Play audio from YouTube without video in iPhone

Ever wonder how to play the YouTube songs without the video or display in iPhone. "Yes", it is possible with a little workaround but it works like a charm.

Steps:
1) Play your song or music from YouTube in your iPhone
2) Press the home button (This will pause the audio/video)
3) Press the home button twice quickly (Similar to double click in a computer)
4) You will see the iOS task manager
5) Keep your finger on the task manager section and "Slide from left to right"
6) You will see the Orientation lock, Previous, Play, Next and YouTube icon.
7) Press the play button and listen... :)
8) Only audio will be played and video will be disabled.

Note:
You can press the home button and lock your iphone - the music still goes on.
The above steps works for music, pandora and most music related apps.
Step 2 is little annoying, but this is a workaround. 

Sometimes, I listen to songs/music which are not in my collection. Hence, this saves my battery and it don't look like I'm watching videos during official hours... lol... :)

iOS 5 features you want to know - Part 1

After updating to iOS 5, I am slowly exploring the different features and changes they made. I am trying to cover those from an end user perspective, skipping the most advertised or already known features.

1) Zoom:

Zooming has been changed to pinch action in iOS 5, just like when you zoom a photo or a web page. Double tap / single tap on the screen is used to focus an object on the screen.

i) Open camera app

ii) Use pinch action (zoom inward or zoom outward)

iii) Adjust your zoom level and take the picture :)

2) Maps
    Route suggestions are added in iOS 5. Three suggested routes appear when we search for directions. Double tap the Route number to select that particular route.
    i) Open maps app
    ii) Search for direction (Start & End)

    iii) Double tap Route number to select

3) Reader
    Reader feature has been added to Safari browser. The reader mode is really good / nice to read the contents of a web page. It skips the unnecessary ads and makes the fonts little bigger for easy reading. You can add web pages to reading list using “Add to reading list”, just like how you add URL’s to book mark any website
    i) Open Safari app
    ii) Load any web page
    iii) Click the Reader button (in Safari address bar)
    iv) Read the contents quickly and easily

4) Purchased Apps
    Now app store has ‘Purchased’ link under updates. All your downloaded / purchased apps are available there (including deleted apps, so you can re-install later). If you run into a problem of losing all / few of your apps, this helps to recover your purchased apps. But you have to install apps one by one, there is no bulk install. You can hide some app from showing in that list by swiping your finger (right to left or left to right).
    i) Open App store
    ii) Select updates tab
    iii) Purchased link displays on the top

5) Snooze
    Yeah, its not a new feature but the changes made to the snooze button during alarm is nice. Alarm now has the “Snooze” button displaying in red, which is easy to see when you look at the phone from sleep :)
    i) No different steps guys, just the same old steps... :)

Google unifying their product UI's

A few months back, google changed the login UI for their products. Recently they started pushing the new - look and feel inside their products (docs, calendar, blogger) and still a lot more to come. The new UI is based on HTML5, it has a nice, clean look and navigation.

If you want to enable the new look, click "Try the new look" option on the top right corner and "Switch back to old interface" to change back.

Google docs:

Image source: Servicethisblog

Blogger:

Image source: Google Operating System

Google Calendar:

Image source: GoogleTutor

Upcoming Gmail UI:

Image source: Google Operating System

Quick tip about Google Chrome's UI (from version 15 - in beta now)

Image source: Chrome Blog

If you are interested in more details:
YouTube Video's: Gmail and Blogger