Google Maps to Get New Offline Search, Turn-by-Turn Navigation Features

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Google, besides announcing a slew of OS updates and features alongside Android M at the Google I/O 2015 keynote event, also said it would soon be bringing offline search to its Google Maps app. The app will also feature complete voice-based turn-by-turn navigation while in offline mode. Both features will be made available sometime later this year.
The new offline features announced for Google Maps are aimed mainly for "emerging markets" where mobile Internet coverage is spotty, and data charges expensive, as navigation via GPS is independent of mobile networks. In the past, Google had introduced offline rerouting during navigation, which would reroute users even if they lose their Internet connection while navigating. Now, the entire process of navigation can be done when offline. The offline features are also useful for those users who are travelling to less-connected spots. The features will also come handy for those who are searching for directions when travelling in underground metros or via flight.
The offline search feature would enable users to search for places and points of interest, with results including autocomplete suggestions as well as reviews, contact numbers, opening hours and other information. The Google I/O 2015 keynote event saw the feature being demoed on a handset on Airplane mode and it seemed to work seamlessly.
Google launched its offline maps feature in 2012. The feature at that time allowed users to avail offline functionality in over 150 countries and save up to six large metro areas. The search giant last week rolled out native Maps app for Android Wear devices, alongside translucent status bar and other features.
Finally, Google at I/O 2015 also announced updates for its Google Places API for iOS, bringing it on par with Android with such new features as adding a place picker, current device location, detailed place information, search autocomplete, the ability to add places to Google's Places database, and more.

How to Backup Contacts on Your Smartphone

"I lost all of my contacts" is such a common complaint even in the age of smartphones that you have to sometimes wonder if people are faking it. But while it sounds silly and even unbelievable at times, the fact is that if you - or even your kid - accidentally hit the wrong buttons on the screen, you can accidentally deleting all your contacts.

If you've switched to a new phone, or lost your phone, or it stops working suddenly, you face the same problem. It has happened to almost all of us and it will continue to happen to others. The best you can do is ensure that all your contacts are backed up so that you can quickly get your life back on track. Here's how to do that on any smartphone.

iPhone

You can backup your iPhone contacts to iCloud or on your computer via iTunes. The iCloud method is simpler, but needs Internet access.

1. Go to Settings > iCloud.
2. The switch next to contacts should be in the green on position.

This single step will ensure that all your contacts are constantly backed up to iCloud. If you format your phone, just signing in to the iCloud account will restore all contacts.

If you don't have Internet access, you can still backup contacts via iTunes.

1. Download and install the latest version of iTunes.
2. Connect your iPhone to the computer via USB.
3. Open iTunes.
4. Tap the iPhone icon on the top-left, just below the menu bar.
5. Tap Info on the left sidebar.
6. Check Sync Contacts.
7. Select the service you'd like to sync contacts with from the drop-down menu. On a Windows machine, we were allowed to sync with Outlook or Windows Contacts. The latter takes a local backup on your Windows machine.
8. After selecting Windows Contacts, click Switch in the pop-up to start a backup.

This will backup your iPhone contacts to your computer. Windows Contacts isn't available on Windows 7, but you can install it via Windows Live Essentials. If you want to backup all that is there in your iPhone,

Android

If you have an Internet connection, follow these steps to backup your contacts on Android.

1. Go to Settings > Accounts > Google.
2. Tap the account name at the top.
3. Make sure there is a check mark for Contacts.

All your contacts will be backed up to your Google account continuously. Note that the exact names of menus can vary between different manufacturers and Android versions. If you don't have Internet access on your phone, follow these steps.

1. Open Contacts.
2. Tap the three vertical dots on the top-right.
3. Select Import/export.
4. Tap Export to storage.
5. A pop-up will tell you where your contacts will be exported. Tap OK.
6. Open the file manager app on your phone. If you don't have one, you can download ES File Explorer.
7. In the file manager, navigate to the folder where the contacts are stored. If you aren't sure, search for vcf and the contacts file will show up.

Copy this file and store it somewhere safe. If you ever want to get this set of contacts back then you'll need to use the import function in contacts, to import the data from this file.

(Also see: How to Backup Your Android Phone)

BlackBerry 10

1. Go to Settings > Accounts.
2. Tap Add Account from the bottom of the screen.
3. Tap Email, Calendar and Contacts.
4. Enter your Gmail address and tap Next.
5. Then enter your password and tap Sign in.
6. This will set up the account. Make sure that Sync Contacts is On.

This will back up all your BlackBerry 10 contacts to your Google account. If you format the phone and then add the same Gmail address again, it will automatically populate your contacts list with the backed up numbers.

(Also see: How to Backup Your BlackBerry 10 Smartphone)

Windows Phone

There's nothing special that you need to do to backup your contacts on Windows Phone. When you first set up the phone, you will have to sign in using a Microsoft account. From then on, all your contacts are automatically backed up to the Microsoft account.

(Also see: How to Backup Your Windows Phone)

How do you backup contacts on your smartphone? Let us know via the comments. For more tutorials, head to our How To section.

How to Grant or Deny an iOS App Access to Your Location

Many of the apps you install ask for permission to access your location - and if the app seems useful, you're going to allow it more often than not. But we tend to forget about this afterwards, and over time, you've got a dozen different apps that are asking for location information and draining out the battery. For both privacy reasons and practical concerns about battery life, this kind of usage is a problem. Or sometimes it happens you deny an app location access on first launch, but you may need to enable it later, but are not sure how to go about this.

Some apps such as Zomato only use your location when you have the app open. Others such as Google Maps use your location even in the background. There may be a legitimate reason for this. In the case of Google Maps, it provides directions even when the app is not open. But that's not the case for all apps that use your location.

The easy solution is to just turn off the GPS altogether - but this means that even important apps you rely on can't check your location. If your battery life is getting worse by the day though, or if you're just not comfortable with certain apps sharing your location data, then you can turn off location access for just those apps.

Here's how to enable or disable location access for individual apps on iPhone or iPad.

1. Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services.
2. Now scroll down to see a list of apps that seek location access.
3. Next to each app, you will see the text Never, While Using, or Always. Apps that have Never written next to their names don't use your location data. While Using means that the app only accesses location data when it is on screen. Always means that the app can access location data even when it is not running.
4. Tap any app that has Always displayed next to its name.
5. Now tap While Using the App. This will ensure that the app doesn't use your location in the background. Some apps don't allow this option, in which case, if you don't think that the app should always access your location, change the setting to Never.
6. Scroll to the bottom and tap System Services.
7. Now you can see system services that use your location in the background. Find My iPhone is a useful anti-theft feature, so you should not deny it location access. You can turn the others off depending on your requirements.

Do you prefer to have apps using your location in the background? Did denying location access improve the battery life on your iPhone or iPad? Let us know via the comments.

For more tutorials, visit our How To section

How to Remove Preloaded Apps From Your PC

Ever wondered why your brand new PC came pre-loaded with so many apps that you'll never use? If yes, then the simple answer is that it is one of the few ways in which branded PC manufacturers make money. Pre-loading apps is one of the few sources of revenue for them, so they do it even though you, the buyer, will never use most of them.
But why should you remove these apps? After all, some of them might be useful. While that's a popular assumption, most people never use any of the apps that are pre-loaded on their branded computers. These apps occupy a lot of space and some of them start when your computer starts, which slows down the machine. A few of them even throw up annoying advertisement banners which are very hard to disable permanently.
For all these reasons, it's a good idea to just remove all these useless apps, popularly known as bloatware, from your computer. Here's how to identify and remove bloatware from your PC.

1. If you know which apps you want to remove, then you can easily go to Control Panel > Programs and Features, select programs you don't need and click Uninstall.
2. But if you don't know whether a certain app is useful or not, you should install an app that tells you whether the programs on your PC are useful.
3. There are many such apps, but the one we liked the most in called Should I Remove It. You can download it here.
4. Once you have installed the app, it will show you a list of apps installed on your PC. It displays a rating for each app (based on feedback from those who use Should I Remove It and a "group of power users") and shows the percentage of people who remove the app in a neat horizontal coloured bar.
5. Apps that have a green bar next to them are safe to keep on your PC, but those marked red can easily be removed.
6. Should I Remove It makes it easy for you to find out what any installed app does. Just click the name of the app and then click What is it? for an app description.
7. To remove apps, click the name of the app and then click Uninstall.

This works well for desktop apps, but those who use Windows 8's Modern UI apps can follow these instructions to remove bloatware.

1. Go to the Start Screen in Windows 8. Just tap the Windows key to get there.
2. Right click any app you don't need and click Uninstall.

It's easy to remove bloatware from your PC, but did you manage it successfully? Let us know via the comments. For more tutorials, visit our How To section.

How To Share Files From Android to BlackBerry and Back Using ES File Explorer

Sharing files between mobile devices can often be a pain - while there are tools like Airdrop that allow you to easily share files when you're both on the same platform, if you want to share files across different platforms, things get a little more complicated.
The easy workaround is to use cloud-based solutions - whether it's by emailing files to each other, or using a service like Dropbox - or using a computer to physically download files and transfer them. But the first method wastes data and time, as the file has to be first uploaded and then downloaded, and using a computer is often cumbersome and might not always be possible. Luckily, there are some useful apps that let you simplify this process, and transfer files wirelessly.
We've already written about how to share files between iOS and Windows Phone, iOS and Android, and Android and Windows Phone. Now, we'll walk you through sharing files between Android and BlackBerry devices.
First things first, if you have a computer handy, this is a very simple process. Just connect to both phones using USB data cables, and then go to My Computer. You can navigate through the files on both phones, copy-paste and drag and drop files between them just like you would move files on your computer.
If you don't have a computer, you'll need to use an app to transfer the files wirelessly. Our top pick is ES File Explorer, because it's available on both Google Play and the Amazon App Store - the latter is also accessible to BlackBerry 10 devices, so you can easily install it on both platforms. ES File Explorer is also our favourite file manager - and it's free - so it's worth installing even if you're not looking to transfer files right away. Here's how it works.
1. First, install ES File Explorer on both devices. Android users should click here, while BlackBerry users will need to first install the Amazon App Store, and then click here.
2. Next, connect both phones to the same Wi-Fi network.
3. Open the app on both devices, and then navigate to the file you want to share.
4. Tap and hold the file until a check mark appears on the right. Now tap the More button in the bottom right of the screen and tap Send.

5. A popup will scan for other devices running ES File Explorer - tap the name of the other device, and a confirmation prompt shows up on the recipient phone. Tap confirm, and the file is sent wirelessly.
That's all that you need to share files wirelessly between Android and BlackBerry devices, and the ease of use, clean interface, and convenience of ES File Explorer makes it our top choice.
What methods have you used to share files between mobile devices? Share your tips with us via the comments.

How to Find the Best iOS App Deals

Everyone loves a good discount when buying stuff and most of us check various websites to find the best deals when shopping for products online, so why should apps be any different? If you're looking for apps to go free so you can get them without using a debit card, or looking for deals and discounts because you're not sure an app is worth buying, there are a lot of different methods you can employ to get the best deals.
It might seem miserly to seek deals on apps considering that most apps sell for Rs. 60 or Rs. 120 - less than a cup of coffee in many places. But as some of the members of our team can attest, the small spends add up, and you could end up spending several thousand rupees over the course of a year. At that point, you're really going to wish you'd looked for deals before making your purchases.
(Also see:Never Pay MRP: 3 Browser Extensions That Will Help You Save Money)
We'll be bringing the best deals we can find to you every week, but in case you want to find deals yourself, here's what you need to know:
iOS
AppShopper
There are plenty of websites that show the best deals for iOS and Mac users, but AppShopper is our favourite, just ahead of 148apps. Between the two, we preferred AppShopper because its search is easier to customise, and lets you find apps according to category.
To see the discounts, you need only click on the "Price Drops" button in the top right. You can choose between iOS and Mac, or iPad only, iPhone only and Universal apps. You also have the option of searching for discounts and apps that have gone free, through simple toggles along the top bar.
In case you want to watch for price drops on favourite apps, then you can also sign up for AppShopper and add apps to your wishlist.

TouchArcade
Unlike AppShopper, which is mostly useful for finding deals, TouchArcade is a game focused site where you'll get reviews and in-depth forum discussions about iOS games. It's a great way to also figure out what you should be downloading. The site also has a very useful app that lets you track sales on games as well. You can set it up with the following steps:
1. Download TouchArcade and open the app. Tap the gear icon on the top left > Watch List Updates > On > tap Done at the top.
2. Tap the search button on the top-right and search for your favourite games. Tap the game in the results. This will take you to Touch Arcade's page for the game. Here, flip the binocular switch under the price. Now you'll see the binoculars on a blue background. This means the game has been added to your watch list. Any time there is a price drop, or a review or an update to the games you added, you'll get a notification. TouchArcade notifications don't come if you haven't opened the app for several days, so just open it once every couple of days to keep it active.
(Also see: How to Save Money on Google Play Store Apps)

AppPriceDrop
If you just want a simple list of apps that have gone on discount, then TouchArcade and AppShopper aren't useful enough. You'll need to get either the Appsgonefree or AppPriceDrop apps.
AppsGoneFree updates once a day with a short list of apps on discount, sort of like the Yahoo News Digest of discounts. AppPriceDrop on the other hand shows a list of all apps that have gotten a discount, which can be sorted by category. It is based on the US app store, so while it should still be useful, it might sometimes show something as discounted, which isn't even available here.
(Also see: How to Save Big on Windows Phone, BB10, Windows, and Mac Apps)
IFTTT
IFTTT, short for If This Then That, is a great service that lets you automate several tasks. You can make it do several things, such as send you alerts when the currency exchange rate crosses a threshold, for you. It has a channel called AppZapp, which lets you track app deals for top-rated apps. Here's how to set it up.
1. Go to IFTTT > Create a Recipe.
2. You'll see this in huge font size: "if this then that". Click "this" > select AppZapp > scroll to the bottom > select one of six triggers.
3. Triggers are events that tell IFTTT to send you an alert. In the case of AppZapp, the triggers you can choose from are when a top-rated app goes on sale, goes free or gets an update. These three triggers are available for Apple's App Store and Google Play store. Pick the trigger you want to get relevant alerts, such as top app gone free.
4. Now choose your country, device and category of apps you want an alert for. Now click Create Recipe.
5. The next step will show you the same text you saw in step 2. Instead of "this", you'll see the AppZapp icon. Now click on "that". This is where you select the kind of alerts you want. We recommend that you pick one of Email Digest, Android notifications and iOS notifications. This will send you one email every day or a quick notification on your smartphone. You need to install the IFTTT app on your phone to get this to work.
We found this to be the best method to keep an eye on apps on sale or apps that go free due to the notifications. You can tap these notifications, tap the alert in the IFTTT app and you will be redirected to the App Store. This method also works for Google Play. We have also written about more resources you can browse when looking for deals on Android apps. Our How to section has many more useful articles, so make sure you check it out too.

How to Run Android Apps on Your PC or Mac

Android is almost everywhere. You can now find Android in phones, tablets, hybrid devices, wearable devices such as watches, home appliances and soon the OS will be a part of cars too. We tested several different ways to run Android apps on PCs, but only one app was able to perform reliably - Bluestacks. Getting other solutions - such as the official Android SDK - to run, was more of a challenge, and in the end, we feel that Bluestacks is fast, reliable and easy to use, making it the only choice for most users. Here's how to get it running on your computer.
1) Go to Bluestacks and click on Download App Player. Click on the download button for Windows on the left or Mac on the right.
2) Now open the setup file and follow on-screen instructions to install Bluestacks. The instructions are straightforward, similar to installing any other programme on your computer.
3) Run Bluestacks when the installation is complete. You might see a notification saying that your graphics driver needs to be updated. Just click the "Close" button when you see the pop-up to start Bluestacks.
4) Now you'll see a window in which Android is up and running. Click the big search icon at the top > type the name of the app > select "Search Play for..." to get the apps from Google Play.
5) You'll have to log in using your Google account once you search Google Play for apps. Once that is done, you can install most games and apps - some, which rely on a working SIM card for confirmation, such as WhatsApp, won't run on your PC. While older versions of Whatsapp let you manually enter the verification code received on another device, WhatsApp no longer lets you enter the verification code manually. It sends a verification code via SMS and checks whether your registered phone number received that text message. Then WhatsApp automatically pulls that code to register your device. On Bluestacks, we managed to install WhatsApp but got a verification failed error. So WhatsApp doesn't work with this software.

6) Installing apps is simple. Just use the search button on the home screen and click Search Play for, as described in Step 4. This will open Google Play, where you can click "Install" to get the app.
7) Bluestacks has an Android app so you can sync installed apps between your PC and Android device if needed.
8) While you can use the mouse to simulate taps and swipes, Bluestacks also supports hardware keyboards for some games such as Temple Run. This means that you can play these games using your computer's keyboard. If you have a preferred text-editor on Android, you can type using the keyboard as well.
9) Bluestacks is free for a short duration (half an hour), after which it asks you to pay $2 (roughly Rs. 120) per month; or you can instead install some sponsored apps every day. That's not a big dampener as you don't need to open the sponsored app and you can easily delete it right after installation is complete. To do this, click the All apps icon at the top > Settings > Apps. Now select the sponsored app and click the "Uninstall" button.
Did you manage to run Android apps from your PC? Are there any other methods that we missed out? Let us know with a comment. For more tutorials, visit our How to section.

How to Recover Deleted Photos from a Memory Card

The modern age is epitomised by our daily consumption and creation of digital content. If that includes photos, videos and software, then the question of storage arises - to keep the stuff you want to save.

While the ever-burgeoning and wallet-breaking demands for more and more storage - to keep all the content we want for posterity or easy-access - are not to be ignored, here we concentrate on how to deal with the possibility of data loss, a fate that some would liken to a mugging or even a lobotomy.

An example of such a painful situation, is the loss of photos from the now-ubiquitous form of flash storage - the SD card, which we all use on our cameras or mobile phones (in the smaller microSD card form).

This article may be a lifesaver for those readers who have managed to accidentally delete their SD card data, or been the victim of the not-as-uncommon-as-we-would-like SD card corruptions.

This is actually not a very big deal, and there are a lot of useful tools online. The Web however, is a veritable minefield of scams and/ or paid data recovery software, designed to either fleece, or steal. This guide teleports the readers to the end of the minefield, safely avoiding the danger, by recommending the free software required to bring back lost data from limbo.

We will be recommending PC software here, to help readers recover data from their SD cards. If after connecting the camera, or mobile phone to a computer, the storage on it is not read like a separate drive, users may be required to remove their SD cards from their cameras or mobile devices, and connect them to their PCs via a memory card reader (a laptop built-in card reader on a will also do the trick, though an microSD to SD card adaptor may be required).

The readers should in any case remove the affected SD cards from their cameras or mobile phones immediately, as there is a chance the device will overwrite the delete/ corrupted files when using the SD card.

It's worth noting that while the focus of this how to is SD cards, all of these software will do a great job of recovering files from any kind of media like your hard drive, external drive, thumb drive etc. 

Recuva (for Windows)
Recuva (version 1.51.1063) is a 4.02MB free download, and works with PCs running Windows 2000 or above. To recover your files from your SD card, load the card on the PC via a card reader, select the corresponding drive in Recuva's drop down menu. Run a scan via the Scan button.

The scan will return a list of files on the card, including deleted or corrupted files, and give you the option the recover the files, using the Recover button.

Pandora Recovery (for Windows)
Pandora Recovery (version 2.1.1) is a free-to-use tool that is a 3.12MB download. It supports PCs running Windows XP or above. Just like with Recuva, users will need to load their SD card via a card reader, and perform either a Quick Scan or Deep (Surface) Scan to throw up results of deleted and corrupted files. The second option is for formatted memory, and while it is slower, it should turn up more results than a quick scan.

Users can then choose which files to recover from the results by right clicking. Alternatively, users can run the Pandora Recovery Wizard and follow on-screen instructions.

Stellar Phoenix Mac Photo Recovery (for OS X)

The Stellar Phoenix Mac Photo Recovery software (version 6.0) is a 13MB download, and supports Macs running OS X 10.5 or higher. Users will be required to connect their SD cards through a card reader.

Users can then select the Recover Photo, Audio & Video option, and then select their drive from the left panel. Thereafter, they can either choose the Scan Now or Advanced Scan (for a custom scan) option. The scan will return a list of recoverable files, from which users can choose which files they want recovered, and then click the Recover button. Users can scan the drive for free and preview the files the software can recover, but undeleting files is a paid option. The software is also available for windows.
PhotoRec (for DOS, Windows 9x or higher, Linux, OS X)
A free, open-source multi-platform data recovery software, PhotoRec (version 7.0 beta) is a 9.4MB download (for Windows 64-bit), and works with PCs running a vast variety of operating systems. It comes bundled with TestDisk, an app for recovering lost partitions. Featuring a very basic text-based UI for older operating systems, PhotoRec also features a GUI-based version for newer ones.

In both versions, users will be asked to select the type of file system of the drive, select the relevant drive (after connecting it via a card-reader), and then proceed with Scan option, with the choice of Free (for deleted files) or Whole (for corrupted files). Users can then select the location where recovered files should be saved.
We hope these tools served you well. If you have any suggestions of other data recovery methods you'd like to share with your fellow readers, please let us know via the comments.

How to Make and Answer Calls, Send and Receive SMS From Your iPad, Mac

One of the headline features of iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite is their ability to share phone calls and text messages. You can make calls and send text messages from both iPad and the Mac if you've updated to the latest versions of the software. This is incredibly convenient if you're wedded to the Apple ecosystem - you no longer have to switch devices just to answer a phone call. The ability to share phone calls is one of our favourite iOS 8 features and it is easy to set up too. Here's how you can start making and receiving phone calls on your iPad and Mac.
What you need
Any iPhone or iPad that can run iOS 8.1 or Mac that runs OS X Yosemite. You can share phone calls using iOS 8, but you will need to update to iOS 8.1 to send and receive SMS from your iPad and Mac.
How to make and receive phone calls across devices
It's quite simple to share phone calls between your Apple devices. You need to ensure a few things first. These are:
1. All of your devices are connected to the same WiFi network.
2. You have signed in to the same iCloud account on all your devices.
3. You've signed in to FaceTime using the same iCloud account on all devices.
4. Your devices are near each other and have Bluetooth switched on.
Once these things are set up, this is what you need to do.
1. On your iPhone and iOS, go to Settings > FaceTime > iPhone Mobile Calls > On.
2. On your Mac, Open FaceTime > Preferences > check iPhone Cellular Calls.
3. To enable text message forwarding to your iPad or Mac, On your iPhone, go to Settings > Messages > Text Message Forwarding > On. Note, this option will appear only when there is a compatible iOS or Mac device connected to the same Wi-Fi network. You can toggle which device(s) you want the messages forwarded to.
4. Your other Apple devices will display a code that you need to key in on your iPhone to enable text message Continuity.
That's it. Now you're ready to start making and receiving calls and sending text messages from any of your iOS or Mac devices. Just pull up a contact and hit the call or message button.
Do you like this new feature? Does it work well for you? Let us know via the comments. For more tutorials, head to our How to section.

How To Share Files From Android to iOS and Back with Zapya

A couple of days ago, we were faced with a problem that looked extremely simple. A large presentation (300MB) had been created on an iPad, and we needed to access it on an Android phone for sharing. In the old days, when everyone worked on a laptop or a desktop computer, there were far too many ways to share files - you could have transferred them over shared folders on your local network, put the files on to a USB pen drive, or made an ad-hoc wireless network to transfer your files. But iOS in particular doesn't make this process too simple, and while some Android devices do support USB On-The-Go (OTG) with which you can connect a pen drive directly to your phone, not all devices have this feature.

You can use AirDrop to share files between iOS devices, and Android users have Android Beam, but what do you do when you're trying to manage an iPad and an Android phone? In case you're stuck trying to move files between an iOS device and a Windows Phone device, we've already got you covered with a guide. Read on to know more about sharing files between iOS and Android.

We were considering ways to email the file or uploading the file to Dropbox so that it could be downloaded again on the phone, we luckily learned that there are a lot of apps that are designed to solve exactly the problem that we are facing. While there are a lot of different options out there, our favourite one is to use an app called Zapya, which is free on both iTunes and Google Play.

This is how it works:

1. First, install the app on both devices, following the links given above.
2. Ensure that both devices are connected to the same Wi-Fi network.
3. Once the app has installed, launch it on both devices. On the Android device, tapCreate Group.
4. Now, tap the menu (three horizontal lines) button in the top right, and tap onConnect to iOS Device. You'll see the name of the network and the host device there.
5. On the iOS device, you will first connect to the Wi-Fi network listed in Step 3, and then launch the Zapya app. Choose Search and join in the pop-up menu, and tap on the device name listed on the Android app.
   

   

The two devices are now connected and you can share files. You can share installed games and even other apps directly to other Android users, and you can share your media and other files equally easily across platforms.

1. Swipe the main screen to the left or right to switch between categories. To search for a file, swipe right to get to the first screen - other free apps didn't include a search function, only browsing for files, which is why we're recommending Zapya. Swipe right to browse through categories, and all the way to the right to browse through the file system.
2. To share a file, tap on it, and then tap Send in the pop-up menu. If you want to send more than one file, tap Multi, then tap all the files you want to share, and tap send.
3. On the other devices, a pop-up menu will inform you that files are being transferred and will show you the progress. To stop the download at any point, you can tap on Cancel on either device.
   

   

This method allows you to easily share files using just Wi-Fi, which means that it is faster than using cloud services - also, since you are not uploading or downloading anything, this doesn't cost you anything or use up your data limits. It is of course slower than using a USB based transfer method, but particularly for getting files out of an iOS device, that can be cumbersome or even impossible in some cases.

There are some limitations - from the iOS device, you're restricted in terms of the content you can send. You can send photos and videos from iOS devices - to share other files, open them using the corresponding apps, then tap the share icon and share the file to Zapya first - this usually works, but causes the app to crash fairly often too. Since Android has an open filesystem, it's much easier to send files from Android to iOS - just browse or search for the file you want and tap send, and it ends up in the Inbox tab in Zapya on your iOS device. You can then just tap the file and choose Open in, to open it in the correct app.

We tried several other apps, but the ones we liked the most were Feem WiFi, which is also available on iTunes and Google Play, and also Xender, which also has iTunes and Google Play apps.

Feem is easy to use, but it is ad supported and these take up a fair bit of the screen. We accidentally clicked the ads for some apps and also for the paid version of Feem and this takes you out of the app and directs you to either the App Store or Safari. Xender is very similar to Zapya, and has a Phone Replicate feature that lets you copy all the stored data on a phone with just one touch, but we couldn't find a way to search for specific files in the app. If you don't have too much local content, that's not an issue, but we prefer having the option to search.

If you have used any other methods for sharing files between iOS and Android devices, tell us via the comments. For more from our How-To section, click here.