Gadget Hacks How-Tos
How To: Add a Blinking Notification Light to Samsung's Always on Display on Your Galaxy
In the pursuit of large displays with thinner bezels, Samsung has sacrificed some components. While the loss of the headphone jack gets all the attention, there are other victims — namely, the notification LED.
How To: Get the 2020 iPhone SE's Exclusive Wallpapers on Any Phone
The new iPhone SE packs the power of the iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max inside the chassis of the iPhone 8. But that's not all that's new on the 2020 SE. Apple has also included six new wallpapers, exclusive to the Special Edition model, but the internet makes it tough to make anything truly exclusive anymore.
How To: Double Tap Your Status Bar to Quickly Turn Off the Screen on Any Android — No Root Needed
Several popular custom ROMs and root mods let you double tap the status bar at the top of your screen to put the phone to sleep. It pairs perfectly with the double tap to wake gesture you'll find on pretty much any Android phone. But if you're not rooted, you'll be glad to know you can finally do this by installing a simple app.
How To: The iPhone SE Is Official — Here's How to Make Sure You Get Your Hands on One Before They Sell Out
The 2020 iPhone SE had been through the rumor mill for a long time, but Apple finally unveiled the second-generation iPhone SE on Wednesday, April 15. While it doesn't sport the 4-inch design of the original SE, it combines a small form-factor with modern specs. The big question, of course, is when and how you can get your hands on one.
How To: Learn Any of Rosetta Stone's 24 Languages with This Incredible App Bundle
As we settle into our new normal, this extra time provides a perfect opportunity to learn new skills. Speaking a foreign language is a great way to expand your cultural boundaries while also training your brain. Not only will you pass the time more effectively, but you'll also be doing something positive for your health.
How To: Prevent Sites from Hijacking Your Back Button on Chrome for Android
There are few things more annoying than back button hijacking. You tap a link on a website and decide you want to go back to the previous page, only to remain on the same page again as if you didn't hit the back button. After years of frustration, Google has finally given us a solution.
How To: Put Someone on Hold During a Zoom Video Call to Lock Them Out Temporarily
During a meeting in real life, you could ask non-essentials to exit the room temporarily so that you can speak to just a few privately, but now that conferences exist online, it requires a bit more finesse. You could start a new video call on Zoom or remove individual participants, but that makes it hard for those who left to join again. But there is a feature where you can just put some users on hold.
How To: 16 Best Games to Fill the Sports Void in Your Life
The COVID-19 pandemic has practically shut down all sports except for World Wrestling Entertainment, which has continued staging matches without an audience, leaving us sports fans with nothing much to cheer for. While they can't replace live games, smartphone games provide an alternate reality to live out our competitive entertainment in the absence of the real thing.
How To: Turn Off Live Photos Forever on Your iPhone's Camera App
Love them or hate them, Live Photos have their place. The problem is, they're always on, requiring you to disable the feature every single time you open the Camera app. At least, that's how Apple has things set by default — but you can change that with just a few taps.
How To: Make Android 10's Dark Mode Turn on Automatically at Sunset
It's nice having a dark theme on Android 10 and One UI 2, but setting it on a schedule takes it a step further. Imagine the light theme turning on every morning, and the dark theme taking over after sunset — all automatically. It sounds pretty simple, but it's one of those things you wouldn't know you need until you try it.
How To: Take Your DJ & Music Production Game to Another Level with Ableton & Logic Pro X
One of the greatest trends to emerge from this period of home isolation is the live concert broadcast from bedrooms and living rooms across the planet. Though public gatherings are on hold, you can still impact people with your music and mixes. In fact, it's helping many people get through this confusing time.
How To: Activate Developer Options on Your Galaxy S20, S20+, or S20 Ultra
The first thing any Android power user does with their phone is unlocked the Developer options. The hidden menu has many low-level tweaks, such as forcing Dark mode on all apps, speeding up animations, or enabling hidden Quick Setting tiles. And most modifications require nothing more than hitting a toggle.
How To: View Animals, Spaceships & Products in Augmented Reality with Google Search
While much of the world is currently in some form of quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic, augmented reality (AR) gives us all the opportunity to see virtual content while stuck in our homes.
How To: Inexpensively Edit Your Video Backgrounds with Ease
Producing professional video can be expensive and time-consuming. Green screens are cumbersome and require a lot of space, whereas dialing in the perfect lighting comes with its own challenges. For people working on a budget and space constraints, achieving the ideal background can be a nightmare.
How To: Launch Any Music App When You Connect Headphones to Your LG on Android 10
For audiophiles, few smartphones come close to LG flagship devices. With either the latest G series or V series phone, you can be sure you're getting the best audio experience of any smartphone thanks to Quad DACs and headphone jacks. And with some tinkering, you can make this experience even better.
How To: This Is the Easiest Way to Take Screenshots on Your OnePlus
There are quite a few ways to take screenshots on Android, but not all are so obvious. In fact, the best methods are often gesture shortcuts, hidden from sight by the OEM. OnePlus is no exception.
How To: 8 Different Ways to Mute Someone on Zoom That's Disturbing Your Video Meeting
If you're using or need to use Zoom, the popular video teleconferencing service, you've almost certainly heard about "Zoombombing" by now. While Zoom has been adding security measures to address the problem, there are other things you can do to prevent or stop Zoombombers in their tracks so that your video meetings and chats go undisturbed and uninterrupted.
How To: Remove the White Line from the Bottom of Your Galaxy S20's Home Screen
Your S20 has a shortcut for Samsung Pay along the bottom of the home screen. But it tends to get in the way sometimes, especially if you're using the new Android 10 gestures in One UI 2. Besides, if you don't use the feature, you probably don't want that little white line at the bottom of your screen anyway.
How To: Get the Pixel's Google Camera App on Your Galaxy S20, S20+, or S20 Ultra
Samsung put some of the industry's most advanced camera tech in the Galaxy S20 series. However, their image processing still lags behind the Google Camera app found on Pixel phones, so the end result is good but not great. Luckily, you can install a mod to pair that beastly hardware with arguably the best camera software.
How To: Disable Those Pesky 'Screenshot Saved' Notifications on Your Android Phone
On stock Android 9 and 10, it is easier than ever to take a screenshot and quickly edit the captured image. However, the downside to that convenience has manifested itself in a heads-up notification that can also get in the way.
How To: 9 Ways Your iPhone Can Help You Be More Productive When Working from Home
With stay-at-home orders for most of us in the US because of the new coronavirus, many of you are likely struggling to be productive and efficient when working from home. Unless you've worked from home before, it can be challenging to separate work from personal life throughout the "workday." But your iPhone can help make the transition easier and more successful.
How To: Own a Ton of Digital Movies? Let Others Watch Them for Free with Screen Passes
One of the benefits of Blu-ray and DVD is the ability to share discs with friends and family without any hassle. Want to show off your favorite movie? Just lend them your copy. A digital movie isn't so kind, as it's typically locked to the account that purchased it. But now there is a way to share your digitally purchased movies with friends and family — and it won't cost you or them a dime.
How To: Check Real-Time Network Traffic on Google Wifi or Nest Wifi
For the most part, Google Wifi and Nest Wifi systems take care of themselves. But there are still a few manual features that might come in handy, like being able to check on network activity to see which devices are using the most bandwidth when your connection gets bogged down.
How To: 7 Fun Galaxy S20 Features Everyone Should Know About
If you haven't used a Samsung device in a few years, the Galaxy S20 series will be your first taste of One UI 2, the skin running on top of Android 10. Although One UI is on the heavier side, it has loads of exciting features that go beyond what's offered in stock Android.
How To: Change Your iPhone's System & App Text Size on the Fly with This Hidden Setting
You might know that you can increase text size on your iPhone by digging around in Settings. But you also have the ability to text size with a quick toggle so you can use a larger font only when you need it.
How To: Your OnePlus Home Screen Has a Built-in Step Counter
A great way to incorporate a healthy exercise routine is by taking lots of steps throughout the day. While most smartphones can track and report your steps via a third-party app, you can check them right from your home screen if you have a OnePlus phone.
How To: Organize Your Smart Home, Rooms & Zones in Apple's Home App to Streamline Siri Commands
Every home is a little different, and for a smart home app to work, it has to be able to be customized to work with each person's unique setup. With the iPhone's Home app, everyone can set up a smart home just how they want, including the number and names of rooms, and where those rooms are in the house.
How To: Hide the Home Bar on Your Galaxy with Android 10's New Gestures
The new navigation gestures in Android 10 let you ditch the three buttons along the bottom edge for a truly full screen experience. In the buttons' place, you now get an inconspicuous little line, but even that can be hidden with a setting in One UI 2.
How To: 8 Ways Your Samsung Galaxy Phone Can Help You Be Productive When Working from Home
For those not used to it, working from home can be a difficult transition. Everything around you can be a distraction, and distance from your boss and coworkers means less pressure and incentive to get things done. So it's not surprising to see a major drop in productivity during a period of self-quarantine, but your phone can help you stay on track instead of sidetracking you.
How To: Use Your Favorite Snapchat AR Lenses on Zoom, Skype, Meet & Other Video Conferencing Apps
The response to the COVID-19 pandemic means that social distancing has become the new normal. It also means that more Americans are using video conferencing to connect with colleagues working from home or friends and family in quarantine because of the new coronavirus.
How To: Give One Device More Bandwidth on Your Google Wifi or Nest Wifi Network
One of the main goals of Google Wifi (and Nest Wifi after it) is to make managing your internet connections as simple as possible. A great example of this is how easy it is to prioritize one device and allot it more bandwidth when your network is bogged down with other traffic.
How To: Get Facebook's Full Desktop Site to Show Up in Your Phone's Mobile Browser
Facebook's mobile app lacks many features from the desktop site. Even if you open Facebook in your phone's browser and request the desktop version, all that does is basically resize the mobile app. But there's a simple workaround that will force Facebook to appear in all its desktop glory on your mobile browser of choice.
How To: This Tweak Puts Your iPhone in Hibernation Mode to Save Tons of Battery
If running out of battery while out and about weren't bad enough, the experience is a lot more painful if your iPhone has a semi-untethered jailbreak. With that kind of jailbreak, when the iPhone dies, all of the mods will be disabled after the device powers back up. Fortunately, instead of restoring your jailbreak and tweaks manually after recovering from a critically low battery, you can avoid it altogether.
How To: Force Stop Apps on Your Galaxy After the Android 10 Update
When an app is acting buggy, you head to its App Info page in Settings and hit the "Force Stop" button. And since all software has bugs, this is quite the handy feature. But now that Samsung's Settings app got a makeover with the Android 10 and One UI 2 update, you might have trouble finding this option.
How To: You Can Actually Use the IR Camera on Your Pixel 4
For the Pixel 4's face unlock feature to work in the dark, Google had to add a front-facing IR camera. If you download a specific app, you can actually see a live feed from this camera. It's true night vision for your phone, and it's completely free.
How To: Block Someone from Using Their Camera During Zoom Video Calls
As a meeting host on Zoom, you can't control what a participant does during your live video call, but you do have the power to turn off their camera so that other people aren't subjected to distractions. So if you catch someone in your call purposely making obscene gestures or accidentally exposing themselves while using the bathroom, you can block their camera, as long as you know how.
How To: Share Apple Music Songs in Your Instagram & Facebook Stories
Sometimes, we get stuck on a song so good we want the world to know about it. Sure, you could take the time to save the album art to your iPhone, then upload it to your Instagram or Facebook story, but why bother doing that when you can simply share the song to your story right from Apple Music?
How To: Bypass Zoom's Attention Tracking Feature So Your Boss or Professor Can't Tell You're Slacking Off
When you're stuck working or learning from home, video meetings can help you stay connected to employers, coworkers, schools, students, and more. And Zoom is the hottest video conferencing service at the moment. While Zoom is easy to use, it does have a fair share of sketchy features you should know about, such as attendee attention tracking.
How To: Remove Credit Cards from the Power Menu on Your Google Pixel
It wasn't too long ago that the power menu for stock Android didn't offer much beyond turning the device off, but Google has steadily added more functions, like capturing screenshots and provisioning access to emergency information.
How To: Automatically Delete Pictures & Videos You've Backed Up to Google Photos
Even with Pixels now coming with 128 GB of internal storage, many folks still struggle with low storage. The culprit is usually photos and videos, which can quickly eat away the space. Thankfully, there's a feature that solves this problem.