Note Taking Apps for your iPhone

Evernote for iPhone

Evernote is the one of the best apps for taking notes on the iPhone. It automatically uploads all of your notes to its web server. Because these same notes are accessible from any computer, tablet or smartphone, you’ll never have to e-mail your notes to your self again. Evernote also works the other way around: You are able to take notes on your computer and then promptly set them up on your iPhone screen. Sharing your notes from Evernote is straightforward: if you have an agenda and want to share that information with others, you may do so with just a few clicks.

It is great for meeting notes, noting down books and music to check out, shopping lists and many more uses that you’ll find for it throughout your busy day. Evernote is free, though there is a $5/month option that allows for better PDF searching and also hides the small advertisement that comes with the free version. http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/evernote/id281796108

ReQall App for iPhone

ReQall is an iPhone to-do list app which has a few quite useful features. You are able to share all of your to-do lists with other people who also ReQall. This can be a wonderful way to help keep all the group members in your company stay on the same page. It’s also a great way for families to keep on top of their to-dos. If you manage a company with outsourced workers, for instance, you can all share to-do lists. This way everyone is on the same page no matter how far away they are. http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/reqall/id284930649

Recorder Pro App for iPhone

If you record interviews or want to take down audio notes to yourself, this app is a must have. This app will especially be useful to people who are always forgetting things. Using the Apple built-in microphone, Recorder Pro (http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/recorder-pro/id290854227)allows you to name files, pause, re-record, sort your audio files and more.

This is a great way to make use of the iPhones onboard microphone. Use it to record audio for your online business meetings or little reminders when you can’t stop to jot things down. You can also record reminders on the run for yourself as well. It is a hands-free way to make notes to yourself so you never forget a thing.

Permalink: https://digital-cave.blogspot.com/2012/08/note-taking-apps-for-your-iphone.html

Personal Finance Apps for the iPhone - Mint + Expense Tracker

Mint iPhone App for Personal Finance

For those used to the great personal finance features on the Mint website, they can now find them on the Mint app (http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/mint.com-personal-finance/id300238550) . This is a great application for helping people manage their personal and business finances. Mint allows anyone to track all their accounts on a single dashboard screen on your iPhone. It doesn’t matter if you have one, two or three bank accounts, or if you need to track PayPal accounts along with multiple credit card accounts. Mint is great to get a simple overview of all your account balances: instead of logging into separate websites, all your accounts are integrated into Mint. This makes checking financial details much detail easier. If you’re ever late on payments or need a way to keep tabs on your bank balance, this app can help keep all your financial data right at your fingertips for easy observation.

Spending Expense Tracker App

Tracking your expenses is just a vital part of any online business. Many people think that it's enough to keep credit card statements as evidence of expenses, but these are actually not enough for IRS purposes. Having an iPhone app that enables you to track your expenses can make expense-tracking a great deal easier. The Spending Expense Tracker App is a convenient tool that will help you keep track of your everyday expenses. This is especially important for business travelers, since it’s easy to forget getting a receipt when you are travelling.

As opposed to being forced to start QuickBooks and have it running while you are operating your business, you can just quickly enter your bills into an app, and the habit of doing this after each purchase will give you a reminder to ask for a physical receipt for tax purposes, instead of just relying on your credit card bills. You can use Spending Expense Tracker for both individual and business expenditures and to help keep an eye on where your money is going, and stay within your budget. This app can assist you to curb any poor spending habits through tracking your spending, and perhaps even save your self more money and spend more wisely as a result.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/easy-spending-expense-tracker/id437238261

Permalink: https://digital-cave.blogspot.com/2012/08/personal-finance-apps-for-iphone-mint.html

Productivity Apps for the iPhone - Pomodoro + iDoneThis

The Pomodoro Productivity App for the iPhone

The Pomodoro App (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pomodoro-time-management/id323222604 ) is based on a productivity system popular with people who are short on time. The system has become popular with students and corporate executives as well as anyone who regularly is trying to squeeze in as much as they can during a productive day. Pomodoro, the Italian word for tomato, looks like an ordinary kitchen timer:

A pomodoro is a unit of time and works like this: for 25 minutes, you work without any interruptions. If you get interrupted by a phone calls, email, or Facebook status update, then you have to restart. After 25 minutes, you take an obligatory 5 minute break, and then do another 25 minutes. The Pomodoro app helps you keep track of time while staying on task to help you get more done with fewer distractions.

iDoneThis App for iPhone

One of the best ways to motivate yourself is to regularly be presented with your achievements to keep you motivated. It lets you continually see how much you have accomplished, which is exactly what iDoneThis allows you to do.
Here’s how it works: at the end of the day, iDoneThis will send you a push notification asking you what you did for the day. Fill it out, push send and IDoneThis will add it to your calendar. This allows you to easily look back and see all that you have accomplished. If you manage a team, you can also create group projects. This allows you to see exactly what your team members have finished as well.

https://idonethis.com/

Permalink: https://digital-cave.blogspot.com/2012/08/productivity-apps-for-iphone-pomodoro.html

How to Install Android Apps on Your Kindle Fire (no Rooting Required)

If you want to install an Android app on your Kindle Fire, then there are some steps you need to take to get around Amazon's safeguards. Luckily there is a way to do this without rooting your Kindle Fire. When you root your Kindle, you gain access to administrator privileges to the tweak your Kindle fire using the Linux operating system that runs your Kindle. Here are the steps needed to install non-Kindle Fire certified Android apps:

1. Make sure your Kindle Fire has been configured to allow installation of third-party applications. Tap the Quick Settings icon, tap 'More...' then tap 'Device'.


2. Go to 'Allow Installation of Applications' and move the adjustment slider from 'OFF' to 'ON'.

3. Now you need to locate your Android app to download. Go to the website of the app you are interested in and save the Android APK file (remember you are getting this .apk file from the developer’s site, outside of the Amazon Store) and save it on your computer. You just saved the APK file to your hard drive, and then connect the Kindle Fire to your computer (PC or Mac) using a USB cable. Copy the download APK file into the Kindle Fire Download folder, and then disconnect the Kindle.
You can also download the APK file directly to your Kindle Fire if you know the URL of the app. In this case, you just wait until the download is finished and tap the notification icon in the top left corner of your screen to begin the installation process.
Use the ES File Explorer app (available for free at the Amazon App Store) to locate APK file(s) that you copied onto your Kindle Fire /Download folder. Go to the Home Screen of your Kindle Fire and tap on the Download folder:

After you have finished installing the app, you can open the app to start the application. These are the basic steps to install any Android app on your Kindle Fire without having to root it first.

Permalink: https://digital-cave.blogspot.com/2012/08/how-to-install-android-apps-on-your.html

Using the Carousel on the Amazon Kindle Fire

The home-screen in your Kindle Fire is the starting place for just about every thing you'll do with the Kindle, and features a carousel interface that allows user quick access to their latest content. Items are included within the carousel in chronological order. For instance, if you read a book during the day and a magazine later, the magazine will be located near the top of your carousel. It’s simple to navigate around the carousel by swiping your fingers in either direction - the items revolve in a merry-go-round fashion. Tap any item to open it. Changing the orientation of your Kindle Fire from portrait to landscape view means your items will automatically rotate accordingly. As you switch back and forth between 'portrait mode' and 'landscape mode, your Kindle Fire will automatically rearrange its display so that text and graphics appear right-side-up.
To navigate around in carousel view, tap on any menu item to get to the corresponding section. When you are browsing your library items (books, videos, music), you can switch between using a list viewpoint and a grid view. The grid view presents you with thumbnail images of the handles of your books and publications, whereas the list view reveals smaller thumbnails but more written description.
The Newsstand of your Kindle Fire serves up your magazine and newspaper subscriptions.

If you would not have any subscriptions yet, you may pick the 'Store' button on the top of the Newsstand interface to visit the Amazon store. When you purchase a magazine, it will automatically download to your Kindle and your Kindle will store the latest seven issues. (If you have a magazine that you’d like to remain on your Kindle following the default storage period, tap and hold the magazine's cover in your library and tick 'Keep' from the popup menu. This will make certain that it is not automatically erased from your Kindle. After you have collected back issues of more than one publication, issues will be grouped by title, enabling you to easily browse your library of this particular publication. Along the top of your Kindle screen, just below the search bar, you'll find a menu with links to your Newsstand as well as other popular destinations:

Publications library:.The Books section of your library contains every one of the eBooks you have purchased from Amazon. Once you register your device, the titles and thumbnails are downloaded. The text of your various ebooks is not saved to your Kindle until you actually open the document.

Amazon Kindle Newsstand Newspapers: these can also be reached from the Newsstand menu. You can subscribe to new newspapers by choosing the 'Store' button, just like magazines.
Magazines and newspapers are displayed using either 'Text' or 'Page' views: Text view gives you the text, while Page view shows the magazine's original layout, including illustrations. Page view aims to stay faithful to the magazine in the same way it is rendered on paper. Note that some magazines and newspapers do not can be found in the regular Newsstand format, but are instead provided as apps. If you want to acquire one of those, you have to buy the subscription in the Apps store and down load the app to see the periodical.
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Permalink: https://digital-cave.blogspot.com/2012/07/using-carousel-on-amazon-kindle-fire.html

Save Battery Life on Your Kindle Fire

People used to the original E-Ink Kindle (which lasts for over a month on a single charge) may be shocked to find out that the Kindle Fire has an only about eight hours of battery life. This is because of the backlight in the Kindle Fire display and its in-plane switching technology requires significantly more power than the original Kindle and its E-Ink display. With that in mind, here’s some battery power savings suggestions for your Kindle Fire.

Use the Sleep Mode

The primary battery is used whenever the Kindle is turned on. By setting the Kindle Fire to 'Sleep Mode,' the Kindle will time out after a period of inactivity. This is especially important if you like to browse the Internet or watch videos. Sleep mode can help extend the battery to last for many of days. Sleep Mode is activated by pressing and releasing the 'Power' button at the bottom of the Kindle. You can assign the number of minutes of inactivity before your Kindle Fire automatically goes into sleep mode, anywhere from '30 seconds' to '1 Hour'. Another option to auto-sleeping the screen is to set your Kindle Fire to auto-lock after using. By locking the Kindle Fire, it will go into a 'sleep' mode thus conserving energy and extending your battery life. To change the lock settings, tap the settings bar at the top of the display and choose the ‘More’ option. Then select 'Security' and establish a password for your lock screen.

Turn Off Wi-Fi Whenever you are not using Wi-Fi

You can turn Wi-Fi 'On' and 'Off' as needed. If you’re on the Internet or interacting with Amazon’s Cloud, then you won’t be able to turn off Wi-Fi to preserve your Kindle’s battery power. If you don’t need the Internet, then you can turn off the Wi-Fi by tapping the settings bar at the top of the Kindle Fire and choosing 'Wi-Fi'.

Use Your Headphones Instead Of Speakers

Do not use the built-in speakers on your Kindle Fire. Use earphones instead.

Manage Your Kindle Screen Brightness

You can also optimize the Kindle Fire's battery life by lowering the brightness of your Kindle’s screen by dimming the screen so it’s not as bright. As far as reading books and novels, it's generally preferable to read on a darker screen. You can lower the brightness of the screen by tapping the settings bar at top of the screen or via the Display screen. Slide the bar to dim or brighten to your personal taste.

Charging Your Kindle Battery

Lithium Ion rechargeable batteries, like the one found in the Kindle Fire (and used in many other tablets like the iPad), shouldn't be continuously charged. For optimal battery life on your Kindle, only charge the battery when the power gets low. Other wise your Kindle battery will develop a memory effect and not last as long. To prolong your battery’s life, you should completely drain the battery once a month, then charge it back to its full capacity.

Give the Boot to Battery Hungry Apps (including your e-mail app)

There are many greedy apps or a battery-starving app may be sucking your battery dry. Use the free app “Badass Battery Monitor” (available on the Amazon App store) to keep an eye on what apps are draining. Also note that the Kindle Fire’s e-mail app will check for new messages significantly reduce power use. Tap the e-mail app icon, go to the menu to tweak your settings. Set it to ‘manual’: although you will need to refresh your inbox manually, you’ll save battery life.

Permalink: https://digital-cave.blogspot.com/2012/07/save-battery-life-on-your-kindle-fire.html