While radio is not particularly hard to access; you just need a device capable of tuning into radio frequencies; listening to the radio outside of your area can be difficult. This app, however, lets you listen to any radio station in any country worldwide, complete with a colorful interface.
While radio is not particularly hard to access; you just need a device capable of tuning into radio frequencies. Listening to the radio outside of your area can be difficult. This app, however, lets you listen to any radio station in any country worldwide, complete with a colorful interface. Let’s check this out.
This is for computers and mobiles running a web browser. Screenshots are from Windows 10 PC
Copyright Scott Adams, Inc./Distributed by Universal Uclick for UFS
Radio Garden is available as a web version, and it also has mobile apps for Android and iOS. Its whole premise is that you can listen to several radio stations in many different countries and cities. You will see a bunch of small green dots all across the globe, and those are radio stations that you can tune into immediately. You do not need a login or any kind of subscription. All you need is a device that can access the internet, like your computer or smartphone. Refer to the below image:
South Carolina
You can zoom in or out, move the round circle to any part of the world, or tap a green dot to listen to a station. Check out the Settings menu for options. We suggest you ignore the ads, they take you where you may not want to go; just close them. You can purchase the app for $2.99 (under Settings) to remove the virtual ads.
It’s a lot of fun to play around with the app and learn something new.
Disclaimer
Technology is always changing and rarely is there static for smartphones and desktops. Thus, the contents of this post are only valid at the time of writing. Blog posts older than six months may have directions incompatible with your device or OS. Hopefully, older post content will continue to work as advertised. Thank you for reading TechSavvy.Life for Technology at Work For You.
Quote For the Day
Good, bad or indifferent, if you are not investing in new technology, you are going to be left behind.
Philip Green
Tweet Info
That’s it. Please feel free to share this post! One way to share is via Twitter.
Just click the Tweet icon below. This will launch Twitter where you click its icon to post the Tweet.
Checkout TechSavvy.Life for blog posts on smartphones, PCs, and Macs! You may email us at contact@techsavvy.life for comments or questions.
Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love to hear from you. Do you have a computer or smart device tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Just send an email to contact@techsavvy.life. Please mention the device, app, and version you are using. To help us out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.
Author’s E-Book
You can access the e-book from a Kindle device, the Kindle App for the desktop or smartphone, which is a free app.
The author’s Vietnam eBook on the Battle for Tra Bong Vietnam: Events and Aftermath
NASA launched the James Webb Space Telescope (JWT) in December 2021, giving scientists a fresh look at the universe and giving the rest of us some cool wallpapers.
NASA launched the James Webb Space Telescope (JWT) in December 2021, giving scientists a fresh look at the universe and giving the rest of us some cool wallpapers. There’s an easy way to check out the latest images and save them for your device’s wallpaper. Let’s explore how.
This is for desktop and mobile devices
MACS NIRCam Image – Dense Cosmic Knot in the Early Universe
Processed images from JWT have been published on Twitter, the telescope’s official website (this is a really cool site), and other locations, but there’s another portal you may not have seen. NASA operates a Flickr site for the telescope, which contains images of engineering tests, control centers, and best of all, space pictures. To see all the photos, you need to signup for Flickr in the top right-hand corner. Refer to the below image for an example of their gallery:
Deep Space – Pillars of Creation – Emerging Galaxies
You can browse through the whole collection in your browser, and saving the full-resolution version of an image is as easy as clicking the Download button (the arrow pointing down). If you have a Flickr account, you can also follow the account to see new pictures. After creating your Flickr account, in the Search box (located in the upper right-hand corner), type in James Web Telescope to view the images.
In the 32-year run (and counting) of the Hubble Space Telescope is any indication, the JWT should continue giving us fantastic images for years to come.
Disclaimer
Technology is always changing and rarely is there static for smartphones and desktops. Thus, the contents of this post are only valid at the time of writing. Blog posts older than six months may have directions that are incompatible with your device or OS. Hopefully, older post content will continue to work as advertised. Thank you for reading TechSavvy.Life for Technology at Work For You.
Quote For the Day
Technology means you can now do amazing things easily; but you couldn’t easily do them legally.
Lawrence lessig
Tweet Info
That’s it. Please feel free to share this post! One way to share is via Twitter.
Just click the Tweet icon below. This will launch Twitter where you click its icon to post the Tweet.
Checkout TechSavvy.Life for blog posts on smartphones, PCs, and Macs! You may email us at contact@techsavvy.life for comments or questions.
Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love to hear from you. Do you have a computer or smart device tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Just send an email to contact@techsavvy.life. Please mention the device, app, and version you are using. To help us out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.
Author’s E-Book
You can access the e-book from a Kindle device, the Kindle App for the desktop or smartphone, which is a free app.
The author’s Vietnam eBook on the Battle for Tra Bong Vietnam: Events and Aftermath
Google has confusing named products, and that might be most apparent with Google Wallet and Google Pay. These two apps have taken a convoluted path to get where they are today. So, which one should you be using?
Google has confusing named products, and that might be most apparent with Google Wallet and Google Pay. These two apps have taken a convoluted path to get where they are today. So, which one should you be using?
This is for diPhone and Android. Screenshots are from iPhone XR running iOS 16+
Copyright Scott Adams, Inc./Distributed by Universal Uclick for UFS
Both Google Wallet and Pay have seen some pretty drastic revamps over the years. Their purposes have changed a lot and confused many people in the process. Let’s see what these products have to offer.
Some History
You may be surprised to learn that the original version of Google Wallet was introduced way back in 2011. The service was primarily for sending money to people and there was a physical Google Wallet credit card as well.
The Google Wallet card allowed people to pay for things in physical and online stores with the funds in their accounts. This was before mobile payments with tap-to-pay were widely supported. The Wallet card was a very clever solution.
Eventually, tap-to-pay gained enough traction that Google launched AndroidPay in 2015. It maintained Google Wallet and Android Pay separately until 2018 when the two were combined into a single service called Google Pay. The Wallet card was discontinued in 2016.
Then, in 2020, Google Pay got a massive overhaul with a bunch of new features. All of Google’s mobile payment services were under one umbrella… for a while. In the summer of 2022, the service was split in two, with the Google Wallet branding making a return.
That’s where things stand as of September 2022. Google Pay and Google Wallet exist as two separate products; sometimes. More on that later.
Google Wallet
Google Wallet can most easily be summed up by its name; it’s a digital wallet. You can add credit cards, debit cards, loyalty cards, transportation passes, event tickets, vaccine cards, and gift cards.
Basically, Google Wallet is for paying for things online and in physical stores with tap-to-pay. It features a very simple interface that shows your cards, tickets, and passes. Google Wallet is only available for Android since the iPhone does not allow non-Apple apps for tap-to-pay.
Google Wallet can generally be used with any card reader that has an Apple Wallet, Google Pay, or the contactless tap-to-pay icon. For online purchases, look for the Google Pay or Google Wallet buttons at checkout. It will take some time for the Wallet branding to replace Google Pay. Refer to the below image:
Google Wallet
Google Pay
Google Pay received a massive overhaul in 2020, and it’s pretty much the same experience now. The tap-to-pay functionality is still present in Google Pay, but that’s not the only thing it can do.
The Google Pay app has peer-to-peer payments, shopping deals, cashback offers, and a full-blown banking experience with personal finance insights. You can think of Pay as a combination of services similar to Venmo, PayPal, RetailMeNot, and Mint.
Unlike Google Wallet, Google Pay is available on both Android and iPhone. The tap-to-pay functionality does not work on the iPhone, but the other features do. It’s a feature-packed app that tries to do a lot of things. In fact, it might be too much for some people, which is why Google Wallet exists. See the below image:
Google Pay
Which App to Use?
Depending on where you live, you may not even need to decide which app to use. Google Pay and Google Wallet only exist side-by-side in the U.S. and Singapore. In every other country, Google Wallet entirely replaced Google Pay, and India does not have Wallet at all (as of September 2022).
Google Pay can do everything Google Wallet can do, but Google Wallet can not do everything Google Pay can do. If you are in a country that has both, you can choose between the full experience (Pay) or just mobile payments (Wallet). There’s no reason to have both.
Use Google Pay if you want peer-to-peer payments, deals, rewards, or personal finance tools. If you only care about mobile payments, Google Wallet is a much more streamlined experience for that. The choice is even simpler for iPhone users; Google Pay is the only option.
In closing, Google Wallet is for mobile payments, Google Pay is for mobile payments, and more. In the author’s opinion, it’s still too complicated.
-Courtesy of other tech blog posts
Quote For the Day
Books don’t need batteries.
Nadine Gordimer
Tweet Info
That’s it. Please feel free to share this post! One way to share is via Twitter.
Just click the Tweet icon below. This will launch Twitter where you click its icon to post the Tweet.
Checkout TechSavvy.Life for blog posts on smartphones, PCs, and Macs! You may email us at contact@techsavvy.life for comments or questions.
Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love to hear from you. Do you have a computer or smart device tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Just send an email to contact@techsavvy.life. Please mention the device, app, and version you are using. To help us out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.
Author’s E-Book
You can access the e-book from a Kindle device, the Kindle App for the desktop or smartphone, which is a free app.
The author’s Vietnam eBook on the Battle for Tra Bong Vietnam: Events and Aftermath
Copyright Scott Adams, Inc./Distributed by Universal Uclick for UFS Let’s explore these myths.
This is for smartphones
Copyright Scott Adams, Inc./Distributed by Universal Uclick for UFS
Maintain Battery Life Forever
Let’s open with the most persistent overarching myth: that you can somehow baby your phone’s battery to keep it in good health forever.
A smartphone battery is, ultimately, a consumable good. Like a battery in your car, the battery exists to be used and, when it has reached the end of its life cycle, replaced.
Sure it’s a minor hassle to get the battery on your phone replaced, given that many phones have sealed-body designs now. But it’s not particularly expensive to do so. You might have to spend $50-$70 for a new battery.
Kill Apps to Save Battery Life
Your phone was designed to be used the way the vast majority of people use it: opening apps when needed, never actually closing them, and just letting unused apps sit off to the side when moving on to the next app; leaving the original apps to hang out in a sort of suspended state until needed again.
Your phone was not designed with the idea that you, the end user, would force quit an app when you were done using it as if you were closing apps down on a desktop computer. That’s true for iPhones, and it’s true for Android-based phones.
Yes, there are rare instances of poorly coded applications using too much background data or otherwise negatively impacting your battery life. If you have an app you really need to use, and it’s one of those apps, force quitting it when you are not actually using it might be wise.
But for the majority of us, closing apps is a waste of time, and actually hurts the performance and battery life of your phone.
Discharge the Battery to 0% Before Using
The consumer use of lithium-ion batteries is fairly recent. Because of that, many people either have first-hand experience with older (and more finicky) batteries or were given advice by people who did.
Some types of rechargeable batteries suffer from “memory” issues. That’s not the case with lithium-ion batteries. In fact, you should go out of your way to avoid fully draining the battery. In general, your phone battery is healthier when it is being regularly used and charged.
However, once or twice a year it is useful to let your lithium-ion battery drain all the way down before recharging to recalibrate the battery. That does not extend the life of the battery, but it does ensure that your phone software can accurately report the charge of the battery.
While Charging Don’t Use It
This myth is based on the idea that heat is damaging to your phone and to the battery life. That’s not entirely untrue. Your battery is healthier operating near room temperature (and actually works a little better in cooler-than-room temperature conditions). Electronics, in general, do not like heat.
But the little bit of heat introduced by charging and then the extra heat introduced by you using the phone is not a big deal. Should you charge your phone while sitting in the direct summer sun, playing the most demanding mobile game you have? No, probably not. But anything short of those kinds of stress-test conditions is fine.
Third-Party Chargers Will Damage Your Phone
Is it ideal to only use first-party OEM chargers created by the manufacturer specifically for your smartphone? Sure. Is it a huge risk to do otherwise? In most cases, not at all.
There are plenty of really great third-party chargers out there from reputable companies like Anker, Belkin, Spigen, and so on.
What you want to avoid are the poorly constructed and poorly quality chargers you find at gas stations, flea markets, and other places where bargain-basement no-name products are sold. Do not trust your phone to a $4 gas station charger.
Fast and Wireless Charging Will Damage Your Battery
Let’s lump these two together because the basis of the myth is the same. There is a long-standing belief that using a fast charger or a wireless charger damages your battery because it introduces excess heat that degrades the battery circuits.
Technically, it’s true that the brief period of intense charging during the peak of a fast charging cycle introduces more heat than not using fast charging would introduce.
It’s also technically true that the inherent inefficiency of a wireless charger over a wired charger will also introduce extra heat.
Neither of these has an impact significant enough to merit any real consideration, that’s why new cars feature wireless charging.
Charging Overnight Damages Your Battery
Here’s another myth that was significantly more true in the past and barely relevant today: leaving your phone plugged in to charge overnight is bad for the battery.
In the past, smartphones were not smart about battery management. Your phone would charge up to 100%, stop charging, and then after slowly discharging, it would charge back up again. Modern phones have adaptive charging, and they strategically manage the charging window to minimize battery damage.
Having a fully charged and ready-to-go phone in the morning far outweighs any minor wear and tear overnight charging might put on the battery.
Battery Is Damaged by Turning It Off at Night
This myth, depending on who shares it, goes both ways. Some people will tell you turning the phone off is good for the battery. Some people will tell you leaving the phone on all the time is bad for the battery. The truth is, neither state really matters much.
Your phone is designed to be on all the time. Not a single phone manufacturer has designed their device with the intention that you power it down and put it in a drawer when you are not using it.
Sure, you can extend the life of a lithium-ion battery by charging it to roughly 50-60% and then storing it in a cool, dry place. But this is your smartphone, you do not have to put it in storage, instead, you use it every day.
Disable Bluetooth and Other Features
Years ago, disabling features to save battery life was a far more useful tip than it is now. To be certain, any features on your smartphone that require energy such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, background data, and so on, will impact your battery life.
Turning off Wi-Fi when you are on a plane and not using the plane’s in-flight Wi-Fi, for example, is a straightforward way to squeeze out a little battery life if you do not have a charger handy. And disabling background data updates for a particular app that is aggressively polling for data you do not need constant updates about is also a wise decision.
But turning off Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, leaving your phone in Airplane Mode, or disabling all background data is overkill. For day-to-day use, it just makes your phone a pain to use.
The same thing goes for Low-Power Mode. If you are stuck between locations where you can charge your phone, by all means, use it. But keeping your phone in Low-Power Mode just makes it more frustrating to use.
Micro-managing how you charge your smartphone can, at best, only add a tiny amount to the battery’s lifespan and is hardly worth worrying about.
Quote For the Day
The only way to define your limits is by going beyond them.
Arthur C Clarke
Tweet Info
That’s it. Please feel free to share this post! One way to share is via Twitter.
Just click the Tweet icon below. This will launch Twitter where you click its icon to post the Tweet.
Checkout TechSavvy.Life for blog posts on smartphones, PCs, and Macs! You may email us at contact@techsavvy.life for comments or questions.
Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love to hear from you. Do you have a computer or smart device tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Just send an email to contact@techsavvy.life. Please mention the device, app, and version you are using. To help us out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.
Author’s E-Book
You can access the e-book from a Kindle device, the Kindle App for the desktop or smartphone, which is a free app.
The author’s Vietnam eBook on the Battle for Tra Bong Vietnam: Events and Aftermath
This is for the desktop, iPhone, and Android. Screenshots are from iPhone XR
Copyright Scott Adams, Inc./Distributed by Universal Uclick for UFS
Manage Alexa
In case you do not already know, you can control Alexa’s various features right from your desktop, iPhone, or Android smartphone. This allows you to tweak various setting options for your Echo without needing physical access to your device. You can manage everything from reminders and alarms to connected smart home devices. Refer to the below image:
Accessing Alexa Settings
On your desktop, you can use the Amazon Alexa website to do that, though it’s worth noting that the web implementation is not as robust as it used to be. You will have a better experience using the official Alexa mobile app on iPhone and Android.
Alexa Voice Tempo
If you find Alexa’s speech too fast or too slow, you can ask her to adjust her speaking speed. Simply say “Alexa, speak slower” or “Alexa, speak faster” and she will obey your command.
That will allow you to listen to certain words carefully, or go through everything quickly if you like to get your information fast.
Alexa Brief Mode
Sometimes, Alexa’s answers are too verbose. She might keep saying little things that you will eventually find annoying. Fortunately, there’s a way around it.
Enter Brief Mode, an Alexa feature that makes the virtual assistant keep her responses shorter. When this mode is enabled, Alexa will not speak as many words as she normally does. You can enable the mode by accessing the Alexa website, heading into:
Settings > Alexa Voice Responses
and enabling Brief Mode. See the below image:
Enabling Brief Mode
On the same page, you can make Alexa whisper her responses by enabling the Whisper Mode option.
Alexa Commute
Alexa can let you know what kind of traffic you will meet on your way to your office. As long as you have specified your To and From addresses in Alexa, you can get your commute’s traffic details. See the following image:
Commute info
If you have not already, you can configure your To and From addresses in the
Settings > Traffic
menu on the Alexa website.
Alexa Reminder App
It’s easy to forget your important tasks in this busy life. Setting up a reminder for each of your tasks in a mobile reminder app is also cumbersome.
Fortunately, you can use your Alexa assistant as a reminder tool. Simply ask Alexa when you would like to be reminded and about what or type in a reminder, and she will make sure to send you a notification at the specified time. Refer to the below image:
Enter and Save your reminder
Alexa Security Updates
Alexa offers a security feature called Guard to help you keep a check on your home when you are away. This feature listens to certain sounds, like those of breaking glass and smoke alarms going off.
When Alexa detects those sounds, you get a notification as well as a short audio clip of the sound, letting you know something’s not right at your home.
You can activate Alexa’s Guard feature from the
More > Settings > Guard
menu in the Alexa mobile app. You can purchase the Guard Plus feature for a fee if you would like emergency authorities to be notified when those sounds play at your home. See the below image:
Accessing Guard
Alexa Echo as a Bluetooth Speaker
Last but not least, you can use your Alexa-enabled Amazon Echo as a Bluetooth speaker. This way, you can connect any of your Bluetooth-enabled devices to your Echo and play your favorite music.
You may want to use this feature when your favorite music app is not supported by Alexa, or when you prefer to play music from your phone or your desktop. You can pair your phone or desktop with your Amazon Echo by simply asking “Alexa, pair.”
Those are some of the Alexa features you can use to make your Amazon Echo device even more useful.
Quote For the Day
I might love my e-reader, but I’d never pass up the chance to browse real books.
Nichole Chase
Tweet Info
That’s it. Please feel free to share this post! One way to share is via Twitter.
Just click the Tweet icon below. This will launch Twitter where you click its icon to post the Tweet.
Checkout TechSavvy.Life for blog posts on smartphones, PCs, and Macs! You may email us at contact@techsavvy.life for comments or questions.
Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love to hear from you. Do you have a computer or smart device tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Just send an email to contact@techsavvy.life. Please mention the device, app, and version you are using. To help us out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.
Author’s E-Book
You can access the e-book from a Kindle device, the Kindle App for the desktop or smartphone, which is a free app.
The author’s Vietnam eBook on the Battle for Tra Bong Vietnam: Events and Aftermath
Using Facebook Messenger’s “Secret Conversations” feature, you can ensure your messages and calls are end-to-end encrypted so that only the sender and the receiver can access them.
Using Facebook Messenger’s “Secret Conversations” feature, you can ensure your messages and calls are end-to-end encrypted so that only the sender and the receiver can access them. Let’s explore how to utilize this feature on your iPhone and Android phone.
Note:Facebook Messenger’s “Secret Conversations” feature is only available on iPhone and Android. You can not use it in Messenger on the web.
This is for iPhone and Android. screenshots are from iPhone XR running iOS 16+
Copyright Scott Adams, Inc./Distributed by Universal Uclick for UFS
How Does the Secret Conversations Feature Work
When you enable the “Secret Conversations” feature with a user, Messenger encrypts your messages and calls as soon as you send them. Then, these contents are only decrypted on the receiver’s phone. This ensures no one can access your chat content, not even Meta without physical access.
That encryption is the difference between a regular chat and a secret one. If any bad actors gain access to Meta’s servers, they can not see your encrypted messages. Any of your regular chats might be visible, as they remain unencrypted on Meta’s servers.
However, Meta restricts who you can have secret chats with. At the time of writing in September 2022, you can not start such a chat with businesses, professional accounts, Instagram accounts from Messenger, and people you have not messaged before. Also, both you and your chatting partner need to be using the latest version of the app, so make sure you both update Messenger on your respective devices.
Additionally, certain features you might be used to will not work while in one of these chats. Meta states that group messages and money payments are not supported in secret conversations. If those limitations create problems for you, look into alternative secure communication methods that might offer the features you need.
Start a Secret Chat
First, launch the Messenger app on your phone. In the Messenger app’s top-right corner, tap the Edit icon. Refer to the below image:
Accessing Edit mode
Next, in the New Message screen, at the top-right-hand corner, enable the “Secret Conversations” (the lock icon) option. See the below image:
Selecting the Lock icon
Now, on the same page, in the To field, enter the name of the person you want to have a secret chat with. Then, select that person from the list. See the following image:
Selecting a person to Chat with
Next, a new chat will start with your chosen person. Any messages or calls you make in this conversation will be end-to-end encrypted. You can start sending messages as usual. Refer to the below image:
Sending your encrypted message
Now, to make a voice or video call, at the top of the chat screen, tap the appropriate icon. See the below image:
Making a voice or video call
Delete a Chat
Next, to delete your secret chat with someone, tap the person’s name at the top. See the following image:
Selecting a person to delete the Chat
Now, in the menu that opens, choose Delete Chat. Refer to the below image:
Deleting the Chat
Quote For the Day
We take the highest and best of human faculties, and, exalting them in our imagination to an unlimited extent, endeavour to attain an imperfect conception of that Infinite Power which created everything around us.
Charles Babbage (1791-1871), pioneer of modern computer
Tweet Info
That’s it. Please feel free to share this post! One way to share is via Twitter.
Just click the Tweet icon below. This will launch Twitter where you click its icon to post the Tweet.
Checkout TechSavvy.Life for blog posts on smartphones, PCs, and Macs! You may email us at contact@techsavvy.life for comments or questions.
Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love to hear from you. Do you have a computer or smart device tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Just send an email to contact@techsavvy.life. Please mention the device, app, and version you are using. To help us out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.
Author’s E-Book
You can access the e-book from a Kindle device, the Kindle App for the desktop or smartphone, which is a free app.
The author’s Vietnam eBook on the Battle for Tra Bong Vietnam: Events and Aftermath
Listening to bird calls is a great, relaxing way to enjoy nature. If your curiosity gets the best of you, hearing the calls may not be enough. Let’s explore how to identify birds.
This is for the iPhone and Android. Screenshots are from iPhone XR running iOS 15.6+
Copyright Scott Adams, Inc./Distributed by Universal Uclick for UFS
There’s a good chance you take your phone with you when you are out for a nature walk. Did you know it can be a surprisingly accurate bird identification tool?
Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is one of the top resources for information about birds. The Merlin Bird ID app puts all of that great information at your fingertips. It’s available for Android and iPhone. First, access the App store and search for Merlin Bird ID.
Next, tap Get to download the app. Refer to the below image:
Download the app from the App Store
Now, enter your email address and tap the Submit button. See the below image:
Enter your email address
Next, check your email to confirm your address, then tap the Continue button. See the following image:
Confirm your email
Now, the Merlin Bird ID app will open. Here, tap on View Suggested for Bird Packs. Refer to the below image:
Select the View Suggested option
Next, we are selecting the Oklahoma and Texas Bird Pack since we live in Oklahoma, then tap the Install button. Note! check your phone’s remaining storage before downloading. See the below image:
Install a Bird Pack
Now, when the app opens, you have a few options. Start Bird ID and Photo ID are for identifying birds based on their sound or appearance. The one we want to use is Sound ID, so tap it. See the following image:
Select Sound ID
Next, a menu will appear with a few options. To immediately start listening for bird calls around you, tap the big Microphone button. Refer to the below image:
Listen for birds
Now, the app will immediately start listening and populate the identified birds on the screen. The bird that is currently singing is highlighted in yellow. See the below image:
The identified bird is highlighted in yellow
Next, tap the red Stop button when you are done. You will get a list of all the birds identified, and you can select any of them to read more information. See the following image:
Stop recording
Your Bird Recordings
Now, go back to the Merlin Bird ID home page and tap the Menu icon in the upper left-hand corner. Refer to the below image:
Accessing the Menu
Next, on the menu that opens, tap the My Sound Recordings option. See the below image:
Select the My Sound Recordings option
Now, tap the top listing for your latest bird sound recording. See the following image:
Select a recording
Next, once again, tap the top listing, then the Play button to hear the bird recording. Refer to the below image:
Play the recording
You can simply let the app listen to your surroundings and watch the identified birds pop up on the screen. The Merlin Bird ID app is chock full of great information if you are curious about birds.
Quote For the Day
We live in a society exquistely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology.
Carl Sagan
Tweet Info
That’s it. Please feel free to share this post! One way to share is via Twitter.
Just click the Tweet icon below. This will launch Twitter where you click its icon to post the Tweet.
Checkout TechSavvy.Life for blog posts on smartphones, PCs, and Macs! You may email us at contact@techsavvy.life for comments or questions.
Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love to hear from you. Do you have a computer or smart device tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Just send an email to contact@techsavvy.life. Please mention the device, app, and version you are using. To help us out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.
Author’s E-Book
You can access the e-book from a Kindle device, the Kindle App for the desktop or smartphone, which is a free app.
The author’s Vietnam eBook on the Battle for Tra Bong Vietnam: Events and Aftermath
YouTube has been around since 2005, and it’s one of the most visited websites in the world. Tons of features have been added to the YouTube website and apps over the years.
YouTube has been around since 2005, and it’s one of the most visited websites in the world. Tons of features have been added to the YouTube website and apps over the years. Here are some features you may not know about.
This is for devices using YouTube. Screenshots are from iPhone XR running iOS 15.6+
Copyright Scott Adams, Inc./Distributed by Universal Uclick for UFS
Save Videos to Watch Later
You have probably been browsing YouTube and come across a video that looks interesting. What if you do not have the time to watch it right at that moment? The Watch Later feature is perfect for this.
Watch Later is essentially just a playlist that you can add videos to for watching later. It’s great for saving videos that you do not want to forget about, and it works everywhere you can access the YouTube website or app.
First, find a YouTube video you want to watch later. Next, tap the Save icon in the toolbar below the video. Now, from the Menu that opens, select the Watch Later option. Refer to the below image:
Selecting Watch Later option
Set YouTube Videos to Fill Your iPhone Screen
It’s pretty common for your phone’s display to have a different aspect ratio than YouTube videos. You can pinch to zoom to fill the full screen when watching a video, but you have to do that every time.
You can actually make it so videos will always fill the full screen. You will not have to pinch-to-zoom every time, but you will be able to zoom out if too much of the video is being cut off.
First, open the YouTube app on your iPhone or iPad device. Next, double-tap your profile icon in the top right-hand corner. Now, from the Manu that opens, select
Settings > General
and toggle Zoom to Fill Screen to ON. See the below image:
Enabling Zoom to fill the screen
Skip Forward/Backward Fast
Here’s a quick tip that will save you a lot of time watching videos on the YouTube mobile app. Rather than using the seek bar to skip forward and back in the video, simply double-tap the left or right side of the video. See the following image:
Skip Forward or Backward
Change the Double-Tap Skip Time
Speaking of double-tapping to skip forward or back in a video, you can adjust the length of these skips. By default, it’s 10-seconds. You can customize this length from 5 to 60 seconds. It’s a great thing to do if you find yourself tapping the video too much.
First, open the YouTube app on your iPhone or iPad, device. Next, double-tap your profile icon in the top right-hand corner. Now, from the Manu that opens, select
Settings > General
and select the Skip Forward and Back option. Next, choose one of the time increments from the Menu. Refer to the below image:
Set timer for Skip Forward and Backward
Speed Up or Slow Down a Video
YouTube videos do not have to be played at the speed of how they were uploaded. You can speed up or slow down any video you want. This is super handy for rewatching moments in slow motion or getting through long videos a little faster.
The Playback Speed controls can be accessed on the web and mobile apps. You can select a speed anywhere between 0.25- 2 times the normal speed, with 1 being the normal speed.
First, open the YouTube app and play a video. Next, tap the screen once to bring up the toolbar, Now, tap the Settings icon located in the upper right-hand corner of the video frame.
Next, in the Menu that pops up, select Playback speed. In the list that appears, select the speed you would like. See the below image:
Set timer for Playback speed
Now, close the Menu, and the video will resume at the selected speed. If you need to change it back to the regular speed, repeat the above and change the speed to 1 for normal speed.
Quote For the Day
An outlook… at the vast mysteries of the universe should only confirm our belief in the certainty of its Creator.
Wernher Von Braun
Tweet Info
That’s it. Please feel free to share this post! One way to share is via Twitter.
Just click the Tweet icon below. This will launch Twitter where you click its icon to post the Tweet.
Checkout TechSavvy.Life for blog posts on smartphones, PCs, and Macs! You may email us at contact@techsavvy.life for comments or questions.
Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love to hear from you. Do you have a computer or smart device tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Just send an email to contact@techsavvy.life. Please mention the device, app, and version you are using. To help us out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.
Author’s E-Book
You can access the e-book from a Kindle device, the Kindle App for the desktop or smartphone, which is a free app.
The author’s Vietnam eBook on the Battle for Tra Bong Vietnam: Events and Aftermath
If you are having trouble stepping away from Facebook’s endless scroll, Quiet Mode can help silence the chatter, memes, and misinformation. Let’s explore this Facebook feature.
This is for devices using Facebook on mobile. Screenshots are from iPhone XR
Copyright Scott Adams, Inc./Distributed by Universal Uclick for UFS
Social media is designed to keep you hooked. The endless scrolling. A constant stream of notifications. The temptation of opening an app. It all works together to suck you in and keep your attention for longer than what could be considered a harmless distraction.
If you feel like you are ready to pull back without fully unplugging, Facebook offers a built-in tool called Quiet Mode that can help you manage your time on the platform.
To get started, first, open Facebook, tap the Menu (the Hamburger icon) in the mobile app, and head to:
Settings & privacy > Settings > Your Time on Facebook under the Preferences section.
Time You Spend on Facebook
Next, tap See Time on the Your Time onFacebook page. Here you can view several graphs that show app usage. Swipe the screen to view total time, daytime versus nighttime hours, and how many times you opened the app over the last week. Refer to the below image:
Your time on Facebook
Now, if you simply want to be mindful of your usage and not change anything, enable Weekly Update, which will send you a weekly email reviewing your Facebook usage from the last seven days. You can also tap Activity Log to view all your recent actions on the platform.
Setup Daily Reminder
Next, tap the See Tools button on the Your Time on Facebook page. You can start off slow by setting a reminder that will tell you to stop using the app after a set amount of time.
Now, from the ManageYour Time page, enable Daily Time Reminder at the bottom of the page, and then set the timer to a specific amount of hours and minutes. The app will tell you how much time you average per day so you can set the timer to something under that number. Tap Set Reminder, then continue using the app until your time is up. See the below image:
Daily Reminder
Set Quiet Mode
Next, if you need a little help cutting down on Facebook usage, Quiet Mode is here to help. When enabled, this feature will mute push notifications to your phone, limit the notification dots that appear in the app, and stop you from using the app the next time you open it. Enable Quiet Mode from the Manage Your Time page, and then set how long you want it to stay on.
Now, you can also schedule Quiet Mode to turn on at a specific time each day. Enable Scheduled Quiet Mode, then tap Add Schedule to set the start and end time, as well as which days the feature should be used. TapDelete Schedule to remove or redo it. See the following image:
Quiet Mode
Manage Quiet Mode
Next, when you open the app while Quiet Mode is enabled, you will be greeted by a reminder that shows you how long you have left. If you really need to do something in the app, tap Manage Quiet Mode and either end Quiet Mode immediately or get a 15-minute reprieve. Or choose Edit Settings to change how Quiet Mode works for you. Refer to the below image:
Manage Quiet Mode
Quote For the Day
Innovation is the outcome of a habit, not a random act.
Sukant Ratnakar
Tweet Info
That’s it. Please feel free to share this post! One way to share is via Twitter.
Just click the Tweet icon below. This will launch Twitter where you click its icon to post the Tweet.
Checkout TechSavvy.Life for blog posts on smartphones, PCs, and Macs! You may email us at contact@techsavvy.life for comments or questions.
Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love to hear from you. Do you have a computer or smart device tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Just send an email to contact@techsavvy.life. Please mention the device, app, and version you are using. To help us out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.
Author’s E-Book
You can access the e-book from a Kindle device, the Kindle App for the desktop or smartphone, which is a free app.
The author’s Vietnam eBook on the Battle for Tra Bong Vietnam: Events and Aftermath
Once you follow a personal account or a page on Facebook, you start seeing that entity’s posts in your News feed. This is a great way to get updates from your favorite people or brands without being friends.
Once you follow a personal account or a page on Facebook, you start seeing that entity’s posts in your News feed. This is a great way to get updates from your favorite people or brands without being friends. Let’s explore following a person on Facebook.
This is for devices using Facebook. Screenshots are from Windows 10 and iPhone XR
Copyright Scott Adams, Inc./Distributed by Universal Uclick for UFS
Following vs Friending
When you follow someone, you do not have to add them as a friend. You can see that entity’s posts and other content in your News feed while not becoming a part of their friend’s list. This option is usually used to follow celebrities and the pages that interest you on this social platform.
To follow someone and to add someone as a friend are two different things on Facebook.
The convention on Facebook is that when you add someone as a friend, it’s likely you know that person personally. You add people like your real-life friends, colleagues, and family as “friends” on Facebook.
Know that while Facebook allows you to have up to 5,000 friends at a time, there’s no such limit for followers. Also, keep in mind that people and pages can choose not to allow themselves to be followed. In such cases, you will not see the Follow button on these entities’ pages on Facebook.
Follow People
To follow a personal account on Facebook, all you have to do is visit that person’s profile page and click or tap an option.
On Desktop
On your computer, first, launch a web browser and open Facebook. Log in to your account if you have not already.
Next, after logging in, access the profile page of the person you want to follow. On this page, in the tab list beneath the person’s name, click the three dots (the Menu icon) or the Friends button. Refer to the below image:
Accessing the Menu
Now, in the three-dot Menu, choose Follow. If you do not see the Follow option, that person has yet to enable others to follow them. See the below image:
Selecting to Follow
Tip: Later, to unfollow this person, click Following followed by Unfollow on the person’s profile page.
You are now following the selected person in your Facebook account. The person’s posts will appear in your News feed.
On Mobile
To follow a person from your phone or tablet, first, launch the Facebook app on your mobile device. Then, open the profile page of the person you want to follow.
Next, on the profile page, beneath the person’s name, tap the three dots (the Menu icon). See the following image:
Accessing the Menu
Now, in the Profile Settings menu, choose Follow. Refer to the below image:
Selecting to Follow
Tip: In the future, to unfollow this person, tap Following followed by Unfollow.
You are now following the selected person in your Facebook account. The person’s posts will appear in your News feed.
Follow Pages
Following a page is as easy as doing so for a personal account.
On Desktop
On your computer, first, launch a web browser and open Facebook. Log in to your account if you have not already.
Next, open the page you wish to follow. On the page screen, at the far right of the tab list, click the three lines or the three dots (the Menu icon), whichever is shown. See the below image:
Accessing the Menu
Now, in the Menu, choose Follow. If you do not see the Follow option, that person has yet to enable others to follow their page. See the following image:
Selecting to Follow
Tip: Later, to unfollow a page, visit the page, click the three lines or the three dots (the Menu icon), and choose Follow Settings. Then enable Unfollow This Page and click Update.
You are now following the selected person’s page posts in your Facebook account. The person’s page posts will appear in your News feed.
On Mobile
On your mobile phone or tablet, first, launch the Facebook app. Access the page to follow, then tap the three lines or three dots (the Menu icon). Refer to the below image:
Accessing the Menu
Next, from the Menu that opens, select Follow. See the below image:
Selecting to Follow
Tip: To unfollow a page, tap the three lines or three dots (the Menu icon) and select Manage Follow Settings. Then tap Unfollow.
You are now following your favorite page on Facebook.
Quote For the Day
Let’s go invent tomorrow instead of worrying about what happen yesterday.
Steve Jobs
Tweet Info
That’s it. Please feel free to share this post! One way to share is via Twitter.
Just click the Tweet icon below. This will launch Twitter where you click its icon to post the Tweet.
Checkout TechSavvy.Life for blog posts on smartphones, PCs, and Macs! You may email us at contact@techsavvy.life for comments or questions.
Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love to hear from you. Do you have a computer or smart device tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Just send an email to contact@techsavvy.life. Please mention the device, app, and version you are using. To help us out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.
Author’s E-book
You can access the e-book from a Kindle device, the Kindle App for the desktop or smartphone, which is a free app.
The author’s Vietnam eBook on the Battle for Tra Bong Vietnam: Events and Aftermath
Tech Savvy Life 