Gadget Hacks How-Tos
How To: Download & Install Flappy Bird on Your Android Phone or Tablet Without Using Google Play
There has been a lot of news over the last couple weeks about the popular Flappy Birds mobile game and its creator, Dong Nguyen.
How To: Improve the Look & Feel of Popular Apps Like Instagram & Snapchat on Your Galaxy S3
Changing the look and feel of an app's user interface can really make it more pleasurable. Popular apps like Facebook or Twitter may take for granted the importance of a clean UI, since the companies have hundreds of millions of users no matter what their apps look like.
How To: Hide Annoying iOS 7 Features from the Control Center, Home & Lock Screen, & Status Bar
Apple's iOS 7 is riddled with annoying features, and some of them can't be toggled off in Settings. For example, I really don't like having labels directly underneath my app icons, and there's no way to remove them. Sure, it may be nitpicky, but it's my device, and it should behave the way I want it to.
Photo Hack: How to Insert Yourself into Group Pictures on Your Samsung Galaxy S3
I'm a pretty nice person, so when someone asks me to take a group picture of their friends or family, I can't easily say "no," even if I have somewhere else to be. Even worse—sometimes I'm the one asking, fully knowing just how annoying it can be. Maybe you've been told "no" before, and have had to settle for being left out of the picture, which kind of sucks.
How To: View Cellular & Wi-Fi Data Speeds from the Status Bar of Your Samsung Galaxy Note 3
I have Verizon, America's largest 4G LTE network, as my cell service provider, but there are times when I find myself with a pretty shitty signal, rendering my upload and download speeds substantially slower than usual.
How To: Root Your Nexus 7 Tablet Running Android 4.4 KitKat (Windows Guide)
Whether you have the original Nexus 7, or the 2013 Nexus 7 tablet, rooting it will give you access to tomorrow's features, today.
How To: Multi-Boot Your Nexus 5 to Install & Switch Between Custom ROMs More Easily
When you enter the softModder realm by rooting your Nexus 5, you open up an exciting world of possibilities and deep customizations for your device. Among other things, it gives you the ability to flash custom ROMs which, individually, act as entirely different operating systems that can vastly alter your user experience.
How To: Install a Custom ROM on Your Nexus 5 (A Newb-Friendly Guide)
The flexibility within Android is pretty amazing. Unlike iOS, you can make a lot of modifications with nothing more than a download from Google Play, but to really step up your softModder game, you'll need to go a little further.
How To: Upgrade Your Older iOS 7 Device with These iPhone 5S-Style Color Themes
The iPhone 5S may be the most popular Apple phone to date, but I'm still rocking my iPhone 4. No disrespect to the 5S, but I'm not upgrading until I can unlock with a retina scan or get Siri to sound like Scarlett Johansson.
How To: Remove Unwanted Ads for More Screen Real Estate on Your Samsung Galaxy S3
One thing we can probably all agree on is that ads suck. In particular, ad-supported mobile apps are both a gift and a curse. Most are free, but supplement that non-existent price tag with non-stop banner or video ads. Sometimes, those ads can ruin the entire app, especially if it's a game that requires your undivided attention.
How To: Give Your iPhone's Banner Alerts More Color to Identify Notification Types Faster
A banner alert for notifications is like the Robin to our iPhone's Batman—they're taken for granted and don't really get the recognition they deserve. Yes, they can be disruptive at times, but just like Robin, they can be necessary for getting things done.
How To: Enable Blazing Fast LTE Data Speeds on Your Nexus 4
The advent of the Google Nexus 4 seemed too good to be true—high-end hardware, unlocked and contract-free at a low price. As time went on, however, we began to see the compromises. The camera was "meh" at best, and most egregiously, it shipped without LTE functionality.
How To: Enable the Hidden Multi Window Features on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 3
Restrictions are inconvenient, and for this reason I've sought out softmods that loosen the constraints for many of the features on my smartphone. Things like adding favorite apps to the Pen Window drawer or choosing any app for Multi Window mode are now must-haves on my Samsung Galaxy Note 3—and should be on yours as well.
How To: Get the Facebook Paper App on Your iPhone—No Matter What Country You Live In
It was just released a few days, but Facebook Paper has already taken the world by storm. CNET said it was a better way to use Facebook. TIME said it's the future of Facebook. The Verge called it the best Facebook app ever. There's one problem, though...
How To: Stream Personal Movies, Music, & Photos to Chromecast from Any Android Device
It's been a great week for Chromecast owners. First, Google released the development kit, allowing devs to install the casting code into their apps. Then, CyanogenMod dev Koush updated his AllCast app to support the Chromecast. That means you can shoot personal movies, music, and photos directly from your Android device over to a Chromecast-connected display.
How To: Zoom In & Out of Any App Using Just One Finger on Your Samsung Galaxy S4
With a 5-inch screen, it's possible that the Samsung Galaxy S4 can be a bit large for our hands. While my grubby hands let me navigate the phone pretty easily, the same can't be said for everyone. A lot of us use two hands to type on the phone, play games, and perform tap or swipe gestures.
How To: Everything You Need to Know About Apple's New iOS 7.1 Beta 5 for iPad, iPhone, & iPod Touch
Apple's just released a new beta of iOS 7.1 for developers, Beta 5, which fixes some small bugs and adds some minor feature enhancements. With previous reports stating that the final version of 7.1 was slated for a public release in March, these early leaks are indications that the final will be released in the following weeks, shortly after the Golden Master version hits developers.
How To: Quick Reply & Compose Text Messages Without Leaving the Current App on Your iPhone
Texting can be difficult sometimes. When you're browsing the web or playing a game on your iPhone and need to respond to text message real quick, you have to exit your current app to do so. Not exactly efficient, especially if a quick "K" is all you need to say.
How To: Liven Up Your Background with These Free 3D Parallax Wallpapers for Your Samsung Galaxy S3
The inclusion of the parallax effect caused a shitstorm amongst iPhone users when it was released in iOS 7, especially when it came to creating custom wallpapers. It was hard to control, and even disabling it didn't fully get rid of it, making it one of the most hated new features in Apple's latest mobile OS.
How To: Get Fine-Tuned Audio Control by Adding More Volume Steps to Your Samsung Galaxy S3
Getting the volume on our phones to be just right can be a pretty annoying task. Some people like to listen to music and videos with max volume while some like it a little lower. With the default volume control on your Samsung Galaxy S3, there are only 15 steps before you reach max volume, making it tough to find that sweet spot.
How To: Get Android-Style Lock Screen Shortcuts to Favorite Apps on Your iPhone
There are countless mods and apps for Android devices that give them an iOS-style look, but maybe it's about time we take some notes from Android, especially when it comes to the iOS 7 lock screen.
How To: Trick Out Your Galaxy S3's Status Bar with New Icons, Clocks, Colors, & More
The status bar is where we get all of the important need-to-know information for our phones. At a quick glance, you can see what time it is on your Samsung Galaxy S3, how much battery power you have remaining, your current signal strength, and more. But after a while, things can feel a little stale up there.
How To: Change the Boring Battery Icon in Your iPhone's Status Bar to Something More Flavorful
Good battery life is one of the most important things any phone or tablet should have, but iOS 7 isn't always that great at handling power consumption. That leads to tunnel vision on the status bar's battery meter. After all, you don't want to be stranded in the middle of nowhere with no juice left to make a call.
How To: “Flatten” the Instagram App on Your Nexus 7 Tablet for an iOS 7 Look & Feel
Android devices are awesome, let me just state that now, but when iOS 7 came out, the new flat theme caught my eye. Yes, we can easily apply new themes on our Nexus 7 tablets to make it look more like iOS 7, but they won't actually change the individual look and feel of apps like Instagram.
How To: Prevent Snoops from Accessing Private Messages, Photos, Videos, & More on Your Nexus 7
My friends can be pretty shitty sometimes, but they're my friends nonetheless. On various occasions, they've secretly taken my device and made me look foolish by posting crude and embarrassing posts to Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. With friends like these, who needs enemies, right? And it's because of these types of friends that we need to substantially upgrade the app security on our devices.
How To: Add Your Favorite Apps to the Pen Window Drawer on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 3
There wasn't really anything too special about the S Pen on the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, with its limited capabilities and finicky sensitivity. Luckily, the S Pen was greatly improved on the Note 3, the biggest enhancement being Air Command, a floating menu that appears when the S Pen is removed that gives quick access to all the new features.
How To: Use Any App You Want in Multi Window View on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 3
Much like the Pen Window feature in Air Command, Multi Window is extremely useful in its functionality, but bogged down by serious restrictions. While you can open and use two apps at the same time, you're limited to only a handful of apps that can utilize the feature, leaving all the other ones shit outta luck.
How To: Get Floating Notifications & App Windows on Your Samsung Galaxy S4
Midway through 2013, a popular custom ROM called Paranoid Android introduced their multitasking feature "Halo." Bubble-style notifications inspired by Facebook chat heads pop up near the top of the screen, and you simply tap on them to bring up the app in a floating window.
How To: Take Total Control of Buttons & Gestures on Your iPhone for Shortcuts to Anything You Want
The sovereignty that's granted when we jailbreak our iOS 7 devices can only be described with one word—liberating. With this freedom comes countless themes and apps that let us manipulate our devices to really own them and turn them into something that is truly ours.
How To: Set Custom Fonts for Apps, Settings, & More on Your Nexus 7 Tablet
We softModders come from all walks of life, and sooner or later, our devices begin to reflect who we are. Maybe you've followed one of our guides on customizing your Nexus 7, such as getting the exclusive Google Experience Launcher or hiding the navigation buttons for more screen space, or maybe you used one of the various Xposed mods we've covered.
How To: Make Your Status Bar's Color Auto-Match Current Apps on Your Galaxy S3
The status bar is an omnipresent force on our Samsung Galaxy S3s; always there to give us that vital information about battery life, date and time, Wi-Fi access, and much more. But there's just something about that default black bar that's so...boring.
How To: Your Chrome Extensions May Be Stealing Your Personal Info: Here's How to Stop Them
A long time ago, we recommended the Hover Zoom extension for Chrome as an easy way to blow up small image thumbnails without actually have to "click" on the images themselves. Over the past year, there have been reports that Hover Zoom now collects and sells your browsing data to third-party advertisers without your consent.
How To: Create Multiple User Profiles on Your Nexus 5 Phone
Currently, all Nexus tablets running Jelly Bean or higher can enjoy multiple user accounts. With tablets often migrating between various people in the same household, there’s no reason for Dad’s finances to mingle with little Tammy’s candy crushing. Multiple users, each with separate profiles, just makes sense on an Android tablet.
How To: Theme the iOS 7 Lock Screen on Your iPhone with Sleek, Rising Time Bars
The iOS 7 lock screen was made to be just that, a lock screen, so it's pretty limited in terms of functionality. We're able to add wallpapers and easily access the Control Center or Notification Center (unless we disable that access through our settings), but other than that, it's pretty bland.
How To: Move Any App's Window Around on Your Galaxy Note 3 for Better One-Handed Operation
Your Note 3 is a magnificently large phone. So much so that it has a handful of built-in options that make it easier to use with one hand, collectively called "One-handed operation." While these settings are helpful, they have to be manually enabled and disabled whenever you're done using them.
Editor's Choice: 10 Must-Have Mods Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 Is Begging For
There are a lot of things your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 can do straight out of the box, but there's also a ton of things it can't, or simply could be better at. That's why most of us end up rooting—to enhance the mobile experience.
How To: Remove Ads in Flappy Bird on Both Android & iOS Devices
Flappy Bird is the extremely difficult, overly frustrating, strangely similar, yet highly addictive smartphone game from .GEARS STUDIOS that has catapulted its way to the top of the charts on both Google Play and the iOS App Store—seemingly out of nowhere.
How To: Save Any Photo or Video from Instagram on Your Galaxy Note 3—Without Rooting
Scrolling through Instagram, you're going to come across a lot of photographs and videos that you "like." But sometimes, you're going to want to remember a photo, and naturally want to save it to your device so you can look at it for forever and ever.
How To: Remove Ads from Videos in the YouTube App on Your Samsung Galaxy S3
There is only one time every year where I will willingly watch advertisements—during the Super Bowl. Maybe a Victoria's Secret commercial every now and then, too, but that's about it.
How To: Install the Xposed Framework on Your Samsung Galaxy S3 for Instant softModding
There are plenty of apps on Google Play for customizing your Samsung Galaxy S3 with wallpapers and new lock screens, but to be honest, you're not really customizing until you root.