Stream Media To Both AirPlay & DLNA Devices From Android Using Streambels

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If your videos, music and photos are stored on your Android device, wouldn't it be great if you were able to stream them to your TV, iOS device, Apple TV, video game console or PC without having to shell out money for any additional hardware? All you need to do is grab this free app called Streambels, and you should be good to go! Designed to work over AirPlay or DLNA, Streambels provides a simple solution to wirelessly streaming media files and YouTube videos from your phone or tablet to any DLNA or AirPlay compliant receiver or set top box – even your PC. Its ability to cast media over these two widely popular streaming technologies means you wouldn't need a Chromecast, any Apple-specific hardware or multiple apps on your device for the purpose. Airplay works with Apple TV, iOS, Macs and many third-party licensed hardware devices as the receiver, while DLNA is another great standard that allows you to stream media across your home network to many DLNA-compliant devices using Universal Plug and Play, and has the advantage of being found in many modern electronics like PCs, TVs, set-top boxes, media receivers and even gaming consoles. Read More

How To Disable the Dashboard & Notification Center in Mac OS X

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Mavericks has certainly optimized OS X; it's a system designed to please everyone, and as good an idea as that is, it risks creating aspects that are not always appreciated, such as the Dashboard and Notification Center. I for one have never understood the necessity of the Dashboard in a Mac OS X, In fact, the only reason I ever put anything there was to save it from looking useless. Unfortunately, ornamental seems to be the primary purpose behind the Dashboard. It consumes resources, and is not important enough functionally (at least in my experience). The same can be said about the notification center. While I can see how it might serve a purpose for many, but one can also see how it's not for everyone. Fortunately, if you share my disapproval of these features, they can quite easily be disabled through a few terminal commands. Read More

Download Files To Android While Browsing The Web On Your Computer With Downiton.mobi

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One of the issues I face a lot is the hassle of transferring files back and forth between my computer and Android phone. I mostly surf the internet from my PC, and when I find something useful that I’d want to have on my phone, let’s say, a video, photo, song, APK file of an app etc., I first have to download it to my computer, and then transfer it to the phone over Wi-Fi or USB, ending up wasting a lot of time. With today’s smartphones, one can of course download files straight to their device, but then, tediously browsing to the required site on your phone again after coming across it on your computer isn't exactly intuitive. This is where Downiton.mobi comes to the rescue. It’s a free service with Android and web components that allows you to download any file directly to your device while surfing the web on your computer. Read More

Easily Password-Protect & Hide Folders Without Installing An App

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Keep your computer locked when not in use and chances are unlikely that someone’s gonna tinker with your confidential data. But one can't be too careful, and may end up leaving an unlocked computer unattended at times, especially when it's a shared computer used by different family members. In such cases, application that let you lock specific folders can come handy? When it comes to finding a good application for the purpose, portability is often an attribute users seek, especially for locking folders on their thumb drives. Anvide Lock Folder is a portable Windows application built for that very purpose. It allows you to hide or lock multiple folders via a master password. You can use it on your hard disk, or place its tiny executable on a USB flash storage and slip it into your pocket for keeping your files secure on the go. From its intuitive UI to its easily understandable set of options, the tool keeps things dead simple. Read More

Separate Devices & Drives In ‘This PC’ Section Of Windows 8.1 Explorer

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Most users of Windows must aware of the Windows 8.1 update that was released back in October as a free update to existing Windows 8 users via Windows Store. While the update brings many welcome additions to the table, it has also made a few changes that users are finding fiercely annoying. Once such nuisance is the Devices and Drives section in This PC. In contrast to Windows XP, 7 and 8, This PC displays all hard disk drives, USB devices and CD/DVD drives under one combined section labeled 'Devices and drives' section, while earlier versions of Windows had separate sections for ‘Hard Disk Drives’ ‘Devices with Removable Storage’. While you cannot bring the exact same functionality to Windows 8.1, Vishal Gupta at AskVG has shared an awesome tip that will let you separate hard disk partitions and USB or CD/DVD drives shown under This PC. Read on for full step-by-step instructions. Read More

MacroDroid Is An Impressively Powerful Task Automation App For Android

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One huge benefit of using an Android device is the ability to automate several everyday actions on it with apps like Tasker, Condi, RepetiTouch, Profile Flow and many others. The open nature of the OS makes it an excellent platform for automating pretty much anything that can be done on the device. Tasker may be the most famous name in this genre, but it doesn’t come cheap, and isn’t exactly all that beginner-friendly. If you are looking for a great alternative, your search just might end at MacroDroid. As the name suggests, the app lets users create macros that can be executed automatically based on some preset conditions, or manually using certain types of triggers. The actions that you can automate using this app can range from turning off unneeded radios during the night to save power, responding to specific text received in SMS with the device’s current location, and many, many more. What makes it even more useful is its several preconfigured macro templates that come with the app and can be used right away. Read More

Dayframe Is Like Android’s Daydream & Facebook Home On Steroids

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Remember the Daydream feature introduced in Android 4.2.2 and Facebook Home? The folks at cloud.tv – well-regarded for their HD Widgets app – want to take full advantage of this Android feature, refine it a few notches, and turn it into a new fascinating imagery app called Dayframe. Newly released on the Play Store, this app lets you view your favorite photos from popular image sharing services like Instagram, Tumblr or Facebook etc. as photo stream slideshows, turning your phone or tablet into a digital photo frame without shelling on any expensive upgrade. Read on for our full hands-on review. Read More

Best Apps, Tips And Posts Of The Week [11.17.2013]

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It’s that time of the week again when we round up the most popular (as well as the less-popular but equally useful) apps, tips and tweaks that you may have missed during your hectic workweek. This time around, we discuss Flipboard for Windows, a floating camera app for Android, Vine for Windows Phone (finally!) and the official CyanogenMod Installer application, among other excellent apps and tips. Read More

Streamus Is A YouTube Music Player For Chrome With Quick Playlist Creation & A Radio Mode

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Many of us simply turn to YouTube when it comes to streaming free music from the internet, because the world's number one video streaming service is the definite place to find all kinds of music, no matter what genre, artist or album you like. But those who stream music from YouTube channels would be aware how tedious it is to first go to YouTube and then always keep that tab open while streaming your desired content. So, how about keeping YouTube at your disposal without any browser tab? Try Streamus, a brilliant Chrome extension aimed at audiophiles who want to keep YouTube always accessible to them without even opening the site. It acts as a companion music player for YouTube that lets you create and stream playlists from a popup. Read More

Noozy Is An Android Music Player With An Impressive Set Of Audio Effects & Filters

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When Apple released its first iPod, listening to music became an entirely different proposition than it was when Sony’s Walkmans were around. But even those days are long gone now, and listening to music has evolved within that time. We've now moved to the cloud and streaming services like Spotify, Rdio and Pandora, bringing many of us closer to the end of offline music playback. However, people who still enjoy listening to their local music library are spoilt for choice when it comes to music players. Previously we've covered a bunch of such apps for Android, and today, we bring you another one labeled Noozy. It is a great music player jam-packed with impressive features that a music lover would definitely find useful. Read More

Re-Assign Hardware Keys, Enable Global Rotation & More On Android With Xposed Additions

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There were times when adding any really advanced features to even a rooted Android device required flashing a custom ROM. For those who wanted to stay on the stock ROM, the options narrowed down to flashing certain mods that enhanced its features, but such mods were generally specific to that particular version of the stock ROM and device. The development of the amazing Xposed framework has made that much easier for users, letting them add new features to their stock device by simply using modules built for the purpose that add the desired functionality at runtime, to any device with Xposed framework installed. Xposed Additions is one such module that adds features like toggling global screen rotation across the entire operating system, tweaking how it wakes when plugged/unplugged, choosing a key long-press delay, and re-assigning different actions to the hardware keys. Read More

Chainfire’s 500 Firepaper Auto-Rotates Your Android Wallpaper Between 500px Photos

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With HD screens becoming increasingly available on mobile devices today, the need for high resolution wallpapers is on the rise as well. While apps like Wallbase give you access to a multitude of high res. wallpapers, some users like being surprised. Enter 500 Firepaper: released by recognized developer, Chainfire, this app grabs wallpapers at random from 500px and offers users the feature to set the background to change automatically at a specified interval. Yes, there have been other apps that serve the same function, but we’re talking about high quality and high resolution photographs uploaded by professional photographers on 500px that 500 Firepaper grabs and rotates after an interval. 500 Firepaper offers a few more features as well. We take a closer look at those and the app in general, after the break! Read More

Flipboard Comes To Windows 8.1 & RT; We Go Hands-On [Review]

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When we talk about news readers and magazine apps for different mobile platforms out there, Flipboard has got to be among the first names that comes to mind. The popular virtual magazine has gained a lot of praise across both iOS and Android from users and critics alike, for offering an immersively pleasant experience of reading popular as well as self-curated news stories from around the world and social media in its beautiful interface. With the rather moderate yet steady rise in the popularity of Windows 8.1 and RT platforms, and with more and more tablets as well as other touch-screen computers sporting the OS hitting the market, it was only a matter of time before the developers behind Flipboard would notice the natural demand for their app on these devices, and the release of Flipboard for Windows 8.1 on Windows Store is testimony to that. The app brings its same highly visual reading experience to computers and tablets sporting Windows 8.1 or RT, complete with all its gestures, flipping animations as well as magazine discovery and curation tools that it has come to be known for. Join us, as we take an in-depth look at the app and all its features. Read More

Install Android 4.4 KitKat Factory Image On Nexus 4, 7 & 10

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Google promised it, and Google delivered it – after starting to push out Android 4.4 KitKat in OTA form to Nexus 7 and 10, the company behind the world most popular mobile OS has made factory images of the latest version of Android available for the public for Nexus 4, 7 and 10, in addition to Nexus 5. While the OTA had started rolling out only for the Wi-Fi editions of the Nexus 7, and there was no news for it starting to roll out for the Nexus 4, these factory images are available for all Wi-Fi and 3G variants of Nexus 7 (2012 and 2013), as well as for the Nexus 4. Codenamed KRT16O, these are full OS images that don’t need to be applied as updates, and contain the entire operating system in its pure AOSP glory. If you have yet to receive your OTA update and don’t want to flash it manually the OTA way, you can go ahead and install the appropriate factory image to your Nexus device, and get Android 4.4 KitKat up and running on it. In this post, we’ll be guiding you how. Read More

How To Install Android 4.4 KitKat Update On Nexus 7 & 10 Right Now

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Upon unveiling the Nexus 5 as the first device running Android 4.4 KitKat to the public, Google promised to bring the update to the recent variants of Nexus devices as well as Google Play editions of Galaxy S4 and HTC One pretty soon. If you have a Nexus 7 (2012 or 2013 Wi-Fi-only edition) or Nexus 10, you’re going to be among the first lucky ones in this regard, as Google has just started rolling out the update to these tablets. If you don’t want to wait for the official OTA update to hit your device and would prefer to take things into your own hands, you can grab the update files from Google’s servers and flash them to your tablet directly, and that’s what we’ll be walking you through in this post. So, read on and get KitKat up and running on your Nexus 7 or 10 tablet right away. Read More

Drawboard PDF Is A Modern UI PDF Editor & Annotation App For Windows

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When recently looking for a PDF editor on Windows Store, I came across Drawboard PDF – a Modern UI PDF annotation tool for Windows 8/8.1 and RT platforms – and found it to be extremely handy. What makes this app different from others I've seen in this genre is its user-friendly layout. Moreover, I had yet to see a fully-featured PDF editor for the RT platform, so this made it even more interesting. Drawboard's purpose is to allow you edit all your PDF documents using Windows 8’s touch-enabled UI. It supports a radial menu that contains an extensive array of tools designed to let you add custom shapes, text and other tidbits to your PDF document and save it as a new file. The app supports both stylus and finger touch gestures. Details after the jump. Read More

Drag & Drop Files & Folders To Securely Delete Them From Your PC

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When you delete files in Windows, they are actually not completely erased ; only the links to where the files are located on your hard disk are removed from the operating system. So, even if you delete everything personal from your computer before selling it to someone else, it will not be enough to make sure your data has been permanently erased from that disk. The best method to permanently get rid of that data is by using a file shredder. File shredders come in a variety of shapes and sizes, all of which have one basic purpose: to permanently wipe files from the hard disk itself by rewriting blank sectors on it. Previously, we've covered a lot of file shredders for Windows such as Moo0 File Shredder, EraserDrop, Freeraser etc. Securely is another such user-friendly tool that sports an intuitive design and offers a variety of shredding methods. Read More

How To Easily Install CM ROM With The Official CyanogenMod Installer

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Here at AddictiveTips, we’re all for flashing custom ROMs to our Android devices and taking them to levels of customization not usually possible on stock Android (though that’s changing fast with the awesome Xposed framework). CyanogenMod has been one of our favorite custom ROMs for quite a while, and for good reason – it has been around on the custom ROM scene since its very beginnings, and supports the most devices out there. If you have been intrigued by the idea of installing it to your device but the whole process of manually flashing a custom recovery, downloading different files, booting into the unfamiliar recovery interface and using it to install the ROM has been keeping you from it, your worries may be over. The team behind CyanogenMod now offers an easy solution for installing the ROM to an impressive list of popular devices with little hassle, in form of CyanogenMod Installer. All you have to do is install both the Android and Windows apps of the installer, launch them both and follow the easy instructions, and the downloading as well as installation will be done for you automatically behind the scenes. What’s more – it doesn’t even require root access, so you can even do it on a stock device! Read More

Video Pinner For Chrome Keep YouTube Videos In View As You Scroll Down The Comments

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We've all been there - clicking on that YouTube link and then ending up getting caught up in clicking link after link from the suggestions and losing track of time over the next few hours. There are many reasons behind YouTube's massive success, but when speaking of the technical side of things, it’s the company’s highly optimized streaming and presentation that keeps users hooked to the service. That said, there are still some annoying quirks with YouTube that plague the deal for us die-hard YouTubers. One such problem is when you scroll the web page to read comments posted a video, it no longer remains in view as you scroll down. So, while you may read or reply to the comments, but you won’t be able to watch the video at the same time. Video Pinner is a Chrome extension that aims to fix this issue by pinning the video to the page so it remains in view even as you scroll down. Read More

Create Online Manuals For Your Products & Services With Manula

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User manuals may seem boring, but they can prove to be indispensable for users of different products and services, in helping them figure out how to use all their features properly and in a manner that doesn't mess things up. That's why creators, publishers and marketers of different products and services should always put some quality time and effort into creating them. While one can create a manual with a general purpose word processor such as MS Word, specialized manual-making software can make the task easier. If you are looking for such a tool to create an online manual about a product or service you would like to promote, try Manula – a free web app that lets you create and publish any kind of manual you want. While creating your manual, Manula provides you with a wide array of options such as inserting images and links in it, saving the manual as PDF, and sharing it with others. It sports a feature-rich dashboard that allows you to view the live version of you manual even before you publish it online. Read More