New Spotify feature!

Do you like going out? Do you like music? Are you alive? If the answer to all three of those questions is yes, than the newest (and maybe raddest) feature on Spotify is for you!

Concerts is a really simple idea that promises to do a wonderful thing – recommends concerts in your local area based on your taste in music. The new feature will let you know when your favorite bands are going to be in town as well as offer recommendations of new artists playing in your area based on the music you listen to.

Then, if you’re like, “heck yes I want to go see this band who’s music I’m totally into in my local area”, then you can buy tickets instantly with the help of Songkick.

Suuuuper easy.

On your phone, simply open the Browse tab on Spotify and select Concerts to see a personalized list of what’s playing nearby.You can change the location as well, so if you’re traveling you can find out what awesome bands are playing there, too.

Sign up with Spotify here. You can access the Concerts feature without needing to get the Premium version, but if you’re not so into ads, you can try Premium free for 30 days, after that it’s  $9.99 per month.

Apps & Gadgets of the week! Pet friendly edition

We all love our little best friends in fur -n- feather costumes, right? Whether we’re talking Egg the chicken who’s scared of thunderstorms, Papanu Guinea Pig, Itty Bitty the cat, Barrack Obarka the dog, Urso the friendly bear, or Mr Squeezy the Boa, we all want to make sure our best pals are looked after, happy and safe.

Here’s a bunch of tech to help you do just that! Just remember- no amount of pet tech can replace cuddles! Except maybe with Mr Squeezy. Be careful of his cuddles.

*WoofTrax, through the Walk for a Dog mobile app, creates fundraising opportunities for shelters and rescues while encouraging dog+human regular exercise! Simply pick a shelter or rescue organization and log your walks through the App. The more you walk, the more your charity will receive during the donation period! Win win!

*Would you like to build your pet’s face out of Lego? WHO WOULDN’T?! Brickshots will help you out! Register, upload a photo of your pet and the App will tell you the exact Lego bricks needed, with a full description including the Lego Element ID, along with building instructions. Can anyone say best Christmas present ever?

*Now to something a little more important – help for your pet when there’s an emergency. The ASPCA App, PetTech,  and The American Red Cross Pet First Aid App are all comprehensive mobile apps that cater to pet emergencies, including what to do if faced with a missing pet, pets in a natural disaster, poison control, CPR and a whole host of other vital services and information sources. Pick one that best suits you and your pet or download them all to be really safe.

*BarkHappy, DoggyDatez and Tindog are ‘dating’ apps for your dog…kinda. If you want to meet up with other similarly minded dog lovers/walkers, or find dog friendly places, use these apps to make a big happy dog loving group of friends. Not in a weird way.

*PupTox, $0.99 from the App Store, gives you access to a trove of information about what is and isn’t toxic for your pet, from certain foods to garden plants, etc.

*  Tagg is a GPS tracker that lets you see where your pet is on a map, gives you driving directions to where they are if you need them, and alerts you if your pet gets out. Handy for Mr. BeaglePants who forgets to look up when he’s following his nose.

*Play with a cat in a way that doesn’t involve him knocking things off shelves and get the Cat Fishing App.  Trust us, it’s quality hilarity.

*Do you take your pup on walks to awesome places? Strap him up with a Go-Pro harness and video that shizz! $59.99 with 2 day free shipping and you’ll be showing the world what you and your best bud get up to.

*PetPace is an awesome collar and accompanying mobile app that tracks your pet’s health and fitness in real time. Track your beloved’s temperature, pulse, respiration, activity, positions, and calories to get an overall idea of your pet’s health and fitness.  $149.95 plus a $14.95 Monthly Service Plan.

* A little easier on the wallet and focussing on your pet’s activity, Whistle is a GPS pet tracker that provides insight into your dogs’ daily activity levels in real time as well as medication reminders and information on how much activity he/she should be getting for their breed and weight. You can also track them if they wandering.  $79.95 with free shipping.

* If you’re more of a Mr Squeezy type of pet owner (SNAKE) then SnakeKeeper is for you.  Keep track of your snake’s feeding, weight and shedding cycles and review the statistical information on your mobile.

So there you have it. Slightly dog heavy on the apps, so if you have any more pet friendly apps or gadgets please let us know! And REMEMBER THE CUDDLES!

Play cards against humanity online!

Have you guys played Cards Against Humanity yet? If you haven’t, get on it! (but only if you’re not super politically correct?)

If you have, and you loved it, you’ll FUR REALZ welcome, as we did, the introduction of a new way to play.

Online B*itches!! Woop!

Yup, you read right, you can now play the game for horrible people online.

Here’s how: when the game was first created, it was created under a creative commons license, which meant that anyone could recreate their own copy of the game. Any spinoffs are perfectly fine as long as they’re not for profit.

Dawson Whitfield, a designer and a genius, has now turned it into an online browser based web app. You can play it on your smartphone, iPad or computer against your friends. You do however have to be in the same room, so it’s not perfect yet. Skype cards against Humanity is coming, though, we swear.

Featuring all the original cards along with the five expansion sets, all you need is for one player needs to set up a new game and then send its custom link to everyone else who wants to play.

It’s called Cards against Originality. Get on it horrible people!

Apps(s) of the week! Beer Edition!

Beer es gut, ya?

Yeah. Beer’s good. So here’s some Apps to get the most out of your beer imbibing experience.

*Beer App.  This is an App that sends your friends one message. The word Beer, with a question mark. The easiest and best way to invite your friends to join you for a beer.

Beer?

Free from the App Store. 

*Elixer.  A drinking community! Take a photo of your drink, use the optional filters, upload & share it, rate it, discuss it, browse where and what your friends are drinking, discuss that. Also good for making more permanent memories of where you were and what you were doing if you happen to drink a little too much. Free from the App Store. 

*NextGlass.  Kind of like Pandora for your beer-loving taste buds.  Scan the label from within the App, and it will tell you an estimate score of how much you’ll like it based on your previous activity with the App. Then once you rate it from how you actually feel about it, it’ll use that to recommend what you should drink next!

Next Glass has developed a scientific method to choose a drink based on the chemistry behind your taste. Using science and machine-learning you can determine if you like a bottle before you ever taste it. Nifty, eh? It’ll also tell you all the important info about the drink such as calories, carbs and ABV! NIFTIEST!

Free from the App Store. 

*Taphunter.  See what cocktails, specialty spirits and tasty brew are being offered up where and when with this handy app. With a list that includes restaurants, bars and liquor stores, see rankings, menu’s, drink information  and wish lists.

Free from the App Store. 

Happy Weekend! Get some beer in ye.

Apps to help you keep your new year’s resolutions!

Welcome to 2015 guys!

How many of you guys have made or are making New Year’s Resolutions? Resolutions are pretty great things in our book, if only for the chance to evaluate and examine your life and understand how you might like to improve it, looking for ways to inspire you to become a better person. Even if that’s all you do, that’s success.

But if you want to really stick to your goals for 2015, here’s some apps to help you out. And remember – one slip up is not a breakage, it can be a way to strengthen the resolution!

Coach.me (previously known as Lift) is a motivational tool that uses in-app professional coaching (for an $14.99 in-app purchase), community support and providing you with data that makes it easy to track, analyze, and celebrate your progress. It also includes features goal inspired plans, challenges and guides to help you achieve anything you’re up for achieving.

Free from the App Store (with in-app purchases).

StickK is an app that’s all about goals and helping you reach them. So, perfect!

When you begin, you customize and sign a contract. The contract lists the things you will do in order to achieve your goals. As part of the contract you get a ‘Referee’ , someone to report to, to motivate you and someone  to hold you accountable. You also have the option to include cash incentives to your contract. With the cash, a good example is that if you commit to $10 a week that you’ll go to the gym every day, and you fail, then that $10 goes to a charity or person of your choice. If you succeed, you get the money back.

The app also provides social media networking and weekly reports. You can sign up for free and get the app here.

Kickit is an app to help you achieve a SUPER IMPORTANT goal for 2015. Yup, we’re talking about quitting smoking. No lectures here, just take a look at the app, and see how it can provide you with the data, incentives, social media interaction and support to help you quit and let you know just how much money you’re saving and exactly how you’re improving your health.  

Get it free from the App Store. 

Want to get more in touch with yourself and your understanding of the world in 2015? Take a look at Headspace. It’s a mediation app that has been praised all over and is used by over a million people. It provides you with mindfulness techniques that work towards the creator’s mission of creating a healthier, happier world, one mobile device at a time. Sounds awesome.

You can sign up for free for their Take10 program (10 x10 mediation sessions) and download the app for free, with in-app purchases if you wanted to continue to subscribe to the Headspace material.

If you would like to give back more in 2015, check out Charity Miles.  It’s a way of turning your time and energy into Charity and giving back. After you get the App, choose a charity and how you’ll be moving about – i.e. walking, biking or running. For every mile, corporate sponsers will give  10¢ per mile for bikers; and 25¢ per mile for walkers and runners to your chosen charity.

Free from the App Store. 

Another charitable App to check out is One Today. A Google initiative, it presents you with a new Charity every morning, with the option to donate $1. It will also explain how your donation will work towards the Goals of that particular Charity. It’s a way of letting you ‘Give a little, and change a lot’.

Free From the App Store. 

Some websites to help you achieve your goals and feel inspired in 2015 –

For weight loss goals, we would recommend LoseIt! or My Fitness Pal (also available as Apps).

For saving money check out Mint.com.

If you would like to travel more, check out www.theflightdeal.com and MileValue.

Spend some time on www.freerice.com. For every quiz answer you get right, they donate 10 grains of rice to World Food Programme to end world hunger.

If you would like to feel good about the state of the world (we always do) check out the AMAZING things people are doing in technology and science at www.futurism.co

Happy 2015! May you achieve all your goals and may all your wishes come true! And teleportation. We think we’d like teleportation to become a thing in 2015.

Apps to help you celebrate NYE!

Hi Guys!

Happy New Years Eve!

Got some champers? Got your party shoes on? Your fireworks viewing glasses? Your fun pants firmly in place? Got some sparkle?

Welllllll that’s pretty good, but just in case you need anything extra in the way of P-A-R-T-Y for tonight, check out these helpful apps!

Cycloramic for your party pics.

Steerclear for non-drink driving transport options.

Ali Spagnola’s Power Album: Party Hour Playlist Maker.

BrainWave Hangover Relief for, well, duh, hangover relief. 

aaaand  the Times Square Official New Year’s Eve Ball App – 2015

Finally – an App called Flywheel which books regular Taxis via your phone is offering a pretty incredible deal for NYE.  From 8 p.m. Wednesday until 3 a.m. Thursday, they’re offering $10 flat-rate rides in San Francisco, Seattle, San Diego, and Sacramento. Rides exceeding $50 will be charged the metered balance. Get the App here! 

May you all have a safe, superb and outrageously joyful NYE. Here’s to you 2014, we liked being in you, and here’s to you too 2015, we can’t wait to meet you!

New Years Eve 2010 – Dubai Fireworks by Sarah Ackerman is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

You now need Facebook Messenger app to message!

As of this week, you will no longer be able to use the messaging feature in the Mobile Facebook App. Instead, as Facebook announced yesterday, it’s more than 200 million wordlwide users will need to use the separate Facebook messenger App on their mobile devices.

If you already have the messenger app installed, nothing will change. If you try to use the messaging function in the main Facebook app once the full change comes into effect, it will link you to the messenger app instead of the inbox.

Those of you who do not have the standalone Messenger App installed, either go ahead and install it (it’s free, so that’s a come up, right?) or say goodbye to all those lovely, animated Facebook conversations! And to those silly hooligans Pusheen, Meep, Biscuit and Beast. Now that’s a sad day! (If you don’t know who they are, well, you’re already missing out. Maybe.)

Emjoi your FACE!

Everyone loves the glee Emoji’s bring us young and young at heart, but now, someone has gone a step further by doing that thing where you go I SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT OF THAT and created an App where you can make an Emoji out of your FACE. Or yo mama’s face.

Created by San Francisco based App developer Tom Smith, Imojiapp has the ability to turn any face into a sticker that can then be used as an Emoji in iMessages.

Simply download the app (free from the App Store), sign up with your email address, agree to the terms and conditions ( Duh) and you’re off face creating!

Here is the favorite so far at the iPhone Antidote offices. Meet Papa Nu Guinea Pig as an Emoji.

3nder is here!

So the next ‘nder’ App some people may or may not have been waiting for is here!  That’s right, it’s the threesome answer to Grindr, Tinder, and Brenda, and it’s called, trumpets please – 3nder. That’s pronounced ‘Threender’ for those of you playing at home. And playing at home (with more than one person) is indeed the aim of the game in the particular circumstance. Or, you know, in hotels and stuff too.

The App is new, even though the idea behind it certainly is not –  neither is how it works. Once you download the App from the App store, you log on through Facebook, set your parameters  such as distance around you in which you’re interested in finding people, how many people you are and how many people you’re looking for, and what kind of interests and desires you have.

For example – 24 yr old single guy looking in the local 300 mile area for a couple of bi ladies who are interested in adding a male bedroom partner to their date nights. And, good news guy – after playing around with the app for research, we can attest that there indeed are such ladies on 3nder!

The App then works it’s magic, and shows you pictures of people in your prescribed area, their interests and desires, if they are in a couple or single,their sexual persuasions,  etc. Scrolling through the pics, you have the option to swipe up over them to indicate interest, and to swipe down if it’s more of a mmmm….no. You can them continue on scrolling through your options.

Once you swipe up and you are lucky enough to be matched ( meaning of course that they are also interested in you)  you have a set time to talk to the person or people that you’re interested in, so there’s less of the procrastination that some find in Tinder, where you find a match and then everyone just sits around being excited about the match and not talking to the person.

As 3nder says, it’s ‘the gentlest way to form a trio, without the knowledge of your friends and family.’ And it just might be.

3nder is currently available free through the App store, although you can upgrade to an incognito version for $2.99. An Android version will be available later this year.

‘King Penguin threesome on the beach’ image provided by Liam Quinn under the CC BY-SA 2.0 License

iPhone Tip Of The Day!

Forgotten how to use the search function on your iPhone? Trying to find that weird app you kind of remember downloading but can’t quite lift the fog on where it is among your vast collection of ( all necessary btw) apps?

It happens to the best of us!

For owners of an iDevice that has iOS 7 and above, you can access  the Spotlight search function by dragging your finger downwards anywhere on any home screen page.

Spotlight search will now appear and you can search for apps, texts, or any other content that is ( or that you think is) on your device.

For owners of a device that hasn’t yet been updated to iOS 7, swipe left from the first home screen to access Spotlight.

For owners of a device that has iOS 8, please call us, cos we would love to know how that whole thing is going…

Image courtesy of iMore.com