TechnoBB – Page 29

Listen Music To SoundCloud for Apple Watch

SoundCloud, the popular audio sharing platform has updated its iPhone app to support the Apple Watch. With SoundCloud, users can instantly share music and audio that they’ve created with anyone around the world via web or app. It’s a great way to discover budding artists or find something unique that might not have reached the masses yet. Building on the familiar ground of using the Apple Watch as a convenient iPhone remote, the SoundCloud Apple Watch app allows you to control the most essential functions from your wrist.

On the visual front, SoundCloud presents album cover art, artist name, and the track title of the audio that it is playing when you swipe up. It’s the same interface we’ve come to expect from audio streaming apps and is a great way to take note of the artist and track in the event that you enjoy that particular music or sound. For those who wish to use the Apple Watch as an actual timepiece, fret not, as the time is still displayed in the top right corner while the SoundCloud app is running.

In terms of interacting with SoundCloud content, there is a surprising amount you can do through the Apple Watch. Of course you can pause and resume playback with a simple tap of the watch face, but you can also swipe left or right to look through your saved SoundCloud content. If you happen upon a particularly enchanting track, you can also Force Touch it which will add it to your SoundCloud Collection for later repeat listening.

The SoundCloud app for Apple Watch is highly useful for those who don’t want to go fishing for their phone every time they want to change the track or choose a new album. It’s lightweight, functional and a must for any frequent SoundCloud user who also happens to have an Apple Watch.

Source: SoundCloud – Music & Audio for Apple Watch

Creating and Setting Custom Ringtones on the iPhone

Tired of the same old default ringtones you’ve heard a thousand times from other iPhone users? Well, why not create some new ones for yourself? It’s fast and free so you don’t need to pay exorbitant pricesIO for custom ringtones on iTunes or elsewhere. You can also use virtually any sound you like, so let your imagination and creativity run wild. In an age of sonic sameness, be the bastion against the unrelenting tides of dimensionless default ringtones. Just follow this process to both create and set your iPhone ringtone to whatever you wish. You’ll need iTunes, an iPhone, and an audio clip or song to get started.

1. Open iTunes and find the song or audio clip (which you have previously imported into iTunes).

2. Right-click the song or clip. Click Get Info, then click the Options tab.

3. Now type in the starting and ending positions in the song that you’d like to use for the looping ringtone. It can be up to 30 seconds in length. Then click OK.

4. Right-click the song again and select Create AAC version. This will create the shortened version that will be used for the ringtone.

5. Right-click the new shortened version and select Show in Finder.

6. Now in Finder, right-click the song and select Get Info. Under Name & Extension, change the song filename extension to m4r.

Ok now you’ve got the actual ringtone file all set up. All that’s left now is to sync it to your iPhone and set it as the ringtone. Follow these steps to get that iPhone ringing.

1. If it’s not still open, launch iTunes again.

2. Connect your iPhone to your computer so iTunes can see it.

3. In iTunes, click the menu button with the three horizontal dots. In this menu, click Tones.

4. A window called My Tones will appear. Find your m4r ringtone file and drag and drop it into My Tones.

5. Select your iPhone from the top of the iTunes window. Just beneath it, click Tones.

6. A Sync Tones windows will appear. Make sure Selected Tones is checked and that your new ringtone appears.

7. Click Apply to sync the new ringtone to your iPhone.

8. Finally on your iPhone, tap Settings, then Sounds, then Ringtones. Your newly created and synced ringtone should be there, ready for use.

A little bit of work but worth it in the long run if you want to listen to the rhythms of those sweet, sweet custom ringtones.

Managing Notifications on the Apple Watch

One of the major draws of the Apple Watch is being able to receive basic information from your iPhone without having to physically check it. If you’re a frequent user of social media or other update intensive apps, it’s likely that at one point you’ve been inundated with notifications. Of course these could be referring to something absolutely useless or utterly fascinating. Without some way to filter notifications and their frequency, they become nearly pointless and more trouble than they’re worth. Luckily the Apple Watch and iPhone work together to provide a good degree of control over the notifications on many apps. Follow these steps to manage them just a bit better on the Apple Watch.

1. Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.

2. Tap the Notifications icon.

3. A list of all apps with notification support will appear.

4. Find the app you wish to manage and tap it.

5. Now you can choose to either mirror your iPhone notification settings for the app or set custom options for the Apple Watch.

6. Under Custom options you can choose to toggle visual, sound, and haptic alerts as well as the frequency of alerts and which e-mail addresses to send alerts to.

Note that non-Apple apps will have far fewer customization options for notifications. It’s an all or nothing approach that allows you to only set notifications either on or off. However, should you choose to disable them for the Apple Watch, notifications for these apps will still appear on your iPhone if you have them enabled there. It’s best to limit Apple Watch notifications to the apps and services most important and useful to you so it doesn’t become a cluttered mess of constant alerts.

As notifications are such an important aspect of the Apple Watch, expect to see some interesting updates in the future. For now though, if you do manage them carefully the Apple Watch should prove to be an invaluable assistant that’s not too bothersome.

Top 5 Great Smartwatches 2015

Smartwatches are still relatively new to the scene but are set to gain in popularity as software improves and costs come down. With virtually everyone owning a smartphone these days, it’s only natural that new ways of interacting with them arise via smartwatches. Do you really want to dig that smartphone out of your pocket or purse just to see the latest notification received or see who’s calling? That’s so 2014. For those on the lookout to jump into the pool of early smartwatch adopters, here are some excellent choices to suit every aesthetic, budget, and OS.

Apple Watch – Of course the Apple Watch is a heavy hitter when it comes to the smartwatch market and is one of the only choices if you’re a diehard Apple fan. With sleek design, beautiful Retina display, touchscreen, heart monitor, and thoughtful integration with all Apple products, it’s an easy choice if you’re heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem. It is however the most expensive smartwatch on the market right now and is still in its first incarnation with some wrinkles to iron out.

LG Urbane – The LG Urbane is one of the most expensive Android smartwatches and features a very stylish, traditional watch body. It sports Android Wear, a version of Android specifically designed for wearable devices with frequent updates and improvements. Like other high-end smartwatches the LG Urbane also has a heart monitor for interesting fitness and health applications.

Pebble – The Pebble is a highly recommended smartwatch for those on a budget or if you want the possibility to use it with both Android and iOS devices. Costing less than half of many other smartwatch models, Pebble features an e-ink display with support for thousands of useful apps with its simple, clean interface. Also notable is the Pebble’s excellent battery life of a week or more on a single charge. It may not have all the bells and whistles of its more costly brethren but many swear by and even prefer the Pebble. The Pebble Time, a new update rolling out now features a color e-ink display.

Sony SmartWatch 3 – The latest smartwatch from Sony is one of the only ones to feature GPS which could become immensely useful as more apps come to support it. It comes in a sleek and comfortable design with support for the latest Android Wear. The Sony SmartWatch is also great for fitness and health with a suite of Sony designed software, pedometer and heart rate monitor. It’s also moderately priced between the high and low ends and is a solid choice.

Moto 360 – The Moto 360 stands out with its bold circular design that look more like a watch and less like an early adopter smartwatch. As with other Android smartwatches it has support for Android Wear and thousands of apps. It doesn’t have the best battery life but it does have a trick up its sleeve with wireless charging.

So many to choose from, so little time.

Take Remote iPhone Photos Using Your Apple Watch!

Are you old enough to remember those family get-togethers when you had to set the camera timer and run to get back into frame before it went off or Aunt Mildred fell asleep? Oh how the times have changed! With the Apple Watch and an iPhone, you can now take limitless digital photos remotely. There are other interesting applications for remote photos as well. Why not try out some time-lapse photography, stop motion animation, or some sneaky spy shots? Just follow these very simple steps to remotely take a photo using the Apple Watch.

1. Bring up your apps on the home screen by pressing the Digital Crown.

2. Tap the Camera app icon to start the camera.

3. The Camera app should also conveniently launch on your iPhone if it has not already been started.

4. A live preview of what your iPhone camera is seeing will appear on your Apple Watch! Time to frame the perfect shot with your iPhone camera.

5. Tap the center button on the Apple Watch view to take a photo of the current scene or hit the 3-second timer button to take a photo on a delay. This is great for giving everyone a chance to strike the perfect pose.

6. The photo is automatically saved to the iPhone camera roll which is also viewable on the Apple Watch.

Pretty cool right? Luckily all of this comes working right out of the box and you don’t need to install anything additional to begin taking photos remotely with your Apple Watch. Finally taking remote or timed photos has moved into the 21st century. Prop that iPhone next to your pet’s favorite sleeping spot and wait for the perfect shot to present itself. Then just snap away remotely using your Apple Watch. It’s an amazing time to be alive!

Apple iMessage vs Google Hangouts

Are you a frequent message sender? Do you use an app for sending messages through your smartphone? Yeah, I thought so. Chances are you’re acquainted with either Apple’s iMessage service or Google’s Hangouts messaging app or even (gasp!) both of them. Basically they are both capable of conveniently sending short text messages to friends and colleagues. There are some important differences however which could make you lean towards using one or the other.

Apple’s iMessage like most things Apple, only plays nice with fellow Apple devices and services and is not accessible on a PC. You’ll need an Apple device and account to use iMessage to send messages between your Mac, iPhone, iPad, etc. to other Apple users. Of course you can also launch video and voice chat through iMessage though you are really launching separate apps (FaceTime) for these features and they are not technically part of iMessage. For sending quick texts and not having to fully rely on SMS messaging, iMessage is a champion. Conveniently, iMessage can also default to SMS if local internet is not available.

Google’s Hangouts is steadily gaining in popularity for ease of use and availability on many platforms. Like Apple, you will need an account to use Hangouts, in this case a Gmail or Google+ account. Unlike Apple’s iMessage however, Hangouts can be used from any capable browser on a PC, any Android device, and even any iOS device simply by using your Google login. Also unlike iMessage, you can make video and voice calls directly from the app itself with full support for group chats. This is probably the biggest advantage Hangouts has over iMessage in that you don’t need to launch separate apps if the mood strikes to make a quick call or even group video chat with friends. The major drawback is that Hangouts does not support SMS so if your message doesn’t go through you’ll have to wait until you get a data connection back.

Either way, for quick text communications you really can’t go wrong with either service depending on the devices you use.