Category: iDevice

New Emoji Coming!

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If ever there was a reason to upgrade your iPhone to the newest iOS, it surely is the launch of new emoji to use in our everyday texting. I have my favorite emoji to use. The always make the conversation fun, even when you’re pissed. There are so many good ones! You’ve got your basic set of emoji like hearts ❤️💛💚💙💜 and faces 😀😃😄🤣😍😛😒😎😜🤢🤡🤠 to name a few. I use all of them in the course of everyday conversations.

There are times, though, when you can’t find the one you REALLY want, so you have to improvise or combine emoji to bring it on home. So I love it when new emoji launch to make texting even better! Apple just announced that the newest iOS update to iOS 11 will be coming out soon and it will have a bunch of new emoji. Here are a few of my favorites!

I personally can’t wait for the wizards, vampires, and fairies. I also am excited about the dumpling and other food ones. I’m also very interested in the fact that all the new ones come in different sexes (including gender neutral) and skin colors. They’ve really done a great job of being inclusive. Check out the merman/merwoman and all these fun ones below:

And there’s the Stephen Colbert emoji. LOL

So be on the lookout and upgrade when you see them announced so that you van enjoy all the new goodies and you won’t get the black square in your texts because your device can’t see them.See ya round!

Hulu Plus now on Apple TV (HURRAY!)

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Keeping up with the latest episode of Family Guy, MasterChef and New Girl on Hulu Plus just got a little easier and I am so delighted!  Hulu Plus arrives on Apple TV today.

To start watching Hulu Plus shows instantly, find “Hulu Plus” on the Apple TV home screen. If you are a Hulu Plus subscriber, simply enter your username and password to start streaming last night’s episode of Modern Family from the biggest screen in the house.

If you do not have a Hulu Plus account, you can easily sign-up two ways:

1. Go to www.huluplus.com/appletv and register online.  Launch Hulu Plus on your Apple TV, log in with your new credentials and start streaming.

2.  Create a Hulu Plus account directly through Apple TV by using your existing iTunes account and following the sign up instructions on the screen.  If you sign up for Hulu Plus through Apple TV, you will be emailed instructions on how to complete your registration so you can use Hulu Plus on all other supported devices.  After your free 1-week trial ends, your iTunes Account will be charged $7.99 per month as a recurring transaction.

Learn more about setting up Hulu Plus on your Apple TV by watching their Getting Started video.

For those of you who are new to the service, Hulu Plus is the only online premium video subscription that streams current and classic TV programming on demand from hundreds of content partners, including top broadcast networks ABC, NBC, FOX, The CW and Univision. Hulu Plus subscribers can watch on any enabled devices for $7.99/month with limited advertising. For many popular shows on our service, Hulu Plus offers every episode of the current season. Hulu Plus subscribers also have access to back seasons and full runs of some of TV’s greatest shows, including many that were not available online before, in HD whenever possible.

Happy watching!  I know I’m already exploring all the cool new stuff with my free week!  I may just stay a while!

Source: Hulu.com

Facebook Gains “Save For Later” New Feature…

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I found about a cool new feature coming to Facebook in the next day or so.  According to iMore.com, Facebook has added a new feature to the Facebook for iPhone and iPad app that allows you to save posts for later. In reality, this works similar to what other services call “favorites”. If you browse the Saved posts, you are able to scroll through them later as their own feed. You have to physically mark them as Unsave to remove them from the Saved folder.

To save a post. Simply hold your finger down on the post you want to save and a popup that says “Save” will appear. Just tap the popup and you’re done!

To access your Saved folder, you must first scroll to the bottom of the sidebar menu and tap on Edit Favorites. Next, tap the + sign and select Saved from your list of Apps. Then tap Done. Now, you should see your Saved folder in the Favorites section of your sidebar menu!

All saved stories are private, so you don’t have to worry about somebody being notified that you saved their relationship change to Single. You wouldn’t want them to think you’re some weird creepy stalker!

You do not need to download an update to receive this feature. You should see a notification informing you of the feature at the top of your news feed when you use the Facebook app on your iPhone.  I don’t see this feature on my iDevices yet, but it is supposed to roll out tomorrow or Wednesday.  What do you think?  Do you think you’ll use the “Save For Later” Feature?

What’s on your iPhone?

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What’s your Home Screen have on it?  Since most people consider their Home Screen to be the most valuable real estate on their device, your Home Screen can say a lot about you and what’s important to you.

Mine has a lot of social stuff like Twitter, FourSquare, Facebook and of course my Google+.  I also use MyFitnessPal and really love the new Podcasts App from Apple now that they’ve updated it and it’s not so sluggish.  If you don’t know about Podcasts you should try them.  They are wonderful little broadcasts (usually audio) that are recorded by individuals or groups about a ton of topics.  I have some business podcasts and fitness ones that I listen to for motivation.  I’ll do a post on which ones I subscribe to in the future!

I have Spotify because I use it every single day (love that app).  I can listen to all my songs on iTunes and on all my iDevices no matter where I am.  This is great when I’m running or at the office.  I can stream the music so I don’t have to take up a lot of memory on my devices.  Love!

And, of course, I have the full suite of Facebook Apps to manage my pages and upload the photos quicker.  The Messenger app kind of feels like overload to me and I don’t really use it that often, but I keep it handy.  Usually I’ll get messages through the Facebook app itself.

I also use AppAdvice every day.  They are probably the most comprehensive, up to date, blog I know of about apps.  And their guides for Apps are amazing and so thorough.  I can highly recommend them!!

So that’s it!  What’s on your iPhone or iPad?  How do you organize your Home Screen?  Which apps make the cut?

It’s an App…that tells you about other Apps. AppAdvice Rocks!

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I’m going to tell you about one of my absolute favorite Apps on my iPad and iPhone.  Hell it’s even one of my favorite websites.  I can’t think of a single App I read more than this one.  I first found it when cruising Apple’s App Store.  I really had no intention to buy an App that talks about other Apps.  I could read all the reviews and information myself thank you very much!  But there was something really special about this App.  I went to their website, appadvice.com, and enjoyed the content and the reviews.  But I especially loved the App Guides they provided.  A lot of Apps in the store don’t give you a detailed enough description to work the app at it’s best.  So this was a refreshing change of pace.

The reason why I’m reviewing their App itself is because I think it is invaluable as a resource for your iPad and iPhone.  It is so well worth the $1.99 and you’ll save yourself a lot of money buying Apps they recommend and not the one’s the App Store tends to rush out without description.

The first thing is there are two versions of this App.  The iPhone version is a streamlined version with tabs on the opening page for you to select through.  They include App News, App Guides, Lists, Reviews, New Apps, App Updates, App Sales and, my favorite, Appisodes.  Yes…they actually do video versions of their reviews with a really funny and talented host to show you how the apps actually work, or don’t!

The iPad version is my favorite.  It’s a beautifully presented format with lots of content, photos, links and videos.  It’s mostly the same content, but you can select which iDevice you would like to read more about in the preferences.  So if you want to read more about iPhone Apps, that’s cool.  Just select that in the preference tab and it will filter your results automatically.  One more thing, they actually put on all their reviews if they are for iPhone, iPad, or universal if designed for either one.  You’ll enjoy reading all about them.

I don’t work for AppAdvice.com.  I would love to because I think it’s such a great resource and what is better than reviewing Apps and telling everyone about the cool things out there?!  Nothing that I can think of beats that!!

AppAdvice - AppAdvice.com

JetPack Joyride…hop on!

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Recently FaceBook did a little thing with Apple’s App Page and offered FaceBook users a chance to download a game called JetPack Joyride for use with your iDevices.  I was a little hesitant at first….as I am with most free things from FaceBook.  I did it though.  Mostly because I trust Apple.  And I didn’t regret downloading this free little gem.

HalfBrick, the company who also does my other favorite game Fruit Ninja (and the awesome new Fruit Ninja Puss in Boots!), did a really nice job on this game.  I haven’t played a game this fun since the original Mario Bros. game….which we all know ain’t coming to an iDevice ANY time soon!

The game starts with you launching into what looks like a crazy underground tunnel equipped with your jetpack.  There’s no real introduction to the game.  You’re kind of thrown into it to figure out through stumbling your way through.  I don’t have a problem with this, but I know some people get a little crazy about not knowing everything about the storyline and such.

I love this game.  As I’ve gone throughout the different levels of play I’ve discovered that there are several missions to get through.  You will see several coins to capture just by flying onto them.  Scoop up as many as you can.  You can buy lots of cool stuff in the store including new jetpacks, clothes, utilities and stuff like glasses for your character.  The glasses do nothing…but I sure look cool with them!

When you see the rainbow squares throughout the level of play, fly into them to open a new suite to play with.  Your jetpack will magically turn into a flying dragon, a gravity suit, a stomp machine and even a space ship that is really hard to manage because it transports itself to unknown spaces on the screen.

When you get “killed” you will go to a crazy slot machine screen if you have collected enough coins to reach it.  There you will have a cool opportunity to either get some extended play on that level, move forward several hundred meters and all kinds of cool stuff.

This game is super fun.  It is also highly addicted, like my Fruit Ninja is.  This company seems to know what it’s players want in games…so I look out for their stuff a lot.  And it’s free for a limited time by “liking” the FaceBook Page for the Apple App Store.  I don’t know how long it’s there so you better move quick.  Here’s some screen shots from the game: