The 21 Best Entertainment Apps for Your Apple TV

The Apple TV is not the cheapest nor the most versatile of the TV boxes out there — but if you’re deep in the Apple ecosystem, the 4th-generation Apple TV can be a great add-on that works seamlessly with all your devices and Apple services. While the Siri Remote gets a lot of hate for being perfectly symmetrical, I actually think it’s a great little remote once you get past that. The touchpad lends itself to some really quick and seamless interactions when it comes to interacting with apps. And ultimately, that’s what the Apple TV is all about: apps...

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The Default Mac App Guide for Windows Switchers

If you switch to Mac from Windows, it can be difficult to adjust to a new set of default apps. It should go without saying that for each of the default Windows apps, there is a Mac equivalent. Sometimes there are obvious ways to do the same things, and others are going to take a little work to find. However, they are all going to get you working on your Mac. Task Manager -> Activity Monitor The most basic step in troubleshooting any Windows issue is to open Task Manager. The app allows you to look at the process and...

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Enhance Your Note-Taking With the Apple Pencil and iPad Pro

While the Apple Pencil is a game-changing way for artists to create on any iPad Pro, the stylus can also be used for much more — including taking handwritten notes. Everything from lecture notes to a quick to-do list can be jotted down quickly and easily on the iPad Pro with Apple’s stylus. That capability definitely makes the tablet line a great choice for anyone looking to replace their laptop for daily work and whatever else imaginable. Whether you’ve just purchased an Apple Pencil and an iPad Pro or are an expert in the ecosystem, we’ll be offering some tips...

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How to Batch Rename Multiple Files on Your Mac

You have a million files to rename on your computer, and you’re not looking forward to the long and tedious task. Don’t panic. You don’t have to rename all your files manually. We’ve looked at ways to batch rename files in Windows, but there are also easy ways to do this on a Mac. Back in the day, you had to select each individual file, press Enter, and select the part of the filename to rename, or retype the whole thing. Now, you can do fancy tricks when renaming multiple files, like replace text in filenames, add numbers or other...

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Clever Ways to Use an SQL Concatenation String

Structured Query Language (SQL) is a remarkably powerful tool, and one that is packed full of features. Once you’ve mastered the most important SQL commands, you can start to get a bit more creative with your SQL. Today I’ll show you everything you need to know about SQL concatenation strings. There are many different SQL dialects. For all these examples, I’m using the PostgreSQL variant. What Is Concatenation? Concatenation means to join two things together. You may have used it in a programming language to join two strings together. Perhaps you have a first name and surname variables that you...

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4 Best Raspberry Pi Smart TV Projects We’ve Seen So Far

Need a smart TV but don’t have the budget? While there’s a good chance that you already own hardware that can make your TV “smart”, one low-budget piece of kit can make all the difference. Yes, it’s the Raspberry Pi. Although it has some limitations, the Pi can be used to make your TV smart. Raspberry Pi 3 Model B Quad Core CPU 1.2 GHz 1 GB RAM Motherboard Raspberry Pi 3 Model B Quad Core CPU 1.2 GHz 1 GB RAM Motherboard 1.2GHz Quad-Core ARM Cortex-A53 Buy Now At Amazon £31.50 5 Things a Smart TV Should Offer Before...

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How to Use Subtitles on Plex: Everything You Need to Know

The ability to add subtitles to a video is an essential part of any worthwhile media player. There are lots of reasons why you might want to add subtitles. Of course, some of the best movies and TV shows in the world won’t be in your native tongue, but subtitles can also be useful if you’re trying to learn a foreign language. You might even want to add subtitles in the same language as the audio if the content includes broad accents or periods of quiet speech, or if you have hearing problems. Unsurprisingly, Plex supports several subtitle solutions, but...

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Learn to Code by Remixing Existing Apps for Free

If you’re a novice programmer, the path ahead of you may seem daunting. Boot camps are tough, and you don’t feel at home in a programmer’s den. But there is one place on the web you can go to try out your developing skills for the sheer fun of it. Glitch is a playground for coders of all kinds. Through it, you can make your own app or remix any of the existing projects on the site. You can be creative without the fear of breaking anything — and there are veteran coders who are standing by to help you do it. It’s an open and free...

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How to Install Android Oreo Right Now

The latest version of Android has been revealed. It’s called Oreo and it’s coming to a device near you soon… kind of. As most Android users know, the operating system’s updates are slow to make their way out to devices. Only a select number of phones will get the update anytime soon, and even premium devices like the Galaxy S8 have to impatiently wait for months. Oreo isn’t exactly revolutionary, so you might not mind the wait. But if you have a Nexus or Pixel device, you can skip the rollout wait and deliver Oreo to your phone right now without...

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The Best SMS App for Android is made by Microsoft

Looking for good SMS app for Android? The Google Play Store lists a gazillion texting apps that can do SMS, MMS, and so much more. The most popular options include Facebook Messenger that has texting as a side feature, TrueCaller that can identify senders and then there’s Android Messages, Google’s own SMS app that also includes audio chats, emojis and location sharing.

I prefer minimal apps that do one thing and do it really well. After testing all the popular texting apps for Android, the one I absolutely love is SMS Organizer from Microsoft. It is a pure SMS app, simple and efficient but with no extra bells and whistles.

Here’s a list of useful features that make SMS Organizer a must-have app for Android.

1. OTP Detection

When you log into a website that requires 2-factor authentication, your bank for example, they send a one-time-password (OTP) to your mobile phone in a text message. You open the message, copy the digits and paste into the login screen.

SMS organizer makes this process a lot easier for you. It detects if a text contains an OTP and give you an option to copy the code directly from the notification menu. No need to even open the message.

2. Google Drive Integration

Microsoft SMS Organizer can automatically backup SMS messages to your Google Drive. You can perform the backup manually and let the app do it for every day or every week. If you move to a new phone later, you can easily restore your text chats from the cloud.

3. Intelligent Message Sorting

The SMS app automatically sorts your text messages as they arrive into categories like transactions, promotional, and blocked.  So all text messages from your bank or your mobile service provider go in one folder while the bulk message goes into promotions.

4. Email Like Filters

This is my favorite feature of SMS organizer. You can long-press a text message and it will let you define a filter for the sender of that message. All future messages from that particular sender will be moved to the designated folder automatically.

5. Smart Reminders

If any of your text messages have a due date, SMS organizer will show you a notification when the due date is approaching. For instance, if your credit card bill is due, you’ll be automatically reminded via a notification.

SMS organizer can send reminders for due bills, travel dates, upcoming appointments and more. You can also setup your own customer reminders inside the app and the text of the selected message will show up at the specified date and time.

6. Send Free SMS

You can use SMS organizer to send up to 30 text messages for free every month to any mobile number in India. These messages are sent via the Internet so even if you do not have cellular connectivity, the texts would still go out.

Microsoft’s SMS app is free, doesn’t include any in-app purchases, contains no advertising and all the data resides locally on your mobile device.

You can use the IFTTT app to save your text messages in a Google Sheet or for receiving texts as an email message. PushBullet and AirDroid can be used for viewing and responding to text notifications from your desktop computer.

How to Rearrange Stacked Taskbar Windows

There are many basic features that should’ve shipped with Windows 10 but aren’t available. Fortunately, third-party developers are picking up Microsoft’s slack, and one of these gaps is the incredibly simple task of rearranging stacked windows in the Taskbar. Using 7+ Taskbar Tweaker 7+ Taskbar Tweaker is a handy little program full of features that are missing in Windows, including the stack-rearranging functionality mentioned above. And while the name may lead you to believe it only works on Windows 7, it is compatible Windows 10. After you install 7+ Taskbar Tweaker, under Taskbar items > Thumbnails, make sure that Drag to reorder is checked. Once that’s done,...

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How to Change Drive Letters in Windows

We’re all familiar with the typical drive letters in Windows. C: is your hard drive. D: is your CD drive. E: and upwards are used for removable media. A: and B: were used for floppy disks (now mostly defunct). However, did you know you’re not tied to those letters? It’s easy to swap them around, and you can give them whatever letters you want. (Although changing the C: drive might not be worth the hassle). Perhaps you want to keep your flash drives organized at the tail end of the alphabet, or you want to give a network drive a...

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Where Should I Go Next? 5 Decision-Making Travel Tools to Find a Destination

Every one of us wants to take a vacation and travel the world, only to have the circumstances of daily life put a spanner in the works. But what if there were a few tools that solved these problems? Let’s make a travel decision and find out where to go next. All of these apps assume you’re a normal person with a regular routine. They’re meant for those who haven’t mastered travel hacking or other skills to travel more. If you’re already a pro at those, these won’t help you much. 1. Wander (Web): Set Your Budget, Find Where to...

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Google Wants You to Buy Certified Android Devices

Google is making it easier to find certified Android devices. These are devices, both smartphones and tablets, that Google has certified as being worthy of the Android name. And certified Android devices will now come with Google Play Protect branding to make them easier to spot. If you’re looking to buy an Android device it’s absolutely crucial that you choose one that has been certified by Google. This ensures a certain level of safety and security, a wide range of Google apps pre-installed on your device, and access to the Google Play Store to download more. It’s Better to Buy...

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Giphy Reveals How Popular Your Favorite GIF Is

Giphy is adding view counts to its GIFs. These will measure the success (or failure) of the GIFs we all take for granted. With GIFs going increasingly mainstream, these view counts will allow us all to see which GIFs become part of the zeitgeist, and which just fall to the wayside. In case you hadn’t noticed, GIFs are now very popular. It’s easy to see why: GIFs offer a shorthand way of expressing yourself online without needing to find the right words. In that regard they’re very similar to emoji, but better. But just how popular is your favorite GIF?...

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Why the Java Virtual Machine Helps Your Code Run Better

Are you currently debating whether to use java for your next application, or use native toolkits and frameworks? Would you like to know what advantages java provides over native programming for an application? Read on to find out! What Is a Native Application? A native application is a program written specifically for an operating system (OS), and possibly for the specific hardware running that OS. It is mostly written in a language such as C/C++. The C/C++ source code is compiled to an object form using a compiler, which is then assembled into an executable by linking the required libraries....

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The Best PowerPoint Templates for Educational Presentations

Whether you are teaching a class, giving a lecture, creating a tutorial, or running a training session, these PowerPoint templates are perfect. Some give you tables, charts, and diagrams while others give you a simple educational theme for your situation. With a template, you do not have to waste time creating a presentation from a blank canvas. Instead, you can concentrate on the content that goes in it. If PowerPoint is your slide-creating tool of choice and an educational concept is what you need, check out these awesome options. 1. Back to Elementary School Presentation For grammar school teachers, this...

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