 5 iPad Apps 2014

If you own an iPad Air or the new iPad Mini, you might need to start downloading the best iPad apps for 2014.

There are a lot of apps for your iPad. These apps can also be used as upgrades for the iPad 4 or an older iPad version.

The apps available for Apple devices are what set these devices apart, from their competition. There are more apps available for the iPad than there are for any other tablet in the market. So, which are the most ideal iPad apps for 2014?

The 1Password App   

Even though Apple iOS 7 came with the iCloud keychain for secure storage of payment info and passwords, this app is by far a much more powerful tool. This is because it has the ability to secure notes, hold identities, network information and even license details on top of securing passwords. This app also makes it possible to access your stores information on other devices – not necessarily Apple devices. It also has a built browser that can be used to make purchases.

This app is available for $17.99.

The Adobe Photoshop Touch App

This is an ambitious application that outdoes its desktop counterpart. While this app might not fully replicate the whole Photoshop experience, it comes pretty close. This app comes with a wide range of tools such as adjustments, layers as well as filters. Also, it has the ability to Photoshop images of 12MP.

This application is available for download at $9.99.

Air Video HD App

If there is something you cannot have enough of, in any iPad, is the amount of space you need to store all your stuff. This forces you to constantly delete your videos to free up space for more videos. You no longer have to go through this with this app. This application allows you to stream videos from your Mac or PC as it auto encodes. It supports offline viewing, Apple TV airplay and soft subtitles.

You can download this app for $2.99.

Microsoft Excel, Word and Powerpoint

This year, Microsoft introduced productivity tools that are giving serious competition to the Google and Apple alternatives. Microsoft’s work on your iPad offers layout editing, word processing and imagery. This allows you to work on your presentation, directly from your iPad.  If you are the kind of person who cannot do without Microsoft apps, then this app is for you.

You can download it at $10.00 per month.

Swarm

This is a new app from Foursquare that is taking the crown from the check-in feature which makes Foursquare solely for reviews and venue recommendations. Perhaps the greatest addition Swarm brings to Foursquare is the planning feature. It now allows you to indicate which events you are attending in the near future. You can also ping your close friends to see if they may be available for the event. Mayorships are now relatives in friends’ groups with check-ins and badges remaining relatively of the same.

It is amazing how Foursquare has gone all out in redefining itself. Currently, the Swarm app is available for iOS devices.

This app is available as a free download.

SwiftKey updated with performance improvements and new themes

SwiftKey received an update today that resolves some of the keyboard app’s recent performance issues. According to the software’s changelog, users should experience improved typing, loading times, translations, and several other bug fixes for glitches that caused force closes. In addition to some much needed technical improvements, SwiftKey announced the availability of five new themes: Spotlight Purple, Edge Green, Pulse Yellow, Pulse Pink and Hazy Pink.  If you’re interested in upgrading the look and feel of your keyboard, the outfit is holding a special summer sale that discounts prices on select themes by up to 33 percent.

Lastly, SwiftKey says it will be adding support for additional languages, including: Kyrgyz, Tajik and Turkmen, as well as adding emoji prediction for Arabic, Czech, Greek, Hebrew, Polish and Russian. If your phone’s stock keyboard isn’t cutting it, or you’re just looking for a new freebie app to test out, SwiftKey 5.0.2.4 is now available to download from Google Play.

Facebook urges users to install Messenger

Facebook is once again reminding users everywhere about the pending change and urging them to download Messenger.

Users who haven't installed the app yet will likely see a notice resembling the one below over the coming days, The Verge reported.

Facebook isn't yet forcing anyone to make the switch; it says there will be several notices before messages are finally unbundled for good. But that step is fast approaching. Desktop users don't need to worry about this, since chat will remain there in the same place as always, report said.

And while managing two apps may seem like a hassle, Facebook says the split will allow it to better improve the performance of both apps over time.

The company also insists Messenger offers a faster experience with more ways of keeping in touch with friends, the report added. 

You Can Now Turn Your Own Face Into An Emoticon With Imoji

Love chatting and wish you could express yourself better? Imoji will help you do just that.

 Imoji is a rather unique app in a way that it makes the process of expressing yourself in your chat messages a lot easier. The app basically allows you build an emoji sticker base of yourself with your own cocky expressions in them instead of that yellow smiley that all of us are indeed tired of. In fact, we were surprised that Facebook did not come up with this first, considering the number of random apps that they have been building these days.

Imoji app is iOS exclusive for now and hopefully lands on Android soon. The handy app makes the process of making your own custom emoji stickers simple and effortless. Moreover these stickers can be sent across as a photo which makes its usage a lot simple as well.

Adding your face to your emoji sticker is simple. You click a picture of yourself via the Imoji app, then rub out the extra part, leaving only your face in sticker and then hit Save. Apart from yourself, you could also add expressions of your pets and get them on board as well.

Pretty handy for those who love to click selfies all the time if you ask us.
Name: imojiapp
Publisher: Builds LLC
Platforms: iOS
Size: 10.7 MB

Download: iTunes

 

AUTOnCAB app launched for booking rickshaws and taxis

Delhiites can now book auto rickshaws or cabs by taking help of a recently launched app, AUTOnCAB that’s available for free download on Android and iOS devices.

AUTOnCAB aims to free people from the hassle of waiting for cabs or auto rickshaws, or negotiating the fares. The app makes use of location services on your smartphone or tablet to find any nearby autos or cabs.

The app claims to be useful to auto and cab drivers as well, as it would reduce the chances of them idly waiting to get hailed. They can also choose their duty timings and days of operation by clicking on the ‘On Duty’ option in the app and make themselves visible on the customer’s radar.

To be a part of the AUTOnCAB ecosystem, passengers and drivers would have to download the app and register to the service. Commuters can download the app for free from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store. The pick-up location is detected automatically once GPS is enabled on the user’s device and the nearest driver is notified that there’s a passenger waiting for a pick-up.

Another advantage of the app is that passengers are charged by a fixed metering system within the app or by the vehicle’s meter.

The app comes with other features including a ‘Call’ option that allows passengers and drivers to communicate when required. There’s a built-in rating system, which allows passengers and drivers to rate each other and thereby creates a database of good service providers as well as happy passengers.

The facility will be initially available in South Delhi and its adjoining areas and will soon be rolled out to other parts of Delhi NCR. AUTOnCAB plans to go pan-India over the next 12 months.

The capital city recently received the Pooch-O app, which also allows people to hire rickshaws remotely. Pooch-O, however, is only available for Android devices and can’t be used for hiring taxis.

There’s an app aimed at letting you spy on your partner, what’s next?

We’ve seen all kinds of crazy apps come and go over the past few years, and this new one which we’ll be talking about takes the whole concept strange apps to a whole new level and perhaps beyond. mCouple is something you can download on your Android and iOS devices to keep track of your partners.

So if someone thinks their significant other is cheating on them or if they’re anxious about who their partner is talking to and where he/she is going, they can take some help from this app. It works in a two-way fashion, so both the partners need to have it installed on their devices in order to take advantage of it.



Developed by a London-based firm named mSpy, its key concept is that all the history from you device will be accessible on your partner’s device. This means, any call or message you get during your day will be accessible on your partner’s connected handset without any bounds.

The same applies for contact entries made by you as well. That’s not all; its GPS tracking attribute makes it possible to track every move your partner makes. Facebook hasn’t been kept out of mCouple’s purview as well, with partners having been given the option of viewing all the Facebook chats of their significant others.

There’s a fairly simple process that’s needed in order to tie up both partners’ smartphones so as to make information accessible to each other. mCouple can be downloaded now through the Google Play store and the Apple App Store free of cost.

British Police use Snapchat to fight crime

Could photo and video sharing app Snapchat help in the fight against crime?

The West Midlands Police (WMP) Force in the U.K. thinks so, recently becoming the first force in the world to use the app.

Based in Birmingham, U.K., WMP has a well established social media presence with over 100,000 Twitter followers. Its messages reach 500,000 people daily via Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and Instagram.

Snapchat will boost WMP’s ability to communicate with a younger demographic, according to spokeswoman Keiley Gartland. “Part of this work is about connecting with younger people and helping them to feel they have a close connection with their local police force,” she said, in a statement. “What we want is for them to have the confidence to give us a call or speak to their neighbourhood bobby [police officer] when they really need our help − and social media is a great tool for us to do that.”

Using the Snapchat user name ‘WestMidsPolice’, WMP will post new images to Snapchat’s Stories feature every 24 hours. “We’re primarily targeting a younger audience on Snapchat and it means when we really need to get an important message out to the community, we’ll have a captive audience,” added Gartland. “You never know what you’re going to get when you visit our story on Snapchat, so it’ll be a surprise every day for anyone who follows us!" 

Snapchat stories disappear after 24 hours.


WMP says that social media should not be used to report crime.