Not that I am an expert when it comes to phones or gadgets, but I’ve come to appreciate a few of the things that I am able to do with the phone, be it checking the weather, keeping notes, making hotel reservations or even looking up for flight information. So whether it’s ios or android, smart phones have managed to become an essential part of many human beings in the planet. Most people especially in urban areas rely on their smart phones to run their daily lives.
Though smart phones are widely used, not many users know the teeny-weeny tricks that make them even more interesting. Today I shall share with you five things you didn’t know your android can do for you and if this is not new information for you well good for you and keep exploring.
Most but not all android users don’t know that android is an operating system designed by google. Various brands of phones such as Htc, Oppo, Samsung, Tecno etc run this operating system. Every year, a new android operating system is rolled out and are given names according to snacks such as gingerbread, ice-cream sandwich and the latest being Orio. Interesting right?
Well enough with the chit-chat let’s get to the amazing tips and tricks to help you make your device even more fun.
1: Guest Mode
There are those times when that nosey friend of yours or that little kid who loves playing candy crush or talking tom in your phone and every time you give them your phone you have to put passwords and creepy patterns to hide sensitive stuff. There is really no need for all this trouble because you can engage guest mode in your phone. This is similar to when you log in to someone’s computer using that guest account which usually has nothing interesting to go through. To enable this feature, open the notification bar, tap your avatar on the top right twice, now you will see three icons; your google account, add guest and add user. Tap add guest and your phone will switch to guest mode. With this you don’t need to lock your gallery with creepy patterns or passwords. It works with android 5.0 and above.
2: google assistant.
This feature is probably overlooked by many of you. The google assistant is a virtual personal assistant that helps you carry out various tasks here and there. Have you ever been in a situation where you don’t want to reach for your phone but you want to play music? Or wanted to search for that crucial point in the internet that will help you win that argument you are having with your buddies? Google assistant can help, in fact it can do more than you actually expect.
Long press your home button or earphone controller button and google assistant will be listening. Say hey google followed by a command or question like how deep is the pacific? Or Check the weather forecast for today and in a few seconds you will have your answers.
In phones with android 6.0 and higher, you can even play a trivia game with your google assistant. To try this, follow the activation command above then say let’s play a game or ask me a questions and it will begin the game. Interesting right? I know. There are many tasks google assistant can carry out but I can’t go through all of them, in the meantime try those ones above.
3: Hidden game.
I’m almost sure that none of you saw this coming but did you know that your phone has a hidden game? Did you? Now you are just trying to think where this hidden game might be. Well let me help you find it. Go to settings then click about phone, locate the android version and quickly tap on it as fast as you can 4 to 5 times and it will lounge the game. This games are in every android version and are referred to as google easter egg. Now go find that game.
4: Draw invisible pattern.
Many of you might be knowing this feature but if you didn’t don’t panic it’s not complicated mathematics.Simply go to settings then security, here find the make passwords visible option and make sure the box is not ticked. There you go nobody will be able to follow your patterns again.
5: Smart lock.
For security reasons some of us lock our devices with password patterns and even sensors to prevent people from accessing them. You would agree with me that most times the fact that your android device is always locked whenever you try to access it can be quite annoying. Maybe you are at home and you want to access your phone and nobody is around but you always have to go through that long process of patterns and passwords or, maybe you hate the fact that you have to unlock your phone to reply that text message or change a playing song. With this cool feature called smart lock, your days of being vexed are over. Smart lock let’s you enable basic features;
--Trusted places. Set specific places “t lock. —Trusted devices. Set devices that when paired, your device won’t lock. –Trusted face. Looking at your device will unlock your phone. -Later versions like 6.0 have options like: --On body detection. Your device will be unlocked when it is on your body and will lock when set down. —trusted voice. Your device will unlock when okay google recognizes your voice. You should set up a lock in your device before sitting up smart lock.
To activate this feature: –Go to settings, tap on security or onscreen lock for other devices then tap on smart lock. From there you can set up smart lock easily.
I hope this was helpful information. If there is something You feel you can add-on it and let me know in the comment section.
***Lot’s of Love***
Photography by Ryan
Location : Redlands Roses (Ruiru)
Few things come close to being romantic and dreamy and beautiful as flower farms.
Putting up this shoot was not an easy task to start with. Given our busy schedules we had to look for time when we were all available. After getting all our morning errands done, we gathered in the afternoon starting our journey to Ruiru. I knew I wanted these shots to have rows of flowers as the backcloth and after having to reschedule the shoot a few times, we were finally on the road there.
To be honest I didn’t know what to expect on arrival and it was only when I first laid my eyes on the rows of greenhouses that the overwhelming sense of excitement started to set in.
We were met by Rita and the green house caretaker who took the pleasure of taking us round and giving us a lesson or two about roses. I got to learn that the farm breeds over 100 species of roses. Amazing, right? Ever since I was a toddler I only knew of two types of roses. The red rose and the white rose.
We also got to see the factory where all the selection and packaging of the flowers for export happens. The selection process is so intense and only an experts eye could see the difference between the good for export quality and the superfluous , which when asked I could not tell the difference.
Redlands Roses is an export only flower farm, but they do have a shop along Muthaiga road where they do sell some of the flowers to support their day care facility. I’d say good job to the Redlands Roses.
A couple of hours later and Pesh, Ryan and I were done with the shoot and were ready to go back home, taking with us a bunch of flowers each. Well Ryan declined.
For this shoot, I wore this tube velvet dress. I particularly loved the heart shape design on the dress which breaks the simplicity of the dress. I decided to pair it with the prettiest red and gold, textured heels.
Wishing you a happy weekend and I do hope a rose farm is on your bucket list.
*** Lot’s of Love***
Dress- Lesley’s Collection
Shoes- Sole_Care
Watch- Casio
Photography by: Ryan
Hi peaches!
How are you? I am okay. I won’t talk about the cough and the other ills. It’s now getting boring. Instead I am going to talk about the other stuff I’ve been up to over the last week or so. A little Taking Stock snapshot as we begin our month…
Making : the most out of life because time wasted cannot be recovered.
Reading: my diary – there’s lots to do and it’s all in there
Wanting: a nice slow all day massage
Looking: for job opportunities admist our poor economy
Playing: some backstreet boys and miss Eliot music.
Deciding: on where to go for the weekend. A small vacation for me.
Wishing: this stupid cough would bugger off
Enjoying: some animation because I can’t get enough of them. The little girl inside has refused to grow up.
Waiting: to win one of those safaricom houses. shinda na m-pesa.
Liking: sitting next to the heater. If it was not for these things I would have frozen already.
Wondering: how the year has gone by so quickly
Loving: life more and more and most importantly taking each step at a time.
Considering: when I might be well enough to start running again
Hoping: to travel soon.
Marvelling: at how much I can do even if I do feel like crap.
Needing: to drink lots of healthy juice and eat more fruits. I think my immune system is low.
Smelling: not much. stuffy nose!
Wearing: warm clothings. Remember to keep warm guys.
Noticing: how quickly my hair grows. yeeiy!
Thinking: cold and flu pills are just the worst, but sometimes they really do work.
Feeling: hopeful
Disliking: stupid cold
Opening: all of the emails and FB messages… so many of them!
Giggling: at people’s whatsapp status updates.
Wishing: time would slow down a bit!
Hearing: footsteps from across the hall.
Photography by Ryan
The life I live is a good life! Maybe not the most exciting to some, or very exciting to others – but who’s comparing? Now, in my 20s, it’s always so fun to look back and reflect. Yes there were “What was I thinking” moments, but that never takes away the “Man, I’m so glad I did that” moments. However, if I could go back and teach the 18 year old me anything, it would be something along these things.
1. Be futuristic: Take some time to figure out a goal in life. It doesn’t have to be accurate, and yes it’ll change or modify as you go – but having a goal in sight makes it so much easier to have vision on the life we want to live, which thus positively affects the decisions you make in life.
2. Have a role model: Public figure or real life person, it doesn’t matter. Pick someone who is an image of where you want to be (pick wisely!) and put them in your day to day situations. Oddly enough my role model was (and maybe still is) Harvey Specter from Suits, and often times in many situations I find myself thinking to myself “What would Harvey do?”
3. Read books or find ways to educate yourself everyday: Growing up, I wasn’t big on reading books, and I kind of wish podcasts were more accessible when I was 18. However, it’s amazing how feeding knowledge to your brain can positively affect you – it helps shape character!
5. Focus on your health and fitness: Yes you can be skinny with a high metabolism, but I’ll assure you that it won’t stop bad health from creeping up on you when you’re older. Plus, having a healthy and active lifestyle goes hand in hand with better mental functionality.
6. Don’t rush into ‘falling in love’: I’ve learned it the hard way that who you consider ‘the one’ is far from the one. To clarify, I’m not saying you will never end up with the person you’re with at 18. The age 18 is a time of self-discovery and most importantly learning how to commit to yourself. As the old saying goes – find yourself and then find someone to love. Trust me it feels so much better.
7. Have a side gig – learn a craft: It’s always good to have multiple options open. Who knows, the dance practices may pay out better than the Finance degree you are pursuing down the road. Even if that’s not the case, maybe that extra talent mentally saves you when you come across challenging times.
8. Meditate, pray or simply introspect: Sometimes it’s a great idea to slow down, recollect your thoughts or simply disconnect from outside chaos even if it’s for just a minute or so.
9. Your finances – save as much money as you can: You will thank yourself later. Adult life is difficult, and most of us get engulfed in the desire to earn more money. We pay more attention to investing and spending, not much to saving. And one thing’s for sure – the more money you save, the easier it’ll be for you to walk out of that job you grow to hate in exchange for doing something you love!
10. Remember, no decision is a bad decision: So trust yourself a little! If you’ve put some thoughts in it and considered all the outcomes – it isn’t a bad decision at all. Maybe a learning curve, but not bad a decision.
Photography by Ryan
Day in day out I am always excited about the opportunities and lessons each waking moment brings. One thing is for sure, the more the days go by, the more exciting things I come across. I am always excited to see people who push boundaries in order to grow/ challenge the status quo(within legal and moral lines).
That being said, the rainy season is fast approaching and i’m not looking forward to the constant gloomy weather that comes along with it. Let alone the muddy shoes, puddles to jump over, clothes not drying fast enough…and the list is endless.
Nevertheless, I do appreciate the green effect the rain has on the surface of the earth, giving mother nature a chance to flaunt her beauty in her full glory. The outfit I wore today , reminded me of this.
Hope you’ve had a great week and that you’re oozing nothing but love and love!
***Lot’s of Love***
Photography by Ryan
I have a mantra when it comes to the everyday life. Whether it’s deciding on an outfit the night before so I don’t get caught in traffic especially being on Thika road; traffic can be crazy at times, or planning out your day’s activities.
Preparation is key!
You are far more likely to actually do what you had planned like hitting the gym, eating healthy or actually being on time for once, and I will gladly take any tips or tricks on board to help me be more efficient. I’ve recently rekindled my love affair with the 5:30 am alarm; I use the word love as loosely as possible in this instance, knowing that there are only 80 minutes between my alarm and my feet hitting the road, so I need to be prepared.
**Lot’s of Love**
love.
Laugh.
Live.
photography by Ryan
As a rule, I wear color. I know there’s loads of people that love black clothing and stick to it – I’m pretty much the opposite. However, there’s some things that just get 10 times more chic in black: large tote bags, platform boots, converse, high neck tops…. a black dress that every girl should have in her closet.
I thought I’d break up all the color and neutrals on my feed with a bit of black lace. I love the scalloped neckline and fitted waist. I think it really encapsulates a mix of both cute and sexy. I chose to pair this dress with a pair of red heels.
Dress – Lesley collection
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Shoes – Pamplemousse_ke
Dear week,
We started out on an odd note you and I remember Monday morning just like it was yesterday – starting with the overwhelming feeling of dread that crept up the moment I realized that the annoying repetitive sound coming from my dream was actually the alarm. I remember rolling over, pressing ‘snooze’ instead of ‘dismiss’ and going back to bed for 10 minutes. And then doing that two more times. But what I remember most, and that I am most grateful for, was when I managed to get out of bed to grab my towel and realized that I had the choice of making this the best week.
That I was going to make it the best week. I remember being in the shower and repeating it over and over again – because let’s face it, it was a Monday morning. And I needed that extra convincing. And just like that, you became my friend. Monday blues became Monday bliss. So thank you week, for being pretty darn good to me. Can’t wait to see what you bring my way next.
Tomorrow is a holiday btw… Happy Eid to all my muslim friends.
I couldn’t stop the goofy smile on my face when I learn’t one of my good friend’s had a bun in the oven. Well it seems like I’ve entered a new stage of life where it’s soon to be all about weddings and babies! Yeeiiy!
Congrats on your new born.
