Hot Gadget Hacks How-Tos
How To: Remove the S Finder & Quick Connect Buttons from Your Galaxy S6's Notification Panel
Samsung is known for its added features, but occasionally, these can cross the line between functionality and bloat. For many users, this is the case with the "S Finder" and "Quick connect" buttons that are hard-coded into the notification tray on most Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge variants.
How To: Use Your Chromecast to Make PowerPoint Presentations from Your Android
Chromecast is so small and portable that it would seem to be a perfect device for making PowerPoint presentations. But even now that you can mirror your Android device's display, there are still a few issues.
How To: Keep from Running into Things When Walking & Using Your Phone
We have all seen videos of people walking off of platforms and into street signs because they were too distracted by their phones to pay attention. This has become such a problem that cities have even considered fining pedestrians for texting and walking.
How To: Get in Shape with These Five Fitness Apps for Your Apple Watch
With the high rate of obesity in the United States, it's fantastic to see the massive wave of fitness tools available, even if it's just a trend. And with the companionship of your Apple Watch, keeping track of your progress or fitness goals has never been easier. As my LA Fitness intercom repeatedly announces, "What gets measured gets improved." (Corny, but very true.)
How To: Order Food Directly from Google Search on Android & iOS
Google constantly adds useful little features to stay on top of the search engine heap. Recently, we've seen them add "Find my phone" functionality, as well as the ability to set alarms and send directions to your Android phone or tablet.
How To: Install the Latest Google Clock & Calculator Apps on Your Galaxy S6 (Or Other Android)
Many of Google's stock Android apps are some of the best options out there—especially now that they've all been made over with Material Design. But generally, as these are pre-installed system apps, they cannot be used on non-Nexus devices.
How To: Mirror Your Android Notifications Over to Your Nexus Player
With our internet-connected devices growing in number by the year, it would be nice if they could somehow all be interconnected. This is becoming commonplace for our tablets, smartphones, and laptops, but our media streaming boxes still seem to be isolated in their own little worlds.
How To: Disable or Mute Annoying App Notifications on the Apple Watch
With audible alerts and subtle vibrations, the Apple Watch makes it difficult to miss incoming notifications. But soon enough you'll realize that not every notification is worth receiving on your Watch and can ultimately render the experience annoying under particular circumstances—like when your popular Instagram post floods in notification after notification.
How To: Control Music Playback from the Side of Your Galaxy S6 Edge’s Screen
The Galaxy S6 Edge comes with a useful feature called Information stream that allows you to view quick tidbits of info with a quick back-and-forth swipe on the edge of your display while the screen is off. Apparently, Samsung left the door open for third-party plugins to use this feature, and now we're starting to see an influx of useful additions.
How To: Turn Your iPhone into a Spy Camera Using Your Apple Watch
With the purchase of my new Apple Watch, the days of striving to be a James Bond-like spy have never been closer to fruition. Granted, talking to your wrist in public can look pretty pretentious, and I may very rarely do it, but let's get real—you look like 007!
How To: Add a Battery Meter & System Stats to the Information Stream on Your Galaxy S6 Edge
Exclusive to the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, "Information stream" is a screen feature that lets you see quick, at-a-glance information with a simple swipe while the screen is off. It also supports plug-ins, or additional streams of information that can come from third-party sources. So developers are starting to come up with nifty little add-ons for Information stream, and the team at 3C has some cool new system feeds that might come in handy.
How To: Listen to YouTube Videos in the Background on Android (No Root Required)
When you think about it, YouTube may actually have one of the largest music collections on the planet. This is why, at $10 per month, Google's new YouTube Music Key subscription is a solid value for many users, especially with its inclusion of Google Play Music.
How To: Use the Secret 'Vulcan Salute' Emoji on Your Apple Watch
While some of the additions to the emoji keyboard in iOS 8.3 have been criticized for actually doing the opposite of their intended purpose, they've been well received overall. But the biggest winner of the new emojis was one that actually wasn't even released—the "Vulcan salute" emoji.
How To: Get a Feature-Packed, iPhone-Like Lock Screen for Your Galaxy S6 or Other Android Device
With an Android device, you can replace almost any default app with a third-party offering. Don't like your home screen app? Replace it. Tired of the text messaging interface? Upgrade it. The same can be said for Android's lock screen. But while many third-party lock screen apps are available, so far, only one has been designed with the Samsung Galaxy S6 and its fingerprint scanner in mind.
How To: Remove the Boot-Up Sound on Your Galaxy S6
Mobile service providers have an uncomfortably strong grip on the Android platform as a whole. For instance, all four U.S. versions of the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge play their carrier's obnoxious jingle every time they boot up. You don't get any say in the matter—if you buy your phone from one of the big 4, you're a walking audible billboard.
How To: Add Custom Replies for Messages on Your Apple Watch
The display on the Apple Watch is way too small to even attempt typing on it, which is why the Messages app only allows for responses using default replies or by speaking a message. But you won't always be able to speak a message, and often the default replies will be too generic to want to use.
How To: Use Handoff on the Apple Watch to Continue Tasks on Your iPhone
Continuity, introduced back when iOS 8 and Mac OS X 10.10 were released, lets users seamlessly connect all of their Apple devices together. With it came a feature known as Handoff that "hands off" an app or task from one Apple device to another, like starting an email on your iPhone and completing it on your Mac.
How To: Silence Notifications & Shutter Sounds in Your Galaxy S6's Camera
Some variants of the Galaxy S6 will allow you to silence the camera shutter sound with an option in the app's settings menu. But this is not true of all models, plus there's an additional annoyance—when you're filming video and you get a notification, you'll actually hear this tone on the final recording.
How To: Move Any Screen Freely for Easier One-Handed Use on Android
With smartphone screens getting bigger by the generation, one-handed mode mods are becoming rather prevalent. Most of these function by shrinking the screen to a more manageable size, but this is actually kind of boring when you think about it.
How To: Help Loved Ones with Alzheimer's Preserve Fond Memories Using This Android App
Modern medicine utilizes cutting-edge technology more than ever, so it would only make sense that the powerful handheld computers we all carry around these days could play a big role in wellness.
How To: Personalize Sound Quality for Headphones on Your Galaxy S6
Chances are your hearing isn't the same as the person next to you. Personally, I have moderate hearing loss, so I tend to turn the volume nob towards the loud side. For others, it may be that one ear is slightly better or worse than the other, not only in perceiving volume, but tone as well. Considering this, is it possible for smartphone manufacturers to ensure the best sound quality on their devices?
How To: Force-Close Running Apps on the Apple Watch
It probably doesn't happen much, but occasionally you'll run into a frozen or bugged-out app on your iPhone or other iOS device. That's where force-closing comes in, allowing you to close any app manually through a few clicks and swipes.
How To: Clear All Notifications at Once on the Apple Watch
Functioning as an extension of your iPhone, the Apple Watch makes monitoring and receiving notifications convenient with just a glance, leaving your iPhone in your purse or pocket. But just like on your iPhone, these notifications can begin to stack up, so let's show you the one-touch method for clearing them all at once.
How To: Change Emoji Colors on the Apple Watch
On the Apple Watch, along with the conventional emojis we've grown to love, there are new animated emojis that add a new dimension of fun for you and your friends. Unbeknownst to many, these animated faces also include a feature that allow you to change their color.
How To: Quickly Switch Between Apps on the Apple Watch
Apple Watch doesn't include a multitasking feature like its iPhone companion, so there's no way to show active apps or swipe up to force-close one. Watch is an extension of the iPhone, not a replacement, so including a fully-functional multitasking feature seems impractical.
How To: Customize the Face on Your Apple Watch
Customization helps your device stand out from the rest, and that sentiment is no different when it comes to the Apple Watch. Unlike every other Apple device before it, the Watch allows you to customize the information that appears on the UI—without the need for any jailbreaking.
How To: Reduce Eye Strain When Using Smartphones
The smartphone has become one of the basic reasons for sore eyes. If you are addicted to your beloved smartphone, there is a fair possibility that your eyes will be paying off its expensive price. If you use your smartphone, tablet, laptop or any other similar gadget consistently, you may experience tired, dried, itchy eyes and also severe headache. Your vision can also become blurred by the time, which it means it is affecting your eyesight. However, you can lower down your eye strain by mak...
How To: Set Up & Use Apple Pay on Your Apple Watch
As you're probably well aware by now, the Apple Watch isn't just for sending text messages and checking Instagram—you can also use it as your wallet. With Apple Pay compatibility, you can use your Watch to make purchases at any retailer that accepts the payment service.
How To: Use Siri on Your Apple Watch
If you have an Apple Watch, it's easier than ever to ask Siri for directions, send a quick text, or locate the nearest Chipotle—because you don't need to pull out your iPhone anymore. Luckily, Apple made it fairly painless to get Siri up and running on the Watch, so let's go over the two quick activation methods.
How To: Find Your Misplaced iPhone Using Your Apple Watch
Your Apple Watch is a fantastic tool that can help you perform daily tasks on your iPhone. Notifications get filtered through it, you can respond to messages on it, and you can even use Apple Pay to purchase goods and services. Your Apple Watch is also a valuable asset when it comes to finding your lost iPhone, too.
How To: Launch Apps While the Screen Is Off on Your Galaxy S6 Edge
Samsung has a long-standing reputation for packing their devices with lots of added functionality, and the Galaxy S6 Edge is no exception. It comes with a nifty feature called "Information stream," which allows you to get quick, at-a-glance information by swiping the edge of your screen back and forth while the display is off.
How To: Secure Photos, Videos, & More on Your Galaxy S6 Using Private Mode
If you have a smartphone, chances are you have something on it you don't want others seeing. Whether it be photos, videos, or documents, some things are best left private. Not everyone is a saint, after all.
How To: Turn Your Apple Watch Case into a Charging Dock
For all that money spent on a new Watch, Apple could've given us more than just a charger and its case. I mean, the case is nice and all, but what realistic use is there for it? In all honesty, it'll probably find its way onto a shelf high above in the closet—but it doesn't have to.
How To: Find & Delete Dumb, Offensive Posts on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter
One tweet can get your fired from your job. At least, in the cases of Gilbert Gottfried, Rashard Mendenhall, Ozzie Guillen, and Mike Bacsik, who were all either fired or forced to resign from their jobs after posting regrettable tweets online.
How To: Load Music Directly onto Your Apple Watch to Play with Bluetooth Headphones
As someone who loves to run around my neighborhood, the Apple Watch feature that excited me the most was the ability to go out and exercise while listening to music, all without having to lug my iPhone around.
How To: Get Cyanogen OS 12 to Work with Your 5 GHz Wireless Router
No one is perfect, and this goes double for software developers. All of the quality assurance testing in the world does nothing when you put a new OS in the hands of everyday users, since we all use our devices in different places and for different reasons. Recently, Cyanogen released their version of Android Lollipop, Cyanogen OS 12, and with it came a whole lot of great features, but some bugs also slipped in.
How To: Take Screenshots on Your Apple Watch
Whether it's to flaunt your new digital face on Instagram or to show off a unique app to your friends, you'll ultimately need to know how to take a quick screenshot with your shiny new Apple Watch. Turns out, it's not that much different than taking one on your iPhone.
How To: Pair & Set Up Your Apple Watch with Your iPhone
The Apple Watch is finally here! We'll have loads of guides and videos for you guys to check out in the following week and beyond, but we thought it'd be best to start off showing you how to set up and pair that brand new beautiful Apple Watch of yours to your iPhone.
How To: Launch Apps from the Side of Your Screen (A Perfect Mod for the Galaxy S6 Edge)
With the Galaxy S6 Edge, the curved display is mainly an aesthetic feature. Unlike the Galaxy Note Edge, Samsung didn't include many software features to take advantage of its unique design, outside of the scrolling tickers and night clock. For instance, with the Note Edge, you can launch apps from the curved portion of the screen—but this isn't true for the S6 Edge.
How To: Make Google Play Music's Interface Better on Android
Google Play Music is an awesome app—even if you don't subscribe to their $9.99/month All Access service, you can still use it to store and stream up to 50,000 of your own songs for free. Add to that the fact that it's a pre-installed app on most Android devices, and there aren't many reasons not to be using Play Music.