In this article, we’ll explore the pros and cons of each to help you know when it’s better to use cellular data or a Wi-Fi connection.

What Is the Difference Between Cellular Data and Wi-Fi?

Generally, it’s usually better to connect to the internet with your smartphone using a Wi-Fi network. This is because the maximum speeds available on a Wi-Fi network are typically many times faster than that of a cellular network.

• Wi-Fi Networks: The speed of a Wi-Fi network depends on the Wi-Fi standard that the network router uses. 802.11n offers transfer speeds up to 300 Mbps, 802.11ac up to 7 Gbps, and 802.11ax up to 9.6 Gbps.
• Cellular Networks: Cellular data over a 4G network is capable of transfer speeds of 100 Mbps on average. 5G offers data speeds up to an impressive 20 Gbps.

You’ll most likely experience a higher quality (more stable) internet connection and faster speeds connecting through a Wi-Fi network.

However, if you have a cell phone capable of 5G and your cell phone plan includes 5G service, you could experience better speeds on that particular cellular network. But for most typical users, this scenario is rare.

Note: The high-speed capability of 5G networks is why many cellular companies are marketing 5G internet to residential customers.

When Should You Use Wi-Fi?

Wi-Fi is usually the better option if you ever have both options available – Wi-Fi or cellular data. This is because Wi-Fi typically offers:

• A more stable internet connection
• Faster data transfers
• Wi-Fi is often freely available at many locations
• You can avoid cellular data usage charges for using a lot of data

Cellular data might be a better option in some cases, but it’s rare.

• You have a 5G cellular plan.
• You have an unlimited or very large monthly data usage plan with a high data limit.

In this case, you might experience faster internet speeds and service that’s just as stable as Wi-Fi. Just ensure you’re confident you won’t get hit with data charges for a high amount of data used for things like video streaming or gaming.

When Should You Turn Off Cellular Data?

If you keep trying to use the internet, but your mobile phone keeps using your cellular data instead of the Wi-Fi network, you may need to disable cellular data to force the phone to use Wi-Fi.

To do this on an Android, go into Settings, tap Connections, tap Data usage, and disable the toggle to the right of Mobile data.

To do this on Apple iPhone, go to Settings, tap Cellular (or Mobile Data) and disable the toggle to the right of Cellular Data.

When Should You Use Cellular Data?

In some situations, using your cellular connection is the better (or only) choice.

These include:

• Wi-Fi signal is unavailable or weak.
• You’re on the go and don’t have access to a public Wi-Fi network.
• You need to use the internet for urgent or critical tasks and can’t wait until you find a Wi-Fi hotspot.

Generally, it’s always a good idea to use Wi-Fi whenever possible to conserve cellular data usage.

But Wi-Fi networks are local and limited to locations like your home, coffee shops, or libraries. Cellular networks may be all you can access when traveling in more remote locations so long as cell towers are nearby.

When Should You Turn Off Wi-Fi?

If you’re in a location with Wi-Fi and cellular data available but prefer cellular data, you may need to turn off Wi-Fi on your phone. This is particularly true if you’ve configured your smartphone to connect automatically to that Wi-Fi network.

On Android, you can disable Wi-Fi by going to Settings, tap Connections, tap Wi-Fi, and on the Wi-Fi page, disable the toggle at the top of the page.

On iPhone, go to Settings, tap Wi-Fi, and on the Wi-Fi page, toggle the switch to Off.

By disabling Wi-Fi on your phone, you can guarantee that when you use internet-enabled apps, your phone will access the internet using cellular data.

Choosing Cellular Data or Wi-Fi

Choosing between cellular data or Wi-Fi isn’t always easy, but a simple rule is to go with the option with the lowest cost for the best quality connection. Usually, if Wi-Fi is available, that’ll be the best option. Of course, there’s always the case where you may have an unlimited 5G cellular data plan, which would be fine for you.

The post Cellular Data or Wi-Fi: Which Should You Use on Your Smartphone? first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

1. Check Netflix Server Status

Before you start troubleshooting your device, make sure that the Netflix service is working. You can do this using services like Downdetector or IsItDownRightNow.

If either of these services reports that the Netflix service is down, you won’t be able to stream, and it is also the most likely reason the Netflix app keeps crashing on your device.

2. Check Your Internet Connection

Before diving into more complicated troubleshooting, ensure that the device you’re using to watch Netflix has a good internet connection. Streaming video requires a stable and fast internet connection, so you should connect your device to a strong Wi-Fi or a wired network.

The easiest way to check this is to open a web browser (or other internet application) on the device and try accessing a site or service other than Netflix. If nothing else works, you may have a bad internet connection.

3. Check Memory Usage

One of the most common causes of Netflix crashing on your device is a lack of memory. This can happen if the device has too many apps running in the background or if the device’s storage is almost full. To fix this, close all unnecessary apps and delete unnecessary files or apps from the device.

The easiest way to do this on an Android phone is by tapping Battery and device care in Settings. Next, tap Storage to see and close which file types use the most space. Finally, tap Memory to see what apps are using your memory, and tap Clean now to close them all.

If you have an iPhone follow our guide to close and uninstall apps on iOS devices.

Once you’ve ensured that your device is running efficiently and has plenty of available memory, try relaunching the Netflix app.

4. Clear Netflix App Cache and Data

Another possible solution is to clear the app’s cache and data on your streaming device. This can help fix issues with Netflix crashing. Before you do this, close the app fully so it isn’t running in the background.

Clear Netflix Cache on Android or iPhone Devices

1. Go to Settings > Apps (or Apps & notifications) > and select Netflix.

2. Tap Storage to access the app’s storage settings.

3. At the bottom of the window, tap Clear cache to clear the app cache and Clear data to clear all temporary app data.

If you have an iPhone, follow our guide to reduce system storage for instructions on how to clear app cache and data.

Clear Netflix Cache on Other Streaming Devices

If you’re using Fire TV or Google TV, you can also try clearing the app cache on those.

• Fire TV: Go to the Settings menu, select Applications, then Manage Installed Applications and finally select Netflix and choose Clear cache.
• Google TV: Go to Settings, select Apps, choose See all apps, select Netflix, then select Clear cache and select OK.

Regardless of the device you’re streaming from, it’s always a good idea to reboot it. Then test relaunching Netflix to see if clearing data and cache fixed your issue.

You should never have to do a full factory reset of your device to get the Netflix app working.

5. Update or Reinstall Your Netflix App

If nothing has worked up to this point, you’ll want to uninstall and reinstall Netflix on your streaming device. Doing this is straightforward on every device, so it’s a great quick fix. This will also ensure you’re running the latest version of the app.

• Android: Find the Netflix app in your apps library, long-press the icon, and tap Uninstall. Confirm by tapping OK.
• iOS: Open the App Library, find and long-press the Netflix app, and tap Delete App. Confirm by tapping Delete.
• Fire TV: Select Settings > Applications > Manage All Installed Applications > Netflix > Delete or Uninstall.
• Apple TV: With the remote, highlight the Netflix app, press and hold the center of the touchpad until the Netflix icon shakes, press the Play/Pause button, and select Delete to confirm.

Once you’ve uninstalled the Netflix app, just use the relevant app store for the device to find and reinstall the latest version of the Netflix app.

Contact Netflix Help Center

So you’ve tried everything, and you just can’t get the Netflix app to open on your device. If it’s only the Netflix app that is crashing, try contacting the Netflix help center for advice on things to try. They receive reports of issues from many users, and they might have the solution for the issue you’re seeing.

If it isn’t just the Netflix app giving you issues, contact customer service for the device you’re having problems with.

The post Is Netflix Crashing on Your Device? Try These 5 Fixes first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

Using the printer settings in your Chromebook’s settings menu, you can configure your printer so that you can print to it any time you like.

How to Add a Wi-Fi Printer to Your Chromebook

If you have a wireless printer connected to your network, adding that printer on your Chromebook is effortless. ChromeOS supports mostly all modern printer drivers.

1. Select the clock in the bottom-right corner of the window and select the gear icon to open your Chromebook settings. Select Print and scan in the left menu.

2. In the right pane, select the right arrow next to Printers.

3. A new window will open for you to add the new printer. All you need is the printer’s IP address (which you can get from your printer’s menu). Type a name for the printer, enter the IP address in the Address field, and then select the Add button.

Note: Ensure Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) is selected in the Protocol drop-down menu for Wi-Fi network printing to work properly.

You’ll see your printer show up in your list of compatible printers on the Printers page. It will show up under Your saved printers and under Add printers to your profile.

If you have a newer printer with Wi-Fi functionality, it may show up under the second section. You can select Save to add that printer automatically rather than using the manual process above.

If you don’t see any new printer you purchase in the list at the bottom of the settings window, you can add it manually using the same process above by selecting the small plus icon to the right of Add printer.

How to Add a USB Printer to Your Chromebook

If you’re using an older printer that requires a USB connection, you can still connect your Chromebook to that printer.

1. Plug the USB cable from your printer into your Chromebook’s USB port.
2. You’ll see a pop-up window to add a new printer. Select Add Printer.
3. Follow the wizard to step through adding the new printer.

If you don’t see a Wizard appear, you can go through the steps in the previous section to view available printers in the Settings menu and select the connected printer under the Add printers to your profile section.

Note: Whenever you print for the first time, if you don’t see the new printer’s name in the Destination field, select See more… and the printer should be listed in that window.

How to Print From Your Chromebook

Once you’ve added your printer, you can print to it from any Chromebook app that supports printing.

1. With the document, image, or other media open that you want to print, just press Ctrl + P keyboard shortcut on the keyboard to open the Print menu. In that menu, select the Destination dropdown and choose See more.

2. In the Select a destination window, select the printer you want to print to.

3. Once you’ve selected the printer you want to print to, select the Print button to send that print job to your selected printer.

You should see the document or image printed on the printer you’ve selected on your network.

Printing From a Google Chromebook

As you can see, printing from a Chromebook is similar to printing from any other computer. Just open the Chromebook Settings menu and go through the process to add the new printer using the simple menus.

Also, if you want to print from your Chromebook outside your home, away from your Wi-Fi network, Google Cloud Print is the perfect solution.

The post How to Add a Printer to Your Chromebook first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

In this article, you’ll learn ten essential tips for capturing videos with your new GoPro action camera.

1. Use the Best Resolution and Frame Rate

Choosing the correct resolution and framerate for your situation can be tricky unless you’re an expert photographer. The main issue that should influence your choice is what kind of videos you’re shooting with your GoPro Hero.

Resolution: The resolution is the number of pixels (individual dots of color) that get packed into each frame of your video. The highest resolution for years was 1080 (Full HD), or 1,080 pixels vertically and 1920 pixels horizontally. Today, 4K cameras can pack 2,160 pixels vertically and 3840 pixels horizontally. Higher resolution results in video with much more clarity.

Frame Rate: The frame rate is how many frames are captured every second you take a video. If objects are moving quickly in front of the camera, a higher frame rate will ensure that there will be less blur during that activity.

You may think you’d just set the GoPro to the highest resolution and frame rate possible. Unfortunately, if you do this, your battery and storage card won’t last very long, and your videos will have to be very short.

Instead, choose the resolution and frame rate for the type of video you’re capturing.

• Low motion activities like vlogging or walking: 1080p and 30 fps.
• Hiking, running or cycling: 2.7K and 60 fps.
• High motion sports, vehicle mounted, or drone mounted: 4K and 60 fps.

The settings above will conserve battery and storage on your camera. But if you still want higher resolution or motion clarity, you can increase the resolution and frame rate further and accept the storage and battery drain that comes with it.

2. Enable Stabilization and Move the GoPro Slowly

If you’re trying to conserve battery and storage with more moderate resolution and frame rate settings, you can compensate for this by trying to move the GoPro as little as possible.

For example, if you’re hiking or running, using a selfie stick and stabilizing the camera while you’re holding it will reduce motion and decrease the chance of video blur.

You can also use built-in stabilization in the GoPro settings to compensate for camera movement. This slightly increases battery usage, but the feature is well worth it.

To enable stabilization, start your GoPro and tap the stabilization icon on the right side of the screen.

Use the slider on the right to select either Standard or High.

The highest stabilization setting will consume more battery, but High or Standard provide enough compensation for movement without depleting the battery too quickly.

3. Use a Tripod for Still Video Shots

If you’re trying to capture a scene and you can’t get yourself to hold the camera still enough, even with stabilization on, a tripod can come in handy.

Many selfie sticks double as a tripod, so you don’t have to carry more accessories. Set up the tripod on the ground or other surfaces and capture the video for 10 to 15 seconds.

You’ll find that a tripod allows the camera to stay perfectly still and capture the clearest frames and resolution throughout the still scene video clip.

4. Choose the Right Accessory for the Job

The GoPro mount works with a long list of fantastic accessories that let you mount your GoPro to nearly anything. If you purchase any complete accessories packages on Amazon, you’ll get every mount you need for every situation.

• Head and chest straps: Great for hands-free exploring
• Wrist strap: Use your arm to position your camera at any angle
• Floating handle: Use your GoPro safely while swimming or snorkeling
• Handlebar mount: Perfect for biking or attaching to an external bar on your vehicle
• Suction cup: Stick your GoPro to any hard surface for quick still video capture
• Tripod: Good for capturing any video where the camera needs to stay as still as possible
• Selfie Stick: The most versatile solution for positioning the camera at any angle with your hand, or to record yourself

The mount you choose depends heavily on the activity that you’re trying to record. If you choose the right mount, you’re sure to capture the perfect scene.

5. Use a Media Mod With Wireless Microphones

Another downside of the GoPro is that the onboard microphone system isn’t the greatest. You need to be close to the GoPro for your voice to be loud and clear. Even then, you may find that you have to adjust the microphone volume in post-processing just to make sure viewers can hear you.

Thankfully, GoPro offers a valuable hardware add-on called a GoPro media mod.

The media mod is a frame that mounts around your camera and plugs directly into the side port. It has a directional microphone that reduces ambient noise (like wind) and boosts your voice’s clarity.

There are a couple of cold-shoe mounts where you can attach lights or (and we recommend this) a wireless microphone transmitter for the highest quality voice recording. There’s a 3.5mm microphone port to plug in this external microphone setup.

If you do a lot of vlogging, purchasing this mod will improve your video quality immensely and help grow your channel subscription count.

6. Beware Low-Light Situations

One of the noticeable weaknesses of the GoPro camera is that it doesn’t perform very well under low-light conditions. You’ll occasionally see white streaks flickering across the scene in low-light scenes.

If you have expert knowledge of camera settings, it’s possible to adjust ISO settings to reduce these visual artifacts manually. However, these need to be changed every time you shoot under low light.

A faster solution is to set up better lighting in your shooting area. You can use one of the cold-shoe mounts on the media mod mentioned above to mount a light to your camera.

7. Configure Settings to Conserve Battery

It’s easy to consume a lot of battery power when using a GoPro camera. As mentioned in the previous section about resolution and frame rate, if you set your camera to the highest quality settings, your battery will not last very long.

The following are settings you can adjust to prolong your GoPro’s battery life:

• Lower resolution and frame rate
• Switch stability (HyperSmooth) to Standard
• Set LEDs setting in Preferences to All Off
• Lower Auto Power Off setting to 5 Min or less
• Lower Screen Saver Rear to 1 Min
• Set Front Screen Options to Status Only

Many of these settings have little to no impact on the overall quality of your video, and adjusting them will keep your battery working much longer than expected.

8. Film Very Short Scenes

Even with adjusted settings to save battery power and MicroSD card space, GoPro videos consume a lot of resources. Also, longer video clips take a lot more work to edit during post processing.

A far more efficient way to make videos from GoPro clips is to make those clips shorter. Here are some tips on how to do this:

• Create a script for your entire video and organize it into scenes
• Carefully plan out your scene before starting your GoPro camera
• Set up your GoPro on a tripod (if you’re using one) before you start the camera
• Start recording and immediately go through your scene as planned
• Provide enough buffer video (such as smiling when you’re done talking) to allow you to blend with the next scene or fade out.

By recording clean and short scenes with your GoPro, you can significantly reduce the time it takes to produce your final, polished video.

9. Sync Your Scenes with Your Music

If you’re trying to produce high quality videos with your GoPro, you’ll want to enhance them with music when appropriate. The best subscription services for downloading copyright-free music you can use in your videos are Soundstripe and Epidemic Sound.

Adding music to your scenes gives the video a more cinematic and emotional feel. However, it’s essential to blend music into your videos properly.

The secret to doing this well is aligning the beat pattern with your scene transitions.

Identify the time it takes for lyrics to transition naturally, and align your scene transitions with those lyrical transitions. Usually, you can use the equally spaced beat pattern in the song track to align your scene transitions.

10. Don’t Attempt Close-Up Shots

One more weakness of the GoPro is that it isn’t the greatest when focusing on close objects. If you have visions of taking beautiful macro videography (close-ups of small objects), the GoPro camera isn’t the right option.

The GoPro camera is designed for action, motion, and cinematographic scenery. But placing the camera lens too close to something like a flower or insect will create a blurry object.

You can still take scenes fairly close to objects, but they will only focus if you keep the camera at least 4 or 5 inches away.

Create Fantastic Videos With Your GoPro

As you can see, a lot of things go into making sure your final videos are high quality. However, there are some compromises you have to make to conserve battery life and storage space.

Following the tips above, you can enjoy the best of both worlds. You can get the most out of your camera’s battery life and storage space but also produce very high quality videos that your viewers will love.

The post How to Use a GoPro: 10 Tips For the Best Videos first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

In this article, you’ll learn how to measure distance on Google Maps as well as in the associated Google My Maps library. You’ll also learn how to do this on the mobile version of Google Maps.

Why Measure Distances on Google Maps?

Whenever you search for a location in Google Maps, you’ll see a map view with that location centered in the middle of the map.

You can measure the distance between any two points on this map. Repeating this step, you can connect measured segments to determine the distance of a very long road, trail, and more. But why might you want to do this? There are actually lots of reasons.

• Planning a hiking trip and want to know how long the trail will be.
• Trying to decide between several driving routes and wanting to find the shortest one.
• Measuring the distance of different flights from airport to airport.
• Plotting out the circumference of a property so you can calculate the square footage (area).

How to Measure Distance on Google Maps

Measuring distances on Google Maps is as simple as right-clicking the mouse.

1. Open Google Maps and use the top left search field to find the starting point on the map where you want to start measuring (or just use your current location), then right-click. You’ll see a drop-down menu appear. Select Measure distance to start the measuring process.

2. Select any point in any direction and a black, straight line (as the crow flies) will appear connecting the starting point and the new point you’ve selected.

3. Continue selecting points along the route you want to measure. Each time you click, a new black line will appear connecting the last point with your current one. You’ll also see the measured distance appear beneath the black line.

4. If you make a mistake and want to get rid of the last point you’ve created, just select the same white dot and that last segment of the line will disappear.

5. If you’re finished with measuring and want to get rid of the entire measurement line, just right-click the end point. Select Clear measurement from the pop-up menu that appears.

This will completely remove the line from your Google Maps view.

How to Measure Distance on Google My Maps

Another area of Google Maps is your My Maps library where you can create and save maps with waypoints. You can measure distances on these maps as well.

1. Access Google My Maps from within Google Maps by selecting Your places from the left menu.

2. On the next left window, select Maps from the menu.

3. This will take you to My Maps where you can select Create a New Map to launch the mapping session.

4. The next window will look a lot like Google Maps. Type the location where you’d like to measure distance in the search field at the top of the window. Press Enter or select the magnifying glass icon at the top right.

5. You will see a zoomed in map of the location that you searched for. Now under the search field you’ll see a list of icons. Select the right-most ruler icon to initiate the distance measurement tool.

6. As you click your mouse at different points on the map, you’ll see a faint blue dotted line tracking each click. A small blue oval will contain the total distance that you’ve measured each time you click on the map.

As you can see the process is very similar to Google Maps but the appearance and behavior is just slightly different.

Note: There is a Google Chrome web browser extension called Distance Measure that enhances this feature for running or biking and lets you download a KML file of your map route.

How to Measure Distance on Google Maps Mobile

Measuring distance using the Google Maps app (on either Android phones or Apple iPhone) is even easier than on the web-based version.

1. Long-press on the map until a red pin marker appears.

2. Tap the marker again and you’ll see a menu appear for that location. Tap Measure distance. This will place the starting point where the red marker was, and a crosshairs icon (an empty black circle) at the bottom of the screen for you to choose your next point to start measuring.

3. Scroll the map until the marker is positioned where you want the next point to be where you want to continue measuring distance and tap the blue plus (+) icon. This will add the second point connected to the first location.
4. Continue this process, and as you add each point to the measurement line, you’ll see the distance appear and accumulate at the lower left corner of the window.

When you’re done measuring distance, just tap the back arrow to return to normal mode on the map again.

Measuring Distance on Google Maps Is Easy

No matter what kind of activity you’re doing on your next trip or adventure, there will likely be a location where you need to measure distance.

Safe time and use Google Maps to help you see how far point A is from point B. This will help you create an accurate itinerary with more information on hand.

Have you ever used the feature to measure distance in Google Maps for anything interesting? Share your experiences in the comments section below!

The post How to Measure Distance on Google Maps first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

Stop wandering and let technology do all of the work for you. Amazon Christmas sales are a fantastic opportunity to quickly find the perfect gift for anyone and save a lot of money in the process.

In this article, you’ll learn how to find the best places on Amazon’s website to find the perfect gift and save the most money. Remember that all deals will be much better (and some described areas only available) if you have an Amazon Prime account.

Note: To get a head start on Christmas shopping and save the most money, buying gifts using Prime Day sales from July 12-13nth is a savvy approach.

Prepare Your Christmas Shopping List

Before you start looking for gifts to buy, create a list on your Amazon account to store all of those ideas for when you’re ready to purchase them.

This is very easy to do.

1. Log into your Amazon account, and select Holiday Gift Guide.

2. Select Your Lists from the sub-menu.

3. If you’ve already created other lists, you’ll see them on the left. To make one especially for Christmas shopping, select Create a List at the upper right.

4. Give the new list a name using the List name field, and select the Create List button to finish.

Now, whenever you’re browsing any product on Amazon, you can quickly add that item to your gift idea list by using the Add to List dropdown at the left side of the product detail page.

As you’re browsing the sections on the Amazon website described below, keep in mind that you can grab any of these deals for purchase by adding them to your list. Remember that if any deals are only offered for a limited time, you’ll need to make your purchase before the time is up.

Finding Amazon Christmas Sales

If you’re ready to start your holiday shopping, the following sections of the Amazon website are the best place to begin your search.

Using the Amazon Holiday Gift Guide

When you select Holiday Gift Guide from the top menu in your Amazon account, you’ll have access to a wide array of search filters and tools that Amazon offers to help you hunt for the perfect gift.

The top of the gift guide page lets you sift through specific categories of gifts like electronics, toys, fashion, and more.

Scroll down a little further on this same page, and you’ll see a selection of buttons that let you filter gifts by gender and age. If you select one of these buttons, you’ll see a listing of recommended gifts for men, women, teenagers, or young children.

This section also lets you shop for gifts organized by price. This is especially useful if you’re budget-limited and want to stick to buying gifts under a specific value.

Keep scrolling on this page, and you’ll eventually get to the bottom section, where you’ll see a long list of holiday gift suggestions. These are all unfiltered and cover gifts for absolutely everyone.

If you don’t want to limit your gift search, scrolling through this long section may spark some gift ideas that you might never have considered otherwise.

Save Money with Epic Deals

If you want the best opportunity to save the most money shopping with your Amazon Prime account, then head over to the Epic Deals section.

Just select Epic Deals from the top menu on the Amazon home page to get there.

This section holds exclusive deals for Amazon Prime members. During the holiday season, you may even catch some live shows where Amazon Prime influences showcase different product deals (like the modern version of the QVC shopping network).

Under this live “featured products” activity, you’ll see a ribbon of icons that lets you organize deals by product category. These are categories like “Gifts for Him,” “Gifts for Her,” “Electronics,” “Home,” and more.

If you don’t want to filter any deals, just scroll down on this page to see them.

The deals are laid out very clearly, by the percentage off the retail price you’ll save if you purchase that product immediately.

Save Even More Money with Lightning Deals

If you want even steeper deals, you can explore Amazon’s special gift shopping area known as “Lightning Deals.” To access these, select Lightning deal from the left menu under “Deal type.”

This area lists very short-term deals (usually ending within hours) that are anything on the order of 30% off retail up to 80% off retail. However, you’ll see a countdown when the steep discounts end.

If you want to save the most money on your Christmas shopping, browse this section and buy the item you discover immediately. Don’t bother putting these on your List because the deal could be over by the time you get around to buying it.

Save Money with Amazon Coupons

If you’re still in the “Epic Deals” section on Amazon, select the Coupons link in the sub-menu.

Use the coupon categories on the left to find the gift you’re interested in. Once you find a specific item with a coupon, just select Clip Coupon under the item and make your purchase. The coupon discount will be applied when you check out.

Buy Expensive Products at Discount With Amazon Renewed, Outlet, and Warehouse

Renewed products are usually electronics that have been returned to Amazon as having some kind of defect or damage. Technicians have repaired, inspected, and ensured that the product is in perfect working condition.

Amazon can’t sell these items at full retail price, so if you’re willing to buy a “renewed” item, you can get expensive electronics and other products at a very steep discount.

Select Outlet from the sub-menu to access the Amazon Outlet area. This is where you can get significant discounts on overstocked items. You’ll see subcategories like “Last Change Savings,” “Under $10,” and more.

Select Warehouse Deals from the sub-menu to see a listing of Amazon products pre-owned, used, or open-box.

What are Amazon Warehouse products? They are customer returns and open-box items that Amazon can’t sell for full price. Amazon tests the item’s condition and provides details on the product page. This ranges from “Like New” to “Acceptable.”

You can get the best deals on poorer condition items, but expect things like scuff marks or other imperfections. However, even “Like New” quality items in this section are significantly discounted from the retail price.

Use Amazon Christmas Sales for all Holiday Gifts

As you can see, so many opportunities on Amazon are available to find the perfect gift for your spouse, child, or other relatives. Not only can you find the perfect gift, but you can save a lot of money in the process.

Have you ever used a deal on Amazon to find the perfect gift for someone? Share your Amazon shopping experience in the comments section below!

The post How to Use Amazon Christmas Sales to Cut Shopping Stress first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

It is simple to set up a Nest thermostat without the help of an electrician. In this article, you’ll see all steps required to install your Nest thermostat. But hopefully, before you buy one of these smart thermostats, you’ve followed the step-by-step instructions below to ensure that the latest generation of Nest works with your heating and cooling system.

Step 1: Use the Compatibility Checker

Google offers a useful online compatibility checker that helps you determine if a Nest thermostat is compatible with your HVAC system.

1. Just visit the site and select the Get started button to start the wizard.

2. Follow the on-screen instructions to remove and check the wiring on your original wall thermostat that you want to replace.

3. You’ll need to check and enter the wire labels on your original thermostat before selecting Yes, continue.

4. Finally, you’ll see the Nest thermostats compatible with your system based on the wiring you’ve entered.

Use this list to guide which Nest you decide to purchase. The best place to purchase a Nest is on Amazon since you’ll usually find the best price there. Once your new Nest thermostat arrives and you’re ready to do the installation, move on to the next section.

Step 2: Unpack and Prepare Your Nest Thermostat

Once you unpack the Nest thermostat box, you’ll find more than everything you’ll need to do the entire thermostat installation yourself.

The package includes:

• Nest thermostat
• Nest thermostat base for wiring (this is an adapter for your existing thermostat wiring)
• Optional trim plate and Nest base plate
• Screw set
• Screwdriver
• Installation guide and wire stickers

You’ll want to remove the wiring sticker sheet before moving on to the next step, where you’ll remove your current thermostat and disconnect the wiring. You won’t need any special connectors or tools for the steps below. Everything you need comes in the package.

Step 3: Remove Your Old Thermostat and Prepare Wiring

If you install the Nest app for Android, or the Nest app for iPhone, it will take you through the process of wiring. However, you can complete the DIY wiring process using the steps below without installing the app first.

1. Find your heating and cooling systems in your breaker box, and turn those circuit breakers to the “OFF” position.

2. Back at your old thermostat, make sure the power is off. The display will be blank, or if it isn’t, try enabling air conditioning or heating and make sure the systems don’t turn on. Then, remove the faceplate of your old thermostat from the base plate. You should see all the wiring underneath.

Note: For some thermostats, you must remove the batteries before removing the faceplate.

3. Take a picture of the thermostat wiring, so you don’t forget where each wire goes. Also, use the stickers included in your Nest thermostat box and apply the appropriate sticker letter to the wire, identifying where you connected those wires. Then, disconnect the wires from the terminals on your old thermostat (you may need the Nest screwdriver to do this). Remove any jumper wires that were installed.

4. Finally, remove the old thermostat trim plate from the wall with the included Phillips attachment on the Nest screwdriver.

Step 4: Install Your Thermostat on the Wall

Now, you’re ready to install the Nest thermostat hardware. Depending on how your original thermostat was attached to the wall, you can use either the optional trim plate or the box plate. Usually, the trim plate is the best option.

1. Press the Nest base for wiring onto the trim plate or the box plate, depending on which you’ve used. It will snap when attached. Then, thread all wires through the center hole and position it on the wall until the bubble level on the thermostat wiring base plate has the bubble in the center. Next, use the included Phillips screws to screw the base plate into the wall through the top and bottom screw holes.

Note: The attached screws are self-tapping and should adhere firmly to the drywall where your old thermostat was attached.

2. Pressing the thumb tabs on each port, press the bare copper end of each wire into the appropriate hole until the thumb tab stays fully depressed. Use the stickers you’ve attached to each wire as a guide.

3. Finally, carefully slide the Nest thermostat onto the wiring base, ensuring that the gray port at the bottom of the base inserts correctly into the port on the back of the Nest thermostat.

4. Return to the circuit box and turn the circuit breakers for your heating and cooling systems back to the ON position. When you return to the Nest thermostat, you should see it boot and eventually display the language selection menu.

5. Choose your selection by turning the outer frame of the Nest and then pressing down on the face of the thermostat to select. The Nest will then walk you through some initial setup steps, including displaying the HVAC equipment detected through the installed wiring.

6. You’ll need to tell Nest that you’re a homeowner doing their own installation and not a “Nest Pro” doing a pro installation (even though you may consider yourself a pro!).

7. Review the detected equipment and ensure that all the equipment you know should be attached is represented in the diagram on the screen.

8. Select Continue a couple of times to confirm your system equipment. Then you’ll see an option to select the fuel your heating system uses. Twist the Nest frame to choose it, and press in on the Nest display to select it.

9. Select the type of heating system you have. Use the same process described in the last step to select it.

10. Launch the Nest app portion of the setup process. Press in the Nest screen to select this and continue.

11. Launch the Nest app on your mobile device. When you see the option to enter the Entry code in the app (see the next section), press in on the Nest screen to see the entry code for this Nest thermostat.

You now have your Nest thermostat fully installed. You just have to go through the Nest app setup process below to finish the installation and start using your new smart thermostat.

Step 5: Complete Setup With the Nest App

You’ll need to log into your Google account when you first launch the Nest app on your Android or iPhone. If you already have a Google Home account, you’ll need to connect it to your nest. If you previously had a Google Nest account, you’ll need to migrate that account information to your app.

1. The app will detect this when you log in and walk you through the necessary steps to do either or both. If you have never had a Nest account, you’ll need to create one.

2. Once you’re logged into your Nest account, tap Add product to start adding your new Nest thermostat to your account. First, you’ll need to scan the QR code on the back of the thermostat and then tap Start installation on the next screen.

3. If you’ve already completed the hardware installation steps in the section above, just tap the generation of the Nest thermostat you own and tap through the next couple of screens until you get to the entry key screen. You’ll need to confirm that the wiring diagram is correct and you have a low-voltage and not a high-voltage system, and that the wiring diagram is correct.

4. Select Entry Key on your thermostat if it isn’t already displaying the code. Then type the code displayed on your thermostat into the Enter key field in the app. Next, select your Wi-Fi network from the list of available networks, and select Next on the account confirmation screen.

5. On the next step, tap the location in your house where you installed your thermostat. Adjust “Eco Temperatures”, which are the absolute minimum and maximum temperatures that you’re okay with your house getting to whenever you’re not home. Tap Next, and then Done on the final setup screen.

After that final step, you’ll see the Nest home screen in the app. This will display your current temperature settings. This is also where you can tap on that thermostat and change any settings you like.

Start Using Your New Nest Thermostat!

There are a lot of settings to start playing with via the Nest app that are outside this article’s scope. However, there are a couple of things you should set right away.

First, if you have a combination heating and cooling system (a heater and air conditioner) hooked up to your thermostat, you’ll want to enable both heating and cooling. To do this:

1. Tap the thermostat you installed and tap the mode icon at the bottom of the screen..
2. Tap Heat-Cool from the list of options.

Next, you should set up a heat and cool schedule to fully use the Nest thermostat’s efficiency.

1. Tap the Nest thermostat and then tap the Schedule icon at the bottom of the screen.
2. Tap one of the days in the grid and then tap Add at the bottom of the screen.
3. Tap a time in the day grid and adjust the upper and lower temperature range for that day and time.
4. Repeat this process until you’re done adjusting your desired indoor temperatures throughout the entire week.

Now the Nest thermostat will automatically adjust according to the schedule you’ve configured in this grid. No need to constantly lower the temperature when you go to bed and increase it in the morning!

Read Google’s Beginner Guide to the Nest to learn more about all the other available settings and other ways you can take full advantage of your newly installed Nest thermostat. You can also use various online smart home services to automate your Nest thermostat if you want.

The post How to Install a Nest Thermostat first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

All you need to do this is to establish a Google account, and then open Google Maps to get started. You can write a review on the Google Maps website, or using the Google Maps app on your phone.

In this article, you’ll learn how to start giving local businesses reviews, and even how you can establish yourself as a local guide. This will make your reviews even more valuable to local businesses. You can even get rewards for taking the time to give reviews.

How to Leave a Review in Google Maps

Anyone can leave an online review about any business, so long as they have a Google account. To rate and review a local business you’ve visited, follow the steps below.

1. Log into Google Maps using your Google account. Use the search field to search for the local business that you want to provide a review for.

2. In the left pane where the business details are displayed, scroll down and select the Write a review button.

3. A form will pop-up where you can complete your review.

4. Click Post when you’re finished.

Now your review will appear alongside other reviews in the reviews section under the business information in Google Maps. Reviews also show up at the bottom of the business page that pops up when people select that business in the left pane.

How to Edit Reviews in Google Maps

If you’ve made a mistake or you’ve changed your mind about your business rating, you can edit your rating and review at any time. It’s also a good idea to refresh your reviews to reflect your latest experiences with a business, since some businesses may improve or worsen over time. Also, new reviews have the greatest impact on a business’s online reputation.

To edit past reviews:

1. Log into Google Maps using your Google account, select the menu icon at the upper left, and select Your contributions from the menu.

2. On the next page, you’ll see a listing of places you’ve recently visited. This is because the Contribute tab is selected by default, and provides you with an option to quickly rate and review businesses you’ve visited. Instead, select Reviews from the menu.

3. Scroll through each review summary listed on the left pane to find the review link for the one that you want to edit. When you find it, select the three dots at the right of the business name.

4. Select Edit review from the pop-up menu. Or, if you just want to add photos or delete the review entirely, you can select one of those options instead.

5. You can change the overall rating, and edit your previous review. When you’re finished updating, just select the Post button at the bottom of the review page.

Keeping your ratings and reviews updated and relevant is important if you want people to value the reviews that you leave for local businesses.

Google Maps and Google Reviews

The review form allows you to share a lot of information about your experience with that local business. This includes:

• A visual star rating of 1 (very bad) to 5 (excellent)
• A text field where you can give a detailed overview of your experience with that business
• A button to Add photos to provide further evidence to support your positive or negative review
• Customized questions related to the type of business you’re reviewing

The impact of negative or positive reviews on local businesses are tremendous. It’s more common than ever for people to turn to Google Search or Google Maps to find goods and services. In fact it’s even more common than using the Yelp review site to find information about local businesses.

Consider, for example, if you were looking for the best company in your area to replace windows on your home.

A search in Google Maps for “window replacement” turns up a large number of local businesses that service windows, with various numbers of stars next to their business names.

Which business do you think potential customers are going to reach out to first? The one with a rating of 4.4 next to its business name, or the one with a rating of 4.7?

People know that if a business is good at producing happy customers, then they’re far more likely to be a happy customer if they do business there as well. And business owners know this as well, so it motivates them to strive harder to develop a happy customer base and get positive customer feedback.

The impact goes beyond Google Maps. If web users use Google’s search engine, in most cases Google Maps results and customer reviews are displayed there as well.

Because Google reviews are so powerful, Google does not allow anonymous reviews. It also works very hard to prevent fake reviews (people that weren’t actually customers of the business).

How to Become a Local Guide

So you’ve discovered that you like to write reviews. If so, you may want to consider signing up to become a “local guide”. Google will assign points for every review that you leave. These points give you an edge over other reviewers because a local guide “star” badge will appear next to your name. The more points on your star, the higher your local review rank.

On the Local Guide help page, Google mentions as a guide you will receive early access to new Google features, but also “special rewards from partners”.

There is no “rewards” page where you can redeem points. You simply have to wait for partner offers. While early access to things like Google storage and other perks do occur, partner offers are actually very rare.

Most of the benefit of becoming a local guide is the additional recognition that your reviews receive on Google business profiles – either on Google search results or Google Maps. People have more respect for reviews that are left by highly ranked, local guides.

To become a guide you just have to visit the sign-up page and provide your details. To get the most reward points for each of your reviews:

• Write a review that is more than 200 characters
• Include at least one photo, and add photo tags
• Include a video

There are other activities beside reviews that will give you additional points. These include:

• Answer questions posted on Google business pages
• Respond to Q&As posted by other users
• Edit and update your past reviews
• Add a place or a road to Google Maps
• Publish a list or description about a place in Google Maps

If you like the idea of making a significant impact on the quality of businesses in your local community, becoming a local guide on Google Maps is an excellent way to do that.

The post How to Leave a Google Review first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

In this step-by-step tutorial, you’ll learn the basic principles of adding background music to videos that’ll work in any video editing app. This is thanks to the fact that video editing tools all tend to manage audio tracks and background music similarly.

What Kind of Background Music Do You Want?

Before you get started with your video editing project, decide on what exactly you want your final video clip to sound like. You have several options to choose from to add music to your clip.

• Play background music over a silent video clip
• Combine background music over the background sounds on your video clip
• Combine background music with your own voiceover

Each of these scenarios requires that you pay close attention to volume controls in each track of your video project. This includes the video track sound and every audio track music or sound effect that you add.

Where to Find Good Background Music

If you’re thinking about just downloading some of the music channels on YouTube for use in your own project, think again. Most music on YouTube videos and other websites is protected by copyright and it’s illegal to reuse them on your own projects.

However, you can find a simple library of royalty-free music for your videos, but you need to be careful that the artists allow that music to be used on videos that are monetized (if you plan to make money from your videos).

The following are some other free background music sites you can use as well when you edit videos with music. But again, remember that you likely won’t be able to monetize videos where you’ve used these music tracks. If you do want to monetize, these same websites usually offer a subscription plan where you can license the tracks in their music library for use on professional or commercial projects.

• Bensound
• Pixabay Music
• Soundstripe
• Motion Array
• Silverman Sound Studios

Of course, another option is to create your own music, if you’re musically gifted enough to do so.

Now that you know where to get background music for your video project, let’s take a look at the different options you have for applying that background music to your video clip.

How to Add Background Music to a Video Clip

The following steps will work with almost any video editing software that provides you with multiple tracks for each media source you include in your project. Follow the steps below for the type of video clip you’re trying to produce.

Background Music Over a Silent Video Clip

Obviously, before you can start adding background effects like music over a video clip in a new project, you’ll need to add the video clip from your media library into the video track.

1. Drag the video file into the video track.

Before you can overlay background music on top of this clip, you’ll need to remove any distracting sounds from the video itself.

2. Options for your particular video editor may vary, but in most cases, you can right-click the video clip in the video track and select Mute Clip.

Now, with that video silenced, it’s time to add your background.

3. Import the music file that you’d like to embed in your clip into your video library (the staging area for all of your media clips).

4. Once you have the audio clip uploaded into your project library, you can click, hold, and drag that music clip into the audio track of your project.

There are a few things to remember when you’re placing the audio clip into the audio track below your video track.

• Place the start of the music clip roughly where you want the music to start in your video clip (this may not be the very beginning).
• If you want the music to fade in (rather than start at full volume), you may want to place the music clip slightly before where you want full volume music to start.
• Don’t worry about the length of the music clip, because you will be able to clip and fade out the volume wherever you want the music to stop.

Adjusting Where Music Starts, Fade-In, and Fade-Out

At this point, the music will start at full volume at the beginning of your video. You can customize the starting point and the volume of the music as well.

1. Just slide the audio clip to the point under the video clip where you’d actually like the music to start.

2. If you want to fade in the music, you’ll need to find the feature in your video editing software that lets you adjust the volume of the audio track.

Most software provides both “fade-in” and “fade-out” options for audio tracks. For the start of the audio track, select the fade-in option.

3. Scroll to the point in your video clip where you want the music to end. Find the Split feature in our video editing software to split the audio track at that point.

4. Apply the Fade-Out feature at the end of that audio track where you’ve applied the split.

5. Right-click the end of the audio clip that you don’t want anymore, and remove it.

You’ve now inserted new background music on top of your video clip, complete with fade-in at the beginning and fade-out at the end.

Combine Background Music Over Background Sounds

If you don’t want to mute your original video file, but instead place background music over the sounds in that clip, you can do so by lowering the volume of the original audio file.

Follow all of the steps in the section above, but skip the step to mute the audio file.

This will apply background music to your video clip. However, your viewers will still hear the sounds from the original audio, which won’t sound quite right. You’ll need to decide whether you want the music, or the original audio sounds to take the front stage.

Since you’re applying background music, you’ll want to keep the original video file volume high but lower the volume of the background music.

Select the audio track. Using the audio volume controls in your video editing software, lower the audio track volume very low.

Now, the original audio in your video track will be louder than the background music you’ve inserted. This creates a beautiful effect where viewers can hear the music you’ve inserted accenting the action in the video itself, without overpowering the entire video.

Combine Background Music With Your Own Voiceover

What if you also want to include voiceover audio in the foreground, and send both the original audio sound and background music into the background?

1. First, use the track audio controls to lower the volume on both the audio track and the background music track to as low as possible. Use the preview feature to test volumes and make sure each track is at the volume you’d like them to be.

2. Import your voiceover recording into the video editing library. Then, move this recording into the next available audio track.

For this to work, your video editing software will need to allow at least two audio tracks in addition to the original video clip (most do).

Place the voice recording where you’d like it to start in the video clip, and then adjust the volume using the track volume controls to your liking.

Now, with the audio track and background music volume set below the voiceover recording, your voiceover will be center stage, while the other audio tracks simply accent that voiceover.

Adding Background Music Is Easy

So long as you pay close attention to the volume and starting position of each audio track that you add to your video clip, it’s fairly straightforward to add nice background music to your video clip.

Share your own experiences and any tips you may have from your own video editing projects, and help other readers enhance their video clips with background music.

The post How to Add Background Music to a Video Clip first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

You can see all music that your friends are listening to on the Spotify desktop app, as well as the Spotify mobile app. In this article, you’ll learn how to disable or enable the Friends Activity pane on the right side, and how to find and add new friends to follow. We’ll also cover how to hide your own listening activity if you don’t want friends to see what you’re listening to on Spotify.

How to See or Disable Friends Activity on Spotify

The easiest way to control whether or not you can see your friends’ activity on Spotify is from the desktop app. Spotify is available on desktop platforms including Windows, Mac, Linux, and Chromebook.

Normally, the Friend activity sidebar in the app is enabled by default when you first open Spotify.

This is where you can see what all of the friends you follow on Spotify listen to.

If you have no interest in seeing the Friends Activity pane, you can disable it. To do this, select the three dots at the upper left of the Spotify desktop app, select View from the menu, and select Friend Activity to disable it. You’ll see the checkmark disappear once this feature is disabled.

Once you’ve disabled Friend Activity, you’ll see the right pane with your friends’ current Spotify activity disappear from the main page.

There is no Friends Activity pane on the Spotify mobile app, so you don’t have to worry about disabling this feature there.

However, the mobile app does provide your own Spotify activity to the Friends Activity feed for people who are following you on Spotify. You’ll learn how to disable this and protect your privacy below. You’ll also discover how to view your Friends’ Spotify activities using alternative Spotify apps.

How to Hide Your Listening Activity on Spotify

If you don’t want to share your own listening activity with friends on Spotify, there are several ways to disable that. You can do this from either the desktop app or the mobile app.

On the Spotify desktop app, select your profile image and select Settings from the dropdown menu. On the Settings page, scroll down to the Social section. Disable the toggle to the right of Share my listening activity on Spotify. This will disable the ability for your friends to see what you’re listening to on Spotify.

If you don’t want to permanently disable this feature, but instead disable it for just one of your listening sessions, you can do that too.

To do this, select the three dots at the upper left of the main window, select File, and select Private Session.

This launches a new listening session on Spotify. Everything you listen to on Spotify will be private. Any friends that are following you on Spotify won’t see any of your activity while this mode is active.

You’ll see that this mode is active by the blue lock icon that appears at the top of the windows app.

Repeat the process above and select Private Session again to disable this mode and make all of your Spotify activity visible to your friends again.

If you want to know which friends are following you, select your Profile icon and select Profile from the dropdown menu. Scroll down to the Followers section to see the list of friends who are following you on Spotify.

Hide Your Spotify Activity on the Spotify Mobile App

You can use the Spotify mobile app on your Android or iPhone to make your Spotify activity private as well.

To do this, tap the gear icon at the top-right corner of the main app screen. This will take you to the Settings window.

Scroll down to the Social section and enable the toggle to the right of the Private session options.

This will switch your Spotify app into a private listening mode where anything you listen to won’t be shared with all of the friends who are following you on Spotify. You won’t see any indication in the app that the private listening mode is active, so don’t forget to disable it when you’re done!

Why might someone need to temporarily enable a private session?

• Listen to podcast topics that you don’t want friends or family to know you’re interested in.
• Maybe your friends would be surprised or judgemental that you like a certain genre of music.
• You don’t want the day’s listening patterns to influence the music that Spotify suggests to you later.

Whatever your reason for doing it, both the desktop and mobile versions of the Spotify app let you enable a private session.

How to See More Friends’ Activity on Spotify

If you want to expand the circle of friends you follow on Spotify, you can do this on the desktop Spotify app. With your Friend Activity panel enabled, select the small profile icon with a plus sign on it at the upper right corner of the window.

This will open a new pane that lists all of the friends you have on Facebook who also have a Spotify account. You can search for one of your friends using the filter field.

To follow that Facebook friend, just select the small profile image to the right of their name. You’ll then see that friend (and their listening activity) in the Friend Activity pane.

Don’t have a Facebook account or is a friend you want to follow not on Facebook? That’s okay, you can still follow your friends on Spotify without Facebook. The only requirement is that your friend must use Spotify.

All you have to do is ask that friend what their Spotify user name is. Repeat the process above to open the search field and type spotify:user:username in the search box, replacing “username” with your friend’s user name. Make sure it’s all in lower-case.

Note: If you’re viewing a public playlist created by a friend, you can find their username at the top of the main playlist page.

How to See Your Friends’ Spotify Activity on Mobile

You may have noticed that there’s no friend activity feature on the Android or iOS Spotify mobile app. That doesn’t mean that you can’t see their activity on your smartphone, but you will need to install a different app.

Open Google Play or the Apple Store and search for “spotify friends activity”. You’ll see a number of apps that can see what your friends are playing on Spotify.

Install one of these (choose one with the best review rating) and provide it with permissions to access your Spotify account when prompted.

You may also need to give it access to your Facebook account – so be careful only to install highly-rated apps with a large user base.

Enjoying Spotify with Friends Is Fun

Listening to music on Spotify is enjoyable, but there’s something special about adding the social aspect to music streaming. You can discover new music or bands your friends may listen to that you’ve never heard of. And if you know you have the same musical tastes as specific friends, those friends can be a great source of inspiration for what you should listen to next.

Do you follow your friends on Spotify? Share what you like or don’t like about this feature in the comments below.

The post How to See Your Friends Activity on Spotify first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

In some cases “gigs” are one-time jobs you can perform for a fee, or a regular stream of work you can do every week or month.

In this article, we’ll cover the most common ways people currently make money online. The choice really comes down to what your skill set is, and how much time you have available to invest into this new job market.

Making Money Online for Beginners

Why is any method of making money online for “beginners”?  

• Low or no startup costs
• Requires few special skills
• Does not include complicated work processes
• Doesn’t require much past experience

If this sounds like something you might want to try, then read on to learn nine potential side hustles you can use to make money online.

1. Taking Surveys: Low Effort for Small Rewards

If you enjoy sharing your opinions and influencing how companies or even governments make decisions, you will probably like taking online surveys.

Online survey companies poll people from all across the world on a number of topics and issues. Sometimes these surveys are performed for companies who want to do market research before creating or trying to sell products. In other cases government organizations may turn to survey companies to “check the pulse” of the public on specific topics.

In return for taking surveys, the survey companies will pay you. In most cases, payment is in the form of a gift card. But in other cases it could be a straight payment via PayPal. It’s a great way to make a little extra money. 

Once you start taking surveys, you’ll realize quickly that it isn’t a huge money-maker. For example, a typical payout at Ipsos ISay is 2500 points for a $25 gift card. Considering a 30-minute survey may provide 125 points, you’d have to take twenty 30-minute surveys to get that $25. That’s basically earning $2.50 an hour. 

So do surveys as a fun pastime, not only for the money. 

2. Writing and Blogging: For Writers

If you are a good writer, you can certainly make money by writing for websites. The Problogger Job Board is a great place to start looking for these types of opportunities. However, you can even find website owners hiring on places like Craigslist or even Indeed and similar job websites. 

If you have not published online work yet, expect to work at first for as little as $10 to $25 for a 1000-word article. However, once you have a good portfolio of online work proving the quality of your writing, start applying to larger websites and provide links to your articles as proof of your work quality. Experienced online freelance writers can expect to earn from $100 to $200 per 1000-word article.

3. Become an Amazon Mechanical Turk Worker

One of the easiest ways to make money online for beginners is by signing up as an Amazon Mechanical Turk worker. 

What work is available on Amazon Mechanical Turk? You could get jobs identifying objects in photos, scanning business listings or catalogs for duplicate content or other errors, data entry, transcribing audio, and much more. 

To get started:

1. Visit the link above and select the Get Started with Amazon Mechanical Turk button. 
2. Select Request a Worker account on the next page.

Fill out the application process and once it’s accepted you can sign up for the type of work you’d like to do and set your prices. Then start browsing available jobs or getting offers for work.

4. Sell Things on eBay, Poshmark, or Etsy

While it isn’t the easiest way to make money online, there are in fact lots of profits to be made by selling on sites like eBay, Poshmark, or Etsy. There are also lots of other online marketplaces to sell on.

This option for making money online works best if you:

• You have sources of low cost goods to sell like local auctions or thrift stores.
• Have a place in your home where you can package up items.
• Have access to a local post office that’s easy to get to.
• Time available to spend listing and describing items.

Depending how much time you can invest, this online business has a lot of potential to make a great deal of money just by selling things online. Some people even do it as a full-time job.

5. Test Websites or Apps

Another way to drive decisions made by companies is by giving them feedback on their websites or apps. Companies depend on services like UserTesting.com to gather user feedback. 

You can quickly apply by taking a practice test. Once approved, you’ll need to answer some questions to screen what tests match your interests and skills. Finally, work through the tests and get paid for your time. UserTesting pays $4 for 5-minute tests, $10 for 20-minute tests, and $30 to $120 for tests that include interviews with clients.  

6. Sell Photography

If you’re a good photographer, there are lots of opportunities to make money online using your talents. 

For example, on Shutterstock, all you need to do is sign up and start submitting your content. If and when your photos get purchased by users, you make money. It’s a great source of passive income.

The better your work, the more likely your photos will be purchased. You aren’t limited to only Shutterstock either. There are lots of places online where you can sell your photos. So don’t limit yourself to only one or two!

7. Buy and Sell Event Tickets 

One method you can use to make money online is an approach that not many people consider. Making money buying and selling anything comes down to supply and demand. Years ago, ticket “scalpers” took advantage of this concept by buying event tickets cheaply the first day they were available, then waiting until the event and selling the tickets outside the gates at cutthroat prices.

Today, “scalpers” are referred to more legitimately as “resellers”. And all it takes to be a ticket reseller is a little bit of cash for tickets, and patience. 

Once you buy tickets, you can either resell them on Ticketmaster or StubHub. StubHub is a well-known marketplace for reselling tickets and it’s the place where you can make a fortune if you can stomach overcharging people for being too lazy to buy tickets when they’re first available!

8. Rent Your Space on Airbnb

Do you own a large house with extra rooms? Maybe you have a cabin somewhere that you only use a few times a year and most of the time it’s vacant. Turn your spaces into cash by listing it as available for rent on Airbnb. 

Lots of people are making a significant amount of income on Airbnb, and all it requires is owning a place that people would be interested in staying at.

There are a few important things to keep in mind before you try to make money online in this way.

• Set up the space with a smart lock so that people can check themselves in.
• Be prepared to have a plan for cleaning the space in between guest stays.
• Be available to answer questions and respond to any needs your guests may have during their stay.
• Set up the room with conveniences like a microwave, toaster oven, refrigerator, and necessities like coffee and snacks.

Don’t take renting on Airbnb lightly or you could end up with a poor rating and few guests.

9. Be an Online Tutor

There are many students all around the world who are struggling with learning concepts in whatever class they may be taking. There are also many people who’ve taken those classes successfully and have the knowledge that it takes to help those students succeed.

If you have expertise in any subject matter, whether that’s algebra, biology, geometry, or anything else, you could make good money by tutoring students online.

A site like Tutor.com helps link students with tutors. You can apply there to become a tutor. If your application is accepted, you could end up with your very own list of student clients and a solid source of online income.

The post How to Make Money Online for Beginners first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

The DoorDash DashPass offering could potentially save you a lot of money. It’s a subscription service where you pay a fixed fee each month. In return, you get to avoid delivery fees (yes, basically free delivery) and reduced service fees. If you use DoorDash a lot, the amount DashPass subscribers can save is significant.

What Is DashPass: Cost and Limitations

You can subscribe to DashPass at any time. Once you choose to do so, DoorDash will charge your credit card $9.99 a month, whether or not you ever order anything on the service.

However, after you subscribe and start ordering food, you’ll see how quickly DoorDash DashPass members can make up the difference and come out ahead.

In the example order below, regular fees would have been:

• $3.99 delivery fee
• $8.51 fees & estimated tax
• Total: $12.50

With a DoorPass subscription, the DashPass benefits reduce the costs as follows:

• $0.00 delivery fee
• $5.04 fees & estimated tax
• Total: $5.04

Basically, on this one order all you’re really paying is sales tax and whatever tip you would like to give to your dasher. In a single order, you’ll have already saved about half of the monthly subscription fee thanks to the DashPass perks..

There are a few important limitations to keep in mind before you decide to sign up for the DoorPass service.

• The restaurant you’re ordering from needs to accept DoorPass (most do).
• You need to order at least $12 of food or $25 worth of groceries to get the discounts.
• You’ll need to order from DoorDash at least three times per month to get your fee back in savings.

You can also reduce the cost of DoorPass by paying for the subscription annually, which drops the cost to only $8 per month (saving you $1.99/mo).

How to Use DashPass and Save More Money

If you use DoorDash a lot, subscribing to DashPass is a no-brainer. Paying a monthly fee up-front will help you save a lot of money. After the second or third order, you’ve already recovered your monthly fee and it’s all savings at that point.

You can use DashPass from different areas on the DoorDash website or the DoorDash app. The easiest way to filter on only local restaurants that accept DashPass is to select the DashPass filter at the top of the listing page.

This will display only restaurants that let you avoid delivery fees. Alternatively, you can just scroll down the regular listing page and identify eligible restaurants by the small DashPass icon next to the restaurant name.

Using DashPass doesn’t mean you don’t also get to take advantage of other savings on DoorDash. If you think about it, cutting your delivery fees plus saving in other ways will help you recover your monthly DashPass fee even faster.

One way to look for additional savings is by selecting the DashPass menu and selecting Offers.

In the submenu at the top of the listing, select Offer Type and choose the Discount option. Doing this is important because you already get no delivery fees with the DashPass membership.

Additional promo discount offers on DoorDash sometimes amount to up to 20% off the overall price of the order. This is on top of the delivery fee savings you already get with your DashPass subscription.

As mentioned earlier, you can save an additional $1.99 a month by taking advantage of the Annual Plan. To do this, select the DoorDash menu and then select Manage DashPass. 

This will take you to your DashPass subscription plan. Select the Learn more link under the Annual Plan section. 

Then, just follow the instructions to upgrade to the annual plan and reduce your monthly cost for DashPass.

Other DashPass Considerations

There are a few additional things to keep in mind when you’re using your DashPass membership. 

Each time you order, just review the Subtotal numbers to keep an eye on the savings that you’re getting with each order. You’ll see a reduction of the DoorDash Delivery Fee (down to $0.00) and Fees & Estimated Tax depending on the order.

One word of advice: Just because you’re saving so much money on each eligible order, thanks to your subscription, that doesn’t mean you should scrimp on your Dasher Tip.

Dasher’s work hard, and they are doing this work on the side to better support their families. Tips go entirely to dashers, so don’t reduce the tip just to save more money. In fact, since you’re saving some money on each order, why not share a dollar or two of that savings by bumping up the tip a little more than you normally would?

Is DashPass Worth It?

Does DashPass actually save money? If you’re still trying to work out whether or not you should sign up with DashPass, the math is actually pretty simple.

If you only use DoorDash once or twice a month to order food, then you really have no need for a DashPass subscription. You most likely will end up spending more money each month than it’s worth. However, if you find yourself ordering from DoorDash three or more times a month – even just once a week – you will save money by subscribing to DashPass. If you don’t like it, you can cancel DashPass at any time (unless you signed up for the annual membership).

The savings on just two orders will make up for the cost of the subscription, and then every order after that is pure savings. So if this is you, get DashPass today and get free delivery on all your takeout! And there’s no limit. You get unlimited free deliveries every month.

By the way, the GrubHub and Uber Eats food delivery services also offer free delivery membership if you also use those services a lot.

The post What Is DashPass and Is It Worth It? first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

However, there are times when the app may say that the Philips Hue lights are unreachable. What causes this issue, and what can you do about it? In this article, you’ll learn the most common causes of this problem and how you can fix it and get your Philips Hue light bulbs connected to your overall smart home again.

1. Is Your Mobile Device On the Same Wi-Fi Network?

The most common issue when your Philips Hue lights are unreachable by the Philips Hue app is that your mobile device isn’t on the same network as the Philips Hue hub.

You can check this on your mobile device in a few ways. The first thing to check is that you actually have Wi-Fi enabled on your mobile device. On Android, you can quickly check this by swiping down on the home screen and checking that the Wi-Fi icon is enabled. On iPhone, just check the status bar at the top of the screen for the Wi-Fi icon.

If it is enabled, but Philips Hue lights are still unreachable, you’ll have to dig a little deeper. On Android, open your device Settings menu, select Connections, and look at the network name under Wi-Fi near the selector. On iPhone, choose Settings > Wi-Fi from your home screen. You should see a blue tick next to the name of the network you’re connected to.

If this network name doesn’t match the network connected to your Philips Hue bridge when you first set it up, you’ll need to change your mobile device network to that one before you can control the Philips Hue lights.

2. Make Sure the Philips Hue Lights are Powered On

This may seem like common sense, but you might be surprised how often forgetting a light switch is off leads to Philips Hue lights becoming unreachable by the app. 

Ensure the switches that control the correct Philips Hue bulbs are turned on. And if you’re using a dimmer switch to control the lights, make sure the switch is on, otherwise the lights may not work. Or you can purchase the Hue dimmer switch accessory if you want that feature.

3. Double-Check Philips Hue Bridge Connections

If you know that your mobile device is connected to the same network as your Philips Hue bridge, then the bridge itself is the next thing to check. 

First, trace each of the cables from the back of your Philips Hue bridge and make sure they’re correctly connected.

• The power cord should go to a nearby outlet, and you should be using the original factory power adapter supplied by Philips.
• The ethernet cable from the ethernet port should go into one of the numbered LAN ports on the back of your router. Make sure it isn’t accidentally plugged into the incoming internet port (usually labeled with a globe icon).

If you’ve confirmed everything is wired up correctly, the next thing to check is that the Philips Hue bridge is correctly connected to the network by checking the connection status in the Philips Hue app. 

Launch the app and select Settings at the lower right corner.

This will open the Settings window, where you’ll see all installed bridges listed under Hue Bridges. The status here should be green and Active. Select Hue Bridges and you’ll see the network connection information listed on the next window. This includes the connection status and its network IP address.

If you don’t see a green Connected status or no IP address listed, your Philips Hue bridge could be having a network connection issue. Try the following troubleshooting tips if that’s the case.

• Unplug the power from the Philips Hue bridge, wait a few seconds, and then plug it back in.
• Swap out the ethernet cable connecting the bridge to the router since this cable could be faulty.
• Reset the bridge by turning it over and using a pointed tool to press and hold the reset button for 5 seconds. This button is next to the label restore factory settings. 

If you do have to reset the bridge, you’ll need to go through the setup process again that you walked through when you first installed it.

4. Are the Philips Hue Lights Added to the Correct Room?

If you’ve set up multiple rooms in your Philips Hue app or enabling the switch for a room isn’t turning on the lights, there could be an issue with how you’ve added lights to each room in the app.

To check this, from the main app screen tap the room that you want to check. You should see every Philips Hue listed that you’ve installed and want to control in that room. If you don’t see one of those lights there, you’ll need to add it (usually, this involves moving it from a different room you may have accidentally assigned it to.

To do this, just tap the three dots at the top right corner of the screen in the Room window, and select Edit Room.

The last thing to check is that even if all of your lights are listed in the correct room, one of them could be disabled or turned off individually. You’ll see this if the switch is to the left and the light icon displays as a dark icon.

5. Reboot Your Wi-Fi Router

One thing that most commonly fixes connection issues, both on internal networks and the internet connection itself, is restarting your Wi-Fi router.

To do this, just follow the steps below.

1. Unplug your router’s power plug.
2. Wait at least 30 seconds.
3. Plug the router’s power cable back in.
4. Wait for all router lights to come back in their normal solid or green blinking state.

Once you’ve restarted your router, try connecting to the Philips Hue lights again.

6. Make Sure Your Router Isn’t Blocking the Hue Bridge

While it’s unlikely, there could be a setting in your router that changed and is blocking the Philips Hue bridge connection to the network.

Devices typically aren’t blocked by default, so someone would have had to set this up to cause a problem. But it’s a good idea to confirm that the bridge is at least connected to the router without any problems.

To do this, connect to your default gateway IP (this is usually 129.168.1.1 or 10.0.0.1, but you can check this by typing the ipconfig command into the Command Prompt).

Log into your router as an administrator, and under the network connections menu (this varies from router to router), find the Devices option.

You should see all connected devices and their connection type. Since it’s likely that the Philips Hue bridge is one of the few devices connected via ethernet, you should see it listed with that connection type. 

The last four digits of the Device name will match the serial number on the back of your Philips Hue bridge.

Ensure this device isn’t blocked by checking Service Blocking or Device Blocking under Parental Controls (again, this may vary between routers).

Usually, this list will be blank. If you do see the Philips Hue bridge listed here, just remove it from the list.

It also can’t hurt to check that the router’s ethernet port properly detects a connected device. Check the Ethernet menu option in the router and look for anything other than Disconnected for the port number the Hue bridge is connected to.

<<4-ethernet-port.jpg>>

If the status is Disconnected, try switching your Philips Hue bridge to a different router ethernet port to see if that fixes this issue with your Philips Hue lights being unreachable. If you had to fix any of these settings, it’s likely your Philips Hue lights will reconnect.

7. Test a Replacement Philips Hue Bulb

Whether all of your bulbs aren’t connected, or it’s just a single bulb with a problem, it can’t hurt to purchase a single Philips Hue smart light to test if installing it fixes the problem.

If all of your lights aren’t working and a new light fixes one of them, maybe you’ll need to replace all bulbs as well.

Hopefully the troubleshooting tips above have helped you get reconnected with your smart lights!

The post Philips Hue Lights Unreachable? 7 Things to Try first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

Even if you’re a fan of the titans of horror like Stephen King, Clive Barker, or Anne Rice, it is possible to find tales of fear outside of the bookstore. These could be stories written by well-known authors and available as a free eBook, or tales told by little-known online writers who have unique writing skills.

The following are 9 of the best websites with scary short stories that you can read online right now. 

9 Websites with Scary Short Stories

If you’re ever in the mood for a scary story, you may not have time to run to the library or bookstore. Sure, you could download an eBook from Amazon or purchase an audiobook on Audible. But why add that expense when you can use the sites below to read a spooky tale for free?

1. Creepypasta

No list of sites where you can read creepy short stories would be complete without listing Creepypasta at the top. This site is filled with reader-submitted stories. These include fictional tales about hauntings, ghosts, possessions, and more. Sometimes they are told in the first person, but rest assured that the site owners only accept fictional stories.

You can use the Creepypasta Stories menu to browse stories by category, length, author, rating, and more. For the best stories, use either the Top Ranked or Famous Creepypasta menu items. 

If you’d like to submit your own story, make sure to visit the submissions page (select Submissions from the menu). Follow the editorial guidelines and you could have your own story featured on the site!

2. Scary for Kids

Scary for Kids is a website that features a wide range of scary content, geared toward kids. Content on the site includes scary pictures, videos, games, movies, and stories.

Select Scary Stories from the menu to access the area of the site where all of those stories are collected. On that page you can browse scary stories by categories like Halloween stories, urban legends, ghost stories, and more. 

Since this site is for kids, expect spooky stories, but nothing that’s too gory or disturbing for younger children (or for easily scared adults).

3. The Darkest Blog

The Darkest Blog takes horror short stories seriously. The owner of the site urges visitors to send in their scariest stories, true or fictional. The menu offers special categories like witch stories, ghost stories, “dud” tales (mind-bending), or creepy stories about dreaming.

The site design is somewhat outdated and plain, but that’s not why you’re there is it? You’re there to be spooked! 

The stories here are very good. You may spot a grammar error here and there since most of these are written by first-time authors without an editor. However, those don’t take away from the scary nature of the stories themselves.

4. Oldstyle Tales Press

The focus of Oldstyle Tales Press is to publish critical essays about all classic horror authors like Edgar Allen Poe and H.P. Lovecraft. If you are a big fan of classic literature, browsing these critical essays is actually very interesting. However, the site also publishes “The Yellow Book”, a journal of horror and ghost stories written by modern authors. You can read the journals in PDF format for free. Access these in the Originals section.

The first journal was published in 2014 and the last in 2017. There are no new journals, but that means there are four years’ worth of some of the best horror stories for you to read for free!

5. Haunted Places

Hauntu is a website run by the owners of Colle Eastern Hotel in Malaysia. They run a “real haunted house experience”, complete with actors, special effects, and more. Visit the blog section of the site to read a wide range of stories about haunted places around the world (not only in Malaysia!)

6. Reedsy Prompts

If the small collection of scary stories at other sites just isn’t cutting it for you, then you’ll love the endless supply of them available at Reedsy Prompts. This website runs a weekly writing contest, where writers submit their stories to win the top prize of $250 (or more) and get featured on the site.

Ready for the largest collection of scary stories anywhere? Select Stories from the top menu and the Horror category from the left menu. There, you will find a very long list (175 pages worth) of the award winning horror short stories. Since these are the authors who won the top prize, you can be sure that the writing will be top quality and the stories will be truly horrifying.

7. Housecreep

Housecreep is a creative way to find stories to freak yourself out. These aren’t fictional horror stories authored by some online writer. No, these are actual horror stories that took place in your own backyard.

Just type the name of your town or city in the search bar and you’ll see a list of the properties nearest to you where the site has a record of a terrible crime (usually murder) that happened there.

These are all very short tales (usually a single paragraph), but the events they detail are no less terrifying because they actually happened.

8. Medium Ghost Tales

You may already know that Medium features a very wide range of content written by online writers. Since there’s so much published there, it makes sense that there would be large categories of stories. There are so many horror stories there, in fact, that Medium created several “collections” that fit the bill.

Visit the Medium Collections page, and you’ll find collections of stories covering strange spiritual stories (Radical Spirits), Monsters, Near-Death Experiences, and evil (Damned Souls). Browse these collections to get your scary story fix, or just use the Medium search field to find scary stories on Medium outside of these collections.

9. Wattpad

Wattpad is both a mobile app and a website. It’s a community of writers who all actively write new stories and comment on the stories of others.

And when I say “comment”, I mean it. Readers are able to comment on every single paragraph in each story – which on their own can make for some very interesting (and sometimes comical) reading.

Wattpad has an entire “horror” tag where you’ll find all of the horror stories contributors have published. Not all of them are great writing, but you can find some really good horror stories here. Look for those that are or were featured as paid content before transitioning to free.

Get Your Scary Fix

Fans of horror stories don’t always have the easiest time finding entertainment. There are only so many horror movies and TV shows you can stream. Eventually, you’re going to run out. Finding scary stories to read online is a great alternative that can keep you creeped out on those long, dark, rainy nights when you’re looking for something spooky to do.

The post 9 Websites with Scary Stories to Read Online first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

Philips Hue smart lights come in many varieties. Starter kits are the best value, with four white bulbs and the Hue bridge starting at $59.99, or four white and colored lights with the Hue bridge starting at $199.99. You can also purchase other Hue products like smart lightstrips from the Philips website or buy them from Amazon.

Whichever product you start with, the installation and setup process is roughly the same. You’ll need to install the new Hue smart light bulbs, physically connect the bridge to your router, set up Philips Hue software on your Android or iPhone and/or your computer, and configure the smart bulbs. In this guide, we’ll step you through the entire process.

Connect Philips Hue Lights Hardware

Before you can set up the Philips Hue apps and start controlling the new lights via your Wi-Fi network, you’ll need to connect the Hue system, including the Philips Hue Bridge and the Philips Hue light bulbs.

The first thing you’ll want to do is take the bulbs from the box and install them into the light fixtures where you’d like to use them.

Once installed, turn on the light switch to power the bulbs. Keep in mind that if your lighting system is controlled by a dimmer switch, you’ll need to place the dimmer in the full on position for the lights to work properly.

The Philips Hue bulbs may or may not light up immediately, but you don’t have to worry about that right now.

Remove the Philips Hue bridge from the box and place it next to your internet router. There are two connections on the back of the bridge, the power port, and the ethernet port.

Plug the included power adapter into the power port and install the plug into an outlet or power strip. 

Second, install one end of the included ethernet cable into the LAN port of the bridge, and plug the other end into an available LAN port on the back of your internet router.

Make sure to install it into one of the numbered LAN ports, not in the internet port (usually, this has a globe icon to identify it). That port is your main internet connection coming from your cable, fiber, or DSL modem.

The Philips Hue bridge should now have all lights active in a dark or light blue color. If any of these are not lit up or a different color, unplug the bridge and plug it back in again.

With both your Philips Hue bulbs and Philips Hue bridge powered up, and the bridge connected to your home internet, you’re ready to install the apps and start using your smart lights.

Setting Up the Philips Hue App

You can download the Philips Hue app for Android from the Google Play Store or for iOS from the Apple app store.

When you first launch the Philips Hue app, you’ll need to add your lights to a “room” in your house. A room, in the app, is a designated area of your home where the lights are installed.

To do this, select the three dots at the top right corner of the app window, and select Add lights.

When you tap that, it’ll open the Add lights wizard. You can either add lights by typing in the serial number from each bulb or using the Search button. 

The Search button enables the bridge to scan your local area for the presence of the bulbs and automatically identify them. If the bridge can locate the bulbs (maybe because they’re too far away from the Philips Hue bridge, just add them by serial number instead.

Once you’ve added the bulbs, you’ll need to add a new room to the app. To do this, select the three dots at the top right corner again, and this time select Add new Room or Zone.

This will open a new wizard for this. Select Room, and on the next screen you can select the type or room you’re adding, like Living Room or Office. On the final page, you’ll need to select the lights you want to assign to that room.

Once you select Done, your Philips Hue app is set up, and you’re ready to start controlling your Philips Hue lights!

Using the Philips Hue App

Now, whenever you open the Hue app on your mobile device, you’ll see the rooms available to control. When you select a room, you can control individual bulbs (brightness or color) or select a “scene”, which is a pre-programmed color combination that sets a certain mood or ambiance in the room.

You can also use the single switch at the top of the Room window to control all of the bulbs assigned to that room at once.

There are several additional very cool features and functionality available in the Philips Hue app.

• Automations: Choose from creative ways to automate your lights, like turning them on or off to a timer or having them turn on or off when you arrive or leave home.
• Entertainment Areas: Assign specific bulbs to entertainment “areas” in a room in your house so that you can sync them with media or music playing in that room via your computer (see below).
• Voice Assistants: Connect with Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa so that you can control your lights via voice command. This also lets you control your lights via the Assistant app, your Google Home app, the Amazon Alexa app, or your Amazon Echo.
• Widgets: Customize a widget for your mobile device’s home screen. Before this works in the app, you’ll need to long-press the home screen and add the Philips Hue widget from there. Then, go back to the app to customize it. 

How to Sync Philips Hue Lights With In-Room Media

There are three ways that you can have your lights automatically change color to match movies, music, or other media you’re enjoying in that room.

• Connect the app with your Spotify account.
• Purchase the Philips Hue Play HDMI sync box. 
• Download and install the Philips Hue Sync software for Windows or Mac.

For the most control at the lowest cost, the Philips Hue Sync desktop app is the way to go.

So long as you’ve created Entertainment Areas with the Philips Hue mobile app, you’ll see those listed in the desktop Philips Hue Sync application.

Before you can do this though, you’ll need to select Settings and then select Philips hue from the left menu. Select Connect new bridge if you haven’t connected the app to your bridge yet.

You can also select Entertainment areas from the left menu to see what areas are available for you to control.

Select General preferences from the left menu to configure exactly how syncing behaves when launching the app. 

You can configure:

• Whether the Sync program starts on system startup
• Start Syncing automatically with media you play whenever the Sync app launches
• Enable “background” lighting, which will ensure you’re never left in the dark even if the movie you’re watching goes completely black.

When you’re ready to watch the media and have your lights sync with it, just select the Start light sync button at the bottom and enjoy the immersive show!

The post How to Connect Philips Hue Lights first appeared on Online Tech Tips.