Installing an APK File? How to Check If It's Safe

One of the best things about Android is the amount of control that the operating system gives users. For instance, with an iPhone, if you want to install apps, you have to either use the App Store or jailbreak the phone. With Android, you can use Google Play, or side load the app using an APK file. To do this, all you need to do is copy the APK on your phone, enable Unknown sources in the privacy settings and launch the APK, and you'll install the app that's been packaged in the file. However, this level of simplicity also means that there's a little risk - for Android users, downloading apps via Google Play is the safest option. Based on the data released by the Android security team this year, you're about 10 times more likely to have a potentially harmful application on your device if you're not just using Google Play. Because of that, if you're planning to use an APK file you've downloaded, it's a good idea to run a few simple checks to try and verify that it is really what it claims to be. Luckily, there are a few simple ways you can do this.

Scanning the APK
1. VirusTotal
The VirusTotal website lets you upload your APK files to check for viruses and other issues.
Android files are the fifth most popular file to be checked on the website.
The one caveat is that the file size has to be under 128MB, so some games in particular might be too big for this tool.
To use, do the following:
Open the site.
Click on Choose File, and in the browser dialogue box, select your file.
Click on Scan it! to get your results.

2. NViso ApkScan Another tool that's similar to VirusTotal is NViso ApkScan.
It also provides a detailed report on the APK file you have,
and there's no file size limit. We've seen this tool recommended on the most number of forums,
and it worked quickly and easily.
To use Nviso, do the following:
Open the Nviso site.
Drag and drop the APK file onto the site.
Click on Scan package.

How to Book an Ola or Uber Using Google Maps

If you want to book a taxi, you would normally just open the Uber or Ola app, right?
But as it turns out, you can book these cabs through a number of different apps - for example, Zomato and Practo have both partnered with Uber, so you can book a table/ make a doctor's appointment, and then book a car for your appointment right away.

One of our favourite integrations is with Google Maps - after you've looked up a place on the map, you can quickly call a taxi to get you there. It's a very straightforward feature and one that works pretty well. In the case of Uber, you can directly book the cab through Google Maps without even needing to have Uber app installed on your phone, while with Ola, after you've decided to call the taxi, you have to tap the Open App button to book an Ola cab.

The advantageof booking a cab through the Maps app is that you can see the prices for both Uber and Ola at the same time - and what's more, you can see fare estimates for all classes of cars, so you can see the price for an UberGo, UberX, or UberXL, or for an Ola Micro, Mini, or Prime, all at the same time. This lets you quickly compare fares and find the best option when booking a taxi. This is how it works

How to book an Ola or Uber via Google Maps:

1.Open the Google Maps app.
2.Using the search bar, enter you destination.
3.Tap the 'car icon' navigate button.
4.Tap on the taxi tab - the one that looks like a person holding one hand up.
5.To look at Ola and Uber fares, tap on the respective icons.
6.To book an Uber, tap on the class of car you want, then tap on Request.
7.The first time you do this, it will pop up a window where you have to link Uber
 to your Google account.
 Tap on your preferred account, and then tap on Link.
8.In the next screen, it will again show you the fare estimate. To complete the booking, tap Book.
9.To call an Ola instead, go to the Ola tab, choose the class you want, and then tap on Open app.
10.Assuming that you have Ola installed on your phone, this will open the Ola app,
 with the pickup and drop location already entered as it was on Google Maps. 
You can use the app as you normally would.


One thing we should point out is that there doesn't seem to be a way to unlink your
 Google and Uber accounts after you set this up - we've written to Uber to ask if it's possible,
 and will update this piece if and when we hear back from the company.

Whatsapp for Android Finally getting video call feature

WhatsApp for Android users can now finally enjoy video calls. The latest WhatsApp beta app brings the feature and is currently available to users who are part of the company's official Android beta testing program. The functionality appears to be working across several beta versions, from v2.16.316 onwards.

The new video calling feature can be accessed via the calls tab. For making a video call, users will have to tap on the dialler icon present alongside the search icon. On pressing the dialler icon, users will get an option to either make a WhatsApp voice call or video call. It's worth noting that feature will work only when the caller and the recipient are part of the Android beta testing program. In case, the recipient is still using an old version of the app (or is not part of the beta testing program) will get a prompt saying "Couldn't place call" followed by text, "Couldn't place call. Recipient [name of contact being called] needs to update WhatsApp to receive video calls."


I the video call feature available to WhatsApp on Android and note that the feature works pretty decently in bad networks as well - however, audio is pain point in any kind of network. Notably, several different interfaces are currently showing up for users - some users see the profile picture while making the call, while others see their own live front camera feed when making or receiving a call. While making an outgoing or incoming WhatsApp for Android users can update to beta version v2.16.316 or above to experience the video calling feature. For those interested to check out the video calling feature can sign-up for the beta testing program right away. Some users even on the beta version are not able to try the feature, Android Police reports, and they could try wiping app data and re-logging into the app. However, taking a backup is recommended first. You could also try updating to one of the latest beta versions available - v3.16.318 (via APK Mrrror) Unfortunately, there is no word when the feature will be rolled out widely to all users. We have written to WhatsApp to check when video calling will be available to all users and will update the story, if we receive a reply. WhatsApp has been planning to rollout the video calling feature to its messaging app for long. The video calling feature was first rumoured to be added in May and was also spotted in beta versions. Though, the video calling feature was removed even before making it to a broader audience.

Google Keep: What is it and why you should use it?

Seriously, making notes is fun but finding a great app which do this is a headache...

But not now,There is an app that let you to do note taking, making schedules, to-do-list etc.The app is called Google keep. Many of you heard about Google Keep but What is it and what should we use??

Out of the numerous productivity enhancing digital services (e.g. Gmail, Google Drive) that Google has, one very useful is Google Keep. It's a note-taking application that lets you quickly create color coded notes, to-do lists, reminders etc., which are synchronized to your Google account. Google Keep is available on both iOS and android.

You can access the notes you made in any device there is also a desktop version of keep.google.com you

Android, but its Chrome extension is pretty basic

Not anymore, as the updated Google Keep extension lets you save links to Google Keep with one click. Not just that, you can also save some selected text or image(s) on a websites. Here's how to do it:
Step 1: Install the updated Google Keep extension from the Chrome Web Store. Once the extension is installed, you need to sign in with the Google account that you use with Google Keep.
Step 2: You can now continue browsing like you normally do. When you visit a website that you would like to save for later reference, just click on the Google Keep extension's icon and the website's link will be saved to Google Keep. You can also include additional notes and labels while saving the links for even better management and organization.

Why portable apps!

Have you ever heard about portable apps. Hmmm... Sounds familiar.

We require a diverse range of software applications for our day to day productivity needs. These include everything from web browsers to media players. While dealing with software programs.
So what are portable apps?

Simply speaking, a portable application refers to a software program that doesn't have to be installed in order to be used. Portable applications are generally available as zipped files, which include both the program and its additional configuration files. You can simply unzip the files, and run the included application. Also, any additional files that a portable application might create are also saved in its home folder. Almost all popular software programs (e.g. Google Chrome, VLC media player) are available in the portable format.

Why you should use portable apps?

Portability
Portable apps can be transferred to a USB flash drive and carried anywhere. This can be helpful if you want to have your favorite programs available with you at all times.
Better privacy
Since portable apps don't need to be installed, they don't leave any usage traces or leftover files behind. This makes them quite suited for private usage scenarios.
Synchronization with cloud storage services
Portable apps (with all their additional configuration files) can be synchronized with cloud storage services such as Dropbox. This is really useful if you use a cloud storage service to sync your files on multiple computers, and want to have the exact same set of software applications running on all of them.
--------source:TOI

4 Brilliant Tips to Make Your Windows 10 PC Run Faster

If you’re running a Windows 10 PC for a while, chances are, it has slowed down a bit. This tends to happen with almost every Windows PC and besides the usual steps of cleaning up disks and dumping temporary internet files, there are some additional things you can do to ensure a speedy performance.

1. Animations
The one major change in Windows 10 is all the animation introduced by Microsoft. Although it doesn’t affect newer systems that much, some of the older systems might not be able to keep up. So, go to the search bar in the taskbar and type Advanced and then click the View advanced system settings option. Under Performance click on the Settings tab, which is where we need to make some changes.

Under Visual Effects first check the radio option for Adjust for best performance. This will uncheck all the options below, but we need to re-enable some of them. These are Enable Peek, Smooth edges of screen font, Smooth-scroll list boxes and Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop. The last 2 aren’t mandatory, but if it helps your system, uncheck these too.

2. Remove Unwanted Software This goes without saying, but removing unwanted software is the best way to keep your PC running smoothly. Problem is, sometimes one software installs another software unbeknownst to us. The best workaround to this problem, I’ve found, is using Unchecky.

Searching for the keyword Remove program will directly take you directly to the spot where you can remove programs you don’t recognize or haven’t used for awhile and will probably not.
The best way to sort information here is to sort by Installed On, going from newest to oldest and remove programs you don’t recognize. Unless the Publisher is Microsoft or Oracle, you probably don’t need a lot of the software that you will find here.\

3. Maintaining Healthy Disks
Your hard disks are the primary source of all your information as well as the place where everything is installed. Keeping your primary hard drive is imperative, therefore old tips like Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmentation work great for Windows 10 too.
4. God Mode!
Copy-paste the below string as the name of a new folder on your desktop and get access to the most useful tools in one place.
GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}