SALTZMAN: Technology freebies – audiobooks, streaming TV, video surveillance

Content of the article

With rising costs of living putting a strain on many families – including (still) high interest rates impacting credit card and mortgage payments, and food inflation rising in May for the first time in almost a year – Canadians are understandably looking for ways to save money. .

Content of the article

The good news is that you can get some things for free that you might otherwise have to pay for.

Yes, there may be some limitations, like watching a few ads while watching a streaming movie or renting (instead of owning) e-books, but you might be surprised how technology can help you save more money.

You probably know that music streaming services offer a free (ad-supported) tier and there are free games available for download to digital devices, but below are some suggestions you may not know about.

WHERE CAN I GET AUDIOBOOKS FOR FREE?

Article content

If you have a library card, you can borrow e-books and audiobooks – even today’s bestsellers – for free through the Libby app.

The free app connects book lovers with content from over 22,000 public libraries and thousands of colleges, universities, corporate libraries and educational centers.

Like your library, you can enjoy the book you’re reading until the “due date,” but now you don’t have to take the books back to the library or pay late fees.

You can install the Libby app on multiple devices and all your borrowed books, notes, bookmarks and reading progress will be synced across all your devices.

A FREE WAY TO SWAP EBOOKS INTO AUDIOBOOKS

Here’s a little-known trick for iPhone or iPad owners: turn your e-books into free audiobooks.

Content of the article

Article content

This can be done using a built-in accessibility tool called Speak Screen, which will read any text on the screen aloud. Now you can listen in the car, close your eyes on a plane or walk down the street.

To activate it (only required once), go to Settings > Accessibility > Spoken Content > Speak on Screen. Then, in any open app, such as an e-book reading app, swipe down from the very top of the screen with two fingers for the content to read.

It also works with emails, news, web articles, recipes, and notes. You can customize the voice, including gender and language, speaking speed, and more.

Android has something similar, but it’s not as good. Go to Settings > Accessibility > TalkBack.

Content of the article

Speaking of audio, take advantage of tens of thousands of free radio plays – “theater of the mind” shows popularized in the 1940s through the 1960s – on websites such as Archive.org, or by subscribing to various podcasts such as Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society, Relic Radio and Radio Retropolis.

FREE TV? THESE APPLICATIONS PROVIDE (WITH ADVERTISING)

These networks, often called AVOD (video on demand with ads) or sometimes FAST (free streaming TV with ads) services, provide free movies to watch on your smart TV, smartphone, tablet or laptop.

Some of the more popular options include Tubi (my favorite), Roku Channel, Pluto TV, and of course YouTube – each offering thousands of episodes of TV shows and movies for free. Some have live shows, but most are on-demand.

Content of the article

Hook? At the beginning and during the program you have to watch several advertisements. But at least they’re much shorter than regular TV commercials.

Well, what’s free, everything is free.

WHICH APP OFFERS A FREE PHONE NUMBER?

An extra phone number on your smartphone is very useful for many reasons, such as you don’t want to give out your real number if, for example, you’re posting on a classifieds site or meeting someone for the first time through an app dating site (just in case it turns out that he is a persecutor).

Instead, apps like TextNow (from Kitchener-Waterloo) give you a free 10-digit North American number based on the city you enter (such as Toronto or Los Angeles), and now you can give that number to those who want to contact you. It also works on tablets, laptops, and desktops.

Article content

Just like with your main number, you can change your ringtone, access your voicemail, make a three-way call, and much more. It also works for text messages. Everything for free.

One small caveat: If you use your device outside of a location where you have free Wi-Fi (like at home), it uses cellular connectivity, which may incur data charges from your mobile operator.

SURVEILLANCE CAMERA WITHOUT SUBSCRIPTION

Given how often we update our devices, you may have a spare iPhone, iPad, or Android somewhere at home. If so, you can turn it into a free wireless surveillance camera, turn it into a date night baby monitor, a “nanny” camera (with permission), or a way to keep an eye on your pets at work.

Everything is controlled using applications such as AlfredCamera or Presence.

Article content

Once you’ve installed (and signed in) the same app on your current phone or tablet and on your old device, simply place your old device somewhere in your home, make sure it’s connected, and point your device’s camera somewhere.

Now, wherever life takes you, open the same app on your phone or tablet to see what’s happening at home in real time. Or set up audio and/or motion alerts.

COMPATIBLE OFFLINE PRODUCTIVITY TOOLS

Finally, although there are some free productivity programs, most of them require an internet connection to use them.

Instead, Apache’s OpenOffice is a downloadable, offline suite of productivity tools for word processing, spreadsheet and presentation creation, and more. OpenOffice is available in many languages, runs on many operating systems, and can be installed on any number of computers.

The software suite supports a wide range of file types created in other programs (including Microsoft Office .doc, .xls, and .ppt files).

That being said, there are many free photo editing tools out there, but Gimp is probably the most reliable thanks to its advanced editing features, digital retouching, multi-file support, and interface customization options.

Content of the article