~Fanboy~

I got my first iPod in my second year at the university. It was the all new iPod Touch and not many people on campus had one. I remember not having enough money to get one and I knew I couldn’t ask my dad because he’d ask me if it was an asset or a liability and have me tell him the real importance of the iPod. So I turned to someone who wouldn’t ask me any question as to why I wanted to acquire a shiny overpriced (in retrospect) piece of shiny metal music pocket computer gadget device – my mom. She sent me money. I added it to what I already had, gave the money to Ebenezer (Shot), got my first piece of Apple hardware. This here is the origin story of an undeniable fanboyism.

~When Elephants Fight…~

My first music streaming experience started with Pandora many years ago. It was nice to be able to log into a computer and stream music I didn’t have stored locally in the computer. It wasn’t until I discovered Songza however, that I truly enjoyed the streaming experience. 

It was a free service with a beautiful, simple UI and some really interesting approach to song selection and playlists. Besides the really well thought out user interface and experience, Songza initially didn’t require VPN for me to stream in Nigeria.

Time came for Apple to go into streaming, Google was going in as well and Spotify were already miles ahead of the competition. Google acquired Songza and pretty much ruined it. Google Play Music wouldn’t stream in HD without being choppy at the time (I haven’t tried it in a while), and  even though the key Songza features were ported over the experience with Google Music was far from exhilarating.

~It just works~

As far as free streaming options go, Pandora and Amazon Music have been my go to. Even though unlike Spotify, Pandora doesn’t allow album streaming, I’m still unbothered. I personally find the album shuffle on Spotify irritating so I stay away from it altogether. Once a while, I try out Spotify again until a public service announcement for ad free music come on and I’m reminded that I do not remotely appreciate this type of advertising and then I uninstall again. Amazon Music is one of the very many perks of a Prime membership and I must admit, it is a really good streaming option. I am yet to try out Deezer even though I have heard some interesting things about it. And then finally I have the default music app on my phone which occasionally advertises music plans to me. Thanks Apple.

The entire plethora of music options and the segmented nature of ‘my ecosystem versus yours’ has left many consumers with way too many tentacles of apps and services especially with Music considering Apple and Google have music streaming services. I purchase most of my music on Apple Music except for the records I get from the Jazz Hole, Amazon and Barnes and Noble — of which most of the records from the latter two come with an ‘autorip’ feature which includes digital copies of the music.

It really won’t hurt Apple much to have a free tier of Apple Music for iPhone owners. Apple have some of the most loyal customers in the world and this option will not only keep them in the ecosystem, it will also be a very good incentive for people looking to migrate from other ecosystems/devices. Being one of the few one of the few offering Apple has in the Android-verse, Apple Music is on the rise and it seems it will continue to be despite stiff competition all around.Users could have fewer access to catalogs and playlist management and even ads can be included! Just being able to make the Music app useful and default again for a lot of customers will be a welcome return to the basics.

Replies — There are many times personal or group chats where there’s a need to reply to or emphasize a message. In WhatsApp this is seamless. Messages can be swiped right (iOS) and just commented underneath. This is a nifty feature that could enhance the iMessage experience.

Favorites — The favorites feature is a very powerful but underrated one. On WhatsApp you long press a message and there’s an option to fave it. This message can eventually be found under favorites section of the chat options. This is very useful for directions or menus or anything really that can be easily buried away in the conversation.

Search — Searching on iMessage is terrible. One would expect it to sort results by conversations and time but it doesn’t. It just struggles to find instances of the search query and it does a pretty terrible job still. The search on WhatsApp feels like deep search and it really digs deep with an endless supply of results for as long the search query exists. It even goes one step further and allows you search individual chats and the results are highlighted as you would expect in say a web browser.

Pin Messages — Like many people, I’m guilty of leaving a ton of messages unread. In WhatsApp, to avoid infinitely scrolling to catch up with those closest to me, I pin their messages to the top of the pile. This allows me to always have them in view whenever the app is launched. I don’t have as many conversations going on iMessage but I’m pretty certain there’s a few people that could use this feature because of how often they use their iMessage.

Format Styles — Bold, Italicize, Strikethrough and maybe Underline. The ability to format text like this already exists in the notes app on iOS (except strikethrough). Its impact in a conversation can turn a boring text into a lively, thought out one. It could also serve as a means to properly format movie titles and book titles etc for those who OCD like that.

Export — iMessage takes a ton of space especially for users who include gifs, bitmoji and recently animoji. An option to export messages and clear chat history to make room on the phone isn’t a bad idea. This is a really nifty WhatsApp feature that lets the user recreate space on their device time and time again.

Archive — Swipe to archive works for me like the opposite of message pinning. Some conversations need to be tucked away without necessarily being deleted. This is where archiving comes in. They’re kept out of the message timeline safely away from the rest of the conversation. The longer they stay there, the greater the reason to probably delete them for good since they’re just taking space anyway.

Mark as unread — Often times I glance at a message and feel the need to mark is as unread especially when I can’t get back to the sender and need to keep the blue dot in place to remind me I have an unread message. This is really helpful and is entirely nonexistent in iMessage even though one can as easily mark messages unread in the default mail app.

In all, WhatsApp seems like an all round better messenger than Apple’s default. And for everything WhatsApp seems to lack in sending messages with effects, hearting messages or liking them, it more than makes up for in functionality.

Xcode: Simple – every Mac owner who’s a developer should have Xcode. It is your gateway into the AppStore. Besides its humongous file size, it is a necessary IDE which feels right at home in the OS. Sure there are other IDEs you can install depending on what languages you write in and what environment you’re familiar with.

Firefox: Safari comes installed, and everybody loves Chrome. But Firefox is the unsung hero in their midst. This browser is plug-in heaven. It is my preferred choice when it come to extending the capability of the browser itself.

WhatsApp: After being in beta for the longest minute, the world’s most popular messenger is now a permanent resident on the Mac. Pretty much anything – except making calls – that can be done on mobile can be done on the desktop version.

TweetDeck: TweetDeck has come a long way from being the hardcore user’s favorite twitter client to a dumbed down annoying app with many many columns. Make no mistake, Twitter’s efforts in dumbing this app down after purchasing it only hurt a little. One can no longer post to 3rd party like Facebook and Google+ (yes, some people still post to Google+). That said, the columns, searches, scheduled tweets, and the ability to create collections in the app are some advance features that still make it a winner.

VLC: No need to talk much about this. Throw any video or audio format at it watch it just handle business.

Olive Tree Bible Study: This is my preferred Bible Study app on macOS. It replicates the mobile version in most, if not all ways. Side by side comparisons, multiple versions, an intuitive search and the ability to log in and have your purchases/books transferred.

Pocket: Fact – some people till this day don’t know what Pocket is and this is a damn shame. Not only is this the best way to procrastinate on reading your favorite articles, it’s a good way to actually save it for later and read when you can. The user can save links and articles with tags and read them later on any device either on the app on their device or the Pocket site.

FileZilla: A platform agnostic FTP client. If you are a dev or you just manage your own website, please hop on this. You’re welcome.

iBooks Author: While I’m yet to publish my first book, I recommend this to Mac owners because I believe it is a good application to begin learning authoring. The free app comes with very easy inviting features which make it easy to dive in and begin writing. This is recommended to anyone who’s every dreamed of writing a book.

iTunes Producer: After writing said book, how do you publish it? This is where Producer comes in. It is free as well and has resources online to guide you as you activate it and begin to attempt your publishing.

Google Keep: For many android users, this is the equivalent of the Notes app on iOS. Everything lives here. Luckily for you, the macOS app syncs effectively and lets you continue from where  you left off every time. This is just comfortable and makes many users who are heavily vested in Google for example have a respite if you may in switching between platforms.

GarageBand: This application has gone through the same revamp Final Cut Pro. It has also been dumbed down. That doesn’t stop it from being a powerful tool for recording and editing and even podcasting.

Are there any apps you’d recommend that are missing? You can add them in the comments below.

The camera icon from the lock screen doesn’t turn of the flashlight like it used to, and some other pesky stuff like an app just refusing to scroll like it used to. A noticeable one is the iPhone screen just freezing. All I see is a semitransparent look of my wallpaper. Say if the wallpaper was purple, I’d see a purple screen that I can’t get out of. The lock button on the top of the phone doesn’t help and neither does the home button. Once you press the lock button, the screen goes black and the home button seems not to function. You press the lock button again and you’re back to where you were and you can’t do much.

What I used to do was hold down the power button until a ‘slide to power off’ comes on, and then I restart. I’ve encountered this more than once – usually with Flight Mode on because I don’t have any mobile network.

Recently the same thing happened and luckily for me I was back in town and was connected to a WiFi network. Soon as I noticed the screen was hanging as usual, I tried the power button and the home button but it was the same issue. No help here; moving on…

Then I just decided to try out Siri and it worked. I told Siri to ‘open settings’ and it did. And that’s how I broke free. Siri’s ability to open apps helped me get out of Limbo. I didn’t have to reboot the phone to gain access to it anymore.

I wish Siri could do really offline stuff like open apps even when one is not connected to a data service. This can help in times like this.

Oh and when you tell Siri your phone is hanging, it just opens your dialer. Because you said ‘phone’.

So you’re in front of your laptop or with your tablet and you open four or five different tabs on your Chrome browser including YNaija, Bella Naija, Naij and maybe 360nobs. You’re switching back and forth between tabs and scrolling endlessly to get your latest gist. This might not seem tedious at first but after a lengthy period of scrolling and clicking and shuffling you might get exhausted.

How about you get all that info aggregated in one place? This is the awesomeness of the Amebo app.

1. It is FREE
What more can you ask for? An app that charges you zero to deliver all of your favorite content in one place is being doled out like jollof rice at an Owambe. All you have to do is find the corresponding app store and download it for free. There’s almost no excuse for not downloading this app if you like your Naija gist delivered to you daily on a platter.

2. Neat and hassle free
The designers at TexSoft who created this app have been able to design a clean and intuitive user interface for an otherwise rowdy, heavy traffic gist lane. It feels very rewarding just scrolling through to catch the headlines or tapping for the full info. The user experience is comparable to many other high profile apps out there.

3. Offline Mode
What if you’ll be away from network signals for a few days or a week or even more? No worries! The application saves all the data you have loaded from the last time you used the app so you can read anywhere. That includes in the jungle or even far out in the ocean.

4. Minimal Data Consumption
This app barely takes a toll on your data subscription for those who are wary about how many kilobytes they consume per second, per app, per day. Even those who don’t care will stay not caring because they will barely notice the data taking a hit.

The official site fo the app is at amebo.ng. The app is available on the Google Play Store, Blackberry Appworld, Nokia Ovi Store and the Windows Phone Store. iOS users will have to wait. I don’t think these guys own a Mac…yet.

Have you been using the app? Do you like it? Would you rather go back to browsing the websites instead? Leave your thoughts down below.

Just in case you don’t know, Apple recently started giving away freebies on the AppStore just like they do on the iTunes music store. Last week, it was Cut The Rope Experiments. This time around, it is Snapseed.

Snapseed is an award winning photo editing application for the iOS that is just beautiful. The app not only lets you apply filters to photos (which it seems like that’s all other editing apps do), but it lets you go further by giving you detailed options to straighten, crop, adjust hue and saturation, apply a tilt shift effect to your photos, etc.

After editing, you’re given an option to save your photo or share via email or on services like Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. It also has an option to print but we know how nearly impossible that is without Apple’s AirPrint supported printers.

One downside I noticed is the option to add text which does not exist. I wish I could in the least add some text to my photo after editing but that is not possible. (I really shouldn’t be complaining; I got this app for free!)
Others who paid for it though, may be looking forward to this in an upcoming update. I will be too.

In all, a free app that was awarded ‘Best Mobile Photo App 2012’ (TIPA) and was once the ‘iPad App of the Year’ deserves at least a download from you. Or even more.

This App is awesome.

Some might argue BBM is not an app because it comes preinstalled with the OS. That’s like saying ‘Maps’ is not an app on android or iOS (iPhone/iPad) because it is there by default. Please.

The Blackberry messenger, which is the only reason a lot of people are still using RIM’s albeit outdated handsets, is our application of the month on aIRplaY.

BBM – as it is called by many of it’s fans all over the world – is an app that lets you connect to other Blackberry users around the globe (with a data connection of course). It lets you add contacts using a set of alphanumeric characters unique to every device. Its commonly reffered to as the Blackberry Pin or BB Pin for short. – think of it like a MAC address for the Blackberry. Name, email, phone number or even pin barcode could also be used. Once the contact is added, you can begin your endless addiction to the physical qwerty keypad which is RIM’s.

You can put your contacts into different categories for organisation purposes; say you want to separate work contacts from family members. BBM allows you to create groups, join groups etc. It works just like any other messenger would – allowing you to attach files from your device, send pictures, voice notes, and even contact details across to other parties. You can change your profile picture (in this case display picture or DP. Fans), your status, and there’s room for a personal message. It also has an option that allows you to show what you are listening to so people on your contacts list can tell whenever you fire up Maroon 5’s ‘She will be loved’.

In all, BBM is just another messenger app. Some people even prefer Yahoo! Messenger to it. The major reason it is our app of the month is it’s exclusivity. For now, it is available only on Blackberry devices and it has done a pretty good job in keeping people hooked. From CEOs of Fortune 500 companies to teenagers in the middle east, BBM has found a way to keep the Blackberry a relevant player in an ever changing world of technology and innovation.

All products and services mentioned are individual properties of the respective owners. Some rights reserved. 

The first thing you notice about the application is the trademark grey interface with neatly organized columns, and two buttons on either top corners of the window. One lets you manage settings and the other lets you sign out or read stuff like privacy policy and terms of service…*yawns*. The settings column, once activated, lets you see current trends and also lets you manage accounts and columns.

TweetDeck for Chrome running on Window 7 64-bit

The entry box which is located in-between the buttons at the top of the window is my favorite entry box ever! With the way it handles usernames and hash tags, by rounding them in little grey boxes to make them stand out is a very welcome addition that makes tweeting more organized.

The TweetDeck application for Chrome is really sleek and unobtrusive; afterall it’s just a tab in your browser. It is also pleasing in memory management. I’d rather run an extra tab in my browser than run a full application. The only feature I miss here is the ability to see a conversation history. On other platforms, you see a “in reply to…” link that leads you to the tweet of the person mentioned. This is very useful when tracking interesting tweets that are not retweeted within each other.

All in all, if you’re a TweetDeck user and you haven’t tried the Chrome version, you should give it a try. It just might be your new favorite.