Spred Consolidates Photos From Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr & More

Instagram gained immense popularity by offering an easy way of sharing photos with your social circle and friends. Most profiles on Instagram are public, and anyone can discover your photos quite easily. If you are among the people who admire good photography, Instagram and Tumblr can be good sources for browsing all types of photos. Spred is an app that can help you in your quest to find the best images around the web. This new iOS release combines photo feeds from Instagram, Tumblr, Foursquare and Pintrest, based on topics. You can then maintain your own photo collections within Spred, and share any images over other social networks in bulk.
  
Hit the ‘Explore Spred’ button to view a graphical tutorial and learn all about the app. If you would rather skip it, go straight to the sign up screen. Spred can be used only after you have linked your Facebook or Twitter account with it, as these are the only login options available for now. The app guides its users through the process of setting up their profile. Some of the information is pulled automatically from the account you used to log in, while other items (like the cover photo) have to be configured manually. Spred has a Twitter-like follower system of its own, which can help you discover photos even more conveniently by following users who post the type of photos you like.
The app’s main screen lists the most popular image categories from all the available sources. You can open a particular genre by tapping its name, or tap the thumbnail of any image that you like, to be taken to its dedicated page.
  
In addition to the image stream, it is also possible to view the contents of a category in the form of a thumbnail grid. To go to an image’s source page within the app, hit the icon in the right corner of the picture title. You can add any photo to your decks (Spred’s name for albums) or simply share it over Twitter, Facebook or Foursquare.
A great thing about Spred is that it lets you combine photos from your camera roll, the app’s own collection and even the web. The app’s web browser can be accessed by hitting the button in the top-right corner. Once you have arrived at the desired page, hit the ‘Get Images’ button to see a list of all the photos found on the page. Any of these photos can be saved to the camera roll, or added to one of your decks.
Spred is a free app optimized for iPhone/iPod touch devices. Wallpaper collectors and people who like sharing lots of images over their social networks should definitely give this app a try.
Download Spred For iOS

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Sticky Icky Keeps iOS Notification Banners On Screen Till Dismissed

Almost all major iOS apps offer support for push notifications to some extent, and these real-time alerts are specially important for social networking, instant messaging, news and task management apps. As is the case with most areas of iOS though, users don’t get full control over these banner notifications; they appear for a predefined amount of time, forcing many people to repeatedly visit Notification Center even if they take their eyes off their iPhone for just a few minutes. Sticky Icky can change that, and do even more for your iPhone. This newly released Cydia tweak lets users control the duration for which notifications appear on the status bar; you can dismiss the banner as soon as it appears, or keep it pinned to the screen for hours.
 
At first, the concept behind Sticky Icky might not make to much sense, and it has to be admitted that some of the robustness of iOS’ notification system gets sacrificed by the use of this tweak. On the other hand, the inconveniences caused by Sticky Icky are minor enough when compared to its potential usefulness.
Once the tweak has been installed, just wait for a banner notification to appear on your iPhone. The overall look of the banner remains almost unchanged, but there is a small close button in its right corner. If the notification isn’t really important and merely reading its text is enough for you, you can make it go away by tapping the black cross. If you are busy at the moment though, and plan to get back to the notification later, just leave it untouched. Rather than just maintaining its entry in the Notification Center, Sticky Icky keeps the banner visible on the screen until you manually dismiss or tap it.
While a banner is pinned to your screen, no new banners will show up, but you can visit the NC to view newer notifications. Sticky Icky makes the pinned banners so persistent that even after you come back to the SpringBoard from lock screen, the notification reappears immediately.
The tweak is great for all users who are in the habit of forgetting all about notifications despite seeing their banners. Sticky Icky is a free tweak, and does not require any configuration. It is compatible with all jailbroken devices running iOS 5 and above. You can download Sticky Icky by heading to the ModMyi repo of the Cydia store.

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Effortlessly Create Harlem Shake Videos With These iOS & Android Apps

Last month, we saw hundreds of thousands of short, 30 second video clips being uploaded on YouTube and other video sharing sites that showed people going absolutely nuts after hearing someone in the background say, “Do the Harlem Shake!”. Yes, we are talking about the popular “Harlem Shake” video meme that swept the Internet off its feet (literally, at times) in February. If you wish to be part of this crazy trend, you can now do so with ease, thanks to two mobile apps we discovered recently that let you make your own Harlem Shake videos in just a couple of taps. Check them out after the jump!

Harlem Shake Generator For iOS

Developed by TouchMiPhone, Harlem Shake Generator for iOS allows you to record Harlem Shake video memes without worrying about cutting audio clips of Baauer’s Harlem Shake song, removing background noise from your videos, and joining the two video clips in sync with the audio.
On launching, you are presented with the option of recording two video clips. Based on how the meme works, the first video clip must have one person – usually wearing a helmet or mask – dancing alone to the first 14 seconds of the song, and then everyone else joins in and goes utterly bonkers for the next 14-15 seconds. The app plays the corresponding bit from the song as you record each clip. Much of the novelty of Harlem Shake videos comes from seeing seemingly normal people pulling off some pretty crazy dance moves; the crazier your ‘Shake’, the better!

Once you have recorded both clips and you feel satisfied with everyone’s performance, tap ‘Create’ to have the app replace all background noise in your two videos with the actual Harlem Shake song. It then joins the two video clips together for you to review and share on Facebook, Twitter, Messages, or on the app’s own website where videos are hosted temporarily. It’s really odd to not see YouTube included as a sharing option, especially considering that’s where the bulk of video memes are uploaded.
Harlem Shake Generator is available for free from the link provided at the end of this post. It comes with ads but they can be quickly removed with an in-app purchase.
Download Harlem Shake Generator For iOS

Harlem Shake Creator For Android

Those with an Android smartphone should check out Harlem Shake Creator. It has the same overall workflow as Harlem Shake Generator, but offers limited sharing options. In the free ‘Lite’ version, you can only upload directly to YouTube. If you want to save your video to your Gallery (and also remove ads), you’ll need to pay $0.99.
 
Download Harlem Shake Creator Lite For Android
Download Harlem Shake Creator Pro For Android
So what are you waiting for? Start creating your own Harlem Shake videos right from your iDevice or Android, and join the fun!

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Blux Lens Gives iDevices Remote Control Of Each Other’s Cameras

WiFi Camera and ReconBot are two very useful, but different iPhone apps. One of them lets you use iDevices as remote cameras, while the other turns your iPhone into a secret recording device. Won’t it be just great if an app combined these two functionalities, and threw in a lot of extra photo editing options for good measure? That’s exactly what Blux Lens does. We previously covered Blux Camera, and this new app acts as a remote lens for that awesome app. Using Blux Lens, you can connect any two iDevices to capture images remotely. You will still be able to use all the features of Blux Camera of course, but the scene you capture will be from the place where your other device is. This means it is possible to turn your iPhone into a spy camera or baby monitor, or use it just to capture a different angle of the scene.

 
Unlike some other remote access apps, Blux Lens does confuse you with a lot of settings during its initial configuration. Users don’t have to spend much time trying to learn everything about the app, specially if they have used Blux Camera before. To get started, launch Blux Lens on your device, and follow the instructions until a QR code shows up.

You have to scan this code using the Blux Camera app on the other iOS device. Finding the scanning option can be a little tricky, but you just have to know where to look. Tap the icon in the middle of the app’s top bar, and then head to the camera option. Under this, there is an icon that shows two phone connected to each other. Just tap this button, and you can start scanning Blux Lens’ QR code. As long as both the devices are on the same Wi-Fi network, the Camera app’s viewfinder should now show the view from the other device’s perspective. You can use any feature of Blux Camera in this remote mode, as the view is treated just like an ordinary session. As for the Blux Lens part of the setup, you can manually end the connection from there, or dim the screen if you are using it for covert purposes.
Blux Lens costs $0.99, while Blux Camera is usually $2.99, though it has gone free for a limited time. If you are already using Blux’s Camera app, we highly recommend Lens, since it can widen your horizon and give you a new perspective on things (quite literally). Blux Lens is optimized for iPhone and iPod touch only, but since you don’t have to interact directly with it too much, you can go ahead and use it on the iPad as well.
Download Blux Lens For iOS
Download Blux Camera For iOS

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Stitch Lets You Create Awesome Video Presentations On iPhone Using Local & Web Images

As any student can tell you, making an effective presentation isn’t as easy as it looks. You don’t want to be too extravagant with the clip art and colorful effects, but such elements can also be essential to capture the audience’s attention for the span of the entire presentation. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a way of easily creating as many presentations as you want before finally choosing one for actual use? If you are using a tool like PowerPoint, it isn’t very practical to keep trashing your work and starting from scratch repeatedly. This is where Stitch can help you. Not only does the app let you create detailed video presentations on your iPhone, it does that in just a few simple steps.

Stitch is one of those rare iPhone apps that work entirely in landscape mode. You can associate your Twitter, Facebook or YouTube account with Stitch for easy sharing, but this step can be skipped if you want. To start making a presentation, you first have to choose a template. The available options include templates for lectures, resumes and different occasions. It is also possible to apply a photo effect to the entire template if you want to add a bit of visual oomph to the mix. Some of the filters are free, while others have to be unlocked via in-app purchases. Once everything is according to your liking, hit the ‘Done’ button.
 
To personalize a slide in the newly created video, hit the pencil icon that’s overlaid on it. You can choose a background image for a frame from the camera roll, or by searching for photos on Instagram and Google. Once the picture has been added, the next step is to overlay text on it. Tap the ‘+’ icon from the sidebar to insert a text box to the slide. Stitch offers options for aligning the text, changing its color or resizing it. It is also possible to inset a blank or colored slide anywhere in the presentation.
 
When you are satisfied with the content of the presentation, hit the ‘Finished’ button to begin processing it. It is also possible to preview your work by hitting the big play icon in the bottom bar. Completed projects can be re-edited, copied or shared once the rendering process has ended. The app’s sharing options include social media and YouTube. A background soundtrack is added to presentations by Stitch automatically, and you don’t have to worry about configuring or editing it.
Stitch is a free app optimized for iPhone/ iPod touch. It’s sure to look great and be immensely more useful on iPad once the developer makes it universal but for now, you can enjoy making presentations on it on your iPhone without breaking a sweat.
Download Stitch For iOS

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