Gadget Hacks How-Tos
How To: Automatically Turn on Speakerphone for Every iPhone Call
When you make or receive a call on your iPhone, you're forced to use the built-in ear receiver at the top of the phone to hear anything—unless you're already connected to a Bluetooth device. If you don't have Bluetooth in your car, or prefer to just use the speaker instead, having to manually switch to speaker mode can get annoying real fast.
Siri 101: How to Disable Siri on Your iPhone's Lock Screen
If you like having Siri available to answer a quick question every now and again but don't want everyone who picks up your iPhone to also have access to your personal assistant, there's an easy way to disable her from working on your iPhone's lock screen. This is also something you can do if you're always activating Siri accidentally in your pocket.
How To: Does Your Android Support Doze, Google's Best Battery-Saving Feature?
Out of all the new functionality introduced alongside Android 6.0 Marshmallow, a battery-saving feature called Doze Mode has been the biggest hit. Essentially, Doze waits until your device is laying flat and still, at which point it triggers an aggressive battery-saving mode that drastically increases standby time on your device.
How To: Google's Hidden Battery Tool Helps You Figure Out Why Your Phone Dies So Fast
Android's stock battery menu is pretty decent. You can see which apps have been using the most power, and you can tell when your CPU was awake or asleep, among other things. But a lot of times, battery-sucking services will get lumped under the generic "Android System" header, and even though you can see when your CPU was awake, you can't exactly see why.
How To: Scroll Better on Android Using These Gestures
Smartphones are designed to be used in portrait mode primarily, so smartphone apps are created with that layout in mind. This means that practically every app on your phone is vertically oriented, which, in turn, means that we have to scroll up and down quite a bit.
How To: Automatically Skip YouTube Ads on Android—Without Rooting
Over the years, YouTube ads have become more and more integrated with the videos themselves, which means traditional Android ad blockers can no longer block the ads without blocking the videos. It's gotten to the point where the only ways to get rid of the ads are to either subscribe to Google Play Music and YouTube Red, or go through the complicated process of installing the Xposed Framework.
How To: Google Just Introduced a Killer New Keyboard for iPhones
Google just made searching the web on your iPhone a whole lot easier with its new GBoard keyboard for iOS. It has a built-in Google icon so that you can search directly from whatever app you're in, making it a cinch to add images, GIFs, directions, videos, and more.
How To: See Your Google Play Store Spending History
We tend to think of Google Play as Android's app store—but there's far more to it than that. Not only does it allow you to purchase apps and games, but you can also buy movies, music, books, and even devices, plus there's always those pesky in-app purchases that it also handles.
How To: Unlock Home Button Shortcuts on Your iPhone
If your iPhone has a Home button, such as either iPhone SE model, old or new, then it has a secret triple-click gesture to activate a suite of shortcuts. These options, dubbed accessibility shortcuts, can work wonders for folks that are hearing impaired, have limited use of their hands, or have vision problems. Still, the shortcuts have plenty of everyday applications that everyone should know.
How To: Get Back Google's Blue Search Links (If You See Black Ones)
Google seems to be growing tired of the way links appear in its Search results page, because they're currently experimenting with a color change (that's already causing lots of controversy).
How To: This Is by Far the Easiest Way to Set Up a Free VPN on Your iPhone
A VPN service is almost an essential these days. Good ones can block ads, prevent tracking cookies, encrypt your internet traffic for better security, and even spoof your device's location to bypass geo-restrictions — all things you should be concerned about in the age of NSA snooping and Facebook data mining.
How To: Use the Best Root-Level Customization Tool for Android
With certain apps and games, it's all about the settings. In order to get your money's worth with one of these, you simply have to take the time to tweak and adjust various options, which is something a lot of users don't necessarily want to do.
How To: Keep Your Android Super Secure with a PIN That Changes with the Time
When it comes to security, Android generally takes an all-or-nothing approach—once someone has your PIN, they're free to do just about anything, up to and including wiping your device. This is why you have to be extra careful to ensure that neither strangers nor friends are looking over your shoulder while you're entering your PIN.
How To: Factory Reset Your Android the Right Way
Whether you're performing a factory reset to get your device ready for sale or trade-in, or you're wiping your device in the hopes of fixing software issues, there's a right way and a wrong way to go about it. Sure, it seems like a simple task on the surface, but if you're not careful, you could end up wasting a lot of time or losing precious data.
How To: Message GIFs from Your iPhone's Keyboard Before iOS 10 Is Released
GIFs are awesome, but GIFing from your keyboard is some next-level stuff, and Apple knows this. That's why they've included a way to find and send GIFs in Messages from the stock iOS 10 keyboard. However, iOS 10 is not out for the public just yet, so if you want to easily send GIFs in your messages, you'll have to settle for a third-party keyboard.
How To: Hack Counter-Strike to Play on Your Android
Counter-Strike is one of the most popular first-person shooters of all time, and deservedly so. What originally started out as a third-party Half-Life mod garnered such a cult following that Valve had to hire the developers and purchase the intellectual property to make it an official standalone release.
How To: Get Circular Folders on Your iPhone's Home Screen
Aside from changing your wallpaper, there's not much you can do to customize the home screen on your iPhone besides nesting folders, hiding folder names, and hiding apps—and those aren't even actual features. They're simply glitches that Apple never took care of, and now there's another, even cooler one to add to that list.
How To: Get Google's Hidden Weather App on Your Home Screen
You can now access Google's slick Weather app without having to first open the Google or News & Weather apps. However, you will have to use Google to access the weather the old-fashioned way one more time, but you'll have the option to place a shortcut on your home screen to access the weather directly going forth.
How To: Record Your Mac's Screen for Free Using QuickTime
When a friend asks me what screen recording software is best to use, I always say the same thing—you don't need any! Even though it's been around since 2009, many Mac owners do not realize that they have a powerful screen recording software built right into OS X.
How To: Launch Apps from the Side of Your Android Just Like the Galaxy Edge
The Galaxy S7 edge comes with a feature called Edge Apps that lets you quickly launch your favorite apps by swiping in from the edge of your screen. It's a natural and intuitive gesture, and as a result, we've seen a recent influx of apps that look to emulate this feature.
How To: Permanently Silence Your Mac's Annoying Notification Center
When Apple wanted to bring their Notification Center to Mac OS X, I loved the idea. But after using it since its integration in Mountain Lion, it's been more annoying and distracting than anything. More and more apps incorporate notifications, so I'm constantly getting sound alerts and banners in the top right corner that I don't want.
How To: Set Your Android to Atomic Time for a Perfectly Synced Clock
For most Android phones, the system clock is set using a protocol called NITZ, which relies on a connection with your carrier to ensure that the time stays in sync. The trouble here is that this feature won't work when you're outside of cellular range, and a lot of times, the carriers themselves have technical difficulties that can result in your phone's clock being minutes or even hours out of sync.
How To: Surf the Web Without Restrictions for Free Using Opera's Hidden VPN
The desktop browser market has some stiff competition going on, but Opera has always been able to maintain its market share by offering innovative features such as a data saver option. With over 350 million users, it's safe to say folks are appreciative of the efforts being made by the web browser's development team.
How To: Your One-Stop Guide to Secure, Encrypted Messaging
Now that smartphones have ensured that we're connected to the internet 24/7, online privacy has become more important than ever. With data-mining apps hoping to sell your information for targeted ads, and government agencies only one subpoena away from knowing every detail of your private life, encryption has become our last line of defense.
How To: The Easiest Way to Pick Up on Your PC Where You Left Off on Your Android
One of Android's biggest strengths is its ability to interact with other operating systems. When you plug your phone into your Windows PC, you instantly see all of the files it holds—and all it takes is a simple syncing app to do the same with Mac. To top that off, apps like Pushbullet and Join bridge the gap even further by allowing you to share links, files, and messages between all of your devices.
How To: Keep Track of What You Spend on Spotify, Netflix, & Other Online Subscriptions Using Your iPhone
As the internet continues to become a bigger part of our day-to-day lives, we slowly but surely start to rack up a bunch of web-based subscriptions. These internet subscription services—Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime, just to name a few—may seem innocuously cheap individually, but when combined, they actually comprise a significant portion of our monthly bills.
How To: Get Samsung's 'Always On Display' on Any Android Device
Samsung's latest flagship devices—the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge—both sport an interesting new feature called Always On Display, or simply AOD. When enabled, this feature keeps the clock, date, and other bits of information visible at all times—even when the screen is off.
How To: See Only Emails with Attachments Using This Secret iPhone Mail Trick
If you get a ton of emails each day, your mailbox probably has thousands of unread messages, and that annoying badge icon will keep reminding you of it. Fortunately, iOS comes with some tools to help you bring some sense of order to that chaotic mailbox of yours.
How To: Get Rhymes, Puns, & Synonyms Right from Your iPhone or iPad's Keyboard
You're only as smart as your communication skills allow you to be, as other people will simply never know your inner genius if you can't effectively express yourself. Regardless of the medium—be it a Facebook post or even a simple text message—this fact remains true.
How To: Disable Password Prompts When Downloading Free Apps in the Mac App Store
Whether you want to edit photos, compress files, play games, or DJ your next party, there's a free Mac app that can help you out. But things can get annoying real fast if you download a lot of free apps from the Mac App Store, since you have to type in your Apple ID password each time.
How To: Give Your MacBook's Battery a Longer, Healthier Life with These Power Tips
Apple's MacBook line of laptops is quite famous for their extensive battery life, thanks to various technologies that Apple has utilized. However, all things must pass, and over time your MacBook's battery will degrade. Certain use scenarios can accelerate the degradation of the battery—from excessive usage to high temperatures to overloading the system—and this can all lead to the untimely obliteration of your battery.
How To: Cross-Network Play Between Xbox & PlayStation Is a Great Idea... But We Deserve More
It was definitely a shocker when Microsoft proposed cross-network play between the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 last month. After all, Microsoft and Sony have been competing for the same user base for more than a decade now, and this new feature might actually decrease console sales as a whole.
How To: Samsung's Hidden App Lets You Drastically Change Your Galaxy's Look
The only knock on Samsung's last round of flagship devices is that TouchWiz is still alive and kicking. Aside from this overbearing skin that's been applied on top of Android, the Galaxy S6, S6 edge, Note 5, and this year's Galaxy S7 models are some of the best phones money can buy.
How To: Secure Any Android App with Your Fingerprint
When Google released the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P, they added official support for fingerprint scanning to Android's main code base. On the surface, this was done to ensure that the fingerprint scanner in their own devices could be used to its full extent, but because it was added to AOSP, this meant that the new Fingerprint API could be used by any Android manufacturer.
How To: Get Android Nougat's All-New Emojis Right Now
Apple has stepped up its emoji game lately, and as a result, there are several iPhone emojis that don't show up on Android devices running older firmware. However, Google responded by adding a next-gen set of Unicode 9.0 emojis to its Android Nougat preview build, meaning that soon, Android will have more emojis than iOS.
How To: Turn a Paperwhite into the New Absurdly-Priced Kindle Oasis
Amazon just unveiled the Kindle Oasis, the latest model in its popular line of e-readers. There are a couple of nice new features, but it's pretty hard to see how any of them justify the whopping $290 price tag (or $310 if you don't want ads littering your screen).
How To: Swap the 'Back' & 'Recent Apps' Buttons on Your Nexus 6P
If you find yourself switching between Android devices frequently—for instance, your Nexus 6P and a Samsung tablet—you've probably noticed how the button placement can be different. Normally, it's back, then home, then the recent apps button, from left to right. But Samsung devices have this backwards, which can lead to frustration when muscle memory kicks in and the back button isn't where you expect it to be.
How To: Use Your Android Phone Without Ever Touching It
Google has been working on its voice recognition technology ever since the days when you had to call a phone number with a Silicon Valley area code to dictate your query. As you can imagine, things have come a long way in the decade or so that has passed, to the point where we talk to our phones as if they were a person nowadays.
How To: Change Your Android TV's Screensaver
Much like the Chromecast, Android TV devices such as the Nexus Player and Nvidia Shield TV have always had those beautiful background images as their default screensaver. However, unlike the Chromecast, these "Backdrop" images, as they're called, weren't always customizable on Android TV.
How To: This App Helps You Get the Lowest Price on Anything from Amazon
Amazon has completely changed the way we purchase household items, to the point where many of us haven't visited a big box, brick-and-mortar store like Walmart or Best Buy in years. And when you think about it, all of this success comes down to two main factors—convenience and price.