Best app deals of the day! 6 paid iPhone apps for free for a limited time

Everyone likes apps, but sometimes the best ones are a bit expensive. Now and then, developers make paid apps free for a limited time, but you have to snatch them up while you have the chance. Here are the latest and greatest apps on sale in the iOS App Store.

These apps normally cost money, and this sale lasts for a limited time only. If you go to the App Store and it says the app costs money, that means the deal has expired and you will be charged. 

More: 200 Awesome iPhone Apps | The best Android apps for almost any occasion

White Noise

Do you have trouble sleeping at night? Do you want to relax your body and soul with peaceful background sounds? With this app you’re promised to sleep tonight.

Available on:

iOS

iSchool

i-School is a study organizer and Timetable Schedule Planner, both for schools and universities. It’s very minimalistic but has everything you need.

Available on:

iOS

PhotoTangler

PhotoTangler Collage Maker is a powerful image app that instantly turns your favorite photos into beautiful collages. It allows you to blend them together in unique and creative ways.

Available on:

iOS

Ace PhotoJus

PhotoJusSpaceFX transforms your photo by adding space effects. All effects are designed together by professional photographers and real artists to provide you with the most amazing photos.

Available on:

iOS

Doodle Dandy

Doodle Dandy is as addictive as any game — but also creative, personal, and productive. The app gives you the power to create elegant, eye-catching artwork, at your fingertips — no talent required.

Available on:

iOS

Sweet Factory

Enroll in the sweetest factory — to keep your job: move quickly, stay focused, and whatever happens, don’t ruin the party.

Available on:

iOS

Get the best from EMUI 5.0 on your Huawei Mate 9, P9, or Honor phone with these 10 great tips

Until now, Huawei hasn’t had the software to match its excellent hardware. That all changed with EMUI 5.0, the latest edition of its proprietary user interface, which is placed over the top of Android 7.0 Nougat. It was first released on the Huawei Mate 9, but will soon be available as a free update on the Huawei P9, P9 Lite, Nova, Nova Plus, Honor 8, and the Honor 6X.

More: Huawei takes on Fitbit with Fit, a $130 water-resistant fitness tracker

If you’ve ever held off buying a Huawei phone because of the software, there’s no need to do so anymore. EMUI 5.0 is great, and here’s how to make the most of it, regardless of what Huawei phone you’re currently using. So if you’re looking for Huawei Mate 9 tips, P9 tips, or tips for another Huawei phone running EMUI 5.0, these tips will work.

Writer’s note: If you’re unsure if your Huawei or Honor phone has EMUI 5.0, it’s easy to check. Go to Settings > About Phone, and look at the EMUI Version. If it’s 5.0, then great. If not, you can check if an update is available by going to Settings > System Update, and hitting Check for Updates.

Home screen style

For the first time on a Huawei phone, the Android app drawer is a feature, allowing you to hide all those rarely-used apps so they don’t clutter up your home screen. If you prefer the look of the iPhone-like home screen, however, you can still have it. Here’s how to toggle the setting.

Go to Settings > Home Screen Style, and select either Drawer to activate the app drawer, or Standard to show all app icons on your home screen.

App Twin

This is a helpful feature if you use your phone for work and pleasure, and operate two different Facebook accounts. It’s also helpful if you share your phone, and need two WhatsApp accounts. Normally, this isn’t possible, as each of these apps can only be installed on a phone once. In EMUI 5.0, a feature called App Twin solves this problem.

Go to Settings > App Twin, and enable the app you’d like to run two different accounts on by toggling the switch. A second app will appear on the home screen, identified by a number “2” next to it. Open it, and add your login details as you normally would.

Create a PrivateSpace

A feature valuable to business users, PrivateSpace is like having two phones, without actually needing two phones. The software encrypts data held inside it, and is only accessible via a fingerprint. That fingerprint can’t be the same one as you use for locking or unlocking your phone, either.

Go to Settings > Advanced Settings > Users, and select PrivateSpace. From this point, it’s like setting up your phone for the first time, and you’ll need to add a Google account and your Wi-Fi details, just like you did when you set up your phone initially. It’s up to you whether you want the PrivateSpace to be a clone of the unencrypted version, or to revert back to factory settings.

Keep in mind that, whatever you do, a PrivateSpace will take up extra space on your phone, and filling it up with apps and other media will quickly use up available storage.

Split screen mode

If your Huawei or Honor phone has a big screen, like the Mate 9, for example, it’s possible to run more than one app at the same time. Activating it involves using a special Huawei feature where touching the screen with your knuckle produces different effects than with touching it with your finger.

First, you need to turn the feature on. Go to Settings > Smart Assistance > Motion Control, and select Split Screen Gesture. Then, toggle the switch on.

Entering split screen mode takes a little practice, and some prior setup. Say you want to have Twitter and Facebook running on the screen at the same time. Open both apps so they’re active, and with either active, “knock” the screen with your knuckle and drag it across. If done correctly, you’ll see a blue line strike across your display, and your phone’s screen will split.

Afterward, choose the second app you want to run in the lower half of your screen from the resulting list of options. Drag the center marker to change the size of each screen, but remember not all apps support split screen mode.

Lock screen shortcuts

Huawei has still integrated its own features into EMUI 5.0, but it’s more streamlined and less intrusive than before, as evidenced by its lock screen shortcuts. If you don’t know they exist, they’ll never bother you. Using them is simple, however. On the lock screen, swipe up from the bottom to reveal them. Here, you can quickly jump into the calculator, flashlight, QR code reader, or timer app. You can also cycle through wallpapers, if you have the Magazine option activated.

AT&T and GE are working together to make our cities smarter

Why it matters to you

The Internet of Things is already taking over your home, and now, a partnership between AT&T and GE may help it take over your city as well.

AT&T and GE are working together to monitor and mic up our cities. It’s not quite as creepy as it sounds — rather, the two technology companies are hoping that their new collaboration will “help accelerate the digital era of urban development” by connecting cities throughout the U.S. and Mexico to the Internet of Things. With this connectivity, AT&T and GE hope that cities and their denizens will be able to better operate, communicate, and meet one another’s needs.

With the new collaboration, AT&T has been named the exclusive reseller of GE’s “Current” technology, which ought to help the telecommunications company further its Smart Cities services, which have been operational since 2015. For example, AT&T will now have access to GE’s Predix-powered IoT platform, which will allow for the implementation of outdoor LED lighting in a city to help establish digital infrastructure that could assist in a variety of issues: traffic, parking, gunshot detection, air quality monitoring, and weather alerts.

Current brings together energy technology like LED and solar with various sensors and software to help users (which include cities, commercial buildings, and industrial facilities) cut down on their energy costs and make for more intelligent environments.

More: AT&T insists the FCC has no basis for halting its merger with Time Warner

“Intelligent lighting plays a huge role in a smart city,” said Chris Penrose, president, Internet of Things Solutions, AT&T. “Our collaboration with Current will enable us to use a city’s existing lighting infrastructure to more securely connect sensor-enabled networks. This will put them on the path to becoming a smarter, more sustainable city.”

Just a few days prior, AT&T and GE worked together to equip 3,200 street lights in San Diego with cameras, microphones, and sensors, making San Diego a large-scale smart city. But clearly, that’s just the beginning of the partnership between these two companies.

“We are thrilled to expand Current’s relationship with AT&T to help cities redefine the civic engagement model—our digital network is based on an open platform, which allows entrepreneurs, incubators and students to get involved in the future development of smart city applications,” said John Gordon, Chief Digital Officer of Current, powered by GE. “Our goal is to bring the combined power of GE and AT&T to municipalities in a way that pulls from the best of both worlds.”

AT&T and GE are working together to make our cities smarter

Why it matters to you

The Internet of Things is already taking over your home, and now, a partnership between AT&T and GE may help it take over your city as well.

AT&T and GE are working together to monitor and mic up our cities. It’s not quite as creepy as it sounds — rather, the two technology companies are hoping that their new collaboration will “help accelerate the digital era of urban development” by connecting cities throughout the U.S. and Mexico to the Internet of Things. With this connectivity, AT&T and GE hope that cities and their denizens will be able to better operate, communicate, and meet one another’s needs.

With the new collaboration, AT&T has been named the exclusive reseller of GE’s “Current” technology, which ought to help the telecommunications company further its Smart Cities services, which have been operational since 2015. For example, AT&T will now have access to GE’s Predix-powered IoT platform, which will allow for the implementation of outdoor LED lighting in a city to help establish digital infrastructure that could assist in a variety of issues: traffic, parking, gunshot detection, air quality monitoring, and weather alerts.

Current brings together energy technology like LED and solar with various sensors and software to help users (which include cities, commercial buildings, and industrial facilities) cut down on their energy costs and make for more intelligent environments.

More: AT&T insists the FCC has no basis for halting its merger with Time Warner

“Intelligent lighting plays a huge role in a smart city,” said Chris Penrose, president, Internet of Things Solutions, AT&T. “Our collaboration with Current will enable us to use a city’s existing lighting infrastructure to more securely connect sensor-enabled networks. This will put them on the path to becoming a smarter, more sustainable city.”

Just a few days prior, AT&T and GE worked together to equip 3,200 street lights in San Diego with cameras, microphones, and sensors, making San Diego a large-scale smart city. But clearly, that’s just the beginning of the partnership between these two companies.

“We are thrilled to expand Current’s relationship with AT&T to help cities redefine the civic engagement model—our digital network is based on an open platform, which allows entrepreneurs, incubators and students to get involved in the future development of smart city applications,” said John Gordon, Chief Digital Officer of Current, powered by GE. “Our goal is to bring the combined power of GE and AT&T to municipalities in a way that pulls from the best of both worlds.”

T-Mobile working with Ericsson to bring gigabit LTE to customers in 2017

Why it matters to you

Major partnerships like this are helping to drive the market toward providing faster internet speeds.

5G isn’t (quite) here yet, but that doesn’t mean that we have to settle for much less. At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona Monday morning, February 27, T-Mobile and Ericsson announced that the two companies would be working together to bring gigabit-capable 4G LTE to the U.S. in 2017.

Sprint made a similar announcement, with the debut of its “Massive MIMO” base station, featuring 128 antennas that can send radio beams to specific customers’ phones. So could this be the beginning of 5G?

While it’s technically not the same technology, it’ll certainly be getting speeds up to comparable levels. In the case of T-Mobile, the Un-carrier has been setting up a national 4G network using Ericsson’s Antenna-Integrated Radio (AIR), 4×4 Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO), and 256 and 64 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM). T-Mobile also boasts 700MHz tuning and optimization thanks to Ericsson.

More: Your next device could run on a network called LTE-U, thanks to T-Mobile

This technology, combined with carrier aggregation, will allow T-Mobile to give customers gigabit speeds. And when paired with T-Mobile’s recently announced LTE-U capabilities, customers could be in for speeds of up to 1Gbps.

“T-Mobile’s LTE network is the most advanced in the U.S., and we’ll continue to deploy the latest, global-leading technologies that will create the foundation of a powerful 5G network built for mobility,” said T-Mobile CTO Neville Ray. “We work closely with strategic partners like Ericsson to deliver the most advanced technologies that enhance our customers’ experience.”

Of course, while both T-Mobile and Sprint are excited about how well this new technology could set the stage for 5G, they’re pretty clear that this is not the real thing. As Sprint CTO John Saw noted, “We’re not the marketing department … I think that the gigabit LTE path that we’re on is our path to 5G, [but] I think 5G is more than just gigabit LTE.”

Regardless, it seems that in 2017, you can look forward to much faster connections on your smartphone.

Spigen is offering a variety of its LG G6 cases for as little as $4 for a limited time

Our friends at Thrifter are back with another great deal, this time saving you 70% on select Spigen LG G6 cases!

The LG G6 is now official and it has a huge display and lots of glass, so odds are you’ll want to keep it in a case of some sort. If you’re looking for a great option that doesn’t add too much bulk or make it look ugly, you’ll want to check out Spigen. Right now the company is offering 70% off a variety of its cases for the LG G6 ahead of its release, so you can have one delivered before you get your phone so it is protected from the start.

Whether you are looking for a clear slim case, or a wallet case, there is likely something here that will meet your needs, so see which one you like! Some of the cases are available right now, others are listed as pre-order with shipping dates of as late as March 13, so be sure to check on the one you want for its availability.

• Liquid Crystal – Crystal Clear – $3.90 with coupon code AC70OFF1
• Rugged Armor – Black – $4.50 with coupon AC70OFF2
• Thin Fit – Black – $3.90 with coupon AC70OFF3
• Ultra Hybrid – Crystal Clear – $4.50 with coupon AC70OFF4
• Tough Armor – Gunmetal – $5.70 with coupon AC70OFF5
• Neo Hybrid – Gunmetal – $5.40 with coupon AC70OFF6
• Wallet S – Black – $6.00 with coupon AC70OFF7

These deals are only good for one day, February 27, so if you are interested be sure to grab one now! Which option will be protecting your new LG G6 when it arrives? Let us know in the comments!

For more great deals on tech, gadgets, home goods and more, be sure to check out our friends at Thrifter now!

LG G6

• LG G6 review!
• LG G6 specs
• These LG G6 features are exclusive to some countries
• LG forums
• Latest LG G6 news

These are the alternative carriers that use AT&T’s network

Here are a list of the alternative carriers that work with AT&T’s network.

Note: This article was last updated February 27, 2017.

What is an MVNO? It’s a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), or an alternative carrier. They’ve become increasingly reliable over the years and remained the cheapest in the mobile industry. And perhaps you didn’t know that some of the major operators are actually providing for those smaller carriers. These are the ones that use AT&T’s network, which means that the signal should be pretty good in most parts of the U.S.

If you’re curious whether your phone will work with AT&T, make sure it supports at least one (but preferably all) of the following LTE bands:

• Band 4
• Band 12
• Band 2
• Band 5

Complete List of AT&T MVNOs

• Pure Talk USA
• Consumer Cellular
• Cricket Wireless
• H2O Wireless
• Red Pocket Mobile
• Jolt Mobile
• Straight Talk
• AT&T GoPhone
• Net10
• CampusSIMs
• Airvoice
• Black Wireless

New Galaxy S8 leaks show black will be the only color worth buying

The natural consequence of tiny bezels.

The countdown clock for Samsung’s official reveal of the Galaxy S8 has started, which means the slow and steady trickle of leaks has become a seemingly nonstop wave. That’s not going to stop Samsung from putting on what has historically be a fairly impressive display at the end of March, but it does give everyone time to be overly critical of things seen in poorly-lit shaky cam leaks.

This most recent batch of photos and videos calls into question the sheer volume of things going on at the top of this phone, and what it means to people who might want a color other than black when the S8 is official.

You don’t get much from this brief video clip, outside of further confirmation of what we already knew about this phone. Like the LG G6, this phone is going to be very tall and the corners of the display are going to be weirdly rounded. Samsung’s curved display edges make an appearance, and the home button has been replaced at long last with virtual keys.

It looks like the Galaxy S8 is going to shine brightest in its darker variant.

Removing the home key for added screen real estate meant moving the fingerprint sensor to the back, which we already knew and mostly didn’t care for, but check out all of the cut-outs on the top bezel of this thing.

There’s the standard light sensor and speaker grill combo, what is supposed to be an 8MP front-facing camera, and an entirely separate camera sensor for retina scanning. Each of the cameras appear to have their own IR sensor for quick focus and more light for the retina scanner, which brings the grand total to six cut-outs on a bezel that is barely thicker than the camera glass.

It’s a lot of black space in an area that didn’t have a lot of color to begin with, which means there’s only one color variant of this phone where all of those cut-outs aren’t going to constantly stand out.

What do you barely notice at all in this video leak with the all black variant of the Galaxy S8? That’s right, those cut-outs are almost entirely gone. In much the same way that the ill-fated Galaxy Note 7 looked best in that glossy piano black, it looks like the Galaxy S8 is going to shine brightest in its darker variant.

This probably doesn’t matter much to folks that will take the Galaxy S8 from its retail packaging and drop it immediately into a protective casing for the rest of its existence. For those that appreciate Samsung’s evolving design language and want to appreciate the phone as it was made, it’s starting to look like you’ll want to try and reserve a black model early.

OPPO promises 5x optical zoom without an ugly camera bump

OPPO’s latest camera tech brings 5x optical zoom with no loss in quality.

OPPO isn’t launching a new phone at Mobile World Congress, but the Chinese manufacturer is showing off its latest camera tech at the conference. The company is debuting 5x Dual Camera Zoom, an interesting take on the dual camera module designed to deliver 5x optical zoom without the need for a bulky module.

The culmination of a year-long development effort, OPPO’s sensor features a telephoto lens and wide-angle lens, which isn’t all that different from what other vendors have done. What’s unique about OPPO’s approach is that the telephoto lens is set at a 90-degree angle, with a periscope-style setup diverting light from a prism and onto the lens.

In doing so, OPPO has managed to shrink the size of the camera module to just 5.7mm, allowing it to fit into phones and not have a protrusion sticking out the back. The sensor itself has over 50 individual parts, and OPPO is also offering improved image stabilization.

OPPO hasn’t detailed when the sensor will make its debut, but it should be making its way into the company’s 2017 flagship.

Nokia’s Android phones are coming to India in June, as well as the all-new 3310

Nokia’s Android phones will be locally manufactured in India.

Nokia unveiled its first Android phones for the global market at Mobile World Congress, and there’s a lot to be excited about. The Nokia 3, Nokia 5 and Nokia 6 are all aimed at the budget segment, but they bring Nokia’s storied design as well as decent specs for the asking price.

India has always been a huge market for Nokia, and HMD Global’s VP for the Indian market, Ajey Mehta, has revealed to FoneArena that the phones will be debuting in the country in the month of June.

HMD Global’s manufacturing partner Foxconn will locally assemble the Nokia-branded phones from day one, which should make the handsets competitively priced in the market. All three phones will offer dual-SIM connectivity — a table stakes feature in India — and will be compatible with Jio’s 4G network.

There’s no word on pricing right now, but HMD Global has confirmed that the Nokia phones will be sold offline and online. Nokia of old was known for its customer service, and HMD Global has reiterated that after-sales service will be a focus for the company. Finally, the all-new Nokia 3310 will also make its debut in India in June.

Hands-on with the Nokia 3, Nokia 5, and Nokia 6