As we close out one week and kick off another, let’s take a moment to look back at the top tips and tricks from the past seven days (April 14 – April 20). Some of the tips you may recall, some may be new to you, but all the “how-tos” below are worthy of a second mention. The fastest way to transfer files between Mac and Android While Mac and Android ownership overlap is probably a rare occurrence, there are still many users of both platforms that would benefit from a tip regarding fast files transfers between their choice of computers and smartphones. Today Calendar is a more polished calendar for your Android devices Stock Android might have come a long way since its Gingerbread days, but the AOSP calendar app still looks boring and unintuitive. Sadly, the Play Store lacks any decent calendar replacement app as well, which is a shame. Taking things into his own hands, developer Jack Underwood of the Today Calendar Widget fame, has released Today Calendar on the Play Store. Retune: Control iTunes music playback from your Android device I often find myself sitting at my desk or working around the house while my music is playing over iTunes on my computer. For a while, I tried looking at various wireless Android apps that would give me access to my library, playlists and different playback controls, failed to find one that got it right, then over a year ago, Retune came out. It did everything I wanted and more, and has been improving ever since. Heartbleed: What you need to know as an Android user If you’ve been surfing the web in the last week or so, you’ve probably come across the word Heartbleed. One of the most serious security flaws ever discovered, Heartbleed is a bug in OpenSSL, a commonly used security system that potentially two-thirds of websites use to keep information like your passwords secure. Heartbleed’s existence went unnoticed for almost two years, which is partly the reason why it was deemed to be such a dangerous exploit, affecting major websites like Yahoo and Wikipedia. Unfortunately, Google’s mobile operating system was affected as well. 15 Beautiful 1080p metal and gold wallpapers for the HTC One (M8) The HTC One (M8) is one of the most elegantly designed smartphones released in 2014. If you have already purchased one, you probably looked at the wallpapers shipped with the phone, tried many of them and were left wondering if you could go for a full-body look with a metallic wallpaper. Top Android apps to follow the IPL 2014 The initial schedule of one of the biggest events in cricket — the Indian Premier League a.k.a IPL — kicked off a couple of days ago. Surprisingly, this time, the IPL will be hosted in two parts — the first part being held in the UAE and the second one in India. For cricketing maniacs, IPL is associated with huge sixes, some tense moments and nail-biting finishes, which is what has made the tournament so popular in such a short time. How to set up Chrome Remote Desktop A couple of days ago, Google released the Chrome Remote Desktop app on the Play Store. This new app allows all Android users to remotely access their PCs or laptops using Chrome. Compared to other similar services like Teamviewer, Chrome’s Remote Desktop is lightweight, works in the background and is completely free to use. How to root Samsung Galaxy S5 It has been a week since Samsung’s next big thing — the Galaxy S5 — hit the retail stores in majority of the markets across the globe. Compared to the S4, the Galaxy S5 is a modest upgrade with a better camera, performance, battery life and an IP67 certified rating. Top 5 must-have Apps for Chromecast For $35, Google’s Chromecast sure does offer an exceptional value for money. The HDMI media streamer allows you to easily cast your photos, videos and movies to your TV without any hassle. While development for the device was slow initially due to the lack of SDK, things have greatly picked up ever since Google released the SDK to public late last year.
Weekend roundup: All the best Android tips and tricks from last week (April 14 – April 20)
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