Gadget Hacks Features
How To: All the Swipes You Need to Know to Get Around Your New iPhone X
The iPhone X is Apple at its most classic — they take away a key feature that seems odd at first, but usually, the change pans out in the end. So is the case for the long-lived Home button, whose last appearance may be on the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus. That begs the question — how do you use an iPhone without a Home button?
News: What's the Difference Between HoloLens, Meta 2 & Magic Leap?
Augmented reality is beginning to leak out into the mainstream world. This is thanks, in part, to ARKit and ARCore. These releases turned the current smartphones owned by millions of Apple and Android users into AR-capable machines. And while there are definitely some awesome use cases for mobile AR, the real future in AR is headworn.
How To: Completely Control Your Android Device with Just Your Head
If you have a mobility impairment that affects your hands, arms, or manual dexterity, a smartphone's touch-based interface can almost be a barrier between you and the mobile internet. Eye-tracking software requires too much computing power for today's smartphones to handle, so it might seem as though there's no good way to interact with an Android device.
How To: Send and receive text messages in Gmail
Want to know how to send and receive SMS text messages from your Google Gmail account? It's easy. So easy, in fact, that this home computing how-to from the folks at CNET TV can present a complete (and somewhat talky) overview of the process in just over a minute's time. For the specifics, watch this handy how-to.
How To: Connect your iPad to your Ford car using the Sync feature
While technically the iPad isn't a supported device with Ford Sync, you can get around that by going to the head unit. Add your iPad as a Bluetooth device, then select the 'sync' option. You can now control your iPad's audio features through Bluetooth.
How To: Speed Up Transitions & Animations on Your Galaxy S9
Samsung just launched their Galaxy S9 flagship, with preorders shipping in the US already. The Galaxy S9 is an amazing smartphone, with a number of advanced features. Despite this, over time your S9 or S9+ may slow down a bit more than you would like. Thankfully, there is a longstanding trick in the Android community that can speed things up a bit.
How To: Build a portable personal heater
In this video, we learn how to build a portable personal heater. This is a great weekend project that is easy to make and will keep you warm during a freezing winter. You will need: two double a batteries, charger, twin double a battery charger, winding wire, and balsa wood. First, cut the wood the size of the battery holder and cut it out. Now, reel off 30 ft of winding wire and hold down with duct tape. Wind the wire around the piece of wood and tape down the other end of the wire. Scrape o...
How To: Get free ringtones for slider and flip phones
This method works for anything except sidekicks. First open your browser then in the address bar go to MYXERTONES. Look through the site and choose a ring tone that you think you might like. Click the song and upload it, then type in your phone number, or edit the song to just get the part you like. Make sure you keep in mind that this is a free service. The song will take a while to download, but as long as you have a web enabled phone, it should work.
How To: Enable Unknown Sources on Your HTC One to Install Apps Not Found on Google Play
There are plenty of times where you'd want to install an app, but either the developer or Google has taken the app off the Play Store (like with Flappy Bird). To bypass the need for Google Play, you can just download the app's APK from a reliable source on the internet and install it manually.
How To: Change the Display Orientation & Digital Crown Position on the Apple Watch
There are more ways to wear an Apple Watch than just the default one. Out of the box, an Apple Watch is set up to be worn on your left wrist with the Digital Crown on the right side. But what if want the Digital Crown facing the opposite way? Or what if you're left-handed and want the Watch on your right wrist instead?
How To: Enable MMS picture messaging on your unlocked iPhone
MMS is disabled on some iPhones. To enable it go to settings, and go into the general settings. From the menu select network and select cellular data in the network menu. In the Cellular Data settings go down to MMS options. Now set the APN as wap:voicestream.com, MMSC as http://mms.MSG.eng.t-mobile.com, and MMS Proxy as 216.155.165.50:8080. Once you do these settings go to the message settings and make sure that the MMS messaging is turned on. Now go to messages and create a new message. Add...
How To: Shoot in 4K with the Selfie Camera on Your iPhone 11, 11 Pro & 11 Pro Max
If you're a vlogger or somebody who relies on high-quality selfie cam footage, the iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max are right up your alley. Apple's newest iOS devices all come equipped with a 4K front-facing camera, and the video quality is spectacular. That said, your video won't be in 4K right out of the box. You'll need to set that resolution yourself.
How To: Use Directional Swipes to Unlock Your Galaxy S6 with the Hidden 'Direction Lock' Feature
In addition to the fingerprint scanner, the Samsung Galaxy S6 has all of the basic lock screen options that other Android phones have: swipe, pattern, PIN, and password. There also just happens to be a secret sixth option called "Direction lock" that protects the device with a series of customizable directional swipes—only it's hidden in an unsuspecting settings menu.
How To: Run Android Apps on Chrome for Windows, Mac, & Linux
When Google announced that it would begin supporting Android apps on its own Chrome OS, it was great news for all the folks with Chromebooks. But, as that operating system only makes up about 0.2% of the PC and laptop market share, most of us were out of luck.
News: 10 Free Icon Packs That'll Change the Look & Feel of Your Android
Being able to customize the look and feel of your device is the main reason a lot of folks choose Android over iOS. And perhaps the single biggest way to visually overhaul your phone or tablet's UI is to apply an icon pack, which can liven up your home screen with bright colors or make things look a bit more classy with a sleek, minimalist style, for instance.
How To: 5 Reasons You Should Use Be Using Norton Mobile Security on Your Android Device
When it comes to your security, you want the best of the best. Why settle for mediocre service with something as valuable as your protection? Malware continues to make its way onto the Play Store, leaving millions of devices vulnerable. You need an app that will shield your devices from both the latest malware threats and threats nearby. And when it comes to antivirus apps, there is only one choice.
How To: Personalize Mass Text Messages on Android
We've all received those impersonal mass text messages, whether we're getting invited out to a birthday party, graduation celebration, or just a group dinner or outing.
How To: Organize the icons on your iPhone
Learn how to organize your iPhone icons with categories.
News: Always-Updated List of Phones With No Headphone Jack Built-In
The past year brought about a number of trends in the smartphone space. More immersive displays, better processors, and portrait mode for cameras come to mind as big steps forward. One of the most polarizing trends that continued in 2017 is the removal of the 3.5 mm headphone jack from flagship phones. The number of manufacturers that have completely dispensed with wired audio is staggering, so let's run down the full list!
Quick Tip: There's an Easy Way to Capitalize Words After You Type Them
So you're typing a fairly long sentence to a friend in WhatsApp and you realize five words down you forgot to capitalize their name, what do you do? The lazy way is to delete your way back to the last word. The slightly better approach is to delete the one letter and retype it. But neither of these is the best way.
How To: Add a Second Status Bar Clock on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 for Different Time Zones
Whether it's because you travel quite often or have loved ones in another part of the country, Android makes it easy to place dual clocks on your home screen using a widget. While there are several other widgets you can use to tell the time, that's pretty much the only way you can get two different time zone clocks on your Android device. If you want an alternative option, I'm going to show you a mod that lets you get two different clocks in your Status bar on your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 or ot...
News: Japan's VR Girlfriend Is Coming to Augmented Reality to Creep Us Out in the Real World
We already know that the connection between virtual and augmented reality is pretty tight, with tools like Unity making porting some apps between the two platforms fairly frictionless. But there are some things currently going in VR that just don't need to come to the world of AR.
How To: Add IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes Ratings to Your Netflix with 'Netflix Save' for Chrome
I like to call Netflix my quiet, digital friend. She's been there for me on many many occasions—from when I had to move home for a few months, to when the cable was down for days.
How To: The 4 Best Password Managers for iPhone
Using a strong password is critical to the security of your online accounts. However, according to Dashlane, US users hold an average of 130 different accounts. Memorizing strong passwords for that many accounts is impractical. Fortunately, password managers solve the problem.
WiFi Prank: Use the iOS Exploit to Keep iPhone Users Off the Internet
Relentless in its fury, the iOS text messaging exploit that exploded onto the scene late last week seems to do more damage than initially reported.
How To: Control iTunes via Your Android Device Using the Retune Remote App
For a long time, Apple has had Remote—an app that can be used on any iOS device in order to remotely control iTunes. Remote allows users to walk around their home and change the music by simply going through their phone. And now, Android has released its own version of the Apple Remote app! Retune is a free app found on Google Play that has the capability to control iTunes—change songs, TV shows, and movies—using your Android device. You can view the entire iTunes library on your Android devi...
How To: Create a Fake Online Identity for Website Registrations in Just One Click
When you really think about it, registering for any website is a little scary. Not only do they now have your name, email address, and a username/password combination you might've used elsewhere, but certain sites and services ask for quite a bit more private information. From phone numbers to addresses to birth dates and more, that company now has all of your information stored.
How To: Stop Portrait Mode from Eating Up Space on Your iPhone 7 Plus
Apple released Portrait mode for the iPhone 7 Plus in the iOS 10.1 update, which creates a simulated bokeh effect that blurs out the background and makes the subject pop out in the scene. It's still technically a beta feature since Apple does have some kinks to iron out, but it's ready to use as is.
News: Android Oreo Has an Automatic Bootloop Fix Called 'Rescue Party'
Android Oreo may not be the flashiest release, but it's got tons of under-the-hood changes. We recently discovered documentation in the AOSP source code that outlines one of these understated features, which has been dubbed "Rescue Party."
How To: Personalize Your Messages with Stickers in WhatsApp
Stickers are a staple in most messaging apps. Facebook Messenger and Apple Messages, among others, are all compatible with still or animated stickers to personalize your chats. Now, WhatsApp is stepping into the sticker arena with a new update, bringing the popular feature to one of the most used chat apps in the world.
How To: Stop Uber from Tracking Your Location in the Background on Your iPhone
Uber as a service is great, but using it requires you to hand over your location data to the company. What's worse is that you may be giving them precious access to your GPS even when don't have the Uber app open. This is both a major privacy issue and a drain on your battery. Fortunately, some of you can fix this.
How To: Automatically Mute All Spotify Ads on Android
There are modded Spofity APKs floating around that essentially give you a Spotify Premium account for free, but the music streaming giant has been aggressively banning users who go this route. So if you're tired of listening to ads, but you don't want to do anything illegal, you'll want to know about this new app.
How To: Build an analog light organ (a colorful sound-to-light circuit)
Before there was digital music and fancy computers and music software, people use to employ the power of the electric color organ (now more commonly known as the "light organ") to add some visuals in sync with their music. MAKE shows you how to build your own sound-to-like circuit— your very own light organ!
How To: Send Spam & Spot Fake Emails (Email Spoofing 101)
Spammers are the bane of every email user. No matter what you do, junk mail always breaks through the spam filters. And some of the best ones seem to come from legit companies, and that's because they aren't legit companies— they're spammers masquerading as legit companies.
How To: Get Automatically Expanded Notifications on Your Samsung Galaxy S4
Back when 4.1 Jelly Bean came out (boy, how time flies), Android introduced expandable notifications. Depending on the notification, a simple swipe down with your finger could expand it and show extra content, like Delete and Reply buttons for Gmail messages.
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: Hack a Cheap Floating Globe into a Levitating Imperial Death Star!
Have any Star Wars fanatics in your family? Well, here's a great Christmas gift idea for those Star Wars fans who think they have everything... a freaking LEVITATING DEATH STAR!
News: Samsung's Phone App Looks So Much Better on One UI
Android Pie has finally made its way to signature Galaxy devices like the Note 9, S9 and S8. As you all know, Samsung Experience got a major makeover and has been renamed to One UI, featuring significant aesthetic changes to many of its native apps.
News: The Real Reason Android Phones with Notches Have a Chin
In 2018, notches are the hot trend with smartphones. Essential was first to release a phone with a notch in mid-2017, but Apple kicked off the fad in earnest with the iPhone X. Unfortunately, unlike the iPhone X, every Android phone with a notch has a noticeable bottom chin. Let's take a deep dive to find out why.
How To: Accessing your address search history on MapQuest Maps
In this clip, you'll learn how to view the list of your previously searched addresses on MapQuest Maps. It's easy. So easy, in fact, that this home-computing how-to can present a complete, step-by-step overview of the process in about two minutes. For more information, including detailed, step-by-step instructions, take a look.