Hot Gadget Hacks How-Tos
How To: Turn GIFs into Live Photos on Your iPhone
If you've ever wanted to turn your favorite GIF into a live wallpaper for your iPhone or even just make it a 3D Touch-friendly Live Photo that you can share, there's a super simple way to do so.
How To: Transform Your iPhone Portraits with This Must-Know Refocusing Tool in Photos
Your iPhone has a neat trick up its sleeves that gives you total control over the focal plane in all the portraits you've already snapped. This gives you the power to significantly enhance the composition and emotional impact of each image. In some cases, you can even focus on new subjects in regular stills and Live Photos.
How To: 9 Ways to Quickly Open the Hidden Magnifying Glass Feature on Your iPhone
The iPhone has included a real-world magnifying glass called "Magnifier" since iOS 10. Still, it remained relatively obscure until iOS 14 when it received significant upgrades such as a new interface, hideable controls, a customizable toolbar, improved filters management, multi-image shooting, and people detection. But one of the best things about the update is that you can open it more easily.
How To: iPhone Not Charging Past 80%? Here's Why (& How to Fix It)
So you've been using iOS 13 for a little while and noticed your iPhone is pretty slow to charge. Using the 5-watt power adapter out of the box, in the time it used to take your iPhone to charge its battery to 100 percent, your iPhone is stuck at 80% or below instead. That's because Apple introduced a new feature in iOS 13 that slows down charging — but for a good reason.
How To: Easily Record Phone Calls on Your iPhone and Get Auto-Generated Transcripts and Summaries
Recording phone calls has always been tricky due to legal, ethical, and technical considerations. With iOS 18.1, Apple brings your iPhone a native call recording feature that simplifies this process while addressing privacy concerns.
How To: Turn Your Google Pixel Buds into Hearing Aids
Google's 2020 Pixel Buds are one of the hottest true wireless earbuds of the year. With their unique, circular design, they stand out from the long-stemmed AirPods look you get from other wireless earbuds. The design is also sleek and minimal, making them the perfect candidate to use as a personal hearing aid.
How To: Flash ZIPs Without TWRP (Or Any Custom Recovery)
There once was a time in the Android rooting scene where we couldn't rely on using a custom recovery for all of our modding needs. Manual file flashing was very popular in the early days of Android before custom recoveries started taking over. With the rise of TWRP, it seemed like there was almost no need for manual file flashers; however, they appear to be making a welcomed return in a big way.
How To: 24 Safari Privacy Settings You Need to Check on Your iPhone
Over the years, we've seen security breach after security breach, as well as high-profile data scandals where collected personal information was misused by companies. Apple makes customer privacy a priority, so there have been few issues to worry about when it comes to its services on your iPhone. However, there are still plenty of privacy settings to explore and change, especially within Safari.
How To: Invite People to Messenger Group Chats with a Link So They Can Join Right Away or Wait on Approval
While some of our group chats should probably remain private and closed off, others will only get better with more people. Whether you're organizing an event and need a headcount or you want to share a funny YouTube video with a large crowd, you can add all the friends you wish to on Facebook Messenger by sending them a unique link.
Signal 101: How to Register Using a Google Voice Number
Signal Private Messenger is famous for its end-to-end encryption, but you can't even use the messaging app without having a real phone number attached to it. Luckily, there is a way around this limitation, so you can use Signal even if you don't have a valid SIM card in your smartphone.
How To: Switch Between Miles and Kilometers in Apple Maps on iOS 16
Apple removed the option to quickly change between miles and kilometers when using Apple Maps on iOS 16, but it's not entirely gone — it's just not as easy to find.
How To: Scroll Hands-Free Through Long Webpages on Your iPhone to Read Articles at the Perfect Pace
You can't always have your hands on your iPhone, which is why Apple developed Siri. When Siri can't do your hands-free bidding, there's Apple's newer Voice Control feature. But if you don't like barking commands at your iPhone, there's another option — at least, when it comes to scrolling through webpages in Safari.
How To: Boot into Recovery Mode & Download Mode on the Galaxy Note 10+
You can't call yourself an Android pro without knowing about Recovery or Download Mode. These menus are critical to do more advanced tasks on your phone, include sideloading software updates and un-bricking a device. But this year, Samsung changed the button combinations that will get you there.
How To: Video Too Long for Instagram Stories? Here's How to Split It Up
One of the latest trends in Instgram is breaking up larger videos into more digestible clips to use in stories. Stories max out at 15 seconds, making it a pain to show anything meaningful in that short time frame. Fortunately, you can virtually extend the duration of your Stories on both your iPhone and Android phone.
How To: We Tested the Best Burner Phone Apps for iPhone & Android — Here's Our Top 4
A burner number isn't just for criminals and cheating spouses. In this digital world, with many of our interactions being conducted online, a throwaway phone number acts as a buffer — it lets you enjoy the web without having to give out your personal information, such as real name or phone number.
Google Photos 101: How to Use Google Lens to Save Contact Info from Business Cards
Business cards are a great way to keep tabs on the contacts we network with. So why shouldn't our smartphones make them even more useful? Enter Google Lens, which will help you save, search, and expand on the contact information found on all of the business cards you've collected.
How To: Make Your Android Automatically Switch to the Strongest WiFi Network
Wi-Fi signals have limited range, so if you live in a two-story house or work in a larger office, you may have set up multiple routers or repeaters to ensure full wireless coverage. Sadly, Android handles the transition between networks pretty poorly.
How To: Share Your Lost AirTag or Find My Tracker's Location with Contacts or Airlines for Easier Recovery
Previously, losing an AirTag or Find My network accessory meant relying on tech-savvy strangers to contact you via phone or email if they found it. With a new Find My update, you can ditch the passive approach and be more proactive about recovering your tracker by sharing its information with trusted contacts and even airlines, allowing them to track your tracker for you.
How To: Set Up Contact Key Verification for the Highest Level of iMessage Security
Your iPhone is fairly secure by default, but Apple's Lockdown Mode takes it to Fort Knox levels of protection. If you're a high-value target for spyware, phishing attempts, and other sophisticated cyberattacks, it's an essential feature. But for almost everyone else, it's an extreme move. If you simply want to verify someone's identity when chatting, Contact Key Verification is a more practical option.
How To: Open 2 Apps at the Same Time on Any Phone with Android's Split-Screen Mode
As phones' screens get closer to seven inches, now is the perfect time to take advantage of Android's split-screen mode. This feature has available since Android 7.0 Nougat and allows you to divide the screen into two halves, with a different app on each side.
How To: Top 9 Task Managers for iPhone and iPad
When you want a helpful task manager on your iPhone or iPad, any of the nine apps in this guide should be at the top of your list. But we'll review each app's features to help you determine which one might be best for your workflow.
How To: Your iPhone Has a Secret Button That Can Run Hundreds, Even Thousands of Actions — But You Have to Unlock It First
An invaluable button on your iPhone can do hundreds, even thousands, of amazing things, but most iPhone users don't even know it exists. You can't push it. You can't click it. You can't press it. But it's the largest button on your iPhone, more powerful than the versatile Side button, and it's hiding in plain sight.
How To: Use This Trick to View Your Complete Clipboard History and Recopy Anything
Your iPhone's clipboard can only save one item at a time, so it may seem impossible to retrieve your entire history of copied text, images, and other content. Luckily, there is a workaround you can use to find and copy your past clipboard contents, but you have to implement it first.
How To: Use a Secret Voice Command to Unlock Your iPhone
Your voice is the key to unlocking many features on your iPhone. For example, you can ask Siri to send a text message to a friend, add items to a list, run a custom shortcut, or turn on your lights, but Apple does not allow you to unlock your iPhone with a Siri voice command. Instead, you can turn to a lesser-known feature to unlock your iPhone without Face ID, Touch ID, or typing your passcode.
How To: Change Slack's Default Browser to Chrome, Firefox, or Safari
Slack's in-app web browser works fine, but it just doesn't offer the functionality and features that a dedicated browser such as Chrome, Firefox or Safari can. Features like the ability to bookmark a page, search for specific text, or request the desktop site are missing. Luckily, Slack makes it easy to change your default browser.
How To: Unroot & Revert Your OnePlus 5 or 5T to 100% Stock
To please those of us who love to mod and root our Androids, OnePlus has made both the OnePlus 5 and 5T relatively easy to customize — so much so that the 5T topped our list for the best phones for rooting. Unfortunately, unlocking the bootloader and using root to modify the firmware on your OnePlus 5 or 5T makes it hard to update to a new firmware such as Oreo when compared to stock.
How To: Download and Install iPadOS 16.8 on Your iPad Right Now
Apple pushed out its iPadOS 16.6 update for iPad on July 24, with iPadOS 16.7 following on September 21. While the company is currently working on improving iPadOS 17, we may still see an iPadOS 16.8 update. If that happens, you can try out all the upcoming new features as long as you're OK with running beta software on your iPad.
How To: Unlock the Bootloader on Your Pixel 5 — An Easy-to-Follow Guide
Google doesn't get enough credit for it, but they definitely make some of the best phones for rooting and modding. Heck, if you want to replace the entire operating system on a Pixel, you can do it pretty easily. It all starts with the bootloader.
How To: Disable Android's Back Gesture on the Left Side to Make Hamburger Menus Easier to Open
The gesture navigation introduced with Android 10 worked wonders by giving you more of your screen and less tapping. Android 11 offers the option to fine-tune the back gesture sensitivity for your screen's left and right sides. However, the issue still stands for people who like to use the left swipe menu within apps to open hamburger style menus.
How To: Enter DFU Mode on Your iPhone 11, 11 Pro, or 11 Pro Max
Apple's innovations often involve more taking away than adding on. The company has released seven iPhones that omit the home button, the latest batch including the iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max. If you recently picked up one of these devices for the first time, you might be a little confused on how to enter DFU mode when your iPhone acts up.
How To: How & Why to Enable Negative Calorie Adjustments in MyFitnessPal
MyFitnessPal adjusts your calorie goal for the day according to your activity level. The more active you tell the app you are, the more calories it tells you to consume — simple, right? Unfortunately, MFP doesn't tell you to consume fewer calories when you don't work out. However, an activity tracker like a FitBit or Apple Watch can help.
How To: Prevent Notes on Your iPhone from Being Accessed by Others on Your iPad or Mac
If you store important, sensitive information on your iPhone in Notes, you'll want to be more careful. When Notes syncs across your iPad and Mac via iCloud — devices that family members or coworkers may share — you run the risk of having your notes read, edited, and deleted by other people. Such a catastrophe is easily avoided.
Google Photos 101: How to Use Google Lens to Identify Landmarks in Your Images
When traveling or sightseeing, you may come across a landmark you can't quite identify and want to know what exactly it is and the history behind it. It could be a building, waterfall ... anything. If there are no signs around or they're in a different language, you'll have no idea what you're looking at. Fortunately, Google Photos can be your personal tour guide with the power of Google Lens.
How To: Change Font Size in Windows 10
Windows 10 runs on laptops, desktops, tablets, and even phones—but even though the operating system should scale accordingly, fonts and icons aren't always perfectly sized for every screen. Luckily, though, there's a handy new menu for adjusting the size of your screen's contents, which you can use to make everything bigger or smaller to match your preferences.
How To: 15 Reasons to Unlock Developer Options on Your Android
In case you didn't know, Android has an awesome hidden settings menu called "Developer options" that contains a lot of advanced and unique features. If you've ever come across this menu before, chances are you just dipped in for a minute so that you could enable USB debugging and use ADB features.
How To: Use These Price Trackers to Find On-Sale and Newly Free Apps for Your iPhone or iPad
To the end user, mobile apps are sometimes expensive. To the developers, those costs are justified for all the hard work put into making the apps. Sometimes app creators will meet in the middle by putting their apps on sale or giving them away for a limited time to gain more traction in the App Store.
How To: 8 Ways Your iPhone Can Make Emailing More Secure
Privacy is a growing concern in the tech industry, but Apple has fallen behind many of its peers when it comes to email security. Fortunately, iOS 15 changes that. Your email address is the key to a vast amount of personal information, not to mention a stepping stone into your other online accounts, so it's great to see new features for iPhones that protect email accounts and their contents.
How To: Annoy Your Friends on iMessage with a Barrage of Automated Texts
Back in its infancy, the App Store was filled with text bomb apps that allowed users to send a barrage of text messages to friends, family, and foes. It was a fun way to annoy people, but Apple quickly scrubbed the apps because of technical issues. Although text bombs are still banished, you can now use a Siri Shortcut to send text bombs through iMessage on your iPhone.
How To: Unbrick Your OnePlus 6T When All Else Fails
When flashing files through TWRP, ADB, or Fastboot, there's a slight chance for things to go wrong. Whether it's user error related or something else entirely, it's always good to have a backup plan. In most cases, you'll be dealing with a semi-brick or soft-brick, which can usually be solved by wiping the data of the device using TWRP. However, it can be more severe than that in some cases.
How To: Customize the App Icons on Your iPhone's Home Screen
The most significant customization aspect of the iPhone is most definitely the home screen. Before iOS 14, Apple only threw in a feature here and there to appease those who like a more personal touch on the most visible part of the operating system. Now, there are great customizability options to give you a real personalized touch, and that includes app icons.