How-To Guides from Gadget Hacks

Picture this: you set your Pixel Watch 3 down somewhere in your house, can't remember where, and instead of the usual "somewhere in a 30-foot radius" hunt, your phone guides you directly to the exact couch cushion where it's hiding. That's the power of what Google quietly introduced with precise Bluetooth tracking on the Pixel Watch 3.

Netflix's move into live programming just got a rocket boost. NASA announced this summer that its NASA+ live feeds—including rocket launches, spacewalks, and those mesmerizing Earth views from the International Space Station—are heading to Netflix. This marks the first time Netflix has embedded live programming from an outside source directly into its U.S. platform.

Apple's shiny new CarPlay Ultra promised to transform your entire dashboard into an iPhone-powered command center. But three years after its grand debut, most automakers are delivering a collective "thanks, but no thanks" to Cupertino's most ambitious in-car takeover yet. What you need to know: Apple's next-gen CarPlay goes way beyond mirroring your phone to control A/C, speedometer, and radio — but major brands like Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and Volvo are saying "don't invade our systems."

Imagine your iPhone adapting to each app you open — text that's always the right size, buttons you can spot at a glance, and a steady cursor that never blinks — all without touching your system-wide settings. It sounds like magic, but it's all thanks to a tucked-away feature.

With Apple's Photos app, you no longer need a third-party tool on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac to blur or pixelate faces in your photos, helping you safeguard identities when sharing online.

Apple Notes may not have all the bells and whistles that a more powerful word processor like Apple Pages has, but this simple text editor has plenty of helpful features that make it more than just a basic note-taking app. One of these features gives you the ability to highlight text and change font colors, giving you another way to make important details stand out.

Why are there no official Star Wars emoji in the Unicode Standard? We've got the Vulcan Salute from Star Trek, so where's the force choke hand gesture?! While you may never see Star Wars officially invade your emoji keyboard, there are ways to send Star Wars emoji and stickers to your friends in your favorite chat app.

Streaming is great until you're 30,000 feet up, riding the subway, or stuck on a network that suddenly drops to dial-up-slow speeds. That's why Amazon's offline access remains one of Prime Video's best perks.

Editing out unwanted objects, people, and distractions from your photos just got a lot easier on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Before, you would have to use apps like Google Photos or Snapseed to erase background distractions or perform spot healing, but it's now a native feature in Apple's Photos app for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS.

Safari is always evolving, but most of its improvements happen behind the scenes, making the web feel faster, more secure, and more polished without you even noticing. There aren't any flashy new browser UI changes in iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, but it does upgrade what Safari is capable of in small but meaningful ways.

If you're in the US, your iPhone lets you set default apps for emailing, messaging, calling, web browsing, and even contactless payments and access. With iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, Apple also lets you pick a new default translation app.

Apple introduced a new Ambient Music feature for iPhone and iPad designed to enhance user well-being through curated soundscapes. This option offers four distinct categories — Chill, Productivity, Sleep, and Wellbeing — each providing a curated auditory experience to suit various moods and activities.

Safari on iOS is more powerful than it looks, especially when you know the hidden gestures that can make your browsing faster and more productive. These shortcuts quietly transform how you navigate the web, manage tabs, and share content across devices. Once you know them all, you'll wonder how you ever lived without them.

Apple's iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2 updates are here, packed with enhancements that take device intelligence to the next level. New Apple Intelligence features lead the release, offering smarter tools for creativity, productivity, and everyday tasks. However, there are also new features for all iPhone, iPad, and Mac models — not just those supporting Apple Intelligence.

With so many useful native and third-party apps available on iPhone, the Compass app often goes unnoticed. It may not be as essential as Messages, Photos, or Mail, but you can still get plenty of use out of it, especially if you're a hiker, camper, or someone who enjoys outdoor adventures.

There are some passwords you just want to keep close. It could be that you don't have access to a secure password manager or need them for sites you access from multiple devices at a time. Whatever your reason, you still need a password that is both secure and easy to remember. 🔐

In today's digital world, personalization is everything — and stickers are a fun way to add a unique touch to your conversations. Whether you're creating stickers from still images, emoji, Live Photos, or Genmoji, iOS, iPadOS, and macOS make it easy to customize your collection. But when it's time to clean things up and remove stickers that no longer fit your style, knowing how to manage and delete them efficiently is just as important.

Apple's Freeform app levels up with iOS 18 and iPadOS 18, offering you new features to enhance creativity, collaboration, and organization. While some updates, like the new Scenes feature, are prominent, others are more subtle but just as powerful. This incredible app's versatile features work equally well on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.