Author: Baptiste Brassart

IFTT, Pushbullet, Agent, Trigger: in the last few years, a new class of mobile apps has emerged. I call them Meta applications. Their aim? To make your smartphone even smarter. To clarify, these apps attempt to link the different functions of your mobile’s operating system to your every day apps. They let you automate certain functions and interconnect various services, and can also be used to help fill any gaps in the OS.

Widely used by professionals in the new technology sector, this family of apps can provide multiple services to anyone who uses a smartphone. Here, I’ll go through four revolutionary apps that can help all users automate their smartphone functions.

IFTTT

Before making its grand entrance in various mobile app stores, IFTTT existed as a web app. The acronym IFTTT literally means If This Then That.

What ‘s the app for? The idea is that, with the help of API-development tools made ​​available by heavy hitters like Facebook or Google, IFTTT allows you to set up chain reactions– recipes in IFTTT language– and letting the internet do the work for you. To concoct a recipe, all you need is a trigger and an action.

If all this is still unclear, here are some useful example recipes that are popular among IFTTT users:

1. Change your Twitter status or profile picture when you update your Facebook page.

2. Email all new photos taken with your smartphone.

3. Save all your phone contacts into a spreadsheet in Google Docs.

4. Put your Android phone on silent mode when you arrive at the office.

Download If This Then That for: Android | iOS

Trigger

Trigger is an app that’s only available in the Google Play Store. Similar to IFTTT, it uses the idea of action and reaction, while focusing more on your smartphone’s operating system. The only downside is that if you want to access all the features of Trigger, you need to root your Android device.

Trigger allows you to, for example, put your phone on silent mode when you arrive at the office. The trigger used in this case is none other than your location, which is calculated using your phone’s GPS; once the trigger is activated, the phone reacts by activating silent mode.

Contrary to what you might think, the configuration of Trigger is actually quite simple. You can, of course, use the models offered by the editor to help you. Here are some other possibilities with Trigger:

1. Launch the GPS application when you sync your phone to your car radio via Bluetooth.

2. Automatically change your ringtone and adjust the volume depending on where you are.

3. Perform automated check-ins on Foursquare.

Also, note that the paid app Triggers for iPhone and iPad can also be used to automate smartphone functions, although this app has nothing to do with Trigger for Android.

Download Trigger for: Android

Agent

Developed by the same team as Trigger – Egomotion Corp– Agent is a mobile app that again, is only available on Android.

Once installed, Agent offers 5 predefined actions, which can then be changed one by one using the app’s advanced settings. Advanced users will benefit from all the possible functions of this app.

Agent allows you to control five different smartphone functions:

1. Battery:  to better regulate your battery consumption.

2. Sleep:  to activate silent mode when you go to sleep.

3. Parking:  to automatically record the geographical location of your vehicle when you park.

4. Meeting:  to switch to silent mode when you are in a meeting.

5. Drive:  to automate sending messages while you’re driving.

Download Agent for: Android

Pushbullet

Unlike If This Then That, which focuses on third-party services, Pushbullet (for iOS and Android) aims to facilitate the exchange of data between computers and smartphones.

The main principle: rather than sending an email to one of your contacts or to yourself in order to access a link or an image on another device, why not push the content directly? To communicate between your phone and your PC, you must first install Pushbullet on your phone, and then install the Pushbullet extension in your web browser.

Using this function is even quicker than uploading links or media to traditional online storage services.

Pushbullet’s extra advantages? The Android app also lets you synchronize your smartphone’s Notification Center with your computer. Using this easily configurable system, it becomes possible to, for example, display a pop-up notification on your PC or Mac whenever someone calls you.

Here are some of Pushbullet’s most common uses:

1. Send photos from your computer to your phone.

2. When you send a link from your smartphone, it opens the URL directly in a new tab in your browser for PC or Mac.

3. If you’re at your PC, there’s no need to get your Android phone out of your pocket; your notifications will also be displayed on the computer.

Download Pushbullet for: Android | iPhone

Download the Pushbullet extension for: Chrome | Firefox

Make your own recipes

While these apps gained popularity among bloggers and professionals in the new technology sector, anybody can take advantage of these apps and invent their own recipes based on the services they use.

If you want even more tips to help optimize your device, check out how to sync Android with Mac.

Follow me on Twitter @bbrassart

The iPhone 5 is the only iPhone model that lets you shoot slow motion videos with its native camera app. Lucky for non iPhone 5 owners, there’s a free app called SloPro, a viable solution for making slo-mo videos that’s compatible with all iPhones and iPads running iOS 6 and later.

Among all the video apps in the App Store that offer the slow motion feature, SloPro is the only one that lets you export the final video for free, and even with a watermark, its still one of the best options.

With the free version, you can also export the video to Facebook, Instagram or YouTube, but if you want to save the video in your iPhone’s camera roll and remove the ‘Made with SloPro’ watermark, you’ll have to pay $3.99. So, how does the free version work?

1. Download SloPro

Download and open the app on your iPhone or iPad.

2. Create your video

The app’s home screen gives you the option to record a video, but you can also import an existing video stored on your iPhone. Tap the thumbnail in the bottom left, choose the import icon, and then select the video clip that you want to turn into a slow motion video.

3. Customize the slo-mo effect

After shooting or importing the video, you can edit and customize the slow motion effect by tapping Edit.

What exactly can you do with the clip? On the bottom of the screen, there is a timeline with the video and the following options:

• Clip in: Corresponds to the beginning of the sequence to export
• Speed in: Shows the starting point for the slow motion effect
• Speed out: Shows where the slow motion effect ends
• Clip out: Shows the end of the clip for export

Tap on each and move the cursor with your finger to specify the exact section you want to use.

At the top of the screen, you’ll find two important options. The first is Slow, which has a percentage level that  lets you change the speed of the slo-motion effect (SloPro also let’s you make short timelapses with a few clicks).

The second feature, Render, offers 3 automatic editing options: Optical Flow, Frame Blend and Ghost. Their quality depends on the quality of the original video, but these could, in some cases, stabilize the image correctly or improve the transitions between the different images.

4. Export video

Now that you’ve edited your video, you can export it for free to Facebook, Instagram or even YouTube by tapping on the Export icon in the bottom left of the screen.

And here’s the final video with the slow motion feature!

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If you like the result, then download SloPro for iPhone.

If you want to know more about your iPhone, read all about iOS 7.

Follow me on Twitter: bbrassart

Facebook forced its users to download the Facebook Messenger app in order to be able to chat with friends on mobile devices. Annoying for many, there are actually third party options that let you chat more comfortably than Facebook’s native Messenger app. One of these is IM+.

No more Facebook chat

It’s no longer possible to chat with friends via Facebook’s mobile app after its decision to remove messaging in favor of a standalone Messenger. The result? When you try to send a message in the native app, Facebook prompts you to download Messenger.

Without asking its users, Facebook has forced them to install Facebook Messenger

While IM+ doesn’t add the chat feature back to the official Facebook app, it at least aims to give you a similar experience. With IM +, you can control multiple services like Google Hangouts and Twitter, all through the app. More than a simple alternative to Messenger, IM+ can help revolutionize your entire mobile chatting experience.

Add several chat services and manage them all from the IM+ app

Let’s see how it works.

1. Download IM+

Download the IM+ app. Just like Facebook, it’s a multiplatform service, and you’ll find it for all operating systems: Android, BlackBerry, iOS, Windows Phone, and Windows 8. You can even access the web app from your browser.

2. Sync accounts

On the main screen, add the accounts you want to sync. Facebook is, of course, on this list.

3. Enter credentials

Enter the email and password associated with your Facebook account, and tap OK.

4. Wait for contacts to sync

All your contacts are automatically added to the corresponding list. The interface is very simple to use and shouldn’t give you any problems.

If you’re a chat addict, IM+ will be really useful for you, and its especially perfect for all those who refuse to install Facebook Messenger.

Are you for or against Facebook Messenger? Jon and Suzie have already taken sides.

Follow me on Twitter: @bbrassart

Some info should never be shared on places like Facebook, Twitter or even Foursquare, and despite privacy settings that you can generally alter, there are still things you should avoid sharing altogether.

On Facebook, although many users leave their profiles open, you can control everything you publish throughout its privacy settings. On Foursquare, it’s up to you whether you prefer to share your check-ins only with friends or with the whole community, and on Twitter, everything is public unless you choose private settings (typically uncommon for the platform), or unless you send a private message to someone you mutually follow.

So, what are 4 things you should never share on any of these social networks?

1. ‘A two-month holiday in Indonesia, awesome!’

When you go on vacation for weeks, choose what you want to share and how. A public tweet is perhaps not the best way to share this information with your friends. By checking the geotags of your tweets or by simply going on your Foursquare account, burglars could decide to make an impromptu visit to your home during your absence.

In the past, some sites like PleaseRobMe.com have tried to alert the public about this issue.

In the same way that someone can check if you really are sick when you take time off work, it’s also smart to avoid the beach selfie; it may not be quite as dangerous, but it could get you in trouble, or even worse, make your colleagues super jealous.

2. Beware of misleading content

If you see a video like ‘OMG Miley Cyrus out of control’ or ‘Britney Spears as you’ve never seen her before’ on someone’s wall that would otherwise never post something like this, you know there’s trouble.

These scams were discovered a long time ago but still cause problems for people. When clicked, these ‘video clips’ actually make you ‘Like’ the content (which is sometimes questionable) and then adds the ‘Like’ to your own wall or news feed. Avoid clicking weird or suspicious things you don’t think your friends would actually ‘Like’.

Also, don’t forget that recruiters don’t hesitate to examine your Facebook and Twitter profiles before even considering you for an interview. It’s not about having a completely clean Facebook –this social network is, at the end of the day, a space for expression– but it might be a good idea to filter what you ‘Like’.

3. Never talk about confidential information

To mention a contract or agreement on the internet might seem innocent enough, but if said agreement contains confidentiality clauses, it’s probably not a good idea to talk about them on social networks.

One father learned this lesson the hard way after losing $80,000 in a settlement case in which a confidentiality clause stipulated that no one other than his wife and attorneys could discuss the settlement. Unfortunately, his daughter didn’t get the memo and posted the info all over Facebook, losing the family the settlement.

4. Don’t complain about colleagues

If your line manager or your clients drive you crazy, don’t release your frustration on social networks. There are countless cases of people who were politely excused from their duties after making outrageous remarks on Facebook. It’s estimated that a significant proportion of layoffs are caused by social network misuse.

Known your privacy settings

To avoid unpleasant surprises, the simplest –and most effective– thing to do is to understand the privacy settings of these services. The goal is not to use your Facebook page or an impersonal Twitter account less, but rather to present yourself in a more favorable light.

Follow me on Twitter: @bbrassart

For more on privacy, check out our privacy comparison of popular messaging apps.