Why Connect to a VPN Service If You Use Kodi

Have you ever used Kodi? What have you used it for – video, music, or podcast streaming? Have you used it on Android, Windows, Linux, or Mac OS X? And have you protected your device good enough to avoid monitoring your browsing and sharing? Even one negative answer means that you haven't protected your computer or smartphone from a provider, network administrator, hacker, or government interference. How can you improve this? The answer is simple – a VPN service.

First of all, let's understand what Kodi is. Kodi is a media player application, which allows Internet users to watch streaming media, which is restricted to certain regions. For example, Netflix, Pandora, Freeform, etc. To get more information about Kodi in general, read review and go back to the article to know what Kodi and VPN have in common. And what is a VPN? A VPN is a service, which encrypts your traffic, hiding your real IP address.

VPN and Kodi

A VPN service executes three main functions towards Kodi and they're; Security, Privacy, and Anonymity.

Security. When choosing a VPN service, pay attention which protocols are used to create a secure tunnel for traffic. Services, which offer the wide range of protocols are the best. Thus, you can choose the protocol that suits your device, the speed of the operation and protection. The latest protocols are the most effective. For example, P2P, HTTPS, and L2TP/IPSec are perfect options for Kodi and traffic encryption.

Privacy. A VPN hides your real IP address and change it to the address of a server. Always looks for the VPNs, which have multiple servers in different countries. The location is very important. The main advantage of large VPN services is in their ability to provide servers in more than 100 countries. Make sure that a VPN service doesn't drastically influence the speed of the traffic. This way, you will get a high-quality streaming when using Kodi.

Anonymity. Before connecting to a VPN server, make sure that a service doesn't save your personal data, logs, metadata, etc. This concerns the methods of payment too. Reliable companies usually offer different ways of payment. Some of them accept even a Bitcoin currency. Such method is very good because it doesn't require the banking card credentials. It is a pleasant bonus if a company offers a long period of a money-back guarantee program. 30-days money back guarantee program is an optimal choice. Thus, you will be able to test a service and have a concrete opinion whether subscribe to it for a longer period or not.

Among the most reliable and suitable for Kodi VPNs are ExpressVPN, PureVPN, NordVPN, SafeVPN, and IPVanish. These companies work with the latest protocols and provide server locations in multiple regions.

This post is sponsored by Best VPN Rating.

How To Translate Android Apps Into any Language

English has always being a universal and widely known language in the universe. But as a bilinguist, there's a chance that english may not be your strongest language and so you'd feel like translating most of your apps into a language you're quite familiar with. A lot of Android apps are mostly translated in English, and there's no option to change this language into your native tongue. Assuming you've downloaded an app that's in english and you wish to translate it to korean or Hindi, then the chances are limited. Google chrome allows you to translate webpages in a simple way, but this also is limited within a certain page on the web. The good news however is that a developer (akhilkedia94) has took it upon himself to create a module that replaces all the text in an app to any language you are fluent with. So to get this one going, here's how to translate Android apps from one language to another.

Install and Activate AllTrans

To begin with, you have to make sure that your Android phone is rooted. Playing with modules requires xposed installer app, so ensure to download it. Now open up xposed installer and dive into the download section, from here search for AllTrans. Click on the result, then swipe to the version tab and hit install. Alternatively you can download the AllTrans module from xposed repository site. Now head over to the module section in xposed installer, then jump into the Module section and tick the checkbox to activate AllTrans. Reboot your device afterwards.

Get an API Key

Tinkering with AllTrans will require you to sign up for a subscription key from Yandex or Microsoft translate. We would have used Microsoft translate considering the fact that it gives better translation, but the only cons is that it'll require a credit card during the sign up process. So we are going for Yandex subscription key since it brings supports for more languages, and moreover the sign up process is easier and doesn't require credit card.

So to get this one over and done with, go to Yandex website and register for an account (i.e if you don't have any account yet). Once you are done with the sign up process, you'll be taken to a page that allows you to create or generate an API key. Simply agree to the user agreement by checking the box next to "I've read the user agreement....". Now click on Get API Key and wait for Yandex to auto generate the key.

Once the API key is successfully created, copy it to your clipboard. If you previously signed up for a Yandex account using your PC, simply email yourself the key and use your Android phone to access and copy the key to your clipboard. The API Key allows AllTrans to use Yandex translating service to replace the text within an app, so it is quite essential to generate the key.

Enter the API Key in AllTrans

Now, open AllTrans from your device's app drawer, then swipe over to the "Global Settings" tab. From here, enable the option "Use Yandex Instead of Microsoft" (i.e if you want to use yandex API key. But if you once had a Microsoft subscription key, you can disable the option). Now under the translate settings, tap on "Enter Yandex Subscription key" then paste the API Key you copied earlier into the provided field and hit Ok.

Choose Preferred Language 

While you are still under the global settings tab, scroll down a bit and tap on "Translate from Language". Then select the language in which the un-translated app is originally in. Next tap on "Translate to Language" and select the language you want the app to be translated to.

Select the Apps you want to Translate

When you're done setting up options in the "Global Settings", swipe over to the "Apps to Translate" tab. From here, scroll through the lists and tick the check box of the apps you wish to translate. Remember that you can also set different languages for every individual app, to do this, simply tap on the specific app via the "Apps to Transllate" tab, then choose the language you want the app to be translated into.

Enjoy a Completely Translated App

Once you are done selecting the apps you wish to translate, simply open it and you'll notice that the selected app has been translated automatically. Ensure to close and restart the app for changes to take effect. The translation applies to every popup and activity in the app, so you're left with a completely translated app.

AllTrans translates apps accurately, but it only supports device running on Android 5.0 lollipop and above. Note that if the app you translated used to work fine, but suddenly stopped loading after the translation, open AllTrans and click on the “Apps to translate” tab. Then tap on "Clear translation Cache”. Also if the app didn't Translate, enable"Aggressive mode" in the "Apps to translate" tab and make sure your Yandex/Microsoft Subscription key is correct.

Galaxy Folder 2 is Samsung's ​New Android Flip Phone

Oh flip phone, how obsolete you've become, and I'd know that a lot of people are eager to see your come back into the smartphone world. I wasn't opportuned to use a flip phone actually, but when i was ready for something new, they became obsolete. The nostalgia is however over, as Samsung have decided to tap into the early 90s and thus they've announced a new flip phone running Android operating system. This actually is a huge improvement considering the earlier release of Nokia 3310 which sold out quite rapidly​ towards the end of may. It shows that smartphone company's are reinventing the olden days technology.

Samsung Galaxy folder 2 is the successor to the Galaxy folder phone that was originally released back in 2013, with the newest flip phone that's due to be released soon, users are bound to experience a cool folder-based phone that brings lots of plethora features. According to Samsung's newsroom, Galaxy folder 2 will adopt a material that's smooth both on the front and rear sides. The device will go further to bring a sophisticated retro design coupled with its soft touch. Featuring a 96.6mm large screen display and physical buttons that enables faster execution, you'd concur with me that sending texts, watching videos and viewing photos are made to be enjoyed more conveniently.

Galaxy folder 2 also brings a social app key that calls out frequently used social media apps, and this can be used as a shortcut to access apps such as WhatsApp, talk etc. The device offers an improved widget, that can provide information on things like battery usage, pedometer and flashlight. With the support of  'Easy Mode', you can check your app icon and font size easily. 15 special ringtones has been​ equipped into the device, and it will be released in two models of LTE and 3G with a black and burgundy color. The device brings an upgraded usability and a powerful performance considering the fact that it supports Andriod 6.0 marshmallow.

The "already set" to be released Galaxy folder 2 features 2GB RAM and 1.4GHz quad-core coupled with 1,950mAh removable battery that has been mounted already. The device supports a Micro SD slot and can be expanded with up to 256GB memory. Galaxy folder 2 will be released in the Samsung tech gaint home at South Korea, and the price tag will range between 297,000won which approximately is $260. The official release date of Galaxy folder 2 has not been announced yet, but we'd hope Samsung releases its new Andriod flip phone globally, as many have been anticipating the arrival of the ever known flip phones.

How To Set Full Size WhatsApp Profile Photo Without Cropping

WhatsApp ubiquitousness is without doubt known across the social media networking world. Its smooth experience, fastness, easy to use and strongly encrypted security makes it quite reliable to converse with our family and recipients conveniently. WhatsApp over the years have grown to become one of the most popular and mostly used social media network after Facebook. After reaching over 1.2 billion monthly active users, you'd agree with me that the number has increased a lot much more than the 450 million users been recorded back then. Facebook's WhatsApp messenger improvement is rolling out every day, and new handy features are been added for continuity.

Also Read: How To Get IOS 9.3 Night Shift Mode On Android.

We've seen the WhatsApp status, and other essential features that's worthy of making use of, but it seems something is missing even with all the regular monthly updates​. WhatsApp right from the very beginning have never allowed its users to upload full size profile photos, as you're been prompted to crop your pictures before uploading. This is too irritating, as cropping part of those photos gets rid of the background and other natural landscape, leaving you with only a seleted area to look at. Uploading a full size image on WhatsApp can be achieved even without rooting, as all you need do is simply to square your pictures. Hence here's how to set full size WhatsApp profile picture without cropping.

Install SquareDroid

SquareDroid also known as no crop app is perhaps the best Android app that brings a stylish and modern material design, and it allows you to upload full size photos quickly without the need for cropping. So to begin with, head over to the Google Play Store and install #SquareDroid: No Crop App. It's a free app, although you can upgrade to the Pro version in other to enjoy a new express-save feature that helps you to save edited image quickly.

Square Your Profile Photo

Opening SquareDroid welcomes you with an easy-to-use interface, at the top right corner situates the app's Settings icon, however tinkering the options over there isn't in any way compulsory. Now to get this one going, simply tap the "Square Profile Photo" button and scroll through your gallery to choose a beautiful picture you'd want to use as your WhatsApp dp.

From here, you'll be prompted to choose the newly selected image border type. Left for me, i'd go for the blur effect, as it makes the image look more lively. Assuming you have chosen the blur effect as recommended, use the slider to adjust the blurriness to atleast 45% or more. Then tap done!.

Next, you'll be presented with handy tools such as rotate, scale, crop, save etc. and this can help to liven up your image the more. So use any of them to your preference. Notice the floating color palette icon, you can use this to change the border type whenever you want to. Once you're done settings things up hit the Save button, then select save format and tap Save Photo.

Upload Your Fully Squared Image

Now open WhatsApp messenger and head over to Settings >> Profile. Then browse through your gallery and select the image you squared earlier on. It'll automatically fit in, tap on Done and you're all set. Repeat this steps for any of the photos you wish to use as your WhatsApp dp.

That's it! Now you can get rid of that awful frustration when it comes to cropping your great full size photos before posting them on WhatsApp as a profile picture​. If you know of any other app that can quickly and easily set full size WhatsApp profile photo without cropping, then kindly unveil it to us by using the comment box below.

8 Best Mods You Can Apply On Android Without Rooting

Every Android device offers a lot of abilities that needs to be figured out by its users, and when we speak of potentials, we're referring to customization perhaps modding. Prior to the 'end of symbian, we where once used to modding and this practice requires what we called hacking. Much has not changed in the 'Android era', as we are still able to mod our device to any preferred manner. Rooting and customization comes hand in hand, but not every Android users finds it convenient to root there device. Thus they are limited to all the juice rooting can offer. In spite of not been rooted, there are still a dozen of ways to customize your device. So in this article we are going to unravel the best mods you can apply on your Android device without rooting.

1. Customize Your Navbar

Navbar Apps is one of the handy tool that is ​quite capable of transforming your Android device navbar into something that's more awesome.When you get bored while looking at your device navigation bar, then you can use Navbar Apps to change your existing on-screen navbar. The app is also capable of turning your device's navbar into any color, be it red, orange, blue or anything. You can even select beautiful images​ and use them as your navigation bar background or you can choose to color-match your existing navbar to automatically fit in with running apps. With navbar app, you can add battery percentage​ your softkeys and this comes without rooting.

2. Enable Immersive Mode

There are times when we'd feel like enabling immersive full screen mode on our Android device, this can adequately hide the status bar and navigation bar on our Android device, and in this way, it'll provide a better experience for performing tasks such as reading, playing games or watching videos. Fulscrn can painlessly let you to use every single pixel on your device screen, thereby hiding the status and navbar. The app offers a material design look, and a notification control bar. It forces all apps to immersive full screen mode but yet still, it brings some limitations. The app disables your device back key and keyboard when the full screen mode is on, but if you can swallow this issue then you'll find fulscrn quite interesting.

3. Enable an Overlay Color-Matching Status Bar

Status is another cool Android app that can painlessly replace your device's status bar with something more cool . The app works by drawing an overlay on top of your status bar. In this way the actual system-generated status bar is hidden under the replacement. Status brings the same similarity with an app known as material status bar. However the latter offers more advanced features. To get going with status, you'll need to grant the app some permissions that can enable it to obtain needed information to display on your status bar. Once done, you'll be greeted with a refined status bar that tends to auto color-match with currently running apps.

4. Monitor Battery Level Just Above the Status Bar

Energy bar is one of the essential Android apps that allows you to monitor your device battery level at the top of your status bar. The app shows an energy bar line that covers all the "width' of your screen just above the status bar. When your battery deplets, the length of the energy bar will also deplet. The app is very reliable and shows a cool pulsating animation during the charging stage. Energy bar offers advance features, you can easily set the energy bar to change colors automatically depending on your battery level. Energy bar is lightweight, so it won't take up your phone RAM neither will it be a load to your CPU. The app offers cool customization abilities, and it helps you to utilize your battery efficiently.

5. Display Music Visualizer on Your Navbar

When it comes to listening to music, third party apps such as TTpod allows you to see the music visualizer. But this is only limited within the app. Now what if you can be able to show a music visualizer on your device's​ navbar?. Well it's possible with Muviz, a one of a kind app that's capable of displaying music visualizer on your device navigation bar. The app works great, infact it is one of the best Muviz visualizer on Android. Muviz can enhance your music play, and if your device doesn't an on-screen navigation bar, the app will still show visualizer above your hardware buttons. Muviz also features an inbuilt creator tool that allows you to create your own visualizer, it's certainly the first of its kind.

6. Enable Galaxy S6 Edge Color Notification

If you're a fan of Samsung Galaxy S6+ edge, then you would've noticed the lighting and people's edge feature the phone brings. The good news however is that you can also get this smart feature on your Android device by using edge color notification and no root access is needed. The app exhibit a coloured notification for incoming calls, and it gives you fast access to all your favorite contacts. Edge color notifications brings glow effects backed up with stylish animations. The app is lightweight and you can set different colors for your contacts. Just swipe from the left corner of your screen and you'll be presented with a beautiful glow effects.

7. Record Android Screen

Recording the screen of your Android device has never been easy, as whole process will require root access. But the good news here is that AZ Screen Recorder can painlessly record the screen of your lollipop Android device without rooting. There's​ no limit and no watermark, the app is quite easy, smooth and offers handy features. With AZ screen recorder, you can make beautiful screencast that can be paused​ and resume. I personally​prefer AZ screen recorder for tutorial, since it allows you to record audio from the mic and this will automatically muxed in your screencast videos. In summary, AZ screen recorder is reliable, and it will record your screen both in HD and full HD videos.

8. Enable On-Screen Navbar

Many finds it pleasant to use their Android phone's physical hardware buttons, but you are likely to encounter issues with them. If perhaps your device's hardware buttons got broken, and you're not ready to repair nor replace it, then adding an on-screen navbar could be the most convenient alternative. With Simple Control (navigation bar), you can easily enable a customizable on-screen navigation buttons on your android device without rooting. The app works flawlessly, simply install and grant it accessibility service, then toggle ON simple control and you're ready to ride with the tinkering. Simply control performs accurate function just like a normal hardware buttons.

Wrapping Up

Almost half of every Android mods requires root access, but we've managed to explore and thus "fish out" most of the handy apps that can customise your Android device and this is without rooting. If you know of any other app that's worth unveiling, then you can use the comment box below!.

5 Best Online Broken Link Checker Tools For Your Website

Dead links or broken links can be detrimental to your site's reputation, Google bots detest it, and so does your blog users. Imagine a situation whereby someone decides to find information on your website and he/she will be presented with 404 error!. I guess that is another dead link and trust me, it is quite annoying. When you have soo many broken link on your website, you're probably giving your blog readers the impression that you're not capable of handling petty links and this will have a negative​ impact on your website ranking. If you've a lot of articles published on your website, then you're likely to face dead links and it's your duty to find and fix them all. Broken links affect a blog's SEO badly, so you'd always keep your website fresh at all times.

Finding broken links on your website can be quite a tedious task, especially when you are using the manual method. Dead links occurs whenever you draft or delete a post, and if you had previously made interlinks on some of your older articles, fixing those broken links manually can consume a lot of time. From time immemorial, it has never been easy to find and fix broken links, but i have found some of the best online tools that can conveniently detect dead hyperlinks and it'll make it easier for you to fix them. Without further ado, here's how to find and fix all the broken links on your websites to enable you get rid of 404 error.

1. Broken Link Check

Broken Link Check is one of the best free online tools that allows you to check your websites for bad URL. This tool is geared towards helping you to locate problematic links that can cause 404 errors and it goes further to show you where exactly the bad URL is located in your posts and html. This makes it easier to fix or remove all broken links on your website. Broken link check is actually my most favourite tool, it's quite reliable, fast and accurate coupled with the fact that it shows only the hyperlinks that's really broken.

Getting started with broken link check is perhaps too simple, as all you need to do is head over to the website, then enter your blog url and hit the find broken links button. From here, enter the security code that will be showned, then broken link checker will automatically search all the webpages on your websites and report broken links. You will be able to fix all the links from there, as the tool shows you the dead link's location in your HTML source. Overall, broken link check is convenient and it doesn't require any form of registration.

2. Dead Link Checker

Dead Link Checker is another popular tool that can be used to detect broken links on your​ website. This tool is aimed towards crawling all the webpages on your website and identifying broken links for you to fix. To begin with, head over to the dead link website and enter you blog url. Now choose whether you want your whole website or a single webpage to be crawled, then tap the 'check' button and input the security code.

Dead Link checker will automatically crawl your webpage and report all the bad URLs. It's quite easy to use, and it also brings a ton of advance features. One is the 'Multi Check' feature, which enables you to crawl multiple websites in one go, and the report will be sent to you via email. Auto Check is another smart feature dead link checker brings to its abode. The service automatically allow dead link checker to crawl your webpage page on regular basis for dead links and the report will be mailed to you.

3. Dr. Link Check

Dr. Link Check believes that broken link can make a website look unprofessional and deter visitors from retuning to your blog. So with his online tool, you can easily detect most of the bad links on your website and be able to fix them. To get this one going, head over to Drlinkweb.com and provide your website URL at the given box. Hit the "Start" button and the tool wilauto crawl through your website's​ pages and present a report of all the broken links it can find.

While Dr. Link Check seems to be quite an awesome tool for checking broken links, it's only limited to crawl a maximum of 1,000 links. Once it reaches the limit, the crawling will stop automatically and you'll be asked to pay $10 in other to check up to 3,000 plus links. So i recommend Dr link check to those who have small blogs. If perhaps your blog contains alot of links, then you can try other available alternatives.

4. Screaming Frog SEO Spider 

Screaming Frog SEO Spider is one of the best tools you can use to check for broken links on your website. The software comes in two different versions, (free and paid) and it can give accurate reports of all the bad URLs on your blog. The SEO spider lite allows you to crawl up to 500 URLs, but you can upgrade to enjoy unlimited checkings. To begin with, head over to screamingfrom and download SEO spider.

When you open the seo spider software, you will be greeted with a familiar interface. So all you'll need to do is type your website url in the spider box, then hit the "Start' button. SEO spider will automatically crawl all the links on your website pages and present to you all the 404 broken links. Also using SEO spider, you can view the source of the dead links when you click on the "inlinks" tab. This makes it easier to locate and fix those broken links without stress.

5. Xenu's Link Sleuth

Xenu's Link Sleuth is one of the old but yet reliable software that you can use to check websites for broken links. The app verifies link on normal style sheets and it displays a frequently updated list of URL that you can sort by different criteria. Xenu's Link Sleuth brings a simple user interface, and it can re-check broken links when you've a network error. So to get this one over and done with, head over to xenu's link sleuth website and download the software on your PC. Launch the tool, enter your site URL and wait till it automatically crawl your webpage for broken links. Overall xenu's link sleuth does a great job when it comes to finding broken links on your website.

Final Words

There are a lot of online tools you can use to check your website's broken links, we've the broken links checker plugin which you can use on your WordPress blog, and also the Google webmaster tool can do a pretty cool job when it comes to detecting dead links. So we've listed the best free tool that can be used to check for internal and external broken links on your website. Always keep your website fresh!.

How To Get Google Assistant on Android 5.0 Lollipop (No Root)

Google Assistant popularity can't be tamed, while the Android users who are on marshmallow and Nougat seems to be enjoying their artificial intelligence, we've found a workaround to install Google Assistant on lollipop device even without rooting​.

Google Assistant is gradually becoming more ubiquitous than we anticipated, prior to its release, we have had a chance to make use of other Al assistants such as Microsoft Cortana, Siri and even amazon Alexa. But in any comparison, Google Assistant takes all the glory. The artificial intelligence is based on giving you information from the web and it does this more accurately. When Google first introduced their Google Assistant on pixels phone, alot of non-pixel users sorted a way to get the AI assistant on their nougat and marshmallow device. However all those tricks mainly involved root privilege. Later on, Google announced the availability of its AI on device running 6.0 marshmallow. But this was limited to certain countries.

Also Read: How To Get Google Assistant on Your Android Device Running on Marshmallow and Nougat​.

While all this were going on, it'll seem that Google has forgotten to announce or extend its assistant on Android 5.0 lollipop device. A lot of Android users who are on nougat got Google Assistant on their smartphones without rooting​, and if they can do this, so can you. The whole process here involves  opening a hidden activity that's within the Google app and this can be achieved with the help of an app that can launch activities on your Android device. Now there are either two ways to go about this, first is to install​ Activity launcher or you can use the widely known Nova launcher to achieve your aim since it features a built-in function to launch activities. So to get this one going, here's how to get Google Assistant on Android 5.0 lollipop without rooting. This method will also work on Android tablets.

Update Google App

To begin with, you'll need to update Google app to the latest version. This step is a must if you want to achieve a successful result. So head over to the Google Play and search for Google App. Then scroll down and tap "I'm in" to become a beta tester. Now download the Google app and open it. From here complete the initial setup and go back to your device's​ home screen. Currently i'm running Google app version 7.2.26.16arm.

Install Nova Launcher

Next we'll be using Nova launcher instead of Activity launcher to achieve our goal. But once you follow the Nova launcher method, you'll be able to grab hint on how to launch activities using the activity launcher. So to get this one over with, go to the Google Play and install Nova Launcher, then set it up as your default launcher.

Launch Activities

Now long-press on an empty space on your device home screen and select widgets. Then under Nova Launcher, tap and hold activity and drag the shortcut to your home screen. From here, a list of activities on your device will automatically appear. Scroll down and find Google App from the lists, then tap on it to expand more options. Now look for the google Assistant shortcut with the sub name com.google.android.apps.gsa.staticplugins.opa.hq.OpaHqActivity and then select it. This will automatically add a Google assistant to your home screen. Tap on the icon to launch it.

Trigger Google Assistant

Now once opened, scroll over to the "Your Stuff" tab which is located at the top right. Then tap Add Reminder. On the next section tap the Settings as done. From here tap on "Enhance Google Services" option and hit ok from the pop-up. Now head back to your home screen and open Google app, then say ok Google and you will see Google assistant available on your lollipop device live.

If you're​ not rooted, you can only access the Google assistant from the Google app by saying "Ok Google". Remember that "Ok Google detection" won't be available from any screen unless you move Google Assistant as system apps. Once done, simply open Google app settings and you will see that ok Google detection has been activated. Toggle ON this option and teach the Google assistant to recognise your voice by saying ok Google 3 times. Once youre​ done, say OK Google from any screen and Google assistant will open.

Alternative Method

The above procedure won't open the Google Assistant when you long-press on the home button. But the good news is that you can now launch Google assistant on your lollipop device when you hold the home button. Thanks to Jovic77 @ XDA developers as he came up with a Google assistant launcher (GAL) that does the work without requiring root access. Moreover it doesn't need any activity launcher as you can launch it even with your own preferred launcher.

To get this one going, download the Google Assistant Launcher and install it on your Android device. Open the app and create a reminder as we described earlier on. Then teach the Google assistant your voice, Now go to your device home screen and long-press on the home button to launch Google assistant. From here complete the action by selecting Google assistant from the list (as shown above). Note: If you're on lollipop, select Google assistant as default. If you're on marshmallow select Google app as default. That's all! Enjoy Google assistant on your lollipop Android device.