Overview

The steps to schedule a tweet are slightly different depending on the device you’re using. Fortunately, we’ve got you covered regardless as to whether you’re using a mobile device (iPhone, Android, iPad etc) or a desktop/laptop (Windows, macOS, Linux etc).

Schedule a Tweet Using a Mobile Device (Android/iOS)

Long story short: use the “mobile web” version of Twitter. That means instead of using the Twitter app to schedule a tweet, you use Twitter via the web browser on your phone or tablet. Here’s how –

1. Open the web browser on your phone or tablet (Safari, Chrome etc) and open the page https://mobile.twitter.com. Sign in with your Twitter username and password. Once you’ve signed in, tap the “Compose Tweet” button.



2. Compose your tweet the same way you always do – attach a photo or video if you’d like – everything you’d normally do. Instead of tapping the Tweet button, locate and tap the Schedule icon/button which is found towards the bottom of the ‘compose tweet’ box (see screenshot below).



3. Now choose the date and time that you’d like the tweet to be automatically sent. When you’ve made your selections, tap the Confirm button.



4. The Tweet button will now switch to say Schedule instead. Tap it.



5. You’ll see a little confirmation notification letting you know the tweet has been scheduled. You can now close out of the browser if you’d like – you don’t need to keep it open for the tweet to be sent later.



6. If you ever want to see a list of your scheduled tweets, go back to the compose window and look for the link titled Unsent Tweets (Note: you will not have an Unsent Tweets link if you don’t have any currently scheduled tweets or tweets that have been saved as drafts).



7. Select the Scheduled tab and from here you’ll find a list of all the tweets you currently have scheduled to send at a later time/date.



8. That’s it!

back to top

Schedule a Tweet Using a Desktop or Laptop (Windows/macOS/Linux)

1. Head over to twitter.com in your favorite web browser and sign in. Click the large Tweet button.



2. Compose your tweet the same way you always do – attach a photo or video if you’d like – everything you’d normally do. Instead of tapping the Tweet button, locate and tap the Schedule icon/button which is found towards the bottom of the ‘compose tweet’ box (see screenshot below).



3. Enter in the required info in the Date and Time sections and then click the Confirm button.



4. Finally, click the Schedule button.



5. That’s it! Your tweet will be sent at the time you specified back in step #3 and you don’t need to keep Twitter or your browser open, it’s all taken care of. If you ever want to review your scheduled tweets, compose a new tweet and look for the Unsent Tweets link – which will only appear if you have scheduled or tweet drafts saved.



6. Select the Scheduled tab to see your scheduled tweets.



7. That’s it!

The post How to Schedule a Tweet to Send Later appeared first on Simple Help.

1. On your iPhone (iPad or iPod Touch), head over to the App Store and install the iTunes Remote app by Apple. Once the installation has completed, open it up.



2. Tap the Connect Manually link.



3. Make note of the 4 digit number, you’ll need it in a few moments.



4. On your Mac, open the Music app and select your iPhone/iPad from the Devices list in the column on the left side of the window. If more than one iPhone is listed, select the one with the ‘play button’ icon (see screenshot below).



5. Enter the 4 digit code that was displayed back in step #3



6. After the code has been successfully applied, click the OK button.



7. Your iPhone/iPad is now able to control the Music app on your Mac!



8. Now you can now use your iPhone as a remote control for the Music app – view your collection by artist/album, view and even edit playlists, adjust the volume – you name it.

You can also use your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch to control Plex or VLC!

The post How to Use an iPhone as a Remote Control for the Music App appeared first on Simple Help.

Using the fantastic Batteries for Mac app you’ll be able to monitor the battery levels from the Today panel in the Notification Center of your Mac. If you’ve visited Simple Help before, you’ll know we typically prefer to utilize free and/or Open Source software. Batteries for Mac is neither, but it’s very reasonably priced at $5 – and we’re big fans of supporting truly great software. There’s a 14 day completely free trial, so you’ll have two weeks to decide if you want to buy it. Update: if you’d like a (currently) free alternative, try out iBetterCharge.

1. Head over to the Batteries for Mac home page and download the .tar.gz file (which is very much like a .zip file) – just double-click it and the Archive Utility will open and extract the Batteries.app file. Drag that file to your Applications folder to install Batteries for Mac.
2. Make sure that your iPhone and/or iPad is configured to allow WiFi sync in iTunes (macOS Mojave) or Show this device when on Wi-Fi in Finder (macOS Catalina) and that your iOS devices are on the same WiFi network as your computer.



3. Now launch Batteries from your Applications folder. There isn’t very much to it – just make sure to check the Enabled box next to Notifications. Then place a check next to each of the devices that you want to monitor and if you’d like to be notified when that specific device is running low on power. When you’ve adjusted your preferences to suit you, exit out of this window.



4. Click the Open Notification Center button from the very upper-right corner of your screen.



5. Select the Today tab.



6. Click the New button at the bottom of the panel.



7. Locate the newly added BATTERIES item and click the ‘plus sign’ (see screenshot below) to add it to your Today screen.



8. Use the ‘3 dashes’ icon to drag the newly added panel up or down until you find the location where you’d like it to reside.



9. Click the Done button.



10. Ta-da! A dedicated section of your Today panel will now contain the battery percentages of your devices. If a particular device is charging at the time, it’ll have a small ‘lightning bolt’ icon next to it.



11. As soon as one of your devices hits 20% remaining in the battery charge, a notification will pop up on your Mac.

If you’re concerned about the overall health of your iPhone or iPad battery, check out this guide.

The post How to Monitor Your iPhone/iPad Battery From Your Mac appeared first on Simple Help.

Do you have an old iPhone or iPod Touch? An Android phone or tablet you don’t use anymore? How about an old laptop with a webcam? If so, you’ve got all you need to create a streaming security camera you can view from any web browser in the world. It can even take screenshots when it detects motion.

Here’s how via Viyo describes their service:

We make setup simple. No clunky apps or hardware necessary. All you need are two devices: one to set up as a camera, and another to view your camera. Viyo is compatible with most phones, laptops and tablets.

That’s right – no apps required, just a web browser. To top it all off, it’s free! You can use this setup to monitor a pet while you’re at work, watch the front door for package deliveries – the scenarios are endless.

Here are step by step instructions for setting up your first camera.

1. Grab the device you’re going to use as the camera and on that device head over to viyo.io. Once you’re there, click/tap the GET STARTED FOR FREE button.



2. Enter your email address, a password and place a check the terms and conditions agreement box. Then click/tap the sign up button.



3. At this point you’ll be sent a confirmation email. Check your mail and follow the validation link to verify your account.



4. Once you’ve verified your account, you’ll be automatically logged into viyo.io on the device you’re using as a camera. You can scroll through the overview pages or select the Skip link to get to the good stuff.



5. Let’s setup your device as a camera – select the Setup Camera button.



6. At this point you’ll likely be prompted to allow viyo.io to access your camera and microphone. Tap Allow (or its equivalent on your device).



7. Select the Advanced Options link.



8. Here’s where you’ll do most of the configuring. If your device has more than one camera (most phones and tablets do), select the one you want to use as your security camera. Then give the camera a name (eg. Front Camera or Back Camera). Make sure there’s a check in the Notifications box and for the time being make sure there isn’t a check in the Motion Screenshots box. Select SETUP DEVICE when you’re done.



9. Your camera will start to stream audio and video. Point it at the area you want to monitor.



10. Tap the ‘3 dots’ button in the upper-right corner of your screen and then select the Settings button (the one that looks like a little cog).



11. From here you can adjust the sensitivity level for the camera to trigger the ‘motion detected’ feature. You’ll probably need to test this out and adjust accordingly. Once you’re happy with the sensitivity level then you can enable the Motion Screenshots setting, which will take a screenshot on your device each time motion is detected. Finally, make any Visual Adjustments you see fit – increase or decrease the brightness, saturation, contrast or hue. Select the Done button when you’ve finished.



12. Using the on-screen controls you can take a screenshot any time you’d like – just select the Camera icon and then accept the ‘download’.



13. If you don’t want to stream audio, select the ‘microphone’ icon and make sure it has the ‘strikethrough’ indicating that it’s muted.



14. Now to access the camera from another location. Hop onto your laptop or primary phone/tablet and head over to viyo.io in your main web browser. Sign in with the same account information you created way back in step #2. Once you’ve signed in, select the View Cameras button.



15. Select your active camera from the Camera Manager list.



16. Ta-da! You can now watch a live stream of the video camera you setup as a security cam.



17. If you’ve enabled notifications, a small window will appear in the browser letting you know each time the camera detected movement.



18. The first time you select the on-screen camera icon to take a screenshot of your security camera you’ll need to allow downloads from viyo.io.



19. The screenshot can then be found in your Downloads folder.



20. That’s it! If you’d like to use more than one camera you’ll need to pay for a subscription (currently $5/mo). Or, you can use the Viyo referral program to add additional cameras to your account.

The post How to Use Any Device as a Web Streaming Motion Sensing Security Camera appeared first on Simple Help.

Finally, with the arrival of iOS 13, you can control your iPad or iPhone (or even iPod Touch!) with a mouse. It’s a bit buried in the Settings, but we’ll take you step-by-step through the whole process. All you’ll need is for your device to be running iOS 13 (or iPadOS) and a Bluetooth mouse.

1. Select Settings from your Home screen or wherever you’ve moved it.



2. Select Accessibility



3. Select Touch from the PHYSICAL AND MOTOR section.



4. Select AssistiveTouch



5. Toggle the switch for AssistiveTouch to ON



6. Scroll down a bit to the POINTER DEVICES section and select Devices



7. Select Bluetooth Devices…



8. Your iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch will now scan for a nearby Bluetooth mouse – make sure it’s on and currently broadcasting (discoverable).



9. When it’s found, select it.



10. Once the connection has been made you’ll be able to use your mouse with your device! You’ll notice the mouse pointer is a grey circle (see screenshot below).



11. Select the small ‘i’ icon (see screenshot below) next to the connected mouse (note: now that your mouse is connected, try using it to finish this guide).



12. Select Customize Mouse Buttons



13. From here you can see what the buttons on your mouse are currently configured to do, and change them if you wish. To make a change, select the corresponding button.



14. You’ll be presented with a rather long list of ‘actions’ that mouse button can be used to perform. You can always return to this section should you need or want to change what one of your mice buttons does.



15. All done!

The post How to Control an iPad or iPhone With a Mouse appeared first on Simple Help.

While plenty of people are glad iTunes is gone, that doesn’t mean everyone is happy about it. Using the free and open source app Retroactive, getting iTunes back on your Mac is a breeze. Note: this amazing app also allows you to install Aperture and iPhoto in macOS Catalina.

1. Head over to the Retroactive home page and click the large Click to download the Retroactive app link.
2. After you’ve opened and extracted the contents of the .zip file, instead of double-clicking the app to run it, right-click (or ctrl + click) it.



3. Select Open from the context menu.



4. In all likelihood, an error message will appear. Don’t fret, just click OK

   

5. Right-click the app again and select Open



6. This time the error message should include an Open button – click it.



7. Select iTunes – you can re-run the app and install Aperture or iPhoto later if you’d like.



8. Choose the version of iTunes you’d like to install and then click Continue



9. Before the installation can start you’ll need to authenticate, so click the Authenticate button.



10. Enter the same username and password you use to sign into your Mac and click OK



11. Now you may want to go grab yourself a cup of tea or coffee – this is probably going to take a while.



12. Before the installation can finish you’ll need to authenticate yet again.



13. Finally! Click the Launch iTunes button.



14. Ta-da! Now you have iTunes up and running on your Mac again :)



15. Going forward you can launch iTunes from your Applications folder the same way you used to.

The post How to Install iTunes in macOS Catalina appeared first on Simple Help.

With iTunes gone, there’s a new way to backup and/or sync your iDevice with macOS. Finder!

1. Plug your iPhone/iPad/iPod into your Mac and open a Finder window. You’ll notice a new item in the Locations section of the sidebar. Select it.



2. You’ll be presented with a screen very similar to the one you’re probably familiar with from iTunes.


click to enlarge

3. To perform a backup, select Back up all of the data on your iPhone to this Mac and then click the Back Up Now button.



4. The icon next to your iDevice in the Locations menu will start to ‘spin’ – indicating the backup is in progress.



5. You can change what you sync with your Mac via the Music, Movies, TV Shows, Podcasts, Audiobooks and Books tabs.


click to enlarge

6. If you connect another iDevice to your Mac, it will show up in the same place.



7. That’s it! Not a huge difference and no more iTunes (yay!)

The post How to Backup Your iPhone, iPad or iPod on macOS Catalina appeared first on Simple Help.

1. Make sure that the computer running VLC and the iPhone are on the same wireless network.
2. Head over to the App Store and install Remote 4 VLC (homepage). The App is free and has a few limitations – none of which will stop you from using it as a remote control. I’ve tried a number of these Apps – I found this one to consistently be the most reliable. Once it’s installed, open it up.



3. Tap the Setup Wizard button.



4. It doesn’t matter which option you select on this screen (OS X or Windows/Linux) – the only difference is which images will be displayed in the next few steps – which are all a bit outdated now anyway. Swipe to the left to move to the next step.



5. Now you’ll need to open and configure VLC on your computer. When VLC is open, select Tools and then Preferences from the drop-down list (Note: for macOS users select VLC from the Menu Bar and then Preferences… from the drop-down menu.) Back in the Remote 4 VLC App, swipe left to move to the next step.



6. The instructions displayed in Remote 4 VLC are slightly out of date on this screen, so proceed to step #6 below.



7. In the VLC Preferences, select the All option in the bottom left corner of the screen to display the Advanced Preferences.



8. In the navigation panel on the left side of the VLC Advanced Preferences, click the arrow next to Interface to expand that list. Select Main interfaces from that list. Finally, place a check in the box labelled Web from the list of Extra interface modules on the right side of the screen.



9. Once again the instructions inside of Remote 4 VLC are a tiny bit outdated, so swipe to the left to move to the next step.



10. Back in VLC’s Advanced Preferences, click the arrow next to Main interfaces in the left navigation panel and then select Lua from the expanded list. Enter the word dummy in the Lua interface field if it isn’t there already, and in the Lua HTTP section, enter 1234 as the password. Finally, click the Save button. Now exit/quit VLC completely.



11. If you’re prompted with a Windows Firewall message, make sure to select Allow access. In the Remote 4 VLC App, swipe left again.



12. Open VLC and start playing a video – any video will do.
13. Finally, click the Auto Connect button.



14. Remote 4 VLC will now magically find your computer running VLC and connect to it. Once the screen refreshes, tap the Now Playing bar at the bottom of the App.



15. Ta-da! You can now control VLC from your iPhone! To view the Settings, tap the “3 dashes” icon (see screenshot below) in the upper-right corner of the App.



16. Select Settings



17. From here you can configure the various parts of Remote 4 VLC – including changing the background wallpaper – if you must :)



18. One other quick tip – if you select the “3 dots” button to the right of the newly added computer running VLC …



19. … and then choose Edit …



20. … you can give that computer a much friendlier (and descriptive) name.



21. That’s it! Enjoy being able to control VLC from your iPhone and not having to get off the couch :)

The post How to Control VLC with an iPhone appeared first on Simple Help.

Background

MP4 files are one of the most common format for video recording devices (the GoPro is a good example). There may come a time (or lots of times) when you want to listen to the file but not necessarily watch it. These steps will show you how to create a separate “audio only” file.

Note: while the the steps and images in this guide are from a Mac users perspective, nearly everything is identical for Windows users. Not only is the software available for OS X and Windows (and Linux!) – it looks the same no matter which you’re using.

Extract Audio from MP4

Let’s jump right in!

1. If you don’t have the wonderful audio software Audacity already installed, head over to the Audacity download page (link opens in a new tab/window). Download the version for your Operating System (Windows, macOS, Linux)
2. Open Audacity, select File and then Open…



3. Navigate to the MP4 video file that you want to copy the audio from. Select the file by clicking on it once, and then click the Open button. It may take a bit to open the file – the larger the MP4 file, the longer it will take to open.


click to enlarge

4. NOTE: at this point you may get an error message. If you do, fear not, the solution is simple. Just follow the steps outlined in this brief guide (opens in a new browser tab/window) to add “MP3 support” to Audacity. Then repeat steps 2-3 and you won’t ever have that problem again.

   A new Audacity window will appear, displaying all of the audio information from that MP4 file.


click to enlarge

5. With that window open, select File and then Export…



6. From here you can choose the format you want to save the audio as. If you’re going to burn it directly to CD, select .wav so that you get the highest possible audio quality. Otherwise you can select MP3.



7. Now click the Save button.



8. Enter the song metadata if appropriate, then click the OK button.


click to enlarge

9. Now the audio will be extracted and saved.



10. When finished, go and check the audio file to make sure everything worked – and then you’re done!

The post How to Extract Just the Audio From an MP4 Video File appeared first on Simple Help.

1. Locate the Settings button on your Home Screen and give it a tap.



2. Swipe down to the General section and tap it.



3. Scroll to the Restrictions section and tap it.



4. Tap the Enable Restrictions section.



5. From here you’ll need to create a 4 digit passcode. Make this passcode hard to guess (ie. not 1234, the last 4 digits of your phone number or something easily guessable). In addition, be absolutely certain to remember the passcode. You won’t ever be able to recover the passcode if you forget it. You’ll go through the “set up your passcode” process twice – the second time to confirm.



6. Now swipe way down to the Allowed Content: section. Toggle the ON/OFF switch next to In-App Purchases to OFF.



7. Double-check the In-App Purchases setting is configured to be OFF.



8. That’s it! In-App purchases will no longer be available. You can use your passcode to revert/change this setting at any time.

The post How to Disable In-App Purchases on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch appeared first on Simple Help.

There are a number of circumstances where you may want to disable the ability for someone (your child perhaps?) from being able to download and install Apps on their iPhones. These steps will disable the App Store on an iPhone so that Apps cannot be purchased or even installed, even through iTunes.
1. Start by tapping the Settings button.



2. Scroll down to the General entry and tap it.



3. Scroll down to the Restrictions entry and tap it.



4. Tap Enable Restrictions.



5. You’ll be prompted to set up a 4 digit PIN. Make this passcode hard to guess (ie. not 0000, the last 4 digits of your phone number etc). Also, make sure to remember the passcode. You won’t be able to revert any of these changes or recover the passcode if you forget it. After you’ve entered the PIN once, you’ll need to enter it a second time to confirm.



6. Change the ‘slider’ next to Installing Apps from ON to OFF.



7. Confirm that Installing Apps is set to OFF.



8. That’s it! The App Store on your iPhone (or iPad or iPod Touch) will now be disabled, and unless the above settings are changed back you won’t be able to install Apps on the iPhone.

The post How to Disable Installing Apps on Your iPhone or iPad appeared first on Simple Help.

1. There isn’t an official app for iOS yet, so you will need to browse to the Amazon Cloud Player through Mobile Safari on your device and log into your account.

2. You will still see a message telling you the browser isn’t supported…just tap Continue.

3. From the web based player, just click on a song to start playing it. There is nothing special you need to configure, the feature is now supported.

4. You can skip around and play different tracks, or let one of your playlists go and the music will play seamlessly. Of course it also works on the iPhone and iPod Touch as well.

5. It will continue to play in the background while you do other tasks, like reading news in Pulse for example.

6. To turn it off, just hit the home button twice, hold down the Safari icon until it wiggles, then tap the red icon to close it out.

It’s great news that Amazon Cloud Player now supports iOS devices, but it still needs an official app like they have for Android. Hopefully that will be coming soon!

The post How to play MP3s on your iPhone via the Amazon Cloud Player appeared first on Simple Help.

1. Download the TinyVox Infinite Tape Deck from the iTunes App Store on your device.

2. After TinyVox is installed, tap the icon to launch it from your home screen.

3.Here is a look at the main user interface. Notice the cool “old school” tape deck interface. Tap on the tape to give it a title.

4. To start recording, just tap the Record button.

5. While it’s recording you can monitor the volume levels and the length of your recording with the Timer. When you’re done, just tap on Pause or Stop.

6. After making your recording, a screen comes up letting you know it was saved, and gives you some options. Play & Share, Delete & Start Over, Keep Taping and  more.

7. For this example we’ll go ahead and Play & Share. Now you can play back the track, include a message, and share it on your social networks or email it.

8. It will store all of your recordings and you can go in and check out the “tapes” collection.

9. Go into TinyVox settings to manage your social networks and if you want High Quality recordings – turn that option on.

TinyVox is a really cool app for making recordings on your iOS device. The free version is supported by iAds, but you can purchase the Pro version for 0.99 cents to get rid of them.

The post How To Replace Voice Memos On Your iPhone or iPod Touch with TinyVox appeared first on Simple Help.

1. Download and install the Amazing Nature –Wallpaper free app from the iTunes store on your device.

2. After it’s installed launch it from the iPad home screen and you can begin flipping through the wallpapers that are available. Here’s a sample of a few that are available.

3. When you find one you like, just tap twice on the image, tap on Save to album, the OK to the Picture Saved message.

4. To make the image your wallpaper, Lock Screen, or Both go into Settings and tap on Brightness & Wallpaper then Saved Photos.

5. Then tap on the image you saved.

6. Now tap on whether you want to make it your Lock Screen, Home Screen, or Both.

7. Close out of the Settings to see the results. Here’s an example of the image above as the Home Screen background.

8. Here is another example of one of the images set as the Lock Screen.

9. This is also available ton the iPhone and iPod touch too.

If you’re looking for some awesome HD images to customize your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch wallpaper and Lock Screen, this one contains a lot of great ones. Currently there aren’t as many images available as similar free apps, but the ones they have look great and they’re periodically adding new images as well. There’s also a pro version for 0.99 cents that includes over 100 images, so if you like the free version you might want to upgrade.

For other ways to customize your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch, check out these other articles:

• How To Totally Customize Your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch Home Screen
• Change you iPhone & iPod Touch Wallpaper or Lock Screen with Custom Content

The post Customize the Background on Your iPad with Free Nature Themed Wallpapers appeared first on Simple Help.

SugarSync offers paid plans for different amounts of storage. But they also offer free 5GB accounts too. You just need to know how to get it. In this example we’re using a PC but it’s also available for Mac, and as mobile apps on Android, iOS, Blackberry, and more.

1. Go to the SugarSync website and click on Try SugarSync Free.

2. At the top of the next page you’ll see plans with larger amounts of storage for different costs per month. We want the free 5GB account, so scroll down a bit on the page and click Sign up next to 5 GB Free Plan – Not a trial but a free account with no credit cards and no monthly payment.

3. Now sign up for the for the free 5GB account.

4. After signing up, download the SugarSync manager for Mac or PC.

5. After signing up you’ll get an email from SugarSync to activate your account.

6. Now install the SugarSync file manager. Installation is easy following the wizard and accepting the defaults.

7. Launch SugarSync and log in with the account you created in the steps above.

8. Give your computer a name and pick one of the icons provided for it.

9. Now you can go through and find the music on your local machine that you want to upload.

10. If you have other folders you would like to add from a different drive click on Add More Folders and check the music folders you want to add.

11. Then SugarSync will start a tour to show you what it’s capable of, if you don’t care to see it, just click on Skip Tour and Finish.

12. SugarSync will then connect and upload the files you picked.

13. The SugarSync File Manager is intuitive and easy to use.

14. On the desktop, click on one of the songs in your folders and it will start playing in your default media player.

Sugar Sync for iOS Devices

15. To get your music to play on your iOS device, you’ll need to download the free SugarSync app from the iTunes App Store.

16. Launch SugarSync and log into your account.

17. Now tap the computer or device you want to access the music you uploaded.

18. Then tap the folder of the band or artist you want to listen to.

19. Then just tap on the song you want to play.

It opens in QuickTime and will play all the songs in the folder seamlessly. You can skip to the next song or back to hear the previous one. It works just like if the songs were stored locally on your device.

20. If you want to download a track or entire folder to your device, just click on the blue arrow on the one you want.

21. Then tap on Sync to iPhone. This will download the song and put it in the Music folder on your device.

21. If 5GB of space is not enough for you, but you’re not interested in purchasing a monthly plan – you can 250MB of more space by completing some initial steps. You can also get 500 MB for each friend referral  to the service  and get up to 10 GB.

The post How To Play Your Music Seamlessly from the Cloud On an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch appeared first on Simple Help.