Gadget Hacks How-Tos
Super Mario Run 101: How to Unlock Luigi, Yoshi, Toadette & Princess Peach
One of the best features in Super Mario Run is the ability to unlock other notable characters from the classic series on iPhone or Android. Each playable character in Super Mario Run has a slightly different skill set — be it speed or jumping — which can come in handy in certain maps or races.
How To: Repost Tracks to Populate Your Profile Stream on SoundCloud
SoundCloud is a great place to gather all your different tastes in music and display them as representations of who you are. You can display things like your own tracks, albums, manually-curated playlists, liked tracks and playlists, and reposted content all from within your profile page.
How To: Everything You Need to Disable on Your iPhone for Maximum Security
Privacy and security go hand in hand, especially for smartphones. When it comes to privacy, you decide what personal information about yourself is out there to discover. Security, on the other hand, is all about enforcing those privacy decisions.
How To: Get Spotify, Pandora & Other App Controls in Waze to Stop Switching Between Audio & Maps
Who doesn't love listening to music or playlists when driving? The open road and an awesome playlist make for a perfect pairing, but it can become quite the challenge if you're trying to navigate at the same time. That's why Waze's built-in audio controls for compatible apps like Spotify and Pandora are so useful, so you can always keep your eyes on the map and road ahead of you.
Snapchat 101: Never Lose a Snapstreak with These 3 Tips & Tricks
One of the most popular things to do on Snapchat is to earn a Snapstreak. This occurs when you and one other friend have sent snaps (not chatted) to each other within 24 hours for at least three consecutive days. One you've passed the three-day mark, then you and your friend will receive a fire emoji next to your names.
Super Mario Run 101: Performing Basic Jumps
As a side scrolling game, performing various jumps in Super Mario Run on your iPhone or Android is as vital as eggs in a breakfast buffet.
How To: 10 Must-Play Free Puzzle Games for iPhone & Android
Puzzle games are a great way to kill time and exercise your brain in one fell swoop. They challenge you to think strategically and plan ahead, whether that's to create killer chain combinations for maximum points, or to plain old keep from getting killed.
How To: Easily Find the Perfect SoundCloud Playlist to Make Your Event More Memorable
Within the last week, there have been at least three times when someone asked me to play a good playlist. This is always a tough call. What if I play something that nobody likes? I probably will.
HBO Now 101: How to Transfer Your Account to Another Provider
Update: HBO discontinued this service. Your best bet for transferring your data from one account to another is to save a record of your watch list. That way, you can add your titles back manually with your new account.
SoundCloud 101: Manage Your Notifications for a Better User Experience
It's never fun when you install an app and then proceed to be bombarded with constant notifications. The SoundCloud app, while great in other regards, tends to have a bit of an issue on this front.
Spotify 101: How to Make Your Music Sound Better by Using an Equalizer
You may not know this, but the Spotify app will let you add a bit of personal touch to all the music you stream. Unlike many other music streaming services, Spotify actually has fantastic equalizer support on both iOS and Android.
How To: Get VLC's Dark Mode on Android & Save Your Eyes at Night
When you're playing videos, the actual content should be the focus, not the media app's interface. But with VLC's default theme on Android, the bright orange-and-white motif shocks your eyes in a dimly-lit setting and draws your attention away from what really matters. Let's change that.
How To: Block Certain Apps from Appearing in Your Notifications History in iOS 11
Apple has changed up quite a few things regarding notifications in iOS 11. They've added optional persistent notifications, made it possible to disable notification previews for all apps, and changed "Notification Center" to "History." In the process, they've also included another handy feature — the ability to hide certain app notifications from appearing in that History list.
VLC 101: How to Enable Android TV's Interface on the Phone Version of VLC
When it comes to playing videos from your personal media library, VLC is hard to beat. But let's say you want to play videos from an Android device by connecting it to your TV — what app should you use then? VLC is still the answer, particularly once you've enabled its TV-friendly UI.
How To: Disable Notification Previews for All Apps in iOS 11
I couldn't live without seeing previews of certain notifications on my iPhone, but there are definitely some that I'd like to hide, either because they're annoying or because I don't want anyone else to see them. Previously, you could only disable notification previews for Apple apps such as Mail, Messages, Photos, and Wallet, but in iOS 11, you can disable previews for every single app on your iPhone.
How To: Change Your FaceTime Caller ID to an Email Address or Phone Number
Whenever you make FaceTime audio or video calls from your iPhone, Apple automatically uses your phone number or Apple ID email address as the caller identification. So when someone that you're calling sees the incoming call, they'll see it's from your phone number or email address. But what if you'd rather it be a different identifier?
How To: Add or Remove Email Addresses to Be Reached At for FaceTime on Your iPhone
On your iPhone, your phone number and Apple ID email address are the default ways in which somebody can contact you on FaceTime. While you can't remove your phone number as an option, you can withdraw your Apple ID email account. More importantly, you can add any other email addresses you'd like to the list, so you never have to worry about a friend, family member, or coworker not being able to audio or video chat with you.
How To: Save Cellular Data by Using Wi-Fi Only for FaceTime Audio & Video Calls
This may not matter to you if you only FaceTime from your iPhone occasionally, but if you're FaceTiming every day on a limited data plan from your cellular provider, you're going to want to conserve as much data as possible by making sure that you're connected to Wi-Fi only — especially if they are video calls.
Spotify 101: How to Improve Sound Quality for Streaming & Downloaded Music
Spotify's massive song catalog can be streamed in decent quality on iPhone or Android without any tinkering. But if you're an audiophile, you've probably noticed that the sound quality can fluctuate from time to time.
How To: Enable the Hidden Grayscale Mode on Your Pixel or Nexus — No Root Needed
Most newer phones come with a grayscale mode that you can activate when you want to save some battery life. The way it works is simple: If your graphics chip only has to render elements in black and white instead of full 32-bit color, it won't consume as much power.
How To: Find Out What Music Is Trending on SoundCloud Right Now
SoundCloud is a really interesting alternative to Spotify and Pandora in that it will never really give you the exact mainstream song that you want. If you're looking for new up-and-coming artists that are making some wonderful alternative remixes to mainstream music, then SoundCloud is the right music streaming app for you.
Super Mario Run 101: How to Conserve Battery Life While Playing on Android or iPhone
If there's one thing that iPhone and Android users can agree on, it's that playing mobile games can drain your battery like nothing else. But it doesn't always have to be this way. If the game you're currently addicted to is Super Mario Run, there are two settings you can change to greatly reduce battery drain on any phone.
How To: Create Playlists on SoundCloud to Help Organize Your Music
The nice part about creating a song playlist is that it's essentially like your own customized album. You can organize all your different music tastes into one large collection or separate them into each of their own genres.
How To: Create a Station on SoundCloud to Discover New Artists & Songs
In the SoundCloud app, when you find an awesome song, you can build off of it by creating one killer music station that will give you like-minded songs you might not have ever discovered otherwise. And finding cool new songs and artists isn't the only reason to create a SoundCloud station — it's a great opportunity to set the tone of your workday or your party without ever worrying about the music ending.
Super Mario Run 101: How to Unlock Toad
Though not quite as agile as the world famous plump plumber Mario, Toad, the lovable fungus, is still one of the most fun characters to use while playing Super Mario Run. Thankfully, he is also by far the easiest character to unlock in the game, requiring no special tasks to complete.
How To: Create a Strong (Or Stronger) Passcode for Your iPhone
When you first set up an iPhone, you'll be prompted to create a six-digit passcode to unlock your screen and access certain system settings. If you skip this step, you can always go back and create one, which we highly recommend. Without a passcode, everything on your iPhone is accessible by anyone who gets their hands on it — nosey friends, hackers, thieves, local law enforcement, the FBI — and you don't want that, do you?
How To: Use VLC's Picture-in-Picture Mode on Android Oreo to Watch Videos While Multitasking
A new feature in Android O is making it incredibly easy to multitask while you're watching a video. It's called Picture-in-Picture mode, and if you've ever used a TV with this option, you should already have a pretty good idea of how it works.
How To: Turn Off Voice Feedback for Siri (Aka Mute Siri)
Siri can definitely be helpful when you need it, but you may not want the entire world hearing Siri's responses in certain situations. If you're in a library, meeting, class, or another scenario where your iPhone's voice assistant would do more harm than good, there's a way to keep Siri silent ... but it's tricky.
YouTube 101: How to Manage Your Search History & Clear Watched Videos
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Get your mind out of the gutter. Search histories can and should be managed. Many folks are uncomfortable knowing that every video they click and every phrase they search is being recorded and saved, and YouTube is no exception.
Snapchat 101: How to Create & Use Your Own Personal Bitmoji
Bitmojis are not only a good way to personalize your Snapchat account, but also a really fun Snap addition to play around with. A bitmoji is basically like your little avatar, letting you design your mini-self whichever way that you desire.
How To: Use 'Hey Siri' Hands-Free on Your iPhone
The primary method of activating Siri is done by pressing and holding either the Home or Side button, depending on the iPhone model, but there's a much better way to ask a question to Siri or command it to do something — and you don't need to touch your iPhone at all to do it.
Twitter 101: How to Stop Getting Notifications from Anyone That You Don't Know
Twitter is a hotbed for abusive accounts. Because it's such an open app, strangers from all over the world can see your tweets. Obviously, not everyone agrees on everything, but sometimes things can escalate to the point where it's considered harassment from people you don't even know.
How To: Disable Auto-Playing Videos in the iOS 11 App Store
Apple just jumped on the auto-play bandwagon with their revamped App Store in iOS 11. Now, when you visit an app or game page that has a video trailer, it will automatically play. This can not only get pretty annoying, but it can eat up your precious data. Luckily, there's a way to restrict these auto-playing videos to Wi-Fi only — or disable them altogether.
Twitter 101: How to Go Live Without Leaving the App
It seems that every major social media platform is adding a "Go live" feature to their apps lately. Twitter, in particular, has been at the forefront of the live broadcasting craze for quite some time now.
Snapchat 101: How to Unlock Hidden Filters & Lenses
There's nothing more fun than unlocking a hidden Snapchat filter or lens and beating everyone to that perfect first selfie. So when a new filter or lens comes out, like the current Uganda Knuckles one, it's always interesting to see how things will turn out.
YouTube 101: How to Cast Videos to Your TV
Watching YouTube on your phone has never been a better experience than it is today — our smartphones have super-sharp displays that make watching the newest HD, QHD, and even 4K content look fantastic. But there are plenty of circumstances where we want to watch our content on a larger screen.
Twitter 101: How to Create Your Own Twitter Moment
Twitter's Moments feature stitches together multiple tweets into a slideshow-esque story. This is particularly cool for you to keep up with major things that are happening in the world without having to follow and search for a ton of people to figure out the scoop.
Facebook 101: How to Set Up Your Account to Delete Automatically When You Die
It's time to set your Facebook "Last Will and Testament" straight. Do you want to assign a contact to look over your account, or would you prefer to have all your online memories fade away the minute you die? It's a tough decision, but with a little time, you can set up at least one of these options to ensure that your account isn't left to sit pretty without you for the rest of time.
Facebook 101: How to Upload Photos & Videos in HD
If you are a frequent poster on Facebook, then uploading your photos and videos in HD is essential for your viewers. There's nothing worse than realizing that the Boomerang you just uploaded is grainy and probably won't get any views.
How To: Turn Your Live Photo into a Facebook Profile Video
Changing your Facebook profile picture to a video is a great way to stand out from the crowd. A regular video file isn't the only option, though — if you're an iPhone user, you can also upload a Live Photo as your new profile picture to add more pizzazz to your Facebook page.