Hot Gadget Hacks How-Tos
How To: The Trick to Taking Night Mode Time-Lapses on Your iPhone 12, 12 Mini, 12 Pro, or 12 Pro Max
Good time-lapse videos capture cities, nature, and other long-running events in a way normal photos and videos simply can't. Your iPhone 12, 12 mini, 12 Pro, or 12 Pro Max can make time-lapses look even better, thanks to Night mode. But it isn't exactly intuitive or even clear on how to enable the feature since, unlike with Video mode, you won't find a Night mode icon to use.
How To: Make Your iPhone's Camera Remember Your Last Used Exposure Compensation Value for Later
Your ability to control exposure in the Camera app is much better in iOS 14. Instead of setting the exposure for a single shot, you can also lock an exposure compensation value for an entire session while you take photos and videos. A session ends as soon as you exit the app, but you can also remind your iPhone to use your last used ECV the next time you open Camera.
How To: Control Focus & Exposure Separately in Your iPhone's Camera for Pro-Level Photos
While iPhone cameras these days are downright impressive, the same can't be said for the Camera app. In true Apple form, Camera is as simple as possible, forcing you to go third-party for pro-level features. With iOS 14, however, Apple adds a little extra professionalism, allowing you to lock focus and exposure separately.
How To: Set Custom Wallpapers for Individual WhatsApp Chats So That Each Thread Has Its Own Look
One of WhatsApp's best features is being able to change the default wallpaper for all chats. There's no reason to stick to the default WhatsApp backgrounds when you can be texting over an image of literally anything. In a newer WhatsApp update, you can go a step beyond that by setting custom wallpapers for individual chats, personalizing every text thread you have.
How To: Save an Extra 40% Off This Cyber Monday Mac Bundle ft. Parallels Pro
You're on your computer a lot, so it only makes sense that you download the best apps and software for it. The Official Cyber Monday Mac Bundle Ft. Parallels Pro & Luminar 4 is available for only three weeks at an additional 40% off the sale price of $69.99. Just use the promo code CMSAVE40 at checkout.
How To: Don't Miss These 10 Cyber Monday Deals
Get your holiday shopping done early with these deals on software, e-learning classes, and gadgets. These Cyber Monday goodies include something for everyone at a can't-miss additional 20–70% off sale prices.
How To: The Best Black Friday Deals on iPhone Accessories
The holiday season is here! Whether you're gift shopping for the iPhone owners in your life or just trying to save some money on your own purchases, Black Friday can deal out the discounts. This year, you'll find great prices on iPhone accessories of all kinds — all Thanksgiving week long — whether you're buying gear for an iPhone 12, X, or 7, there's something here for everyone.
How To: All the Ways Guided Access Can Help While Gaming on Your iPhone
You can't get the same gaming experience on your iPhone as you would on a PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, or gaming computer. The processing power is less, the controls inadequate, and there are many on-screen distractions, all of which make mobile gaming less enjoyable. While you can't fix many of these issues, there is a way to prevent some problems, and that's thanks to Guided Access.
How To: 10 Coding, SEO & More Courses on Sale Right Now That Will Turn You into a Pro Developer
This holiday season, give yourself a gift that will keep on giving: a new web development skill. Whether it's to secure lucrative freelance work in the new year, bolster your résumé, or have fun with some frankly outrageous discounts on online course bundles right now (up to 99% off), there's nothing better you can do with your free time. Your future (pro coder) self will thank you.
How To: Learn a New Language Over the Holidays with the World's Most Popular Language App
What better way to spend the holidays this year than learning a new skill? Give yourself a lifelong gift (literally) with this incredible deal on a lifetime subscription to Babbel Language Learning - now on sale with 50% off, for just $199 (regular price $399).
How To: Create the Next Big Video Game by Learning Unity 2D with This Course Bundle, Now 98% Off
Whether you've always dreamed about making your own video games for fun or a career, now you can make the dream a reality with The Unity 2D Game Developer Bundle. Not only does this complete course include a ton of content, but it's not often you get to learn such valuable skills at such a low price. Right now, this course is a huge 98% off its original price, at just $39.99 (regular price $2,189).
How To: Shrink the Pixel 5's Giant Status Bar Down to a Normal Size
The Pixel 5 is the first mainstream phone with perfectly symmetrical slim bezels. Most other "bezel-less" phones have had a disproportionately large bottom bezel, and while the iPhone's side and bottom bezels are symmetrical, there's a huge notch across most of its top bezel. The downside to the Pixel's approach is it has a pretty big display cutout for the front camera.
How To: Stop Getting Unwanted AirDrops on Your iPhone from Strangers & Pranksters
One of Apple's best features is AirDrop, which easily lets you send files to other Apple devices with a simple tap. That said, it might be a little too easy to use since just about anyone can send a file to your iPhone, whether you know them or not. The difference between AirDrop as a useful tool among your contacts and an open channel for the entire iPhone community comes down to one setting.
How To: This Python Course — Perfect for Beginners — Is on Sale at 92% Off Right Now
Always wanted to learn Python but don't know where to start with the high-level programming language? The Basics for Python Development is perfect for beginners — and right now, it's on sale for just $14.99, which is an impressive 92% off its usual price of $199.
How To: Learn Coding in Just One Hour a Day with This Top-Rated Course
No matter the field you work in, tech dominates every industry in 2020, and that means that you can always increase your earning potential by adding valuable coding skills to your arsenal. Coding can lead to dream software development career paths, lucrative freelance work, and it can be an impressive boost to your résumé. Now, you can learn these valuable skills at home with The Complete One Hour Coder Bundle, an offer at an unmissable 97% off its usual price, at just $34.99 (usually $1,200).
How To: Pre-Register for a Plex Account Through the New Google Pay App
Not only has Google released a completely new Google Pay app for US users on both iPhone and Android, but the've also minted a new mobile banking service. Called Plex, it provides online bank accounts at one of 11 partner banks and credit unions, with no minimum balance requirements, overdraft charges, or monthly fees.
How To: Trigger Reachability on Your iPhone to Interact with the Top Part of the Screen One-Handed
Apple's "Reachability" feature made its debut with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, to compensate for larger screen sizes, allowing users to reach screen items at the top while using one hand. It has since become a staple feature of all iPhones (except the original iPhone SE), but how you activate it varies depending on if it's a model with Face ID or Touch ID.
How To: Master SEO with This Ultimate Course, Now Just $14.99
All modern entrepreneurs know that your business is as strong as its SEO. Whether you want to Rank #1 on Google to increase your personal branding, traffic to your online storefront, or to add the skills to your resume, you can now get a Complete SEO Training course for just $14.99, in the Gadget Hacks Shop, 92% off the regular cost of $199.
How To: 18 MagSafe Accessories for Your iPhone 12 Mini, Including Cases, Mounts, Docks & More
There are plenty of reasons to upgrade to the iPhone 12 mini. Maybe you want to take advantage of the improved camera system, or you're intrigued by the return to a smaller form factor. But one of its coolest features might be MagSafe, a completely different way to charge and accessorize your iPhone.
How To: Change the Brightness of Your iPhone's Lock Screen Flashlight
Whenever you need a flashlight, your iPhone's LED flash may be enough to break through the darkness, and you don't even need to unlock your screen to use it. But your LED flash's brightness level may be too strong or not powerful enough. It's not immediately obvious how one would change those lumens from the lock screen, but doing so is almost as fast as turning it on.
How To: This Is the Ultimate Course Bundle if You're Looking to Work in the Cloud
Amazon Web Services (AWS) offers over 200 services, including networking, computing, storage, analytics, blockchain, mobile, and developer tools. Not surprisingly, numerous companies rely on AWS's massive infrastructure. Instead of building their own server farms, they rent space and computing power from AWS's secure and robust system.
How To: Use Apple's iPhone 12 Studio to See How MagSafe Accessories Will Look on Your New Phone
There's a variety of brilliant colors in the iPhone 12 lineup, including the elegant Gold and show-stealing Pacific Blue finishes on the Pro models. It's difficult enough to choose an iPhone color as a customer, but deciding on accessories can make things even worse. Which color case looks best with what iPhone color? What about a MagSafe wallet attachment? Well, Apple has a tool to help you figure that all out.
How To: Launch Your Dream Website — No Coding Skills Required
Cultivating a strong online presence can have a huge impact on your employment prospects or help you get that dream store up and running in no time. Whether you're looking for work or building a brand, being able to create and maintain a professional website is essential in the modern workforce.
How To: Unlock Shazam's New Music Recognition Tool in Your iPhone's Control Center for Easier Song Identification
With or without the Shazam app, which Apple acquired in 2017, you can use Siri on your iPhone to identify music playing around you that you want to know more about. In the iOS 14.2 update, there's another way to name songs on your iPhone.
How To: Bring Back Full-Page Siri in iOS 14 So You're Not Distracted by Any Apps Underneath
Full-page interfaces are so iOS 13. With Apple's iOS 14, alerts such incoming phone and FaceTime calls now appear as small banners instead. The same goes for Siri. Instead of using your iPhone's full display, Siri now exists in an unobtrusive overlay. But if you miss the focus that full-screen Siri used to bring, you're in luck because the feature still exists — it's just hidden.
How To: Downgrade iOS 14.2 Back to iOS 14.1 on Your iPhone Using Finder or iTunes
Apple's iOS 14.0 update has come and gone, and now we're sitting on iOS 14.2, the latest version of the iPhone's operating system. While it may be too late for you to revert to the last iOS 13 version, if the iOS 14.2 firmware is giving you problems or you're not just digging it, you can downgrade to iOS 14.1.
How To: Secure WhatsApp Behind Face ID or Touch ID on Your iPhone to Keep Your Chats Extra Private
End-to-end encryption makes WhatsApp chats private and secure. However, if someone has access to your iPhone, they can easily open the app and browse through all of your personal conversations. Luckily, there's an easy way to block any would-be intruders at the gates — just lock the app behind Face ID or Touch ID.
How To: See What Traffic Is Usually Like Between Any 2 Addresses
If you're in the market for a new house, how do you know what your commute would be like if current traffic is unseasonably low? Or if you're considering a new job across town and want to weigh the pay raise against the extra time stuck in a gridlock, how do you measure the discrepancy? Google Maps can help.
How To: 14 New Features & Changes in iOS 14.2 for iPhone
Apple's latest update, iOS 14.2, is finally here. As the name implies, it's the second major update to hit iPhones since Apple released iOS 14 in the fall. The update brings at least 13 new features and changes to all compatible iPhones, including over 100 new emoji and eight new wallpapers.
How To: Send & Receive Disappearing Messages in Your WhatsApp Conversations to Keep Chats Clutter-Free
Sometimes, keeping every message comes in handy. Maybe you want to relive fun conversations from months or years ago, or perhaps you need to recall a piece of data such as an address, name, or link. However, not all chats need to stick around forever. Whether you're concerned about privacy or just keeping your threads clutter-free, WhatsApp's "disappearing messages" may be what you're looking for.
How To: Secure Your iPhone's Clipboard So You Won't Accidentally Paste from Other Devices or Share Your Copied Content
Continuity connects all of your Apple devices so that they all work seamlessly together. For instance, you can start tasks on one device and finish them on another, view and send text messages or make calls on your iPhone from your iPad, iPod touch, or Mac, and even use an iPad as a monitor for your Mac. Its Universal Clipboard feature is also really useful, but it can also be quite annoying in iOS 14.
How To: 5 Improvements in iOS 14's Measure App That Are Only for the iPhone 12 Pro & 12 Pro Max
The iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max have one huge thing that sets them apart from their iPhone 12 and 12 mini siblings: a lidar scanner. Thanks to this new technology, Measure, an Apple app that's just over two years old, has gotten even better.
How To: Play YouTube Videos in the Background on Your iPhone — Even When the Display Turns Off
It's pretty clear with all of the annoying "Get YouTube Premium" pop-ups that litter the YouTube app that Google really wants you to pay for its Premium membership tier. That's why you'll see that "Get background play with YouTube Premium" ad after closing YouTube with a video playing — even in iOS 14 which supports Picture in Picture playback. But there are workarounds for background listening on iPhone.
How To: Most Office Jobs Revolve Around Spreadsheets — Here's Your Chance to Master Excel
Written language began with one of the most pedestrian tasks imaginable: accounting. The basis of poetry, epic mythologies, and novels initially involved marking down trades between livestock owners and grain suppliers. We rightfully think that literature is essential to the human spirit. But when contemplating how societies operate, spreadsheets are king.
How To: Quickly Measure a Standing or Seated Person's Height Using Your iPhone 12 Pro or 12 Pro Max
Apple added a great new feature to its Measure app in iOS 14, but it only works on the iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max models as of right now. If you have one of those models, you can now measure a person's height with accuracy within a few centimeters, whether they're standing or seated.
Deal Alert: Become a Google Ad & SEO Ninja for Under $50
The gold standard in any business is reaching the front page of Google. You need to get your brand in front of audiences. While it can seem daunting, it's not impossible when you master SEO best practices.
How To: Ready to Become a Top Project Manager? This 10-Course Bundle Will Teach You Scrum, Agile & PMP
Effective communicators are always in high demand in every industry. Whether your team is building the next billion-dollar app or you have a giant data set in front of you for filtering, communicating with your team is essential.
Deal Alert: The Ultimate eLearning Bundle Is Now on Sale for Just $99
If there's anything we've learned during 2020, it's that working and learning from home is going to shift the way we do business. With Microsoft announcing that its staff will be allowed to permanently work from home, expect more businesses to follow suit.
How To: The Best Way to Avoid the New AR Mapping Tasks in Pokémon GO
Niantic recently added a new Field Research task type called AR Mapping that challenges players to capture video footage of PokéStop landmarks and upload them. In return, players receive rewards in the form of in-game items.
How To: No, Your 18-Watt Power Adapter Won't Get You 15-Watt Fast Charging with the MagSafe Charger
If you ask Apple Support if the 18-watt power adapter that came with the iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, and four different iPad models will work with the MagSafe Charger and your new iPhone 12 or 12 Pro, the answer is "yes." But that's not the whole story.