Gadget Hacks How-Tos
Exclusive: Dual-Boot Android on Your iPhone (iOS 7+)
Today we are pleased to announce the end to the Apple vs. Android war. About a year ago, our Gadget Hacks team started working on a top-secret project to dual-boot both Android and iOS on the same phone—and we couldn't be more proud to announce that we've finally succeeded! Your phone can now run both iOS and Android—whenever you want. Right now.
Exclusive: Dual-Boot iOS 8 on Your Android Phone (4.0+)
Thanks to the strenuous efforts of our Gadget Hacks development team here at WonderHowTo, the fortified barrier segregating Android from iOS has finally fallen down.
How To: Clone Yourself Multiple Times in One Photo on Android
With platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat available for anyone to take advantage of, I'm all about differentiating from the mundane and repetitive images we see on social media everyday.
How To: Open Links Directly into Chrome's Incognito Mode on Android
Chrome's Incognito Mode is a great feature for folks that don't want their browsing history tracked. When it's enabled, Incognito Mode makes sure that all cookies and cache that are saved while you're browsing are deleted as soon as you leave a webpage.
How To: Install the Sling TV App on Your Nexus Player
UPDATE 5/21/15
How To: Automatically Overclock Your Android When You Open Certain Apps
Deep down at the core of Android lies the system kernel, which serves as a bridge between software and hardware. Custom kernels can be installed in place of the stock offering, and these are generally optimized for better performance or increased battery efficiency.
How To: Keep an Eye on Your GPA with Pointo for Android
Even though my high school days are long behind me, I still find myself waking up in a cold sweat worrying about what my GPA is and what college I'm going to be able to get into. During those days I had to rely on coming up with my own equations to figure out my GPA between grading periods—including AP and honors course, as well as weights for pluses and minuses—but now there are smartphones to do all that thinking for me.
How To: Personalize Your Android's Dictionary with Words from Your Emails, Texts, & Social Media
Android has a system-wide user dictionary file that any third-party keyboard can utilize, if it so chooses. This file contains all of the words that you've added to your keyboard manually, and of the big-name players, Minuum, TouchPal, and the Google Keyboard call on this file to determine their user dictionaries.
How To: Play & Record Thousands of Worldwide Radio Stations on Android
Back in the '80s, recording live radio was as simple as popping a cassette tape into your boombox and pressing the record button. While we've come along way with regard to accessing radio stations thanks to websites and apps that stream live broadcasts over the internet, it's no longer quite as easy to record.
How To: Play Super Mario 64 Directly in Your Web Browser
Yup, you read that right. As of now, you can actually play the first level of one of the most popular video games of all time—Super Mario 64—directly in your web browser.
How To: 10 Third-Party Apps for Facebook Messenger You Should Install Right Now
Facebook essentially strong-armed us all into installing their standalone Messenger app for mobile devices, but the recent initiative that allows third-party development on the platform definitely makes it worth your time.
How To: Use Your iPhone to Sell Unwanted Gadgets Without Ever Leaving Your Home
If you want to sell all of the old electronics lying around your home, it takes a lot of work. If you go the eBay route, you have to take tons of pictures, describe it accurately, wait for a week until someone bids on it (or not), then package it, ship it, and wait for feedback. Craigslist is a little bit easier, but usually requires you driving somewhere to meet the buyer in a public place (if you want to play it safe).
How To: Meet Periscope, Twitter's Meerkat Killer for Live Streaming Video on Your iPhone
At any moment, you can open up Meerkat and start live-streaming a video from your smartphone, available for anyone to watch. Thanks to its popularity at SXSW and the backing of several big Hollywood players, the app just announced that it's receiving $14 million in funding.
How To: Use Augmented Reality to Try on the Apple Watch with Your iPhone
Starting April 10th, you'll will be able to book 15-minute appointments online to try on an Apple Watch in person at Apple Stores across the world. With the April 24th release date just around the corner, making an appointment is a great idea for those who are unsure about which color and size to purchase—or if they'll even want one.
How To: Disable Lock Screen Album Art in Android Lollipop
Since version 4.4 (KitKat), Android has taken the album artwork for any song that's currently playing, as well as videos, podcasts, and other media, then used it as the background image for your lock screen. While many users have enjoyed this little tweak, others aren't quite as fond of it.
How To: Turn Yourself into Animated Emojis That Are Accessible from Your iPhone's Keyboard
Yes, emojis are the [insert poop emoji here]. They can help improve your love life and even let you portray emotions in a more diverse and well-rounded way now. But combining emojis with GIFs? Well, that's some next-level [insert poop emoji here] right there, and with a new iOS keyboard from Puppy Ventures, that next level is finally here.
How To: Find Out When & Where Your Samsung Galaxy Device Was Manufactured
Before you purchased your smartphone or tablet, the device had already embarked on quite a long journey. From product development to manufacturing, your Samsung Galaxy device had already developed a rich history prior to your ownership.
How To: Upload Full Panoramas to Instagram from Your iPhone
Using your iPhone camera's panorama feature is great way to capture wide-angle views of scenery, such as sweeping cityscapes, broad landscapes, and seemingly never-ending skies, as well as that awesome party or get-together you just threw.
How To: Get LED Color Effects for Music Playing on Your Android
We previously showed you how to make your Android's LED notification light dance to music, but the app itself was limited in customization options, the devices it worked on, and the music apps and services it worked with. Now we'll be showing you a similar app that supports more music services and lets you select which colors will display through the LED.
How To: PhotoMath for Android Lets You Solve Difficult Math Problems with Your Camera
I'm not a fan of this practice, but many developers release their wares on iOS before eventually porting their apps to Android. This was the case for PhotoMath, a popular and very useful app that can solve math problems with your smartphone's camera.
How To: Android Alternatives for Instagram’s New Collage-Making Layout App
Instagram recently rolled out their new Layout app that helps users build photo collages more easily, and it's quick and easy to use with great results. Unfortunately, only those with an iOS device can enjoy Layout at the moment, with the Android version slated for release "in the coming months." Luckily, there are a trove of alternatives that you can use right now, and here are the three we like best.
How To: Confirm Your Location with Touch ID to Give Yourself an Alibi
One of the biggest hits this past fall wasn't a movie, television show, or book—it was an unassuming podcast called Serial, which centered around an unsolved murder from 1999 of a high school student in Maryland.
How To: Enhance Chrome's Incognito Mode with Search Functions on Android
For some odd reason, the Chrome Browser on Android doesn't allow you to search selected text when you're in Incognito Mode. This must have been an oversight on Google's part, because the feature is definitely present with the browser in its normal viewing mode, allowing you to highlight text and quickly perform a Google search.
How To: Change Netflix's Pesky Horizontal Scrolling into a Movie Grid View for Easier Browsing
Netflix was my proverbial gateway drug to cord-cutting, as I'm sure it was for many others. Yet as much as I truly love Netflix and its service, there are some annoyances I have with the interface of the desktop web version.
How To: Lock Your Photos, Videos, Files, & Passwords in a Digital Safe for iOS
If you are anything like me, you have a knack for taking silly selfies of yourself, i.e., taking scotch tape and wrapping it around your face to make yourself look like the blob, or perhaps you like taking selfies of yourself in weird or unusual situations doing weird and unusual things.
How To: Lollipop's 'On-Body Detection' Smart Lock Keeps Your Android Unlocked While You’re Moving
Google recently rolled out a new Smart Lock option labeled "On-body detection" for Android Lollipop via an update to Google Play Services. As I'm sure you can gather from the name, this new function keeps your phone or tablet unlocked using the built-in accelerometer to determine whether or not your device is being carried on your body, allowing you to set it down and walk away carefree knowing that's it's locked again.
How To: The Best Way to Create Photo Collages for Instagram Pics on Android & iPhone
If you're one of the many that likes to upload collages to Instagram, the Facebook company has a new tool for you. Instagram released a brand new app in March called Layout to help facilitate the process of creating photo layouts to post onto social media or just share with friends.
How To: Mimic the iPhone's Status Bar on Your Android
As an Android user, there aren't many elements of my friend's iPhone that I find myself envious of, because anything he can do on iOS, I can surely find a way to do on Android...often better.
How To: Add Sound Effects to Your Snapchat Videos
Just recently, Snapchat decided to implement a feature that it had long been lacking—the ability to play music and record a video at the same time. For those of us that are jailbroken, we've had this feature for some time, but now that everyone has the ability, how should you use it?
How To: Theme Hangouts for Android with 23 Custom Colors
Hangouts is a great cross-platform messaging service from Google that works with almost any device, making it one of the few messengers that can be installed on Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android gadgets alike. With its many useful features, one of the few debatable downsides is its not-so-attractive color scheme.
How To: Make Your Android's Status Bar Clock Change Colors Throughout the Day
When you see a color depicted on your computer, smartphone, or tablet, odds are it was processed as a hex triplet before it was rendered. Most modern websites and operating systems use a hexadecimal coding system to signify certain colors, and these are represented as 6 letters and numbers.
How To: Unsubscribe from Paper Junk Mail Using Your Phone
The only mail I like getting comes in the form of an Amazon package, but when I go to my mailbox, it always ends up being a pile of credit card offers and catalogs I could never see myself ordering from. Those pieces of junk mail usually end up in the trash, which is horrible when you think about all the trees that had to get cut down in order to produce them.
How To: This Live Wallpaper Uses Ocean Water Levels to Display Your Android's Battery Life
Live wallpapers, like the classic Mario-themed one we previously covered, is a great way to spruce up your device and get some simple amusement. Unfortunately, they also drain more battery than conventional wallpapers. Which brings me to ASUS LiveOcean.
How To: Use Your Android Device as a Wiimote-Style Controller to Play Tennis on Your Chromecast
If you were around when the Nintendo Wii first launched, you remember how revolutionary the device was at the time. When I first encountered one, I was amazed at the simplicity of its controls, namely the fact that the Wii Remote (aka Wiimote) just felt like such a natural way to play a game.
How To: Get a Taste of the New Galaxy S6 with This Weather Widget for Any Android
With the release of various new and updated Samsung Galaxy S6 apps and features, like Smart Switch, Smart Remote, and wallpapers, something that's a home screen staple for most Android users was still missing.
How To: Get Sony's New Xperia Z3 Keyboard on Almost Any Android Device
Sony has a gorgeous line of smartphones using the moniker "Xperia," and the latest and greatest model is the Z3. The firmware for the Xperia Z3 was just updated to Android Lollipop, and many system apps of course got tweaked and refreshed with this latest version.
How To: Upload, Buy, Send, Receive, & Redeem Almost Any Gift Card on Your Phone
Big box stores love to sell gift cards, and as consumers, we snap them up almost as quickly as they can be printed. This industry has become rather profitable, though, because portions of the gift card balances often go unused.
How To: Personalize Mass Text Messages on Android
We've all received those impersonal mass text messages, whether we're getting invited out to a birthday party, graduation celebration, or just a group dinner or outing.
How To: Share Your Android's Music Library with All of Your Friends
If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, music lies in the ear. Even within a group of friends who share enough common interests to sit around and socialize over, music tastes can vary dramatically.
How To: This Game Turns a Second Android Device into a Tennis Racket, Wiimote-Style
You can find a plethora of tennis games on the Google Play Store, but if you're a true tennis fan and gaming enthusiast, you should check out Tennis Racketeering by Core Aplikacije. The game lets you use an additional Android device as a racket, giving you Wii-like abilities without Nintendo. It's simple to set up and extremely fun to play, so follow along below to see how it works.