Android Archives - Simple Help

How to Read a QR Code Without a Camera

Ross McKillop — Tue, 24 May 2022 11:20:59 +0000

What do you do when you want to scan a QR code but you find yourself without a camera? Or you’re looking at the QR code on the device with a camera? Have no fear – you can still read it!

In fact, there’s more than one way to read a QR code without a camera. If you have access to a web browser (any browser – on your phone, laptop/desktop or “other”) you can upload the QR code to a site that will decode it for you. If you’re using an Android device or you already have the Google App (which is also available for the iPhone or iPad).

Whichever method you opt for, save the QR code to your Photos (Photo Library) if you’re using a mobile phone or your Downloads folder if you’re using a Mac/PC. If you need help saving an image on your iPhone or iPad, follow these steps.

Read a QR Code Using the Web

Visit the Web QR site. If you’re using a desktop browser you’ll see a message about the site wanting to access your camera – just click the X to close that box.

If you’re using a mobile device you’ll probably see a message similar to the one below – just click the Cancel or No button.

Now click (or tap) the camera icon found on the right side of the ’empty box’ (see screenshot below)

Select the Choose File button.

Navigate to your QR code file/image, select it, and click the Open button.

If you’re using an iPhone, select Photo Library and select the QR code from there.

Web QR will display the “human readable” message embedded within the QR code. In this example, the QR code links to the website www.simplehelp.net. That’s it!

If you want to test out the Web QR site, here’s a QR code for you to try:

Read a QR Code Using the Google App

Tap the Google icon to open the App.

Tap the Camera icon at the end of the search box.

If this is the first time you’re accessing your camera via the Google app, it will probably need to be granted permission first. Tap the OK button (Android users tap the equivalent Allow or Yes button).

Now tap the Open camera button. It’s probably also a good time to point out that the last couple of steps won’t be required every time you do this – it’s normally much faster :)

Instead of taking a picture of something and then performing a search of the item(s) in the picture, tap the photo button next to the shutter button (see screenshot below)

Tap Allow Access to All Photos

Select the QR code image file from your library.

Ta-da! The app will decipher the QR code for you and display the results right on screen. If the QR code contains a URL, you can even launch it in a browser by clicking the Website button.

That’s it! Now you know two ways to read QR codes without having to use a camera.

The post How to Read a QR Code Without a Camera appeared first on Simple Help.

How to Schedule a Tweet to Send Later

Ross McKillop — Thu, 10 Feb 2022 19:46:42 +0000

This step by step guide will show you how to compose a tweet and then schedule it to be sent at a later time or date.

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 –

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.

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).

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.

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

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.

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).

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.

That’s it!

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

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

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).

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

Finally, click the Schedule button.

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.

Select the Scheduled tab to see your scheduled tweets.

That’s it!

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

How to Transfer Your Spotify Playlists to Apple Music (or iTunes)

Ross McKillop — Fri, 28 Jan 2022 06:45:04 +0000

This short guide will show you how to quickly and easily transfer your playlists from Spotify to Apple Music.

Best of all – you don’t need to sign up for anything or download/install any software! Using the free service TuneMyMusic, you can copy the playlists you’ve created in Spotify over to the Apple Music app (and/or iTunes). Here’s how –

Please note: even though the screenshots used in this guide are from a Mac, the entire process is identical whether you’re using Windows, Linux or macOS.

Head over to the TuneMyMusic home page (link opens in a new tab/window) and click the big Let’s Start button.

Select Spotify as the source.

You’ll be prompted to sign into Spotify (if you aren’t already) and then click the large AGREE button so that TuneMyMusic can access your playlists.

Click the Load from your Spotify account button.

A window will appear with a list of all of the playlists you’ve created on Spotify. Place a check in box next to each of the playlists that you want to export to Apple Music and then click the Next: Select Destination button.

Click the Apple Music button to select the destination.

A small window will appear – click the Login to your Apple account button in that window.

Enter your Apple ID and password in the spaces provided.

Depending on your settings, you may be prompted to authenticate with 2 factor authorization. If you are, enter the auth code after you receive it.

Now click the Allow button so that TuneMyMusic can create new playlists in Apple Music.

Finally! Click the Start Moving My Music >> button. Note: your playlists aren’t “moved” – they’re copied. They will still exist and be accessible in Spotify, they’ll just also exist in Apple Music.

The process is actually pretty quick. It only took a minute to export 12 of my playlists (659 songs in total).

Once it’s done, you may notice messages about missing files (see screenshot below). If you do see a message about x missing files, click the Show list link next to that playlist.

Scroll through the playlist until you find the missing song(s). These tracks either aren’t available on Apple Music or TuneMyMusic wasn’t able to locate/identify them.

Open the Music app on your Mac, iTunes on your Windows PC, or the Apple Music app on your iPhone or iPad. Ta-da! All of your Spotify playlists are now accessible in your Apple Music collection. That’s it – you’re all done.

The post How to Transfer Your Spotify Playlists to Apple Music (or iTunes) appeared first on Simple Help.

How to Stop Facebook From Tracking You

Ross McKillop — Sat, 15 May 2021 05:11:44 +0000

This detailed and step by step guide will explain how significantly boost your online privacy by changing several of the Facebook tracking settings.

Background

Facebook and the websites that you visit communicate with each other. Facebook calls it Off-Facebook Activity, and buried deep within the settings, you can disable it. Plus, you can clear any existing data (you might be surprised how many sites will be listed).

One of the differences that you’ll notice right away is that you won’t see any targeted ads from sites you’ve previously visited. You’ll still see the same number of ads, they just won’t be based on your Internet history and usage.

Facebook buries these settings, so here are step by step instructions on accessing them. If you’re using the Facebook app for iOS or Android, click here to jump down to the steps to disable Facebook tracking via the Facebook iPhone & Android apps. If you’re accessing Facebook via a web browser, the instructions are directly below.

Disable Facebook Tracking via the Web

Sign into Facebook and then click the Account button (it’s the one in the very upper-right corner that looks like a triangle, see screenshot below). Select Settings & Privacy from the Account menu.

Choose Settings

Now choose Privacy

This time select Your Facebook Information

Finally, select Off-Facebook Activity

From the What Can You Do menu, select Manage Your Off-Facebook Activity

Locate the Clear History button and click it. As an aside, you can see in the example screenshot below I had 339 apps and websites that shared my info with Facebook.

Once again you’ll be prompted to click a Clear History button – do so.

Confirm that your info has been cleared.

On that same screen, look for the More Options menu and then select Manage Future Activity from that list.

Click the Manage Future Activity button.

Toggle the Future Off-Facebook Activity switch to OFF

Facebook will again ask you to confirm this change, so click the Turn Off button. Do you see the lengths they go through to discourage you from turning this stuff off? Not very cool.

Before you move on, confirm that the Future Off-Facebook Activity switch has been turned OFF

Now that you’ve disabled Off-Facebook Activity, it’s time to adjust your ad settings so Facebook and other sites/apps stop sharing your info that way. Just like you did way back in steps 1 and 2, click the Account button (the one in the very upper-right corner that looks like a triangle) and select Settings & Privacy from the Account menu. And again, select Settings.

This time, choose Ads from the Settings menu.

Click Ad Settings in the Ad Preferences menu.

Locate the section titled Manage Data Used To Show You Ads and click the Data about your activity from partners link.

Toggle the Use Data from Partners switch to OFF

Back in the Manage Data Used To Show You Ads section, click the Categories used to reach you link.

Switch everything you find in the Profile Information section to OFF. The switches that appear here will vary based on the info Facebook knows about you.

For the last time, go back to the Manage Data Used To Show You Ads section and this time choose Ads shown off of Facebook

Toggle the Allowed switch to OFF.

Done! Finally! If you’d like, you can go through Facebooks Privacy Checkup now, but it’s very basic and unsurprisingly doesn’t even mention Off Facebook-Activity or most of the Ads stuff you just disabled.

Disable Facebook Tracking via the Facebook App

For the most part this section uses screenshots of the Facebook app on an iPhone. If you’re using the Facebook app on an iPad, or on an Android phone or tablet, you’ll have absolutely no trouble at all following along. The steps and screenshots are nearly identical across all devices.

iPhone and iPad users, open the Facebook app and tap your profile photo located in the bottom right corner (see screenshot below). Then scroll to the Settings & Privacy item and select it. Now jump down to step #3 below.

Android users, sign into the Facebook app and tap the “3 dashes” button (see screenshot below) scroll down a bit and select Settings & Privacy

Select Settings

Scroll to the Security section and then select Off-Facebook Activity

Tap the Clear History link.

Tap the Clear History button.

Now select the More Options link in the What You Can Do section.

Choose Manage Future Activity

Tap the Manage Future Activity button.

Finally, toggle the Future Off-Facebook Activity switch to OFF

Nope not really finally – yet again, tap the Turn Off button.

After having to tap your way through so many screens, make sure that the Future Off-Facebook Activity switch is set to OFF

Now we’re going to adjust some of the Ads settings so that your info isn’t shared that way. Start over by tapping your Profile photo from the bottom-right corner of the Facebook app and choose Settings & Privacy just like you did back at the start of these instructions.

And again select Settings

This time, scroll down to the Ads section and select Ad Preferences

Tap the Ad Settings button.

In the Manage Data Used to Show You Ads section select Data about your activity from partners

Toggle the Use Data From Partners switch to OFF

This time in the Manage Data Used to Show You Ads section choose Categories used to reach you

Switch everything off.

Last one – in the Manage Data Used to Show You Ads section choose Ads shown off of Facebook

Toggle the Allowed switch to off.

Done! Facebook will still show you ads, but you’ll notice that they’re much less ‘targeted’ now.

The post How to Stop Facebook From Tracking You appeared first on Simple Help.

How to Let Android Apps Use an SD Card on a Chromebook

Ross McKillop — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 19:29:39 +0000

As of Chrome OS version 78 the method used to enable SD card access on a Chromebook has changed. This guide will show you how to allow Android Apps to access and use your SD card on a Chromebook.

Since your Chromebook probably doesn’t have a particularly large hard drive, it can be very handy to store things like audio and video files on an SD Card instead of the internal drive. When Google rolled out version 78 of Chrome OS, they changed the way Android Apps access an SD card on a Chromebook. It’s a bit more buried now, but it’s still totally possible to let apps like Netflix store downloaded files on an SD card instead of the hard drive. Here’s how –

Open the Settings on your Chromebook.

Select Device from the navigation panel on the left side of the window, and then Storage management in the Device section on the right side of the window.

Select External storage preferences

Toggle the SD Card switch to ON

Now select Apps from the navigation panel on the right, and then Google Play Store from the panel on the right.

Choose Manage Android preferences

Select Apps & notifications

Locate the App you want to allow to use your SD card. In this example we’re going to use Netflix. Note: you’ll need to perform the next 2 steps with each app that you want to be able to use your SD card.

Select Permissions

Toggle the Storage switch to ON

At this point Netflix has been granted ‘permission’ to use your SD card. Depending on the App you may not be done quite yet. With Netflix, you need to configure the App itself to start saving data on the SD card rather than the internal drive. To do that, open Netflix and click the More icon at the bottom of the window.

Choose App Settings

Scroll down and select Download location

Now choose SD Card

Confirm that the Download location has changed to SD Card

Going forward, when you download a video with Netflix to watch while you’re offline, it’ll be stored on your SD card instead of your internal hard drive.
Remember – you’ll need to repeat steps 7-9 with each Android App that you wish to grant access to your SD card.
You should be able to use your SD card to store files from Spotify as well, but there seems to be an ongoing issue which may cause you headaches.

The post How to Let Android Apps Use an SD Card on a Chromebook appeared first on Simple Help.

8 Free Android TV Launchers Compared & Reviewed

Ross McKillop — Wed, 12 Feb 2020 12:30:19 +0000

Here’s a list of 10 8 free Android TV launchers with reviews and screenshots.

Some are ad supported, and I’ve made sure to clearly point that out in each overview.

HALauncher

Google Play Store link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.i.akihiro.halauncher

HALauncher is my new Android TV launcher. I’ve put this one at the top of the list of 10 in case you just came here to find out which one I recommend the most. This is it.

It’s free but ad supported. Don’t like ads? You can disable them for free. That’s right, in the HALauncher settings you can just uncheck the “Show Ads” box. It’s perhaps the most customizable of all the Android TV launchers in this list. It’s intuitive, doesn’t lag, includes widget support, has a task scheduler (!) and it’s stable. But hey, don’t take my word for it, just give it a try.

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Simple TV Launcher

Google Play Store link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.cosinus.launchertv

Super insanely simple, so the name is quite apt. Nothing much to it other than app icons on the home screen and customizable wallpaper. It’s a very stable, small launcher. No lag when navigating between apps, which can’t be said for all of the ‘simple’ launchers in this list. The only drawback is that it hasn’t been updated in a few years. An added bonus is that you can also view the source code on github. It’s worth a try if you’re looking for something very simple.

ATV Launcher

Google Play Store link (Free version): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ca.dstudio.atvlauncher.free
Google Play Store link (Paid/Pro version): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ca.dstudio.atvlauncher.pro

ATV Launcher (Free and Pro) comes with lots of widgets – Chrome Bookmarks, Search, Photo Gallery, Google Feed, Google “at a glance” Calendar, Netflix, Spotify + other App widgets. You can also customize the wallpaper and App shortcuts (name, icon, background image/color). The Pro features (which obviously come at a cost) include: the ability to edit the border radius, column count, “show selection” and “show title”, widget column count, widget row count, and the ability to create folders. It’s worth giving a try but make sure to install the free one first to see if you like it.

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TVLauncher

Google Play Store link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.awe.dev.pro.tv
Contains ads which are $2.99 to remove, although they don’t seem to be too intrusive – so far I’ve only seen them in the settings & config screens.

TVLauncher offers light and dark themes, which is pretty cool. You can group Apps into sections/categories, which are editable. Those categories can be displayed as names or as icons. You can also add websites to the home screen, making it even easier to visit streaming sites that don’t have their own Apps. The icons are a bit oddly shaped – some fit nicely, some don’t (see screenshots below). It hasn’t been updated in a couple of years and the developers domain has expired, which is never a good sign. It seems relatively stable though.

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TV Box Launcher

Google Play Store link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.aei.digisender.launcher

TV Box Launcher looks quite nice. It’s a shame so many of the features don’t seem to work. I couldn’t get the weather feature to function no matter how many ways I tried, and the icons for the Apps only seem to show up some of the time. The shortcut to the Settings didn’t work at all, and I only happened to stumble across another way to access them. The ads worked perfectly though… The selection of included Wallpapers was remarkably good, but no matter how nice it looks it doesn’t really matter with so many features being unreliable.

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kicc.tv Launcher

Google Play Store link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kicc.tv.launcher

This one is perhaps even more basic than the launcher that came with my device. You can customize the language, and that’s it. You can’t even set the clock to 12hr, it’s permanently stuck on 24hr time. Calendar “coming soon”, but it hasn’t been updated since 2017 – so don’t hold your breath. The icons on the app screen don’t display properly. Pass on this one.

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Easy TV Launcher

Google Play Store link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=studio.scillarium.stblauncher

The developer says that this launcher is simple by design, and sure enough – mission accomplished. It’s a list of apps that can’t be resized or customized at all – but you can ‘hide’ them from the main screen, and you can also dock your favourites. With all of that said, the app icons display properly (unlike a number of other launchers) and it seems rock solid (no crashes or glitches at all). Plus, it has been updated in the last 6 months, which is a good sign. If you’re looking for a functional and no-frills launcher, this is the one for you.

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Gal TV Launcher

Google Play Store link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.galeps.launcher

Gal TV Launcher feels like a launcher that had potential, and then development just stopped (hasn’t been updated since 2018). The list of “Youtube Trendings” is actually pretty cool and functions exactly as you’d expect. Otherwise, there isn’t much to it. The full screen ads that are a pain to close and noticeable lag that occurs with each button press makes this a “couldn’t possibly recommend” though.

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The post 8 Free Android TV Launchers Compared & Reviewed appeared first on Simple Help.

How to Use Your Mac’s Keyboard With Other Devices

Ross McKillop — Mon, 23 Dec 2019 12:10:40 +0000

This guide will take you step by step through the process of using your Mac’s keyboard to type on and/or control another device.

Using a fantastic little app named Typeedo you can use your Mac’s keyboard to control other devices – like an iPhone or iPad, Android phone or tablet, an Apple TV, a Windows PC – even a gaming system. As long as the device supports bluetooth, you’re good to go.

Typeedo is available to use without any restrictions for 7 days before you’ll be required to purchase it, so if you’re not happy with it you can just delete it and carry on. After 7 days it’ll cost $7.99 on the Mac App Store. If you purchase Typeedo via the link available in the trial version, it costs $13.96. According to a representative from the company, this is the intended behavior, even though both versions are identical (it makes no sense to me either). So if you do decide to buy Typeedo, save yourself a few dollars and buy it on the Mac App Store.

Let’s get started! Head over to the Typeeto home page and download the 7 day free trial. Once the download has completed, open the .dmg file and drag the app to your Applications folder to install it. Now just follow the instructions for iOS (iPhones and iPads), Android phones and tablets or “other” (Windows, gaming devices, media centers etc).

Use Your Mac’s Keyboard to Control an iPhone or iPad

First things first, open your System Preferences and select the Bluetooth icon. Make sure that Bluetooth is turned On.

Now launch Typeeto. If this is your first time opening it, you’ll be taken through a quick tour. On the last screen, you may wish to remove the checkmark from the box labelled Open at login until you’re sure you want it to start up each time your Mac does.

The Typeeto Preferences window will open automatically.

Switch over to your iPhone/iPad and select the Settings button.

Choose Bluetooth from the list of options.

Make sure that the bluetooth toggle is switched to ON so that bluetooth is enabled, and then select your Mac from the list of available devices (it may take a few seconds to appear).

Back over on your Mac, a confirmation window will appear. Click the Connect button.

Your iPhone/iPad will now be connected to your Mac.

Typeeto will confirm you want to use your Mac’s keyboard on your iPhone/iPad – click the Start typing button.

A small window will appear on your Mac letting you know that you’re now connected to your iOS device.

Open an app on your iPhone/iPad and type using your Mac’s keyboard. Ta-da!

At any point in the future you can quickly connect your Mac to your iOS device by clicking the Typeeto menu bar icon and selecting your iPhone/iPad from the list.

Use Your Mac’s Keyboard to Control an Android phone or tablet

First things first, open your System Preferences and select the Bluetooth icon. Make sure that Bluetooth is turned On.

Now launch Typeeto. If this is your first time opening it, you’ll be taken through a quick tour. On the last screen, you may wish to remove the checkmark from the box labelled Open at login until you’re sure you want it to start up each time your Mac does.

The Typeeto Preferences window will open automatically.

On your Android device, open the Settings and select Bluetooth from the list of options. Make sure that bluetooth is turned on and then select your Mac from the list of nearby devices.

A Bluetooth pairing request window will appear displaying a PIN code.

Back over on your Mac, a Connection Request window will appear. Make sure that the PIN code matches the one that’s being displayed on your Android device and then click the Connect button.

Your Mac will now be listed as a Paired device

Typeeto will confirm the connection has been made and that you can now use your keyboard to control your Android device. Click the Start typing button.

A small window will be displayed letting you know that your keyboard is now being directed to your Android phone or tablet.

Open an app on your Android device and start typing with your Mac’s keyboard. Ta-da!

Going forward, you can connect to your Android device much faster by clicking the Typeeto icon in your menu bar and selecting your device.

Use Your Mac’s Keyboard to Control Misc. Bluetooth Devices

In general terms, to connect your other devices (Apple TV, a Windows PC, gaming system etc) to your Mac’s keyboard, open that devices settings and make sure Bluetooth is enabled and turned on. Do the same with your Mac. Initiate a connection from the device to your Mac rather than the other way around.

Your Mac may be listed as a “keyboard” rather than a Mac when the other device is searching for it.

You may be prompted to enter a PIN and not just confirm that two are identical.

For additional support see the Typeeto help page/user guide or contact their support team.

The post How to Use Your Mac’s Keyboard With Other Devices appeared first on Simple Help.

How to Use Any Device as a Web Streaming Motion Sensing Security Camera

Ross McKillop — Tue, 10 Dec 2019 12:20:15 +0000

Using nothing more than a web browser, you can turn any internet connected device with a camera into a motion sensing, web streaming security camera – for free!

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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).

Select the Advanced Options link.

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.

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

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).

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.

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’.

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

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.

Select your active camera from the Camera Manager list.

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

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

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.

The screenshot can then be found in your Downloads folder.

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.

How to Change Where Spotify Saves Offline Files (Android)

Ross McKillop — Fri, 29 Nov 2019 12:20:41 +0000

This short guide will show you how to change the default location where Spotify for Android saves the files you download to listen to offline. Keeping them stored on your SD card can be very helpful in clearing up space on your phone/tablet.

Open Spotify on your Android device and select the Home screen.

Tap the Settings icon from the upper-right corner of the Spotify app.

Scroll all the way down to the section titled Other and then select the entry titled Storage

Choose the location where you want Spotify to save the files by tapping it once.

Tap the OK button when prompted. Spotify will now move any existing files you’ve already downloaded for offline listening over to the new location, and then it will restart.

From now on when you choose files to download in Spotify they’ll be saved to the new location. That’s it, all done!

The post How to Change Where Spotify Saves Offline Files (Android) appeared first on Simple Help.

How to Connect to a VPN on a Chromebook

Ross McKillop — Tue, 29 Oct 2019 11:25:24 +0000

This guide will take you step by step through the process of setting up and connecting to a VPN on your Chromebook.

If you don’t have a VPN service yet, or you’re unhappy with your current one, I strongly recommend and endorse the VPN service provided by Private Internet Access (it’s the service I use), which works seamlessly with Chrome OS.

There are a few different ways to connect to your VPN using a Chromebook and we’ll cover the two big ones, setting up the connection manually or using an Android App.

Chromebook VPN Manual Configuration

Click the time in the bottom-right corner of your Chrome OS screen (see screenshot below) and then click the Settings button (looks like a ‘cog’)

Select Network from the Settings column on the left.

Click Add connection from inside the Network section.

Select the + (plus sign) next to Add OpenVPN / L2TP…

Fill out each of the fields according to your VPN providers settings – they’ll provide you with all of the information, with the exception of the Service name field, which can be anything you’d like (a descriptive name is probably best). Toggle the Save identity and password to ON if you don’t want to enter your VPN username and password each time you connect and then click the Connect button.

You can confirm the connection by selecting the newly created VPN profile from the Network section…

and make sure the status is set to Connected

The Wifi icon in the system tray will also have a tiny little ‘key’ next to it, indicating that you’re currently connected to a VPN.

Open your browser and navigate to a site like whatsmyip.com – it should display the IP info of your VPN and not your wifi network info.

Going forward you can connect to and view the settings of your VPN via the ‘control panel’ part of the notification section.

Android VPN App on a Chromebook

This method involves using an App from the Google Play Store. Almost all popular VPN providers offer an Android App – and you should be able to use that App on your Chromebook. In this example I’m using the Android App for Private Internet Access.

While on your Chromebook head over to the Google Play Store page for the Private Internet Access Android App. Click the large green Install button.

Once the installation has completed, click the Open button.

Click Next a bunch of times.

Click Login

Enter your PIA username and password and then click the Login button again.

Click OK

Click OK to allow PIA to a VPN profile on your Chromebook.

Finally, the main connection window will appear. Click the big yellow button.

Once connected that yellow button will become green and your IP info will be displayed towards the bottom of the App.

You can confirm the connection is working by opening your browser and visiting a site like whatsmyip.com – it should display the IP info of your VPN and not your wifi network info.

You can get information on your VPN connection via the Notification section of Chrome OS, including the ability to disconnect.

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How to Download Music for Offline Use with YouTube Music

Ross McKillop — Tue, 25 Jun 2019 11:10:30 +0000

This guide will take you each step of the way though setting up the YouTube Music App to download the audio (or audio and video) so that you can listen to music while offline.

Before we go very far at all – in order to download content from YouTube so that you can listen/watch it offline, you’ll need a YouTube Music Premium account. Without one, that particular feature is disabled. Let’s get started – with YouTube Music open, tap your user icon located in the upper-right corner of the App (see screenshot below).

Select Settings from the listen of options.

Now select Downloads & storage

There are a couple of things here you’ll want to customize. The first – do you want to download just the audio to listen to while offline, or the audio and video? Select Video quality

Select Audio only if all you want is the audio, or one of the two video options if you want both audio and video.

This time select the Audio quality menu item and choose either Low, Normal or High based on your preferences. Remember that the higher the quality, the more storage space will be required to save the downloaded files.

Now for the fun part! Locate a song on YouTube Music that you want to download and select it. While the track is playing, tap the “3 dots” button located to the right of the title of the track (see screenshot below).

Select Download from the list of options.

The bar at the bottom of the App will display the status of any downloads.

To locate and play any of your downloaded files, select Library from the bottom of the YouTube Music App, and then Downloads from the list of options.

In the Your downloads section tap the item named Downloaded songs

Finally, here’s the list of all your downloaded songs. Play away!

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How to Check Your Entire Home Network for Vulnerabilities

Ross McKillop — Mon, 20 May 2019 11:10:59 +0000

This guide will show you how to use a safe and reliable (and free!) app to scan your home network for vulnerabilities.

It’s unlikely I’d be able to introduce this tool better than the folks who created it, so from the Bitdefender Home Scanner page –

Bitdefender Home Scanner is a free tool that scans your Wi-Fi network, maps devices and identifies and highlights network security flaws. Bitdefender Home Scanner looks for weak passwords, as well as vulnerable or poorly encrypted communications. It correlates the information gathered from your connected devices with online vulnerability databases and gives you a thorough report so you can ensure maximum security for your network.

Let’s jump right into installing, setting up and using the app! As long as you’re running Windows 7 SP1 or later, you’re all set.

Head over to the Bitdefender Home Scanner page, locate the Free Download button and give it a click. Save the file to your Downloads folder and then run it when the download is complete. When the installer opens make sure to review the Terms of use (yeah right) then place a check in the Terms of use box. If you want to Send anonymous data back to Bitdefender, leave that box checked – otherwise remove it. Finally, click the START INSTALLATION button.

After a few minutes the installation should be done. Click the START USING HOME SCANNER button.

You’ll need to create an account so enter the required information in the spaces provided and then click the CREATE ACCOUNT button.

Now you’re ready for the first scan. Make sure you’re actually connected to your home network and then click the YES, THIS IS MY HOME NETWORK button.

When prompted, click CONFIRM

Bitdefender will now scan your home network. This may take a few minutes – now wouldn’t be the worst time to grab a cup of tea or coffee.

After it’s identified all of the devices on your home network, it will begin to scan each device.

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When the scan is complete, Bitdefender will notify you via a small pop-up window. Click the CLOSE button to review the results.

The first thing to do is review the column for items that have a POTENTIALLY AT RISK or AT RISK status. If one (or more) devices is displaying one of those statuses, click it to get more information.

In all likelihood, there will be a review of the problem with a link to even more info. Make sure to review it all.

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Depending on the problem, Bitdefender will probably give you a few ‘next step’ suggestions to resolve any issues.

click to enlarge

An additional (and fantastic) feature of Bitdefender Home Scanner is that if you leave it running (in the System Tray) it will notify you each time a new device connects to your home network. You’ll also be given the option to scan that device to check it for any vulnerabilities it may have (which could in turn spread to devices on your network).

If you do opt to have a newly connect device scanned, it only takes a small fraction of the time it took to do the initial ‘complete’ scan of your home network.

click to enlarge

You can run the App every once in a while to scan your network as new vulnerabilities are discovered etc (it will notify you of any updates when you run it).

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How to Schedule Emails to Send Later in Gmail

Ross McKillop — Wed, 24 Apr 2019 11:00:55 +0000

This quick overview will show you how to schedule an email in Gmail so that it sends at a later time/date.

If you’re using Gmail on a laptop or desktop (via the web), click here to jump down to the instructions.

Schedule Emails to Send Later on Mobile (iPhone/Android)

Compose your email as usual but instead of tapping the Send button, tap the “3 dots” button and select Schedule send. This will bring up a series of options including pre-selected times such as “Tomorrow morning” and “Tomorrow afternoon”. Choose Pick date & time if you want to specify the exact time to have the email sent.

Schedule Emails to Send Later in Web Based Gmail

Compose an email the same way you always do, but this time instead of clicking the Send button, click the small “down arrow” right next to the Send button (see screenshot below)

Select Schedule send

A small options screen will appear. From here you can select one of the predefined time periods – eg. “Tomorrow morning” or “Tomorrow afternoon” or you can specify an exact time and date by selecting Pick date & time

Once you’ve scheduled the email you’ll get a confirmation notification.

The navigation panel on the left side of your window will now contain a section titled Scheduled where you’ll find a list of all of your currently scheduled emails.

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How to Block a Band or Artist on Spotify

Ross McKillop — Tue, 29 Jan 2019 12:45:46 +0000

This quick overview will explain how to ‘block’ an artist/band on Spotify so that you never have to hear them again :) This has been a long-requested feature, particularly by Spotify users who often listen to Spotify Radio or curated playlists. It’s also helpful as a method of ‘parental controls’ if there’s an artist you don’t think your child is quite ready to hear yet.

You’ll need to use the mobile app version of Spotify (iOS or Android) to completely block an artist or band. So start by opening up Spotify on your iPhone/iPad or Android device. Run a search for the artist you wish to block, and then select them from the Artist column.

This will bring up their “home page” on Spotify. On that page, select the “three dots” ( … ) icon from the upper-right corner of the window.

From the pop-up list, select Don’t play this artist (Android Users: select Don’t play this – for some reason the Android version doesn’t include the word “artist”)

A brief confirmation message will appear on the screen.

In the future, if you or someone who uses your account tries to play an artist you’ve previously banned, an error message will appear.

If you ever decide to unblock the artist, simply return to their Spotify “home page” and once again click the “three dots” icon. This time, select Remove from the list of options, which will remove the ‘ban’ on that artist.

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How to Increase the Volume in Spotify for Android

Ross McKillop — Fri, 27 Jul 2018 21:46:50 +0000

This brief guide will explain how to boost the volume for music playing in Spotify on your Android phone or tablet.

The process to ‘boost’ the volume in Spotify on Android is a bit different than it is for iOS. Here how to do it on your Android device –

In order for the volume adjustment to work, first you’ll need to pause any currently playing tracks. Then tap the Your Library icon from the bottom navigation bar. When the Your Library window opens, tap the Settings icon in the upper-right corner (see screenshot below).

Scroll down the Settings window until you get to the Volume level row. On the far right side of that row there’s a ‘pull-down’ menu (which is probably currently labeled Normal) – tap it.

From the list of choices, select Loud

Now confirm that the Volume level has changed from Normal to Loud

All done – rock on! :)

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