How To Encrypt and Hide Photos, Videos and Files on Android

Would you be willing to let another person browse your photo or video gallery? As digital data becomes more accessible and easy to carry, there’s an increasing demand for privacy. Sure, there are certain smartphone apps that allow you to lock and hide your personal data. But are they truly secure?

When you search the Google Play Store, you’ll find several “vault” apps that offer to keep photos, videos and other media files protected with a passcode (or pattern lock, fingerprint, etc.). We explored several of these apps, to find out whether they really secure the data with encryption or not.

In our tests, we imported photos and videos into different vault apps, and tried to recover them externally without unlocking them. Turns out, many of these apps do not actually encrypt the file, leaving them vulnerable, and easily recoverable without the passcode.

For instance, AppLock from DoMobile is one of the most popular app lockers on Google Play, but its app-lock screen can be bypassed in several ways, based on its on-device implementation.

Additionally, the Vault feature of the app is intended to hide your private photos and videos on your Android device. But as it doesn’t implement encryption, these hidden files could be recovered quite easily, by browsing the device storage using a regular file manager app.

On the other hand, a few security apps, such as Vault from NQ Mobile Security, claim to encrypt your data with passcode. But studies have shown that the popular vault app is quite easily crackable as it doesn’t implement a standard encryption algorithm.

So, if you really want to protect your private data, you should instead look for apps that use industry grade encryption algorithms (such as AES 256) to encrypt data on your Android device. Here, we’ve picked a few such apps that fulfil this requirement.

Additional write permissions required: Due to Android’s restrictions, certain third party apps don’t provide the option to delete files from external storage (SD Card). So, if you import files from the SD card into the vault apps, you may have to manually delete them from their original locations on your device.

To open a particular vault folder, you need to provide its specific password. Each of the files within the vault can be opened from within the app. It will first decrypt your file, and then provides a suitable app (from your installed ones) to open the file in.

If you want to transfer your Secrecy vaults to a different Android device, just copy the SecrecyFiles directory from the Internal Storage of your previous device and paste it in the same location on your new device. The vaults will still contain the same password.

Additional security options include the Stealth Mode, which allow you to completely hide the app icon from the App Drawer, enabling you to access Secrecy app by dialing a specific number from the Phone app. You can even change the default location of the vault to a custom one.

Being an open source app, Secrecy is available as a free download on the Google Play Store, but the developer is open to donations. And the Stealth Mode feature of the app is exclusively available only to those who donate.

SecureSafe – Highly Secure Online Storage Vault

SecureSafe is an award winning Android app for secure online file storage and password management. It provides strong AES 256 driven double encryption, triple data storage, and zero knowledge architecture, ensuring one of the highest levels of security & privacy in the cloud.

With SecureSafe, you can store Passwords, PIN, Credit/Debit Cards, Banking Information, Images, Videos, Contacts and more, organized in different dedicated folders. All the data that is imported into the app is encrypted and uploaded to the SecureSafe servers, in such a way that no one except the user has any access to it. Being zero knowledge, the files are encrypted locally with your unique private key, and then uploaded to the server.

Even if an unauthorized person gets access to your encrypted data in the cloud, they can’t retrieve the original data from it, without knowing your associated private key. Additionally, your files are uploaded to the cloud via HTTPS, and are stored in high security Swiss data centres, one of which is located in a former military bunker!

Besides storing all sorts of data, SecureSafe features Data Inheritance, which ensures that business partners or family members can access the secure data on emergency. This needs to be activated via a web app. Refer this webpage for more information about setting up and using this feature.

The app lets you open PDF files in an encapsulated environment within the app, so that there’s no trace left of it on the device. It also lets you capture and encrypt photos and videos directly within the app. And with the SecureSend feature, you can encrypt and send files up to 2 GB in size to any recipient of your choice. The recipient doesn’t require the SecureSafe app to download and access the file.

One of the only downsides of this app, is that it majorly works online. Even though the app does have an Offline Login mode, it’s only meant to view the files that are encrypted on your current device. Any new password, file or other data that you need to encrypt, requires an Internet connection.

Your SecureSafe files are accessible across multiple devices, using the SecureSafe apps, which are available for Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and Web platforms.

In the free mode, SecureSafe allows you to safely store up to 50 unique passwords, along with up to 100 MB of personal file storage. The PRO user can avail an unlimited number of password storage, and unlock up to 1 GB of personal data storage. The Silver and Gold plans can further increase the personal storage limit to 20 GB and 100 GB respectively. Check out the various available plans for SecureSafe, in this webpage. Also, there are separate plans for Business users.

Andrognito – Hide & Encrypt Private Files Easily in Android

Andrognito is a vault app that secures your private photos, videos and files using military-grade AES 256 encryption, and supports quick data encryption/decryption techniques. Thus, it strikes a good balance between security and convenience of use. The app can be protected by a PIN, passcode, pattern, or even fingerprint lock on supported Android devices. The access lock has to be configured during the initial set up.

During the initial setup, the app will ask you to sign up with your email address. You have to configure a security option to authenticate yourself. Within the app, users have the option to import photos, videos and other files into the Vault.

Once imported, the files can be accessed only from within the app. They are stored on your device using AES 256, which means intruders cannot retrieve data from encrypted files unless they have access to your private keys.

The app looks impressive in the way it looks (with Material Design and all that). But we noticed a particularly strange thing about the app. Whenever you reinstall the app on a different device, and use the same email to sign in to the app, it retrieves all the file names (along with empty placeholders) of all the files that you previously stored during your previous installation.

This means that the app does keep some sort of record of the files you import and encrypt in Andrognito. Although, the app developer doesn’t mention this anywhere. This poses a potential security risk as to what personal data is actually stored in Andrognito servers. And that’s why we are mentioning it at the end, even though initially it was one of our top picks in terms of security, usability and experience.

How To Upload photos, videos older than 24 hours to your Instagram Stories

Upload photos, videos older than 24 hours to your Instagram Stories

Ever since Snapchat introduced Stories, the popular feature has been adapted by Facebook in its various apps, including Instagram, WhatsApp (known as “Status”) and even Facebook itself. “Stories” lets you share a stream of photos and videos that have a lifespan of 24 hours, and automatically expire beyond that duration.

To upload a story, you need to tap on the “You” bubble from the Stories section on top of the screen, and then either snap new photos/videos that you want to include in your story, or pick photos/videos from Camera Roll (iOS) or Photo Library (Android), by swiping up from the bottom.

Now, here’s the catch. Instagram only lets you pick photos and videos from Camera Roll/Photo Library that have been shot in the last 24 hours. Anything older than that are discarded by the picker. So, if you want to create an Instagram Story using your older photos and videos, the app will not allow you to do that.

In this article, we’ll explore a certain workaround to let you use older photos and videos in your Instagram Stories.

Adding Old Photos, Videos to Instagram Stories – How it works

The workaround, we’re going to use, basically changes the timestamp of a particular photo or video, so as to trick Instagram into thinking that it was shot within the last 24 hours. Thus, Instagram lets you access the particular file from the media picker on the “New Story” screen.

This can be achieved on both Android and iOS. And the process is a bit simpler on Android compared to that on iOS. Here, we’ll demonstrate both.

Add old videos, photos to Instagram Story from iOS Camera Roll

In order to alter the timestamp of a photo or video to the current date, so that they are usable on Instagram Stories, either we need to edit its metadata, or save it again as a new file. Manually, this process might be somewhat inconvenient as it’s not so straightforward. So, we have created readymade workflows that help you to do the same easily.

You need to have the Workflow app installed on your iPhone or iPad, which is available for free on the App Store. Next, you’d need to install the two workflows, ReSave Photo and ReSave Video to your device by tapping on the “Get Workflow” button from your iPhone or iPad. The selected workflows will be added to the “My Workflows” section of the app.

Once this is done, the below steps will guide you to change the timestamp of photos and videos on iPhone and iPad, and make them available in the media picker for Instagram Stories.

1. Open the Photos app and select the particular photo or video that you want to use in your Instagram Story.
2. Tap on the Share button from the bottom and select “Run Workflow” option from the Action Extensions section of the Share menu. If the option is not available, tap on the More icon and turn on the Run Workflow extension from the list and tap on Done.
3. Choose ReSave Photo or ReSave Video workflow, depending on the type of media you selected in Step 1.

The selected workflow will now execute and automatically modify the timestamp to the current date and time. Now, you can open Instagram, go into the New Story screen and pull up the picker from the bottom. The desired photo or video that you just processed should be available to pick. Repeat the same steps for all the photos and videos that you want to add to your Instagram Story, and they will appear in the story picker within Instagram.

Note: Both the ReSave workflows mentioned here, create copies of the original photos or videos. Hence, there will be duplicate files created in Camera Roll. If you want, you could delete the newly created duplicates soon after the files have been successfully uploaded to your Instagram Story.

You can achieve the same results using any app that allows you to re-save photos or videos with the current timestamp, or lets you modify the timestamp of the files.

Add old photos, videos to Instagram Story on Android

On Android, file timestamps can be changed to the current date and time simply by a file transfer operation. Thus, you can use an old photo or video on your Instagram Story, just by transferring the file to another random location.

1. Copy or move desired photo or video that you want to add to your Instagram Story, from its original location to any other directory, using a suitable file manager app.
2. After the file operation is completed, the timestamp of the file in the destination directory is automatically changed to the current date and time.

Thus, after the photo or video is transferred (copied or moved) from one directory to another, the picker available in Instagram Stories will allow you to select the particular photo or video for your new story. You can repeat the same process for all the photos and videos that you want to add to your story, and the same will be available for you to upload from the new story screen.

How To Record Android Screen with or without computer

Record Android Screen with or without computer

Android is usually known for having easy solutions and workarounds for almost everything you’d expect a typical smartphone to do; unfortunately though, screencasting is not one of them. If your Android smartphone or tablet is running a version below KitKat 4.4, there is no screen recording support for your device. But, if your Android runs KitKat or a later version of OS, this article will help you to screencast your Android device. Here, we’ve provided both rooted as well as non-rooted solutions.

Record Android Screen with Computer

Record Android Screen with ADB

If your smartphone or tablet runs Android 4.4 or later, you can record your device’s screen activity using the Android Debug Bridge (ADB) utility of Android SDK. ADB is a powerful command line tool for Android developers to help them debug their apps. But it is also useful for performing special tasks that aren’t possible from within the device itself. For example, you can install custom recovery on your Android with the help of ADB.

Here, we’ll use ADB commands to initiate screen recording on an Android 4.4+ device. This method does not require root access. The following steps will guide you to do so:

1. Download and extract the Android SDK package in a suitable location on your computer.
2. On your Android device, enable USB Debugging under Settings >> Developer Options. (See Note 1 for more details.)
3. Connect your phone to the computer via USB.
4. Navigate to the “sdk\platform-tools” folder of the extracted SDK using the File Explorer (Windows/Linux) or Finder (Mac).
5. Open a Command Prompt / Terminal session from the current folder location. (See Note 2 for more details.)
6. Once Command Prompt / Terminal launches, run a test command to test ADB connection: “adb devices”
7. If everything is okay, you should see your device listed. Next, run the following command to start screen recording on your Android device: “adb shell screenrecord /sdcard/example.mp4”
8. Here, you’re specifying that the recording will be saved as “example.mp4” in the /sdcard/ location of your device. You may provide any other path for saving the file. Now, perform the desired actions that you want to record. Press Ctrl + C when you’re done.

You can now retrieve the recording from the save path on your Android phone or tablet. The screenrecord commands also let you to customize the settings of the recorded file. Run this command to check out more options.

• Note 1: If you don’t see Developer Options in the Settings menu, go to About phone / About tablet from Settings and tap on the Build Number a few times until you see the “You are now a developer!” message. You should now be able to see Developer Options under Settings menu.
• Note 2: On Windows, hold Shift and right click inside the folder and select “Open command window here”. On Mac, open Settings >> Keyboard and go to Shortcuts tab. Select Services on the left pane and check on “New Terminal at Folder” option. Now select the particular folder in Finder, Ctrl + Click on it and select Services >> New Terminal at Folder from the menu. On Linux (Ubuntu), you need to install an add-on to get “Open Terminal here” option in File Explorer. Head on to this article for more details.

Android Screencasting with Miracast

Miracast is a WiFi Alliance based certification program that defines a standard protocol to connect to an external display (TV or monitor) over WiFi. If you have a Miracast certified Android device, you can record its screen using third party desktop based Miracast receivers such as AirServer. AirServer client is available for both Mac and PC. The free version of the software offers all the features of the paid versions, but requires an active Internet connection for operation

Record Android Screen without Computer

Android Screen Recorder

Recordable is an app available on Google Play Store that enables screen recording on your Android 4.4+ smartphone or tablet directly from the device itself, without requiring root. Though a computer is required to complete the installation process, screen recording can be done independently on your Andrpid device.

The installation takes place in two stages:

• First, download the Recordable app from the Play Store and launch the app. Additionally, turn on USB Debugging option from Settings >> Developer Options.
• Next, download and run the Recordable Installer on a Windows, Mac or Linux computer (Java Runtime required).
• The setup will install Android drivers and ask you to connect the Android device over USB. It then scans for connected devices and activates the app.
  Once the app is activated, you can record on-screen activities on your device without requiring a computer. There is, however, one catch. If you reboot your Android, you’ll have to go through the setup process once again.
  Besides Recordable, there are a number of apps on Google Play Store, such as Rec, Shou.TV, Screen Recorder, Lollipop Screen Recorder (Android 5.0 only), etc. that allow you to perform screen recording on your Android device. But as mentioned before, unless you’re running Android 5.0 (L) on your device, you need root access for these apps to work. Android L has official screen recording APIs that make it possible to build such apps that work without rooting. All these recording apps usually allow you to configure various settings, like video size, recording quality, frame rate, countdown before recording and other customizations.
  Note that all these solutions mentioned in this article cannot capture internal device sounds while recording the screen. Some of these apps, such as Screen Recorder or Recordable, does allow you to record audio, but the audio recording source is the microphone rather than internal audio. If you need to record internal audio for screen recording, you can capture it from the audio output via line-in and use a suitable sound recording application like Audacity to record the sounds.

How to use Dual-SIM in Single-SIM Phone

Nowadays, it’s a growing trend for people to use multiple SIM connections. But when it comes to high-end smartphones, most of them (such as iPhone) usually don’t support dual-SIM facility. As a result, either we end up ditching our favorite smartphone in favor of a dual-SIM one, or carry a secondary phone along to complement the primary smartphone.

However, a few developers have come up with feasible alternative solutions to convert your single-SIM smartphone into a dual-SIM one. Here, we’ll explore a few of these solutions.

Dual SIM Card Adapters

What if you could somehow connect your two SIM cards together, and access services from both SIM cards from a single phone. Companies like MagicSIM and Simore are doing just that.

The key idea is to use a thin, bendable metal strip that connects two SIM card holders. The Nano-SIM end of the hub is inserted to the phone’s SIM card slot, while the other SIM card holder can be attached to the rear cover of the phone by bending the metal strip around. This particular product is designed exclusively for iPhones, but can also be used in other phones with external SIM card slots.

MagicSIM and Simore are two companies that manufacture multi-SIM adapters. While MagicSIM wraps around and attaches to the rear of the phone, Simore provides you with a separate case or cover which houses the extra SIM card slot.

The general advantages of this strip-based Dual-SIM adapters are as follows:

1. Both the SIM cards are attached to the phone and you don’t need to carry a separate phone or device.
2. The secondary SIM card can be used for call, massaging as well as for internet surfing with easy 3G, 4G, LTE, GSM and other basic connections.

But these products come with a few downsides.

1. iPhone and other single-SIM phones are not capable of using two SIM networks at the same time, so you can only use one SIM card at a time. A small chip embedded in the adapter circuit switches the active SIM card depending on which one you want to use.
2. The strip may take away some of the aesthetic advantages as it interferes with the phone’s design.

So, if you don’t really want to switch the SIM card each time you need to call, text or use data packs, or don’t want to make your phone bulky, then there is another solution which comes from the developers of PIECE.

How To Get updates for Non-Play Store Android Apps

Get updates for Non-Play Store Android Apps

Apart from Google Play, Android allows users to install apps from external sources. This is a handy feature for users to try out apps that aren’t available on Google Play due to regional restrictions or several other reasons.

he method to install apps from external APK sources is quite well-known. You enable app installation from Unknown Sources under Settings >> Security, then download the APK package of the required app and install it to your device. Once installed, it blends in with your other apps and you can use it just as any other app installed from Google Play.

But unlike Google Play Store apps, apps installed from third-party sources cannot be updated automatically over the air, since Google Play does not recognize them as purchased apps. If you want to update apps installed from external sources, you need to download the updated APK from an external source and run it on your device, so as to overwrite the previous version. But there are two major concerns that need to be addressed here.

How do you find a trusted source for downloading APKs?

When installing updates, you’d be downloading APK files from particular repositories more often. But it is quite difficult to pick a source which is trustworthy enough to offer clean and unaltered APKS that are malware-free.

How do you know when a new version of an app is available?

When updates are available on Google Play, the app automatically notifies you. This is not true for any app installed externally via APK. Thus, even if you get a trusted source for downloading APKs, manually checking them for an app update is tedious and rather inconvenient.

With these concerns in mind, we have found a workaround for receiving app update notifications for non-Google Play apps

Install app updates from APKMirror

APKMirror is an Android app repository that hosts apps directly uploaded by developers. It has a dedicated team that works round the clock to ensure that all APKs uploaded to the repository are authentic and safe to download. It was launched by one of the most popular Android communities, Android Police. Thus, the APKs uploaded to APKMirror are official and trustworthy as well.

Note: APKMirror has a no-piracy policy and does not host paid apps. On very rare occasions, some developers make updates to paid apps available to the public, usually to test beta releases. In such cases, there is usually a license check involved to make sure the apps were previously purchased. MX Player Pro is a notable example of such an exception.

You can read more about APKMirror in this post or visit the FAQ section of the official website.

Receive push notifications for non-Play Store app updates

APKMirror uses Pushbullet integration, and you can subscribe at a variety of levels — all new APKs, all APKs from a certain developer, or just APKs for a specific app. Whenever an app update is available from a certain subscription, Pushbullet will notify you of it. And you can get the desired updated APK from APKMirror.

The following steps will help you to set up push notifications for new app updates from APKMirror:

1. Download and install Pushbullet app on your Android device.
2. Register or sign in to Pushbullet using the app.
3. Go to APKMirror.com on your Android web browser.
4. Search for an APK, an app or a developer. The search results will be available in three different tabs.
5. Click on a particular result to open the APK-specific page.
6. Here, click on the Subscribe via Pushbullet button (the rightmost icon on the top row of the Description box) to view all related subscriptions.
7. Select a particular subscription. You’ll be redirected to the Pushbullet to confirm the subscription.

Once subscribed, Pushbullet app will notify you when updates are available from your subscribed apps (or developers). Just follow the respective link in the notification to download the update from APKMirror.

APKMirror hosts APKs for most of the popular Android apps that we generally use. And you can download APKs for all the different versions of a particular app that was ever uploaded on the website. That means, you may downgrade an app to a specific version by installing it from the respective APK file, provided it’s already available on APKMirror.

How To Play NES, SNES games on iOS and Android with NES Controller

Play NES, SNES games on iOS and Android with NES Controller

For many people who grew up in the late 80’s and 90’s, classic NES and SNES games will always hold a special place within us. So, even though console gaming nowadays includes detailed, realistic graphics, we still yearn to play that Mario game, or get excited whenever we hear a popular 8-bit game tune. We can’t blame ourselves; there’s a lot of nostalgia involved here!

With the help of emulators available for both iOS and Android platforms, developers have made it possible to bring many of our favorite classics to our smartphones and tablets. Still, for dedicated gamers who want to press actual buttons instead of virtual ones on the screen, game controllers can optionally be paired up with your Android and iOS devices to provide a near-complete retro gaming experience.

In this article, we’ll let you know how to setup your iPhone, iPad or Android device to play retro classic games from NES, SNES, Atari, GameBoy, etc.

How to install retro games on iOS and Android

The game you’re trying to run on your smartphone or tablet may be available in two forms:

1. It might be an iOS/Android port of a classic NES, SNES game, available on the App Store or Google Play.
2. It might be available as a raw game file; for example, with a .nes or .snes extension.

In the first case, the game may directly be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play Store and you can start playing by simply launching the game from the Home Screen or App Drawer (in case of Android).

In the second, the game file may need to be separately downloaded, along with a suitable Emulator app.

Most retro classic emulators won’t be directly available on the App Store, but may be installed from external sources. Many of these are available on third party app stores like BuildStore, which do not require jailbreak to install them. For Android devices, many SNES, NES, GameBoy, etc., emulators are available on Google Play Store, but you may also download them from the Internet.

Some of the popular Game Emulators available for iOS and Android are given below:

iOS Retro Game Emulators

Here are a few iOS Retro game emulators that you can try:

GBA4iOS 2.1: GBA4iOS is a Game Boy Advance Emulator for iOS devices, with built-in AirPlay support, as well as support for MFi certified game controllers. This provides you the big screen gaming experience, while also being suitable for people who prefer to use controllers. One can download games and manage them within the emulator app, so there’s no need of file management.

NDS4iOS: NDS4iOS is a Nintendo DS emulator for iOS devices, which is a port of the multi-platform DeSmuME 0.9.10 for iOS. Like GBA4iOS, it also features built in support for MFi controllers and AirPlay. Game files need to be copied into the emulator’s in-app storage, in order for them to be detected.

MD.emu: MD.emu is a full-featured Sega Genesis, Mega Drive emulator for iOS. The app includes iTunes file sharing option to copy game files to its in-app storage.

HappyChick 1.51: HappyChick is one of the most comprehensive game emulators, supporting a wide range of arcade (MAME/FBA) and retro game formats, such as GBA, GBC, MD, SFC (SNES), FC (NES), PSP, N64, NDS, PS1 and DC. This also requires you to copy supported games to the in-app storage in order to play them.

Android Retro Game Emulators

Below are some Android Retro game emulators that are available for download from Google Play Store.

Nostalgia NES: Nostalgia is a great NES emulator for Android, which is based on the latest version of FCEUX. It does not contain any built-in games, but supports importing games via .nes or .zip files stored on your Android device. The emulator features some unique features, such as Multiplayer WiFi controller mode (with support for up to 4 players), Rewind Mode and more.

Snes9x EX+: Snes9x EX+ is an open source SNES emulator based on Snes9x 1.53. It includes a public domain game called Bio Worm. However, users can import other games from the Internal Storage or SD Card. Supported file formats include .smc and .sfc; zipped formats such as .zip,.rar and .7z are also supported.

MegaN64: MegaN64 is a Nintendo 64 emulator for Android, which is a modified version of the open source Mupen64+ project. As with other emulators on the list, MegaN64 does not include any game files. Games stored on the Internal Storage or SD card may be played using the emulator.

Once you have installed a suitable emulator on iOS and Android, you can load any supported game and play using the usually customizable, virtual, on screen controls provided in the emulator interface. For a better experience, you may also opt for a suitable game controller that supports your device and the emulator. Most of the emulators mentioned above are compatible with external gaming controllers, which may be wirelessly connected to your iPhone, iPad or Android device via Bluetooth.

Wireless NES controller for iOS and Android

Below are some decent gaming controllers that are compatible with most of the iOS and Android devices.

8Bitdo Game Controllers

8Bitdo is a popular gamepad designing company established in 2013 that builds retro-style game controllers for modern devices, including Mac, PC and iOS / Android devices. It has a number of Bluetooth game controllers in its lineup, including a new Kickstarter entry named the AP40. The AP40 is a Bluetooth gaming controller inspired from Apple’s original multi-colored logo. It is compatible with Android, iOS, Mac, PC and more.

Other significant releases from 8Bitdo include NES30, SNES30, NES30 Pro, 8Bitdo Zero, etc. All iOS/Android supported 8Bitdo controllers are MFi certified and are compatible with the latest iOS devices.

SteelSeries Stratus (for iOS)

The Stratus mobile gaming controller is a premium wireless controller designed for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, built for superior gaming experience. It is compatible with all iOS apps with external controller support.

SteelSeries Stratus XL (for Android)

The Stratus XL is a powerful wireless gaming controller for Windows and Android devices with built-in Steam support. The Bluetooth connection is reliable with almost zero lag — just as responsive as other major game controllers.

Some other Android and iOS supported Gaming controllers include ICade 8-Bitty Wireless Retro Game Controller, Gametel Portable Wireless Retro Game Controller for smartphones, and BEBONCOOL Wireless Bluetooth Game Controller for Smartphones and Tablets.

How To Play Same Song on Multiple Phones Simultaneously

Play Same Song on Multiple Phones Simultaneously

Let’s say you’re with your friends and want to groove to a particular song. Unfortunately, no one has got a speaker; though, each of you has got a smartphone. Now, if you can play the same song on all the smartphones, the sound will be amplified, and all of you will have a good time rocking to your favorite music.

Seems like a brilliant idea. Only, it’s not easy to play a song in sync on multiple devices. The song you want to play might not be available on your friend’s device. Even if it is, hitting the play button at the same time on multiple devices is hardly possible. The more the number of devices, the more the possibility of playing out of sync. In the end, all you hear is some out of rhythm “noise”, which kinda ruins the party mood.

Well, you no longer need to be worried about playing songs in sync on multiple devices. AmpMe is here to help. AmpMe is a mobile app available for iOS and Android that syncs audio/video playback on an unlimited number of devices, turning them into one big speaker system.

How does AmpMe work?

The idea of playing the same music in sync on multiple devices sure sounds exciting. But how does AmpMe pull it off?

First off, AmpMe uses your device’s location to detect other nearby devices. If all the devices are connected to the same WiFi Network, the app uses that to stream audio across all the devices; otherwise, it uses the devices’ Internet connection.

Note: AmpMe may consume cellular data, if all the participating devices are not connected to the same WiFi network.

Play same music on multiple devices

The below steps will guide you to play audio simultaneously on multiple devices:

1. Download and Install AmpMe from the App Store or Google Play Store.
2. Open the app and click on the appropriate option under “Start a new party” (Spotify, YouTube, Music Library, SoundCloud) to host a party.
3. Tell your friends to open the AmpMe app and join your party. Alternatively, you can also join other parties hosted by your friends nearby.
4. Wait for the devices to sync up and start playing.

That’s it! In a few seconds, all the connected devices will start streaming the song in sync.

Note: In case one or more of the devices are not in sync, you can tap on the Sync button and manually adjust the offset to match the others. You need to wait a second or two after adjusting the offset, for the changes to take effect.

AmpMe also works with Bluetooth speakers. If you are the host, you can connect your device to a Bluetooth speaker to play music through it, along with other devices synced via AmpMe. It’s a really handy app to take your friendly get-together to the next level.

How To Convert videos to GIF on iOS and Android

Convert videos to GIF on iOS and Android

The Internet has overwhelmed us with a lot of trends on social media; animated GIFs being one of them. Many a times, you may come across short videos that you may wish to share as GIF, on platforms such as WhatsApp or Telegram. The advantage of the GIF over a regular video file, is that it plays inline within the conversation screen, while videos usually play in a separate window.

In this article, we’ve put together a few decent iOS and Android apps that help you convert short, usually 10 – 30 second videos, into GIFs and share them on social media & messaging platforms.

ImgPlay – iOS

ImgPlay allows you to create animated GIFs from Live Photos, Burst Photos, multiple photos and videos. Once you import the particular file(s) for editing, you can crop the frame, trim the duration of the GIF, add text captions, control playback speed, reverse playback and much more.

After your editing has been finalized, it’s now time to export your creation as a GIF or video or directly share it on social media via the Share menu. You’ll get an option to select the output as GIF or video, and also control the output quality. You could save the output as a GIF in your Camera Roll, but in most cases, you’d likely share it directly on social messaging platforms like WhatsApp or Telegram.

ImgPlay has a user friendly UI and you can create GIFs of any duration using the app for free. The only catch here is that the free version embeds a watermark at the bottom right corner of the videos & GIFs that you create using the app. But that should not be much of a distraction in our opinion. If you still want to remove the watermark, you can opt to purchase the Pro pack via in-app purchase, which costs $1.99.

Alternatively, you could try using the below free app, which does not include any watermark.

Gif Maker – iOS & Android

Gif Maker is a free app available for both iOS and Android, which enables you to create GIF from a set of photos or videos. You can also shoot a video within the app and create a GIF out of it. Later, the app allows you to set the playback speed, play in reverse, and add filters, text captions, etc. to enhance it. Finally, you can save the GIF to Camera Roll (iPhone, iPAd) or Downloads (Android), or upload the same to your preferred social network without saving it.

The free version of the app lets you share up to 10 second long videos or GIF without any watermark. But the app is ad-supported, which could be pretty annoying considering the fact that video ads often interrupt your actions. But it’s a small tradeoff if you want to convert videos to GIF for free without any watermark. The 10 second limitation should not be much of a concern, as most of the popular GIFs are less than 10 seconds long.

Gif Maker also has a paid, ad-free Pro version for iOS, which additionally increases the GIF duration limit to up to 20 seconds long. Gif Maker Pro can be purchased from the App Store for $3.99. The Android version of the app is free and ad-supported, without any limitations.

Android users can additionally try another video to GIF converter app, known as Video to GIF, which is available as a free download on Google Play Store.