Tuesday, May 17, 2016

How to Make Copies of Your Apps to Use Multiple Accounts

One big limitation of mobile devices that revolve around app stores is that you can only ever have one of each app downloaded, and not all apps support switching between multiple accounts.
Yet, many of us have multiple accounts we use on the regular, which is where an app called Parallel Space comes in. Parallel Space allows you to make a copy of any of your apps, allowing you to sign in to another account and run both apps simultaneously.
To get started, download the app, and let’s look at everything it can do.

Why Would You Need to Copy an App?

Parallel Space bills itself as being mainly for social apps and games, though it could be used for almost any app. Here are just some reasons why you might want to consider using it.

Snapchat or Other Social Apps

snapchat
My main use for Parallel Space is setting up multiple Snapchat accounts. Signing in and out of Snapchat accounts is an extremely tedious and annoying process, but with more and more businesses, services, and websites utilizing Snapchat as a social media platform, many of us need to balance a private account with other brand accounts.
The same can be said for other social apps. Some have recently started implementing multiple account support, like Instagram, but you still might want to consider Parallel Space as an easier way of separating your accounts. That way, instead of opening each social app and ensuring you’re logged into the right account, you could just have a folder of apps dedicated to either your personal life or brand accounts.

Clash of Clans or Other Games

clashofclans
Another major use among users of the app seems to be having multiple accounts running on Clash of Clans. While I’m not an active Clash of Clans player, this is a hack that players have been wanting for quite some time now.
For any game where you have multiple accounts or where it could be useful to play against yourself or work with yourself, copying the game through Parallel Space is your best option.

Separating Work and Fun

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Yes, you probably have most of your business accounts set up on your device already, but for a really clean divide, nothing is easier than just having one homepage of personal and one homepage of work apps.
Copy WhatsApp to keep your conversations separate, copy your email app, or even copy your favorite browser to differentiate between googling cat photos and looking up business information.

Setting Up Parallel Spaces

Alright, now that you’ve thoroughly been convinced (even if you haven’t, just play along), let’s take a look at the app setup process.
Once you open it up, you’ll swipe through a little intro before being dropped off at the homescreen with three buttons: Invisible Installation, Control Center, and a + symbol at the bottom.
Invisible Installation allows you to install apps that won’t appear in your Parallel Spaces shortcut on your homescreen, only within the Parallel Spaces app. This seems to be intended for apps you might want to keep a bit more private, like dating apps.
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To install apps here, you’ll need to sign in with your Google account (and to keep things really private, you could make another Google account). The reason for this is that Parallel Spaces is basically running a virtual Android environment — keeping this login and these apps very separate from the rest of your device.
Control Center gives you access to your settings, a task manager for the virtual Android environment of Parallel Spaces, as well as some other options like an FAQ.
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There are only three real settings that you’ll want to tweak during setup. Create shortcut will place a single Parallel Spaces icon on your homescreen that you can tap on to open a folder-like view to then access any of your apps. Swipe to Parallel Space allows you to swipe in from the bottom corner on any screen to quickly access the app. And Auto create shortcut for apps will make a standalone icon on your homescreen for each app you install.
You can make shortcuts after the fact as well by opening Parallel Spaces and tapping and holding on whichever app you want to make a shortcut for (this is also how you delete them).
The + Symbol allows you to clone apps. Tapping it will list your apps at the top and recommended apps as you scroll down. Tapping on any of the recommended options will redirect you to the Play Store to download them, and you can then return to Parallel Spaces to clone them.
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The cloning process is super simple. After choosing an app to clone, it only has to load for a few seconds before you can open up the app and sign in. It was surprisingly easy for every app I tried.

Easily Switch Between Accounts

Once everything’s set up, you can use these apps just like normal, and you honestly won’t even notice that they’re running in a separate environment.
parallel-multitasking
In your multitasking view, apps running in Parallel will simply be listed as “App Name(Parallel)”. If you have some kind of multi-window feature on your device (like the Galaxy S7, perhaps), then you could even run both of these at the exact same time.
If you experience any issues with the apps, try restarting Parallel Space, since they do all operate within that app. Also, if you close Parallel Space or have a task killer kill it (which you shouldn’t be doing anyway), then it will also close the apps running in it.

What Do You Think?

Parallel Space is working perfectly for me to manage multiple social accounts, but I’m curious how you use it.
Do you need multiple accounts for social media? For games? Or something else entirely? Let us know down in the comments!
Source: www.makeuseof.com

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