How To Secure Your Windows Phone ?

Find my phone 

This free service on www.windowsphone.com can locate, ring, or even erase your phone remotely, in case it falls into the wrong hands. All you need is a computer connected to the internet.

Set it up 

Before you can use Find My Phone, you’ll first have to create a Windows Phone account and then set up the service. On your computer, browse to www.windowsphone.com. In the top-right corner of the website 

you’ll see a picture of a phone. Hover over it with the mouse cursor, then click ‘Find My Phone’. This is the tool that allows you to map, lock or erase your phone remotely. When prompted, sign in with the same Microsoft account you used to sign in on your phone. You’ll be given simple instructions to set up Find My Phone.

Using it

In the ‘Find My Phone’ section of www.windowsphone.com, you can do the following:

› Check your phone’s location

You should see a map, which shows the current location of your mobile. If the location isn’t highlighted, click the ‘Find My Phone’ button above the map, or the ‘Refresh’ button.  You can print a copy if needed.

› Ring your phone 

On the ‘Find My Phone’ page, click ‘Ring’, then follow the instructions. Remotely calling your mobile in this way will make it ring loudly even if it is in vibrate mode. This is a great way of finding your phone if it’s hiding somewhere in your house.

› Lock your phone and show a message 

On the ‘Find My Phone’ page, click ‘Lock’, then follow the instructions. If you don’t already have a password set up on your phone, you’ll need to enter one now, which will be used to unlock the phone from now on.  You can also type a message to display on your phone’s lock screen.  Try entering an email address or phone number, so anyone who finds your phone can contact you.

How to Setup password on your phone?

A simple and effective way of keeping strangers out of your phone is to set a password. 

› Go to Settings, then ‘Lock + wallpaper’ 

› Flick the ‘Password’ switch to on, then enter your password or PIN in both the ‘New password’ and ‘Confirm password’ text boxes. Choose something memorable that no one else could easily guess 

› Tap ‘Done’ and your password is saved. You will need to enter this every time you wake your phone from hibernation

› Erase your phone 

This is a last resort if you think  you’ll never find your phone, or, like James Bond, you need to delete some sensitive information. On ‘Find Your Phone’, click ‘Erase’. Follow instructions to complete.

How to Update Windows Phone?

Windows Phone may already be wonderful, but Microsoft is constantly updating the OS to make it as user-friendly and feature-packed as possible. That’s where the system updates come in. These are basically little tweaks to the way your phone runs, often adding in fresh new tools and other benefits. Previously you would have to hook your phone to a PC to perform these updates when they were ready, but now you can receive them wirelessly for minimal hassle. Here’s how to quickly and easily update your phone.

Find the ‘Phone Update’ feature 

Phone Update is buried away in the settings menu: just look for the ‘Phone Update’ option and tap it.

Manual or automatic updates 

› In the Phone Update screen you’ll see a button that can be used to manually check for updates, along with a counter that tells you how long it’s been since the phone last looked for a system update 

› You’ll also see two options: ‘Tell me when updates are available for my phone’ and  ‘Automatically download updates if my data settings allow it’ 

› If you have the first option checked, your phone will periodically scan for new updates and bring up a message if anything is found. To disable this, simply uncheck the box. You will then have to manually search for updates by hitting the ‘check for updates’ button.

Downloading an update 

› If an update is found, it may download immediately if you have left the ‘automatically download updates if my data settings allow it’ box checked, depending on your network connection. Otherwise, you will be prompted to allow the update 

› Before performing an update, be wary that they can often be quite large files. To avoid hitting your data quota, we strongly recommend performing updates only when you’re connected to a Wi-Fi network 

› The download should take a few minutes. Your phone will reset and install the update when it has finished downloading. You’ll see two white gears turning while the update is being installed, then an ‘update done!’ message when it’s complete

Apps Tweaks For Windows Phone

SmartGlass

Remote control your Xbox 

SmartGlass is a companion application that lets you turn your Windows 8 device into a remote control and at times a second screen for your Xbox 360 games console. Download the app, connect your device and you can ditch the console’s controller for a touch- screen interface. Messaging your friends over Xbox Live also becomes much easier using the app, as you can use the touch-screen of your tablet or phone instead of navigating the on-screen keyboard via your controller.

How to activate SmartGlass... 

› Turn on your Xbox 360 

› Download SmartGlass from the Store 

› Access the app via your home screen or Games tile 

› Sign into SmartGlass 

› Nudge Remote and use your touch-screen to navigate your Xbox entertainment 

Swipe the screen 

› SmartGlass lets your fingers do the walking. Engage the remote function and what you swipe on your touch-screen device moves the menus on your Xbox. Tap the screen to select and use the coloured on-screen buttons to navigate your way around 

Check it out on your tablet, watch on your TV 

› You can browse Xbox Entertainment content on your phone or tablet’s SmartGlass app, then hit ‘Play on Xbox’ and watch it on your television 

Messaging made easy 

› Typing messages via the Xbox controller can take longer than you’d like, but using the touch-screen of your Windows 8 phone or tablet makes this experience much easier and more intuitive 

Two screens are better than one

› SmartGlass means you have two screens of content and some Xbox 360 games are SmartGlass compatible. For instance while playing Halo 4 and using the app you can browse your character’s stats while you play, such as your favourite weapons and number of kills. You can also get extra info, trivia and other titbits using the app

Usage Of SmartGlass

Xbox Music Store 

Explore new songs and artists, with millions of songs to choose from. A monthly Xbox Music Pass subscription gives you unlimited access to the entire Xbox Music library from your Windows Phone, tablet or on your Xbox 360. Use SmartGlass to navigate the service and extra information about the artist will display on your Windows 8 device as you listen 

Xbox Video 

Rent or purchase the latest episodes of your favourite TV shows or new movies through your Windows 8 device. You can even start browsing on your tablet then pick up where you left off on your TV. SmartGlass makes this service even easier to browse. Navigate the Store for the content you want, select it then hit ‘play to Xbox.’ Your phone or tablet can pause the action or you can swipe to the time you want using your touch-screen 

4oD Channel 

4’s catch up service is full of the most recent programmes and documentaries as well as an extensive archive of the channel’s classic shows spanning its 30-year history. Using SmartGlass you can navigate the series and episode lists in less time and with less fuss 

Internet Explorer 

You can navigate your Xbox’s internet  browser the same way you would on your phone  or tablet. Once you’ve connected SmartGlass to  the console, drag the pointer using the touch-screen, tap to select and even pinch to zoom for a closer  look at selected web pages. You can also tap the  web hub icon to see favourite pages, or the  mobile icon to open the webpage on your  phone or tablet 

Use OneNote for memos that instantly sync 

› Tap on the One Note tile

› Select the notebook you would like to add the note to and hit ‘+’

› If you’re writing a list, try the bullet-point option and, if it’s your to-do tasks, use the checkbox option to tick ’em off for that much-relished sense of accomplishment

› A picture speaks a thousand words, right? Add a photo to a note, either from your picture library or by taking one right there

› Save the note and it’ll automatically go to SkyDrive, where it will be accessible from anywhere with an internet connection

› You can view and edit shared notes too, including notebooks from Rooms

Streamline Facebook alerts Facebook birthdays and events automatically stream to your Calendar. To stem the flow of info: 

› Press the ellipsis and select ‘Settings’

› Scroll to the Facebook-tagged Calendar

› Tick ‘Only show Facebook events I’ve responded to’ or just swipe to turn it off entirely

Get your inbox down to zero Clear your mail by archiving or simply deleting 

› In your inbox, tap the second icon

› Tick the emails that you’ve dealt with

› Tap the rubbish icon for deletion, or the appropriate folder to move it to one of your existing folders

Turn off notifications in order to maintain focus 

› Go to ‘Settings’ then ‘Email + Accounts’

› You can manage notifications from all email and social network accounts from right here

Kid's Corner For Windows Phone

Kid’s Corner is perfect for parents who are happy to share their smartphones with their kids but who want to protect sensitive information like work emails and apps not suitable for their age group. It’s just like parental controls on your computer, and grants your children access only to the apps and features that you deem appropriate. They can personalise the Start screen themselves and make it their own, listen to music you’ve selected, view videos you’ve okayed and play games you want them too. This great feature gives you peace of mind when it comes to sharing the technology you enjoy with the people you love.

Note: 

Make sure you add a passcode to your phone. Your kids won’t be able to access your home screen from Kid’s Corner – unless the phone goes into standby mode, which causes it to revert to your profile. Putting a passcode on your profile means there is no way they can navigate to your content.

For You Child's Phone

If your child uses a Windows Phone you can set up My Family  to control what apps and games they are allowed to access. 

› Go to windows phone.com on your PC 

› Tap Explore then My Family, and sign in with your Microsoft account

› Click Get Started, then Go and enter your child's Microsoft account and password

› Tap Fix It to get your child's name into My Family 

› Next to their name, you can now click Change settings and select whether they can download paid-for apps (or any at all) 

› You can also set a game rating filter to limit the types of games your child can view and download

How to set up  Kid’s Corner 

› Tap the Kid’s Corner tile 

› Turn the feature on 

› Nudge the apps, games and media you think appropriate 

› Press the ‘launch kid’s corner’ button and you’ll see its home screen

› Nudge ‘customise’ to name the home screen, select a background and accent colour or let your little ones do it for themselves

Colourful home screen 

› Choose a cute picture for your kid’s lock screen, or better yet let them choose or take their own using the phone’s camera

Plenty of choice 

› Your kids can rename their Kid’s Corner page to whatever they like at any time, or change the colour of their Start Screen

Game on 

› Probably the number one reason your kids love your smartphone is the games you’ve downloaded. Using Kid’s Corner you can screen which games they are allowed to play and keep them happy for a few more hours

People Hub For Windows Phone

A new feature for the Windows Phone 8 People Hub is the ability to create a ‘Room’. This is the perfect way to keep in touch with the most important people in your life quickly and simply. You can create your own Room via the People Hub and it’s an invitation-only space on your phone where you can share a private calendar, group chat, videos and photos with other members.
Every Room member can see the chat session, each other’s messages and you can share calendars, photo albums and locations if you’re meeting up. Rooms are a perfect way for families, work colleagues or recreational groups to keep in touch with minimal fuss.

Five easy steps to setting up your own Room... 

› Access the People Hub 

› Swipe along to the together page and nudge the plus sign 

› Add new Room

› Name your Room – this is what will show up on each member’s phone 

› Use to your heart's content

Room Chat 

› Why send individual texts when you can send a group chat message that all members of the Room can view? All members of the Room will be able to see each other’s messages and replies so everyone stays in the loop 

Shared Calendar 

› Every Room comes with a shared calendar which everyone in the group can update and view. Any changes or additions are automatically synced to all members’ devices 

Share your photos 

› Your Room also comes with its own shared photo album. Nudge the plus symbol on the photos page to upload a new picture to the group’s album. You can even save the picture to your phone or set them as your lock screen 

Add notes 

› You can create to do lists for your Room’s members via OneNote as well. Great for flatmates to delegate weekly chores, shopping lists and shared tasks for that week 

Change your background 

› Anyone in the group can change the Room’s background image. Simply nudge ‘...’ and select to change the background. You can choose any image stored on your phone, saved to SkyDrive or from your Facebook albums

Customising Lock Screen Of Windows Phone

Windows Phone 8 adds far more to the lock screen than its predecessor – and it’s probably one of the most interesting lock screens of any smartphone too. The wallpaper can be customised to display a photo and live wallpaper, as well as a constantly changing series of Facebook photos.

Personalise your alerts 

Then there are the six different apps whose alerts you can bounce to the lock screen. Without inputting a PIN or even unlocking the phone at all,  you can instantly see what messages, alerts or calls you have waiting, and even add next-level content such as the details of a Facebook notification or text message.

What’s the app you check the most frequently?

› You can choose Calendar, Facebook, an email account, Messaging or the dialer to show a detailed status › This means you can view a full text message, or full details of your next appointment, or the latest Facebook notification in full without having to unlock your phone 

› Pick the one you check the most to minimise 

Get updates from more apps as well 

› Windows Phone 8 supports up to five secondary notifications from Facebook, Games, email, Messaging and dialer 

› Pick these to show a ‘quick status’ in the lock screen settings 

› If you prefer a cleaner home screen, select one or more slot to show ‘None’

Adjust how long it takes the screen to dim 

› To save battery, set the screen to time out and lock itself after 30 seconds › Tap the ‘Screen times out after’ box to customise the time

Set a password 

› Scroll to the bottom and flick the password switch to On

Utilitiy Apps For Windows Phone

Flashlight-X (Free) 

Take advantage of your phone’s LED flash and use this app to keep it on in dark, dark situations. It turns on instantly and just keeps  on going...

SuperTimer Free (Free) 

Got a roast, cake or other bun in the oven? Run a timer in the background while you use your Windows Phone for something else. You can also set a message to remind you what the timer was for, anyway, while the Live Tile lets you start a timer in just one click.

Connectivity Shortcuts (Free) 

Use these Live Tiles to quickly modify your Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and coverage settings, or  simply switch to airplane  mode. Pin them separately to the Start Screen, or why not  make four teeny tiles to sit together in a single Transformer tile of settings adjustment?

PC Remote (Free) 

Control movies and music on your Windows PC from afar with this convenient,  well-built app. It puts touch-controls as well as  media folders into the sleek Windows Phone tile design. You can manage Spotify, iTunes and other media players, or play YouTube content on the  phone app to your PC’s monitor. It requires a companion program on the  PC in question.

AppFlow App Discovery (Free) 

How meta – an app for finding more apps. This app uses statistics and more detailed categorising than the Windows Store to  give you more ways of finding new apps, with lists such as Rising Stars and Forgotten Legends, as well as numbers on the downloads.

Shopping Apps For Windows Phone

PayPal (Free) 

Check your balance or withdraw funds to your bank account with the app version of the handy online money sender. You can also bounce money to a friend or vendor right here.

IKEA Shopping (Free) 

This unofficial app tries to dilute the chaos of shopping at IKEA by providing you a single place to note down product numbers and their locations in the giant hall of item-pickup. Begone ye tiny pencil and scrap of paper with too little space to write in.

eBay (Free) 

The online marketplace looks brilliant on Windows Phone tiles, elegantly housing your selling
and buying activity as well as messages and need-to-do’s. Pin a Live Tile for items you’re bidding on to instantly check on status and get alerts near the auction’s end.

Amazon Mobile (Free) 

Buy anything under the sun with the easily searchable app that can also run price comparisons with real-life shopping. Just scan a barcode or type a search term to see online prices compared. Pin the tile to Start to bring up the barcode scanner in one  easy click.

ShopSavvy (Free) 

This dedicated barcode and QR code scanner compares that item in front of your very nose with those online, offering you the best prices – and by closest GPS location too. User reviews can help you make that purchase decision.

Zara (Free) 

One of the first high street retailers to actually let you buy items via its app, Zara has created a sleek bit of software that also supports gift card discounts. You’ll get the latest fashions from Zara online.

Groupon (Free) 

Scan the web for daily deals in your city with this monolithic voucher provider. You can buy deals and redeem the vouchers right inside the app.

Ocado on the Go (Free) 

Do your weekly Waitrose shop on your phone, with this official app that will  store orders and organise delivery. The ‘Your Instant Shop’ feature builds your usual order based on previous deliveries to get that milk/eggs/ bread situation sorted.

Groceries (Free) 

The Tesco giant has its online shopping app too, and you can order any blessed thing in its inventory. You just need to register at Tesco.com – and if you don’t finish an order, you can pick up where you left off online.

Nectar (Free) 

Shop at all the brands that belong to the Nectar loyalty card program, including Sainsbury’s, BP and Homebase. You’ll get bonus point offers and balance checking, plus a store locator to see the nearest places to accrue those sweet, sweet points.

Shopping List (Free) 

Never leave the most important item off the shopping again. Tap your must-haves into this intuitive, good-looking list- maker, complete with checkboxes to tick as you pick things up.

Newegg (Free) 

Browse the latest gear for your computer in this tech shopping app with a couple million user reviews and tons of  image galleries.

Fashion (Free) 

At a crossroads in your consuming?  Cast your eye on  this aggregated news feed of fashion sites  including Couture Snob, Style Watch and the Bag Lady. Inspiration – and possibly a new asymmetrical look – awaits.

AppDetective 

Want to buy an app but it’s not on Windows Phone yet? Check this app to see the  latest Android or iOS apps  that have arrived at the Windows Store, and pin a  Live Tile for instant notifications of the apps you’ve been searching for.

ShopGlider (Free) 

Plan your shopping by inputting your grocery lists, recipes and discount vouchers into this single app and carry it all with you everywhere – minus the usual pocketful of scrappy paper. Great for reminders of what you need (and whether you can save a bit of money on it).

Educational Apps For Windows Phone

National Zoo (Free) 

Check in on the fluffy furries at the glorious zoo of Washington, DC, via this app that incorporates webcam views of pandas, giraffes and more.

Star Chart 

Behold the jewelled night skies with this augmented reality app that layers astronomical info over the sky through your viewfinder. GPS technology lets you find heavenly bodies even in daylight.

Study Planner  

Exam-taking students, take note (ahem). You can enter exam times into this app to create an exam timetable with a feed to remind you when to start studying. Live Tile support lets you pin important homework to the  Start Screen.

Speak Italian 

Learn the most romantic language in the world – hopefully by living in Italy, but if  that’s a faraway dream,  start small with the 500 phrases in this beginners’ app. Developer imushrooms makes ’em for loads of other languages too.

Brain App 

Test and train the ol’ neurons with this quick-fire app testing your mental reflexes and cognitive memory.
Your scores are recorded so you can look back and marvel at how much smarter you  have become.

New Scientist  

This quiz app from the science rag pushes your brain to its limits with a weekly dose of multiple choice questions relating to scientific facts and breakthroughs. Post scores on Facebook and challenge friends.

Math Challenge (Free) 

Develop an agile brain with this training app for any level and age. Difficulty levels from Junior right up to Genius make this a challenge for everyone, while true nerds can compete online.

On This Day (Free) 

Get a dose of history from this daily digest of important events past. There’s a Live Tile to pin to Start Screen for a handy peek at the day’s milestones and you can skip to birthdays or events in your personal calendar to check out what went on, way back when.

UK Driving Test 

Prep for your big day by practicing your knowledge in this theory test with questions from the 2012 DSA revision bank. You can search questions by topic, take mock tests and get an analysis on which sections you bombed or aced.

Financial Apps For Windows Phone

Business Trip 

This handy app is actually an expenses tracker, with extra features such as reimbursement reminders and the ability to store scanned receipts. It also tracks flights and hotel info, and thanks to Windows Phone optimisation, there’s even a Live Tile for you to pin to  Start showing the coins you’ve racked up.

BillMinder  

Enter the bills you need to pay, whether it’s mortgage, gas, electricity or credit card, and BillMinder will remind you when you need to pay it. It’ll also keep track of how much you’ve shelled out and compile it all into little charts.

Markets & Me (Free) 

Get stock prices and currencies delivered to a Live Tile and keep an eye on your portfolio with this nimble finance app that can import and export data to Excel. You’ll get a performance report of your yields, too.

Toshl Finance (Free) 

Freelancers and project workers will love this personal money minder that tracks  your expenses and incomes. Add tags and note down recurring charges, with recurring incomes available on the paid-for version.

Find a Cash Point 

Of course, sometimes you just want to spend your hard-earned cash. This app will tell you where to take it out, giving you the nearest place to your GPS location or postcode. It’ll even give you directions.

Games For Windows Phone

Xbox SmartGlass (Free) 

A cross-media essential download for Windows Phone users and Xbox lovers. The app can be used to control your games console, including its rich content such as film, TV  and music, and all without  even touching the controller for a much faster and more intuitive experience.

Plants vs Zombies 

Devilishly addictive tower defence game where you must deploy a range of plants to fend off the horde of zombies shuffling across the lawn in the hope of reaching the front door and eating your precious brains. Face down zombies with differing threat levels using all the plants at your disposal across the 50 levels and various game modes. Visit Crazy Dave’s shop for bonus items and tend to the new plants you’ve collected in the surprisingly engrossing Zen Garden.

Bubble Star (Free) 

Classic bubble shooting game. Match three or more bubbles of the same colour in order to pop them and clear the board to win. Ricochet bubbles off the walls to make trick shots and try to use as few shots as you can to get three-star ratings across all 110 levels.

Angry Birds  

Who doesn’t know Angry Birds? Use the slingshot to fire your angry birds and smash all the dastardly pigs onscreen. Each of your birds has its own unique abilities so use them wisely, and the fewer birds you take to smite the piggies, the higher your score.

Final Fantasy 

This remake of the 1987 NES classic role playing game Final Fantasy sees players guide the Warriors of Light as they set out on a valiant quest to restore the orbs that bring balance to their world back to their former glory, battling enemies along the way.

Carcassonne 

The board game makes the leap into Windows Phone. Turn by turn you and other players create a landscape by placing tiles with fields, cities and roads, and deploying followers such as knights, farmers and monks. Supports local and online multiplayer games.

Cracking Sands 

Off-road racing fun on your Windows Phone, Cracking Sands is a combat racing game awash with mud, petrol and grime, and where the only objective is to win by any means necessary. Upgrade your weapons, collect coins and choose from four main game modes: normal race mode, eliminator, time trial and head of the pack, where you have to stay in pole position across all laps to win.

Babel Rising 3D 

There aren’t many games where you can play an angry god who is out to smite his  followers for building
towers to other deities, so  Babel Rising 3D is definitely worth a look. You have to protect your own followers, improve your skills and prevent those puny humans from stepping out of line using  earth, air, fire and water  attacks in the 15-mission single- player campaign.

Extraction 

A top-down 3D shooter inspired by retro classics and designed for touch- screen. Government experiments have gone horribly wrong, a wave of infected soldiers are unleashed and it’s your job to exterminate them. One-finger control system, great variety of weapons  and four game modes to keep you entertained.

Real Football  

If you just have to have that footie fix then this game lets you choose from 245 teams in eight leagues with real player names. Amazingly detailed 3D graphics, exclusive game modes and voice commentary for the full TV-like experience.

Contre Jour 

Use your finger to manipulate the landscape around the protagonist, a one-eyed blob named Petit. Move the ground around him or grab him with tentacles and slingshots scattered across the level to launch him where you need him to go. The game uses light and darkness beautifully and the soundtrack is delightful.

Burn the Rope 

The challenge is to burn as much rope as you can per level but the fire only burns upwards
so you must rotate the environment to keep your flame going. Unique design style and 112 levels that will present more difficult challenges as you go along.

Sonic 4 Episode I 

The iconic blue hedgehog is now available on your Windows phone. The story picks up where Sonic and Knuckles left off, and you must defeat Dr Eggman and collect chaos emeralds by dashing through the 12 levels inspired by the original 90s Sonic video games.

Pandoodle (Free)

A cute little drawing game with 75 carefully crafted levels. The idea is to paint every spot on screen with its right colour, and crossing paths will mix the colours and help you reach your objective. Pandoodle is a relaxing and colourful bit of fun.

Super Monkey Ball 2 

A mobile version of the console classic, you must tilt and steer one of the monkeys through colourful 3D environments and collect bananas along the way for  extra lives. You can play as  one of four cute monkeys across six worlds and 125 themed stages, as well as three additional mini games.

Doodle Jump 

Don’t say we didn’t warn you this was addictive. All you have to do is use the platforms to steer your jumping character, Doodle the Doodler, as high as you can. Avoid enemies, broken platforms and use springs, jetpacks and propeller hats dotted across the level to get higher and higher.

Fruit Ninja

Simple and classic touch-screen game. Swipe your finger across the screen to slash through all the fruit that flies  at you and try to rack up massive combos. Miss three fruits and you’re out, also be careful of bombs – one hit and it’s all over. 

Assassin’s Creed - Altaïr’s Chronicles HD 

A touch-screen action- adventure game featuring the first protagonist of the Assassin’s Creed franchise, Altaïr, and featuring stealth, puzzle-solving and short- and long-range combat gameplay. Collect orbs to upgrade your health and weapons and execute acrobatic moves in your quest to defeat the Templars.

Roll In The Hole 

Here’s a physics puzzle game with adorable graphics and more than 72 levels to master. You play PoPo the ice cream- loving panda who wakes up to find his treats have been stolen. Roll PoPo around each level to collect all the ice cream using moving platforms and warp points dotted around the level to your advantage.

i Love Katamari 

Tilt your phone to move the katamari ball over various objects in each stage – it’s that simple. As you gather more and more items your katamari will get bigger and be able to absorb even larger objects. Collect all the items the King of the Cosmos requests within the time limit.

Reference Apps For Windows Phone

Wikipedia (Free) 

Free encyclopedia on your mobile that lets you find and share entries easily. Wikipedia’s database has more than 20 million articles, and is the most widely used on the web.

Dictionary.com (Free) 

If you’re lost for words then it’s always handy to have a few spare. Dictionary.com lets you browse from more than two million words, with audio pronunciation, word of the day and word origins. You can even input a word then tap the screen to switch to thesaurus mode for synonyms.

Tube Map (Free) 

An easy way to plan your journeys around London with a free scrollable map, complete with live updates including both arrival and departure boards.

London Travel 

The ultimate in London travel tips and packed with handy features such as a live bus countdown, Oyster card balance and journey planner. Maps can even be accessed without an internet connection, especially handy if you’re on the Tube.

Next Bus UK 

Live bus times from more than 370,000 bus stops in England, Scotland and Wales, and in an easy-to-navigate interface that lets you search for stops using place names, street names and postcodes.

Sky Map 

For any budding stargazer, simply aim your phone’s camera at the night sky and the Sky Map app enables you to see what stars, constellations and planets are out there in  real time.

3D Brain (Free) 

Neuroscience on your Windows Phone, this app features 24 interactive structures that can be rotated in 3D space. Contains information on functions, disorders, case studies and links to current research.

Pocket Recorder 

Ideal for students, writers and anyone who likes to take audio notes. Features full integration with SkyDrive so you can back up your audio recordings to the cloud.

Social Apps For Windows Phone

Facebook (Free) 

Stay connected to your friends and family, check into local hotspots, and post updates quickly and easily. Link your uploaded photos to your lock screen and a new picture will appear whenever you check your phone.

Twitter (Free) 

Microblogging fanatics’ social network of choice. Tell the world what you’re up to in a concise 140 characters, share pictures and talk to anyone, anywhere using this elegant Twitter app for Windows Phone.

Skype (Free)  

The sleekest and best designed version of the audio and video call service yet. Skype for Windows 8 integrates with your People Hub and runs in the background so you always receive your messages, even when you aren’t fully logged in. Switch to snap view to browse the web while using Skype as well.

LinkedIn (Free) 

Read the latest news and posts from all your professional contacts, explore new job opportunities and start  new discussions in your groups. Also suggests new contacts and tells you who’s been viewing your profile.

Whatsapp (Free) 

This handy chat  app works across Windows Phone, Android and iOS devices and runs off your  data allowance rather  than text messaging; ideal  for any avid instant message addict with friends on other operating platforms.

Foursquare (Free) 

Check in to your local hangouts, restaurants and other such prime locations. Check in regularly and you could oust your friends to become the Mayor of your local coffee shop and earn badges for your profile.

Wordpress (Free) 

If you love to blog on the go, the mobile Wordpress app for Windows 8 is perfect. Add new posts, format and edit your content and manage comments as they come in. The app even allows you to check the stats for your posts.

MeTweets (Free) 

Twitter client with an easy-to- use interface that’s ideal for those dipping their toes into the world of microblogging. You can configure your home screens, schedule tweets, pin users to your home screen or mute content you don’t want to see.

Viber Messenger (Free) 

A cross-platform messaging service that works across Windows Phone, Android, iOS and BlackBerry devices, which works over both 3G and Wi-Fi, syncs with your mobile phone number and contact list to show you who else has the app.

Match.com (Free) 

For subscribers to the Match.com dating service, this app lets you search, browse and contact other singles using the site, view photos and send messages to prospective dates.

News Apps For Windows Phone

BBC News Mobile (Free) 

Easy-to-navigate app with the latest news and features from the BBC, which you can pin to your home screen for the latest headlines. Check the latest local and world news as well as sport fixtures, and opt into news alerts for breaking stories with the handy option of quiet mode that runs during the night.

Sky News (Free) 

Read all the very latest stories from the Sky News team including UK and world news, politics, business and showbiz. Watch live news reports and weather forecasts. Send your comments and news tips to the studio and discuss stories via the Sky News blog.

The Guardian (Free) 

This app has content from the Guardian and Observer newsdesks. All the latest comment, reviews, news and videos is broken into sections. And it lets you pin articles to your home screen so you never miss a thing.

The Metro (Free) 

Get all the latest news, sport and celebrity headlines from every morning commuter’s favorite free paper. Scroll through the top stories at a glance, and pin categories to your home screen for instant access to your favourite stories.

CNN (Free) 

Up-to-the-minute news updates from across the world, you can even set the app to deliver instant news  alerts with the top stories of  the day. Watch video reports and share stories instantly via SMS or share to your social media contacts.

ITN News (Free) 

Easy to navigate news content from ITN. Swipe along for in-depth coverage of UK and international news, as well as the latest entertainment and sport headlines. Tap on the story and you can share to your social networks in a snap.

PaperPress for Instapaper (Free) 

For any paid subscriber of Instapaper this client allows you to view your liked, archived and unread articles. The app even saves your place in any given article and allows you to change the look and font to suit you.

Vogue (Free) 

Essential reading for any budding fashionista, the official Vogue app is full of the latest fashion  news, backstage access and great interviews, as well as fabulous fashion photography and style tips from across  the world.

The Times (Free) 

Enjoy a free 30-day trial to The Times with this app. Insightful analysis of current affairs, the latest news and features from top political and cultural commentators delivered to your device  every day.

Glamour (Free) 

The handbag friendly magazine becomes even friendlier, packed into your elegantly-designed  Windows smartphone. Latest fashion news, tips and photography in an easy-to- navigate format.

Sky Sports News (Free) 

Up-to-the-minute sports news and game results, as well as upcoming fixtures and tons  of video content and interviews. App also allows streaming access to Sky Sports News Radio for rolling sport  news coverage.

Movies & TV Apps For Windows Phone

Netflix (Free) 

Monthly subscription service that lets you stream unlimited TV episodes and films to your phone, console, or tablet device. The more you watch and rate what you love, the better the service can predict what you might want to watch next.

YouTube (Free) 

Everyone’s favourite way to waste an afternoon. Download the app and sign in for your latest recommended clips, to add to your favourites list and share clips across Facebook, Twitter and even to another device via tap and send.

Vevo (Free) 

Free access to a catalogue of more than 45,000 great music videos by 11,000 recording artists. Featuring exclusive videos, charts, tour information and even tidbits of music trivia. Share your favourite videos over email, Facebook or Twitter.

Flash Videos 

Allows you to watch flash movies, episodes and offers the ability to save videos to your phone and watch them later. Also supports subtitles for other languages including French, Spanish and Italian.

TV Show

Track all your favourite TV shows. Quickly browse synopses, ratings and recaps for the shows you want to catch next, share with your social networks, and mark seen and unseen episodes.

Vimeo (Free) 

Search for great new videos and upload your own. The official Vimeo Windows Phone app lets you like, comment and share content across all your social networks.

IMDB (Free) 

Never again do you have to wonder about that extra you’ve spotted in the background or struggle to remember an actor’s name – where did you see him before? The internet movie database lists every actor, director, movie and TV show you can imagine as well as all the continuity goofs, trivia and cast details you could ever want.

Rotten Tomatoes Movie (Free) 

Dedicated app for film review site Rotten Tomatoes. Compiles all the top- name critic reviews for movies and blu-ray releases as well as user views, so you can check what everyone’s saying about the newest releases as well as old classics.

Cineworld UK (Free) 

Film fans will be able to check for their nearest Cineworld branch, see screening times  and view trailers as well as pin their nearest cinema to the home screen.

TvPyx (Free)

Listings for UK TV and radio, including channel lists and programme information for the week. You can even check what people are saying about shows you love on Twitter, and have your say.

Streaming Media (Free) 

Client app that lets you stream your media catalogue straight from your PC to your Windows Phone via the TVersity service. Allows  you to play your albums as  well as mark favourite songs and videos.

Art & Design Apps For Windows Phone

FreshPaint (Free) 

Microsoft’s modern take on the popular Paint program that’s been in every Windows PC since the dawn of time. It’s fresh, tactile and comes with cool new effects such as a ‘dryer’ option to stop smudges.

Neon Draw (Free) 

There’s something very Zen about this finger-painting app in fluoro colours. Tapping creates circles, and a two-finger sketch makes a line. Shake to start over.

Spark Art (Free) 

Spark Art incorporates physics-based animations to accompany shapes, words and objects you draw. Varying strokes and speed affect the resulting patterns and effects for a piece of art you can, y’know, experience.

Color Design Pro

Create your own colours using red, green or blue, or capture a particularly poignant purple for digital posterity. The app then  finds you the exact  CMYK code to use in  your design work.

Tola (Free) 

Browse the DeviantArt online community for unique artworks by category or simply by what’s added daily. Lists of the top pieces are handy too.

Sketch Pad 

Create sketches, flowcharts and diagrams with this easy-to-use virtual pad that comes with plenty of useful preset shapes as well as a freehand brush and a good selection of colours, lines  and brushes.

Palette Tools 

This simple mini-app just tells you the best complementary and matching colours for  a particular shade – handy  if you’re coordinating a wedding party, designing your home interiors or even just choosing an outfit.

BlackBoard Writer (Free) 

Fancy an old-school white line drawing? This virtual blackboard lets you scrawl and save your work.

Pixelator (Free) 

Create pixel art on the go with this fun little app that has a useful grid to keep your dot drawings straight. Pixelator also supports sharing to your social networks.

Hand Painting (Free) 

Make drawings out of linked hands (no, not creepy) and save them as wallpaper.

Sports Apps For Windows Phone

Premier Leagues + 

This in-depth football app gives live coverage of the English Premier League, Champions League, and plenty more from around Europe. Goal alerts and full news feeds mean you’ll always be up on the action.

Mobitee GPS Golf 

Mobitee is the perfect assistant for golfers. It’s a scorecard keeper, distance calculator, virtual coach and GPS assistant (giving top-down views) all rolled into one. Mobitee even gives you club advice for each shot.

ESPN Goals (Free) 

The fantastic free ESPN Goals app allows you to watch video clips of all the goals from every Barclays Premier League match, as well as giving you live scores and updates, and you can even chat with fellow fans.

Basketball Pro ’12 (Free) 

Basketball Pro ’12 is the ultimate app for ballers, giving you up-to-the-minute stats, scores and news from all of the big matches, as well as the latest standings. You can highlight your favourite team, to be the first to know of any updates.

Baseball Live (Free) 

Baseball Live spits out the latest news and results in Major League Baseball. See an article that interests you? You can share it immediately via email, Facebook or Twitter. You can also access live game details including box scores and detailed play information,  if you can’t get to a TV to watch it.

Live Cricket (Free) 

This excellent cricket app brings the full international news. Live scores, text commentaries and ball-by-ball updates include full notifications whenever that vital wicket falls or a four or  six is hit.

F1 World (Free) 

F1 World provides instant news updates for Formula One. Highlight your favourite F1 teams, drivers and circuits, and get RSS news feeds, plus a brand new photo gallery is coming soon.

Ski Guide 

Ski Guide is a great app for winter sport thrillseekers, giving in-depth mountain reports  and high-resolution trail  maps for more than 1,000 resorts around the world. Best of all, everything you need is
stored in the app so you can access whatever you need wherever you roam.

Tennis Live (Free) 

Tennis Live provides the latest news and results for all of the major international tennis tournaments, so Andy  Murray fans can find out  how our home-grown star is doing. Get full details of upcoming events, live scoreboards of current tournaments, plus live player details and even videos.

247 Sport (Free) 

If you enjoy following a wide range of sports, this is a great app to help you keep up with the latest news. Football, Formula 1, Golf, Cricket, Tennis, Rugby League, Rugby Union, Athletics and Horse Racing are all covered. You can get live scores plus all of the big sports headlines.

Travel Apps for Windows Phone

Qype (Free) 

If you’re out in town and have no idea where to go, Qype could be your best new friend. Restaurants, bars, shops – even doctors – are all covered, along with user ratings and reviews giving detailed tips on where to go. Almost 200,000 cities are covered.

Spondle (Free) 

A fantastic free events app that ensures you won’t miss that gig or show, Spondle is currently UK-only. You can search through theatre shows, festivals, exhibitions, comedy, concerts and even dating events.

AroundMe (Free) 

AroundMe is one of those augmented reality apps which allows you to quickly find out information about your surroundings. Using GPS, the app shows you the nearest bank, bar, petrol station, hospital and more.

London City Guide – GuidePal (Free) 

Travel guides can be expensive, but Guidepal has a large number of free guides for all kinds of destinations. Each is written by objective local residents and covers the best attractions, restaurants, tours, and more, all without going online.

The Mobile Food Guide  

Here’s a quality online restaurant guide, regularly updated and currently covering over 4,000 of the best restaurants in the UK, Ireland and the US (with more to follow). Includes reviews, menus, opening times, web links and photos, plus one-touch dialing to book a table.

Flixster (Free)

Ideal for cinephiles, this app locates your nearest cinemas and looks up film times in a matter of seconds.  Best of all, you can look up reviews ripped from Rotten Tomatoes and even view a movie’s trailer.

Tip Calculator (Free) 

Calculating a tip at the end of a meal can often be a head- scratcher. Avoid embarrassment by quickly and easily calculating exactly what you should tip, including the option to split it between a group.

Toilet Finder (Free) 

There’s nothing worse than being caught short in an unfamiliar town, with no idea where the nearest WCs are. Toilet Finder is the world’s biggest public toilet database with more than
60,000 conveniences from all over the world. Best of all, you can add newly discovered loos or report missing toilets.

Nando’s In London (Free) 

Quite a few restaurants and fast food chains now have apps. If you get the Peri  Peri cravings and need to  find a Nando’s, this will sort  you out stat. Handy map directions mean you won’t get lost, no matter how hungry you are, and you can see each branch’s facilities.

ScanSearch (Free) 

ScanSearch is an augmented reality app that locks onto your position using GPS, then shows you a full list of services in your local area, including eateries, pubs, shops and more. Simply hold up your phone and they’ll be pinpointed on the screen using the camera.

Taxi Route GB (Free) 

TaxiRoute gives you a list of locally subscribed taxi companies and gives you a quick estimate of how much that taxi fare home should cost, based on current location. A map shows you the predicted journey so you know if you’re going on the ‘scenic route’.

Wikitude (Free) 

This augmented reality app was voted best of its kind three years running. Hold up your phone and you’ll see your immediate surroundings, with local services such as attractions and restaurants highlighted, complete with  user reviews.

Hangover Helper (Free) 

You’ve had your big night and now you’re suffering. Hangover Helper can get you out of the most terrible day-afters, including giving you local taxi details if you find yourself in an unusual bed, and auto- generating text messages to let your friends and family you’re still alive.

Radar Rabbit (Free) 

Not got a date for tonight? The Rabbit can help. Enter your profile, view other people’s profiles to find a close match, and chat with members in your general area, all for free. You never know when you’ll find that special someone!

Translator (Free) 

If you find yourself in a foreign land, with a sign/menu/set of instructions that are completely indecipherable, the translator could be your best buddy. Simply enter the word or sentence you need translating and this app will do the rest.

Skyscanner (Free) 

Compare flight prices across more than 1,000 major and minor airlines and book the best deal. Pin favourite searches to your Start Screen to get the latest prices, and when you’ve got your flight, share it over email with travelling buddies.

GPS Calculator (Free) 

This multi-faceted app uses your GPS location to calculate everything from hyper-accurate distances, projected destinations if you were to travel this-fast, and even unit conversions. City data for 2,700 places lets you find out cool did-you-knows like the exact distance between any two.

TripIt (Free) 

Organise all your flight, hotel and even train or taxi bookings in this brilliant app that will then build your own private itinerary. You can email confirmations to plans@ tripit.com, or set the app to automatically comb your email for reservation-like documents.

GateGuru (Free) 

Get a map of more than 180 airports in US, Canada, Europe and Asia so you’ll know where your gate is, and more importantly, where its closest bar is. It doesn’t have maps of all the major airports, but the ones it does have are pretty great.

Addison Lee (Free) 

The most reliable minicab service in London is even slicker when you order via its streamlined app. Previous pick- ups and drop-offs are saved, so you can book a cab in less than a minute – and get in one in less than five.

British Airways (Free) 

If you fly our national carrier, you need its boarding pass app, which delivers real-time flight info and lets you pin current boarding passes to your Start Screen. You can check in online here too, and if you’re leaving from Heathrow Terminal 5, it will tell you what gate you need to be at.

Track My Life (Free) 

Always on the road? GPS and the good ol’ clock combine to help this app track how long you’re in transit versus how long you’re at home or the office. The Live Tile shows you up-to- date info on how long you’ve been travelling or stationary in the past 24 hours. Did we mention the graphs? Scary.

Hotel Finder (Free) 

If you’ve just landed in unfamiliar territory, this app will find the hotels closest to your GPS location. Its database has 230,000 hotels worldwide, also searchable by star rating and criteria, with results laid on the interactive map to compare prices and proximities.

TripAdvisor (Free)

Get the lowdown on hotels and restaurants from travellers just like you with the Windows Phone app of the popular web forum. A Near Me Now feature lets you find the closest place to park your weary bones.

Translator with Speech (Free) 

Don’t know how to order the paella with extra seafood? This app will translate speech into other speech,  from a database of 54 languages. Just say the  phrase into your phone,  and it will regurgitate it in a passable foreign language  to a nearby waiter.

Currency (Free) 

Not sure if a million rupees is a rip-off? Convert it back to pounds sterling in this free and easy app that updates with live currency rates.

Polyglot 

Translate text between more than 30 languages and play back the translation so you know what it sounds like. It works from  voice to text too, so you can record what people say and  get it translated.

Heathrow Airport Guide (Free) 

An incredibly useful one for any frequent flyer, this app updates with  live flight times. There  are interactive terminal  maps and listings of all  the restaurants and shops  to help you zip around efficiently, plus you’ll get notifications of any changes  to your flight.

TheTrainline. com (Free) 

Book a train, plan a journey and check all the train timetables. This streamlined app supports all the train companies and you can buy tickets up to 10 minutes before you travel, to collect from more than 1,000 stations in the UK. 

Maps For Windows Phone

Maps on Windows Phone 8 offers a lot more than your location and directions. In line with the Windows Phone OS, Maps is a tile that contains several features related to your location – nearby venues for anything from a movie to a museum, plus user-reviewed restaurants and bars in walking distance. Thanks to deep software integration, you can tap these places for contact details and call directly from Maps. 

Save your favourites 

Once you have searched for a place, you can save it by tapping it to reveal its contact card, then hitting the star to mark it as a favourite place to find again (and again and again ...)

Get the quickest route 

Whether you’re driving or walking, you can get directions for the best route. Be sure to check whether you’re in ‘car’ or ‘walk’ mode as driving routes are usually longer than walking

Find the closest place to eat 

The Local Scout feature shows the nearest venues, shops and restaurants to your GPS location. You can access it via Maps, or simply hit the Local Scout tile in your apps list

Call for reservations from Maps 

Once you’ve found a place you want to go, touch it to see its contact card. Then just tap the phone number to call them up

Check the traffic where you’re going 

The new and improved Maps sports traffic data for more secondary streets now, so tap the ellipsis for more options and select ‘show traffic’ to see which routes are blocked or free

See the view on the street 

That handy ellipsis again gives you more options in the map view – switch to aerial view to get an idea of the area you’re going to. Or pinch to zoom way in and you’ll automatically get a look-see at satellite images of streets and buildings

Navigate quickly 

Maps integrates with sat-nav apps such as Nokia Drive – which is preloaded on Nokia’s Windows Phones – or CoPilot, so you tap a place name and select the ‘drive’ option to bounce the address for the sat-nav to direct you

And that’s not all ... 

Nokia phones are loaded with Nokia Maps. For more features like public transport directions

Download a map to navigate without internet

1› In any map, tap the ellipses for more options

2› Tap Settings

3› Select ‘Download Maps’

4› Press the ‘+’ icon

5› Choose the continent, country and city

Video For Windows Phone

As well as taking photos, you can effortlessly shoot Full HD video using Windows Phone 8. It’s a perfect way of capturing home movies on the go, without lugging around bulky camcorders. You can access the video feature through the camera app: simply open it as usual, and then tap the icon that looks like a video camera. You’ll know you’re in video mode because a timer reading ‘00:00’ will appear on-screen. To record, push down the phone’s shutter button, the same way you’d take a photo. Push it again to stop recording.

Playback 

Tap the arrow or swipe right across the screen to view your videos back on the smartphone’s screen. It’s a quick and easy way to see if you’ve captured the action as you hoped to

Screen time 

This is where the magic happens! Everything you film will appear here, so you can check if the footage is too light, too dark, or too blurry

Perfect timing 

The (rather enormous) timer shows you exactly how long you’ve been shooting, and is a handy way to check that you definitely pushed the shutter button hard enough to start recording

Set up 

In the video settings, you’ll be able to play around with the quality of video you shoot. The higher the quality, the more space the video will take up on your phone. You can also turn off continuous focus if you’re shooting static scenes

Return to snapper 

Tap the video camera icon once more and you’ll go back to the standard camera function and be able to take photos again

Rant to camera 

If you want to shoot a video of yourself talking to the camera (perhaps for YouTube), hit the icon to switch to the front camera. You can then watch yourself as you record to ensure you don’t drift out of shot

Flash toggle 

If you’re shooting in a low-light environment, turning on the flash will light up your subject and make your video far more watchable. Simply tap this on-screen button

Virtual lenses 

To access your video camera’s special features (such as Cinemagraph on the Nokia Lumia 920), prod the ‘lenses’ icon

take great-quality video

1› Hold the phone still to avoid wobbly footage

2› Grip it firmly and avoid sudden movements

3› Rest against a wall to reduce shaking

4› For best results, don’t shoot into sunlight or glare

5› Edit videos on a PC to add titles and cut bad bits!

Music Apps For Windows Phone

Music 

BBC Radio 1 Player (Free) 

No radio to hand? Try streaming high- quality BBC Radio 1 goodness straight to your  phone over your data connection instead. A full programme guide tells you what’s coming up, and other radio apps are available for different stations too.

TuneIn Radio (Free) 

TuneIn gives you more than 50,000 digital radio stations and 1.2 million on-demand streams, covering everything from news and sports to the latest tunes. Featuring a large collection of local stations, it’s a great way to keep in touch with your hometown if you’re away.

SoundHound (Free) 

It drives us nuts when we’re in a pub or club and we can’t figure out what the name of a song is. That’s where SoundHound comes in, automatically identifying any track and even downloading lyrics so you can sing along if you’re suitably soused.

BBC Podcast Lounge 

Many of your favourite BBC shows are available in podcast form. There are more than 350 programmes covering an extremely wide range of genres. The interface is simple and each show can be downloaded for later listening.

Mixtapes (Free) 

Mixtapes allows users to mix up their own set and upload it for other to enjoy for free. You can listen to all manner of tunes mixed together, and bookmark your favourite bedroom DJs. It’s a great way of enjoying music for free, without ad interruption.

Lyrics (Free) 

If you’re desperate to sing along to a song but have no idea what the lyrics are, this is for you. With more than 5.5 million officially licensed lyrics in 18 different languages (apparently the largest lyrics database in the world), you won’t have any trouble finding your favourite tunes.

Hey DJ!  

This voice-control app is perfect for drivers, allowing hands-free access to your music collection. Simply say the name of the song, artist, album, genre or playlist you want to play and it immediately loads up. If you’re undecided, you can try ‘play all’ or ‘surprise me’.

Accurate Tuner Beta (Free) 

Budding musicians will find this app a lifesaver, allowing you to effortlessly tune your kit using two classical pitch tuning methods, needle and stroboscope. The needle enables fast and comfortable rough tuning, while optional animations facilitate fine tuning.

Ministry of Sound (Free) 

If you’re a big fan of dance beats, the Ministry of Sound app is a must-grab. Not only can you stream a mix of new and classic tunes on the radio station, you can also read up on the latest news, and bag tickets for the nightclub.

Absolute 80s (Free) 

Everyone knows the 1980s produced some of the finest cheesy music of all time. That’s why we love getting  all nostalgic crooning along  to Absolute 80s, which,  as you might imagine,  plays hits from the likes of Duran Duran, Billy Idol and Queen. Dodgy haircuts  are optional.

Dance Hub  

Dance Hub gathers together tracks and info on your favourite dance DJs. Get down with a selection of dance music podcasts, from trance to dubstep and everything  in between.

MetroTube (Free) 

YouTube has a fantastic selection of music videos to browse and enjoy free of charge, and MetroTube is a great way of seeking them out. Videos are broken down into categories, or you can search for your favourite artist.

Stop the music! (Free)

As much as we love music, there are times when you need a bit of silence – for instance,  when you’re called into an emergency meeting. This handy tile immediately stops whatever’s playing and shuts down the media app so you don’t accidentally restart  your music.

Gangnam Style (Free) 

If you’re not entirely sick of ‘that’ video and dance by now, this app is an amusing free download. Teach yourself the lyrics and infamous dance moves, and pick up trivia about the surprise K-pop smash hit.

Ringtone Maker (Free) 

If you want to mix up a super-cool MP3 ringtone from your favourite track, this handy app allows you to do it on the move. This trial version lets you create and save up to three ringtones, or you can pay to save more.

Health and Fitness Apps For Windows Phone

Health & Fitness 

Endomondo Sports Tracker (Free) 

This popular fitness app is effectively a free personal trainer, tracking your running and any other distance- based sport using GPS. You get instant audio feedback on your workout, and social updates on your progress mean buddies can cheer you on.

Sleep Bug (Free) 

If you find yourself tossing and turning at night, check out this sleep aid app. By mixing in ambient music and sound effects, Sleep Bug helps to calm your mind, eliminate stress and send you off to kip. And rest easier knowing that it’s free.

Gym PocketGuide (Free) 

This exercise app rips content direct from Bodybuilding.com,
giving you a personal workout encyclopedia you can carry anywhere. More than 90 exercises and stretches, complete with photos and step-by-step guides, help you lose fat and build muscle.

Calorie Tracker  

If you’re looking to lose weight or simply keep a healthy diet, this app measures your daily calorie intake and energy expended to ensure you don’t go over your limits. Set goals and you can lose weight.

KickSmoking (Free) 

Smokers who’ve tried and failed to give up will testify how difficult it can be. KickSmoking adds extra encouragement by tracking the health and monetary benefits, with a built-in timer showing how long you’ve lasted.

Woman Calendar  Pro 

One for the ladies, this app tracks your menstrual cycle and lets you record your moods, symptoms and the severity of the pain, along with temperature and weight, and even predicts future period dates, ovulation and fertile days.

Runtastic PRO

Another personal fitness trainer, this tracks indoor activities (treadmill, cardio, yoga, etc),  as well as distance training. GPS tracking covers outdoor sports, while other workouts must be manually entered. Includes music integration and voice feedback.

WeightWatch (Free) 

This app is simplicity itself. Every day, weigh yourself at home and then enter the result into WeightWatch. The app then produces a basic graph that charts your weight gain/loss, so you know exactly how your training is going.

Kegel Bootcamp  

If you’ve never heard of your Kegel muscles, they’re… er, ‘down there’. The Kegel Bootcamp app consists of easy step-by- step exercises to strengthen your kegels, complete with photos to help you get started.

First Aid Manual (Free) 

This detailed manual of first aid techniques could be a lifesaver, making it a more- than-worthy download. It gives instructions on how to treat all manner of injuries, and includes symptoms to look out for, as well as other essential information.

E-Book Readers Apps For Windows Phone

Books 

Freda (Free) 

Freda is a free ebook reader that supports EPUB, FB2, HTML and TXT format books. You can customise the fonts and colours, and add annotations and bookmarks, while a built-in dictionary helps you out with any tricky words. Grab new books from the likes of Feedbooks and Smashwords.

Amazon Kindle (Free) 

With around a million books on the Kindle Store, you’ll never be bored with this e-reader. You can purchase books directly from Amazon, from a huge range of free titles to the latest bestsellers.

Manga7 (Free) 

Fans of Japanese comics will love this free manga reader, which allows you to
download and enjoy a host of freely available titles. There’s a good variety on offer, and all of them are in English so you don’t need to brush up on your kanji just yet.

Audible (Free) 

Do you like books, but can’t seem to find any time to sit down and actually read? Audible. co.uk has a massive catalogue of digital audiobooks, and now subscribers can browse and buy new books through this app’s mobile store, download items from its Audible library, check out listening stats and more.

Poems By Keats (Free) 

This is just one in a series of free apps that gives you famous poets’ great works to carry around in your pocket. The Keats version features 13 poems by the British wordsmith, such as ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’, all stored in the app itself.

Windows Camera Apps

Photo & Video

Voice Camera

Take perfect group photos of everyone, including the camera man. With voice camera you just tell the camera to take a photo. "Camera, smile, cheeze" or whatever you want it to trigger on.

This is an eary beta version so kindly ask you to have some overseeing with potential bugs. Please report any feedback to us so that we can make this your favourite camera app.

 Service and select a Speech language of your choice.
This app requires that speech recognition is activated. 
If it is not already activate Go to "settings" and "system" tab and select speech from the list. Enable Speech Recognition Service and select a Speech language of your choice.

Fantasia Painter Free (Free) 

Spruce up your family photos with a fun range of tools, including 28 unique brushes that add everything from fur to rainbows to your snaps, and some excellent little effects to alter the subject’s body shape or swap two people’s faces.

Colorify Pro 

Colorify drains the colour from your photos, giving you a black and white version, then allows you to re-colour any part of it with a simple tap. A quick and easy way to create arty shots to impress your friends online.

Fhotoroom (Free) 

After capturing shots with the Pro Camera mode, which brings together tools such as custom EV (Auto Exposure), Grid and Level for the best possible photo, you can then tweak them with built-in editing features and share on your favourite social networks.

PhotoSynth (Free) 

This nifty panorama app allows you to capture your entire surroundings, 360 degrees horizontally and vertically, making a perfect ‘sphere’. Once you’ve created your panorama, you can share it as an interactive experience on Facebook and Twitter.

Sketch Free (Free) 

Sketch is a simple but cool app that converts your photos into pencil-style drawings – imagine that famous A-ha video for ‘Take on Me’ and you’ll know what to expect. Choose from 27 different sketch styles and
share your photo online when it’s finished.

FFFFound

FFFFound might have a bizarre name, but it’s a great little app that streams funky and inspirational images to you throughout the day. The Live Tile updates every hour with the latest image, giving art appreciators something captivating to stare at.

Lomogram (Free) 

Another photo editing app, Lomogram gives you 33 different filters and 57 light effects to produce a unique and stunning picture. As usual, once you’re done tinkering you can get online and share your creation with the world, all through the app.

Apict 

Remember those old Polariod instant cameras, which spat out a photo as soon as you took it?Well, Apict adds that distinctive look to your photos, both old and new, and allows you to label them with a realistic written scrawl. Pointless, but very cool indeed.

PhotoFunia (Free) 

PhotoFunia is a cloud- based photo editing tool that automatically identifies any faces in your photo and allows you to add more than 250 different effects, to mutate your friends and family however you see fit. With its tongue firmly in its cheek, this is a fun family app.

PuriClub (Free) 

This sparkly app turns your mobile into a portable purikura machine (one of those Japanese photo booths that lets you add glitter, colourful clipart and more to your photo). Definitely one for fans of excessive cuteness.

Camera of Windows Phone

Camera

Taking photos is one of the most popular uses for modern smartphones, after texting and apps. Windows Phone 8 allows you to take fantastic photos with its built-in camera functionality, view and edit your snaps, and then share your favourites via social media sites, email or Bluetooth. Here’s our guide to taking the best possible photos on Windows Phone 8.

Instant Access 

You can access the camera app by tapping the tile as usual or, if your Windows Phone 8 handset has a physical camera button, simply by holding it down. This will take you straight into the camera, even if your phone is hibernating 

Photo finish 

Tap this arrow or flick your finger right across the screen and you’ll find yourself in the photo gallery. From here you can check out your handiwork, edit your snaps and share with the world 

Get flashy 

The flash icon at the right edge of the screen shows you the current flash setting. To cycle through the various flash options (on, off or auto), tap this icon until you find the one you want. Most of the time the ‘Auto’ option will do you fine 

Focus 

Tap anywhere on the image and the camera lens will focus on that section. This is a great way of ensuring your subject is sharp, or doing arty close-up shots with blurry backgrounds

Movie magic 

Tap the Video icon at the top of the options bar to switch from still photos to movies. In video mode, tap it again to return to still photos

Self-portrait 

Tap this to switch to your phone’s front-facing camera, if you have one. This allows you to take self-portrait shots (perfect for Facebook and other social media purposes), or record yourself ranting for YouTube

Lenses 

These are a new addition to Windows Phone 8, and you can download more from the Windows Phone Store. The Bing Lens allows you to take photos of text, barcodes and more, which are then scanned by your phone. Scan some text to copy directly into an email or document, or to translate it

Settings 

To dive into the camera’s settings, tap the three dots in the top right corner and select ‘photo settings’. From here you can change the picture resolution (bigger means sharper pics but larger file sizes), as well as ISO, Exposure, Contrast and more, if you’re a professional photographer

Share and backup your photos

1› On the photo, tap the three dots in the bottom right corner

2› The first option is ‘Share’. Tap this for a list of options

3› Email, post online or in your family room 

4› In the previous menu,  you can backup to SkyDrive

5› Add a caption and tag your friends, then click ‘upload’

Camera Tricks and Tips

Edit to perfection 

When viewing a photo, go to the options menu and select ‘edit’. You will see four new icons appear at the bottom of your screen (or right if held horizontally).

› Magic wand: A tap of the ‘fix’ icon automatically adjusts brightness and saturation levels, to rescue dull, dark or over-exposed shots. A marvellous tool!

› Slice ‘n’ dice: The ‘crop’ icon allows you to cut down a photo, removing pointless bits at the edges. Adjust the crop box by dragging the blue corners, then tap the tick to save

› You spin me right round: The ‘rotate’ icon does what it says on the tin, spinning the photo 90 degrees clockwise

› Job done: When you’re happy with your tweaking, hit the ‘save’ icon to preserve your work. Be warned that your original photo is overwritten! Simply quit out of the photos app to avoid saving if you don’t like the edit

Jargon Buster

As with all good hobbies, photography is bursting with jargon. Here are a couple of options you may see buried in your camera’s settings

› ISO – The ISO rating determines how sensitive the camera is to light. A higher ISO means the camera is more sensitive, which brightens up dim scenes. But a high ISO can also result in grainy or ‘spotty’ photos

› Megapixels – a way of measuring photo resolution, this is the number of pixels in each shot you take (found by multiplying the number of horizontal pixels by the number of vertical pixels). Don’t assume that bigger is better – unless you’re blowing photos up to poster size, you’re unlikely to notice any difference beyond about five megapixels. Also, as you increase the megapixels you also bump up the size of each file

› White Balance – Photos can look dramatically different depending on the lighting involved, be it natural sunlight or dingy disco bulbs. White balance is your camera’s method of compensating for weird lighting conditions. You can adjust it manually with preset modes such as ‘cloudy’ or ‘sunny’, to reflect your environment

Messaging For Windows Phone

Messaging For Windows Phone

Your Windows Phone 8 device is perfect for messaging, because Windows Phone is the only operating system that ties texts, picture messages, instant messenger and Facebook Chat together in one place so you can view it all in a single handy place.

The smart type 

The Windows Phone keyboard works on an intelligent predictive text system that increases your accuracy by predicting the next word you’re going to write. It’ll widen the touch-area of certain letters that you are more likely to type next, based on the letters you’ve previously typed. As it learns your writing style, it’ll actually make better predictions. You can also share your location in a text message, or even sync instant messages on Facebook chat or Messenger – also stored here – to your SkyDrive cloud account

Keep it together 

Your messages are housed in the ‘Threads’ page. Here you’ll see all the contacts that have messaged you recently. Nudge on a person’s name and you’ll find all your text and instant messaging conversations grouped together and handily colour coded so you can read them back

Typing faster, better 

The new Word Flow keyboard can correct or predict what you’re trying to type next and a cute emoticon button lets you input hundreds of new smileys, shapes and other icons. It’s never been easier to keep the conversation flowing. You can even choose from multiple keyboard languages

Fluency guaranteed 

If you use more than language, add it via Settings > Keyboard. Then hold down on the ENG button next to spacebar and you can quickly switch between them.

Start a conversation 

Just press the plus sign at the bottom of your ‘Threads’ page and start typing the name of the contact you want to message, then press their name when it pops up on the screen

Chat whenever, wherever 

Swipe across to the ‘Online’ page in your messaging tile and you’ll be able to see which of your contacts are online and available to chat right now. Nudge a contact’s name if you’d like to instant message them, and type away 

Silence the chatter 

If you need time to yourself you can tap the person icon at the bottom of your online page and set your chat status to busy, away or invisible

How to delete old messages

1› Go into your messaging tile

2› In the ‘Threads’ page nudge ‘Settings’

3› Press ‘Select’ and you’ll see a tick box next to all threads

4› Select the message threads for deletion

5› Press the trash icon

Email For Windows Phone

Email For Windows Phone

Red is unread 

Your inbox is presented as a list of messages, with the most recent at the top. Any mails you’ve received that you haven’t yet read will have their subject line highlighted in red (or whatever your theme colour is) 

Swipe left for labels 

By flicking left and right across the screen you can change the email view, so you aren’t simply presented with a long list of all of your messages. Other views include Unread (only unread emails appear), Flagged (messages you’ve marked as important) and Urgent 

Timed to perfection 

To the right of each email you’ll see the time or date when it arrived. If it came the same day you’ll see the time in the 24-hour clock, while everything earlier shows up as a date 

Attached to you 

If an email includes an attachment (such as a photo), a little paperclip icon will appear beneath the date. Go into the message and you can download the attachment to your phone by tapping on the icon

See the full conversation 

If the email is part of an ongoing conversation, you’ll see a vertical line beneath the sender’s name, and a number telling you how many messages are in the conversation. Tap on the email and the full conversation is revealed 

Delete all 

Get tons of spam mail? Don’t delete them one at a time. Instead, tap the Select icon and a column of check-boxes appears to the left of your messages. Tap the box for each email you wish to delete, then hit the bin icon at the bottom 

Sync me up 

To refresh your emails and check for new ones, simply tap the Sync icon. Any unread emails since your last sync will appear in your list of messages 

Lost and found 

Flicking through thousands of emails looking for that one hilarious cat pic your mum sent you can be a real trial. Hit the Search icon and type in a key word – either the emailer’s name or a subject title – and your recent mails are searched. If you need to search further back, just hit ‘Search more’

Change your email signature

1› First go to your email inbox and tap the three tiny dots in the bottom right.

2› Tap ‘Settings’. At the bottom of the new menu, you’ll find the ‘Signature’ section.

3› Make sure the switch is set to ‘On’, then enter your desired signature text in the box.

4› When you’re satisfied, tap the tick button at the bottom of the screen. Job done!

Starting with the Interface

Starting  with the Interface

1› Swipe left to see all your apps

2› Hold down on the app you wish to pin

3› Drag it till it’s in the right spot

4› Tap the bottom right arrow to resize

5› Tap it in the centre once to confirm

screen

Locate the best around you 

Tap Local Scout to get info and reviews on nearby restaurants, shops and other points of interest

Supersize the important apps 

Hold down on any app and a small arrow will appear in the bottom right, allowing you to resize the app according to its importance

Keep tabs on upcoming events 

The Calendar is one of the most handy apps here, pulling together events from Google, Microsoft Exchange and even birthdays from Facebook

See what your friends are saying 

Tap the People Hub for an aggregated view of Facebook and Twitter updates – and swipe left to instantly access just-contacted friends       

Windows 8 OS for phone

The next generation OS with advanced social features and lots of cool ways to sync your stuff
In a sea of Android and Apple phones, Windows Phone might look pretty unfamiliar. Instead of icons for your apps, you have minimalist square tiles that continually flip and update with more information. Facebook isn’t just Facebook, it’s woven into a whole new People Hub thing. You put in your Hotmail address and suddenly all your photos are backed up online.In an age where over half the UK is using a smartphone, Windows Phone 8 is a refreshing alternative to Android and the iPhone for the growing demographic of tech-savvy users after something different.

Live Tiles

Instead of app icons, the singular home screen – called the Start Screen in Windows parlance – is composed of tiles that update with real-time information in whatever app they represent. Many third-party Windows Phone apps are designed with this system in mind too, and pinning a Live Tile of a new app can often deliver cool content to your Start Screen. 

One pass for everything 

Windows Phone slots smartly into a larger system of general Windows-ness – and that one Hotmail or Microsoft account you used to sign in will sync your Windows computer and Xbox 360. It’ll neatly sync your work and media files so you can head to Office or the photo gallery on your computer and see the exact same things you saw on your phone. Share something with a friend in a Room, and you’ll have it on your PC too.

Information, please 

It’s also all about information, constantly updating, constantly available. Live Tiles are one part, the other is an equally live lock screen that not only shows your newest messages, appointments and alerts, it’ll do you a personalised, rotating collage of photos too.