Gadget Hacks How-Tos — Page 158 of 336

How To: “KnockOn” Your HTC One (Double-Tap Screen to Wake)

LG's new KnockOn feature for the G2 wakes the phone up just by tapping on the screen twice, in lieu of using the power/lock button.

How To: Install a Custom Recovery & New ROM on Your Bootloader-Locked Samsung Galaxy S4

Third-party ROMs like CyanogenMod are the ultimate form of customization for softModders. Hard-working developers offer us alternate Android experiences to replace our often bloatware-riddled stock ROMs.

How To: The Easiest Way to Access Recent Files & Photos on Your Nexus 7

If you use your Nexus 7 like me, then you're constantly downloading APKs, installing new games from Google Play, taking a million photos, and using multiple apps at the same time.

How To: Pimp Out Your iPhone's Lock Screen Music Player

The lock screen music player in iOS 7 has all the controls you'd ever need from a lock screen, but it's not as visually appealing as I hoped it would be. Yes, it does show you the album cover art, but the way everything is presented makes it feel cluttered.

How To: Streamline the "Complete Action Using" Dialog Box on Your Nexus 4 or 5

You've seen it a million times. You try to do something on your Android device and a box pops up asking you which app you'd like to use. You could try Photos, Gallery, Drive, Picasa Web Albums...the list is fairly extensive sometimes. And what's worse, after that you have to select "Always" or "Just once". Add it all up, and that's three taps to do something you thought would take just one!

How To: Find Your "Missing" Parked Car Using Your Nexus Without Doing Any Work

We've all been there. Stranded in a large lot or parking garage, braving the rows upon rows of identical cars in an endless concrete landscape because, for the very life of us, we can't remember where we stashed the very ride that brought us there.

How To: Find the Latest & Greatest Chromecast Apps

Now that the Chromecast development kit has been out for over a month, more and more Android apps are being released or updated to work with the Chromecast.

How To: The Easiest Way to Find a Halfway Spot Between You & Someone You're Meeting Using Your Nexus 7

Back in college, there were many instances where I'd have to meet up with a partner that I was randomly paired with in order to work on a project or to study for an exam. Besides the awkward interactions, the most difficult part was always figuring out where we would meet off-campus. I live here and they live there, so what's reasonably halfway?

How To: Add Swipe Gestures to the Stock Launcher's Home Screen on Your Nexus 5

The Google Now Launcher that was introduced with the Nexus 5 seems to have a lot of folks torn. On the one hand, having a home screen page dedicated to Google Now, as well as the always-listening voice search, are killer features. On the other hand, its lack of customization options like home screen gestures and variable grid sizes has some people considering switching to third-party launchers.

How To: Pause & Play Music Faster Using the Volume Buttons on Your iPhone

When you're wearing EarPods or another set of headphones with built-in remote controls, pausing and playing music is as convenient as it gets. However, some of the better sounding headphones out there do not have remotes built in, so pausing a song when you need to is at least a few steps, which is a few steps more than I want.

How To: Create Restricted Profiles on Your Nexus 7 for Guest Users

Whenever I hand my tablet over to someone, my heart always races for a second at the thought that they may stumble across my private pictures, texts, and videos. I trust them, and they may not be the snooping type, but it can be easy enough to come across private stuff by accidentally opening a gallery or messaging app.

How To: Set Your Current Location & Weather Forecast as Your Galaxy Note 3's Wallpaper

Muzei Live Wallpaper is a popular Android app that refreshes your home screen background at set intervals, turning it into blurred pieces of artwork or photography while keeping your icons and widgets in the spotlight.

How To: Get Real-Time Info on Friends Around You (Including Exact Location) Using Your iPhone

Imagine that Tinder fornicated with Facebook and had a baby. The product of that union would be the hideous, yet overwhelmingly interesting SocialRadar, an app dedicated to stalkers and stalkees.

How To: "Tell" Your Nexus 5 to Play Music, Toggle Settings, & Other Custom Voice Commands

When Google introduced their new launcher alongside the Nexus 5, one of the most innovative features was the "always listening" voice search, meaning that at any time you were on your home screen, triggering a Google search was as simple as saying "Okay, Google."

How To: Save $20 on Your Amazon Prime Subscription

Amazon Prime is a yearly subscription service that offers free two-day shipping as well as free streaming of Amazon's movie and TV show catalog. If you're a member, you probably got a not-so-fun email this morning saying that the price of the service would increase from $79/year to $99/year after April 17th. While their reasoning is understandable, twenty bucks is twenty bucks! Here's how to renew your current membership at the original price, if it expires after April 17th, courtesy of Slick...

How To: (Updated) The Extremely Vulgar (& Hilarious) "Cards Against Humanity" Game Has Been Cloned for Chromecast & Android

If you've never played Cards Against Humanity, it's time to get initiated. Originally funded through Kickstarter, the free to download card game is basically an obscene version of Apples to Apples.

How To: Create Radio Stations with All Hits and No Misses with This Hidden iOS 7.1 Feature

Apple's latest update, iOS 7.1, has flooded to iPhones and iPads across the world. Despite the buzz across the web covering most of its newest features, we found one nice little enhancement that has been overlooked.

How To: Unlock the Bootloader & Root Your HTC One Running Android 4.4.2 KitKat

As softModders, the first thing we do after updating to the newest version of Android is to root, install a custom recovery, and install a superuser app. By doing this you open up your HTC One to a vast quantity of new apps and tweaks you can use to truly make your phone One of a kind.

How To: Control Which Apps Boot During Startup on Your Nexus 4 or Nexus 5

The more you use your device, the more you'll download and install apps. These apps range from helpful to fun to simple distractions, but after a while, you may notice slow down on your device or a marked reduction in battery life.

How To: Get Samsung's New WatchON App from the Galaxy S5 on Your Galaxy Note 3

It was only a matter of time before the apps from the new Samsung Galaxy S5 leaked for everyone to download and install, and today we've got one that takes advantage of the IR blaster on your Galaxy Note 3.

How To: Access Notifications & Quick Settings from a Secured Lock Screen on Your Nexus 7

Accessing notifications and quick settings from the lock screen just makes things move quicker and more efficiently, unless of course we're using a secure lock screen. It makes sense that if we have face, pattern, or pin security enabled, we may not want notifications accessible, but really, that should be something we decide for ourselves—and now we can.

How To: Back Up & Restore Data for All Apps on Your HTC One Using ADB for Mac

Today, I'm going show you how to back up all of your apps and their data using Android Debug Bridge (ADB)—an essential function for all softModders. These commands will be especially useful when you are updating your version of Android, since they don't require a third-party program to run on your device.

How To: Mimic Apple's Status Bar Look on Your Nexus 4 or 5

Android is all about the fine details. You can make a little tweak here and a little tweak there and completely customize your experience to be exactly how you want it to be. Sure, you don't need to customize LED colors or screen record, but it's nice to know you can.

How To: Make Your iPad or iPhone Auto-Fill Your iOS App Store Password for You

I hate typing in my password every time I want to install an application on my iPhone. My fat fingers make it so that I rarely get it correct the first time. If you're like my mom, you might not even remember it. Keyboard shortcuts are not a viable option either, since they are disabled for passwords.

How To: Navigate Apps & Settings with Slides & Gestures on Your Samsung Galaxy S3

Slide to left, slide to the right, one hop this time. Okay, so maybe those are some of the dance instructions for the "Cha Cha Slide", but sliding and swiping on your Samsung Galaxy S3 can become so much more than just a simple gesture.

How To: Install ADB & Fastboot in Mac OS X to Send Commands to Your HTC One

If you're looking into rooting your device yourself, you're going to need ADB and Fastboot on your computer.

How To: Turn Your Nexus 4 or Nexus 5 into an LG G2 Clone

The advent of a new Nexus phone begins with the bigwigs at Google partnering with a manufacturer, then selecting that manufacturer's flagship as the model for the new Nexus hardware.

How To: View Google Play Pages for Installed Apps Faster on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 3

On more than one occasion, I've wanted to check out the Google Play page for an app I was currently using, whether it was to get contact information or read recent reviews to see if others were experiencing issues that I was.

How To: Control Calls from Any App with Floating Dialer Buttons on Your Samsung Galaxy S3

I don't mean to offend anyone, but some phone calls are just plain boring, and being put on hold is shittier than eating three-day old sushi.

How To: Everything You Need to Know About Apple's iOS 7.1 for iPad, iPhone, & iPod Touch

After many beta builds, Apple has finally released iOS 7.1 to the public. It includes bug fixes for the old iOS 7.0.6, along with UI enhancements and even some new features.

How To: Add a Dimmer Switch to Your iPhone's Flashlight in the Control Center

With the introduction of the Control Center in iOS 7, we finally had a way to access common system toggles like Wi-Fi, Airplane Mode, and best of all, Flashlight. Of course, there were plenty of adequate flashlight apps in the iOS App Store, but none that made it available straight from the lock screen.

How To: Get the Exclusive Nokia X Browser, Camera, Ringtones, & More on Your Nexus 5

Nokia's recent foray into the world of Android brought a plethora of goodies along with it. The Finnish smartphone manufacturer offers a slightly different take on our favorite mobile operating system, with customizations ranging from ringtones to its very own app store.

How To: Get Samsung's Exclusive "Milk Music" App on Your Nexus 7 or Other Android Device

Samsung's exclusive music streaming service, Milk Music, has been making waves across the web thanks to its peculiar name and ad-free stations.

How To: Use Samsung's New Ad-Free "Milk Music" Streaming Service on Your Galaxy Note 2

In direct competition with Pandora, iTunes Radio, and Spotify, Samsung has just launched Milk Music—a strangely named, yet completely free music streaming service for Android.

How To: Mimic the Galaxy S5's New Speed Reader Technology on Your Samsung Galaxy S3

You can read at 500 words per minutes. Don't believe me? Here, see for yourself. This amazing technology comes from the startup Spritz, and they're ready to unleash it onto the smart device world, starting with the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the Galaxy Gear line of smartwatches.

How To: Disable the Missed Event Widget & “Blocking Mode On” Notification for the Galaxy Note 3

Notifications, while certainly helpful, can at times be overbearing. There are banners plastered every which way on your smartphone for almost every application. While many of the notifications can simply be swept away or turned off, the same can't be said of persistent notifications.