Review – Page 2 – Tech Cookies

Minesweeper : Old style logic game

February 19, 2022 No Comments

Do you remember the old Windows game called Minesweeper? Here’s a nice reproduction for Android : Minesweeper

The main screen bring you immediately into the game. You can choose the level by selecting it on the menu.

There are 4 levels (Noob, Beginner, Intermediate and Expert) and the possibility to create a custom one.

Depending on the level you’ll see more or less squares and mines. In the custom one you’ll choose the exact numbers.

The target of the game is to identify the mines without letting them explode. If you tap on a square you’ll see an empty space and some numbers.

The meaning of the number is how many mines are around that position. For instance when you see 2 it means there are two mines around that position.

You should try to guess where are the mines based on that.

When you identify a mine you can sign it by long press on it. You’ll see a red flag over it. You need to identify all the mines before the time is over.

If you tap on a square where is hidden a mine you’ll lose the game.

This game remind me the first time I used Windows and the only game available on my computer was this one.

At the beginning it is not easy, but after a bit you can become a master on this game!

Android, Games, Review

Mapster : Guess a location on the map in this nice game

February 19, 2022 No Comments

Do you think you are good at geography? Let’s prove it with this nice game : Mapster

Mapster is a nice game where you need to guess where a place is on the map.

The main screen let you start a new game, see a quick tutorial on how to play, check the leaderboards and change few settings.

If you start a new game you have to choose the level. The first one is Africa and includes 5 levels and 203 places to guess.

When the game start you have to drag the gunsight to where you think the place is and tap on the green button. You need to be quick because you have limited time.

Mapster : Guess a location on the map in this nice game

If you correctly guess the place you’ll earn points. The more you are close to the correct position the more you’ll earn coins.

I think it’s a nice and instructive game and you’ll learn a lot about geography!

Android, Applications, Review

Greenify : Improve speed and battery life of your Android device

February 19, 2022 No Comments

Today I’ll talk about an app that will help you to improve the speed and battery life of your Android device when you have a lot of concurrently running apps : Greenify.

One of the most common problem experienced by Android‘s users is probably related to lag when the number of installed apps increase.
This issue is not very common when you start to use your smartphone for the first time, but grows over time.
The source of the problem is seldom caused by lack of optimization in the Android OS. In fact, in most cases, it’s just because some of the apps installed are abusing your smartphone resources while running in background.

How often do you see apps running in background even if you are not using it? How often are they not doing anything important for us?

Task killers are one solution, but that is just a stop-gap measure that won’t fix the real problem in the long run.

Android generally keeps apps in memory to make it faster to reopen them at a later date and it clears the memory only when absolutely required.

A task killer would merely temporarily free a bit of memory, but in many situations Android will reopen the apps again after a while.

The process of opening and closing apps is a terrible waste of battery.

The best way to solve the problem is to tell the Android OS not to open that app in the first place by using the “hybernate” flag. That will keep that app completely closed without wasting precious battery life.

That’s where this great application called Greenify comes in, but unfortunately it requires root permissions on your smartphone in order to run.

There are plenty of guides available on the internet about how to gain root permissions for your smartphone, just give a search by specifying your particular smartphone model.

After you install and run the app you’ll see a very simple UI :

Now you can force your apps to “hibernate” by tapping on the + sign and selecting the option from the list.

As you can see Greenify will try to help you understand which apps can possibly create issues by giving you additional details of what the app is doing in background.

The hibernated app can be used normally, but remember that for some particular type of apps this may compromise its normal usage.

For example apps like Facebook Messenger or Hangouts won’t be able to send you notifications at all while hibernated. Remember to choose carefully what to hibernate.

I tried Greenify on my Samsung Galaxy Nexus and I can assure you that it improve a lot the performance and reactivity of the smartphone.

Android, Applications, Review

Ubuntu Lockscreen : Bring a bit of Ubuntu Touch in your Android device

February 19, 2022 No Comments

Do you want to taste a bit of Ubuntu Touch in your Android device? Here’s a lockscreen very similar to the original one : Ubuntu Lockscreen

Ubuntu Touch is for sure a very promising mobile operative system and it will probably became popular in the long term.

I tried a bit on my Galaxy Nexus and even if it is not mature, it brings some new features that are really nice. The lockscreen is one of them.

Ubuntu Lockscreen brings pretty much the same features to your android device.

The main screen comes with a long list of options to customize it.

The main options are to enable it, change owner info (it’s the name displayed in the lockscreen), choose default home screen, customize animations e music buttons.

You can also choose music player, define a security with a password/pin, enable/disable notifications for each specific app.

When the app is enabled you’ll see it in the notifications bar. If you tap on it you can lock the screen.

Here’s how it look like. You can see a circle and in there it will show your notifications. If you tap on a notification it will bring you automatically to the app of the notification.

At the top you can see date and time and at the bottom the nickname (configured in the owner info) and the battery status.

If you want to unlock you just need to slide from right.

It’s a well done lockscreen and it’s a nice way to customize your Android device.

Android, Games, Review

eGraffiti Global Graffiti Wall : Draw on a big wall simultaneously with other people

February 19, 2022 No Comments

Have you ever wished to draw a graffiti on a wall? What about drawing it simultaneously with other people? Here’s the Android app will let you do it : eGraffiti Global Graffiti Wall.

eGraffiti Global Graffiti Wall is based on a really nice idea. Share a big wall with the other people and let you draw simultaneously with them.

It’s really nice to see people over the world coming from different cultures be able to share so easily something.

Drawing is a universal language and it’ll let you feel part of a community.

The main screen give you the possibility to decide if you want to draw on your own wall or you want to share your drawing skill with all the other players.

When you’ll decide to draw on the global wall you’ll see the current drawing and every change is going to be visible to everyone.

You can draw together with other people and create a community masterpiece!

The app let you choose different tools to draw like line, circle, rectangle and spray.

Here’s some nice examples of the app in action:

Here’s a demonstration

When you finish your masterpiece you’ll be able to save it and share it with your friends.

Let’s try it. It’s really fun!

Android, Games, Review

Audionaut : Play a game with your music

February 19, 2022 No Comments

Would you like to play a game using your own music? Here’s a nice running game where the level is music generated : Audionaut

Audionaut is an interstellar rhythm runner where you play to the beat of your favourite songs.

The main screen let you choose to start playing the game, choose few options, see credits of the authors or exit.

Here’s a couple of options : Rail light-up is an hint during the game it show you a line where the notes are and Note sound effect is a nice sound when you get a note.

If you choose to play you have to choose the level. There are 3 songs built-in. I tried the easy one and I like it a lot!

You can anyway choose My Music and use any song you like. I tried with Get Lucky – Daft Punk and it’s not really easy!

After you choose the song the game will start. You are an astronaut and you need to collect notes and avoid obstacles.

You can move to left and right by tapping on left or right area of the screen.

At the top left side of the screen you can see your life. You loose a bit of it if you touch an obstacle.

On the top right of the screen you can see how much of the level you completed.

The level depends on the song you choose as the longer is the song, longer will be the level.

While you’re playing, you’ll see a ramp where you’ll jump to get notes at the top.

It’s a really nice game because it mix listening to your favorite music with a challenging game.

Let’s keep the rhythm!

Android, Applications, Review

Keep Screen ON LITE : A smarter way to keep your screen on

February 19, 2022 No Comments

Are you fed up of your smartphone’s screen turning off? Here’s the app that will solve your problem : Keep Screen ON LITE.

Most of the current Android devices have additional sensors to turn off the screen when it’s not in use, but sometimes this doesn’t work so well.

This app use a completely different way to detect when to turn off the screen, in fact this app is using the accelerometer to check if the device is on the table or in your hands.

The main screen if very simple with just a ON and OFF button.

The TEST section holds an icon that is green when the app detect that the screen should stay on and grey when it should turn off.

The BASIC section will let you decide if you want to start the app on boot and if you want to hide the icon in the notifications bar:

The RANGE is a very important setting to decide which range of angles will keep the screen on:

The ACCURACY give you the possibility to decide how much precise the sensor need to be.

Let’s try it and let us know what do you think!

Android, Applications, Review

Fake iPhone 5 : Trick your friends into thinking you have the new iPhone 5.

February 19, 2022 No Comments

Here’s a launcher that will make your Android smartphone looks like an iPhone 5 : Fake iPhone 5.

Did you ever want to trick your friends into thinking you have the new iPhone 5? Would you like to surprise them to see iOS 6 on an Android phone? This is the app for you!

This app is not just a screenshot like many of the other apps on Google Play. This app is a proper launcher!

The icons are very similar to the ones on iPhone 5 and when you tap on them the launcher will automatically open the equivalent app on Android.

After you installed you need to press the Home button and from the popup window select iPhone 5 then Always:

This will make Fake iPhone 5 your default launcher.

The launcher will show all the installed apps split into multiple screens and you can swipe to left/right to change screen.

The Menu button will open the Settings. This will allow you to change wallpaper, reset to the default wallpaper or explore advanced settings available for the app.

The Advanced menu will let you:

Refresh App List : if you installed new apps and you can’t see them.
Switch Launcher : if you want to go back to your previous launcher.
Use 5 Rows (iPhone 5) / Use 4 Rows (iPhone 4S) : let you decide how many icons will be displayed for each screen.
Send Feedback : if you want to send suggestions to the author.
Send Debug Report : if you want to submit a bug report. This will also help to get more of the default app icons working on your device.
About : Will open Google Play for Fake iPhone 5

Let’s try it and surprise your friends!

Android, Applications, Review

Transform your Android smartphone to look like a Windows Phone 8

February 19, 2022 No Comments

Do you like Windows Phone 8’s tiles user interface?

Why don’t you try something that look like that on our Android devices?

Here’s the app that let you do it: Launcher 8

Launcher 8 is a very nice launcher that will change completely your main screen with something very different from the standard Android launcher.

Windows Phone 8 has a very intuitive user interface liked by many users.

It’s different from anything you’ve used already in your Android smartphone and it’s nice to try something new, even if I still prefer the standard Android launcher!

After you install the launcher you have to press Home button and the system will ask you to choose the default launcher. We will choose Launcher8 and then Always.

At this point our default launcher will be the one that looks like the default Windows Phone 8 interface.

Every tile will open an Android app and it’s even possible to customize it so that it will looks exactly like you prefer. The customizations you can do are really advanced.

Here’s some screenshots from the application:

So what are you waiting for? Let’s try it and let us know what do you think!

Android, Applications, Review

Micro CPU Monitor : Keep an eye on CPU usage

February 19, 2022 No Comments

Do you want to quickly check your CPU usage? Do you have an app or a game running and you want to see how much CPU is using? Here’s the app that will let you do that very easily : Micro CPU Monitor

Micro CPU Monitor is a very smart utility that will let you easily check the CPU usage without changing app while being unobtrusive.

In fact it’s just a single pixel line (one for each core) that will be displayed on the top right side of the screen (this can be customized).

The main screen will let you configure all the settings:

Start and Stop to enable the cpu monitor
Foreground, Background, Invert Colors and Transparent Background to customize the colors of the lines
Screen edge to position the lines
Orientation to give the direction of the lines
Width and Height (Only Pro version) to decide the size of the lines
Display above status bar
Update speed is how much often the line will be updated (Only Pro version)
Start on boot
Display all CPU cores will display a different line for each core.

This app is very simple, but at the same time is very useful to check our CPU status!