How to fix iPhone screen lock freeze

Some users have been reporting iPhone is freezing in lock screen  after upgrading to iOS 7.1. If you're one of them, we have a quick fix for you that should get you back up and running in no time.

The issue manifested for a subset of users as soon as they rebooted after the upgrade, with the passcode screen and iPhone is getting stuck

If you aren't experiencing this problem, there's no need to go through these steps.

To fix this, all you have to do is reset your keyboard dictionary. I don't know why this works 

Open the Settings app, go to General, and then Reset, which is at the bottom of the General screen.

Settings > General > Reset

Then go to Reset Keyboard Dictionary, which is also at the bottom of the screen. Tap that and you'll be asked to enter your passcode. Note that this will delete any and all custom words you have entered on your keyboard.

Reset Keyboard Dictionary > Enter Passcode

That should do you!

Waze a perfect alternative for your stock map

Recently acquired by Google , Waze is a community-powered mapping and navigation app that gives you real-time traffic information and road alerts. Because it's free, accurate, and feature-packed, it is rightfully considered one of the top apps in its category. But don't think of Waze as a full-fledged alternative to Google Maps. Since the app is primarily designed for use while driving, you won't find any transit or walking directions built in. Also, you won't get 3D buildings or topographic data like you will with Google Maps or Apple Maps, but as we don't do much driving through buildings, we won't count that against Waze. You can use the app without an account, but setting one up does give you more options to contribute to the Waze community.

Maps and traffic
What makes Waze such a powerful app is its rich and constantly updating database of information. Its millions of users who are actively and passively contributing countless data points altogether create accurate maps (in our testing grounds of San Francisco, anyway) that would make any cartographer proud. And of course, the app distills all of this into usable traffic data for you to see on screen. Road closures due to extensive construction are accurately represented, and one-way streets and turn restrictions match their real world analogs. If you find anything out of sorts, it's easy enough to mark a map issue with two or three taps.

As important as mapping accuracy is, Waze's not-so-secret weapon is the accuracy of its traffic and incident data. If Waze says there's a traffic jam on a particular stretch of road, odds are better than good that it's correct.

As you drive along, Waze will periodically notify you via pop-ups of incidents on the road ahead within a preset radius or along your chosen route if a destination has been set. Slow traffic, incidents and accidents, and police presence and speed cameras are among the possible triggers for notifications. That Waze will provide these notifications even if you do not have a destination chosen adds incentive to always have the app running when behind the wheel and on the road; of course, you'll also be doing your part to improve the map and traffic data available to the whole Waze community by doing so.

As you drive along, Waze periodically notifies you of incidents on the road ahead.

Waze will also occasionally display pop-up ads for nearby businesses, but only when the vehicle is stopped, such as when waiting for a red light. We should note that Waze isn't the first navigator to display ads; portable navigation devices have been using this trick for years to subsidize their free traffic data.

Navigation
Where Waze falls a bit flat is its user interface. The maps are easy enough to read, but the app's Menu and Reporting buttons are tiny and tucked into the lower corners of the screen. Tapping them causes pop-up menus to appear with more options and larger buttons, but that still means that the driver is at least three taps and possibly a swipe away from choosing a preset destination, such as home or work.

Inputting a destination that's not already a stored favorite is even more fiddly. That's because Waze's search-based destination entry returns results for input addresses and destination names for six different destination search engines, including Bing, Yellow Pages, Yelp, Foursquare, Facebook Places, and Waze's own business database. If you search for a name, your handset's address book is also searched. That all sounds good and for handheld use -- more choice is good -- but if you just want to do a quick search from behind the wheel, swiping between multiple destination lists gets very tricky, very quickly.

Waze's interface is not particularly attractive. It sometimes puts three or more taps between you and a desired command, which can be frustrating while using in the car.

Fortunately, you won't have to fiddle with your phone's keyboard while driving, because the destination input screen will allow addresses and search terms to be input via voice command with a tap of the microphone button next to the search field. This voice input uses your phone's native voice input system, for example Google Voice typing for the Android version of the app.

There are also voice commands available for such quick functions as "Drive Home" or "Report Heavy Traffic," but this secondary features is disabled by default and is hidden in the settings menu. Once activated, you can trigger Waze's voice-command system by waving a hand in front of the screen or tapping the map with three fingers. Interestingly, this voice command system seems to use a totally different speech recognition system from the search and address input system.

How to get windows phone 8.1 for developers for normal user

It’s finally here. Windows Phone 8.1 is now available to download for those in the Preview for Developers program. Windows Phone 8.1 is the next big version of Windows Phone that introduces new features like voice assistant Cortana, a notification center, automatic app updates, VPN support and much more. Even if you’re not really a developer you can join the Preview for Developers to get Windows Phone 8.1 today. Every handset running Windows Phone 8 in the wild now is capable of the upgrade. Here’s how to get Window Phone 8.1. To get Windows Phone 8.1 today you’re going to need to be a developer. That doesn’t mean you need to actually

understand a single line of code or how it works. Today everyone is a developer, so long as you can follow simple

instructions. 

1. Sign up to be a Windows Phone developer at appstudio.windowsphone.com for free using the Microsoft account associated with your phone. 

2.Get the Preview for Developers app from the Windows Phone Store .

Run the app and sign in with your Microsoft account.

3. Check for updates (Settings > Phone update > Check for updates) and download/install any that are available.

4. You’ll have an update to download and install before Windows Phone 8.1 shows up if you’re downloading thePreview for Developers program for the first time. That’s the abridged version of joining the Preview for Developers program. 

Check out our massive guide to the Preview for Developers program if you have any questions or want to see an expanded version of the instructions above. That’s it. You’re now enjoying Windows Phone 8.1 on your device. This will work on any current handset running

Windows Phone 8. That means devices from the Nokia Lumia 920 to the Samsung ATIV S to the HTC 8X to the

Lumia 1520 and everything in-between will pick it up. Your OEM specific firmware remains untouched.

Flappy Bird May Raise Again

Flappy Bird's creator apparently has steeled himself. After withdrawing the maddeningly frustrating game from app stores earlier this year -- citing death threats, fear it was ruining lives, and angst that translated generally into "I just can't take it any more" -- Dong Nguyen has tweeted that the bird will be back. The game may seem dumb, but the marketing? Brilliant.

The mobile game Flappy Bird seemed dead and buried, but a tweet from its creator suggests it may yet rise from the ashes -- perhaps not quite like the phoenix.In response to a Twitter user asking whether the game would return to Apple's iTunes App Store, Dong Nguyen responded, "Yes. But not soon."Independent Vietnamese developer Nguyen released the game last May after creating it over the space of just a few evenings. It suddenly surged in popularity at the beginning of this year, soaring to the top of both the App Store and Google Play, with many gamers becoming fans of its quirky graphics and simple yet difficult-to-master game play.Nguyen was making as much as US$50,000 in ad revenue from the game every day, he claimed.

20 iPhone and iPad tricks that will help you more productive when using you iPad and iPhone

1 When ending a sentence,

instead of typing a period

and then a space, just tap

the space bar twice, which

does the same thing and is faster. 

2. Find yourself typing a lot of text and numbers? Do you find

switching back and forth to the numeric keypad time consuming?

Press and hold the "123" button and slide up to the character you

want to input then, when you let go, the standard keyboard will

return. 

3. Want to TYPE WITH CAPS LOCK ON? Just double-tap the on-screen

shift key. Tap again to return to lower-case.

 4. In Safari (and Chrome), press and hold down the period key to bring

up a listing of top-level domains such as .com, .net and so on (what

you get is region specific so will vary).

 5. Spend a lot of time looking at your iOS device in low-light? Invert

the screen colors for more comfortable viewing. To do this click Settings > General > Accessibility and turn on Invert Colors. 

6. There are a whole bunch of things you can do if you have earphones that have the remote control, from controlling the

camera to rejecting calls. 

7. iPad only: You can add as many as six icons to the bottom dock (the

default is four) and you can also add folders. Just press and hold any

icon until they jiggle and start rearranging. Press the Home button

when you are done.

 8. Don't want to be hassled by calls or notifications? Click Settings >Do Not Disturb and turn on Manual. 

9. Make text larger (in supported apps) by tapping on Settings > General > Text Size and adjusting it using the slider. 

10. Want to still be able to receive some calls while in Do Not Disturb

mode? Use the Allow Calls From setting to control which of your contacts can get in touch. 

11. What about those urgent calls from people not in your contacts?

You can use the Repeated Call feature to allow a call through if it is

the second one made within three minutes. 

12. You can quickly get to the Camera app from the lock screen by

swiping up the camera icon in the bottom-right corner of the

screen. 

13. You can quickly scroll to the top in most apps by tapping the status

bar at the top of the screen. 

14. Spotlight search has been revamped. Instead of swiping to the left

in iOS6 and earlier, you now swipe down from any home screen for

quick access. 

15. You can now block a caller. To block someone, go to Contacts then select a contact and hit Block this Caller. Users on the blocked list will not be able to call, text or FaceTime you. 

16. Got a lot of typing to do? Pair any Bluetooth keyboard to your

iPhone or iPad to make the job faster. 

17. iPad only: Put the keyboard into 'thumb mode" by pressing and

holding the press the "dock and merge" button in the bottom right-

hand corner and dragging up. Drag down to return the keyboard to

its normal state.

 18. Want to fast-charge a device? Pop it into Airplane Mode (tap Settings turn on Airplane Mode). It will charge much faster. 

19. Want to cache maps for offline use in the Google Maps app? Zoom

in to the area you want and type OK maps into the search bar and hit Search and the map tile will be saved.

 

20. Did you accidentally archive an email? Shake your phone to bring

up the Undo Archive dialogue

Microsoft 8.1 will release on April 14

Microsoft’s extensive presentation at the Build Developer Conference on Wednesday was packed with information, but the company was unwilling to share many firm release dates. Although the launch of Windows Phone 8.1 is expected within the next few weeks, an engineering email published onNeowin reveals that Microsoft plans to have the final software ready to roll out to developers on April 14th.

What appeared to be the “the final feature build” seeded to partners last week was apparently the penultimate release, as the leaked email refers to a “Final Adaptation Kit,” which should be completed by April 8th. The combination of the build and the kit should make up the release that will arrive on Windows Phones later in the month.

The Verge has confirmed this information with its own sources, noting that the final build will be accessible to any Windows Phone 8 device owners with the “Preview for Developers” app installed. While you wait for the update to drop, it’s worth checking out all the new features of Windows Phone 8.1.

Clean up your Android device

Whether you bought your Android device last year -- or last month -- you can benefit from a little spring cleaning.

Files you've downloaded, photos you've taken, as well as data stored by apps, are major contributors to unnecessary clutter on your Android device. By cleaning out a few things, you gain space for new apps, system updates, or maybe a larger portion of your music collection. Here are a few suggestions for taking back your internal and SD card storage:

Downloaded files

Your Android device contains a lot of personal information about you -- maybe even more than anything else you own. How about those work documents that you grabbed from an email, or the photos you saved from that text? These types of files should be relocated to cloud storage like Google Drive or Dropbox.

If you're not sure what's lurking in your storage areas -- internal or SD -- a file manager app can be used to explore your data. Some Android devices, like the Samsung Galaxy series, have a file manager app built-in. It's nothing fancy, but it can get the job done.

Not a fan of your stock file manager? Then try ES File Explorer. This app can integrate with cloud solutions such as: Google Drive, Dropbox, SkyDrive, and many others. Files can even be sent directly to your Windows desktop, if you like. As bonus, check out How to get the most free online storage.

Photos

This is an easy area to regain some storage. Each image, depending on your camera specs, can take approximately 3 MB of space. Several of the cloud services will back up your entire Gallery as you add photos. Unless you need the originals at your disposal, it's time to delete some of them. If you don't have an automatic backup in place, you can also just connect your USB cable and move photos to your computer, or you can send the ones you want to keep to a cloud service individually.

App data clutter

When you install an app, it usually creates a folder that stores information like preference settings, images, or activity logs. However, that's not all that gets stored on your device from apps. For instance, each time you watch a video on Instagram the data is cached (stored) on your device, which allows the video to load quickly if you try to view it again. But how many times are you going to watch the same video (unless it's ridiculously funny or cute)? Bottom line: you can clean out this space and even schedule it to be cleaned up regularly on your device.

• 1Tap Cleaner offers a widget to clear all cached files at once. With this app, you can see how much each app is storing in the cache, and you can clear your call and text logs. Additionally, you can uninstall apps without needing to use the Google Play Store.

• Clean Master helps you delete cached files, along with miscellaneous files that are larger than 10 MB. The Memory Boost option closes apps you're not using that are still running in the background.