As it is free and very convenient to get the relevant songs, many prefer YouTube over any other streaming platform. While listening to the songs one after another, sometimes we like a song so much that we wish to listen to the song all day long. But when you are on the move you can not keep listening to the song and you wish to be able to play the song on your default music player. For that, you will need the song in MP3 format. So we will let you know the easiest ways to convert youtube videos to mp3 completely free.

Convert Youtube Video To MP3 By Online Converter

Converting YouTube videos to mp3 is surprisingly too easy. There are lots of websites where you can easily paste the youtube link of the video you want to convert into an MP3. We will share some of the best websites that will help you to convert your favorite youtube videos to MP3 format audio files.

FLVTO

FLVTO is an online YouTube video converter, which allows you to convert your favorite YouTube video to MP3, MP4, MP4 HD, AVI, and AVI HD format. The process is pretty simple. You can do as below –

From Web Version

• Go to the weblink
• You will find a link box. You need to put your favorite YouTube video link there.
• Below the box, there is this option as convert to. You can choose your desired format. If it is MP3, then select that.
• Press the convert to button
• There might be some ad pop-ups if your pop-up blocker is not activated. You can ignore them or cross the ad windows.
• You will get the download option. Click on that option and your download will begin. You will get your favorite music video in mp3 format.

FLVTO does also offer a browser add-on to allow you an instant download option while you browse through YouTube. And there is also a desktop version too. You can install the desktop version software and can download any amount of video more easily.

YouTubetoMP3

One of the best online YouTube video converters available for online conversion is the YouTubetoMP3. Unlike the other free online converters, you will face very little interference from the advertisements. The interface is very simple and there are options to convert to high-quality MP3 from Youtube videos. The process is as simple as it can be –

• Go to the link YouTubetoMP3
• There is a search box. You can paste the YouTube link there. Press the Go button.
• You will see different options below the Youtube content name. Select your favorite format from the drop-down menu and press convert.
• Once the conversion is complete you will see the download button. Press it.
• Your download will start automatically.

Y2mate

This online converter allows you to download videos from YouTube, Facebook, or any other video platform to Mp3, or Mp4 in HD quality. Y2mate supports downloading all video formats such as MP4, M4V, 3GP, WMV, FLV, MO, MP3, WEBM, etc. You can easily download YouTube videos as MP3 format and listen on your mobile’s default music player whenever you want. The process is very similar to other similar sites –

• Go to the link Y2mate
• There is a search box. You just need to paste the YouTube link there. No need to press any button
• You will see different downloadable formats are ready for downloading.
• Select your desired format and click the download button beside that. If you want MP3 format select the download button beside the MP3 format.
• Once you click the download button it will prepare the file for downloading in few seconds. Another Download.mp3 button will show. Click the button, Your download will start and you will get your music video as mp3 audio file.

Convert Youtube Video To MP3 By Desktop Software

There is another way to download YouTube videos in your desired format. This option will be better for you, if you need to download or convert a lot of videos from different platforms regularly. You can download and install the desktop version software that can help you to download YouTube videos. You can check out the below software –

Any Video Converter

It is one of the best software that is free and available online. Though the software is not only intended to download or convert YouTube videos to MP3, it will definitely fulfill your demand. Since the software is a complete solution for downloading videos from all the different sources and converting videos to different formats of audio and video, the installation file might seem big for you if the purpose is to only convert youtube videos to mp3. For downloading MP3s just past the URL of a YouTube video and wait for the download to complete. You can then select MP3 as the output format, and click on the Convert Now button

4K YouTube to MP3

This video downloader is the specialized YouTube video downloading app for MP3 converted Audio. Just paste the link to a song you want to download into the application — it’s going to be on your computer in just a few seconds. Clean interface, straightforward operation, and quick music saving. Transfer the downloaded tracks to your smartphone, tablet, or flash drive to enjoy it everywhere you go.

There are other options like downloading the whole YouTube playlist or even the whole channel in Mp3 format. All you need to do is to download and install the software from the below link.

Free YouTube to MP3 Converter

It is another free software that can make your mp3 song collection from YouTube as easy as possible. You can convert YouTube videos to high-quality audio files. You can convert YouTube videos to Mp3, AAC, OGG, M4A, FLAC, and WAV lossless audio. All you need to do is to download the software from the below link. After installing the software, copy the YouTube video link, then click the paste button on the software interface. Then press the Download button. Your song will be downloaded instantly. You can also download the complete youtube playlist in the Mp3 format.

ClipGrab

It is a free downloader and converter for YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, and many other online video sites. It converts downloaded videos to MPEG4, MP3, or other formats in just one easy step. You can download the software from the below link. Opera browser is bundled with the software but you can easily skip the installation of Opera with just one click.

In 1996, three industry leaders of the cell phone industry met to plan the standardization of this short-range radio technology to support connectivity and collaboration between different products and industries. But in the end, it became a universal friend to solve so many connectivity issues. Like all the other digital services, Bluetooth has it’s own problems too. We will discuss common problems with Bluetooth and how to fix the Bluetooth pairing problems for all devices.

What Is Bluetooth

The necessity to establish the connection between devices without wire technology was long felt before Bluetooth technology was invented in the early 90s. It is a short-range network system that can work between 2 to 8 devices at a time. It creates an approximately 10-meter (33-foot) radius wireless network called a personal area network (PAN). Bluetooth uses less power and the cost is also less if we compare it to Wi-Fi. It is far less prone to suffering from interference with other wireless devices in the same 2.4GHz radio band due to the less power consumption.

In general words, Bluetooth can transfer a small amount of data within a short range without any wire connection while consuming a very less amount of power. Whereas, other short-range wireless technologies like Wi-Fi consume much more power than Bluetooth.

How Does Bluetooth Work

Bluetooth works on radio waves, specifically in the 2.4GHz spectrum. Though most devices use this short-range frequency when they need wireless connectivity in a smaller area. Even the regular Wi-Fi routers at home also use the bandwidth to communicate data.

But the Bluetooth is different than all the others in these similar wireless transfer technologies. As it uses a technique called frequency hopping. If we cut the technical part, a simple explanation can help you to understand. Bluetooth sends and receives radio waves in a band of 79 different frequencies around the 2.45 GHz channel. Whenever the sender sends data, Bluetooth first divides this data into smaller packets. After that these packets are sent individually over those 79 bands. Bluetooth devices automatically detect and connect to one another.

If two devices are intended to talk, they pick a channel from those 79 bands randomly. And if that band is already taken, it can randomly switch to one of the others (the technique is known as spread-spectrum frequency hopping). To minimize the risks of interference from other electrical appliances (and also to improve security), pairs of devices constantly shift the frequency they’re using—thousands of times a second.

How To Pair Devices With Bluetooth

Bluetooth pairing is the process to make the repetitive Bluetooth connection much easier than the first time. Once the Bluetooth pairing is done between two devices, they do not need to search and find the Bluetooth connection every time. They can just turn on the Bluetooth feature of both the device and if the devices are in the range they will connect automatically. That allows the device to communicate faster between trusted devices.

Generally, the sender device initiates the Bluetooth pairing by turning on the Bluetooth and making it visible for other devices. Then the receiver device searches and finds this connection. Then gets the request to pair with the device. It might request for passcode depending on the Bluetooth setup of the devices. If both the device owners agree and accept the connection request the pairing would be complete. And they would not have to do these pairing processes next time they try to connect. Only if they delete the pairing from the device, they will have to add it again.

Bluetooth Pairing Problems

If you are using a lot of devices that use Bluetooth as the communication media then surely faced problems pairing the device now and then. There could be various types of problems. But the most common problems with Bluetooth pairing can be as below –

• The device could not discover the other Bluetooth device to connect
• Failed to pair a new device
• Previously paired device not working properly to transfer data
• The connection is disrupted and communication disturbance
• Both the device is paired and connected, but still, the functions are not performing as the way expected. For example, You successfully connected the Bluetooth headphone with the phone but still, you can not hear the sounds from the phone

There could be many other problems as continuous improvement and modification are going on. There are regular updates and improvements for the Bluetooth technology to perform better for specific purposes. Sometimes these advanced features might conflict with the older devices. That might also cause some sync issues. It is not very difficult to fix the Bluetooth pairing problems if you know the basics.

How To Fix Bluetooth Pairing Problems

Hopefully following these steps can help you to fix Bluetooth pairing problems for any device. If you go through the process one by one, you will find the solution to your problem. And by then you will probably understand the reason for the problem in the first place.

Learn about – Best Android Keyboard Apps 2022

1. Quick Access Settings Bar

This is a really interesting feature that offers quick access to certain settings just by pulling down from the top of your display. Many of us know you can switch on or off the Bluetooth, WiFi, NFC, Mobile Data, etc.

Tap and hold certain icons and you will be taken to their dedicated page in the settings. This is a swift way to access a setting when you want to do more than just switch it on or off; I use it to quickly enter the Bluetooth menu for manual device pairing.

2. Bring Back The Missing Notifications

Sometimes it happens that, you accidentally swiped away one of the notifications that you wanted to read fully. But after that, you are having a notion that someone emailed you or you had an important notification. But as you are not sure what notification was it about, you would feel that discomfort back in the mind.

If you want to review and analyze all of your recent notifications that were received on your Android phone, that is possible. Though this option is not much easy to find as there is no direct option for that feature yet. But by following the below process you can do that.

You need to Tap and Hold on an empty part of the home screen of your mobile display. Then a screen-adjusting mode will pop up in the display. Choose the Widgets option, and go to the Settings shortcut. You have to drag this icon to an empty space on one of your home screens and drop it in place. After that a list will automatically pop up in the display. Choose the Notification log from the list and tap the icon to open up Android’s notification history.

3. Change Default App In Your Phone

This is one of the differences between Android and iOS. The android operating system lets you choose different default apps for different tasks. For tasks like web browsing, texting, viewing photos, playing music, etc you can always choose a default app between the other similar options. A default app is a task-specific app that opens automatically when you try and do that specific task on your phone. For example, when you click a hyperlink or a web link, your default web browser app will open that link. You can take advantage of this flexibility by setting up the defaults as per your convenience.

Go to the Settings, then select Apps, then tap on the cog icon in the upper right corner. Select from the categories on the screen to see a list of installed apps that can take over default duties for the task you wish. For example, if you’d prefer to open any link by the chrome browser instead of your phone’s built-in browser you just have to change the default browser to Google Chrome browser.

4. Change The Status Bar Of Your Phone

The status bar is a thin strip at the top of your mobile screen display that shows your notifications. Notifications like your phone’s current network signal strength, and battery life and some other icons like headphones, alarm, etc. By a less known settings menu called System UI Turner, you can control exactly what are the icons that you want to appear in the status bar. You can also tweak extra settings for Do Not Disturb mode and other notifications. However, this System UI Turner menu only became available in recent versions of Android OS. So in the older phones with older version OS you might not get the option.

To enable it (if it’s available on your phone), swipe down from the top of the screen with two fingers to show the Quick Settings pane. Locate the settings gear icon in the top right, then press and hold it for a few seconds. If you see a confirmation message, that means you’ve successfully enabled Settings UI. When you go to the Settings menu, you should see a new menu entry called System UI Tuner. Tap on this new entry, then choose the Status Bar to control which icons will show up in the status bar.

5. Smart Lock Feature

We use a lot of security measures to ensure our data privacy and the security of our valuable information on the phones. We set Strong password, fingerprints and many more features to ensure security. But to secure the phone it might become additional work for you when you might feel those securities are not needed. Like when you are home, you might feel safer. Or even when you have connected the phone to your trusted PC, you don’t feel the need for the security password or the locks. To avoid this extra work you can use this hidden android features of the smart lock.

From Settings, tap Security (or Security and Privacy), and turn on Smart Lock. As well as disabling the lock screen when you’re at home (that’s the trusted places option), you can also disable the screen when your phone’s Bluetooth is connected to a trusted device, such as your car stereo unit, or when it recognizes a trusted voice, such as yours.

6. Pin The Screen

Often we lend our phones to someone when they want to use the phone for something. They might want to call someone from your phone or want to play a game or just to check out the browser. If you want to limit them to the apps you think is enough you can just select those specific screens and pin them. So, they will not be allowed to the rest of the screens or apps in your phone. And your privacy will be saved.

Screen pinning is easy to set up. Open Settings, go to the Security menu, and enable screen pinning. Once you’ve turned on the feature, launch the app your friend needs to use. Then open Overview by tapping the square navigation button below the phone screen. On the window for the most recently opened app, you should see a pin icon (it looks like a little thumbtack) in the lower right-hand corner. Tap the pin button to pin that app to the screen.

7. Volume Setting For All Specific Tasks

We can change the volume of the phone by just pressing those volume buttons places on the side of the phones. But sometimes we don’t want to reduce or increase the sound for all purposes. Rather we want to increase or decrease the sound for specific tasks. For example, you might want to reduce the sound of your music while you want to keep the alarm sound high at a time. There is a hidden android features you might have been missing which can solve this issue.

However, Android gives you a quick-and-easy shortcut. Tap the physical volume buttons on the side of your device to make whatever’s currently playing softer or louder (if no media is playing, this action will adjust your ringtone volume). When you do, a small box will pop up on the screen, showing which volume setting is changing and how. On the side of that box, you should see a small arrow. Tap it, and the box will expand to show multiple volume sliders at once. This can save you a trip to Settings.

8. Control The Image And The Text Size

If you are struggling to read from the display or want to see things more zoomed in. Or maybe you just want to cramp as much as icons and texts on the screen and don’t mind zoom out the view. There is an option by which you can do that. This might be the hidden android features you might have been missing.

To change size settings, open the Android Settings app and go to the Display heading. From the Display menu, tap the Font size link to change the default font size. Select the Display size link to make on-screen objects larger or smaller.

9. Copy Text From Recent Apps Menu

Though this option is only available in the Android Pie so far, this is a classic feature to have on the Android. When you access your recent apps menu, from that screen you can select and copy certain text and can use it in any other apps. This way you can save a whole lot of time and hassle while copying and sharing information.

10. Guess The Song

This happens to us many times, you suddenly listen to a song on the radio or in a cafe or any other place, you fall in love with that tune but can not guess the singer or the song. That tune keeps ringing in your mind, but you can not find the real song anymore. There is a hidden android features you might have been missing which can solve this issue.

To help you with that Google assistance came up with a feature “what’s this song?”. But to use that you need to open the google assistance and then press the record button, and wait for the “what’s this song?” button to pop up. Or, you could say: “OK Google, what’s this song?” which it may or may not hear depending on how loud it is and how clearly you speak.

Android phones come with a widget named “Sound Search” which acts as a shortcut to the Google Assistant’s “what’s this song?” feature. This allows your smartphone to listen out for music. It does not matter whether it is coming from a TV, radio, or something else. Sound Search is perfect for you if you want to find out who’s singing that catchy tune before it disappears forever.

11. Hide Lock Screen Notification Contents

Lock screen notifications are quite handy features to see all the notification in your phone at a glance. You can check and delete the notification messages or even can click the notification and go to the app to do further actions. But not all the notification you would like to share with anyone who might get the chance to hold your phone. For example, your Whatsapp notification might hold some messages which are private or confidential. There is a hidden android features you might have been missing which can solve this issue.

In your phone’s “notifications” settings menu (or “lock screen and security” or similar), you’ll find an option to disable these notifications altogether, but there’s also a way to get the best of both options. The “show but hide contents” option will allow the notification while keeping its contents private. Notifications will be accessible only when the phone will be unlocked.

Saving Multiple ID for Facelock or Fingerprint Lock

many of us save only one finger for the fingerprint lock. But there are options to save multiple fingerprint IDs. For the best service, you should save at least two fingerprints – thumb and index finger from each hand of yours. Thus it will help you unlock or use your phone even when your one hand is busy or wet.

Typing on the Default Keyboard One-handed

The world has passed the era of 5.5inch mobile phones. Now, most of the phones are between 6-7 inch and you are provably handling one such. While holding your phone with one hand if you are struggling to reach the button of the other side of your phone’s default keyboard. This is one of the basic smartphone features not used enough.

So many functional keyboards are available for both android and iOS. You can just choose one from there and start using the one-handed option of the keyboard. Keys are brought closer and reachable positions to type one-handed on your smartphone. You can easily toggle between this one-handed keyboard and the default keyboard whenever you need it. You can even choose the swipe keyboard option for faster typing in one hand.

iPhone users can also enable a one-handed mode as below. Head to Settings > Accessibility > Touch and toggle Reachability, after which you can swipe down near the bottom of the screen (iPhone X or newer) or double-tap the home button for older iPhones when to activate the mode.

It’s a little more fragmented for Android users (and Pixel phones don’t offer the feature at all) – but in general, you can head into Settings > Advanced and look for “one-handed mode” or similar. Or can choose a suitable keyboard app from the Google Playstore with the feature available.

Avoiding Notification Crowd On The Notification Window

We love to install new apps with unique features for different functions. While installing the app we allow the apps to send us to push notifications whenever they wish to. As a result, at the end of the day, we get unnecessary notifications on the screen. This hinders the attention to our work, interrupt our regular activities of life.

For a better experience, we must not allow the apps to send us to push notifications if that is not required for the core function of that App. For Android and iPhone users, head into Settings > Notifications to see what options you have.

Battery Protection From Overcharging

We often love to charge our phones at night. Before sleeping, we plug in our phones to the charger and pull it off in the morning. As result batteries are charged to 100% long before the morning and stays connected with the charger. Your phone’s battery won’t overcharge if it’s left plugged in, it will trickle charge as it dips below 100 percent, warming the battery.

Many love to browse the web or Facebook, even play games while charging the phone. These also heat up the battery. While you might enjoy the 100% charged battery but eventually battery loses the battery life.

So for the solution to this problem, charge your phone during the day so you can unplug it at night. And pull your phone off the charger when it hits 100 percent.

iPhone owners can make use of the Optimized Battery Charging setting. As your phone learns your routine, Optimized Battery Charging will delay charging past 80 percent when it predicts the phone will be connected to a charger for an extended period of time, like when you charge overnight. And, the feature is smart enough to top off your battery, so your phone is at 100 percent when you usually wake up. Optimized Battery Charging should be on by default. But you can double-check by heading to Settings > Battery.

For Android phone owners, you can download a battery monitoring app, like Battery 100% Alarm (free on Google Play). You set the app to let you know when the charge level reaches a level that you set.

Learning all the best practices for your smartphone is really important. That will save you time and effort. You should also learn all the cool things your phone can do. And more importantly, make sure there are no basic smartphone features not used enough. Then you can check out the hidden android features that you should not miss.

Cost savings with Refurbished Phone

The primary benefit of considering a refurbished phone is cost savings. You can get a phone almost new with much less money than the new one. Hence there are grades for refurbished phones, you can easily check the quality of the phone. If the price considering the quality is reasonable, you can buy the phone.

If you choose the newer models, the price difference between a new phone and a Grade A refurbished phone will be very less. But if you choose an older model of phones like iPhone 6S you might get a very good deal. Price could differ at around $100.

Warranty for Refurbished Phones

Surprisingly “warranty” will still be there depending on who carried out the refurbishment process. Either the brand or the professional repairers. In most cases of manufacturer refurbishment, the phone is thoroughly tested for defects, the defects fixed, maybe even the cosmetic parts such as front and rear panels replaced, it is reboxed and sold as refurbished.

Seller refurbished phones are sometimes unreliable but you can’t go wrong with a manufacturer refurbished phone. In almost all manufacturer refurbished phones, they will offer you a three to six-month warranty.

Tests carried out by the seller typically include whether the battery charges and checking the buttons and cameras work. The seller will also verify audio quality and screen responsiveness, as well as how the phone connects to Wi-Fi and 3G/4G. Some refurbished phone sellers update the handset to the latest version of the operating system that powers it.

Updated Version OS

Sometimes, the renowned refurbished retailers do even offer the updated version OS with the refurbished phones. As the older models might face some limitations over time and newer version operating systems might even make those old models much alive. These retailers even offer updated OS services for a longer period than the original retailer.

Conscious Effects of Refurbished Phones

Seems like it has become a trend for the latest generation to change their mobile phone regularly. They try to stay updated with the latest technology. So, they prefer changing phones regularly with newer ones. So, every year millions of old phones find their way to the waste dumps. These old electronic devices spread radiation to nature. It is a very complicated process to neutralize the old phones for nature.

So, if we can reuse the old phones after refurbishing by the manufacturer this can have a much better impact in reducing these highly hazardous electronic waste dumps.

Should You Buy Refurbished Phone

If you’re on a budget, I think refurbished phones are a good idea to get a high-end phone at a low price. Just make sure it is a manufacturer refurbished phone with a warranty. Seller refurbished phones are sometimes unreliable. You have to check the trustability of the seller.

For example from Apple-certified retailers, you will receive a “like new” device that has been thoroughly cleaned, with a new battery and outer shell, and genuine Apple parts (if needed). The device will come with all accessories, cables, and operating systems. All Apple Certified Refurbished products are packaged in a brand new white box and will be sent to you with free shipping and returns.

When Refurbishing is Needed?

1. If anything is faulty and completely not working.
2. When something is completely outdated and requires to be renewed.
3. When the phone is used for a short period on a trial basis or for some other purposes

To make you clearly understand the concept we will discuss these facts below in detail. Many returns their phones during the warranty period. Some of those phones are returned after service. Some might even get a new phone as a replacement.

Why such Problems Arise that need Refurbishing?

Sometimes during the manufacturing process, some problems could arise. Maybe the phone is not performing as it should be. Or maybe some of the functions are acting weird. Faults arise for many reasons including below –

1. No proper attention at the time of mass production
2. Loose parts and connections.
3. Improper handling during transportation of goods from one place to another which leads to breakage of parts.
4. Synchronization between the parts not proper
5. Maybe the QC checking was not up to the mark

These are the most probable reasons due to which the functionality of a device gets affected. And users return their phone with a complaint. Big deal for those who just paid their hard-earned money for a faulty good, but these goods can be easily replaced by the company and customer usually gets replacement within a week with a similar warranty.

What Happens to Faulty Phones?

These goods undergo a simultaneous process so that specific fault can be detected and using suitable tools the fault is rectified properly with all caution. This prolongs the life of the device. But It is not guaranteed that all the faults will be ok from now. But at least now it is a faultless phone ( refurbished phones ) with all problems rectified. And equivalent to a new phone produced out of a production plant. Even a new phone is prone to various kinds of faults depending on how the user handles and takes care of it.

Who does the Refurbishing?

Talking about refurbishment activity, these activities are not carried out at any local repair centers, it is either done by the professional repairers to whom the brand (company, OEM’s) sell these faulty goods OR in few cases by the brand(company, OEM’s) itself if they have such facilities available within the country (varies from brand to brand).

Warranty for Refurbished Phones

Surprisingly “warranty” will still be there depending on who carried out the refurbishment process. Either the brand or the professional repairers. In most cases of manufacturer refurbishment, the phone is thoroughly tested for defects, the defects fixed, maybe even the cosmetic parts such as front and rear panels replaced, it is reboxed and sold as refurbished.

Seller refurbished phones are sometimes unreliable but you can’t go wrong with a manufacturer refurbished phone. In almost all manufacturer certified refurbished phones mean, you will be offered a three to six-month warranty, with some offering warranty extensions for a fee.

Tests carried out by the seller typically include whether the battery charges and checking the buttons and cameras work. The seller will also verify audio quality and screen responsiveness, as well as how the phone connects to Wi-Fi and 3G/4G. Some refurbished phone sellers update the handset to the latest version of the operating system that powers it.

Not all Refurbished Phones are the Repaired Ones

Not all refurbished phone means they were at one stage faulty, though. Some networks and retailers classify ‘refurbished phones’ as handsets that were returned by customers who changed their minds within the 30-day cooling-off period after they signed up for a contract. Before being put on sale, all refurbished phones have been thoroughly checked and tested to ensure they’re in full working order. Certified refurbished phones mean they are authorized by the manufacturer and guaranteed for quality.

But be cautious sometimes people may trick you to buy a refurbished phone calling it to be a new one OR sometimes they don’t mention that the product is a refurbished one which is unethical. It is mandatory to label the good as “refurbished” if it undergoes such processes.

Grading of Refurbished Phones

All refurbished phones are given a grade that reflects their condition. There’s no universally applied standard for grading, so it’s best to check before buying.

But as a rule of thumb, the grades range from A-D and break down like this:

• Grade A. This is as nearly new gets. At best, it’ll be a phone returned within the 30-day cooling-off period, so it is to all intents and purposes still a brand new phone. At worst, it’ll show negligible signs of wear.
• Grade B. Expect the odd chip or scratch, but nothing too unsightly.
• Grade C. Refurbished phones graded ‘C’ will have perhaps up to five blemishes and will look like they’ve been used.
• Grade D. A grade D refurbished phone will be broken in some way, will look second-hand and will have been well used.

Most networks will only sell grades A-C. You can get grade D phones from some refurbished phone traders on eBay, but even they’ll typically recommend you only buy one if you’re able to repair phones yourself.

To complicate things further, some networks use their own grading system. O2, for instance, favors the grades ‘Perfect’, ‘Almost Perfect’ and ‘Perfectly Fine’. But where networks do use their own system, you can usually find key explaining grades on their site.

Sounds interesting? If you plan to buy a refurbished phone you must check Refurbished Phone a Good Choice or a Dire Mistake? – before proceeding for purchase.

Never give out your password to anyone.

Never give it to friends, even if they’re really good friends. A friend can even accidentally pass your password along to others. Over time the best friend can even become an ex-friend/enemy and abuse it.

Never Use Just One Password.

If accidentally your strong password is exposed to anyone, he or she will have the access to every account of yours. It is also possible that someone working at a site where you used that password could pass it on or use it to break into your accounts at other sites.

Use a Passphrase

Security experts are now recommending a  “passphrase” rather than simply a password. Such a phrase should be relatively long – perhaps 20 characters or so and consist of seemingly random words strung together along with numbers, symbols, and upper and lower case letters. Think of something that you can remember but others couldn’t guess such as RedBanana#56ToyotaFi$h. That’s relatively long – perhaps 20 characters or so — using seemingly random words strung together along with numbers, symbols and upper and lower case letters. Think of something that you can remember but others couldn’t guess such as RedBanana#56ToyotaFi$h. Avoid using famous quotations that might be easy to guess.

Make the password at least 12 characters long

The longer the better. Longer passwords are harder for thieves to crack. But don’t use a password you can not remember.

Include numbers, capital letters and symbols.

Consider using symbols as $ instead of an S or a number like 1 instead of an L, or including an & or % – but note that $1ngle is NOT a good password. Password thieves are onto this. But Mf$J1ravng (short for “My friend Sam Jones is really a very nice guy) is a very strong password for account security.

Don’t post it in plain sight

This might seem obvious to many. But statistics have found that quite a lot of people post their password on their monitor with a sticky note. It is a very bad idea. Best is to remember it. but if you must write it down, hide the note somewhere where no one can find it easily.

Consider Using a Password Manager

Programs or web services like RoboForm (Windows only) or Lastpass (Windows and Mac) let you create many different but very strong passwords for each of your sites. Eventually, you only have to remember the one password to access the program. The program will store all the other passwords for you.

Consider Using Multi-Factor Authentication

There are many apps now to provide this service. Even Microsoft also have their own authenticator app for both Android and iOS. You can just use this two-step verification app to secure your accounts where there is an option. In this App, there will be some random numbers that will be changed within a very short period. After you connect the app as your password protector for any site, you will need to provide the password and the MFA code as the second layer.

Don’t Fall for “Phishing” Attacks

Be very careful before clicking on a link (even if it appears to be from a legitimate site) asking you to log in. it might ask you to change your password or provide any other personal information. It might be legit or it might be a “phishing” scam where the information you enter goes to a hacker. When you are in doubt, don’t click a link. Check the website carefully for slight changes than the original ones it is pretending as.

Make sure your devices are secure

The best password in the world will not be able to protect you if someone can look over your shoulder while you type. If you forget to log out on a cyber cafe computer your accounts are in danger even with a strong password for account security. Malicious software, including “key loggers” that record all of your keystrokes, has been used to steal passwords and other information. To increase security, make sure you’re using up-to-date anti-malware software and that your operating system is up to date.

Use a “password” or fingerprints for your phone too

Most phones can be locked so that the only way to use them is to type in a code. You can use a string of numbers or maybe a pattern you draw on the screen. Some new phones allow you to register fingerprints, which are quite secure. Sometimes when people with bad intentions find unlocked phones, they use them to steal the owners’ information, make a lot of calls, or send texts that look like they’re coming from the owner. Someone posing as you could send texts that make it look like you’re bullying or harassing someone in your address book with inappropriate images or words. So, a strong password for account security of your phone is also important.

These crimes are increasing day by day. A lot of reports are filed and being handled by the authorities. We must try to avoid such incidents and protect ourselves. We also must know How to Stay Safe Online while Surfing the Internet, as laws are strict these days for any kind of ill practices.

Important Tips to maintain Digital Protection and Cyber Crime Prevention while Surfing Online

1)  We need to be the Good Digital Citizen. And must grow up and need to be the adult. We need to act sensibly as below –

• Control your digital sharing habits. Do not share everything you get hands-on. Always try to think about online safety tips.
• Create personal lists with whom you want to share what. Be careful to share your personal pictures. Your kids are not public property. They don’t need to be in public news feeds.
• Filter your social media friends lists regularly.

2)   Privacy settings and security details are a very important fact we need to take care of. Please follow below –

• You need to make a habit of checking your settings on all your social platforms frequently.
• Try to change your password regularly. Always use a strong password and never share it with anyone. It is recommended to keep the password in memory only instead of writing it down to somewhere.
• Keep your cell phone password protected in the same way. It is better to use a different password for your personal mail and social platforms.

3)  We need to be aware of our online landscape.

• Set a Google Alert with your name and maintain it.
• You need to search your name in regular intervals online.
• You need to keep your online social media profiles updated and protected.

4)  We must learn the laws of the Internet. Because of our actions, we might be in trouble with these modern lawsuits.

• Please learn the information and laws about cyberbullying laws.
• Also learn the Revenge porn laws. Might come in handy for your family and friends if someone gets affected.
• If you are being harassed online, always save the evidence. If you do need to file anything with the authorities, they will need this.

5)  Dealing with a troll is important as nowadays we have to face such situations in social media.

• Don’t engage in trolling. Also, encourage your friends and family not to react on your behalf.
• Please keep the record of the incident. After you have copied the evidence, block the culprit.
• You can report the perpetrator to the site provider. You have to copy and paste how they have violated the Terms of Service or Code of Conduct. After that politely ask them to remove the Content.
• If needed you can tell a friend. Certainly, you don’t need to handle this alone. In such situations emotionally you can feel hopeless or powerless. As both a victim and survivor you need to know- you’re not alone. You don’t be embarrassed or ashamed. You need your full support system to work. Take care of yourself. Take care of your near and dear ones. People do care.

If you follow all the online safety tips for using the internet, you will be able to avoid the majority of the troubles.

Basics You Should Know About Rooting

Rooting is the process of allowing Android smartphone users to attain administrative privilege. It means having complete control of your device. Why would someone opt for complete control over the phone? The fact is your manufacturer holds some of the features or the capability of the phone to give you flawless performance. That means some of the potentiality of your device is spared and never comes handy for you.

There are other reasons behind the preservation of some rights in your smartphone by the manufacturers. If you don’t know properly about the advances technology of the phone, you might access unnecessary programs and in the process damage the system. So, it is to prevent anyone from destroying the system created by the manufacturer.

There’s some risk of rooting android. If you don’t do it properly or follow the process you can brick your beloved phone. Also, there are words that, if you root your phone, your manufacturer warranty will void. But the truth is, rooting is a software process, if an expert does the rooting, he can easily unroot and flash your phone to get it back as the original. Which is no way traceable to void the warranty.

So the question is, is it really beneficial to root your phone? If you are having second thought let’s tempt you with some benefits –

Benefits of Rooting Android Smartphones

Actually there are so many things you can do once you rooted your device. Since there is no restriction that your manufacturer put on your device. You can customize your phone whatever way you like. There are thousands of apps and tutorials to guide you through the process. Let’s check some of the benefits of rooting android smartphones you can get by rooting your phone –

All Disturbing Bloatware Can Be Removed

The first thing most of the users do after rooting the phone is they get rid of the useless software that comes with the phone automatically. The majority of these pre-installed apps don’t come to any use and many of those even irritating. They take up the phone’s memory and the processor power without doing anything for you. After rooting the phone you can easily remove these built-in apps which are generally known as the bloatware.

Overclock Your CPU To Boost Performance

Another extreme benefit of rooting your android smartphone is to boost the speed and performance of your processor. That only possible in a rooted device. As we said earlier, your manufacturer holds some processing power to outlive the warranty period and to maintain the uniform performance for a longer period. With the root access, you get the superuser ability and can control your CPU with certain apps. Though misuse can lead to reduced hardware lifetime due to overheating. But with controlled use of this power can let you play games which you could not play earlier on your phone. Or can perform multiple heavier functions without lag.

SetCPU for Root Users

is such an app that lets you control your CPU settings on a rooted Android phone or tablet. You can accelerate your processor to unleash your phone’s true multitasking potential or dial your CPU’s speed down to save battery.

Click the link to get the app – SetCPU for Root Users

Backup Your Phone Truly

You might wonder why would someone root his phone while you can back up your phone in so many options of cloud storage. But truly backing up your phone means backing up every single thing as it is in your phone and letting you restore the same when needed. In your normal back up you store images or files or the contacts or other specific things. But you can not copy your phone as it is.

Titanium Backup

This app can back up all your system settings and the applications along with their data on any external device you choose.

If your phone is ever corrupted due to any malfunction or flashed with a faulty custom ROM, Titanium Backup can save you. It will cut the hassle and will get back your phone loaded up just like it was before. Best of all, it is a FREE app that you can use only if your phone is rooted.

Click the link to get the app – Titanium Backup

Vanish All Ads From Your Life

With the help of many free apps available for rooted androids, you can easily block the Ads on your phone. No app or browser can show you an ad if you don’t allow it. All you need to do is to choose the correct ad blocker after rooting the device. This is another most appreciated benefit of rooting android smartphone.

AdAway

It’s an open-source adblocking application. You can manually select the sources to block the Ads or use default ones. Default ones are more than enough for everybody. But if you want you can tinker with the settings as per your wish.

Click the link to get the app – AdAway

Flash Your Loving Custom ROM

Many opt for rooting their device only for this option. You saw a custom ROM so beautiful you want to experience that ROM on your phone. But in most cases, there is no chance your manufacturer gonna let you do that without buying a new phone. But with the root access, you truly own your phone. You can change the custom ROM anytime you want. There are so many amazing custom ROM available to choose from.

Some Latest Custom ROM

You can search online and you will get hundreds of Custom ROM suitable for your specific model of phone. Some of the most popular custom ROM are Pixel Experience, LineageOS, AOSP Extended & Paranoid Android. You can check them if you like.

Flash Custom Kernel To Rediscover Your Phone

Never heard of Custom Kernels? Actually this part of your smartphone helps the apps to communicate with the hardware of your phone. Most of the mind dazzling tweaks are possible only by customizing the kernel. To flash a custom kernel you will definitely need the root access. With the custom kernel, you can get better performance & battery life for your phone. Features like WiFi tethering on unsupported phones are also possible. There any many more features like faster battery charging is also possible to add in a phone even if it does not support generally. It is one of the most popular benefits of rooting android smartphones.

Franco Kernel Manager – for all devices & kernels

This is a paid version Kernal manager. You can get a lot of free kernel manager too. Since this is a pretty sensitive function and can be pretty complicated too. We recommend this kernel manger. It is available in the playstore and you can avail this professional version with a very small amount of charge.

Click the link to get the app – Franco Kernel Manager – for all devices & kernels

Enjoy The Best Version Of The Apps & The Freedom

Viper4Android FX

It’s a sound mod. You can improve the sound of your headphones and speakers. It is one of the most popular sound equalizers to give you the best possible sound experience from even a very ordinary headphone. But we recommend you to use a standard headphone from any moderate brands to enjoy the true mesmerizing sound quality with the help of this app.

Click the link to get the app – Viper4Android FX

Substratum

Substratum is the tool that can apply system-wide themes on your phone. Normally we use a lot of themes which actually just change the launcher or the icons. But this tool will let you change the whole appearance of your phone theme.

Click the link to get the app – Substratum

Should You Root The Android Device? Will The Benefits Of Rooting Android Smartphones Worth The Risk?

It depends on how do you want to use your device. If you like to customize your device to your heart’s content and are willing to take the risk then you should do it. But make sure to follow proper guide on the XDA forums or YouTube. You can enjoy the benefits of rooting android smartphones only if you are at least a moderately tech-savvy person and willing to learn and handle a bit of technical operations.

There is always the risk of bricking your phone if you don’t go through the process with the help of professional guidelines. Also can damage your hardware if you overdo something as we mentioned above.

If you don’t think you wish to go that far even considering the advantages of rooting your android smartphones, you can check this link for some cool things you can do without rooting your device.

Learn Your Phone

First, need to know your phone. Need to know the capabilities and the weakness of your phone. So you can check what are the reasons applicable for your phone. if your processor is slow, ram is not enough for the type of operations you try in your phone, memory is too full, the system is not updated, too many apps or any other reason.

Steps for Boosting the Speed of Slow Android Phone

Restart the Phone

Before doing anything you might think of restarting your phone. By doing that, you can clear up those background apps which were running and absorbing the processor capacity.

Uninstall Unnecessary Apps

Try to uninstall unnecessary apps from your slow android phone. Each app takes away space from Ram and consumes the processor capacity. Some might even run continuously in the background even when you are not using it. Thus your phone could act pretty slow. You can check which app consuming the most power from the app management software available in google play store. Some phones might have those options in the built-in app manager. So, uninstalling heavier apps or power-consuming apps can speed up your phone.

Update to Latest Android Version

Check if any Android system update is available or due. Cause these updates often contain genuine bug fixes and performance enhancements for the phones. Make sure you update to the latest version possible for your phone.

Keep Enough Free Space

Try to keep enough free space for the phone. Delete unnecessary apps, files, images, videos to free up spaces. Try to use high-quality memory cards for high-speed reading and writing. If the space on the phone is too low, this might slow down all the process to convert your loving device to a slow android phone.

Remove Live Wallpaper or Animated Widgets

Avoid any live wallpaper or any animated themes as these also consume processor capacity and thus slows down the phone. You should not use too many widgets, remove unnecessary widgets from the home screen as these run in the background thus slows down the phone.

Rooting Your Device or Using Factory Data Reset

If any of the above doesn’t work, you might think of the last two options as rooting your device or using the factory data reset. You can root your slow android phone based on your requirement or using a pattern. Before rooting your device you must learn about the risks and the drawbacks too. Factory data reset is the safer option obviously, where you can wipe off all your data, apps, and settings and start from the beginning as the new phone.