How to View Vine Links on Windows Phone

Vines are amazing time wasters, and excellent forms of entertainment. The 6 second clips of comedy, special effects or every day life are fun to watch; and you'll probably want to share them with your friend occasionally. Unfortunately Internet Explorer on Windows Phone doesn't support playing Vines in the browser, meaning you're essentially sending your friends a pointless link. Fret not however as there is a fix!

To get Vine links to play on Windows Phone, you have to run them through a 3rd party app, 6sec to be specific. 6sec is needed since using a bit of trickery you can get Vine links that open in your browser to redirect into 6sec for viewing.

The first step is to add this simple line of code as a favorite in the browser:

javascript:location.href="sixsec://url/"+encodeURIComponent(encodeURIComponent(location.href))

(note: to save this as a favorite, first open any webpage; eg: cnn.com, choose add to favorites, then edit the favorite, renaming it and changing the address to match the code above).

 

Once saved as a favorite, you're practically done; anytime someone sends you a Vine link, open the link (it'll open in your browser); then head to your favorites and choose the Favorited code you just saved above; this should force 6sec open, and have it instantly direct you to the linked vine. 

  

This might not be the most elegant solution, but it works; so if you're in the habit of sharing Vines with your friends then this is definitely worth it.  Until WP get's a smart browser that can automatically redirect you to the relevant app (like it does with marketplace links) this is your best shot.

How to Fix Windows Phone App Updates Notifications on Store Live Tile

Windows Phone is a pretty solid OS in terms of stability, but occasionally it craps out in random subtle ways that you might not realize for a while. One issue that occasionally occurs is that your Marketplace live tile will stop notifying you of new app updates, leaving you in the cold when it comes to bug fixes and new features. Of course you can still update apps manually by opening them in the store and having it check for updates; but fear not, there is a fix!

Basically the fix involves "refreshing" the store live tile and reminding it of available updates, this is done by:

1. Find any app that has a pending update, and open it in the store do not update the app yet, just make sure your phone registers that there is an update available, then exit the store.
2. Unpin the Store live tile from your start screen
3. Soft reset your phone by holding the volume down and power button together for about ten seconds. (note this will also reset your phone's clock, so be sure to fix the time once you reboot).- This will NOT delete any of your data.
4. Pin the store tile back to your home screen and wait. (it might take several hours for the first updates to appear, as the store doesn't constantly check for updates).

Hopefully that should fix any issues you had with the store not notifying you of new updates.