Apps

Why you should get iQiyi

We got it so you don’t have to

Published

August 3, 2021

Leez

Pan-Asian content, duh

There’s a ton of streaming services out there. But, none embrace that Asian representation like iQiyi. They’ve got films, variety shows, and series from China, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, and more. If you’re having a tough time finding shows and films you grew up seeing or just want somewhere you feel represented, check iQiyi out. It’ll surprise you.

Classic Hong Kong movies

If you’re a cinephile or know someone who is, this might just be the streaming service for you. Most classic Hong Kong films are a tough find. From Infernal Affairs to A Chinese Ghost Story, you’re sure to find the good, the bad, and obscure classics. iQiyi, no joke, lays out a ton of these Hong Kong classics on their platform and you’d be remiss to skip out on watching them.

Find the good-good

There’s a number of really good Asian series and films on iQiyi. Shows like Youth with You, Chuang, The Penthouse: War in Life 3, and Tokyo Revengers are just a few on the platform on most people’s must-watch and favorites. iQiyi is never short of surprises.

The absolute absurd finds

There’s no lack of decent, obscure, and downright bizarre tv series, films, and variety shows on here. Just note that most shows don’t age well and are a great watch in irony. Just keep an eye out on the obscure ones, they sometimes don’t have subtitles. And remember, these silly finds don’t take away from the unapologetically good shows on the platform.

Free shows you’d pay to watch elsewhere

iQiyi is a free streaming app with paid VIP access to a ton of exclusives. But, not everything is behind that paywall making this a huge game-changer. There’s a long list of free-to-access shows, K-dramas, and anime you’d normally find behind a paywall so, do yourself a favor. Get it.

It’s got interactive features

The platform showed off its new features with Game of Shark, a reality show where celebrities form teams and participate in murder mystery role-playing games. If you pick Rhythm Mode, your phone vibrates in time to events in the show. On top of that, Shark Mode allows users to directly take on the identity of characters. With it, you get to join your favorite celebrities in collecting hidden clues and identifying the murderer.

Having launched the world’s first Interactive Video Guideline (IVG) and IVP, iQiyi have pioneered a one-stop platform of assisted production tools that helps content creators produce and publish interactive videos efficiently and conveniently!

Apps

The cheaper YouTube Premium Lite finally enters the Philippines

Get rid of ads for a cheaper price.

Published

October 1, 2025

Luigi Leonardo

As it stands, YouTube Premium might be one of the most bang-for-your-buck subscriptions out there. Besides getting rid of ads on the main platform, a subscription also gives users access to YouTube Music Premium. But what if you don’t care about YouTube’s music services? For that, here comes YouTube Premium Lite.

At only PhP 109 per month, YouTube Premium Lite offers only one thing for subscribers: ad-free viewing. Well, mostly.

While the original subscription will keep all videos ad-free, the new tier offers “most videos ad-free.” Users won’t get ads on ads on videos across “gaming, comedy, cooking, learning, and more.” However, they might still see some ads on music content and Shorts.

The subscription also won’t give users access to YouTube Music Premium. It also won’t allow downloads or background play. As the name says, it’s a Lite subscription.

YouTube started experimenting with the lighter subscription tier early this year. At first, the platform introduced the tier to a few countries. Now, after experimenting with the tier, it is coming to more countries just as it was advertised in the past.

The finalized version of the tier looks pretty much identical to the experimental version. Except, of course, the version in the Philippines is much cheaper than the one abroad.

Apps

US, China have supposedly agreed on a TikTok deal

All that remains is an official announcement.

Published

September 22, 2025

Luigi Leonardo

Practically no other story has taken longer to conclude than the ongoing TikTok saga in America. Stemming all the way back from Trump’s first administration, the social media platform has faced a potential ban that might cease its operations in the country. Now, Trump and TikTok have reportedly inked a deal to finish the controversy once and for all.

The American government has constantly argued for a total ban on TikTok because of alleged cybersecurity concerns. Since the company was owned by ByteDance, American lawmakers feared that the platform allowed potential avenues for Chinese interference. The controversy even went so far as an actual ban, albeit short-lived, before the second Trump administration.

Over the weekend, new reports have surfaced to suggest that the United States and China have successfully negotiated on a sale for the company.

“The TikTok deal is well on its way,” Trump said, according to a report from Reuters. The report states that Xi Jinping has approved the deal on his end. A statement from TikTok seemingly confirms that the deal is already done “in accordance with applicable laws.”

As such, all that remains is a formal announcement. We also don’t officially know how the new TikTok might look like. Previously, the American government was asking ByteDance to divest from TikTok to allow American buyers to operate the platform on American soil. If the deal is as done as they say it is, the platform will have Americans as majority owners. It should allow the platform to continue working in the United States unimpeded.

Apps

Free Spotify users can now listen to any song they want

The tier is no longer stuck in shuffle mode.

Published

September 16, 2025

Luigi Leonardo

Ever since the popularization of the platform, Spotify’s free tier has always been defined by the experience of playing a playlist on shuffle, interrupted constantly by ads. Today, Spotify is drastically redefining its free tier by allowing users to finally pick and play individual songs.

Last week, Spotify vastly improved its Premium subscription by finally adding support for lossless audio. The long-awaited feature was first announced almost a decade ago. Now, the platform is getting with the times. Even better, lossless audio comes with a standard Premium subscription, rather than being introduced with a more expensive tier.

Because the Premium tier got an upgrade, Spotify is also improving the free tier. Now, free users will no longer be stuck in shuffle mode. The tier will now allow users to pick any song they want to listen to.

This is Spotify’s biggest update since… well, last week. It is, of course, fitting. Because the lossless audio update is so huge, the platform had to up the game for the free tier too. Outside of just playing music on YouTube, competing streaming platforms don’t really allow users to have as much control without paying a single cent.

That said, the free tier will still have a few limitations. It will still have ads and limited skips.

The new update is rolling out globally now.