5 Free Apps for Music Lovers

1. Shazam
Developer: Shazam Entertainment Ltd.

Find out what song is playing by recording a short sample. The app will identify the song and save a tag for you to get it later. For iPad and iPhone.

Click to get the app

2. Slacker
Developer: Slacker, Inc.

Slacker is an Internet radio service like Pandora, with a couple additional features in the app. Many songs can be played by searching for them and you can search by albums in addition to artists and songs. For iPad and iPhone.

Click here to get the app

3. Vevo
Developer: Vevo

Watch music videos on your mobile device. For iPad and iPhone.

Click here to get the app

4. iHeartRadio
Developer: Clear Channel Management Services, LP

Listen to radio stations from all around the U.S. nation on your mobile device. For iPad and iPhone

Click here to get the app

5. Grooveshark

This is a web app to access music from Grooveshark.com account. Grooveshark is a shared music service where you can find almost any song you would like to hear for free. Save your favorites to your free account and make playlists to have your music collection everywhere. (Keep in mind that you will use Internet while listening to the songs).

Click here to get the app

3 Free (+1 paid) Utility Apps for iPhone

1. Appzilla 3: 150 in 1 Free
Developer: Fossil Software

This is the mother of all utility apps. It's nice to have many different utilities in one location. There are 150 apps included such as a flashlight, leveler, day countdown and many more. Plus, there are a couple of entertaining apps such as silly photo editors and games.

Click here to get the app

2. Dimmer
Free
Developer: newforestar co., limited

Here's a quick and simple way to adjust your screen brightness. Open the app and slide the "switch" up or down.

Click here to get the app

3. U.S. Holidays
Free
Developer: Joules Media B.V.

Add all U.S. Holidays to your iCal with one click. Simply open the app and tap "subscribe to all". You can also select certain holidays from the calendar.

Click here to get the app

4. Groups: SMS, mail and manage contacts
$4.99
Developer: Guided Ways Technologies, LTD

In order to make groups on Contacts for iPhone or iPad, you typically have to sync your device with your computer's contacts. It also makes contact management more sophisticated with customizable 'smart groups' that are sorted automatically. Lastly, you can send Group Emails/ Texts out from within the app in a quicker manner.


Click here to get the app

Get in the cloud!

There is no need to depend on a computer to back up your iPhone or iPad any longer. I personally use my iPad as my main computing tool and have all data completely backed up in the cloud.


Here's how:

Back up phone (contacts, calendar, settings)

Go to settings app
Choose iCloud
Turn on iCloud backup
Make sure you have wifi and check that the backup completes


Put music and pics in the cloud using apps

There are many options to do this. Here are 2 good free methods.


For liberating large music libraries from your computer, Google Music is your best free option. You can upload up to 20,000 songs from your computer for free.
Go to here to check it out the website from your desktop, which you will need to do in order to upload music.

There is a web app to access the music on your iPhone or iPad. Simply visit music.google.com from your mobile device browser.



Photobucket
Developer: photobucket.com

This free app allows you to view, upload and download pictures from your account.

For large picture libraries, Photobucket is your best free option. You can upload and store unlimited photos and 500 videos with a free account. Go here to check it out the website for your desktop.


Click here to get the app

3 Free Photo Editing Apps for iPhone/ iPad

1. Photoshop Express
Developer: Adobe

This is generally good for all photos. It includes basic photo editing features of cropping, adjusting brightness, contrast and color saturation. There's also many cool filters to use such as the 'vibrant' one that makes all of the colors pop.

Click here to get the app

2. More Beaute 2
Developer: more-thing Company Limited

This tool is great for face portraits, it makes everything look brighter and smoother in one easy step.

Click here to get the app

3. iRetouch Free
Developer: Nick Drabovich

This app will let you get into more detailed photo editing such as replacing parts of the photo, blurring, smudging, etc. of course, it's easier to use on a bigger screen of the iPad.

Click here to get the app

Help for broken iPhone/ iPad buttons

If your phone is past its warranty window and you're still waiting for an upgrade, here are some tips. Read on for tips to work around faulty or totally broken buttons.

For broken lock/ power or volume buttons:

Enable Assistive Touch by following these selections...

>Settings
>General
>Accessiblity
>Assistive Touch
>Enable Assistive Touch


You now have a white circle always present on the screen. From there, tap 'device' and find virtual lock screen button and volume buttons.

(You can drag the white circle around on the screen. To turn phone off, hold down virtual lock screen button)


For a broken home button:

Enable Assistive touch by following instructions above. Use the virtual home button and tap twice for app-switching.

If your home button is completely dead you won't want to lock your phone with the lock button.

Plug the phone into a charger in order to get the screen on.

Use one of these free apps to "lock" your screen. These apps were all created to protect photos/ videos, however, you can use them as a lock by setting up the password and starting the app to lock your phone. Keep in mind that you need to disable auto-lock in settings and your battery will be drained faster than if the phone were normally locked.

I would suggest leaving your chosen app on your home screen. It's your preference to put media in them or not.

1) Photo Password Free
Developer: Revolutionary concepts

You can use one of these new, cool picture gesture passwords by drawing a design on a photo of your choice. It's harder for people to guess and the possibilities are endless. Upgrade for 99 cents if you don't want to be bothered with ads.

Click here to get the app

2) Dot Lock Secure Media Locker Lite
Developer: David Lane

You can have a dot lock like all of your awesome Android friends. There's quite a few different types passwords you can set up using this app. Also, you can enable the app to snap a photo of people who try to "break in" your phone. Upgrade to no ads for 99 cents.

Click here to get the app

3) Private Photo Vault
Developer: William Sidell

You can have something very close to the traditional apple lock by using this app. A nice 4 digit pin. Upgrade to pro for $2.99 but the ads aren't all that bothersome in the free version

Click here to get the app

5 Free Apps for Holiday Shopping

1. Google Shopper
Developer: Google, Inc.

Find every item you want and know that it's in stock at the store before making your way out. There's a search option for local and online stores. You simply need a few keywords to search. It also gives you a price scanner in your pocket while in stores.

Click here to get the app

2. Cardstar
Developer: CardStar Publishing, LLC

Load up all of your rewards cards so that you don't have to go searching through your wallet when you need it. It is very convenient.

Click here to get the app

3. Mall Maps
Developer: V.B. and Smith

Here's a handy tool for viewing a map of your local mall (US only). You can see all the stores by level and it will hopefully get you out of the madness a little sooner.

Click here to get the app

4. Shopkick
Developer: shopkick

Get rewards for simply being inside (or near stores) when you check-in on the app. The points are earned towards gift cards of your choice.

Click here to get the app

5. Black Friday Survival Guide
Developer: Sazze, Inc.

You can view all of the deals organized by store and by category, as well as create a shipping list within the app.

Click here to get the app