Hot Gadget Hacks Posts
How To: Remove the Apple Music & Connect Tabs from iOS 8.4's Music App
In an attempt to get more people to subscribe to Apple Music, the Music app was completely revamped in the iOS 8.4 update for iPad and iPhone to include new tabs for New, For You, and Connect.
How To: 10 Ways to Trick Your Android Phone into Using Less Data
Ever watched Netflix on your phone only to realize an hour later that you forgot to turn Wi-Fi on? That's a whole lot of data used.
Android Security: 13 Must-Know Tips for Keeping Your Phone Secure
These days, that pocket-sized computer we call a smartphone is home to your entire digital life. But with the onset of mobile payments and online banking, the line between your virtual world and the physical realm is becoming increasingly blurred.
How To: Global Find & Replace, Undo, & Redo Finally Comes to Android
Make no bones about it—having an "undo" option is a freaking godsend. Whether you accidentally deleted an entire essay, screwed up the shading on a Photoshop job, or sent an email that wasn't quite ready, having the option to undo a click or button-press can definitely be a lifesaver.
How To: Shuffle All Songs in Apple's New Music App in iOS 8.4
If you updated to iOS 8.4 already to try out the new Apple Music service, there's one important change you need to know about—there's no longer a "Shuffle" option for all songs in your library.
How To: Disable Apple Music's Auto-Renewal for Free Trials So You Don't Get Charged
Apple's streaming music service, Apple Music, offers a three-month free trial that hopes to get you addicted enough to pay for a monthly subscription. You may even see a one-month trial if you're a former subscriber. While it's not very obvious, there is a way to cancel either free trial from auto-renewing. That way, you don't have to deal with Apple support to try and get your money back because you forgot.
How To: Update Makes It Easy to Remove S Finder & Quick Connect from Your Galaxy S6's Notification Tray
Sure Samsung toned down TouchWiz on their latest flagship devices, but there was one issue (albeit minor and mostly cosmetic) that really irked me: those damn "S Finder" and "Quick connect" buttons in the notification tray. Only the T-Mobile S6 variants shipped with an option to remove these two buttons, so AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, and other non-T-Mobile users were stuck with them taking up space in the notification panel. If you didn't mind rooting your device, there was a way to remove them b...
How To: Improve Sound Quality on Android: 5 Audio Mods for Better-Sounding Music & Videos
Whether I'm in my car or making dinner, I always have music playing. And since I don't like to keep my headphones on me at all times, I end up using my Android's built-in speakers a good portion of the time.
How To: Make Drag & Drop Way More Useful on Your Mac
Managing files can be time consuming on your Mac, for the simple reason that keyboard shortcuts and right-clicks sometimes lack the effectiveness we need. But with a simple third-part app, you can expedite the process of sharing, moving, deleting, and overall managing files on your computer.
How To: Download Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat & Twitter Videos on Your iPhone
For most of us, the primary reason we capture videos on our iPhones is to post on one of the various social media platforms out there, like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, or Twitter, providing instant gratification by receiving a proverbial nod from our followers.
How To: Dual Boot Windows 10 & Mac OS X on Your Mac
While Windows 10 is still a few weeks away from a public release, that doesn't mean you can't enjoy its brand new features right now. Anyone with an Insider Preview account can install Windows 10 on their computer. And that doesn't just go for those that own a Windows PC—Mac users can get their hands on Windows 10 as well.
How To: The Ultimate Guide to Deleting Apps & Bloatware on Android
As Android owners, we ultimately have to look at our device and ask the difficult question: "Where the hell did all these applications come from?"
How To: Recover Photos & Videos from a Lost or Damaged iPhone
If you have a ton of photos and videos on your iPhone, backing up to iCloud is probably a no-go since it only provides 5 GB of free storage. Yes, you can buy more storage, but who wants to do that? And what happens if you run out of storage, stop backing up, and your phone gets lost, stolen, or damaged.
How To: Use Snapchat's Hidden Filter to Add Color Overlays to Your Photos & Videos
Snapchat has built upon the photo-sharing service it once was to become a money-sending, commercial-shelling, video-messaging giant. They improved their user experience by adding Stories, Geofilters, and even the rarely-used Snapcash feature, but why isn't there something as simple as color filters? Yes, they have filters for black and white, saturated, and sepia, but that's it as far as color goes.
How To: Master Pokémon & Win Every Game Using Your Android
Saying that I was obsessed with Pokémon as a child would be a serious understatement, and even though I'm not the Pokémon fanatic I once was doesn't mean I don't love playing still. However, I do often find myself dumbfounded by all of the new features and characters in each generation.
How To: Turn Your Phone's Screen On Just by Waving
The Samsung Galaxy S6 includes a pretty nifty feature known as "Gesture wake up," which lets users wave their hand over their locked display to wake it, making those periodic notification checks from the lock screen a lot more simple than having to press the power or home key every time.
How To: Hide Private Photos with an Uncrackable "Passcode"
When it comes to security, there are usually only a handful of things that you want protected from prying eyes on your iPhone—private photos, scandalous videos, and important text, such as credit card and social security numbers.
Best Android Antivirus: Avast vs. AVG vs. Kaspersky vs. McAfee
When it comes to antivirus software, you don't want some fly-by-night developer having access to the sensitive data that these apps can scan. Luckily, most of the longest-tenured antivirus companies from the realm of desktop computers offer complete security suites for Android these days.
How To: The One Android Setting You Must Change Before Traveling Abroad
With all the stress that goes into booking flights and lodging, packing (and not forgetting) everything you'll need, finding pet sitters, and everything else that goes with a trip overseas, there's the added stress of staying connected while abroad.
How To: Get Back Missing Toggles in Your Galaxy S6's Quick Settings
If you've recently noticed that you're missing Quick Settings toggles on on your Samsung Galaxy S6 or S6 Edge—specifically ones for Mobile data, Private mode, and Mobile hotspot—you aren't alone.
How To: Stop Spammy Notifications on Your Phone
Have you ever had one of your Android games post a notification in a lame attempt to remind you to play? This is becoming a common practice these days, and to me, it's about as annoying as a Best Buy blue shirt when I'm just trying to check out the latest TVs.
How To: Share Paid Android Apps for Free (Legally)
Last year, Apple debuted a feature that allows families to share iTunes and App Store purchases across their various accounts. Us Android users, on the other hand, have to buy separate copies of apps for each of our accounts—well, at least from an official standpoint.
How To: Downgrade iOS 9 Back to iOS 8
If you couldn't wait to test drive iOS 9 before its official release this fall, you probably have the beta software on your iPhone right now. However, if you're not a fan of all the bugs and glitches that accompanies it, it's not too late—you can still downgrade back to the latest version of iOS 8.
How To: The Must-Have Keyboard Feature You Never Knew You Needed
In addition to sharing emojis and GIFs, most of us also probably share various types of links through email or text, whether it be for a Google Maps location, a bar or restaurant on Yelp, or an awesome song on Spotify.
How To: The 5 Coolest New Siri Features for iPhone in iOS 9
Apple has once again improved functionality of Siri, their personal voice assistant for iPad and iPhone, in iOS 9—and this update is a big one. You can now use Siri to find photos based on location and date, set up contextual reminders, find your friends and family, and more.
NetEase Music: The Free Service That Will Get You to Leave Spotify
We recently lost Grooveshark, the free music streaming service that supplied users with a huge catalog of free music anytime, anywhere. Since its shutdown, I have been scrambling to find a half-decent alternative, and my expectations were more than exceeded when I found NetEase Music.
How To: Run Two Apps Side by Side on Your iPad in iOS 9
After rumors and mockups and all sorts of speculated features, Apple has finally brought true multitasking to the iPad in iOS 9, with the long-rumored split screen feature (which is also in El Capitan) that lets you use two apps at once. This feature is actually two different ones called Split View and Slider Over, and they both work differently.
How To: Get a Floating Video Window While Multitasking on Your iPad in iOS 9
Out of all the new features in iOS 9, the two most important ones specific to iPads are split screen multitasking and floating video windows. The latter is truly great, since you can watch movies or use FaceTime while you use different apps. The feature is called Picture in Picture, and here's what you need to know about it.
How To: Disable Proactive Search on Your iPhone or iPad in iOS 9
Apple certainly took a page from Google Now with its new "Proactive" search page in iOS 9. Located to the left of the home screen, the page provides quick access to contacts you've recently corresponded with, suggested applications, nearby places, and news articles based off of your Safari activity.
How To: Hide Photos & Other Files on Android Natively Using This Easy Trick
Have you ever noticed that some Android gallery apps display every last photo that you have stored on your device? This is particularly annoying when most stock gallery apps don't provide an option for hiding certain folders from your filmstrip view. Then there are music players that load up ringtones and video players that queue every video on your device, regardless of whether you want them there or not.
How To: Use Split View Mode in Mac OS X 10.11 El Capitan
Catching up with Windows 8, Apple has finally included a way in Mac OS X to use two apps side by side in full screen view. In the 10.11 El Capitan update, it's called Split View, and it works fairly well for the most part. It's not quite as intuitive as it should be, but easy enough once you get the hang of it.
How To: Identify Real Login Popups from Fake Phishing Attacks in iOS 8's Mail App
A recently discovered bug in iOS 8's Mail app by Jan Soucek can allow the maliciously-minded to quite easily phish your iCloud password without you ever thinking something has gone awry. Using a bug that allows remote HTML content to be loaded in place of the original email content, unsuspecting victims would be prompted for iCloud credentials in a popup that resembles the native one found on iOS.
How To: The 10 Best New Features in iOS 9's Notes App for iPad & iPhone
Notes on iOS has never been a particularly great app due to a lack of overall features compared to other note-taking apps like Evernote or Microsoft OneNote.
How To: Switch Apps with Just One Tap on Your iPhone in iOS 9
While the app switcher in iOS makes it easy to go from one open app to another fairly quickly, it's still not a great option if all you want to do is return to the previous app you were in.
How To: Unlock the Hidden iCloud Drive App on Your iPhone in iOS 9
Previously, the only way to see files in iCloud Drive on an iPad or iPhone in iOS 8 was to view them in Safari, which was pretty messy overall. To make iCloud Drive a little less confusing for the average consumer, Apple has included a dedicated app in iOS 9, allowing you to conveniently view all your stored cloud-based files right from your home screen.
How To: Use the Ring/Silent Switch to Lock Screen Rotation on Your iPhone in iOS 9
The Ring/Silent switch on the side of the iPhone has always had one purpose—to toggle ring mode/silent mode. But in iOS 9, Apple gave us another choice, and that's locking the orientation of the screen.
How To: Get the OS X El Capitan & iOS 9 Wallpapers on Your iPad, iPhone, or Mac
Mac OS X 10.11 and iOS 9 won't be officially released until later this year, but that doesn't mean you can't get a taste of it today. And the easiest way to do that is to download the new El Capitan and iOS 9 wallpapers.
How To: Extend Your iPhone's Battery Life by 3 Hours Using Low Power Mode in iOS 9
One thing Apple users universally complain about is battery life, whether it's on an iPad, iPhone, or Apple Watch. Apple did include a Battery Usage feature in iOS 8 to help us monitor which apps suck up the most energy, but it's too big a pain to deal with. Now, in iOS 9, there gave us something that actually matters—Low Power Mode.
How To: Download OS X 10.11 El Capitan on Your Mac
For those unwilling to wait until the Fall for the official release of Apple's latest Mac OS X, El Capitan, you can sign up for the public beta today and get it sometime this summer. If that's still not soon enough for you, there is a way to get it on your Mac right now.
How To: The 55 Coolest New iOS 9 Features You Didn't Know About
Apple's latest mobile operating system, iOS 9, may not be the huge overhaul that iOS 8 was, but that doesn't mean there aren't plenty of new features. In fact, there are a ton of subtle changes that you may not notice right away. Here's a rundown of all the coolest new features you need to know about on the new iOS 9 for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch.