Gadget Hacks How-Tos
How To: Get Your 'Damaged' Mac Apps Working Again
If you're seeing "damaged" apps on your Mac, you're not alone. A huge digital rights management blunder in Apple's Mac App Store on Wednesday, November 11th has rendered some apps unusable. When opening certain apps, the following message could be displayed:
How To: Root the Nexus 6P or Nexus 5X on Windows, Mac, or Linux—The Foolproof Guide
This year, Google released two Nexus phones to glowing reviews, and as we've grown to expect, the Android community wasted no time in coming up with a root method for both. In fact, legendary root developer Chainfire even devised an entirely new "systemless" method for rooting that should make updating a bit less complicated, along with a few other benefits.
How To: Use Your Android as a Microphone for Your PC
You need a good microphone on your computer in order to make audio recordings, voice chat, or use speech recognition. However, not every computer comes with a built-in mic, and not every built-in mic works great.
How To: Cheat Android's Hidden Flappy Droid Game
With every version bump, Android gets a new Easter egg that can be accessed by tapping the "Android version" entry in Settings. For the most part, these have generally been little animations or live wallpapers that depict the Android code name, but starting with version 5.0 Lollipop, things got a bit more interesting.
How To: Use a Firewall to Keep Data-Hungry Apps in Check
If you exceed your monthly mobile data limit, your cell phone bill can skyrocket pretty quickly. This is why a lot of people vigilantly monitor internet usage and even uninstall apps that use too much background data.
How To: Turn Your Amazon Fire TV Stick into the Ultimate Media Device
Amazon thinks that by simply removing an app from their Appstore, that they will stop users from accessing it. But with Android OS powering their Fire TV Stick and Fire TV, there really isn't anything they can do to prevent us from sideloading an APK onto the streaming media devices.
How To: Root Your Amazon Fire HD 7 Tablet
Amazon is slowly trying to gain as much influence in the tech world as it has in the consumer market, and with the Amazon Fire HD 7, they have their eyes set on taking on the "budget tablet" space.
How To: Lurk on Instagram Without Getting Caught
It might be difficult to admit, but a lot of us are probably guilty of lurking on Instagram profiles, whether it be an ex you've been keeping tabs on or someone cute you literally just met.
How To: Enable Windows 10 Admin to Remove User Account Control Popups
Windows has always had an "Administrator" account that allowed you to install programs and manage system files with elevated privileges. The difference between this account and a regular user account with administrator access was that you never got bothered by annoying User Account Control popups when you were logged in as Administrator.
How To: Encrypt Your Calls & Texts on Android
In the digital age, maintaining your privacy is a never-ending battle. All sorts of companies and agencies have access to your data, and quite a few can eavesdrop on almost every method of modern communication.
How To: 10 Reasons Why You'll Want to Use Screen Savers Again on Your Mac
Yes, screen savers are fun to look at for a few seconds, but those animations actually used to serve a purpose beyond simple entertainment.
Screw Hearts: How to Get Stars Back on Twitter
When people get accustomed to something, any type of change is typically met with resistance or disdain. So when Twitter decided to swap stars for hearts, the internet wasn't exactly receptive to the new aesthetic.
How To: Add Custom Shortcuts to Your Quick Settings
Android's Quick Settings menu is quite handy—just swipe down with two fingers from the top of your screen and you're ready to toggle several different system settings on or off. It got even better with Android 6.0 Marshmallow, since you can even use the hidden System UI Tuner to rearrange and remove your Quick Settings tiles now.
How To: Save Battery Life by Activating Doze Mode Faster on Android Marshmallow
Of all the new features in Android 6.0 Marshmallow, an automatic battery-saving function called "Doze" might just be the most interesting. What it all boils down to is that if you set your phone down on a flat surface, the device uses internal sensors to detect that it's motionless and not in use, then responds by drastically scaling back battery-sucking services until the next time you pick your phone up.
How To: Unblock American Hulu, Netflix, & More on Chromecast in Other Countries
If you're a U.S. expat living, traveling, or studying abroad, or just someone who typically uses virtual private networks (VPNs) in order to access the North American video libraries of services like Hulu or Netflix, you were probably surprised to see that these video streaming services don't work on your Chromecast or Chromecast 2.
How To: Stop Butt-Dialing All Your Contacts with This App
With a slab-style touchscreen device, butt dialing is always going to be a problem. While you're moving about, your phone can unlock itself and give your most recent contact a ring, leading to an awkward one-sided conversation where the other person gets to eavesdrop on everything you're doing or saying at that moment.
How To: Download Any SoundCloud or YouTube Song on Android
A growing trend for many artists (most recently Kanye West) is to offer exclusive or experimental tracks on music streaming sites like SoundCloud or YouTube before releasing them anywhere else. On rare occasions, some of these great songs never make their way onto an official album, which can be disappointing for die-hard fans who need to download every song available from their favorite artist or band.
How To: 3 Easy Steps to Fixing Stuck Buttons on Your Phone or Tablet
As we go about our daily grind, our smartphones and tablets take a silent beating. Dirt, dust, oil, and grime that our hands have picked up immediately gets transferred over to our shiny pocket-sized computers every time we check the time or look for new notifications, and over the course of months, this can have a very noticeable adverse effect.
Android Basics: How to Use Android Beam to Wirelessly Transfer Content Between Devices
Android Beam is one of those features that makes you look at technology in awe, wondering how exactly something like that works.
How To: Record Games on Android
Back in August, Google unveiled a new YouTube Gaming service meant to compete with e-sports streaming sites like Twitch. At its launch, the service was capable of broadcasting desktop PC gameplay, but when it came to the mobile segment, users were only capable of viewing streams hosted by others.
How To: Get Apple TV's New Aerial Screen Saver on Your Mac
When an Apple TV remains idle, it will eventually trigger its majestic video screen saver that includes aerial views New York, San Francisco, China, Hawaii, and more. Now, thanks to developer John Coates, you can have the exact same screen saver on any Mac running OS X Mavericks and above.
How To: Apps & Extensions You Should Be Using Right Now in Chrome
If you use Google Chrome as your default desktop/laptop browser, then Chrome OS will be pretty easy to get up and running if transitioning from Windows or macOS. Google has created an operating system that is fast, lightweight, and versatile enough to be adopted by pros and novices alike.
How To: Get SwiftKey's All-Black Ninja Themes for Free
Ask around anywhere that Android users gather online, and you'll find that SwiftKey is almost unilaterally the most highly-recommended keyboard for our favorite mobile operating system. It's no surprise either—SwiftKey's combination of insanely accurate word predictions and rapid-fire gesture typing comprise a hard combination to beat.
How To: Block Spoilers for TV, Movies, & Sports in Your Browser
Unlike in the physical world, on the internet you're actually able to shut people up and block spoilers of newly-released movies, your favorite TV shows, or a sports event you've yet to watch on your DVR.
How To: Get All of Apple's New Emojis on Android
Apple just sent out a new update to their iPhones, and while that normally wouldn't have any impact on Android users, the fact that they included 184 new emojis means that the text messages you receive from friends and family members with iOS devices might come across with blank or missing characters.
How To: 7 Ways to Bypass Android's Secured Lock Screen
If you somehow forgot the pattern, PIN, or password that locks your Android device, you might think you're out of luck and are destined to be locked out forever. These security methods are hard to crack by design, but in many cases, it's not entirely impossible to break into a locked device.
How To: All the Ways to Stream the NFL's Bills/Jaguars Game for Free on Sunday, 10/25
For a lot of would-be cord cutters, the lack of streaming local sports is the only hurdle that needs to be cleared before they can sever all ties with big cable. This is why it was a huge victory for us anti-cable folks when Yahoo announced that they would be hosting the first ever live-streaming NFL game this Sunday at 9:30 AM Eastern.
How To: This Hack Lets You Touch Your Galaxy's Home Key Instead of Pressing It
Samsung's Galaxy series of devices have one common design theme that ties them all together—the physical home button at the bottom of the phone. This button can wake the phone, take you to your home screen, and even scan your fingerprint to securely unlock your device.
How To: The 10 Best Reasons to Jailbreak iOS 9
Yes, there's already a way to jailbreak iOS 9 on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, but given the fact that it's only been out for about a week means that not all developers have had a chance to make their tweaks fully compatible yet. That doesn't mean they won't work, but that they might not be as smooth as they should be.
How To: RandTune Keeps Your Android Fresh with Random Ringtones & Sounds
After a few months, I get so fed up with hearing the same ringtone go off alongside each new notification that I'm forced to switch things up—only to end up repeating this whole process when the new one gets played out. And I'm sure people around me are equally sick of listening to that tired old tone towards the end as well. I mean, a decade later, I'm convinced that Nokia tone is permanently implanted in my brain.
How To: Google Snuck a File Manager in Android Marshmallow & Here's How to Find It
For years, we've had to download third-party apps if we wanted to browse or manage the files stored on our Android devices, but Google has finally included a bare-bones file explorer in Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Only thing is, it's not easy to find—but I'll show you how to access and use it below.
How To: 9 Ways to Get by Without Photoshop on Your Mac
In 1987, two brothers, Thomas and John Kroll, began work on an image editing software, which was eventually acquired in 1988 and released to the world in 1990 by Adobe. That software was Photoshop 1.0, initially exclusive for the Macintosh platform. Over the years, Photoshop became a great wizard of image editing and gained application rockstar status.
How To: The Trick to Taking Perfect Selfies with Your iPhone
Unless you have a newer iPhone 6S or 6S Plus, the front-facing "FaceTime" camera on your iPhone has a pretty weak, low-res sensor, which means unflattering selfies. You could use the rear "iSight" camera to take a high-res selfie, but framing your mug properly and hitting the shutter is difficult, takes many failed attempts, and usually results in a lackluster photo.
How To: Share Live Photos with Anyone by Converting Them to GIFs
Live Photos is an interesting new feature introduced by Apple on the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus models that captures the moments immediately before and after you snap a picture in the Camera app, resulting in a GIF-like animation.
How To: Use New Google Search Features Before Everyone Else
Not that long ago, Google introduced a beta program for their Google Search app on Android. Much like any beta program, testers will get access to new features before they officially debut, but you might have to put up with the occasional bug as new functionality is introduced. If you'd like to sign up, it's quite simple, but I'll go over the process in detail below.
How To: Hide the Red Notification Badges on Any Samsung Galaxy Device
On all Samsung Galaxy models, certain messaging and social media applications provide red badges on their home screen icons that indicate the number of notifications you've received. If you're like me, you probably don't appreciate these indicators. But thankfully, they're easy enough to get rid of. You just have to know where to look.
How To: Use Split View Mode on Any iPad Model
If you own an iPad 2, a 3rd or 4th generation model, or original iPad mini, then you won't be able to utilize the new multitasking elements introduced in iOS 9. Although many iPads can use the Slide Over and Picture-in-Picture features, only the iPad Air 2, iPad mini 4, and iPad Pro have the ability to perform Split View.
How To: Unlock the Hidden Multi-Window Mode in Android 6.0 Marshmallow
Manufacturers like Samsung and LG have added their own implementation of multi-window features to Android for years now, but with the release of version 6.0 Marshmallow, Google has finally gotten around to working the same feature into stock Android.
How To: You Don't Need a New iPhone to Take Live Photos
Since Live Photos are nothing more than a glorified, built-in GIF generator on the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to get this "exclusive" feature on an older iPhone. While taking a Live Photo does eat up a lot of processing power, which the A9 chips can handle perfectly, older iPhones can still manager fairly well—no 3D Touch needed. You just need a jailbroken iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch to do it.
How To: Combine WhatsApp, Facebook, & Other Messengers into One App
With new messaging services being pushed out constantly, it can be a pain trying to keep track of them all on your Android device. We had previously shown how to stay on top of them all with a unified "inbox" app, but that still requires you to have each individual app installed. While looking for a true one-stop messenger, I came across Disa.