Hot Gadget Hacks Posts
How To: Enable a Translucent Navigation Bar in All Apps & Screens on Android
By eliminating the need for hard keys on phones, manufacturers are able to use that extra space for a larger display, which is clearly evident on the bezel-minimal LG G3. In order to replace the physical home, back, and app switcher keys, we now have stylish soft keys.
How To: Get a Taste of Android L's Material Design with QKSMS Messaging
Google's Android L developer preview has given Android a more refined look, with developers excited to update their apps with the new Material Design UI. While some apps are slowly getting updated, QKSMS (QK for quick) is a 3rd-party text messaging app that was built with Material Design in mind.
How To: Stop Snoozing with a Personal Wake Up Call—No Concierge Required
I have never been a morning person, and that's a trait that I don't think is going away. Combine my distaste for early hours with being a heavy sleeper, and it adds up to a lot of alarms being dismissed in a haze, with no real intention of ever waking up.
How To: Microsoft's Xim Makes Syncing Everyone's Photos from Group Events Easy
Ah, the age-old problem of sharing pictures with friends and family. Ten years ago, the best method available to us was passing around duplicate photos printed out at the local drug store. As easy as smartphones have made this act, you'd think we'd be satisfied by now.
How To: Create Personalized GIFs Using Faces on Your iPhone or iPad
JibJab may not ring the bell, but you've probably seen one of their personalized videos. Using your own images, JibJab will place you first-hand into silly and usually musically-inspired videos that you can view online. Currently in beta, JibJib has made it's way to iOS in the form of personalized GIF creation. And if you're wondering, "why the hell would I want this", trust me, you'll love creating GIFs starring your and your friend's faces. Check out the guide below to get the app installed...
How To: Swipe to Easily Organize the Heaps of Pictures on Your Android
With hundreds of pictures accumulating on my device, it's a daunting task to devote time to sorting through which are worth keeping and which I should discard. Not all of the images on my device are winners, so the losers not only take up space, they make it difficult to find the good ones as I wade through the crap.
How To: Create Collaborative Reminders on Your iPhone or iPad
Reminding a spouse or roommate to pick up some last-minute groceries is typically done with a quick message that can easily go unnoticed or unseen. Your feeble attempt of a reminder won't work unless it's conveniently sent at the right moment, like when they're on their way home. Chances are, you'll forget to text them and they'll forget the earlier reminder you sent.
How To: Personalize Your TV Experience with Chromecast's New Backdrop Feature
It's been a long-awaited feature since being announced at Google I/O in June, but Backdrop for Chromecast has finally started rolling out. With an update to the Chromecast app for Android and iOS, users will be able to personalize the background images that appear when Chromecast is idle.
How To: Noice Adds Sounds to Emojis on Your iPhone
As messaging and texting have all but replaced the need to actually call someone, emojis have seemingly replaced our need to type out text. With a simple emoji, you can relay emotions like "I don't feel very well" or "I love you" quickly and easily, knowing that the other party will instantly know what you're feeling.
How To: Manage Stored Passwords So You Don't Get Hacked
Chrome, Firefox, and Safari all provide built-in features that allow you to save your username and password for your favorite sites, making the process for entering your credentials a breeze when you revisit them.
How To: Draw Messages Instead of Typing Them Directly from the Keyboard on Your iPhone
iOS 8's third-party keyboard functionality is one of the best new additions to Apple's mobile operating system, allowing us to use swipe gestures, custom backgrounds, minimal designs, and many other features that the stock keyboard lacks.
How To: Keep Your Smartphone Usage in Check for Android & iPhone
We're living through the technological revolution, and while devices like the iPhone 6 or Galaxy S5 have made life easier and more entertaining, it's possible that sometimes our smartphone usage can become uncomfortably excessive. In your own experience, think about how anxious and off you feel when you leave your phone at home—Cell Phone Separation Anxiety or Phantom Phone Vibrations shouldn't be a real thing that we deal with.
How To: Path Talk App Lets You “Text” Businesses Instead of Calling Them
In today's world of ordering food from your PC or hailing a cab with an app, it almost seems archaic when we have to actually use our vocal cords to contact a local business. It sure would be nice if we didn't have to use our smartphones as, well, you know...phones.
How To: Take Perfectly-Framed Photos Every Time on Android
At the end of an all-day affair with friends or family, I'll unwind and go through all the pictures I took that day as a sort of recap. All too often, though, I'll come across a few that are almost perfect, except I didn't quite position my phone well enough, leaving someone's face cutoff or too much space to one side of the image. It's a fail of a basic and crucial tenet of photography—framing.
How To: Munchkin Monitor Turns an Android into a Wi-Fi Camera for Babies & Pets
I may not be a parent just yet, but I've dealt with enough worrisome mothers to know that keeping a watchful eye over your child is of the top-most importance. Since most people cannot afford to stay right by their child's side 24/7, developers are always looking for ways to make the pain of stepping away a little less stressful for parents.
How To: Watch YouTube Videos While Browsing in Chrome
Whether I'm writing up something online, playing games in Chrome, or just browsing the annals of the Internet, I always like to keep a tab open for YouTube so I can listen to interviews, trailers, and music videos at the same time. But a tab can get lost, and it's not easy to "watch" if I don't have a second display to utilize—even with snapping windows.
Siri Exploited—Again: How to Bypass the Lock Screen in iOS 8 (& How to Protect Yourself)
It's becoming more and more apparent that Siri continually drops the ball when it comes to lock screen security. In the past, Siri was exploited in iOS 7.0.2 to send messages without needing a passcode. Then in iOS 7.1.1, Siri was use to bypass the lock screen again to access contacts, make calls, and send emails and texts.
How To: Put Celebs in Your Photos Directly from Your iPhone
It's time to step up your selfie game, especially if all of your selfies tend to have the same vapid look and feel. There are plenty of techniques for better selfie-taking, and I've already shown you a few iPhone tricks, like making yourself look thinner and using hand gestures to get situated better. Now I'll show you how to give your followers something to really "like"—celebrities.
How To: Use El Capitan's New Split View Mode in Mac OS X Mavericks or Yosemite
Mac OS X has finally added a way to use two apps side by side in full screen mode, à la Microsoft's Windows Snap. But since it's only available in 10.11 El Capitan right now, those of us with older systems will have to wait until the El Capitan Public Preview or final build is released later this year.
How To: Auto Move for Android Puts Your Files Exactly Where You Want Them
While I consider myself to be a pretty organized guy, there are often times where I just can't find a file I put on my phone. Most of the time, when I download a file it goes automatically into my Download folder, but when I use a third-party to download other files, like torrents, they could end up in a number of places. Filtering abilities on file explorers often fall short, so it was time to find an app that would automatically sort files in real time.
How To: Use Snapchat from Your Mac
Who said you need a smartphone to use Snapchat? A new application in the Mac App Store, appropriately dubbed Snappy, allows you to send and receive Snapchats directly on your computer. Check out the guide below to learn how to go through all of your Snapchat stories, take and send photos with filters, and text just like you would on your mobile device.
News: 10 Free Android Apps That Make Math Fun (Yes, Really)
I am an English major physically allergic to all algebraic formulas, so you're unlikely to get any help from me when it comes to solving any expressions. But in the glorious technological age we live in, there are plenty of apps that actually make math and problem solving fun, even a little bit addictive.
How To: Back Up All Your Android's Files to Google Drive Automatically
Google makes backing up your contacts, messages, and Wi-Fi passwords extremely easy, but leaves you out in the cold when it comes the data on your internal storage. With most Android devices now lacking SD card support, when you unlock your bootloader or do a factory reset, you're stuck having to back up everything to your computer beforehand.
How To: Get a Standard Android Home Screen on Your Kindle Fire
Stocked with a 7-inch LCD display and 323 PPI (pixels per inch), the Kindle Fire HDX is one of the best tablets on the market for enjoying some great literature or entertaining streaming services—and I take full advantage of what this device offers.
How To: View & Use iCloud Drive Files on Your iPhone
iCloud Drive is Apple's new solution to file management syncing across iOS and Mac OS X. If you've upgraded to iOS 8 and you have an iCloud account, you can use iCloud Drive to store files for certain apps. While you won't really be able to benefit with file syncing between iOS and Mac apps until you get Yosemite, you can still access your iCloud Drive documents online.
How To: Turn Your G3's Status Bar into a Brightness Slider
One of the easiest ways to adjust brightness on an Android device is to use the slider found in the notification shade. Unfortunately, for some odd reason, the Sprint variant of the LG G3 does not have this feature.
How To: The Trick to Opening Up Directions in Third-Party Map Apps on Your iPhone
After a few unnecessary U-turns, I quickly realized that Apple Maps wasn't for me, which is why I hate that it opens as the default app any time I select a shared location or an address from Yelp. Copying and pasting the address to Google Maps isn't a huge deal, but it's certainly not as fluid of a process as I'd like.
How To: Boot Linux from Your Android onto Any Mac or PC
Linux may not be the most popular consumer operating system out there, but what it lacks in consumer app variety, it definitely makes up for in flexibility and security. And if you've ever tinkered with a Linux distro, you know how easy they are to install—most of the time, I skip standard installation and boot directly from a CD.
How To: Preserve Battery Life on Android in Just One Tap
Contrary to what you may think, clearing or swiping away apps in the Recent Apps view on your Android device does not necessarily stop app activity or running tasks—and these running processes can actually be eating away at your battery life. Depending on the app or process, it may only be a small percentage, but every little bit helps these days.
News: What's New in Windows 10 (Plus, How You Can Install It Right Now)
At a closed-door presentation on September 30th, 2014, Microsoft unveiled the latest iteration of its industry-leading operating system. Dubbed Windows 10 (seems as if Redmond isn't too fond of the "9" moniker), this new version brings along with it many UI optimizations and under-the-hood tweaks. With a particular focus on optimizing the interface for traditional mouse and keyboard computers, one of the most noticeable changes is the return of the Start Menu. While touch-optimized devices wi...
How To: Top 5 Free Productivity Widgets for Your iPad or iPhone
More and more devices are using iOS 8 over iOS 7, and that means more and more developers are adding iOS 8-friendly features to their apps, especially widgets. However, not every widget available for your Notification Center right now is awesome. Take for example the Dropbox widget—it's essentially nothing more than a real-time notification, as the only action it performs is opening a recently updated file within the app.
How To: Translate Foreign Webpages in Safari for iOS 8
While it can be argued that Google Chrome is generally a better browser, iPhone users tend to remain loyal to Safari. But one feature that gives Chrome the upper hand is its ability to recognize the language on any given page and offer you an option to translate it to your native language.
How To: Stop Notifications from Pausing Your Music on Android
A musical hiccup during a DJ's set can completely ruin the mood, and that same feeling can definitely translate to mobile listening as well.
How To: Who Needs Camera Roll? Use MyRoll on Your iPhone Instead
While there isn't a "Camera Roll" anymore in iOS 8 for your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, the photos that were once in it are not missing—they're just not as convenient as they once were. In the upcoming iOS 8.1 update, Camera Roll will be making a comeback, but we've found something better that you can use right now—even after Camera Roll returns!
iOS 8.1 Update Coming Soon: Here's What's New for Your iPhone
The updates keep coming for iOS 8, and we've got our hands on the developer release of iOS 8.1, currently in beta, which was released shortly after the iOS 8.0.2 update (and 8.0.1 failure) for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch.
How To: Recover Deleted Gmail Contacts
If you accidentally deleted a few contacts in Gmail, don't worry. You could still restore or find those email ids. This video will show you how to recover those contacts and bring back to your contact list. The process of recovering those contacts is quite easy. So please watch the video and follow all the steps carefully.
How To: Track Your Sleep Using a Galaxy Gear Neo
With developments from tech giants Apple and Samsung being shared throughout the interwebs, the term smartwatch has become increasingly popular over the last year. That being said, smartwatches have been around for a while.
How To: Add Speed-Dial to Your iPhone's Notification Center in iOS 8
Accessing your favorite and most recent contacts on your iPhone is now faster than ever before, thanks to the iOS 8 update. Just double-click your Home button, select your contact above the app switcher menu, then choose how you want to contact them.
How To: Theme TouchWiz on Your Samsung Galaxy S5
If you've ever noticed that the stock launcher on an Android device seems to just feel faster than any third-party home screen replacement app, this is not a placebo effect. Most manufacturers, Samsung included, force their stock launchers to reside permanently in your phone's memory, thus reducing the risk of redraws.
Suggest Movie for Android: A Simple Way to Search for Good Flicks
"Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit" was one of my favorite lines from the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but it's also exactly what you have to wade through to find a good movie to watch.