It’s been one of those weekends when lots of things decided to break. It started on Friday evening, when I noticed a rusty damp patch in the kitchen ceiling whilst eating dinner. This only meant one thing – a leak. I took a spotlight out of the ceiling and – by using the camera on my phone – had a look into the ceiling space. I couldn’t see any pipes, but after checking the radiator upstairs it turned out to be a valve that had worked loose. Worst of all, I couldn’t isolate the radiator so I had to drain the entire system.

What followed was yet more problems. First, the drain valve broke, so I needed to get a new one, then my son appeared with his scooter and said, “The wheel has gone funny” and finally we found that the main stop-tap in the house wa jammed open.

So, after using the outside stop valve in the footpath outside our home, getting a new drain valve, re-fixing the radiator valve which was leaking, putting the water back on, painting over the leaky brown stain in the ceiling and cleaning up the associated mess; I finally got time to look at the scooter wheel.

This is what a “flatspotted” skate or scooter wheel looks like. If it isnt too bad, you can try my fix.

Turns out it had developed a “flat spot” on the rear wheel. This happens if you do a huge skid on a scooter wheel. The wheel isn’t rubber, so you can damage it fairly easily through misuse. Anyhow, after Googling it and looking through various YouTube videos, it was a toss-up between getting a new wheel or trying to fix it. The latter seemed to involve a load of machinery that I didn’t have in the garage, so I opted for my own low-budget method.

The results were perfect – the wheel is now perfectly round again and the scooter no longer “bounces” when you’re moving on it.

Yes, I know it’s not really a smartphone-related video, but hey…

The post This weekend I’ve been fixing stuff is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

A quick Google sorted that and, as I was about to copy and paste the number into an email / WhatsApp Web message / text message, I found that there was a new shortcut…

Simply select the appropriate phone (I have a few because I’m bonkers) and a call will be placed on the handset in question.

This all relies on your browser being logged in with your Google account, but I thought it was a neat idea. After selecting the phone, this pops up in the top-right of your browser…

Then your phone bursts into life and displays this message..

If you’ve got Android and you use Chrome, give this a spin. There’s apps out there to achieve a similar thing if you want.

Oh, and a big hello to Jacob from Jacme Oral Care. You owe me a beer son – I told you it’d fall out again.

Update – You can also send links to your device too. Cool huh?

The post Start a call on your phone – direct from your PC is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

So, if you’re enjoying a first-person shooter like PUBG Mobile, you’re spending time on a time-killing puzzle game like Holedown, you’re playing one of the readily-available slots that are now mobile friendly, or you’re looking to crack one of the mind-puzzles that are becoming increasingly popular – you might also be keeping an eye on that battery meter. If that’s you, and you don’t want to stop playing games on your mobile or you’re simply fed up of having the phone cut off at that critical moment, we’ve got some handy tips.

1 – Go into the Settings on your phone and find “Battery”. Depending on the version of Android on your phone, you may find some different battery modes. These are usual pre-set tweaks that will disable or alter certain parts of your phone to help it sip battery instead of gulp it.

2 – Not got that? Don’t worry, you can do it yourself. First of all, ensure that GPS, WiFi and Bluetooth is disabled.

3 – You might just want to hit the “Flight Mode” option as an alternative to the above, but this will stop calls coming in and mobile data being used. The latter might be required by the game you’re playing so give it a try and see what happens.

4 – Screen brightness. In a mobile store the smartphones will all have this cranked up to the maximum setting, but in real life the “screen on” time and the brightness level has a big impact on battery life. Try tweaking it down manually, because the “auto” setting will crank it up as high as it’ll go – especially in the daylight.

5 – Close unused apps. Again, you might have a management app on your phone to do this, but if you go into Settings -> Apps there’s the option to kill apps which are running in the background – sipping away at your battery without you necessarily knowing about it.

6 – Carry a portable battery pack! Sure, I know it’s a bit of an obvious answer, but we’ve reviewed stacks of these here at Coolsmartphone and they’re super-useful, especially when you’re away from the nearest USB port. You’ll need the cable for your phone too.

7 – If you’re near a laptop or TV, pinch the USB port to keep your phone going. It might be the fastest charge in the world, but it will at least keep your phone ticking along so that you can play your favourite game for longer.

There are a number of different ways to save battery, some are more mainstream than others. As the smartphone world becomes more and more developed, and technology advances – the requirement for a longer-lasting battery is one that is essential to users of devices around the world. Manufacturers are constantly competing to draw user attention towards enhanced battery life, but until such a day that battery life is truely enhanced, it’s certainly worth looking at what you can do as a user, to combat the issues at hand. Given using the phone less isn’t a viable option, hopefully the above hints can help you get that additional hour or two out of the games you enjoy playing.

If you’ve got some hints and tips that we’ve missed off, do let me know!

The post Preserving battery life on your smartphone is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

It’s put a dark cloud over the Mate 30 announcement. The 5G Huawei phone will suffer greatly in Europe when people realise that their favourite Google Play, Gmail, YouTube and other Google apps aren’t there.

There are ways to add these apps on though, and those of you who’ve imported Chinese Android handsets in the past may have done just this. What the future holds for Huawei we’re not entirely sure, but this article will cover the methods we’ve seen – and used – to get “GApps” onto a phone which lacks them currently.

For the determined / geeky people out there, you’ll need to be heading to Open GApps. You’ll be met by an array of options but leave it on default and most of the time you’ll be fine. Here I’m choosing the ARM64 platform, Android 9.0 (Pie) and all the stock Google apps that you’ll find on the latest Nexus smartphone.

Download the package, which is a zip file and around 600MB, then copy it to the storage on your phone – /sdcard/ or something similar. Either that or just browse Open GApps on your phone and download it direct.

The next bit could be tricky, but it works fine on our random imported Android phone and perhaps Huawei could “ensure” that it works on their new Mate 30 if people outside of China get hold of one.

You need to start your device in recovery mode. Within recovery you can choose for install zip (sometimes called apply update) and choose the Open GApps package to install it.

Getting into Recovery Mode usually involves you turning off the phone and then pressing a combination of buttons. This combination varies depending on your phone. Mostly it’s Power+Volume Up+Volume Down, but sometimes it’s Power+Volume Up or Power+Volume Down.

Select “Install Zip” and then “Choose Zip From SDcard”, then choose the GApps .zip file that you’ve transferred. This is where some people will have problems, because not all ROMs allow you to do this – the Huawei phones tend to have an EMUI Recovery Mode which doesn’t have this option.

If you do have it, do it, then go to the “Reboot” option.

Now, there are some caveats. The people at GApps themselves state that you’ll usually need to root your device, and that using the latest version of TWRP Recovery is the recommended route….

Make certain you are using the latest version of TWRP Recovery for your device. – Other Recovery types are not officially supported

Reinstall your ROM and GApps as part of a ‘Clean’ install – This will remove any data corruption that might be causing your issue.

Put simply, putting the Google Apps onto an Android phone which lacks them is possible, but it’s not simple, it’s not the experience that customers on the street expect and it’s not all that straightforward. For Huawei it would be impossible – near insane – to try and market a phone in Europe and many other places without the much-loved and heavily-used YouTube, Gmail, Maps, Drive, Music, Duo Photos, Calendar, Pay and Google Play functionality.

There’s a lot of questions here. Will Huawei try and launch new phones pre-rooted? Will they include ways to post-install the Google apps? Maybe part of the setup? Will they instead cut ties and go for broke with their new HarmonyOS?

Who knows, but it’s definitely a very difficult time for Huawei.

Update – I have been sent the following instructions from a tipster. Not tried these myself as yet, but well worth a look…

1. Grab the “Google Installer APK” direct to your stock / non GApp-packing phone.
2. Install it – you will be prompted to “Enable Download from Unknown Sources”. Allow this.
3. Run the “Google Installer”
4. Tap the yellow button. This installs the Google Play service framework.
5. Tap install then OK to install Google Play, then tap the red circle to agree to the terms and conditions.

Do let me know if you have tried this! If all else fails, grab the Google Play APK and install the extra bits.

The post Installing Google Apps if they’re not pre-installed. It is possible .. but.. is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

Professional kit isn’t used, but with a bit of cleverness, you can get a professional-looking video. Some of the “tricks” I’ve used in recent years have been stored in my head, but I figured it’d be good to detail them in a post. Some might sound quite simple, but they all add up and should hopefully result in a better footage.

Here’s a few of the steps I try to take..

Try to get a phone with proper Optical Image Stabilization

Known simply as “OIS” in the smartphone spec-sheets, it’s in smartphones like the Xiaomi Mi 8, the OnePlus 6 and the Samsung Galaxy S-range. Smoother, more liquid-like footage can be captured with this. It’s ideal if you’re walking or moving around with your phone and if you don’t have a stand.

Oh, and while we’re talking about those…

• Get a tripod or holder

I personally don’t have one of these, but I do have a flexible smartphone holder that can be bent and twisted into any particular shape. This is ideal for filming in the car or when I’m doing ad-hoc filming outside. I can just attach it to a table, a chair, a window-ledge. Done.

• Make sure the area is brightly lit

I love the daylight and you’ll usually find footage filmed near a window or outside it possible. If it’s a video under electric light then you have to ensure that there’s far more light than you would normally need for day-to-day activities. Plus, aside from making sure the area is brightly lit, using soft lighting can make a big difference as well. It will be more even, and the shadows it creates won’t be as hard. When filming a smartphone, for example, you’ll get a lot of reflection off the screen, so softer and more uniformed lighting is better.

• Adjust the resolution and frame rate

Increasing the resolution can improve your video definition, and nowadays it is best to record in 1080p at least. Using a higher frame rate can make your video look smoother – but it will require a faster shutter speed, which in turn will require more light.

If your smartphone supports it there are benefits to recording in 4K – even if you don’t want to ultimately export the video in that resolution. Notching it down to lower resolutions on YouTube won’t matter quite as much.

• Use an external microphone

Bit tricky this one, but if I have the time I’ll try and record with a corded microphone. Most of the time I’m fairly close to the phone I’m filming on, so this isn’t a great problem, but if you’re further away then it’ll sound like you’re shouting at the phone to make yourself heard. That’s going to sound a bit rubbish on the final footage, so check into USB microphones which can offer this sort of functionality.

• Avoid using the digital zoom

Zooming rarely works unless you’ve got some good optical zoom functionality. There’s more smartphones coming out now with different lens arrangements, and they tend to let you magically switch between the lenses as you zoom – this can work, but again – make sure you have the right smartphone with a decent set of lenses.

If you don’t have that, you can always zoom in afterwards in “post-production”, and this is where things head to the next stage.

Sure, you can upload direct to YouTube and edit your footage there, but you can also use apps like Movavi Video Editor or iMovie for PC to tweak your video after. Personally I’ll admit to using a Mac to do this bit as it works without breaking a sweat. You can cut and join clips, apply effects, add audio tracks, insert text, and more.

That should cover the basics that you need if you want to record good videos using a smartphone. The only other thing that you’ll need is a bit of practice so that you are able to familiarize yourself with how your smartphone responds to different types of lighting and movement.

I’d love to hear any additional tips if you have them. My wife tends to watch lots of YouTube bloggers and I’ve seen a lot of face-pointing lighting rigs, radio microphones and slick editing. All of this can cost money, so cheap and effective solutions would be interesting to cover here!

The post How to create better videos on your smartphone is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

Getting a smartphone, and then coming here and excitedly downloading all the apps that take your fancy, is something we’re always going to encourage. Moving from a basic phone, or even a slower Android handset which perhaps couldn’t handle the installation of lots of apps, and getting yourself a powerful and fast phone will open up a whole world of games and applications.

Let’s be honest, antivirus programs and encryption aren’t the first things that come to mind when you’re playing with your new smartphone. However, your phone is susceptible to being hacked and infected if you stray from the standard app stores. In addition, browsing to certain parts of the internet and getting bombarded with the wrong type of pop-up advertisement can infect your phone. It’s something that can happen right under people’s noses, and many simply don’t know what to look for. So here’s a quick reminder if you’re new to these parts

1. Be on alert for phishing scams

Phishing scams aren’t exclusively pushed through email or websites. As we saw recently, you can receive an unexpected call requesting personal information. A lot of “social engineering” will be used during the call with the clear intention of gaining your trust. Caller ID details can be spoofed and, using your publicly-available information (from Facebook, Twitter and other sources such as Government websites etc), they can fool you into thinking that they are a real and trustworthy company.

I usually ignore calls from unknown numbers, and tend to look online to see whether the call was from a real and recognised company. In the USA, if the caller is using Verizon, you can perform a Verizon phone number lookup and then use the information in the results to scour the net for reports of abuse. Elsewhere, you can use websites which allow users to quickly report scam numbers so that others are sufficiently warned about the possible dangers.

2. Get an anti-virus app on your phone

Even the most careful owner can fall prey to online tricks, dodgy apps and adverts which take you off to the darker sections of the web. Anti-virus, anti-theft, and privacy features are the main components in apps such as McAfee’s mobile security suite. In essence, your smartphone is a computer that needs to be protected against viruses, spyware, ransomware, and malware. You also need protection against malicious websites.

With McAfee’s mobile security suite, you’ll also be protected against theft. You can locate, track, and send yourself an alarm if your phone goes missing. This suite also allows you to lock your phone remotely, and even get a snapshot of the person holding your mobile device.

3. Don’t go crazy downloading apps from all over the place!

Be careful with any app which is available to download off the normal Apple iTunes or Google Play stores. Although there are other app stores (such as Amazon Appstore etc), it’s all too easy to also go out and find paid-for-apps for free on shady websites. It’s tempting to get these, but you’re effectively “dropping your shields” by allowing apps to be installed directly and without checks.

4. Put a screen lock on!

Locked phones prevent theft, but not in the way you might think. A lot of people, and I include myself in this, don’t tend to like the faff which can be associated with unlocking a phone. Now, however, you can use face unlock and very quick fingerprint unlock systems to get into your phone without needing to put PIN numbers or patterns into the screen each time.

Also, while we’re talking about locking, it’s important to mention why some networks lock phones down. This type of lock is slightly different – it’s where you buy a phone from (say) EE and they lock it so that you can’t put a Vodafone SIM card. Unlocking a phone, however, makes it easier to sell. It’s for this reason that networks like Verizon implement a 60-day lock on all new phones. A 60-day lock should ensure that Verizon could collect and verify the first payment for the device. This stops the new customer from being able to sell the phone so easily. After those 60 days, the phone is automatically be unlocked.  

Other networks have similar policies but, here in the UK, some networks sell their phones with no network lock at all. Three is one of these

Don’t let your guard down

Welcome to the world of smartphones! But, like any internet-connected gadget, you need to secure down your data. Put a screen lock on your phone to protect your data (photos, videos, emails, texts and more), monitor what you’re downloading, check what you’re being offered, and always defend yourself with anti-virus.

The post Smartphone safety and security. It’s still a big deal. is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

Ways to beat the battery drain

As mobile phones become more powerful and capable of processing at much faster speeds, so the full-charge battery lifespan seems to correspondingly diminish. Playing audio and video have always drained the battery noticeably fast, yet many users complain of their phone dropping in percent despite the seeming inactivity. There are various things we can do to help stop the inevitable freefall of our battery percentage while out and about: here we take a look at a few of the top tricks to stop you facing the ultimate 21st-century problem.

Stop apps running in the background

One of the major reasons for uncharted battery use is apps running in the background. Whether it comes from software that is tracking your geo-location everywhere you go or social media apps that are keen to alert you the second you have a notification, these apps can have a devastating effect on your battery longevity. To combat this, head to your phone settings and first of all check the battery statistics: percentages should be given here stating the power usage of each app on your phone. Once you’ve targeted the main culprits, you can simply remove them or switch them to run only when in use.

Consider using apps to help save battery

It might seem unusual to download yet another app to help you protect battery life, but apps like the AVG Antivirus and AVG Cleaner can help boost your RAM so that anything that doesn’t need to be used will be put to sleep. These apps also have great battery saving modes, so that once you get into the dreaded 10% or less, you can be sure that your apps will help you save power. As well, the Norton App Advisor can be picked up via the Norton Security Package, which will notify you about battery loss and even potential malware or viruses.

Turn your brightness down

It’s easy to overlook the power requirements that using your phone at full screen brightness takes, as we have become so accustomed to its appearance that way, but suffice to say it is considerable. Tests have shown that reducing your screen to half brightness can increase your battery life by up to five hours: while this is naturally dependent upon your usage and age of the phone, it undoubtedly demonstrates the significant improvement that can be gained.

Manage your wireless hardware

By default most of us go about our day with our mobiles’ mobile data, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth signals all blaring out at full force. In reality this is completely unnecessary and sapping valuable battery from our phones. Finding Wi-Fi is indeed preferable to using mobile data if you are running low on battery and in a tight fix, but in this instance, it is equally imperative to then switch off all of your phone’s signal catching, as otherwise this will continue to drain the battery in the background. Managing these settings takes only a few swipes and taps and can save you vast amounts of power, which your future self will be eternally grateful for.

The post The best ways to minimize your battery usage is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

Here we’ll go through how to access this to record your iOS screen on an iPhone and iPad. It could be useful for developers who need to show software flaws, or for someone who wants to give another user the a knowledge of how to do something without a huge amount of screenshots and typing.

How to enable the screen recording feature in iOS11

You can use this new feature within the Control Center panel by swiping up from the bottom of the screen on iOS devices. The screen recording feature needs to be enabled first. To do that, perform the following steps.

•    Open the Settings app.
•    Navigate to Control Center | Customize Controls.
•    Tap the + button beside the Screen Recording option to add it to the Include section of the list and re-order the Screen Recording button to change its ordering in Control Center

Now that the feature is inserted into the Control Center, swiping up from the bottom of your iOS device screen will show you a record button. This is how you can enable and change the settings for recording. Let’s take a look at how to start a recording.

Tip: This screen recording option will record everything that is on the screen of your iOS device, including notifications; so enable Airplane mode before starting the recording to minimize these distractions. It’ll give your videos a more professional look too.

How to record the screen of an iPhone or iPad

To start a screen recording, open Control Center by swiping up from the bottom of your iOS device, you’ll find that record button that was enabled earlier. To start a new recording, touch the recordbutton. When you move away from the Control Center, you’ll notice a blue recording strip at the top of the screen, and it will be noticeable for the span of the screen recording process.

The screen recording doesn’t contain device sounds, but you can add recorded audio from the microphone of your device. To allow this, tap and hold on the record button and enable the microphone audio feature when it’s displayed at the bottom of the screen.

When you want to end the recording, tapping on the blue bar will present a dialog box asking if you’d like to stop the recording, you can also prevent the recording by re-entering Control Center and tapping the record button again.

When you tap Stop Recording, the video that was recorded can be found inside of the Photos app under the Videos album.

A banner notification will inform you the screen recording was saved to your Photos.

• You can also the edit the recorded videos

Yes! Go to the Edit button in the top-right corner, and the video comes into view on a timeline. You can take the ends and drag them a few frames to reduce the footage by starting and stopping it in Control Center. When you are done, photos will offer to save your edits as a new cut.

You’re free to move the video to your Mac device for editing in QuickTime or iMovie as well. Or you can upload it to your iCloud Drive, Facebook, and YouTube, or send it everywhere the Share Sheet can take you.

• You can also record apps that play videos

But it depends on the app. Some apps allow screen recording some don’t. For instance, it doesn’t work at all when you have some apps running, like YouTube.

Go through the following tips that will help you get the excellent results from iOS screen recording.

• Enable screen recording
  As we mentioned above, the first thing you need to do is enable screen recording on your device. Screen recording on your iPhone is simple, but your device is not automatically set up to record right out of the box. You need to get access to screen recording in your Control Center.
• Don’t lose track of time and storage
  As the saying goes, “just because you can doesn’t mean you should.” Just because your iPhone can record virtually unlimited amounts of the video doesn’t mean that’s something you should do. As far as I know, there is no time limit to how much you can record your screen. However, it will consume storage on your phone, just like any other video, so be wary and keep an eye on that storage.

• Clean up your mess!
  If the iOS home screen appears in your video, consider changing your wallpaper and creating a new page with just one icon.To change your wallpaper back to an Apple default: tap Settings > Wallpaper > Choose a New Wallpaper, and you’ll see options for Dynamic or Stills. Choose a wallpaper, then Set > Set Home Screen to make it the new wallpaper that appears behind your home screen icons.
• Lock orientation
  Before you record, make sure to decide which way you will hold your device while recording. It’s best to lock orientation, so you don’t by chance tilt the device during screen recording. To secure orientation, hold your device the way you’d like, then swipe up from the bottom of the screen to open Control Center. Touch the padlock symbol.
• Enable do not disturb mode
  This will stop unwanted notifications or calls from popping up in the middle of your recording.To enable do not disturb mode or sleep mode: Tap Settings > Do Not Disturb > Do Not Disturb then scroll down and opt for Silence: Always.

• Turn off display zoom
  If you use display zoom mode on a brand-new iPhone or iPad, you may need to turn it off. If you start it on, you will not achieve the full resolution probably.To disable zoom mode: Tap Settings > Display and Brightness > Display Zoom | View > Standard > Set. Your device will restart, and now you can record screen without any worry.

• Unmute your iOS device
  If the silence switch silences your device, the audio coming from your device will not be mixed up in your recording.If the content you’re recording has its audio like the sound effects in a game, you need to unmute your device, so it is captured.

• Turn off the in-built app music
  If you’re recording a game or an app that has both background music and sound effects you should turn off music within the game settings.The music will compete with your narration, so it’s sensible to turn that off. You can record the sound effects and import the music them later if you wish.

• Free up resources
  Capturing will need some additional system resources. Make sure that your phone isn’t cluttered and there’s enough space for storing the screen capture.
• Make a new side
  To make a new side on your home screen, long-press the icon of an app you’ll be explaining in your video, then move it to the right point and a new side will come into view.
• Use a microphone
  If you want to make a professional sounding narration, you need to get an external microphone for your iOS device. You can also re-record audio after you’ve stored your video by dubbing over an additional audio track with iMovie. I use earbuds with a built-in microphone.
• Record in a quiet place
  Move to a quiet environment or at least isolate yourself and the microphone from noise. The most common noise culprits are usually other people!
• Use a suitable music track
  If the app you’re recording doesn’t have its sound or music, consider adding a music track that helps set the mood. There are many ways of royalty-free music online.

I hope you will find this article helpful, but if you still have any questions, just ask!

The post How to screen record on iPad and iPhone in iOS11 is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

In the “old days” the smiley BT engineer would instead come and stick the phone socket in the hallway. A lot of people would have their telephone on a special table right next to the front door. Some people still have it like this, while others will have their cables coming into the house near to the front window. Either position isn’t very good for spreading reliably internet around your home. It’s even worse if that magical internet router is on the floor behind your TV.

At the other end of the house your WiFi coverage might be weak, slow or spotty. If there’s supporting brick walls in the way it’ll get worse.

So here’s our main internet router, complete with a range of geeky Ethernet cabling in the back. It’s behind the TV and I’ve balanced it as high as I can so we can get WiFi upstairs when I’m sat on the throne “contemplating”. Trouble is, I only get one bar of WiFi while I’m offering a sacrifice to the porcelain gods, and it kept dropping out. I also couldn’t get WiFi while I’m in the garden.

No. None of this is super important. Yes, I could use mobile data through my network provider but…

..I’m a geek and I want this to work.

So I bought a WiFi repeater. Less than £10 off eBay. This one seemed OK, and accepts either a LAN input or it’ll repeat the existing WiFi and boost it. That worked brilliantly, but I still wasn’t happy with the speed. Here it is in that magical cubby hole under the stairs, and yes, the cabling is horrific..

Now, if this is you or you’ve got a bit of a choppy signal, you might actually be able to get a better signal without having to get a booster. On Android WiFi Analyzer is a great option. There’s similar tools available on iOS but I keep coming back to this particular one on Android whenever I’m doing geeky stuff like this.

So, I’ve got coverage but I want to make it as good as I can. First up, connect to your wireless access point and then switch to the signal meter. Ensure you have your WiFi name selected and walk around your home. Look for the “black spots” where the meter dips into the grey. This is the area you need to concentrate on, so when you find a weak area, change to the “Channel Rating” or the “Channel graph”. It’ll show you which WiFi channels are the most congested and which (shown by stars or an area of the graph which is empty) are the best ones to use.

In my instance, the app said that channel 12, 13 or 14 was the best.

Switching WiFi channels is done on your WiFi router and it’s usually in the advanced settings. Some routers are clever and they’ll switch to the least used channel automatically. The cheap WiFi repeater I bought doesn’t do that (because… ermm.. I’m tight and didn’t pay much for it), so I have to log into it, go into the Advanced WiFi settings and choose a band of channels.

Above you can see that I switched the “RegDomain” to Channel 10-13. I also double-checked the main router, but – as I suspected – that was clever enough to switch WiFi channels itself with an “Auto” setting. You can manually switch it if you want, but there’s really no point. The main router is going to have a sniff around and think “MAN! I’m not using that channel, all your neighbours are using it too!” It’ll switch to a clearer channel by itself.

So now, to check the WiFi channels again, and mine (which is just called “TheInternetz”) is now up in a clearer channel and is nice and strong.

Even if you don’t do all this, the WiFi Analyzer app will help you find out where your WiFi isn’t so great so you can either move your router, place a WiFi repeater in the right place or reconfigure your WiFi channels to work better.

The post Is your home WiFi a bit pants? Your smartphone can help! is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

Today I received a Samsung Galaxy S7 and decided that it was about time to reveal my trademarked conversion system. A cheap, quick and innovative way to turn your phone into the latest and most expensive Apple without the cost.

Here’s the how-to video..

…sorry

The post Not got the money for an iPhone X? Don’t worry, you can convert your current phone! is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

Fancy getting the Samsung Galaxy S8 this weekend? Perhaps you just want a better deal on your contract?

Well, as we always say here at Coolsmartphone, don’t just upgrade with your current provider. That’s bonkers.

Go armed.

Doing a straight upgrade, just because you want the latest shiny thing, isn’t a good move. You need to do a bit of research first, and it really doesn’t take long. If you’re signing up for a 24-month contract then, by perhaps only paying £5 too much per month, you’re throwing £120 in the bin. So first, remember…

1. Check how much data you’re REALLY using. On Android, go to “Mobile data” in the settings and you can check your data usage over the month. For the iPhone, head to settings, then “Cellular” and “Cellular Data Usage”. You could be paying for 10GB per month but actually only using 5GB. Why waste cash on something you don’t need?
2. Do some comparisons based on your requirements. Sites like TotalPhoneDeals have sliders letting you set the amount of data and minutes you need. It takes just seconds to compare plans.
3. Check for a good deal. As an example, you can get the Samsung Galaxy S8 on Vodafone for £32 per month with £25 upfront. That’ll get you 4GB of data. Or you can pay £75 upfront and then £29 per month for 3GB of data with O2.
4. Happy with your current phone? Want to go SIM-only and save a load of cash? Want to sell it because it’s in really good condition and you want to get more money for it?Check if your phone is already unlocked. You can find this out by getting one of those 99p SIM cards you see at the checkout in supermarkets. Get one from a different provider, stick it into your phone. If your phone is locked, it’ll tell you. Boom. Easy. That cost 99p.

Want to unlock your phone? Remember, networks are no longer allowed to charge unlocking fees to pay monthly customers who are out of contract. They may charge a bit if you’re still in contract, but check. It’s worth it, believe me. Remember, Unlocking is totally legal.

Once you’ve done, just head to a SIM-only comparison tool and get your monthly cost down. Save money, get the same (or better) calls, texts and internet. It’s a no-brainer.

Finding a better deal is important, because even if you really don’t want to move away from your current network, you can use these deals as bargaining chips. Tell your current network that you’ve seen a better deal elsewhere and you’re planning to move unless they match it.

Some networks may not budge – they’ll continue to offer you a more expensive deal and instead will tell you how much better their network is. Don’t fall for it. Stick to your guns.

Also, if you’re looking for a better deal, don’t forget that the virtual networks are a good way of getting a better deal AND sometimes actually staying on the same masts you’ve always used before. As an example, iD Mobile have a 4GB offer on the Galaxy S8 for £35.99 per month (£49.99 upfront). They use the Three network, so if you’re already with Three and like their coverage, you’re not really moving, but you could get a better deal.

Either way, the popularity of mobile comparison sites mean that you can get yourself a better deal, whether you move or not.

The post Don’t just upgrade. It takes seconds to get a better deal. is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

Why? Well, force of habit if I’m honest. People have been burned over and over again by sky-high mobile bills abroad and, even though a text message like this will arrive from your provider when you land, you’ve still got those niggling doubts at the back of your mind.

A Wi-Fi hotspot in a cafe is welcomed by diners, and means that you can keep in touch with those at home via FaceTime or WhatsApp for absolutely nothing. Video calls, voice calls, messaging. Total cost – zero.

Well, monetary cost at least.

Last year on holiday I managed to hook onto a number of free Wi-Fi hotspots, and the ones that don’t need any sort of password are the preferred ones. You don’t need to buy a meal, you don’t need to ask the waiter what the password is and you’re straight in there.

All it takes, in some instances, is your email address or your Facebook access, and off you go.

But what are you really signing yourself up for? With so many horrifying headlines about data breaches and ID left making news around the world, an open public Wi-Fi hotspot is both appealing and dangerous at the same time. The router, and the people running it, can see which websites you’re accessing – they can even post on your Facebook profile if you clicked “Connect with Facebook” to gain access. Suddenly they’ll know all about you, who your friends are and more.

Cybercriminals have always taken advantage of your vulnerability and they will continue to do it in the future. Since our mobile phones are always carried by us most of the times, we usually carry out our banking transactions, PayPal payments and many more activities through them. Your personal information and identity is on there and details about where you’ve been, who you’ve contacted and more.

Using a VPN Service

The humble VPN, which has now popped into the news again as Russia and China attempt to control the web, keeps your personal data out of the hands of potential hackers in many ways. There are various VPN services available in the market, both paid and free VPN options.

If you haven’t started using a VPN service to keep your mobile device and its contents safe, then just download one now. A VPN service keeps your mobile data under a security layer and provides bank-level encryption to your data which is impossible to intercept. With the help of a VPN, you can get connected to public Wi-Fi networks and securely browse the internet without the fear of getting hacked. In fact, a VPN is considered as one of the strongest internet tools to protect your mobile security. There are many good VPN services available in the market. However, most recommended would be FalcoVPN, TunnelBear and VPN Gate.

It’s not just this that you need to use though, because it’s also worth noting these 5 key points which will help to keep your mobile device secure.

1. Keep Your Software Up-To-Date

Every now and then the mobile software gets updated and with every update, new features are introduced which are even better than preceding ones. These features help fix bugs or any other small issues and also patch a number of security vulnerabilities that are already out there.

2. Create Strong Passwords

Although it can seem like a “faff”, it’s important to use strong password, and to ensure that you use them on places like Gmail or Yahoo! Mail. Once a hacker gets into your email, they can see even more detailed information about you and they can sign you up to services in seconds. Use different letters, numbers or special characters.

3. Avoid Unsecured Public Wi-Fi Networks

Even though you can still get connected to public Wi-Fi networks, at least use those with passwords on. If you turn your VPN software on whilst using a Public Wi-Fi hotspot, you’ll know that the people operating the same public network won’t be able to see what you’re doing.

4. Lock Your Phone Screen

Locking your phone screen with a strong passcode or a unique finger pattern can always keep your mobile device secure. I’ve never really used one, but if you want to make your device secure, go for it.

5. Download Trusted Apps

Stick to a recognized app store, such as Google Play, and stay away from downloading APK files from the internet if you can. Often these can be attractive, but they’re laced with viruses or worse and can hook into your phone and personal data – sending that information to who-knows-where.

The post Ways to keep your mobile devices safe and secure is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

There is no built in app to record the on screen activity of your iPhone or iPad and whilst their have been a few 3rd party work arounds these are generally blocked quickly by Apple on non-jailbroken devices.

Enter then the iPhone Screen Recorder by AceThinker, a solution which promises to Record Anything on your iPhone screen in High Quality.

So you can record anything on your iPhone?

Not quite but I’ll come back to that in a moment.

The way the app works is quite clever but you do need a PC or MAC to capture the actual video as the fundamental way in which the app works is by turning your PC\MAC into an AirPlay Receiver.

You start the AceThinker Application and your PC\MAC becomes visible in the AirPlay selector on your iPhone’s control panel, simply select your PC\MAC and your iPhone screen and audio will be mirrored in real time to a window on your PC or MAC.

The AceThinker Application will then allow you to record the mirrored video on to grab a screen shot at the touch of a button.

Some of you may prefer a solution which runs entirely on your iPhone but until that option becomes available this solution is probably the best option on non-jaibroken iPhones.

To go back to the question in hand, this solution provides a way to record any app which supports AirPlay, although any App which actively blocks AirPlay (for example the SkySports Mobile TV App) which not stream to your PC\MAC. Fortunately these Apps seems to be the small minority.

So what can you use the AceThinker iPhone Screen Recorder for?

The obvious starting point, and probable primary feature for most, is that you can you record your iPhone activity as a video allowing you to edit and upload movies to share with followers.

You can also stream your media stored on your iPhone to the larger screen on your laptop, or display your mobile keynote presentations on your laptop. You can also stream your games to Twitch.

Stream Your iPhone Games to Twitch

That’s right, using the AceThinker application provides a gateway to being able to stream your game play to Twitch or Youtube by using it in conjunction with the free OBS Studio application.

You can use the AceThinker Application to mirror your iPhone content to your PC and then OBS Studio to stream the contents of the AceThinker application Window, as a solution this works very well.

How Well does Video Capture Work?

This element might be device specification specific so I’m basing my opinion on the performance experienced on my HP Pavilion laptop with Windows 10, an i5 processor and a SSD. The App used as an example in this article is the excellent iOS version of Zen Pinball.

Within the AceThinker Application you can select different video formats, as standard I’ve set the Display Quality to 1080p, a Video Quality of High and the MP4 format for recording.

There is also a great feature where you can select to record both the iPhone and laptop microphone audio, which is very handy for recording commentary.  I’ve turned this option off in the following testing.

Testing AceThinker with the iPhone in Landscape Mode.

As you can see in the video below, on my test laptop the quality of recording a Landscape image was mixed, the animation was a little slow and jagged and the sound was often out of sync with the video. Whilst it gives a suggestion of how the game performs (especially without sound) it doesn’t reflect  the actually original video.

Testing AceThinker with the iPhone in Portrait Mode.

In Portrait Mode the results were better, the video speed and smoothness of animation was better although the sound was still a little out of sync.

I would be interested to see how well the recording function works on higher specification laptops, although my Pavilion is far from low end, as for streaming and mirroring the image is fine, it’s only the recording function which seems to struggle.

In Summary

It’s nice to have to have a recording option for iOS apps, and the  iPhone Screen Recorder by AceThinker but provide a viable option.

However the real surprise for me was how well this solution works for streaming game play, for me this is the real strength of this solution.

You can try or purchase  iPhone Screen Recorder by AceThinker from http://acethinker.com/iphone-screen-recorder  for $29.95

The post How to Record your iPhone Screen is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

A lot of the techies out there will know what a VPN is, but for the rest it’s basically a way to add security and privacy to your internet. You might have other reasons for wanting a VPN..

• To some extent it’ll hide you when you’re streaming movies and TV via a Kodi box.
• With a lot of VPN providers you can choose the endpoint to circumvent geo-restrictions.
• You may be able to avoid traffic shaping implemented by your ISP.

Basically, when you buy an internet connection at home, you’re going to have a router. That router will dish out IP addresses to each internet-connected thing in your house. An IP address is basically a stack of numbers so that your thing can be identified. Your phone will have one, your tablet will have one, your Chromecast, your Nest thermostat and so on.

Here’s my EE Brightbox router. It’s a standard FTTC (Fibre To The Cabinet) router which pumps out WiFi and connects up to a few of my internal bits via ethernet. There’s nothing special about it and I’m not going to meddle with it at all in this example.

When all of your gadgets need to get out to the internet, they’ll hit that router (above) that your ISP usually gives you for free. This router has an external IP address, and that means that all of your traffic can be seen and tracked.

With a VPN connection this external IP address is replaced with one from the VPN provider. That external IP could be anywhere – in America, in Germany or wherever else in the world the VPN provider has an endpoint. You can configure all this later.

So, in my setup I have a standard FTTC (fibre) connection. It’s connected to the internet and pumps out a WiFi connection. All my devices connect to it, but I wanted another WiFi connection which was connected over VPN.

Many years ago, when we moved into our house, I decided to stick the main router in the garage. This is because the main BT socket (above) is in the hall and the garage is behind. Back in 1975, when our house was built, many people had the main BT box in the hall because that’s where a corded phone sat – usually on a little phone table. Now, in 2017, I really don’t want a table or a load of kit balanced on it, so a cable goes through a hole in the wall and into the garage. From the router I have one ethernet connection running along the outside of the house and into the hole in the lounge where the TV cables from the satellite dish go. This originally was for our non-WiFi Sky box to talk to the outside world.

It all ends up around the back of our TV. In all honesty it’s a bit of a disaster back there. Cables everywhere, but I want to put a WiFi router in here which connects via VPN.

Before I go on, here is a video overview showing you the setup..

VPN Router Choice

I’m not a fan on spending unnecessary amounts of money, so I went onto eBay and looked around for a router with the DD-WRT custom firmware on. This firmware is a Linux based alternative and it can be installed on all of these routers. It’s really easy to use and supported by a lot of VPN providers too, which is a bonus.

My main FTTC router isn’t on that list. It won’t do VPN at the moment and I didn’t really want to mess around with the config on that, so I bought a Netgear WNR834b V2 to act as the VPN router. Here it is below…

You can have a search of eBay and find something similar. It was a bit scratched but only cost £18. That’ll do me. It’s only going to sit under my TV so it doesn’t have to look pretty.

VPN Provider Choice

There’s always deals available. I chose PureVPN because it was cheap and I knew it that they had a great support section for DD-WRT routers. I pay $2.45 per month, but as I type you can get two years for the price of one – that’s $29.40 for a year (or two if you get this deal).

I’ve not been disappointed with the speed and it’s a simple setup.

You can also try providers like NordVPN, who also have an offer on…

As a rule of thumb, try and get a provider with some good support pages. One that has endpoints in different countries and has a good infrastructure so that you don’t have any buffering or anything like that.

Setting up

On my cheap eBay Netgear router,  I set the WAN connection type. Where you’d normally see an Fibre connection, or an ADSL connection or whatever – here instead you connect via PPTP or (should you wish) L2TP. The “WAN” part is actually my main LAN. Confusing I know, but I don’t want everything in my house VPN’d, just some devices.  So this router has an internal IP range (which is 192.168.1.XX incidentally) and my “normal” network has a 10.60.3.XX range. To the VPN router, the 10.60.3.XX range is the “WAN”, it’s how it’ll connect to the world.

The blue cable plugged into the “Internet” port on my Netgear VPN router goes to my normal EE router, and the blue cable (I should’ve chosen different colours!) goes to the Android TV box which I want connected over VPN.

Below you can see part of my PureVPN details – I’ve told it here to connect to the fastest US endpoint. You can have it connect to a European endpoint, a UK one or whatever. Switch it around by changing this part. If, for example, you don’t live in the UK but want to watch UK TV and get sites as if you were in the UK, you’d perhaps put the UK endpoint here.

Last of all, I’ve set a WiFi AP (Access Point) and given it a name to highlight the fact that it’s my VPN connection..

So now, when I’m at home in the UK, I just connect to my normal WiFi access point from my EE router. If I want it to look like I’m in the USA, I connect to the internetz-vpn access point.

As an example, in the UK on my normal WiFi connection, if I try to go to cnn.com, I get the International site…

I’m also unable to watch the live CNN stream, and instead get fed some short video clips to choose from..

However, on the VPN I get the full US editon of the website..

I also get that “Live TV” button and I can watch the US TV feed..

That is about it. I know there’s lots of alternatives and yes, I know that you can setup a VPN on your phone or download an app to do it, but I like to setup once and then ignore it so I can just use and re-use later.

The post VPN. Here’s how I do it anyway. is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

Anyhoo – the reason it’s delayed is because I myself have just returned from holiday. During my time I found that a few apps were pretty essential, and so was my preparation before I headed out. So, here’s some top tips if you’re going on a trip soon!

1 – Need a connection? Get roaming!
Firstly, I checked with my network to see what the charges would be. They told me that, for £5 a day, I could get a roaming package that’ll let me use my phone “as if I was at home”. This effectively meant that I could browse the net, text, call and it would come out of my normal package just as if I was back at home. It sounded good, but if you do that over 14 days it’s going to cost £70, so I went with the Three Feel at Home offering.

Although many people are aware of it, perhaps what isn’t known is the fact that you can get this service very easily even if you’re not a customer right now. What you’ll need is an unlocked phone and a Three Pay As You Go SIM. Unlocking my phone was fairly easy – I went on eBay and basically paid for a code. It was done in minutes. Have a look for your particular handset and then check that the seller in question has a good rating. Often these eBay sellers are cheaper than the websites and back-street markets that unlock your phones. Also, if you’re out of your contract then you can actually call your current network and have them unlock it for free. Some networks also supply totally unlocked phones anyway, so it’s worth checking that before you splash out.

Next you’ll need to get a Three Pay As You Go SIM. I left this a bit late. You can go on their site and get a SIM but I ended up popping to the local “pound shop” (like Dollar Tree in the US) and getting a SIM card there. After a quick chat with a helpful Three rep online I found out that you need to spend at least £10 on a top-up, then you need to convert that £10 to an “Add-on“. These are basically like mini-packages which give you a set amount of data / text / calls for 30 days. If you don’t do this, Three just charge you 3p a minute, 2p a text and 1p a MB of data but – more importantly – you don’t get the “Feel at Home” service. So, get yourself an add-on after topping up.

Once you’re done, this £10 will last 30 days, which effectively means you get up to 30 days of roaming for £10. This compares to £70 for 14 days for my normal provider, so a significant saving – even if you only use it for a week (£35 compared to £10) and you won’t need to faff about buying the daily package thing. Plus, when you get back, you can carry on using the Three SIM if you want. We tested the Three roaming speeds in our earlier article and sure, you’re not going to get super-fast speeds on every protocol. You’re not going to get streaming media and it doesn’t feel exactly like home but it’ll do your maps, your social media and your websites fine.

2 – Google Maps
Navigating around a foreign country is always a challenging task, so I made sure that Google Maps was ready for the task. Now, as you know, anything Google related needs an internet connection, so getting that Three card or having roaming on your phone is helpful and it’ll mean that Google Maps can get additional information about your destination (traffic details, opening times, photos etc). However, you don’t necessarily need this and you can download the maps for the area you’re going to visit ahead of time.

Don’t do this too early though, as Google Offline Maps expire after 30 days. I did this as part of a “holiday checklist” just a few days before. It’s simple enough. Just go into Google Maps, jump into the menu and click “Offline areas”. You can then click the “+” button, zoom out and slide across to the area you’re heading to. Make the square appear over the area you’re visiting plus an appropriate distance around it. Google Maps can’t download everything, but you can get a decently sized area.

Once you’ve done that at home on your WiFi, you’re set. Even in flight mode you’ll be able to navigate around those roads.

3 – Google Translate
Like Google Maps, Google Translate lets you download languages too, so even if you don’t want to have your phone roaming you can understand what’s going on. It’s a similar setup – go into the app, click the menu and head to “Offline translation”. You then just download the language in question.

When you’re out in the location you can then either type or speak into the app and it’ll translate both ways. Ideal if you’re struggling to find the Spanish for “can I pay by card” for a taxi or you’re lost. You can also use the camera – great for menus in swish restaurants where there’s no translation..

4 – Currency Conversion
Everything might either seem really cheap or really expensive when you go abroad. Somehow you’ll be making wild guesses based on some rough arithmetic. Again, whether you’ve got a connection or not, XE Currency (Android or iPhone) can tell you exactly how much things cost. Run it before you go out, do a quick check on the currency you’re after and it’ll store the exchange rates for when you’re out there. Whether you’re online or not, it’ll help you out when you’re looking at something to buy abroad.

4 – Heads Up!
Curve ball. On our recent holiday we had some downtime, which is a good thing. However, you’ll be wanting to fill that time with a book or a magazine. However, if you want a bit more and you also find yourself with some downtime in a queue at an airport or at a theme park – give this a try. It’s a game that we saw some people playing in a queue and we quickly downloaded it.

You may have played the low-tech version with Post-It notes in the past. This time, by holding the phone on your head, the other person or the other people in front of you have to either act out or tell you the celebrity, phrase or place that appears on the screen. You have to guess it. Before you know it, your friends in the car or your mate in the queue is doing a silly accent or singing. There’s lots of themed decks including movies, animals, accents, characters and more in-between (some are in-app purchases).

Heads Up! is by Warner Bros and is available for Android and iPhone. It’s even better after a few beers

If you have any further suggestions that should perhaps go here, do let me know!

The post Using your phone on holiday. Top tips. is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

We want to explore ways for you to communicate with businesses that matter to you, while still giving you an experience without third-party banner ads and spam.

Still, the sharing of your information from WhatsApp to Facebook has enraged a number of people, including Gears, so if you want to opt-out, here’s the method for doing it.

Actually, there’s two ways. Method one applies if you’re yet to accept the new terms and conditions. Instead of just doing the old “Yeah, yeah, accept, whatever… just open the app”, scroll all the way down to the bottom and click on the part that says..

Read more about the key updates to our terms and privacy policy.

In here you’ll need to then remove the tick from the checkbox…

What? you’ve already blindly clicked “Yeah, yeah, accept, whatever… just open the app” ?! Don’t worry, you’ll have 30 days to opt out. In WhatsApp, head to “Settings -> Account -> Share my account info”. At the bottom of this screen is another checkbox, so remove the tick from there and you’re done..

The post Don’t want your WhatsApp sharing with Facebook? Here’s what you need to do.. is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

I’m lucky enough to be using the Huawei P9 at the moment. It’s my main device and as part of my upcoming review I’m doing all the normal things I’d do with my phone.

Yesterday, at 6AM, I stuck it in my shorts and went on a long-overdue ride over Cannock Chase. There was ground-frost and, despite the popularity of mountain biking there, we were there only people over there. I’d downloaded Strava and recorded the ride to get there, back, and everything in between. The bit in-between is the two trails, called “The Dog” and “The Monkey”. By the time I’d got to the first one I’d warmed up and could actually feel my fingers, so I properly attacked the first trail and got – so I thought – some great times.

Trouble is, I’d forgotten about the power management on the Huawei P9 and the way it can cause problems with fitness tracker apps. This is present on Honor and other Huawei devices too. Out of the box it does make a significant improvement. I can prove that as it’s currently on 72% at 1PM. For me, that’s impressive. However, it achieves this by stopping and shutting down power-intensive apps through the “Battery Manager”..

It really doesn’t like things running when your screen is off, especially if you’ve not explicitly allowed it to run.

Head to Settings, then Advanced Settings and you’ll find the Battery Manager controlling this. You’ll also find something called a “Power Usage Firewall”. Here you can see all the apps that are currently using the battery more intensively.

Strava is on here as you can see above, but if it’s not running then it won’t be displayed. In that case, head instead to Settings and then Apps and click on Stava, then click Battery and you’ll see the problem …

Here you can see that I’ve got no power usage prompt set (even if I had, it could be that I’d accidentally told it not to appear) but – even worse for an app of this nature – it’s set not to run when the screen is off.

This is just crap really, as it means that your Stava logs are going to be pretty short and will stop frequently. Here’s how mine turned out, and I was a bit miffed to find that none of my “good bits” had been logged…

That long straight line connects the point at which the power saving closed down Strava to the point where I either woke the screen by accidentally tapping the power button or when I checked the time and turned the screen on that way.

So, if you’ve not already answered the screen prompt and allowed the app to run in the background, go via the Settings -> Apps and change it to “Run when screen is off”, or in Settings -> Advanced Settings add it to your “Protected Apps” list like this…

The end result should be less swearing when you get home from a long run or ride. Luckily I was too tired and achy to get that annoyed about the Battery Manager killing my Strava recording, but it is something to remember if you get a Huawei phone or any other handset that closes background apps in order to save battery. When you get it right and set up the power profile / firewall to only run selected apps with the screen off, it really does make a big difference. So, although this was a bit annoying, the mere fact that my super-heavy phone use hasn’t killed the battery by 1PM is evidence enough for me.

Personally I’d like a central database that perhaps has apps that need to be omitted as default when systems like this are used.

The post Strava not working properly on your Huawei? Here’s the fix is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

It was raining and my son were sat in the house, so we went out and ended up at the library. It’s a bit of a shame really, because the local library seems to be getting less and less popular. We like it though, and there’s some great childrens books. He loves the encyclopaedias and the Guinness Book of Records, but a couple were reference books so we ended up sitting on the floor reading them. The place was empty, and it made me think about how much electronic books are affecting libraries.

Anyway, after sitting on the carpet for about an hour, I lost track of time and pulled my LG G4 out to find out what time it was. Trouble is, somehow, it was on camera mode and I accidentally zoomed in. What I saw was pretty stunning, so I took a picture of it….

Check that out! It’s like my jeans are under a microscope! Compare this to how they look without the zoom…

So, I stuck this on Twitter and you guys gave it a try too. It’s easy enough to do – just hold your phone about 20cm away and zoom in full. Here’s a look at the results. Some of the images vary in quality depending on your phone, but it’s a pretty cool way of turning your phone into a microscope..

@SimonAllum @gears And my #Honor7 entry for pic.twitter.com/1b9AVTi1gu

— Man-O-Kent (@frowbags) April 2, 2016

https://twitter.com/SimonAllum/status/716249126393004032

@gears it is quite cool isn't it! pic.twitter.com/w7d7gxJQKo

— Garry Clark (@bengrendon) April 2, 2016

@gears with Lumia 950 pic.twitter.com/kN2TUnxCIE

— Keith Bartlett (@thekeithbbb) April 2, 2016

Here’s a few more I took early this morning of various household objects. Pre-zoom and post-zoom

So go on, give it a bash. You can include your results in the comments or just tweet us on @coolsmartphone

The post Turn your phone into a microscope. is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

Then here’s a solution for you!

In comparison to Android, due to Apple’s strict App store guidelines, emulation on iOS is significantly restricted. So, unless you want to jailbreak your device, it’s generally not possible to emulate most popular systems.

However, the guys over at gameplaycolor.com have found a solution for Gameboy iOS emulation through the use of a web app. All you need to do is simply point Safari to gameplaycolor.com/app/ and create a desktop shortcut.

Play Pokemon on your iPhone

The emulator works really well and runs full speed on my iPhone 5S, with responsive on-screen touch controls and very accurate sound. To get around the iOS file system restrictions the emulator loads your game ROMs from your Google Drive, which is a neat solution.

Mobile gaming has certainly come along way over the last 20 years and some the games you remember as being great won’t have aged well. Some games, like Zelda and Pokemon, are still firm classics and deserve to find a new audience.

Like all things emulation based there’s no guarantee that this solution will be around for ever so enjoy it whilst you can.

The post Play Gameboy games on your iPhone without jailbreak is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

Listening to your favourite music track is easy. Just use a streaming service like Spotify, Deezer, Google Music or one of the many other offerings out there. However, you can of course also head to YouTube and watch your favourite music video that way. Simple and (most importantly) free.

This uses your data allowance of course, plus you have to have the screen on to listen / watch the track in question. Wouldn’t it be good if you could just rip the MP3 from the video on WiFi, then play it later without having to have the screen on?

Well, of course you can. On Android it’s all far too simple but you will need to side-load the app in question because (obviously) it doesn’t tick all the “legal” boxes to be listed on Google Play. I am, of course, talking about TubeMate. You should always head to TubeMate.net to get the download. This is the official site and lists all the official mirrors for the app.

So, grab your phone and download it. If you open the APK your phone may or may not take you to the appropriate setting to allow / disallow side-loaded apps. If it doesn’t, head to “Settings -> Security” and then look for “Unknown sources” and set it to “Allow installation of apps from sources other than Google Play Store”. You can turn it off again after you’ve installed this app if you wish. To be honest, it’s not a good idea to go hunting for APK files and side-loading them from random places too much, because you’ll sometimes find “special treats” inside some of them. Believe me, TubeMate is fine. I’ve been writing about this stuff for 14 years now and this app won’t hurt anything provided you download it from one of the mirrors on TubeMate.net.

After install you’ll not really need to do a great deal. Just head into YouTube, find a music video you’d like to watch and then click “Share”. If you share it with TubeMate and then click the green “download” arrow it’ll do the rest. I’ve chosen M4A/AAC below, but whatever audio format you download it in, it’ll need a second app (direct from the Google Play store by the way) to do the conversion. This particular app is called MP3 Video Converter. Once that’s installed (it’ll push you to the Google Play store to start the install if you don’t have it) then the download will begin.

That, if I’m honest, is all there is to it. Yes, there’s a lot of settings and you can download to different folders, but you don’t really need to do fiddle with them unless you want to. The app can also download the full video file in MP4 if you wish – ideal if you want to grab something for watching on a plane or somewhere else where there’s no data connectivity.

As for the legal side of things, TubeMate state..

– TubeMate only to be used to access content which was posted onto the hosting platform by an authorized third party. The user is obliged to check respective rights concerning the content.

So basically it’s your responsibility to ensure it’s all above board.

The post How to – Download music videos as audio files is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

When I reviewed the iStick back in June, while the software needed a little refining, I could clearly see the benefit of being able to copy media from an iOS device to a USB-equipped memory stick.

However, the recent Apple update to iOS9 stopped the iStick from working with no obvious fix available.

We reached out to the UK Distributor of the iStick for help, and they  provided a guide for resolving the issue on a Windows OS based device.

The instructions are as follows:

1. Create a new folder on your Desktop (called iStick update).
2. Double click on the following link:  https://www.dropbox.com/s/n5bzu5mks1d02f5/Gmobi%20iStick%20Update_V010.zip?dl=0
3. Click ‘Download’.
4. Click downloaded folder ‘Gmobi iStick Update’ and the screen below will open.
5. Close the Dropbox screen (behind this screen).
6. Using the left button on your mouse, one at a time, click on each of the files and drag and drop them into the new folder (iStick update) that you created on your Desktop.
7. Insert your iStick into a PC USB Port and wait for your computer to detect it –DO NOT REMOVE YOUR ISTICK NOW UNTIL PROCESS IS COMPLETE!!
8. Now click on the file you created on your Desktop (iStick update) and the screen will show below:
9. Click on the Gmobi iStick Update.
10. Another window may open – if it should, click ‘Run’.
11. The window below will open.
12. Click the Browse button.
13. This window below will now open – you can either double-click the F-ISTICK PRO file or click and then click open.
14. Click on Update F/W Button and wait for 30 secs or so (it may look like nothing is happening – PLEASE BE PATIENT).
15. Wait until the window shows PASS in Green as show below. DO NOT REMOVE THE iStick until this Status Area shows PASS.

Your firmware update is now complete.
When inserting your iStick into your IOS Device, it may try to download an updated version of the APP called iStick Pro.

It’s possible that this process won’t work for all models of the iStick. If it doesn’t for you, then contact sales@myistick.co.uk.

Hope it helps anyone who got the iStick as a Christmas or birthday present over the holidays!

The post How to fix the iStick on iOS9 is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

Last night my son wanted to play Minecraft with his mates. It’s really easy if you’re in the same house or on the same WiFi access point. During New Years Eve he spent an hour with his mates, iPads a-plenty, on the sofa creating new worlds together.

They were all in the same house, so after hooking into the same WiFi hotspot they all connected up easily thanks to the clever “Publish to LAN” feature and off they went.

However, if you’re in different places it can become a bit tricky. It involves connecting to a server on the internet, but if you want to make one yourself you’ll have to download a Windows executable or a Java file which you can run on Linux. You might have a Windows computer kicking around the house somewhere, but do you really want that left on all the time? It’ll only be showing this screen…

That’ll mean that you need a computer running (or a server on the internet) and you’ll need to open the relevant ports.

However, you can actually do all this on an old Android phone. What you’ll need is this PocketMine app and a phone you can leave on. Before all that though, you’ll need to know a bit about how your broadband router works. Most routers are pretty locked down, and your broadband provider doesn’t like you messing around with the settings too much. However, if you do like to have a “fiddle”, here’s the details.

Grab the app and download whatever version you fancy. I found the “Stable” one worked well for me.

I’ll come back to the rest of the app setup process in a minute but it’s all pretty self-explanatory, needing a name and a not much else.

If you open up Minecraft and click “Play” then “New” you’ll see a little symbol at the top that looks like this..

..not any people hit that. They just create a world and then off they go. However, you’ll need to hit that in a minute and it’ll ask you for the name of your world (you can put anything in), the IP address or name of your server and the port.

That last bit is where you’ll need to tweak your broadband router. First, find the external IP address for your broadband connection. Just type “my IP” into Google or head to a free IP detection tool like turboluck.com/my-ip. You’ll need to give this to your friends or relatives so that they can put it into their iPads or phones / tablets to join your server. However, they’ll be trying to connect on a certain port. This can be almost anything on Minecraft, so choose one (or keep the standard one it comes up with as default) and then go into the advanced setting of your broadband router. You’re going to be looking for something called “NAT / PAT”. Tell your router to send requests for your chosen external port through to the appropriate internal port on the internal IP address of your LAN.

Yes, this can be a bit confusing. Let’s start with the the PocketMine app. Run it and it’ll ask you to create a server name, a port and what sort of game you want to create (Creative, Survival, Adventure, Spectator). Once you start it, you can stick that phone somewhere in the house and forget about it. However, you will need to know what the local IP address of that phone is – head into your WiFi settings and find out what IP address it has internally. It might be 192.168.0.7 or something like that. Make a note.

Next, head to your router and go into your NAT / PAT rules and set it so that any requests for your magic port (say, 22535) go to 192.168.0.7 (your phone) on port 22535. What you’re doing here is basically a bit of routing, which is what the thing is for.

Then it’s just a matter of getting your friends to whack in your IP address, the port you set and away you go. Provided the app is running on your spare / old Android phone, you’re set, and everyone can play together. Job done.

The post How to – Run your own Minecraft server on a mobile is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

Firstly, there’s a few problems. Back in the day when I worked for a ISP my broadband came with a fixed external IP address. This would never change, so I could merrily point domain names to that IP and it would just work. Now, however, I’ve got a cheap-save fibre connection from EE and the IP address will change if the router gets rebooted or drops connection. So, if I’m to point a domain to this IP I’ll need something to update that. Here I chose a company called ChangeIP.com. They offer a Dynamic DNS service, and you can choose from a range of subdomains. I chose coolsmartphone.otzo.com because, well… it seemed like a good idea at the time. Next, I needed something to tell the ChangeIP website when my home IP changed. Here I used something called SSH Server. The free version only lets you put one “server” into action – I ideally wanted two. One for an SSH server so that I could connect to my phone remotely and another as a DNS Updater service. In the end I just plumbed for the DNS Updater service, which is easy to setup. You just choose “ChangeIP” from the drop-down, put in the ChangeIP web credentials and then the Android app will feed the current / new IP for your home broadband to them so that your domain goes to the right place. This can be set to start at boot and will do everything without you thinking.

Next problem then, and that’s getting all this working externally. Luckily EE gave me a router with NAT’ing and PAT’ing, which means I basically say..

“Hey, any web traffic coming in from outside should go to this device in my network on this port”

This is where you possibly hit problem three, because most broadband / fibre routers are just setup to dish out DHCP (dynamic) IP addresses internally, so every time you turn on your smartphone you’ll maybe get a different IP. I had to go into the router, alter the DHCP scope and then go into the WiFi settings on the phone to tell it that I wanted to keep a static IP which is outside of the DHCP scope.

Next, and this bit is optional really, but I do like an element of remote access – I setup an SSH server. The earlier app I mentioned just a minute ago would only let you setup one service before you had to start paying, so I downloaded this SSH server app which is fairly simple and just asks for a username and then starts the service on port 2222.

Ahh yes, there’s another “gotcha”. Android won’t let you use the “proper” web and SSH ports unless you start rooting your phone. I’m using a bog-standard handset here and I’ve not rooted it or messed around a great deal. So, back on my FTTC (fibre) router, I tell it that..

“If any traffic comes in externally on port 22, whack it through to the fixed IP of the phone on port 2222 instead”

That worked a treat, and it let me move around the file system and have a look around. I’m a geek after all.

The final, and perhaps most important part, is to actually get yourself a web server app. This is where I did actually spend a bit of cash, but it was only £2.27. Bit Web Server is so simple to get started and comes with a MySQL, Apache and PHP server. Everything in one boat. There’s a PHPMyAdmin too, so you can setup a new database.

This will fire up on another strange port – 8080. Again, I had to tweak the home broadband router to redirect any requests coming in on the “standard” web port (80) to the internal port of 8080 on the fixed IP of the Android smartphone I was using.

Next, to install WordPress I just browsed on the phone and downloaded the ZIP file. After unpacking it on my phone, I put the resulting files into /sdcard/www – where all the web server files are located. Then it’s just a matter of browsing to the site, going through the installation process and – bingo – I’ve got me a WordPress site running from my phone. I have to say, it works a treat. Give it a shot on coolsmartphone.otzo.com because, if you click that link, you’ll be browsing a site which is hosted on a phone which is dangling from a plug in my garage.

The post Running a website from your phone is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

To begin with, plug in your USB Hub, keyboard and mouse, your WiFi dongle and your Mini-HDMI. For now, don’t plug in the power.

Next, you’ll need to format your memory card in FAT format using the free software, SD Formatter 4. It’s available for Windows or Mac.

Once your memory card has been formatted, you’ll need to download NOOBS (New Out Of the Box Software). For ease, download the full version of NOOBS rather than the Lite version. This free download is 1GB in size.

When the download has completed, extract the zip file contents and drag them on to your memory card.

You can now plug the memory card into your Raspberry Pi Zero and power it up.

The Raspberry Pi Zero will now boot up and display a window containing the operating systems that can be installed. Tick the box next to ‘Raspbian’ and click ‘Install’.

The install will now begin, but may take a while on the Pi Zero.

When the install completes, the default Raspbian configuration menu will be displayed.

You’ll now be able to set the time, date and your region. If you always want to boot straight in to the GUI (Graphical User Interface), select ‘boot_behaviour‘. Once you have made the changes to suit your personal preferences, tab to and hit return.

At this point, it would be advisable to ensure you have the latest software available. Simply type:

• sudo apt-get update

Followed by:

• sudo apt-get upgrade

Finally, its worth while making sure the Linux distribution is up-to-date. Again, simply type:

• sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

This final step may take a while. If you’re asked to confirm anything, just hit ‘y‘ on the keyboard.

Every now and again it would be worth running these commands to ensure your Raspberry Pi Zero is always up to date.

If you ever need to get back to this menu, open the terminal, and type in the following:

• sudo raspi-config

Raspbian will create a default user account for you with the following credentials:

• Username: pi
• Password: raspberry

If you’ve never used a Linux based machine before, you’ll notice when typing your password, nothing is shown on screen. This is normal.

You’ll now be able to load the GUI type: ‘startx‘ and hit return.

One the GUI loads, you’ll be able to explore the features this tiny computer offers. You’ll also find a series of projects over at the official Raspberry Pi site.

The post [Feature] Raspberry Pi Zero – Set Up Guide is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

The BBC here in the UK probably has quite a unique setup. Residents have to pay a TV licence to watch the BBC channels and listen to the various radio stations that the corporation has. They’re varied and plentiful, with local radio stations and a wide selection of TV channels including news, entertainment and childrens shows. They’re mostly home-grown and there’s never any adverts getting in the way.

However, even if residents outside of the UK wanted to pay the TV licence, there’s simply no way of doing it. So, for the large amount of ex-pats and other BBC fans, the only way to watch BBC shows is to either pay for the content via streaming services, watch it on foreign ad-supported BBC channels (like BBC America etc), pinch shows from BitTorrent or buy a VPN service and “fake” an IP address based here in the UK.

It’s a simple enough concept and one which has been working well for a number of years. You sit in your lovely home in Cyprus, pay for a VPN to be setup, then connect to your home WiFi and open BBC iPlayer. The BBC thinks you’re actually coming from an IP in Manchester (or whereever the VPN endpoint is) and automatically allows you in as a “UK viewer”. Trouble is, you’re not, and it looks like the BBC are now blocking IP ranges owned by the big VPN providers.

How successful and risky this action will be remains to be seen, because the BBC could accidentally block perfectly legitimate UK VPN users, but it seems they’re targeting the well-known VPN providers who actually promote themselves as a way to get around the geo-IP-blocking that the BBC and other streaming providers employ.

This all got me thinking, because on a recent trip abroad I noticed that a lot of bars and restaurants no longer had Sky Sports available. Gone were the “Liverpool vs Manchester Utd” matches or the all-important episodes of Eastenders that brought punters in, and instead bars were relying on foreign TV feeds instead. This, it turns out, is due to the operators of the Sky satellites (Astra) repositioning the “beam” or “footprint” so that it no longer covers southern Europe.

In some cases this has meant that many ex-pats, who invested in huge satellite dishes to get a taste of home, no longer receive a picture at all. Previously they were able to install a large satellite dish and still pick up the Sky channels, but this no longer looks to be possible.

So, the TV companies upping their game. If you dare to travel abroad you’re going to find it hard to watch the TV you love back home. Harder than ever. Sure, when you keep inside the geographical boundaries you’ve got lots of ways to watch TV. There’s apps to let you watch all the channels you subscribe to and we’ve reviewed gadgets that’ll pick up the digital TV signals from the air and stream them to your phone, but is there a way to do this when you travel abroad?

Well, there is actually. Firstly, there’s streaming websites such as TV Catchup. You can use that to watch shows over your VPN still, and I’m sure that you’ll still be able to get your BBC channels that way, but what about on-demand?

Many years ago I played around with a Slingbox and, in my opinion, they’re still the best option if you’re considering going abroad for any length of time. Someone I knew did this when they emigrated and it worked fine for them. It’ll cost you a little bit of money, but I reckon it’s the best option. Sure, I know there’s streaming boxes out there but this is a system that I know has worked for someone who’s now left the UK.

First, you’ll need to know someone back in the UK. That could be a friend or relative, it doesn’t really matter. Next, try and choose someone who has Sky but only has one box. If you don’t want to watch Sky, that’s not really a problem, so just find a good friend.

Next, if you do want to watch Sky and have the iPlayer / ITV Player / 4OD functionality (as an example) you’ll need to get them to ring up the company and ask for another Sky+ HD box. This’ll have all the bells and whistles – including the recording, the on-demand, pause, rewind and all that jazz. If you want to just have “multi-room” then that’s fine, but remember that the boxes Sky give out for “multi-room” don’t have hard drives in them, so you won’t get the recording or on-demand bits.

Now, you’ll need to get a Slingbox. These are available on eBay quite cheaply and have an “IR blaster” inside which emulates a remote control. If you want to buy new, the Slingbox 350 is £129.99. Basically put, it’ll sit in front of that Sky box you’re getting and will control it for you.

Next, get the Sky+ HD box setup and ensure that it’s connected to the WiFi network in the UK home. This is where you probably want to pay for their internet connection (this is what the person I spoke to did), or you might want to install a new internet feed (this is where things get a bit out-of-hand though and you start spending more cash). The internet connection is needed for you to watch all the on-demand TV shows. Also, the Slingbox will need it to push the resulting pictures out onto the web.

At this point you’re probably thinking that this is all quite complicated, and it is. The guy who told me about this was an ex IT engineer and still had a house in the UK, so he put the Sky box and the Slingbox in the garage – both hooked into an ethernet connection via a pretty rapid Virgin Internet connection. He didn’t experience any real contention issues or drop-outs, and he was then able to go to his house in Spain and – using his iPad – he could watch local TV and all the on-demand content from the UK. He was still (at the time) jetting between the UK and Spain and kept his BBC Licence payments going.

The last time I spoke to him, he was going to get one of those “Android on a USB stick” gadgets so he could try out the Slingbox Android app on his Spanish TV. Whether that worked I’m not totally sure, but he was always telling me how he was able to watch Top Gear on-demand from his iPad out in Spain easily. He could also watch all the local TV channels back home and pause / rewind TV shows as he was effectively controlling his Sky box from the iPad. It didn’t really matter where he was.

Ongoing costs? Well, aside from the setup / purchase of the Sky box and the Slingbox, you’ve got the cost of the broadband and the Sky package you subscribe to.

Now, there’s cheaper ways of doing this. You can ignore all the Sky business and just get a Slingbox Pro HD, put that in the loft of a friendly relative, connect it to the web and then just hook into it via your Slingbox app. The “Pro HD” one has an in-built tuner, so you just hook it into a standard TV aerial.

You are, at all times though, restricted by the speed of your internet connection. It might not be the one here in the UK. It could instead be the one out in Spain, France, Cyprus or where-ever else you are.

What I find interesting about all this is, well, just that really – it’s interesting and straightforward. It’s taking signals out of the air back in the UK and converting them into a stream, then firing that to an app on your device. You control the Slingbox and whatever other STB is connected to it.

The post How to – Get your favourite TV from home when you’re abroad is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.

Now, let’s admit it, we’re creatures of habit. We usually get to the end of our contract and then we’ll call our current network to see what offers they’ve got. They might even call you. Either way, you’ll think they’re doing you some sort of brilliant loyalty deal, but in reality they’re probably not.

When I left my previous network it was purely because I wasn’t getting signal in the office, however they continually called me, even after I’d cancelled my plan, to offer me better and better deal.

Should you just take it? Well, I wouldn’t. Not without doing a quick bit of research. After all, you’re in a good position

First, you need to hunt down a good deal. Try sites like Moneysupermarket where you can compare contract, pay as you go and SIM only deals to find the right mobile phone package for you. Remember, if you save just £5 per month that could be a £120 saving over the 2-year life of a contract.

Once you’ve done that, get as much money as you can for your old phone. This will help to make a dent in payments, especially if you are thinking of going SIM-only and need the cash towards your new handset. Head to our very our recycle comparison tool to find the best offer. You can also use the money to cover any costs in buying yourself out of a contract early if you want.

• Compare contract, pay as you go and SIM only deals.
• Use this recycle comparison tool to get cash for your existing handset.

OK, got that? Good. Now there’s two things you should do before you agree to anything..

1 – Are you happy with the coverage and service from your current provider?

Good, great. If you don’t want to leave, that’s fine, but look at competitors anyway. Check our MVNO’s (virtual operators) which use the same parent network as you’re already on too, as you could find them to be cheaper for the same handset.

Either way, get some alternative prices. Find a good offer with the right amount of minutes, texts and data for your needs. Don’t go too high or too low – concentrate on what you actually need and not the one with millions of minutes. Have the network, the offer and the terms of the deal written down ready for when you call your current network.

2 – Do you want to move to another network because there’s a better deal on?

Good, but first do your research. If you are at work, check with your colleagues to see what their signal is like. Which network performs best there? If you’re in college, Uni or school you can do the same. Plus, if you really want to test the coverage, you can get a Pay As You Go SIM from the local shop and try it out in the places you are most.

Sure, coverage maps are published on websites, but they’re never entirely accurate. This might sound like a bit of a “faff” but it’s pointless having the phone you want if the signal drops off when you get to work.

Call your current network

OK, so either way you should now have a better deal that you want to go for. You’ve done a bit of looking and you know that you can get the handset you want with the minutes, texts and data you want for a certain price per month.

Now you’ve got to call your network, and this is where the wheels come off for many people – including me. In years past I’ve called (what was) Orange and asked for my PAC, but then the call centre person will transfer you to the “Retentions Team”. It’s their job to keep you as a customer. They really, really don’t want to let you go – it looks bad if people leave and some say that more loyal customers get better offers. Whatever happens they’ll make you believe you’re getting the best offer around, so have that research to hand to see whether it actually, really is.

A few years ago I was transferred to the Retentions Team at Orange, and I got through to a young lady with a soft southern Irish accent. Immediately I crumbled, as she chatted about what a lovely day it was and how happy she was. Before I knew it I was asking her why, then we were talking about holidays and ….. I’D SIGNED UP AGAIN!! Agh! I’m weak. I’m just a weak, weak man.

Be strong. You’re going to have (probably) 2 years of payments going out. Total this up and it’s a lot of money. If you’re not happy with what you have and you’ve found a better alternative, stick to your guns. Demand that PAC. They’ll ask you why you’re leaving and they’ll want to know what deal you have. They’ll extol the virtues of their network, the 4G, the added value offers and will probably mention how their coverage is better, or how many “free” minutes you’re getting as a valued customer, or the “special family plan” you’re on or something similar. Basically they’ll make it seem like it’s the worst decision you’re ever going to make, and that you’ll regret it.

Be strong.

Even if they do offer you a fantastic deal and you still push for the PAC, you can still call them back up and accept the deal if you wish. The PAC, if you don’t use it, runs out after a certain length of time, then you’ll basically carry on where you left off. You’ll have to call up for another one. So don’t worry if you call up, all ready for a “fight” and the network simply chucks it at you without fuss. You can still choose to carry on with your current package and it doesn’t automatically cancel your plan. PACs usually get issued immediately over the phone or over a text within 2 hours.

I’ve done it! I’ve got my PAC!

You’re still going to be paying for your old contract until you use that PAC, so now is the time to take up that fantastic new offer you found. When you buy the phone and sign up to the package you’ll receive a new number, so once you’ve got your handset and you’re happy with it and the coverage, call up your new network and give them your PAC. Some networks have web pages to let you do this online, others will need a phone call. Either way it’s a fairly painless experience and you’ll then find that your old number is transferred to the new network.

Wait! I’ve read all this but I want to disconnect before my contract ends

Some networks have now started splitting the airtime cost (for texts, minutes, data) and the handset cost. However, for many there can still be a disconnection fee to pay if you want to end your contract early.

If you’re a few weeks away from the end of your deal then your network may offer to cover this and it’ll usually be another one of their “tricks” to get you to stay with them for another contract. This will probably be offered by the retentions team.

Usually, if you’re on a contract costing £30 per month and you’re two months from the end, you’ll need to pay £60 to exit. It’s best to waiting until you’re closer to the end of your contract, however it’s also worth trading in your phone and getting an evaluation ahead of time. If your phone is worth £120 then you could off-load it and potentially leave your existing contract 4 months early.
Asking your network to reduce your line rental or removing any chargeable services like internet or extra texts from your account (this won’t always be possible, please speak to your network for more info).

The post How to – Get the best deal on your next contract and move without fuss is original content from Coolsmartphone. If you see it on another news website, please let us know.