Works as an in-house Writer at TechWiser and focuses on the latest smart consumer electronics. Closely follows the latest trends in consumer IoT and how it affects our daily lives. You can follow him on Twitter. Yes, he sometimes speaks in Third Person.
If you don’t have a credit card or any other online payment method, you can still pay for Netflix using Netflix gift cards. However, there are some questions about how to use it. For instance, where to buy a Netflix gift card? How to redeem a Netflix gift card? Can you buy a Netflix gift card if they are not sold in your country? Let’s clear all this confusion in this step-by-step guide.
Step 1 – Purchasing a Netflix Gift Card
Netflix gift cards can be purchased at various offline and online stores. However, Netflix doesn’t sell gift cards in every country. For example, in India, Netflix offers no gift card, however, it’s available in other countries such as the US, Canada, UK, etc.
To check if a Netflix gift card is available in your country, visit the Netflix gift card help center and choose your country name from the drop-down menu. It will not only tell you if Netflix sells gift cards in your country but also tell you where you can buy them.
In my case, Netflix doesn’t sell gift cards in India, but thankfully, you can still purchase a Netflix gift card from a different supported country. As long as the gift card is in the same currency as your Netflix bill, you are fine.
Therefore, I head over to amazon.com and bought $50 worth of Netflix gift cards. Do keep in mind that gift cards are non-refundable, and the minimum you have to buy is $25. So, spend accordingly.
Once you make the payment, Amazon will deliver you a gift card by email which usually arrives in 5 mins.
Click on the link and copy the Netflix gift card code. If you have a physical card, you can find the code by scratching the foil off the back of your card gently with a coin. Keep this code ready for the next step.
Step 2 – Redeeming a Netflix gift card
Let’s redeem the gift card now.
Make sure you are signed in to your Netflix account and then go to netflix.com/redeem.
Enter the code we have kept aside in our previous step and click the Redeem button.
A confirmation screen will appear, then you can start watching movies and web series.
The gift card balance is added to your account and your next payment will be deducted from the remaining balance. To check how much gift balance is left and how long it’ll last, log in to Netflix and select your profile icon > Account.
In the Membership and Billing section, you can see the remaining Netflix credit and expiry date.
Let’s clear some confusion.
FAQs
1. Can I Change the Plan?
Yes, you can change between those three plans anytime. To do so, log in to Netflix.com and select your profile icon > Account > Under Plan Details, select Change plan to upgrade or downgrade your Netflix plan. The changes will take place from the next payment cycle. Do keep in mind, that since I’ve purchased a Netflix gift card in USD, my subscription will switch to US charges as well. Although this won’t have any impact on my Netflix country’s catalog, I will still see all titles from India.
2. How Is the Extra Balance Used Up?
Netflix would prorate your Netflix balance and you can enjoy streaming your favorite shows until the balance runs out. You can check the plan validity on the Settings page.
3. Do I Need to Connect to a VPN?
No, you don’t have to connect to a VPN during the entire process. Netflix officially allows it, users, to buy a gift card from any supported country, as long as the gift card is in the same currency as your Netflix bill.
After a lot of rescheduling, Flipkart’s and Amazon’s Festival sale is here. Both eCommerce giants will begin the rain of discounts on October 3 — and go on till October 10. Of course, for Flipkart Plus and Amazon Prime members, the sale will start one day early i.e. October 2, 2021.
To help you find the best deals on mobile phones, laptops, smartwatches, TWS, etc., we have divided this article into multiple sections.
In addition to the discounted price, customers will also get a 10 percent instant discount on both Flipkart and Amazon during the festive sale.
Flipkart customers can use Axis Bank and ICICI Bank credit or debit cards to get a 10% additional discount. There will also be assured cashback on wallet and UPI transactions through Paytm.
Amazon, on the other hand, has partnered with HDFC Bank to offer instant discounts during the Festival Sale 2021. There will be a 10% instant discount on HDFC debit, credit card, and EMI transactions.
These were some of the best deals that we could find for you on Amazon and Flipkart. The festival have showered us with so many discounts and great deals that it’s hard to keep track of them all but don’t worry, we’d keep updating this space as we discover new deals for you. You can also follow us on Twitter to stay updated on any new discoveries.
Apple announced yet another iteration of the iOS at WWDC 2021. The iOS 15 adds to the comprehensive feature set of iOS 14 and offers better privacy, intuitive features, and a tighter ecosystem. If you weren’t glued to the live stream like I was then you may have missed some cool iOS 15 features. Fret not, I have compiled a list of all the best iOS 15 new features, tips, and tricks to use the iPhone effectively.
iOS 15 Tips and Tricks
Before we begin, here’s how to install iOS 15 on iPhone. It’s available for all devices released after the iPhone 6s or later. If you have any of the newest iPhone 13 series devices, it’ll come with iOS 15 pre-installed.
Open the Settings app on your iPhone
Swipe down and tap General
Choose Software Update
Tap Download
If iOS 14.8 appears at the top, look at the bottom and choose Upgrade to iOS 15
Then tap Download and Install
1. FaceTime Friends on Android and Windows
One of the biggest changes in iOS 15 is that Android and Windows users will finally be able to join FaceTime calls.
On iOS 15, simply open the Facetime app and you will see a new Create Link option on top, copy that link to your clipboard, and share it with your friends – who can join the Facetime call from Windows, Android, Chromebook. Previously, Facetime was only available on iOS and Mac devices.
However, this doesn’t mean your friends can start a Facetime call from an Android phone or Windows PC. A FaceTime link can only be generated from an iPhone, iPad, or Mac but anyone with the link can join the call. It’s not perfect but it’s a start.
Other feature additions to FaceTime include the option to blur your background with portrait mode, voice isolation, and a wide spectrum mode. Much like Zoom, Facetime now also allows you to schedule calls so that people can join in at the right time.
2. SharePlay – Watch Films together
Update: SharePlay seems not to be working on the iOS 15’s stable version.
Apple is trying to bring the popular watch parties features on iPhone with SharePlay in iOS 15
With SharePlay, Facetime users can watch movies and listen to music, and even share their iPhone screen with other Facetime users. This comes in handy when you want to video chat while watching or listening to songs with your group.
To start using SharePlay, simply start a FaceTime call with your friend(s). Then, you can either listen to a song on Apple Music or watch content on the TV app or tap on the right upper corner on a FaceTime call and select the Share Screen button.
However, as of now, Facetime will support limited apps such as Disney Plus, ESPN Plus, HBO Max, Hulu, MasterClass, Paramount Plus, Pluto TV, TikTok, and Twitch.
Major streaming sites like Disney Plus, Hulu, and Prime Video, are not a part of SharePlay as of now. In fact, they have added watch party features natively in their app this year.
iOS 15 introduced Focus mode that is basically a customizable DND section. Instead of just silencing calls and notifications, Focus mode lets you control which notifications get through. There are four modes: Sleep, Work, Personal, and DND.
To turn ON the focus mode, simply open the Control Center and long-press the focus button, and select the mode. If you’ve created a custom focus mode and set it to activate at a point during the day, it will be enabled automatically.
4. Private Relay – Kind of Like a VPN But Not Really
Another big addition to iOS 15 is Private Relay – it not only encrypts your browsing traffic but also relays it through two different servers to keep the data traffic hidden. At first glance, Private Relay may look like a VPN but unlike VPN, Private relay only works within the Safari browser and doesn’t let you choose a server from different countries.
Private Relay isn’t free though. It comes bundled with iCloud+ so if you’ve purchased iCloud storage or have an Apple One subscription then Private Relay would be already active for you. You can check the status by navigating to Settings > Apple ID > iCloud > Private Relay > Turn ON.
Once activated, you would be able to access all blocked sites that have been disabled by your ISP. Plus, it would prevent trackers and websites from gathering your data.
5. Setup Account Recovery
iOS 15 has a new feature called Account recovery, that will help you gain access back to your device, if you lose your device, or forget your password.
All you need to do is, add your friend or family member as a trusted contact on the Account Recovery page. the Settings app, select your Apple ID, then select Account Recovery in the Password & Security section. From there you can add a new recovery contact.
If in the future, you are locked out of your device, your friend can visit the same Account Recovery page in their Settings app, select your name, and give you the recovery key.
Do keep in mind, your friend needs to have iOS 15 as well.
6. Live Text – Copy Text from Images
One of the most powerful updates of iOS 15 is Live Text.
With Live Text, users can not only pull text, email addresses, phone numbers, and even handwritten text from pictures but also instantly copy and paste it anywhere on the iPhone.
In order to use the ‘Live Text’ feature, simply tap on any text field on your iPhone. This will brings up an additional option ‘text from camera’. Tapping on the camera option will bring up a smaller camera window, which you can point at the text. From here, you can select the text, by dragging your finger on it and copy it to your clipboard.
This feature would only work with iPhones running on A12 or above. This means iPhone X and older would not support this functionality.
Along with that, you would be able to detect objects in a photo such as flowers, books, mountains, etc. It’s going to tremendously help in searching for that image you took three years ago.
7. Hide My Email
Another useful privacy feature Apple has added to iOS 15 is Hide My Email.
Hide My Email is built into Mail, Safari, and iCloud. Users can simply generate new email addresses and use them as disposable email addresses emails. In the future, if you no longer need that email address, you can quickly close the email address and start a new one. This feature prevents online services from sending spam or contacting you on your real email ID.
You can find it under Settings > Apple ID > iCloud > Hide my email.
The feature is part of Apple’s new iCloud+ paid service.
8. Use a New Timer Picker Menu
It is one of those hidden iOS 15 tricks that has a big usability impact.
Many users have found the iOS 14 picker less convenient to use with the ability to select the hours or minutes.
Thankfully, in iOS 15, instead of endlessly scrolling in the time picker menu to select the specific time, you can now tap on it and add time using the number pad on the keyboard.
However, as of now, this only works for Alarm, you still have to scroll endlessly for the timer.
9. Tags in Notes
I use Notes all the time but even I acknowledge the limitations of the app when compared with competitors like Google Keep. With tags coming to Notes on iOS 15, it would become so much easier to search for specific notes such as recipes, directions, or secret keyphrases by searching for hashtags.
Simply add #tag_name in a note and it would appear on the main Notes Screen. You can then tap the tag to search all the notes containing the tag.
10. Cross-App Drag and Drop
This is going to be a powerful iOS 15 feature if implemented effectively. With iOS 15, you can drag and drop files, photos, and text from one app to another.
Simply touch and hold the file or text you’re trying to copy and as the pop-up menu shows up, drag the file upwards to enable drag mode. Now, use your second finger to swipe and move to another app and simply drop the file there. It’s really easy.
What’s Your Favorite iOS 15 Feature
These were some of the best iOS 15 new features that are a welcome addition and offer a superior experience. My favorite iOS 15 new features include tags in the Notes app and Safari Extensions. What’s your pick? Which is the iOS 15 feature that you can’t wait to try? Let me know on Twitter.
It’s the season of Monsoon and it’s raining heavy discounts on both Amazon and Flipkart. Both of the eCommerce giants have come out with Prime Day and Big Savings Day, so if you’ve been saving up from some tech gadgets then you might find the list below very exciting. Let’s begin.
We’re only going to recommend products that are really worth recommending and have a legitimate discount. To ensure that we used the Keepa tracker to check the price history and only then added these to the list. Plus, we’d be constantly updating the latest deals so that you can find the heaviest discounts.
Along with discounted prices, if you have HDFC or ICICI bank credit or debit cards, you can avail an additional 10% discount. The table listed below would give you a detailed breakdown of the maximum discount that you can avail.
ICICI Bank
Payment Instrument
Max Discount per Credit Card
Max Discount per Debit Card
All Categories (Except Mobiles)
INR 1,500
INR 500
Mobiles
INR 750
INR 500
Total Savings Per Card across Flipkart platform
INR 1,500
INR 500
HDFC Bank
Credit Card
Debit Card
Non-EMI Orders
Up to INR 1250
Flat INR 500
EMI Orders
Up to INR 1750
Up to INR 1750
Smartphones
1. OnePlus Nord 2- INR 29,999
OnePlus Nord 2 is debuting on Amazon for the first time with impressive specs such as 8GB RAM, 128GB storage, and a 90Hz AMOLED display. Even though there’s no discount to be found, it still is a good value for money.
OnePlus 9R is probably the best of the three phones launched under the 9 moniker and it has the perfect balance of price to specs ratio. Same as the Nord, there aren’t any discounts but Amazon is offering an extra INR 5000 discount if you decide to exchange an old phone. To be clear, you would get the fair value of your old phone plus an additional INR 5000 that can be a really good steal, IMO.
Buy OnePlus 9R on Amazon(INR 39,999| INR 34,999, 5000 rs off on exchange)
3. Mi 11X 5G – INR 27,999
Mi 11X 5G was launched 3 months ago and comes with 6GB RAM, 128GB ROM, SD 870, and Amoled DisplayMate. It’s usually sold for 29,999 but Amazon is offering it for 27,999 and there’s an extra INR 5000 discount if you decide to exchange an old phone. We tried it with a couple of old phones and surprisingly, under the exchange offer were able to get more than the actual price of the phone.
Buy Mi 11X 5G on Amazon(INR 29,999| INR 27,999, 5000 rs off on exchange)
4. iQOO 7 5G- INR 29,990
iQOO 7 just might be the flagship killer that you’re looking for. Packed with SD870, 5G, 120Hz AMOLED, liquid cooling, 8GB RAM, and 128GB storage. Going on sale at INR 31,990, you’d also get a flat INR 2000 discount with the Amazon coupon which makes the deal sweeter.
iPhone 12 that retails for INR 79,900 is getting a 15% discount bringing the price down to 67,999. This price cut makes it the best iPhone to buy in the market right now. What’s even better is that it costs a mere 3000 more than the 12 mini which has seen no discount this sale.
Even though it is two years old, iPhone 11 holds the title of the most popular iPhone under a budget. Going down from INR 54,900, iPhone 11 can be ordered for INR 47,999.
Apple Watch SE is our recommendation every day of the year because it’s got all the features(except AOD, SPO2, and ECG) and the latest specs with an affordable price tag. The watch normally retails for 29,900 is getting a discount of INR 5000, hence bringing the cost down to 24,900.
If you’re an Android user or simply looking for a budget smartwatch then Amazfit GTS2 mini fits the bill. It has an Always On Display, SPO2 monitoring, 14-days battery life, and built-in Alexa.
Retailing at 3,499, BoAt Xtend is already an affordable smartwatch that boasts impressive features such as SPO2, stress monitor, 5ATM water resistance, and Alexa support. The Prime Day deals drop the price further to just INR 2,999. If you’re looking for a cheap smartwatch with the latest features, then this is it.
Every good thing you’ve heard about the M1 MacBook Air is true and it is a terrific laptop that you can purchase. It’s got a 15-hour battery life that really does last that much, and the M1 processor gets you through all the processes without even getting warm. Usually retailing for INR 92,900, you can grab one for INR 85,990.
Even though there’s a chip shortage worldwide that has caused the component prices to soar through the sky, Legion 5 is going strong on Flipkart for 68,990. It’s got a GTX 1650, Core i5 10th gen, 8GB RAM, 512 GB SSD, and a 120 Hz IPS screen.
If you’re more of a Ryzen guy then you might like the Victus lineup by HP. These gaming laptops pack serious hardware and performance. There are two Ryzen 5 versions on sale that only differ in graphic performance. Other than that, they’ve got a Ryzen 5 5600H, 16.1-inch IPS screen, 4GB RAM, 512 GB SSD, and Windows 10. These models would be released on August 20, 2021, but you can start pre-ordering now.
SSDs are slowly replacing hard disks and Samsung T5 is the first thing to recommend. We use it for transferring project files from one machine to another and we’ve not had any complaints in a few years of our usage. It usually retails at INR 5,999 and you can grab one for 5,399.
While SSDs are great for quick data transfers, you’d need an HDD if you have large amounts of data to back up. Luckily, Seagate 4TB hard disk is an excellent choice and it’s going for INR 7,799 from the usual price of INR 8,299.
Speaking of Smart TVs, Redmi has this affordable 50″ smart TV that gets all the bells and whistles such as 4K IPS panel, Dolby Vision, Dolby Audio, 30W speakers, and a flat INR 1000 discount.
OnePlus makes a really good 43″ smart TV that packs a lot to write home about. It’s got a 1080p IPS panel, 20W speakers with Dolby Atmos, Android TV 9.0, and a sleek design. It retails at around 29,999 but you can grab one for 26,999 on Amazon.
If you’re looking for a 32″ smart TV then Mi has every other brand beat. It’s got all the features that any other brand would give you such as an HD-ready screen, Android TV 9.0, Patchwall, and 20W speakers. Retailing for around INR 19,000, you can grab it for 14,999.
Audible is a great audiobook platform that lets you listen to the audio versions of books. It usually costs INR 199/month but Amazon is offering a four-month trial period at just INR 2. Yes, just two rupees and you can get access to one free audiobook every month. You would have to link your credit card to enable the trial.
Next, we have Firestick Lite that lets you convert any normal TV into a Smart TV. It supports all the streaming apps and YouTube that make it a perfect companion to take it on business trips. Usually selling for INR 3,999, you can grab it for INR 2,099.
Alexa-powered Echo Dot 3 can be a great butler for your home that can power on your smart lights and appliances, play music for you, set timers, and read the news. The 3rd gen is plenty loud to be kept in a kitchen or the bedroom but if you want something louder then the 4th gen echo dot is also on sale for INR 3,249.
Kindle is nothing new and is widely praised by the readers and arguably one of the best e-readers out there. You can grab the Kindle for INR 6,299 and it would get you a 6″ e-ink display, 8000 books capacity, and month-long battery life.
Jabra Elite 65T is a popular TWS that offers a sporty design, 15-hour of listening, and a four-mic array for crisp calls. The Alexa-enabled feature makes these TWS perfect for hands-free usage where you can just ask Alexa to take reminders, add things to the shopping list, and set timers. Jabra Elite 65T retails for around INR 5,000 but you can get it for INR 2,799.
Samsung Galaxy Buds+ are on par with AirPods in terms of build quality and sound quality. The in-ear design fits snug and provides a passive noise cancelation. Plus, the buds last a good ten hours on a single charge. The Galaxy buds+ retail for INR 5,990, and you can pick one pair for INR 4,990.
Sony’s XM3’s and XM4’s are one of the best over-the-ear headphones that you can find in the premium segment. They offer NFC enabled tap to pair, connect to two devices at once, Active Noise Cancelation, and offers impeccable sound quality. They sell for INR 21,000 regularly and can be ordered for INR 17,990.
Bose is probably the industry leader in creating high-quality audio gear that is used in professional environments. QC35 II brings that same level of high-precision quality to these headphones. These offer ANC, a long 15-hour battery backup, a balanced sound profile, and tactile buttons. While priced at INR 29,990, these usually retail for INR 21,999 but this sale has dropped the price to just INR 18,990.
Nokia Media Streamer is a similar device to the Fire TV Stick that lets you convert your normal TV into a Smart TV. It comes Android TV and can run all your streaming apps such as Netflix, Prime Video, Zee5, Sony Liv, etc flawlessly. Plus, it also has Chromecast built-in to mirror and cast content from your Android phone. You can grab one for INR 1,999.
Buy Nokia Media Streamer on Flipkart (INR 3,199 | INR 1,999)
Best Deals on Amazon and Flipkart 2021
These were a few of the best Amazon and Flipkart deals that you should look out for. I’ve included the actual price these devices retail for instead of pasting the price they’ve put on the website. Let me know if you have found a better deal that isn’t listed here. Shoot a tweet at me.
macOS lets you tile and snap any active window by clicking and holding the green expand button on the top left corner of the window. However, this feature is only available on macOS Catalina and above. Plus, this isn’t very efficient as you can’t use keyboard shortcuts by default. Luckily, you can create your own set of keyboard shortcuts that would allow you to snap any active window with just a combination of keys. Let’s see how to create a keyboard shortcut to snap windows on a Mac.
Create Keyboard Shortcut to Snap Windows Manually
I’d like to point out that this method is only good for creating a keyboard shortcut that would snap the window to the left or right. But there are 3rd-party apps that let you create comprehensive keyboard shortcuts without you having to rely on manual setup.
To set a keyboard shortcut for snapping a window, first, we need to jot down the Menu command. This is the only way to ensure our keyboard shortcut would run smoothly.
1. Click and hold the green Expand button on the top left of any window to bring up the menu. Here you will find the snap command written next to the icon. Write it down or memorize it exactly the way it shows on the screen. For example, I wanted to create a shortcut for tiling a window to the left half of the screen. The command is Tile Window to Left of Screen.
2. Now, navigate to System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts. On this page, click App Shortcuts on the left pane and add a new shortcut by clicking the + button.
3. Type the Menu command in the input field Menu Title that we wrote down earlier. Now, click the Keyboard Shortcut field and add the keyboard shortcut by pressing the keys of your choice.
For example, I used the fn + control + option + command + left arrow. The only thing that you have to make sure of is that your chosen keyboard shortcut doesn’t already exist.
Click the Add button and your keyboard shortcut is ready. Now, if you click and hold the green expand button, you’d see the keyboard shortcut written next to it.
Press the key combination to see the snapping in action. You can replicate the steps and create additional shortcuts as you like.
Final Words on Mac Window Snapping
This was a quick way to create a keyboard shortcut for snapping a window on Mac. Window management is something where macOS has always lacked. But third-party apps make up for it and offer an even better way of managing and snapping windows. What do you think? Let me know on Twitter.
Like most people using an iPhone, I set an alarm using the default Clock app to wake up every day but the default ringtones on iPhone are despicable. The post-apocalyptic siren of chaos, otherwise titled “Beacon”, is so piercing that it would wake anyone from the deepest of slumbers. Other default options on the iPhone are not great either, so what’s the solution? It’s simple, really. We will share a few ways to set any song from Spotify and Apple Music as an alarm on iPhone.
How to Set a Song as an Alarm on iPhone
While researching, I found a few different ways to set a song as an alarm on the iPhone and I’ve narrowed it down to the best three. In this article, I’ll show you how to set a song as an alarm using Apple Music, Spotify, or any local music file. There’s also the bedtime feature that lets you set an alarm and offers better ringtones than what’s available in the regular alarms menu.
1. Set a Bedtime
Not many people use it but if you use the inbuilt Bedtime feature on the iPhone, it allows you to set a daily alarm for the morning and it has its own set of alarm tones that are so much better than the existing monstrosities. The tones are mellow, soothing, and gentle in Bedtime.
1. To set the bedtime, open the Clock app on your iPhone and tap Alarm at the bottom. Find Sleep | WakeUp and tap the Change button. You would have to turn on the Sleep schedule. Tap Turn On to proceed.
2. Tap the Change button a second time and proceed to set a schedule by rotating the dial. Now, scroll down to find the alarm settings.
3. Under Alarm Options, tap Sound & Haptics to select the Alarm tone. You can select from the list of 9 different alarm tones. You won’t find regular alarm tones here so select one and go back.
4. Tap Done and your alarm is set.
No more jolting alarm sounds. I’ve mentioned this method because it’s a great feature and the alarm tones are pleasing to the ears.
2. Set a Song as alarm on iPhone with Apple Music
I, like most people, just ask Siri to set my alarms mostly and that’s why I didn’t realize that there’s an entire section to set a custom alarm tone. Now, when you ask Siri, it will always choose the default alarm tone so we need to manually change the alarm tone in the Clock app.
You would only be able to set a song as an alarm if you have a purchased a song with iTunes or have an active Apple Music subscription.
1. Open the Clock app on the iPhone and tap Alarm on the bottom. Tap the + button on the top right corner to create a new alarm. Adjust the alarm time and then tap Sound to select an alarm tone.
2. Above ringtones, you’d see the Songs list.Tap Pick a Song to open the Music library.
3. Search the song you want to set as the alarm tone and tap to select it. If you’ve purchased the song from iTunes then you won’t have any problem.
However, if the song you’ve selected is from the Apple Music library, you need to download the song in the Music app or your alarm would not play the selected song.
4. Open the Music app on your iPhone and find the song that you’ve set as the alarm tone. Tap the options menu button next to it.
5. Tap Download and you should see a download icon appear next to the song.
Once the song is downloaded, it will play when the alarm goes off.
3. Set a Song as an Alarm on iPhone With Spotify
I get it, not everyone likes or uses Apple Music or owns a song anymore. So, if you’re a Spotify user, you can still set a song as an alarm using Spotify. However, Spotify songs don’t show up in the Clock app so we need to use a workaround.
Enter Music Alarm Clock Pro. It’s a simple alarm app that lets you set songs from Spotify as an alarm. Go ahead and install the app from the App Store. The app is not free and costs $2.99.
1. Once the app is installed, open it and tap the + button on the top right to create a new alarm.
2. Set the alarm time by rotating the dial. You can also choose to repeat the alarm on specific days and adjust the snooze time.
Now, tap Choose Music to set a Spotify song as the alarm tone. It would prompt you to select one option from “Playlist or Song”. You can set any public playlist as your alarm tone but you would need the Spotify premium subscription for that.
However, if you have a free Spotify account, you can still set a song as an alarm tone that would play the 30 seconds clip of the song. You can play the entire song as an alarm tone if you have a Spotify Premium account.
3. Simply search the song using the search bar. Before it shows you the results though, it would ask you to link your Spotify account with the app. For some weird reason, the app never asks you to link your account until you look for a song.
4. Follow the link that opens in the web browser and log in to your Spotify account.
5. After that, allow the app to access the Spotify account and the APIs to fetch the songs using your login credentials. When that is done, you would be redirected back to the alarm app.
6. Now, the songs would appear in the search result by artist’s name, albums, or the title itself. After selecting the song, tap the back button on the top left.
7. Toggle the switch ON and you’re done. Your alarm would play the song of your choice when it goes off.
4. Use an MP3 File To Create an Alarm Tone
Even though iOS is considered a restrictive OS, you can still do pretty nifty things with it such as creating a ringtone from any given MP3 file on your iPhone. You just need the Garageband app and an MP3 file of your favorite song. However, you would be able to create only 30-second ringtones with this method as iPhone doesn’t support ringtones longer than that.
1. Start by installing Garageband on your iPhone if you haven’t already. Open the app and tap the + button on the top right to create a new project. On the next screen, Make sure Tracks is selected on the top and choose Drummer from the list of instruments.
2. Double-tap the timeline to bring up the menu, andtap Delete.
3. Now, tap the Timeline view button on the top bar as shown in the image below. After that, tap the loops button on the top bar.
4. Tap the Files tab on the top and select Browse items from the Files app to open the Files app.
5. You can now browse the Files app and find the directory where the MP3 is stored. Once you find that, tap the MP3 file to add it to the project.
6. Drag the MP3 file by tapping and holding and then dropping it on the timeline.
7. Tap the file to select the timeline. You can adjust its length by dragging the endpoints. If you need to split the MP3 file from the middle, double-tap the timeline andtap Split in the menu.
8. Move around the scissor on the timeline and find the position where you wish to split the file. Pull down on the scissor to make a cut. You can then double-tap the unwanted section and delete it.
9. To save the ringtone, tap the Down arrow button on the top left corner, and select My Songs. It would take you to the projects page. Long-press the project to bring up the context menu.
10. Tap on Share button and select Ringtone on the next screen.
11. Give your ringtone a name and tap Export on the top right corner. The ringtone is saved and would show up when you would go to set an alarm.
12. To set an alarm open the Clock app and tap the alarm to open its settings page. Tap on Sound to open the list of alarm tones.
13. Under Ringtones, you’d find the last ringtone that we created in Garageband. Tap to select it and you’re done.
Set a Song as Alarm on iPhone
These were three different ways to set a song as an alarm on iPhone. Four, if you count the bedtime alarm. As Apple Music is deeply integrated with the iOS ecosystem, setting a song using that is simpler. Spotify doesn’t have that many permissions so we need to use a third-party app and lastly, if you have an MP3 file, you can create a custom ringtone and set that as an alarm tone. Which method is your favorite? Let me know on Twitter.
Whether you’re looking to reduce some stress or fix your morning routine, meditation can be a helpful tool to chisel out the pathway. Even though there are exceptional meditation apps for smartphones, I find the smartphone distracting during the sessions. Luckily, I have an Apple Watch that I can use to efficiently meditate and not get distracted by the technology. If you’re in the same boat as me, you would like these meditation and breathing apps for Apple Watch.
Meditation and Breathing Apps for Apple Watch
I would focus on the experience of the apps based solely on the Apple Watch. As the iPhone counterparts of these apps offer way more features than the Apple Watch, it is beyond the scope of this article. Plus, it would make more sense to compare the features offered in just the Apple Watch app. If you would like to use the meditation apps on both the iPhone and the Apple Watch, you can check out this article on the best meditation apps for iPhone.
Best Breathing Apps for Apple Watch
1. Unwind
Right off the bat, Unwind is the simplest breathing app you can get for the Apple Watch. However, simple does not mean bad, and unwind proves that. It has three modes; morning, day, and night that offer different breathing exercises. For example, the morning routine follows breathing in and out, the night routine adds a hold section in between, and the daily routine is a box breathing exercise. All of the exercises have haptic feedback and you can adjust the exercise time for every exercise.
Unwind is a free app and there are no features in the Apple Watch app that you need to pay for. However, there’s a pro version that unlocks more features on the iPhone app.
3 Minute Mindfulness offers popular breathing exercises that you can control right from the watch. There are a total of 6 different exercises that include box breathing, pranayama, vital breathing, mother’s breathing, 4-7-8, and equal breathing. The app doesn’t need to be connected to the iPhone as it can work independently. It also allows you to customize each exercise to your preference.
For example, you can change the duration of the exercise and control how long or short each repetition should be. On top of that, haptic feedback in the app creates distinct feedback for every cycle to enable you to focus on your breathing without even looking at the watch.
3 Minute Mindfulness is a freemium app that costs a monthly subscription of $6.99/month on the iPhone to unlock all 6 exercise modes on the Apple Watch. You can start with a 7-day free trial to test the app fit.
Box Breathe is another breathing app for Apple Watch that lets you do breathing exercises effectively. Even though the name implies one exercise, you can customize each section in the app itself. The box breathing technique is basically dividing one full breath cycle into four parts namely — breathe in, hold, breathe out, and hold. You can either keep all four parts the same length or change it according to your preference. Once created, the preset is saved on the Watch app and you can access it with a tap.
The haptics notifies you of every cycle and you can enable the seconds haptic which would make the app tick every second like a metronome. This would help you count your session without looking at the watch. Box Breathe is a paid app that costs $1.99.
Pros
Customize every part of the breathing cycle
Different haptics for breathe in and out
metronome to count seconds
Cons
Essentially only one breathing exercise that can be customized into different ones manually
Wim Hof, also known as the Iceman, has a super popular breathing technique that is known as the Wim Hof Method. The Apple Watch app lets you practice that breathing exercise where you can monitor the heartbeat and add the results to your Health data. The app is really simple and only has one button to begin and end the round. The app interface also shows the current heart rate during the exercise which is a good thing.
Moving on to meditation apps, Breethe is a meditation app that gives you a meditation audio track for every scenario. The Apple Watch app has six meditation modes — start your day, enrich your ride, focus at work, take a break, and go to sleep. Each meditation mode has several audio lessons and it gives you one new meditation guide daily. Not only audio lessons, but the modes also have special music to help you focus or relax without any voiceover.
The guided meditation lessons work alright on the watch but you will need to connect AirPods or any Bluetooth headphones to begin a session. You can adjust the volume, pause, seek forward, and go back fifteen seconds with the on-screen controls. The audio lessons are high-quality and professionally recorded with ominous music in the background.
While the audio lessons don’t change, you do get a new lesson daily. The app has more than 1500 such lessons which you can get by subscribing for $12.99/month.
Pros
6 meditation modes
On-watch controls
No need for iPhone app to function
Cons
Requires an audio heaphone connected to Apple Watch in order to function
Ten Percent Happier, as the name implies, is a meditation and mindfulness app that has the goal of elevating your mood. The Apple Watch app has three meditation categories — Quick hits, Talks, and Daily dose. While Quick hits and Talks have a number of small audio lessons that you can listen to when you have a little time during the day and the Daily Dose is a ten-minute long audio clip.
All of the audio lessons are high-quality and have a more grounded voiceover that feels like a normal conversation instead of some divine lesson. If you’re not in the mood for audio, you can just start a timer from within the app and fly solo in complete silence. Ten Percent Happier is free on the App Store and costs $9.99 to unlock the entire library that has over 500 topics that cover anxiety, stress, focus, parenting, etc.
Pros
Inbuilt timer for silent meditation
Daily audio lesson suggestion
Cons
Audio headphones required to listen
No option to add new audio lessons or clips to the watch
Sattva takes you back to the ancient roots of meditation and offers curated meditation sessions. The app on Apple Watch works in tandem with the iPhone app which means you can favorite a lesson in the iPhone app and it would show up in the watch app. You can then listen to the lessons on your watch by pairing AirPods or any other Bluetooth headphones. This is so much better than the other apps because you get complete control of the content that you can put on the Watch. Not only that, any content playing on the iPhone itself can be controlled with the watch.
Apart from that, the watch app also has a timer for silent meditation sessions and you can add those minutes to the existing data. Sattva has a huge catalog of Vedic mantras and chants that can help you meditate. The app is free to use but some content is locked behind a paywall that can be removed with the subscription of $12.99/month.
Pros
Set timer for silent meditation
Add any lesson to your watch from the iPhone app
Control meditation lesson on iPhone with watch
Cons
The app isn’t optimized for watch and gets unresponsive at times
Meditopia is a sophisticated meditation app because of its content and implementation. The watch app shows a curated list of meditation clips tailored to your needs. When you register and create an account using the iPhone, the watch app syncs and fetches relevant content. You can listen to relaxing music, meditation lessons, or mindfulness stories that show up on the watch.
It is the only app with a profile page that collects stats and displays information such as mindful minutes, weekly usage, total sessions, and current streak. Also, you can browse the app and watch without stopping your current session. Meditopia gives you access to 1000s of meditations in 9 languages with a subscription of $9.99/month.
Pros
Watch app calculates stats and shows it within the app
These were some of the best meditation and breathing apps for the Apple Watch. I divided the list into two parts because breathing apps do a fantastic job of helping you be mindful and relaxed.
On the other hand, 3 Minute Mindfulness does a good job of helping you exercise breathing. Meditopia is my choice as a meditation app because it has a great interface and features that make it a pleasant experience.
I didn’t mention Calm, Insight Timer, and Headspace because they don’t offer much value on the Apple Watch apps. Those are good meditation apps for the iPhone and are recommended but I don’t recommend these three specifically for Apple Watch. If you are already subscribed to any of these then use the Apple Watch app as well. What do you think? Let me know on Twitter.
Apple Watch may be an unconventional watch but it is gorgeous, especially because of its display. The rectangular screen can be challenging to create beautiful watch faces for but Apple Watch wears it flawlessly. However, there are only a handful of distinct watch faces that are preloaded on the Apple Watch. Let’s change that with apps that have some of the best watch faces for Apple Watch in 2021.
Watch Faces on Apple Watch
There are a few watch faces that already come bundled with the Apple Watch. Just press hard on the watch screen to bring up the watch face menu. After that, swipe right and tap + to find all the watch face templates. You can select a watch face and customize it by adding complications. For example, you can change colors, customize the complications, orient stripes, set photos, etc.
Naturally, I won’t be listing those below. Instead, I have found some apps that offer cool Apple Watch faces and options to customize each watch face to your heart’s desire.
1. Buddywatch
The first Apple Watch face app on the list, Buddywatch, offers stylish watch faces that are subtle and classy. The app may not have the quantity you’re looking for but it sure does have quality. Ranging from flag-based to vibrant CGI backdrop watch faces, Buddywatch has it all. The best part is that it shows which watch faces are compatible with which watch.
The installation process for setting a watch face is simple. You download the watch face, it opens up in the Watch app on your iPhone and then you just tap on it to set it on the Apple Watch. The app is free to use and most watch faces are free to download.
Facer is by far the most popular app for watch faces considering it has one of the largest watch face collections for smartwatches. Be it a Galaxy Watch, an Android Wear Watch, or an Apple Watch, Facer’s got you covered across the board. The app has both free and paid watch faces that populate categories such as abstract, elegant, futuristic, gaming, geek, illustrated, sports, nature, etc. There are top charts that list the most popular watch faces to get you started.
As Facer is a user-driven app where creators submit their own watch faces, you may encounter some watch faces that may not work with your Apple Watch. For example, there were a few instances where my Apple Watch 6 couldn’t set some as watch faces. Other than that, you should be good. Facer is free to use and the paid subscription would cost you $5/month.
Watch Face Albums is yet another app that offers premium watch faces for the Apple Watch. The watch faces are neatly categorized in the iPhone app where you can find the perfect watch face and set it to the Apple Watch. There are several categories that stand out such as cars, Nike, travel, cartoons, and a few other premium mechanical watch faces. However, the stand-out watch faces are the dynamic ones that play a short clip every time the watch wakes up. For example, there’s an Elsa watch face that shows Elsa twirling whenever the watch wakes up.
Not just that, the app has a subscription plan that grants you access to all the premium watch faces and a few custom ones that are exclusive to the subscription. There’s a watch face that lets you put text on the screen. Other watch faces include countdown timers, stickers, anniversary, week progress, QR code, and a list. Watch Face Albums is free to try and the subscription costs just $1/month.
Next, we have a watch face app that goes overboard with the number of watch faces offered. While there is no way I’m going to count all the watch faces to verify their claim, the app has some really good watch faces. There are both paid and free watch faces that are bundled in packs for you to buy.
The main selling point of this app is that it lets you create your own watch face from scratch. As all the watch faces for the Apple Watch are built off 11 templates created by Apple, you get access to those and a bag full of custom complications. The best part is that you can customize the watch face from the iPhone where you can actually see what you’re doing. You can change the background color, add text, change complications, get Wi-Fi strength, progress bar, etc. Plus, you precisely set the position and make your perfect watch face.
The watchMaker app is free to use and you can create your own watch faces by getting a subscription that costs $5/week.
If you’re a sucker for vintage-style and mechanical watches then this app would fit right up your alley. The app has the most elegant watch faces on this list with categories such as mechanical, dark, business, minimal, illustrated, and a few dozen more categories. You also get a substantial amount of modern-looking watch faces that are dynamic meaning they play a small clip or animation every time the Apple Watch wakes up. These dynamic watch faces include nature scenes, fractals, space, abstract, etc.
The app is free to browse and you would need an active subscription to grab a watch face. The subscription starts at $2.99/week and unlocks all the content.
This is a watch face app for all the dog lovers out there. StepDog lets you set a cute little animated avatar as a watch face with information complications. Technically, it’s just one watch face but you can customize your dog avatar from a long list of animated avatars and even a few cat avatars. The dog breeds include beagle, hound, golden retriever, Shih-Tzu, and many others. You also get a step goal counter on the watch face that would show your current step count and you can update the goal within the app.
StepDog is free to use with one avatar but if you wish to unlock all the dog avatars with toys, a food bowl, and a dog house, you would get it for $1/month. The subscription also includes live weather updates and the option to compete in local leaderboards.
Watchfacely is a free watch face app that has some of the finest additions to the Apple Watch. The app has over 100 watch faces created by different users on the app. There are information-rich complicated watch faces that use every pixel on the watch display and on the other side it has the simplest watch faces with no clutter whatsoever.
You can find the watch faces based on popularity and set it to the Apple Watch with just a tap. Most watch faces offered by Watchfacely are free and you can get the $2.49/month subscription to unlock all the exclusive watch faces.
Next, we have Watchsmith, a comprehensive customization app that would transform watch faces on your Apple Watch. First of all, it not only gives you tailored complications for the watch faces, but also lets you set the duration for any complication that you wish to put on the watch. However, getting up to speed with the app can be a little challenging if you’re new to customizing.
Let me break it down. You can create a complication for any watch face style. Once you choose a watch face style, you can add as many complications on that watch face as it allows. Then you can choose what each complication should do. Watchsmith offers complications for dates, time, text, photos, activity, weather, tides, battery, etc. The best part of these complications is that they can be timed, meaning you can put multiple complications in one spot during the day. This would let you create a truly dynamic watch face that changes automatically.
Watchsmith is a free-to-try app that offers most complications for free and you can get the $2/month subscription to unlock additional complications.
Number of watch faces: 11+ ( and hundreds of combinations)
Okay, this is a website instead of an app but it has some stunning watch faces that you should look out for. AppleWatchFaces.io is a library of user-generated watch faces for the Apple Watch. You can browse by latest uploads or filter the results according to your watch. To make discovering even easier, you can search with tags and you would find the perfect watch face. Some of the categories include black, moon, modern, battery, Mario, abstract, LGBT, utility, etc.
These were some of the best and unique watch face apps for the Apple Watch that offer a ton of customizations with stunning graphics. All the apps focus on quality instead of quantity even though WatchMaker claims to offer over 100,000 watch faces where it can be dismissed as hyperbole. Lastly, you can always check out the r/applewatchfaces subreddit that is home to Apple Watch enthusiasts that regularly share their unique finds. Do you have a unique watch face that you’d like to show me? Shoot me a tweet on Twitter.
Downloading images and GIFs from Reddit is pretty easy. All you have to do is long-press the image and the option to save pops up. However, when it comes to videos, things get a bit tricky. But, there’s always a workaround and in our case, there are a few good ones that are not only free but also allow users to download Reddit with sound and without any watermark. Let me show you all the ways to download Reddit videos on an iPhone.
1. Using the Reddit App
The official native Reddit app lets you download some videos to your iPhone as shown below:
1. Open the Reddit post that has the video. Make sure video has opened in full screen mode.
2. Tap the three-dot icon(…) on the top right corner and select Download video from the Share Sheet. The video will be saved to the Photos app.
If you’re someone like me who doesn’t like installing an extra app when you can access most of the content from a webpage then we should be friends. Basically, you can download Reddit videos on your iPhone using online tools as well.
One such amazing tool is Rapidsave earlier known as Redditsave. It lets you download Reddit videos with just their URL. For free, of course.
1. Open the Reddit app and tap the Share icon on the post.
2. Select Copy the link from the menu.
3. Now, open rapidsave.com in the Safari web browser andpaste the link in the input field. Hit the Download button.
4. It would fetch the details and show all the possible resolutions of the video that you can download. Simply tap the Download video button to start the download.
5. A pop-up would appear. Tap Download to start downloading.
6. After your download is finished, tap the Download icon at the top and select Downloads to open the Downloads folder. You’ll find the video here, tap on it once.
7. Now, tap the Share icon on the bottom left corner and Save Video. Your video will be saved to the iPhone Photos app.
You can also use viddit.red/ or Redv.co websites to download the videos hosted on Reddit servers. I’ve mentioned these websites as an alternative if rapidsave.com doesn’t work or shuts down in the future.
3. Using Screen Recorder
Generally, the above two methods should be enough to download Reddit videos on your iPhone. But, if for some reason, they don’t work, you can also try screen recording the video on your iPhone.
1. Open the Control Center on your iPhone.
2. Tap on the Screen Recording icon and select Start. Also, make sure the Microphone option is on. If you don’t see the Screen Recording option, go to Settings > Control Center and add Screen Recorder.
3. Play the Reddit video. Once it is finished, stop the recording. The Reddit video will have been saved to the Photos app.
