Gadget Hacks Features

How To: While We Wait on LineageOS, You Can Still Install CyanogenMod—Here's How

Cyanogen, Inc., the for-profit company that spun off from its CyanogenMod roots several years ago, has announced that they're shutting down all of their services. The company's impending demise shouldn't directly impact many Android users, but the announcement does have one major repercussion: The servers that used to host the popular CyanogenMod custom ROM have now been shut down.

How To: Access Android tethering on the HTC EVO 4G

One of the coolest features of the new Android phone, HTC EVO 4G is its ability to tether the Internet. In this clip, learn how to access and set up tethering, as well as which apps work best. You will also learn how to use Sprint's 29.99 Hot Spot plan, or bypass the charges by setting up free options. So, follow along and get your phone up and running with the new lightning fast 4G network.

How To: Easily Close All Safari Tabs at Once in iOS 7 for iPhone & iPad

Closing all of your tabs open in Safari is not an exceptionally quick task—you have the choice of either tapping the X on the left edge of each page or swiping each tab to the left of the screen. If you have a load of tabs open, you'll have to swipe or tap through all of them. Instead of wasting time, I'm going to show you the quick way of closing all of the open tabs in Safari.

How To: Transfer Your Spotify Playlists to Apple Music from an iPhone or Android Phone

Music streaming services make it difficult to transfer your favorite songs and artists from one service to another and for a valid reason: they don't want you to leave. But when it comes to switching, playlists are a big concern, because who wants to do it all over again? Luckily, if you're moving from Spotify to Apple Music, you can use a third-party app to take playlists with you.

How To: Port Your Mobile Phone Number to Google Voice

Want to stick it to your mobile carrier by porting your cell number to Google Voice? Now you can! On Wednesday, January 19th, Google Voice began allowing select users to transfer their personal numbers to Google Voice for a one-time fee of $20. Though the feature is still in limited release, Google has stated that they intend to make the feature available to all Google Voice users "in the near future." Terrific, right? Not entirely!

How To: Make your Android phone unlock pattern visible

In this video, Mike Callahan shows us how to make our unlock pattern visible on an Android phone. First, unlock your phone and go to the home screen. Then, go to 'settings, location & security". After this, click the button that says "use visible pattern" so that the check mark and button are both gray instead of green. To test this, tap back on the home screen and lock your phone. Now, when you draw in your pattern you will be able to see it on the screen. This way you can see the pattern as...

How To: Add Notes to Your iPhone's Notification Center for Easy Access Anytime

Confirmation numbers, grocery lists, addresses, and phone numbers are all things we need to quickly jot down on our phones, but the thing is, they're never extremely easy to access later. You have to figure out which app you wrote them in, meaning lots of needless searching and scrolling. Even if you use a dedicated note-taking app, those extra steps of actually opening the app to find a UPS tracking number can be an unnecessary pain.

How To: App Ops Is Alive! Add It to Your Nexus 5's Settings Menu for Per-App Permissions Control

Android's permissions system is simple, transparent, and straightforward. When installing an app, you get a chance to review all of the permissions that the app has requested. These can range from accessing your location data to holding a "wakelock" in order to prevent your phone from entering sleep mode. But your only choice in this matter is to accept all requested permissions, or not install the app.

How To: Add a provisioning profile to an iPhone/iPod in iTunes

When you want to test an app you or someone else has compiled (and not released on the App store), you need a provisioning profile added to your device. Fortunately, the process itself is quite easy. So easy, in fact, that this coder's guide can present a complete overview of the process in just over a minute. For more information, and to get started adding provisioning profiles to your own Apple devices, take a look.

How To: Print from your Android phone

Want to print from your Android smartphone? One of the salient advantages of a Google Android smartphone over, say, an Apple iPhone, is the inherent extendibility of the open-source Android mobile OS. There are a seemingly infinite number of settings to tweak and advanced features to discover and use. This free video tutorial will show you how to print from an Android device.

How To: Stream media from a Droid X phone to a PlayStation 3

Okay, just because the new Verizon Wireless Droid X comes with an HDMI-out port doesn't mean you're limited to just that. Motorola has made it possible for you to play video, music, and pictures to your television without any wires at all. With the Droid X's DLNA media sharing application, you can easily stream to an PS3 or Xbox, send pics to your PC, and stream videos to your TV. Check out this video walkthrough to learn how to use the DLNA services to connect your Droid X to the PlayStation 3!

How To: Make the stepper motor driver for a CNC router

A CNC router machine is probably the most useful tool a hobbyist can own, but the price for a CNC machine on the market is way more than the average hobbyist is willing to spend. You can build your own CNC with very basic tools, little knowledge of machinery, mechanics, or electronics, but be warned, these machines are inherently dangerous, so wear the proper protection and use common sense. At the very least, read the instructions and precautions on every tool you use.

News: Nova Launcher Receives Updated Google Now Page

One of the better additions in the stock Android launcher is the Google Now page. Residing to the left of the home screen, this page presents a host of information based on the user's interests, which Google bases on analyzed data. Recently, the Google Now page design received a makeover which Nova Launcher users can now enjoy.

How To: Master reset and factory reset your Blackberry

This video will show you how to do a master reset, and a factory reset on your Blackberry. If you ever need to do this, this video tutorial is a great place to start. Just follow along with this tutorial. This is a good idea if you're looking to resell your Blackberry or pass it on to a relative or friend for whatever reason. This tutorial works for any Blackberry device.

How To: Beat level 17 of Angry Birds Seasons with three stars

Beat the seventeenth level of Angry Birds Seasons with three stars! On December 1st, Rovio released their version of an advent calendar—Angry Birds Seasons (aka "Angry Birds Christmas"). Each day leading up to the Christmas holiday, a new level will become available to Angry Birds enthusiasts worldwide. Stuck? No problem: YouTube's 23hathman has pledged to post a three-star walkthrough for each of the game's levels. In this, the December 17th installment, we learn how to beat level 17.

How To: Squeeze Out an Extra 5 Minutes of Battery Life in Critical Situations on a Galaxy Note 2 or 3

We've all been there. Rushing to find an outlet because your smartphone's battery is about to die and you're in the middle of uploading a picture on Instagram or something else of dire importance. Android's operating system shuts down automatically when ever there is 1% left in order to allow for a proper shut down, and so as not to mess with the calibration of the battery, extending its overall life.

How To: Quickly type 'double letter' words using Swype

Typing notes with Swype is as fast and easy as you can get and in this clip, learn how to tackle less common word combos like double letters. For example, how would you type "cool", "common", "letters" or "bubble"? In this quick tip tutorial from the makers of Swype, learn how to add these words to your texts and not lose a second of speed! So, follow along and get started typing things like "speed", "follow", "Google".. there is no limit to the "speedy" words you will be sending!