Hot Gadget Hacks How-Tos
How To: Disable Startup Programs in Windows 10
Microsoft had boasted that Windows 10 starts up as much as 30% faster than Windows 7 would on the same device, but depending on your setup, this can still be incredibly slow. Many programs choose to start up alongside Windows, which can make booting your PC quite a hassle.
How To: Take Screenshots in Windows 10
Screenshots are an indispensable tool when it comes to relaying information about what's currently showing on your monitor. Whether you need help troubleshooting an issue or you just want to save and share a protected image, screenshots are often your best bet.
How To: Set Custom Vibration Alerts for Individual iPhone Contacts
Certain contacts on my iPhone have special ringtones so that I know exactly who's calling or texting without looking at my screen (like Adele's "Hello" for all my exes). But when my phone is silenced and tucked away in my pocket, these contact-specific ringtones can't really help me out. Luckily, there's something else that can—custom vibration patterns.
How To: Listen & Reply to Text Messages Hands-Free
For some time now, iPhone owners have been able to use Siri to listen to and reply to text messages, but that functionality has been lacking on Android. That is, until Google silently rolled out a similar feature for Google Now (thanks to Android Police for the tip).
How To: Boost Your Productivity on Android
Not many people use their phone exclusively for making calls or sending messages today. If you're an Android user, the chances are high that you're using your phone or tablet for work-related activities. However, the basic set of apps and services your device was shipped with won't satisfy most users. The good thing is that Google Play Store has a nice selection of productivity apps for every task. Below you'll find a list of apps that will help you gradually optimize and organize your digita...
How To: Clean Up Web Articles on Your iPhone with Safari's Reader Mode
Many websites are crowded with ads, pictures, and other irrelevant content that make it harder than necessary to read a simple article on your iPhone. In many cases, you have to zoom in just to get a better view of the text you're attempting to read—unless the webpage blocks zooming.
How To: Add Widgets to Your Status Bar
While it took Apple a damn-long time to finally include widgets in iOS, I do admire their implementation. Accessible from within any screen by pulling down the Notification Center (or, more correctly, the "Today" view), the home screen remains clean and minimal, which some of you with Android devices might appreciate—despite any Apple hatred you may have.
How To: Find Saved WiFi Passwords in Windows
Once you connect all of your devices to your Wi-Fi router at home, you'll never need that long, complicated Wi-Fi password ever again, right?
How To: 5 Ways Android Can Lead to Better Sleep
We spend over 30 percent of our lifetimes sleeping—yet it never seems like enough, does it? Distractions ranging from work issues to personal relationships keep our minds racing well after they should be shutting down for the night, and the onset of smartphones has only added to this problem with the instant information and easy entertainment that they offer.
Black Friday Deals: Smart HDTVs from $125, Tablets from $35, Speakers 55% Off, & More
There are going to be tons of great Black Friday deals on electronics in stores like Best Buy, Target, Walmart, etc. But if you can't endure another holiday of standing in lines and running over people to get what you want, shopping on Amazon from the comfort of your own home is the way to go.
How To: 15 More Tips & Tricks You Need to Know to Master Windows 10
Windows 10 has so many new features that we couldn't even cover them all with one article. From keyboard shortcuts to revamped search functions and all-new window gestures, Microsoft definitely piled on the fresh functionality in the latest version of their operating system.
How To: Get Michael Jackson's Thriller (& Rare Bonus Track) For Free from Google for a Limited Time
When an album sells a million copies, it gets certified as platinum and cements itself as one of its generation's biggest hits. When an album sells 10 million copies, it reaches diamond status and transcends generational gaps. But when an album sells well over 40 million copies, there's only one thing you can call it—Michael Jackson's Thriller.
How To: Pimp Out Your Windows 10 Command Prompt
For those times when you can't get something done by clicking a few buttons with your mouse, the Windows command prompt has always been an indispensable tool. But as much as advanced users have relied on this useful utility, it hasn't seen a significant update since the Windows 95 days.
How To: Open Kodi & Other Unofficial Apps Faster on Amazon Fire TV Devices
The Fire TV Stick, as well as the Fire TV, may be limited by Amazon's fight on piracy, but after a quick sideloading of Kodi, the floodgates are back open with the freedom to stream just about any video or song you want.
How To: Create Invisible Folders for All Your Secret iPhone Apps
When there's a crappy stock app you want to hide, the easiest thing to do is just bury it in the back of a miscellaneous folder. But what if there's an app you want to hide on your home screen that you actually use? For instance, what if you don't want everybody in eyeshot to see what banks you use, or don't want anyone to know about your "dating" apps or porn shortcuts?
How To: Install BlackBerry Priv Apps on Any Android
BlackBerry has yet to find a home amongst the iPhone and popular Android phones, with sales plummeting over the last couple years, but this might be a thing of the past thanks to their latest device, the BlackBerry Priv. It has decent numbers so far and was even sold out on Amazon shortly after its initial release.
How To: Get Cheap Hearthstone Packs
Hearthstone is a collectible card game by world-class developer Blizzard Entertainment. It has taken an entire generation of casual and professional gamers alike by storm. So many people play it, chances are you've already sunk some money into it. So, if you're going to pay a little anyway, you may as well get a discount.
How To: Call/Text Home for Free When Traveling Abroad
If you ever need to make calls and/or send texts to the U.S. or Canada from abroad, or even just receive them from those locations, there's an easy way to do so without breaking the bank. In fact, it's free, and all you need is a smartphone, computer, and some free tools.
How To: Get Your 'Damaged' Mac Apps Working Again
If you're seeing "damaged" apps on your Mac, you're not alone. A huge digital rights management blunder in Apple's Mac App Store on Wednesday, November 11th has rendered some apps unusable. When opening certain apps, the following message could be displayed:
How To: Cheat Android's Hidden Flappy Droid Game
With every version bump, Android gets a new Easter egg that can be accessed by tapping the "Android version" entry in Settings. For the most part, these have generally been little animations or live wallpapers that depict the Android code name, but starting with version 5.0 Lollipop, things got a bit more interesting.
How To: Lurk on Instagram Without Getting Caught
It might be difficult to admit, but a lot of us are probably guilty of lurking on Instagram profiles, whether it be an ex you've been keeping tabs on or someone cute you literally just met.
Screw Hearts: How to Get Stars Back on Twitter
When people get accustomed to something, any type of change is typically met with resistance or disdain. So when Twitter decided to swap stars for hearts, the internet wasn't exactly receptive to the new aesthetic.
How To: Unblock American Hulu, Netflix, & More on Chromecast in Other Countries
If you're a U.S. expat living, traveling, or studying abroad, or just someone who typically uses virtual private networks (VPNs) in order to access the North American video libraries of services like Hulu or Netflix, you were probably surprised to see that these video streaming services don't work on your Chromecast or Chromecast 2.
How To: Stop Butt-Dialing All Your Contacts with This App
With a slab-style touchscreen device, butt dialing is always going to be a problem. While you're moving about, your phone can unlock itself and give your most recent contact a ring, leading to an awkward one-sided conversation where the other person gets to eavesdrop on everything you're doing or saying at that moment.
How To: Download Any SoundCloud or YouTube Song on Android
A growing trend for many artists (most recently Kanye West) is to offer exclusive or experimental tracks on music streaming sites like SoundCloud or YouTube before releasing them anywhere else. On rare occasions, some of these great songs never make their way onto an official album, which can be disappointing for die-hard fans who need to download every song available from their favorite artist or band.
Android Basics: How to Use Android Beam to Wirelessly Transfer Content Between Devices
Android Beam is one of those features that makes you look at technology in awe, wondering how exactly something like that works.
How To: Get Apple TV's New Aerial Screen Saver on Your Mac
When an Apple TV remains idle, it will eventually trigger its majestic video screen saver that includes aerial views New York, San Francisco, China, Hawaii, and more. Now, thanks to developer John Coates, you can have the exact same screen saver on any Mac running OS X Mavericks and above.
How To: Apps & Extensions You Should Be Using Right Now in Chrome
If you use Google Chrome as your default desktop/laptop browser, then Chrome OS will be pretty easy to get up and running if transitioning from Windows or macOS. Google has created an operating system that is fast, lightweight, and versatile enough to be adopted by pros and novices alike.
How To: Get SwiftKey's All-Black Ninja Themes for Free
Ask around anywhere that Android users gather online, and you'll find that SwiftKey is almost unilaterally the most highly-recommended keyboard for our favorite mobile operating system. It's no surprise either—SwiftKey's combination of insanely accurate word predictions and rapid-fire gesture typing comprise a hard combination to beat.
How To: Block Spoilers for TV, Movies, & Sports in Your Browser
Unlike in the physical world, on the internet you're actually able to shut people up and block spoilers of newly-released movies, your favorite TV shows, or a sports event you've yet to watch on your DVR.
How To: All the Ways to Stream the NFL's Bills/Jaguars Game for Free on Sunday, 10/25
For a lot of would-be cord cutters, the lack of streaming local sports is the only hurdle that needs to be cleared before they can sever all ties with big cable. This is why it was a huge victory for us anti-cable folks when Yahoo announced that they would be hosting the first ever live-streaming NFL game this Sunday at 9:30 AM Eastern.
How To: This Hack Lets You Touch Your Galaxy's Home Key Instead of Pressing It
Samsung's Galaxy series of devices have one common design theme that ties them all together—the physical home button at the bottom of the phone. This button can wake the phone, take you to your home screen, and even scan your fingerprint to securely unlock your device.
How To: The 10 Best Reasons to Jailbreak iOS 9
Yes, there's already a way to jailbreak iOS 9 on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, but given the fact that it's only been out for about a week means that not all developers have had a chance to make their tweaks fully compatible yet. That doesn't mean they won't work, but that they might not be as smooth as they should be.
How To: Google Snuck a File Manager in Android Marshmallow & Here's How to Find It
For years, we've had to download third-party apps if we wanted to browse or manage the files stored on our Android devices, but Google has finally included a bare-bones file explorer in Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Only thing is, it's not easy to find—but I'll show you how to access and use it below.
How To: 9 Ways to Get by Without Photoshop on Your Mac
In 1987, two brothers, Thomas and John Kroll, began work on an image editing software, which was eventually acquired in 1988 and released to the world in 1990 by Adobe. That software was Photoshop 1.0, initially exclusive for the Macintosh platform. Over the years, Photoshop became a great wizard of image editing and gained application rockstar status.
How To: The Trick to Taking Perfect Selfies with Your iPhone
Unless you have a newer iPhone 6S or 6S Plus, the front-facing "FaceTime" camera on your iPhone has a pretty weak, low-res sensor, which means unflattering selfies. You could use the rear "iSight" camera to take a high-res selfie, but framing your mug properly and hitting the shutter is difficult, takes many failed attempts, and usually results in a lackluster photo.
How To: Share Live Photos with Anyone by Converting Them to GIFs
Live Photos is an interesting new feature introduced by Apple on the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus models that captures the moments immediately before and after you snap a picture in the Camera app, resulting in a GIF-like animation.
How To: Use New Google Search Features Before Everyone Else
Not that long ago, Google introduced a beta program for their Google Search app on Android. Much like any beta program, testers will get access to new features before they officially debut, but you might have to put up with the occasional bug as new functionality is introduced. If you'd like to sign up, it's quite simple, but I'll go over the process in detail below.
How To: Unlock the Hidden Multi-Window Mode in Android 6.0 Marshmallow
Manufacturers like Samsung and LG have added their own implementation of multi-window features to Android for years now, but with the release of version 6.0 Marshmallow, Google has finally gotten around to working the same feature into stock Android.
How To: You Don't Need a New iPhone to Take Live Photos
Since Live Photos are nothing more than a glorified, built-in GIF generator on the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to get this "exclusive" feature on an older iPhone. While taking a Live Photo does eat up a lot of processing power, which the A9 chips can handle perfectly, older iPhones can still manager fairly well—no 3D Touch needed. You just need a jailbroken iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch to do it.