iPhone Life - Best Apps, Top Tips, Great Gear

The folks at iHome have a wide variety of speakers that offer a variety of features like Qi-based wireless charging, Alexa integration, radio, alarm clock, etc. but they sent me one, the Zenergy Bluetooth Speaker ($35.08) that has none of those features. Still, for many people, the features it does have will be greatly appreciated. It is a Bluetooth speaker that charges via microUSB but that's not what makes it stand out. The Zenergy is designed to help you sleep better. This is accomplished by an impressive 15 distinct sleep sounds. Unlike traditional mechanical sound machines, this plays recorded and engineered sounds and even incorporates a gentle voice guiding you to sleep or a meditative state with yoga-inspired guided breathing. 

Dark Mode is Apple's new feature that offers a muted, eye-strain-reducing color scheme; it's especially helpful for low-light environments. If you'd like to schedule Dark Mode so that it turns on and off automatically at sunset and sunrise or at customized times, it's possible on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. Let's get started learning how to schedule Dark Mode on your device.

BaseLynx Charging Modules: Scosche’s Customizable & Stylish Charging Solution

(Sponsored Post) By Erin Smith on Thu, 01/07/2021

The BaseLynx Modular Charging system by Scosche is a creative and fully customizable way to power your devices without having to use several separate chargers. Why end up with a tangle of cords and cables when you can select the exact number of chargers you want and connect them seamlessly into one attractive charging station? These modules can be arranged and rearranged as you see fit, and are certified safe for your devices.

 

If you are in the market for a vehicle mount for your iPad, here is one to consider during your research. Arkon released a Headrest Mount for iPad (model IPM-RSHM). It is designed to attach to your headrest for the people behind you.

The contents come sealed and protected as you can see in the picture. You receive instructions, the iPad Casing, and the actual mount.

iPhone Scanner Mount

By Tracy Sebastian






I found this innovative & clever product for the iPhone. It's a mount to use your iPhone's camera as a scanner. Why didn't I think of this?

$15 plus shipping.

From website: http://www.ponoko.com/design-your-own/products/scandock-for-iphone-2703

Dexim is known for their chargers and cases for the iPhone, but their upcoming iPad case is something special. A number of case makers have integrated Bluetooth keyboards into their design but the result is a case that is too bulky for everyday use or too constraining when typing for a long stretch. The Dexim case, which will be shipping soon, does indeed combine a case with a Bluetooth keyboard but the keyboard is held in place by strong magnets. You can simply remove it to have a more streamlined case or use the keyboard in a more comfortable position. The Dexim iPad case looks to be the best of both worlds.

Trimming tracks in iTunes

By Bryan Schmiedeler

Sometimes a music file contains material at the beginning or the end that you don't want to hear, like crowd noises, an extended drum solo, or my pet peeve—10 minutes of silence. Fortunately, you can tell iTunes when to start and stop playing a song. Follow these steps:

The "Options" tab in "Get Info" lets you trim songs.

Sometimes a grey exclamation point will appear next to songs in iTunes, indicating that iTunes cannot locate the file. How does this occur and how can you fix it?

Inside the iTunes folder, there is a file called "iTunes Library" that tells iTunes where the "iTunes Media" folder is located. (This is the folder that actually contains your music, videos, apps, etc.) When iTunes tries to access content (e.g., you try to play a song) it gets the location where the song is stored from the "iTunes Library" file and then looks for it in that location. If it can't find the file, it displays a grey exclamation point to the left of the entry in iTunes.

Google today launched their new Google ebookstore and Google Books app (free). They say that the store has over 400,000 books available for purchase and over 2 million free ebooks. As is typical, the app lets you change the font and search inside the book. It also has night-reading mode and offline reading mode. Your books are stored in the cloud. Read more about the using the iOS app on their website.

As an avid fan of the quality programming found on the Food Network, I was ecstatic to find that the TV giant had released an app for the iPhone and iPad that would allow me to access their vast library of recipes while working away in my own kitchen. The app is excellent in almost every way one could hope for, but it does have a few quirks that keep it from being as great as it could be. 

 

Wondering what to get that special someone?  You know, the guy who has everything?  Well, you can be pretty sure he doesn't have a JackBack because they just became available for pre-order!  JackBacks are custom wood replacement backs for your iPhone 4, available in cherry, maple, walnut or mahogany.  You can have your JackBack laser etched with a custom design for only $10 more than the $89 base price for a truly unique gift.

Today's batch of press releases brings yet another app for my in-progress article on creative uses of the iPhone camera. Money Scan x2 ($0.99) is an app that helps you detect counterfeit money. What will they think of next? The description says that it works with all currencies. It appears to simply magnify and illuminate the currency, rather than itself detecting counterfeit bills.

Review: Powis iPad Case

By Louis Senecal

Not too long ago, I was reading the accessories Forums on Macrumors and I spotted a post where a few people were wanted to review a Powis iPad case. The Powis iPad cases were released not too long ago. In this particular instance though, the requestor was iCasesOnline.com, who is a company who provides iPhone and iPad cases. They were recently selected to be an authorized Powis seller. I was waiting to see how many people pounced on an opportunity like that. As you know, I love trying out new accessories, so I imagined there would have been a lot of requests. I stopped by the forums the next day and there were no takers yet, so I decided to put my name in the hat and got the opportunity to test drive it.

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