How to Scan a QR Code using Google Chrome on iPhone

March 06, 2017 by RSS Feed

QR code is a type of barcode that was first introduced in the automotive industry to keep track of vehicles during manufacturing. It quickly became popular for other uses due to its fast readability and wide range of applications.

Nowadays, QR codes can be found on products for item identification, billboards, advertisements and much more. It is also used as a login mechanism such as in WhatsApp Web.

If you use Google Chrome on your iPhone, then there’s no need to install a separate app for scanning QR codes as Chrome comes built-in with this feature. The latest version of Google Chrome (version 56.0.2924.79 or later) has a new feature for scanning QR codes. Read on to find out how to access this feature using your iPhone.

How to use Google Chrome to Scan a QR Code on iPhone

Step 1: You need to have Google Chrome version 56.0.2924.79 or later installed. Make sure to update to the latest available version.

Step 2: Scanning a QR code can be done with or without 3D Touch.

If you own an iPhone with 3D Touch, here’s how you scan a QR code:

If your iPhone doesn’t support 3D Touch, here’s an alternative method:

Step 3: Your iPhone’s camera opens and displays a frame containing white corners. Point your camera at the QR code such that the code is within the frame.

Step 4: Chrome will read the QR code and display the output. If the QR code is a URL, then Safari will open and display a webpage.

That’s it! With the latest version of Google Chrome, you can easily scan QR codes on your iPhone without having to use a separate app. This new feature is available on iPhone only and doesn’t work on iPad or iPod.

Facebook Messenger Testing Reactions and Dislike Button

March 06, 2017 by RSS Feed

Facebook added Reactions to its standard status updates awhile ago now, so the company is bringing the faces to another one of its services.

Facebook Messenger is currently seeing limited testing of Reactions for conversations, as reported by TechCrunch. It works in a similar way to status updates: The user simply has to hover over the message they want to react to, wait for the emoji to pop up, and then select the one they want to use.

The list contains a thumbs up, to like the message, as well as emoji for love, amazed, sad, angry, and laughter. There is also a new addition, one of the most oft-requested reactions to Facebook status updates for years now: a dislike option. This is showcased in a thumbs down emoji.

Facebook has made it clear in the past that it doesn’t foresee a future where the dislike option is available for status updates, and this new dislike option in Messenger is seen simply as a way to quickly say “no” to something. So, if you’ve been waiting for the dislike button to show up on Facebook proper, it still doesn’t look like that’s going to happen anytime soon.

[via TechCrunch]

Match-Three Meets Hack-n-Slash Action in Tavern Guardians

March 04, 2017 by RSS Feed

Tavern Guardians ($2.99) by WOMBO COMBO GAMES INC. is a match-three RPG that is more reminiscent of a hack-n-slash action game. If you are a fan of games like Shadow Blade Reload but also enjoy match-three RPGs like Hero Emblems, Swap Sword, and You Must Build a Boat, then Tavern Guardians is the game for you. It’s a perfect mashup of challenging action game with match-three RPG that anyone can appreciate.

While things have been a bit hectic for me as of late, I still manage to make some time for iOS games when I have some downtime to spare. For these moments in time, I always enjoy a good match-three RPG game, but I also like to take out some stress with some fun hack-n-slash action. I happened to stumble upon Tavern Guardians while doing my weekly perusal of the App Store games, and I was intrigued because it looked like a match-three RPG but something set it apart from the others I’ve played in the past, so I had to check it out. I’ve spent a bit of time with it and so far I have to admit that I’m far from disappointed by this nice gem.

Visually speaking, Tavern Guardians has a gorgeous aesthetic that is rather cartoonish but full of charm and personality. Everything is rendered in 2-D graphics but there’s a ton of fine detail packed into the game, from the individual game tiles on the grid to the various enemies and bosses and even your hero character sprites. Even each different type of environment that you’ll be playing in has its own unique look and feel that you can see in the background, and the enemy types give you a clue as to what type of boss you’ll be facing off against. The color palette in Tavern Guardians ranges from bright and vibrant hues to darker and richer tones, depending on what is happening on the screen at any given time. Animations are buttery smooth and fluid, so I had no lag issues on my iPhone 7. The game also has an upbeat and rather whimsical soundtrack in the background, and the sound effects are fun to hear when you land successful attacks and refill your current stats in battle. For the developer’s first release on the App Store, I believe that they did a fantastic job with Tavern Guardian’s visuals and audio.

While Tavern Guardians is set up like a match-three RPG and there are levels, you don’t get to select which stage you want to start from after you die in a round. Instead, the game is rather roguelike, in the fact that you will start from the first level each time you die (though the enemy combinations get randomized each time), and you lose any items that your hero has collected from before. However, this game is also a high score chaser, so if you need motivation to keep trying your hand at this game, then there it is. Tavern Guardians features four hero classes: Paladin, Gunner, Mage, and Berserker, but only the Paladin is available from the start. The rest you will need to unlock by clearing the first four levels. While your item and level progress gets reset with each run, the coins you accrue by playing can be saved to purchase stat upgrades (attack damage, health, and defense) for each individual hero that are permanent. Of course, the more times you upgrade a particular stat, the more expensive it becomes.

The goal of Tavern Guardians is simple though: match tiles to attack adjacent enemies on the board and replenish your health, defense, and skill cooldowns and then take out the boss to move on to the next area. Sounds easy enough, right? But don’t get too cocky — Tavern Heroes is probably one of the most challenging match-three RPGs you’re going to find on the App Store. In fact, it will definitely take some time before you’re going to unlock all of the heroes, because you will end up dying a lot before that, at least until you can afford plenty of upgrades for your favorite hero.

The controls and game mechanics in Tavern Guardians are pretty straightforward, especially if you’ve played any other match-three RPGs in the past. There are five types of tiles on the board: meat (restore HP), arrows (summon archers to help you attack foes), walls (restore defense shields), mana pots (restore energy and mana for cooldown skills), and coins (save these to get powerful and useful items after a level or get upgrades for your heroes). To make a match, just swipe a tile with an adjacent one. If the match is adjacent to an enemy, then your hero is able to damage the foe. There are two number icons on each enemy, including bosses. The number in the heart represents their hit points, and the number in a circle indicates the number of turns until they’re able to attack you, but they can also move through the tiles on the board. With this in mind, you should plan ahead to dish out as much damage as possible before the enemies have their chance to attack you, but also remember to replenish your defenses and hit points too. Every now and then a chest of loot appears, and to get it, you’ll have to make it drop at the bottom of the screen in order to collect it.

Each hero also has their own unique abilities, which you can access with the large buttons at the bottom of the screen. Once you use them, though, you’ll have to wait a certain number of turns before they can be used again, but this time can be reduced by getting mana matches. Along with abilities, the heroes have distinctive passives that can aid you in battle, such as an overflow of health for the paladin, or knocking back foes with the gunner. You may want to experiment with each hero once you unlock them in order to find the one that has the play style that you prefer, so Tavern Heroes does have a good amount of replay value, especially since it’s also a high score chaser.

I’ve only just started playing Tavern Guardians, but I will say that it’s a top game for me this month, especially since I am a huge fan of action-packed match-three RPGs. The graphics in this title are lovely and full of charm, the sound is done well, the randomized gameplay keeps things fresh and interesting on each run, and the challenging hack-n-slash style game mechanic mixed with match-three means a fresh and fun new take on a tried-and-true genre. There’s more strategy required for this game than some others, but the end results are so satisfying. Tavern Guardians is a title I’ll be coming back to over and over again in the near future, and I recommend it for anyone who enjoys a challenging strategy match-three RPG game.

You can find Tavern Guardians on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for just $2.99. There are no in-app purchases.

Source link: http://appadvice.com/reviews

credit : appadvice

from : Mid Atlantic Consulting, Inc.

Good news iPhone owners — third-party repairs no longer void your warranty

February 25, 2017 by RSS Feed

Source link: http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/iphone-warranty-third-party/

Enjoy Outdoors Activities With These Top 5 iPhone Apps

February 25, 2017 by RSS Feed

I’ve got an early case of spring fever. I miss being out in the back country, but at least I know spring itself is just under a month away. If this sounds like an odd topic for a tech blog, just bear with me. See, there are tons of iPhone apps that make it easier than ever to enjoy outdoors activities. I’m always on the lookout for new suggestions, and find them in some of the oddest places, it seems. I even found a great list on a site dedicated to crossbows. So, I decided it was time to put together a list of my favorite five outdoors apps.

First, it’s important to make sure you have an app that will help you in survival situations. You could carry around a survival guide, but why do that when you can just load it onto your iPhone? The penultimate guide to surviving any situation Mother Nature can throw at you is the SAS Survival Guide. Available for USD$5.99 on the App Store, this baby has the full text of John “Lofty” Wiseman’s bestselling book, along with videos, photo galleries, a survival checklist, a sun compass, and a Morse Code signaling device.

If you want to really make the most of your time in the great outdoors and use it towards your fitness goals, you should map your hikes. With MapMyHike, that’s an easy thing to do. The app gives you feedback and statistics on how hard you’ve hiked, along with suggesting new workout routes that others have used. You’ll get information on your pace, how far you’ve hiked, the calories burned, elevation changes, and more. It also synchronizes with Garmin, Fitbit, Jawbone, and more. You can download MapMyHike from the App Store for free.

There aren’t many all-in-one apps for outdoors adventures that I like, but GEO-PAK Hunt is definitely one of them. It provides you with weather information, solunar data, wind speed and direction, and much more. It can even pull in information from your trail cameras. Even better, this tool is an offline mapping app that uses a proprietary technology to help you keep track of where every member of your group is located, in case you get split up. GEO-PAK Hunt is free to download from the App Store, but many of the features require you to subscribe to the service at $19.99 per year.

Even before I walk out the front door, I check this app. It’s essential to know what Mother Nature is up to, so I always keep up with the latest forecast. AccuWeather is superior to just about every other weather app available, because of how it functions. The app draws in weather information not only from the government, but also from independent weather stations. In other words, it’s a crowdsourced forecast from real people near where you’re hiking, not from the airport 20 miles away. AccuWeather is a free download on the App Store, with in-app purchases to remove ads.

Finally, the evening winds down and you’re still in the outdoors. This is the perfect time to find a meadow and lay back to view the stars. In the old days, you might carry around star maps and try to figure out what planets and other celestial bodies you were looking it. You don’t have to do that anymore. Thanks to Star Walk, you can just point your iPhone at the sky and get an augmented reality map showing the position of the stars and planets as you’re looking at them. Star Walk costs $4.99 on the App Store, but it’s totally worth every penny of it.

Some parts of the country are already enjoying spring-like weather. If that’s you, take advantage of it and get out for some hiking. If you use one of these apps, or another one, let us know in the comments how it worked out for you and what your favorite was.