iSahabi - A Must Have For Your Next Trip To Makkah

By: Marwan, February 15, 2017

Note: The app in this review is for Islamic pilgrimage.

Hajj is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many Muslims around the world. The number of people trying to visit Makkah is significantly higher than what the place can hold, therefore, going for Hajj is a valuable experience for Muslims as they may never get to do it again.

iSahabi is an app that aims to make that experience more meaningful. The app helps you prepare for your trip, learn more about the location you're visiting and buy gifts for friends. It also includes an Ibadah Mode that can help you focus on prayers and avoid distractions during your short and valuable trip.

In this review, we'll look at all the above features and discuss how they can be beneficial, and where they fall short.

iMyfone Umate - Free Up Space on Your iPhone

By: Marwan, October 23, 2016

There's a myth that once every 3 seconds, the Storage Almost Full pop-up appears somewhere on someone's iPhone.

It's an annoying error and common amongst many iPhone users. This lead to some companies using it for funny adverts and others using it to solve the problem. iMyfone Umate is an app that attempts to give users more storage on their iOS devices.

It's incredibly easy to use and may be just the app you're looking for. Read on for a full review of my experience with iMyfone Umate.

Stories: Instagram vs Snapchat

By: Marwan, August 7, 2016

Instagram recently released an update to its mobile apps. The update features a new way to share content. You post a picture or video, draw or add text on it, and it expires in 24 hours. Oh, and it's called Stories.

Yes, the Facebook-owned app literally cloned Snapchat. Facebook really wants to be our go-to for everything social. They want our albums on Facebook, perfectly crafted photos on Instagram, and now even random ugly selfies on Instagram stories.

This whole thing actually started a few years ago. In 2013 , Facebook tried to buy Snapchat for $3 billion. Facebook warned Snapchat that they're releasing a similar app soon that'll crush Snapchat. However, Snapchat turned down the offer (something that seemed crazy at the time). Facebook then released the Snapchat-crushing app, called Poke. Poke let you send pictures to your friends that lasted up to 10 seconds. The app failed to gather a user base and shut down shortly. #FAIL

But now Facebook just copied Snapchat in an app that has 500 million active users. I think this is likely to take off well. Third time lucky?

At first, I hated the fact that Instagram, owned by tech giant Facebook, would blatantly rip off another app. However, after using stories on Instagram, I started opening up to the idea and accepting it.

Where Snapchat beats Instagram

Snapchat is the OG, not a stolen product
You can send snaps to your friends as well as posting it as a story
Fun little additions such as streaks and best friends
Snapchat also has some channels that could be fun and interesting at times
Fun filters to truly express yourself

Where Instagram beats Snapchat

Instagram is an all-in-one app with both posts, Stories and an Explore feed
You probably have more followers on Instagram than on Snapchat so expect more views for your Stories
You can swipe back and forth between Stories when viewing them
Uploading a story from your camera roll is a lot easier (swipe down on the camera screen)
Why use Snapchat and Instagram when you can stick to only Instagram?

After giving Instagram Stories a shot, I realized that the app I use almost every day (Instagram) now has almost everything I needed from Snapchat. I won't be deleting Snapchat anytime soon, but I can already see myself shifting to Instagram a bit more.

Will you stick to Snapchat and completely avoid Instagram Stories, or will you shift more towards Instagram, or are you not sure yet? I do dislike using Instagram Stories, though, because of the lack of originality.

Side note: I wonder if this would've happened if Instagram was not owned by Facebook. Thoughts?

iPhone 7: Leaks, Rumours and Expectations

By: Marwan, July 28, 2016

We're less than two months away from the release of Apple's next iPhone. The internet is full of leaks and rumours for the upcoming hotshot. In this post, I've categorized every important leak into three different categories based on how likely it is to happen.

Very Likely

Similar Design

In previous years, Apple followed a tick-tock cycle where the iPhone gets a huge external redesign in one year then a massive internal upgrade in the following year. Apple is breaking out of this cycle with the iPhone 7. The device will only be slightly redesigned with more focus on the internals.

All three pictures below are leaked by a French site. The site has been accurate in the past and their leaks match leaks posted on other websites too.

iPhone 7

Apple is taking Google down, one iOS at a time

By: Marwan, June 29, 2016

According to The New York Times, it is estimated that 75% of the $11.8 billion Google made from mobile search ads came from iOS users. That's a huge chunk of Google's revenue coming directly from phones with an Apple logo at the back.

Since iOS and Android are two direct competitors that never got along too well, Apple won't just let Google make that much money from its own devices. You may recall Steve Jobs saying:

"I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong. I'm going to destroy Android, because it's a stolen product. I'm willing to go thermonuclear war on this."

Let's take a look at how Apple is trying to eliminate Google search from iOS.

Adjust focus after taking the picture with Live Focus

By: Marwan, June 13, 2016

The iPhone 7 Plus is rumoured to feature a dual-lens camera. While we don't exactly know the reason for it, some people speculate that it may be used to take a photo at different focus levels, then allow the user to edit the focus of the photo after taking it.

If you can't wait till the release of the iPhone 7 Plus in September for this functionality then you may want to check out Live Focus. Live Focus is an app that allows you to take a picture then adjust the focus later on.

It works by taking the picture at a variety of focal points, then allowing you to use a slider to adjust focus level.

The App Store will soon start displaying ads

By: Marwan, June 9, 2016

Don't freak out. Ok, maybe freak out a little bit. The App Store is about to get ads in the search results. It sounds worse than it is though.

Phil Schiller, Apple’s Worldwide Marketing SVP, was given the responsibility of overlooking all App Store leadership 6 months ago. He announced a few changes recently, including Search Ads. Search Ads, as the name suggests, will allow developers to advertise their apps at the top of the App Store's search results.

Google's Project Ara may truly change smartphones

By: Marwan, May 25, 2016

Remember when you used to only use your phone to call people and maybe send a few texts? Back in the day when a phone was just a phone, when you spent a few minutes changing your ringtone or playing Bounce. Then Steve Jobs announced the iPhone and changed the way we see phones.

Since then, phones have been incrementally improving. When you compare the iPhone 6S to the original iPhone you'll notice a lot of changes in performance, camera and display as well as new additions like Touch ID and 3D Touch. However, our perception of a phone is still very similar. It's a device you buy once every couple of years or so, and use it to scroll through Instagram for hours. After about two years you'd notice that people's pictures are looking better than yours, or your friend has a louder phone, and you'll decide it's time to upgrade.

Google is changing that soon with its Project Ara.

Apple Pay is more secure than your bank card

By: Marwan, April 20, 2016

It seems like a lot of people aren't using Apple Pay (or other mobile payment services) because of security concerns. Below I outline the main security problems with bank cards, followed by reasons why Apple Pay is a lot more secure.

Side note: I only talk about Apple Pay in this post because it's the only mobile payment service I know enough about. Most of the security features in Apple Pay are also present in Android Pay, and the two work very similarly, but I just don't know enough about Android Pay to reach any conclusions regarding it. Also all my information about Apple Pay came directly from Apple's support website.

Now let's get right to it.

Hey Siri, it's time for iPhone to open up!

By: Marwan, April 14, 2016

Siri

Siri has been around for almost five years now. She started as a personal assistant that can tell you if you need an umbrella, now she's.. well, a personal assistant that can tell you if you need an umbrella.

Ok, that was mean. Surely Siri does get better with every major iOS update. She (or now even he) can speak multiple languages, control your house with HomeKit and do a whole lot more than she could five years ago. There is however one problem with Siri which lead me to sharing this post. It's a problem that strongly reflects Apple's closed ecosystem, a problem that Google Now does not suffer from: lack of third party app integration.

Here's a simple example:

Counter Argument: The iPhone SE is garbage (sort of)

By: Kumail Hussain, March 31, 2016

Hello Apple this is 2012 speaking and we want our design back. Now, I'm not going to be giving you some backstory about the iPhone SE because that's boring. I'm here to tell you why some other company, besides Apple, deserves your money.

Why the iPhone SE makes perfect sense (almost)

By: Marwan, March 28, 2016

Apple announced the iPhone SE on the 21st of March. Most people's initial reaction was: what the hell? It was weird and confusing seeing Apple release a phone that looks identical to the iPhone 5, a phone that's almost 4 years old. In a time where people are critical of Apple's innovation, this seems like the best thing to do to make everything worse.

After giving it some thought, I realised that perhaps the iPhone SE is one of the best things to do to make everything better. Here's why:

Infographic- How People Use Smartphones

By: Marwan, February 17, 2016

Smartphone usage has been constantly changing over the past few years. As more people have access to faster internet on their phones, the usage of the devices improve. Below is an infographic titled "How people use smartphones" that you may find interesting.

I was mostly interested with the mobile habits section. Did you know that the average American spends twice as much time on their smartphone in comparison to time spent eating?

How to get Netflix for roughly half the price

By: Marwan, February 8, 2016

After a sudden expansion, Netflix is now available in almost every country. Chances are you already have a Netflix subscription or you're considering one. If you already have a Netflix subscription then you'll need to make a new account in order to take advantage of this half-price workaround.

Not many people are aware that Netflix charges different prices in different countries. I've done some googling and it seems that Netflix in Colombia is cheaper than anywhere else in the world.

In the UK, a basic Netflix plan will cost you £6 a month, while the premium costs £9 a month. In contrast, the basic plan in Colombia costs the equivalent of £3.5 while the premium costs only £6. So you could be getting premium for the same price as a basic plan if you follow this trick.

Here's what you need to do.

Why I jailbroke my iPhone

By: Marwan, October 23, 2015

About a week ago, a jailbreak was publicly released for iOS 9 devices. I'm a big fan of jailbroken iPhones so I was quick to try it out on my phone. However, over the past couple of years fewer and fewer people are finding the need to jailbreak their iPhones as iOS got better.

I'm not here to say that everyone should jailbreak their phones, but below are some improvements I've made to my iPhone - thanks to the jailbreak - that may catch your interest.

Lifline 2 Review- A Choose Your Own Adventure Game

By: Marwan, October 2, 2015

When Apple introduced iOS 8 and the Apple Watch with interactive notifications, a game called Lifeline hit the top charts on iPhone. For those of you who haven't heard of it: Lifeline is a text-based game where you choose your own adventure. The objective was to save the life of a stranded astronaut called Taylor.

3 Minute Games, the company behind Lifeline, released Lifeline 2 last month with a completely new story. This time you're in contact with a young woman called Arika that cast a spell to help her communicate with you. She's trying to avenge her parents and rescue her long lost brother. At the start of the game she even mistakes you for her brother, and it's your choice whether or not you lie to her.

Stitch together screenshots on Android & iPhone

By: Kumail Hussain, September 16, 2015

Imagine it's a sunny day and you're chatting with this girl you like and your friends want to stay updated on the situation. One option could be to screenshot multiple times and then send all the images to your pals. However, this doesn't always work since some messaging apps like WhatsApp do not send the images in the right order. This results in you explaining to your friends the order of the chat for the next five minutes.

Let's take another situation, you're reading an article which you find interesting and want to share it with your parents. Normally, you would simply share the URL of the webpage but knowing your parents, you know they won't know how to open it. So you take screenshots but you face the same problem mentioned above.

The question is, is there no other way? Well the answer is, there is. For Android the savior app is called, Stitch & Share: big screenshot.

Note: iPhone users can download a free app called Tailor that does the same job. It works a lot like Stich & Share for Android.

Next Keyboard for iPhone Review

By: Marwan, September 7, 2015

After a very successful KickStarter campaign and a long wait, Next Keyboard finally launched for iPhone with a lot of anticipation. It quickly rose to the second top paid app in the App Store. The keyboard comes almost one year after Apple allowed third party keyboard in the App Store, but it's got a lot of features in it that make it worth checking out.

The Good :)

There's a lot that's good about Next Keyboard. The first thing worth pointing out is its many beautiful themes. There are currently 14 themes available. My favorite is the Kickstarter keyboard. There's also a Classic keyboard that looks like the default one on iPhone. Typing also sounds better with Next Keyboard, you'll have to try that out for yourself.

3 Reasons To Be Excited For Self Driving Cars

By: Marwan, August 27, 2015

Since 2009 Google has been working on a self driving car project. The cars have autonomously driven almost 1 million miles, and a lot has been learnt. I'm excited for self driving cars, and below are 3 reasons why you should be too.

Download Youtube Videos for free on iPhone

By: Marwan, July 17, 2015

Youtube has been making it harder and harder to download Youtube videos, whether you're on an iPhone, Android phone, PC, etc. It's fairly easy to avoid those limitations on a computer as you can find many sites that let you download videos, but on the iPhone, apps with the ability to download Youtube videos tend to be removed from the App Store or completely rejected in the first place.

Some apps have managed to stay, I only know of one app right now.

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