MakeUseOf » Erez Zukerman

Flib Is The Most Beautiful Unit Converter You’ve Ever Seen for Android, And It’s Free

Erez Zukerman — Fri, 24 May 2013 23:30:21 +0000

A new application can't do everything right off the bat. The developer must make a hard choice: Should they spend time cramming in as many features as possible so that the app is as useful as can be, or should they go with a lean application that doesn't try to do too much, but is a joy to interact with? In other words, form, or function? Flib is a free unit converter for Android that sits firmly in the "form" camp: With a flat aesthetic, large controls, and (mostly) well-designed interactions, it's one of the prettiest apps I've seen of late.

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Create Fun Melodies On The Go With Free Rolling Tones for Android

Erez Zukerman — Tue, 21 May 2013 19:00:46 +0000

I have absolutely no musical training or background. Give me an instrument, and I'm hopeless. But give me a simple sequencer, and I can make some music. Sequencers are brilliant because they abstract away much of the "hard stuff": You don't have to keep a beat, because the sequencer does it for you. You don't have to try and pick notes that go well together, because they all go well together. And Rolling Tones for Android is a great one: It'll have you making music before you know it.

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Evernote Food: A Beautiful Way to Keep Track Of Your Favorite Meals, Recipes, and Restaurants [Android]

Erez Zukerman — Tue, 14 May 2013 19:00:05 +0000

What'd you have for breakfast this morning? How about two weeks ago? And hey, remember that time you and your friends went to that really fancy Japanese restaurant? If you're a bit fuzzy on the last two questions (or even on the first), Evernote Food is a great way to answer them. I covered Evernote Food for Android before, when all it could do was log your meals. Now it's time to give it another look, thanks to an all-new version that adds fun ways to track down new recipes and restaurants, as well as a fresh new look.

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SpeedFan Tells All: A Free Windows App To Monitor Every Aspect Of Your System Temperature

Erez Zukerman — Fri, 10 May 2013 23:30:21 +0000

Just as shorting a computer out will ruin it, making it run in temperatures it was never meant to take will cause it to malfunction. SpeedFan is a free utility for Windows designed to help you keep a close eye on just how hot your computer is getting, down to the individual component level.

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How To Root The Samsung Galaxy S4 (I9500 International Version)

Erez Zukerman — Thu, 09 May 2013 23:30:17 +0000

So, the brand-new Galaxy S4 has just started retailing! And as most early adopters, one of the first things I wanted to do with my new Galaxy S4 was of course to root it. This post shows exactly how I've done it. The root exploit I used was released by XDA developer cofface. It is not a foolproof procedure, and it does involve some trial and error. The exploit itself offers two rooting methods, only one of which actually worked for me. So, caveat emptor! The good news is that I did end up with a rooted phone, and so can you.

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From Pirate Darling To Dropbox Alternative: BitTorrent Sync Lets You Keep Your Files Synchronized Across Machines

Erez Zukerman — Tue, 07 May 2013 19:01:44 +0000

Cloud-based file sync services are easy to use and work well, but your privacy may or may not be your first priority. Not to mention the fact that these services always come with a storage quota, which you can work to maximize maximize, but a quota is a quota. If you're longing for an alternative, you should check out BitTorrent Sync.

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Chameleon Launcher For Android Phones Offers Context-Based Home Screens And Big, Beautiful Widgets

Erez Zukerman — Thu, 02 May 2013 23:30:45 +0000

Most Android launchers are relatively similar: Nova, Apex, and friends usually offer what you'd expect: One or more homescreens with some third-party widgets, an app drawer, and app folders. And then there's Chameleon: A bold rethinking of the launcher -- not quite on the order of Facebook Home, but definitely distinguishable from most other launchers. Being different doesn't mean it's necessarily better, but it does merit a close look, especially given its slick aesthetics.

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Keep A Beautiful, Orderly, and Private Journal Of Your Thoughts and Days With Diaro For Android

Erez Zukerman — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 19:00:44 +0000

Keeping a personal journal can often help us make sense of the difficult times in our lives, or better remember the good times. If you're carrying around a smartphone, you already have a powerful and compact device at your disposal, just waiting for your thoughts. And there's an app for that: Diaro. This polished app/website personal journal combo is not perfect, but has a lot going for it.

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Wallbase For Android: One Of The Best Ways To Find Beautiful Wallpapers On The Go

Erez Zukerman — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 23:30:07 +0000

Wallpapers are fun, and they're also one of the best ways to customize and personalize your tech. Today I'm here with an app we haven't looked at yet: Wallbase, the mobile companion for the venerable wallpaper website (which we did cover previously). While the app is mobile and well-suited for phone use, the wallpapers are not phone-specific: It draws its selection from the endless well of desktop wallpapers on Wallbase, and the picking and cropping are up to you.

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Enjoy Breathtaking Panoramic Views With SphereShare.net [Android]

Erez Zukerman — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 19:00:44 +0000

When the Google Nexus 4 first came out, one of the nicest new features it introduced was Photo Spheres. These are immersive 360-degree panoramas you can take with the phone's camera app, no extra gear needed. In the hands of a skilled photographer they create views that are the next best thing to actually being there. If you're looking for a service that's all about Photo Spheres, without any of that pesky "friending", "circling" and commenting that go on in a social network, look no further than SphereShare.net.

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SimilarSites For Firefox Helps You Find More Of What You Like

Erez Zukerman — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 23:30:43 +0000

What's a safe way to find new websites you're going to like? Based on websites you already like, of course. That's what SimilarSites for Firefox does, and apparently it does it well enough to be featured on our list of Best Firefox Addons. But I'm here to take a closer look and see just how it performs in real life. To test it out, I am going to try it out on a number of websites I like and see if it comes up with interesting results.

Create The Homescreen Of Your Dreams With The Super-Customizable UCCW Widget [Android]

Erez Zukerman — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 23:30:32 +0000

One of Android's greatest strength is how customizable it is. Even without rooting your device or installing a custom ROM, you can do some incredible things to shape your phone to be just the way you want it. Installing a third-party launcher like Nova goes a long way, but you can do so much more: UCCW, or Ultimate Custom Widget, is a widget that lets you place custom clocks, battery meters, weather meters, and just about anything else right on your homescreen. Customization is often a painful process, but UCCW makes it incredibly simple.

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Write & Preview Markdown In Style With LightPaper [Android]

Erez Zukerman — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 19:00:41 +0000

A text editor should not get in your face. The more you notice it, the worse it is. The best ones are nearly invisible, staying out of the way and letting you become one with your prose. For an application as simple as Notepad, that's easy. But it becomes a trickier proposition if you're trying for this level of simplicity while still offering advanced features like Dropbox sync and instant Markdown preview. LightPaper is a $2 text editor for Android that rises to the challenge.

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Location Bar Enhancer Makes Firefox’s Address Bar More Useful And Easier To Understand

Erez Zukerman — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 23:30:55 +0000

When you stop and think about it for a moment, what the address bar does most of the time is… nothing. I mean, it just sits there, displaying the current tab's URL in the plainest, most utilitarian way possible. Is there some way to make the address bar useful even when you're not typing stuff into it? Location Bar Enhancer for Firefox is an addon that tries to do just that.

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Discover Exciting New Dishes And Effortlessly Create Shopping Lists With Must-Have Recipes [Android]

Erez Zukerman — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 23:30:01 +0000

There is something to be said, however, for a professional "recipe book" approach, where content comes from a single trusted source that's accountable for each recipe. That's what you get with Must-Have Recipes, an Android app by Better Homes and Gardens featuring a professionally curated collection of recipes with a gorgeous studio-quality image of each recipe.

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