Use custom fonts with Over for iOS

With Over you can place text over a photo. The app has several free fonts, but it also allows you to import your own font to the app.

Over was recently one of the apps offered by Apple for free as part of its celebration of the App Store's fifth anniversary.

The simple app helps add some creativity to photos by overlaying text or artwork onto your personal photos. You're able to customize your artwork by changing the color and fonts used. Built into the app is a long list of free fonts,

along with many more fonts you can purchase in-app.

Recently added to the app was the ability to import any font you currently own in. All you'll need is the TTF or OTF file for the font (the app can't open a ZIP file).

Once you have the file and are sure you have the rights to use it as you see fit, you can get it to your device by e-mailing it to yourself, or via Dropbox.

I downloaded Google's Roboto font, which is coincidentally available as a purchased font from Over for 99 cents, and placed it in a Dropbox folder. 

Don't give up when you see this image. Just tap on the download button to add your font to Over.

Using Dropbox to access the font files, you'll receive an error message stating Dropbox can't view the file. That's OK, just tap on the download icon in the lower-right corner of the screen and you'll be presented with the option to open it in Over.

When e-mailing a font file to yourself, you simply need to wait for it to download and then tap on the attachment. From there you'll be able to open the font in Over.

Once the import process is complete, Over will alert you and you'll then see the font listed at the top of the font list. You can now use it as you would any other font within the app.

Currently there's no method to delete installed fonts, but the Over team has indicated it's in the works and will be coming in a future updated.

How to Open iTunes Links inside Chrome for iOS

Google Chrome is a good alternative to the default Safari web browser on iOS devices but there’s one little problem – Chrome doesn’t know how to properly handle iTunes URLs.

For instance, if you happen to click a link that points to an iPhone app, Chrome will show the HTML source of the itunes.apple.com page instead of opening the iTunes Apps Store (app). Here’s a screenshot image of Google Chrome running on an iPad and the gibberish text is actually the iTunes store listing for a popular iOS game. You shouldn’t be seeing this.

There are two ways to fix this problem.

You can copy the itunes.apple.com URL from Chrome’s address bar, switch to Safari and paste the URL in a new tab. Safari will automatically launch the app’s page inside the Apps Store.

There’s an easier option as well. While in Chrome, tap the Hamburger menu button in the upper right and choose the “Request Desktop Site” option. Chrome will now render the regular itunes page – similar to the ones you see on desktop computers – and you can tap the “View in iTunes” button to open that app inside the Apps Store.

You may use a similar workaround for opening movies and music album listings inside the iTunes app from the Google Chrome browser.

How to move your Astrid data to Wunderlist

Now that the end of Astrid is official, it's time to find a new home for your lists and notes. Here's how to migrate your data to

Wunderlist, one of the best alternatives to Astrid.

Wunderlist, a replacement task management app for Astrid.

Although Wunderlist doesn't look much like Astrid, it does offer a lot of similar features. You can make notes on tasks, create lists with check boxes, and even set reminders. And to save you time updating your list from only one device, Wunderlist is available for Android, iPhone, iPad,Mac, Windows, and the Web. Here's the quick steps for relocating your Astrid data:Astrid sent out an e-mail newsletter stating that its service will come to a close on August 5, 2013. Whether it's to-do lists, movies you want to see, or the details of a project, you'll probably want to save them before the service shuts down. Luckily, Astrid has teamed up with several other project management companies to make the transition simple. One such company is 6Wunderkinder, the creators of Wunderlist.

Open Astrid.Wunderlist.com in your Web browser and click the Let's Get Started button.

Unfortunately, most of the services that Astrid suggests in its farewell e-mail do not import directly through their respective apps (at the time of this post). Any.Do is an exception, allowing you to import through the settings menu.

You can log in to Astrid with Facebook if you connected it to your account, or with a standard e-mail and password.

Wunderlist will then display the number of lists and to-dos that are still on your Astrid account. Click Next step.

You will need to either sign up for a Wunderlist account, or enter the credentials for an existing one. After logging in, click the Import my Lists Now button. When the import to Wunderlist is complete, you'll receive a notification e-mail.

How to set your Vine account to private

Keep your personal videos to yourself with the latest update to Vine.

One of the biggest features missing from Vine since its launch has been the ability to mark an account as private. Twitter's video sharing service, from day one, has been an all public affair, with no way for users to easily share a Vine privately.

Today Vine announced it was updating its iOS and Android apps, finally bringing a level of privacy to the short video social network.

The iOS version also includes a long list of other notable features, which make for a notable answer to Instagram's new video feature rolled out last month.

In order to set your Vine account to private you'll need to download the latest version for your iPhone or Android device. Once installed iOS will need to go to view profile and then tap the on Settings button. Android users can tap on the menu button in the top-right corner and select Settings. From here tap on "Your Content."

You can then enable account privacy by moving the "Posts are protected" switch to the on position. And, should you find your posts containing sensitive material that might be offensive to some, you may as well turn the sensitive posts switch on while you're here.

Now that your Vine account is private, the only people who will be able to view your posts are your followers on Vine. Of course, if you decide to push a video to Twitter or Facebook, those friends will also be able to view your 6-second clip.

Record silent Instagram videos

The severed end of a TRRS headset cable.

Well, that trick did work for the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 I had handy, and it may work for other Android devices as well. It did not, however, work with my iPhone.

It turns out that Apple hardware requires a specific resistance in the headphone components in order for the device to sanction the connected headset. By cutting out the mic from the cable (as well as the surrounding circuit board of tiny resistors and diodes), I stripped out the very thing I needed for the trick to work. My iPhone knew I was up to no good and it resorted to using its internal microphone instead.

Not one to give up easily, I tried a number of different TRRS jack adapters, such as the weird USB charging adapter from the iPod Shuffle, and even a VGA A/V cord. No dice.

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Finally, I hit on a solution. I have at my desk a guitar cable adapter made for iOS devices called AmpliTube iRig. The adapter runs around $40 new and comes with a great app for playing and recording your guitar. But assuming you're just using this to disable your iPhone's internal mic,inexpensive alternatives can be found for around $10 (though I make no guarantees on their compatibility). Just plug it into your headphone jack and leave the instrument input empty, and you've got an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad with a bypassed microphone, capable of creating silent videos for Instagram or Vine.

Convenient? Not really. But until either company sees fit to include a simple microphone mute button (if they ever come to their senses) at least this is a workable solution for silent video purists.

Never miss the free App of the Week from the App Store again

Last summer I covered an easy-to-create recipe on IFTTT that would send an e-mail or alert of your choosing once the App Store Twitter account posted a tweet announcing the latest freebie. Since that time there have been some changes to Twitter 's API policy, and IFTTT (name based on "If this, then that") has had to change how it uses Twitter within its service.

So, if you've been looking for a way to start receiving notifications for the free App of the Week again, you're in luck. Before we begin, make sure you've signed up for a free IFTTT account if you don't already have one.As such, the recipe demonstrated in my post last June no longer works. While browsing through public IFTTT Recipes today I found a solution that uses posts on the App Store's official Facebook page to trigger alerts.

1. Visit IFTTT.com and log in to your account.
2. You can add this public recipe from IFTTT user "jtshea" (who also happens to have some recipes for CNET's very own Cheapskate deals in his profile), or you can create your own recipe if you'd rather not receive the alert via e-mail as the above recipe is set to do.
3. To create a different alert method, copy the following RSS URLhttp://www.facebook.com/feeds/page.php?format=atom10&id=286893159420. Then create a new Recipe using the Feed channel, with the "Feed item matches" criteria.
4. Paste the feed address you copied from the previous step in the feed URL field, and add "App of the Week" to the keyword or simple phrase field.
5. Once you've created the trigger you can then select the action or alert method you'd like to use to get notified of the new post.

You'll be alerted via the method of your choosing when the App Store posts the free App of the Week on its Facebook page, complete with the body of the post and a direct link to the app in the App Store.

How to use your voice to search with Chrome on iOS

Google on Monday released a small update to its Chrome app for iOS users. The update, which brings faster Web page rendering for slow or unavailable networks, also adds the ability to run a search on Google using your voice. And depending on the search, you may just get an earful back from Chrome with the answer.

To search with your voice in Chrome for iOS, make sure you've updated to the latest version, 27.0.1453.10, from the App Store. Once you've downloaded and installed the update, activate the omnibox as you normally would when you are about to enter a URL or a search term.

But instead of typing this time, tap in the new Google microphone bar located just above the keyboard.

Tapping on it will bring up the voice search prompt, which you can then ask questions to.

When you bring up the voice search prompt, you'll notice the "i" in the lower left-hand corner. Tapping on this icon will reveal some of the search terms you can use your voice with, which will prompt a voice response from Google. Asking a simple question like "is it going to rain tomorrow?" and you'll get a yes or no answer, with the forecast.

You can also ask if your favorite sports team won a recent game, currency conversion, time in a different time zone or random facts. If the voice answers are too much for you, you can disable them by toggling the switch also found on the info screen.

Post picture comments on Facebook from your smartphone

Facebook now lets you post photo comments from the Web site, but not through the mobile apps. Here's how you can still post a photo comment from your smartphone.

Facebook on Wednesday announced it was rolling out a feature that allowed users to post a photo as a comment on any thread or status update from the Web site. The feature, a long overdue addition, was slowly activated for users throughout the course of the day and should be active for pretty much everyone by now.

When I first posted about the feature, I had a few friends comment they didn't have access to it via the mobile app, which is expected, because the feature wasn't added to any of the dedicated apps. The ability to use a photo in a comment was only added to the Web site, and mobile Web site.

In order to post a photo comment on Facebook from your smartphone, you simply need to visit m.facebook.com using your mobile browser. The mobile site will work on basically any platform, it's not just limited to iOS or Android.

When you tap on Comment below a status update, you'll see a list of the current comments (if there are any), and you'll also see the normal text field at the bottom for your comment, but now to the left of the text field you'll see a new camera icon. Tapping on the camera icon will let you add a photo as a comment, be it one you have saved to your device or a new one you just snapped with the camera, just as you would using the Facebook Web site.

This isn't an ideal solution, but it's a solution nonetheless. Until the ability to post a photo comment from the dedicated apps is released in a future update, it will have to do.

View live weather conditions on your iOS device with Weathertron

There are plenty of ways to get a weather report for your current location. When it comes to getting timely forecast that could potentially save you from getting caught in a downpour, one of the more reliable sources comes from The Dark Sky Company and Forecast.io.

By making the same API that Forecast.io uses available to developers, it gives any developer the chance to integrate weather forecasts into an any app. A new app, named Weathertron, was created by a couple of self-proclaimed "data visualization nerds" and has done just that.

Using the same data that powers the Forecast.io service, Weathertron is capable of showing you the temperature and weather conditions for every minute of the day.

The user interface is fun to play with and easy to navigate. You're able to view the day's conditions, as well as tomorrow's conditions in detail, along with a more generic seven-day forecast. The app gives you the option to use your current location, or add a city of your choice and switch between them as you see fit.

It's available for the iPhone and iPad, with the iPad version being nothing more than a blown-up iPhone version, and currently only viewable in portrait mode. You can purchase it from the App Store for 99 cents.

How to move Google Authenticator to a new device

Using two-step verification is a smart way to help protect your data on Google. Follow these steps to move the app to your new mobile device, and also as a reminder to remove it from your old one.

Two-step verification can help thwart malicious attacks against your online accounts. Anyone trying to break into your account would need both your password and the mobile device that authentication codes are sent to in order to gain access.

Google has done a splendid job of providing options for those who are interested in setting up this extra security measure: you can get text alerts, or you can use Google's authenticator app, available for Android, BlackBerry, and iOS.

When using the app as your method of authentication code delivery, you may wonder what happens when you want to retire an old phone for a new one. Or, you may have misplaced your device and want to disable the service as a precautionary measure. Here's how to move the authenticator app to a new device, or disable it completely:

1. First you'll want to uninstall the authenticator app from the device you will no longer be using. Just in case you decide to sell the device, or if it's going to become a toy for one of your kids, you want to make sure there isn't an app on it that grants access your sensitive information.

(Credit: Google)

2. Now you'll want to install the app on the new device where you want to receive authentication codes.

Next, head to Google's two-step verification Web page using a browser on your computer. You may need to log in to your Google account to access the security settings.

Click the link that says "Move to a different phone." If you're disabling the feature completely, you can just click "Remove."

Fortunately, moving your authenticator to a new device will not invalidate any of your existing application-specific passwords, and does not require any backup codes to complete the transition.

Scan the QR code that appears, or enter it manually by clicking, "Can't scan the bar code?"

Finally, enter the authentication code that appears on the screen to verify the device. This is just like the log-in process when using two-step verification.

Now you can keep using the authenticator app just like before, on your new device!

Bonus info: If you're doing a factory reset on a device, just disable two-step verification first, then reinstall it on your device. This is much faster than doing a restore.