Ever imagined yourself as a character in a James Bond movie where the bad guys are lurking around corners waiting for the right opportunity to grab you and take you to their secret hideout? Okay, maybe not. But if you did, you’d probably have a lot of fun with today’s post, where we look looking into some apps made for spying with your iPhone.

Granted, having all of these apps on your iPhone will not make you a spy overnight – please don’t take it as challenge by us for you to behave that way – however, you might find some of the apps of the espionage kind here useful to you.

(Image Source: Steffanic)

The mission here, if you choose to accept it, is to hunt for your very own iPhone spy app from this list. Some apps will be more useful than others, while others are just for fun. Then, there are some apps only available in the US as they only work with US mobile numbers. Don’t ask us why this is so, we’d ask but we’ve got a feeling that if they told us, they’d have to kill us!.

Recommended Reading: IPhone Apps For Developers & Designers

Contact Spy

Not sure who is behind the unknown number who just called you? Save that number into your contact list and run it through this search engine app, where It will then try to find out who called you. This feature only works for US phone numbers.

However, you can enter the first and last name of anyone you don’t know, and the app will try to find out who that person is. Of course this won’t give you the best results if the person’s name is ‘John Doe’. [$0.99]

Call Log Pro

This app records the voice conversations of phone calls to another person. You’ll have to use the app to call the person and it will only start recording once the person on the line answers the phone. You’ll then be able to email yourself the recording for safekeeping.

This app starts out free where you can record conversations for 2 minutes. After that, you’ll have to pay a minimum of $4.99 for 30 minutes of recording time. [Free]

Spy Gizmos

Spy Gizmos gives you a fun and secure way to communicate with your friends. You can use this app to cipher messages and send the coded message to your friends. Your friends who received the coded message can then use this app to find out what was really written.

There are 3 ciphering methods to choose from. You can also write in Morse code where the app can then transmit the sound or flash your screen white and black so that people around you can hear or see the message. [Free]

Self Destructing Message

Self Destructing Message (SDM) is a message app along the lines of Viber or Whatsapp. However, with this app you’ll be able to set ‘self destruct’ timers to your messages. Your friend will have 5, 10, 15, 30 or 60 seconds to read the message that you sent. After that, the message ‘self destructs’ (gets deleted).

Because of this, there will be no chat history but it is a secure way to ensure no one else reads your messages. [Free]

Your Secret Folder

This app acts like a secret folder to manage private photos and videos. It protects your files with either a 4 number PIN lock or a dot lock. The options they give you include taking a photo with the front camera when someone attempts to unlock the app. There is also the option to include a fake password.

Whenever this fake password is entered, functions to the app will be very limited, and whatever pictures taken with the app won’t be saved. [Free]

GPS Location Tracker

This is a location tracker app for your iPhone which doesn’t have to be running to track your phone. You have to register for an account on their website and have Location enabled on the iPhone in order for it to track your phone.

It also uses cellular data or Wi-Fi to upload the location information to a secure server on their website. If there is no cellular data or Wi-Fi available, the information will be stored on the phone until there is a connection available. [$3.99]

Spy Recorder

Spy Recorder is an audio-recording app which also helps you schedule reminders for recordings. The phone will vibrate and a notification will appear, prompting you to start recording. You can start recording by tapping on the notification.

This can also be triggered with predetermined locations. You can also save the location data of each recording then attach and send via email. There is also the feature to pause between recordings, and set the recording duration. [$1.99]

Secret Voice

This is another voice-recording app but this app has a built-in web browser which you can use while it is recording. Besides that, you can enable a ‘Black-Screen Mode’ which prohibits activity on your phone, effectively tuning out any incoming calls or messages.

Recordings can be shared by email and are secured by a PIN code. There is also the option of recovery mode which allows you to recover accidentally deleted recordings. Without it, a delete stays permanent. [$0.99]

Night Recorder

Launch this app and hit the ON button to begin. It will only start audio recording when there is a loud enough sound. When the iPhone screen is off, you can launch the app by pressing the iPhone power button.

It has 2 recording modes – more or unique files. If you select ‘more’ files mode, the recording will automatically stop if it doesn’t detect any sound. It will then record to a new file if there is another sound. A ‘unique’ file means it will record on one file non-stop once the recording starts, which will only stop when you press the on/off button in the app. [$2.99]

Top Secret Audio Recorder

Top Secret Audio (TSA) Recorder works like a picture-viewing app where you swipe left and right to view different pictures. However, the app starts recording the moment you tap on the picture. You can add your own pictures or use the ones that came with the app.

Since there is no recording interface, no one will know that you are recording audio. You can also passcode lock your recorded files for added security. Files can then be shared or extracted through iTunes. [Free]

Secret Spy Camera Pro

This camera app has a few functions so people won’t know that you are actually recording a video. While the camera is recording a video, you can enable ‘Spy Mode’ to make it look like you’re browsing a website.

There is also a ‘Secret Spy Mode’ where the screen only shows a black picture.To use it’s automatic-snap photo, just set intervals between each photo snap to take and let the app do the rest. [$1.99]

Secret Camera

Another photo-taking app, but this one has no shutter sound. You can also set the photos to not have any preview mode. If you want a discreet preview mode, you can use ‘Spy Mode’: there is a small thumbnail at the bottom corner of your screen, while the rest of the screen looks like a web browser.

That way, no one will know you are really taking photos. You can also passcode lock your pictures and can enable ‘Recovery Mode’ to recover any photos that you accidentally delete. [$0.99]

Night Vision Camera

This app makes you feel like a spy on a mission as you can choose different scopes to look through the camera of your iPhone. You can also choose from ‘Night Vision’ mode and ‘Infrared’ mode to make it seem like you’re on a mission. To take a picture, simply tap the bottom left corner button of the camera. [Free]

ReconBot

ReconBot is a stealth video recording app that shows a black screen while it records a video. All your recordings can then be stored securely within the app which has a dot lock system. If you use the ‘Remote View’, you can watch your live recording on a unique website link on your computer. Recordings can be trimmed and shared via email. You can also enable location on your iPhone to determine where the recording happened. [$0.99]

Spy Cams

This app explores the feed from many live cameras around the world. It is not known how they have access to these cameras as nothing is stated on their app page. However, it is fun to scroll through security cameras from all around the world. You just might stumble across some interesting sights. [Free]

Security Cam

This is another security recording app to make people unaware that your iPhone is capturing a video. The recording will begin if triggered by motion or sound. There is also the option to take photos every few seconds. The time and date will be shown on the recorded video. The files can then be emailed or exported through iTunes. [$9.99]

Camster 2

With this app, you’ll get a list of free public cameras that you can view. You can favourite any camera on the list if you find it interesting. Although there is the option to monitor your own network camera, it only works with the paid version of the app. [Free]

Live Cams Pro

Live Cams Pro is yet another app where you can view public cameras from all around the world. You are also able to add your own webcam and monitor it with this app. It supports a whole list of IP camera models which you can use to monitor your home in case you are going away on vacation for awhile or if you want to keep an eye on things at home, from the workplace. [$2.99]

Cam On! Lite

This app is another app that has a map full of webcam cameras you can view. Not only that, you can control some of the cameras viewing angle (limited viewing angle) with on screen controls. You can also take a picture of the place you’re viewing and save it to your iPhone photo album. [Free]

My Webcam

With this app, you can broadcast your own webcam for the world to see. You can also make it private for your personal viewing. There is a free program compatible with both Windows and Mac that you can use to broadcast your webcam. Because of this broadcasting program it can support any type of USB webcam or the webcam on your laptop. [$4.99]

Related posts:

1. 30 iPhone & iPad Apps to Have Fun with Your Photos
2. 10 Useful Apps to Recover a Lost or Stolen iPhone
3. 20 Useful iPhone Apps for Developers & Designers
4. 40 Creative iPhone Wallpapers To Make Your Apps Look Good

The Internet technology scene is bursting with new innovations every month. If you’ve spent any time researching social media then you may be familiar with the term “startup”. This generally describes a new business launch in a particular market i.e. tech startup would be a startup based on a tech product or service. Facebook could once have been deemed a startup, along with Twitter. More current examples are Foursquare and Pinterest.

(Image Source: Fotolia)

Emerging technologies show with each Internet startup. That’s what makes them so great but behind the scenes, the startup route requires very long working hours and extreme dedication. You must focus on a number of strategies including product design, programming, marketing, and business structures. It’s a lot of work but also very rewarding in the long run.

In this article I want to discuss a handful of ideas for starting up your own startup. This may target teams already working on products, or even freelancers interested in launching their own. No matter what your situation, these tips should leave you inspired and thinking with the entrepreneurial spirit.

Creating a Bold Idea

To push forward with a tech startup you must have a somewhat grounded idea in place. This could be a new website concept, mobile app, web hosting solution, systems management, etc. The more information you have in the beginning stages, the easier it’ll be down the road.

(Image Source: Fotolia)

My recommendation is to setup a list of pros and cons for any new idea. Let’s say social networking project; maybe this website idea has some exclusive features for connecting people locally, rather than globally like how it is working out with current social networks.

Is this better or is this lacking? It’s important to visualize a clear and concise overview of what you have to offer against the competition. Use a bulleted list with commentary if this makes brainstorming easier.

Ttrust that there is always going to be competition – but that’s also what makes the world so great. We can innovate based on another person’s ideas to build a new product which other people would love using and can benefit from. The idea is about learning from previous mistakes and fixing them in your own projects.

Assembling your Team

It may sound lucrative to freelancers to launch a startup and run everything on your own. And if you are only looking for mild success then this route is possible. But note that once your idea picks up steam there will be simply too many tasks for one person to handle.

(Image Source: Fotolia)

The CEO is generally the guy running day-to-day tasks anyways but he’ll need help staff to answer e-mail support and common user issues. There is also a need for the tech idea to have some web presence, and for that, a web designer / frontend developer is required, along with marketing and brandind execs

Assign by purpose

At first you may choose to get each member’s opinion on what they enjoy most and what they would like to do. However, try not to fit roles based on each person’s desires, but rather based on your startup’s core purpose. Multi-tasking is quite common in such a fast-paced work environment. But the faster you hustle during the early years, the sooner you’ll begin turning real profits.

Keep in mind that a good team is based on the quality of work, not quantity of members.

If the idea is very technical then this process may be drawn-out to finding the right talent. But many startups can succeed even with merely 2 or 3 employees to start. If you have a group of friends with enough passion and dedication to a project, it shouldn’t be difficult to teach yourself new areas of development or business skills. The way to get yourself recognized is by working in numbers and never giving up!

Read also: Project Management Software For Remote Teams

Product Development

Having a good idea and a great team will get your tech startup off on the right footing. The first roadblock you’ll hit is developing the initial product. This pre-production phase can be very tedious for everybody involved. The goal is to get something out online as soon as possible.

(Image Source: jadecilcleton)

Don’t produce sloppy code or parts of the website which are broken, but also don’t wait to have every single feature working before releasing a beta application. This initial launch will build up your brand’s name and you can garner a lot of support right from the get-go.

Twitter came out a much simpler version when it first launched in 2006. Over time their development team had included direct (private) messages, @replys, link shortening, inline photo/video media and tons of other features. None of these ideas were produced overnight. And Twitter also did not wait until the application was perfect before they launched it. When users began signing up and tweeting that brought the social network to life. A couple of years after launch, Twitter releases an API for developers as more users join and begin actively using the network on their phones.

Read also: Leveraging Twitter For Your Freelance Business

The lesson here should be to dream big yet work locally. Keep yourself grounded and focused on completing 1-2 major tasks per day. Don’t wait around for everything to be perfect before going live. In fact, the first couple of months after the initial launch can be seen as a pilot run for collecting user feedback.

Design for Usability

There are a few different ways to interpret developing a “product”. After your website / app / company is officially online, the product development phase doesn’t end. Your team will change gears into cleaning up bugs and maybe even developing some additional features ever so often. This is a stage where startups tend to veer off-course. It’s all too easy to be wrapped up in trying to complete a new interface design for the 3rd time in the same month.

Keep product development purposeful – that is to say, focus on things that will actually impact your business. Update pieces of the layout for the user’s benefit and not your own idiosyncrasies.

Pitch and Marketing

If you’re somewhat familiar with the startup world you may also be interested in high finance. On the business end this can translate into angel investors and venture capital for young budding ideas. Who’s to say your startup couldn’t be part of the crowd?

Money for tech startups is easier to come by now although it’s still not a 100% viable option and you shouldn’t rest the fate of your idea on expecting any seed funding. Y Combinator is an excellent example of some very smart entrepreneurs working together to gather funding and grow major startups.

As for pitching for funding, you don’t need to go to fancy meetings to run your killer pitch. You can however develop a few different summaries for your product, explaining what you are hoping to achieve. These could be mini-presentations which span 30 seconds, 1 minute, 3 minutes, or at maximum 5 minutes. Each would contain the same information but filtered down to save time. Getting your concepts in order is important for business relations, especially for marketing trends.

Internet Marketing

Whatever your tech startup happens to be, it can likely find an outlet for online marketing. The Internet is definitely the quickest way to build buzz around your product and do some company branding. To start off you can create social media profiles with a vanity URL matching your own company brand. We can see a perfect example on the @hongkiat Twitter page. Depending on your target audience, it may be worthwhile to join a few other networks such as Facebook, Google+, or LinkedIn.

(Image Source: Fotolia)

True marketing is about flooding your product in an area of people with similar interests. You may try placing advertisements for your hosting startup on webmaster forums and online bulletin boards. Alternatively, you could target blogs and smaller websites, and instead of paying for ad space provide some type of link exchange. You can also try seeking out blogs to review your products and publish a couple of posts online.

There are no limits to marketing for any given product. I suggest getting a small team of 2-3 close associates who can brainstorm on creative techniques. It never hurts to attempt new methods of building your web presence.

Recommended Reading: 10 Tips & Tricks For Your Business’s Facebook Fan Page

Instill a Purpose

There are dozens of startups who got going without defining a real purpose. It’s also common to see companies grow then change their goals to fit a changing userbase. You should be comfortable with these ideas when moving to launch your own startup. It takes courage to admit it when areas of your plan are failing. But this type of leadership will keep the team alive and dedicated towards a better end result. If it makes things easier, keep your goals resting on the opinion of your users. Whatever product you’re developing should be created to help people in different areas of industry.

This overarching purpose can’t be planned out in its entirety from the beginning. Like most things in business, this comes with time and patience. But you can still develop an action plan to achieve purpose and be willing to adjust your strategies, too.

Of course you should work towards turning a profit. There are bills to pay but keep money where it belongs and don’t sell out on your personal morals & standards for a few extra dollars. If you can find value in your life from building these tech products then stick with it! There is so much to learn by working in a startup environment.

If you’re interested in reading more, check out the Q&A website Quora which is loaded with information on startup culture and raising capital. Derive the purpose of your startup at your own choosing and others will begin to pile on board.

Conclusion

We have covered a lot of points to get newcomers up-to-date in the startup scene. Creating a startup environment is different from putting a simple website online. You’ll want to cater to a specific need that the public will embrace. Tech startups really work for the people in developing new systems of communication and connectivity.

I can’t guarantee every startup idea will succeed. All too often founders will lose touch with their original goals and the team begins to splinter. Learning how to act and react in the startup industry comes with experience, regardless of your current age. Getting started now will get you that experience earlier, and hopefully you’ll notice positive results after a few years of hard work.

Related posts:

1. Business Card Design: 7 Essentials to Consider

If you do your work collaboratively over the Internet, there are times when you need to share or discuss your work in real-time without having to make screenshots to show your progress.

You can consider Airtime, Google Hangout and other video tools for this purpose, but we’re going to introduce Screenleap to you because it’s an online app that runs instantly without sign-ups or installations.

Recommended Reading: 20 Ridiculously Simple File-Sharing Web Tools

Share your screen on the Fly

To start sharing your screen, go to Screenleap and click on the green button Share your screen now.

There will be a popup requesting access to your computer, click Allow.

Once access is allowed, a small control window will appear at the front of your screen. When this control appears, your screen share is already active, select if you want to share the entire screen or share only screen ‘inside rectangle’.

Selecting to Share inside rectangle will bring out a green rectangle that you can always resize and move to any part of your screen.

When you are ready to share your screen, go to the Screenleap page and copy the link then send them to your friends/partners to start sharing your screen.

To stop sharing, press Pause sharing, or click Stop sharing to end the session.

Conclusion

Ridiculously simple to use, this app makes for a great tool to share your screen and offers you control over what you want to share and don’t. Just be careful of what is running on the background when you have the sharing on, alright?

So what do you think of this tool? Share your comment.

Related posts:

1. Desktop File & Image Sharing Tools – Best of
2. 20 Ridiculously Simple File-Sharing Web Tools
3. How to Include Mouse Pointer in a Screen Capture [Quicktip]
4. How to Remotely Access Mac From Your Tablet