Leading Hands Through Technology

Are you looking for a place to swim in everything Apple? Look no further than the Apple Pit! It brings you all the latest from the world of Apple, and makes an effort to be a knowledge-base on all their products. I just read a good article about how to make the most of 3D touch apps for the iPhone. Check out the latest reviews, descriptions and news breaks on iPhones, iPads, MacBooks and Apple Watches! Thanks to James for the link.

https://www.applepit.com/

Have you tried the Teen Safe App? The app can manage your children’s smartphone usage and safeguard them from harm. The app can block apps and read texts.

Features of the app:

Read texts

• All SMS/iMessages including deleted texts
• Call logs and contacts
• Review device history

Block Apps

• 3rd party apps like Snapchat and Facebook
• Control device usage and app schedules
• Review games, app purchases and eCommerce
• Instantly pause a device

Check out Teensafe.com for more information!

Would you like to clean-up your Twitter feed? Do you have a bunch of old tweets that don’t mean a thing? Try out Tweet Delete to protect your privacy by automatically deleting posts older than a specified age from your Twitter feed. This allows you to delete all your tweets all at once (up to 3,200 tweets), and helps make it easier to delete multiple tweets in one go.

https://www.tweetdelete.net

Looking for a what to cut down on emails when trying to schedule meetings? I found this app called Calendly that helps you schedule meetings without the back-and-forth emails. Setup is easy. You let Calendly know your availability preferences and it’ll does the work for you.

How to use Calendly
1. Setup avaibility
2. Send link or embed on site
3. The system will pick date and time that works for everyone

https://calendly.com/

Have you joined the adult coloring book phenomenon? If you did, then you’ll love this app and if you did not, then start your free coloring book therapy now. Download the app to paint mandalas, patterns, animals and more with Pacify. Who knew that coloring could be so relaxing?  Find out what the craze is all about and get pacified with color.

http://www.pacifycoloring.com

Do you need to rent a car? With Skurt you can rent a car whenever you need it. They will drop it off to you and pick it up wherever you desire. You’ve heard of Uber, the service that replaced taxis. Now meet Skurt, the service that replaces car rental agencies. 

Skurt is the app that lets you rent you a car instantly from your phone.

https://www.skurt.com/

You remember the easy button from Staples? Well now there is one from Amazon, but this time when you press it – you place an order for stuff you need. If you never want to go to a store again, Amazon has the answer for you.

Amazon Dash Button makes ordering easy. With a simple click, Prime Members can order their favorite products. This button is a Wi-Fi connected device that reorders your favorite product with the press of a button. Each Dash Button is paired with a product of your choice, which is selected through the Amazon App on your Android or iOS smartphone during the set-up process. Amazon ensures Dash Button responds only to your first press until your order is delivered.

What do you think? Are you using this system? If not, would you use it?

https://www.amazon.com/b/?node=10667898011&ref_=pe_2507310_212599890_ods_em_db_oct_ssl2

Do you need to take a screen capture of a video, webpage, photo or document? Are you still using the ctrl + prtscn shortcut key trick? If you want a simple program that will save you the effort of using an shortcut key and get a better looking image, then try out Tinytake. I have been using it for a couple of years and it’s suitable. There is one drawback – it does not do too well with capturing a long scrolling webpage. If you need a quick screen grab, then I would suggest this tool. What screen capture tool do you use professionally?

Tinytake.com

Are you going on a trip? Are running on a flight? Do want to read an article on the web but not sift through the ads? Readability turns any web page into a clean view for reading now or later on your computer, smartphone, or tablet. I’ve tried the app and it’s helped me manage what I read.

Readability:

• Converts many pages to one
• Cleans up cluttered pages
• Saves for reading later
• Stores articles on the web for later
• Is a free app iOS and Android

http://www.readability.com

Now that you got that new mobile phone for the holidays, how do you keep it safe? The rules for keeping both iOS and Android secure are exactly the same:

• Install updates as soon as they’re available. This is harder on Android as some OEMs are really bad about pushing patches.
• Don’t jailbreak/root. Doing this is intentionally breaking the security of the affected OS – it also generally means you can’t install updates.
• Don’t install apps from 3^rd party appstores. Almost all of the smartphone hacks you see start with “an app on Chinese-run appstore…” just don’t do it. Google, Apple, Amazon only.
• Practice safe browsing. The same things that make your computer vulnerable, make your phone vulnerable.

If you follow these tips and you should be golden. Don’t bother with anything claiming to be antivirus or security software for your phone. Security software needs to run at a permissions level that just isn’t possible on a non-rooted/jailbroken device in order to be effective. It’ll just end up causing you problems and providing no protection.