With the release of Jelly Bean, Chrome became the default web browser on Android. The wildly successful desktop browser was now fully entrenched in the world's largest mobile operating system. There are many great features that Chrome brought to Android web browsing—a double- ...more
Sometimes you need more than just your brain to split the bill at a restaurant or to calculate how much your cable company is ripping you off. If your math skills are shaky like mine, or you just want to make sure you're unequivocally correct with your calculations, you obvio ...more
If you've never played with a Nexus 10 tablet, then you probably have no idea that your Nexus 7 actually has a different user interface. For some reason, Google decided it was better for the Nexus 7 to use a phone UI instead of a tablet one, but luckily for us, we don't have t ...more
The Pixel 5 is a great value proposition in this era of $1,500 phones. With its reasonable price tag, fully open-sourced software, and unlockable bootloader, it's also an ideal phone for rooting. The process of rooting the Pixel 5 is a tried and true method: Unlock the bootlo ...more
It is well documented that what you say and do online is tracked. Yes, private organizations do their best to protect your data from hackers, but those protections don't extend to themselves, advertisers, and law enforcement. Whether you are a journalist, a protestor, or a hi ...more
If you're quarantining with other people, consider yourself lucky — but it's not always easy. Staying in one space for so long with too many people can be challenging, so you need to find things to do to make the time go by (and to keep everyone sane). Our advice? Try out thes ...more
When flashing files through TWRP, ADB, or Fastboot, there's a slight chance for things to go wrong. Whether it's user error related or something else entirely, it's always good to have a backup plan. In most cases, you'll be dealing with a semi-brick or soft-brick, which can u ...more
When it comes to modding Android, there's no better tool than Team Win's TWRP custom recovery. You can use it to root your phone, flash mods like Magisk or Xposed, and even replace the entire operating system with a custom ROM like LineageOS — honestly, there's not much this u ...more
After two years of poor sales, LG decided to shake up its mobile division. New executives are at the helm, and changes to their flagship lineups are already underway. Specifically, the V series is expanding, as LG announced the second new device in the series, the LG V35 ThinQ ...more
The nemesis of music streamers is data caps, cell phone or otherwise. Restricting monthly data and forcing users to decide between quantity and quality of music has had audiophiles tearing their hair out since streaming toppled the iPod. While the problem regarding music quali ...more
Android O has finally arrived—well, it's technically a beta version, but that isn't stopping Android enthusiasts from going crazy about it. The first Developer Preview was released earlier today and is available right now to install on Nexus and Pixel devices. While Android O ...more
The new Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ phones were announced on March 29 at the Samsung UNPACKED 2017 event. Preorders start on March 30 for the Korean tech giant's latest flagships, and sales officially begin in the US on April 21. Samsung will need a smooth release to win ...more
Texting has become the king of communication—gone are the days where everyone called each other. These days, it's down-right weird when someone calls first. Whether it be on a phone or on a computer, SMS and MMS messages are the most common way people keep in contact, so why n ...more
Google I/O is like Christmas for Android enthusiasts. Every year, this conference showcases new and upcoming features for the world's leading mobile operating system, and this year's was no different. Shortly after announcing Android M, Google released a preview version of the ...more
With a root bounty of over $18,000 up for the taking, developers were highly motivated to get the AT&T and Verizon Wireless variants of the Samsung Galaxy S5 rooted. Legendary hacker George Hotz, aka Geohot, has won the race and can now step up to claim his prize. Hotz is not ...more
Samsung and Google have done some amazing work together in the past, particularly with Android related projects. But after years of an inexplicable lack of interoperability, the primary smart home hardware divisions from both companies are finally on the same page — starting r ...more
Android's hidden Developer Options menu, sometimes called "Developer Mode," has a ton of cool settings inside of it. You can enable wireless ADB, spoof your geolocation, make the Pixel 5's screen always run at 90 Hz, or even force incompatible apps to work with dark mode. But ...more
You can't beat Samsung's hardware, but their software still isn't for everyone. That's the thing, though — software can be replaced. So if you're more a fan of Google's vision for Android, but you can't get enough of Samsung's beautiful screens and build quality, you're just 1 ...more
Thanks to Magisk, you don't have to lose root when updating to Android 11. The popular systemless rooting tool already achieved superuser access on Google's latest OS, even before the official release. It's currently in its experimental stages so the process is trickier than u ...more
Starting with Android 9 and 10, Google made privacy and security the main priorities for Android updates. Both versions brought numerous changes to help erase the notion that Android isn't safe, but Android 11 might even have them beat. In Android 11, Google is building upon ...more
By default, when there's a new event in Samsung's Calendar app, it pops up with an obnoxious full-screen window to let you know. Thankfully, there's a way to turn these into regular notifications. You could always disable the Samsung Calendar app and use a different app inste ...more
Android phones have supported keyboards and mice for a long time, and you've even been able to use physical keyboards with iPhone and iPad models. But iOS 13 and iPadOS 13 finally include official mouse support. That means you can use a wireless or wired mouse and keyboard wit ...more
I've been using the Galaxy Note 10+ as my daily driver for a while now. I love it, but as with any phone, it loses its pizzazz after a while. But since it's an Android phone, there's always a way to add fresh features and functionality to the UI. The five customization ideas ...more
Apple's scheduled to show off the first look of iOS 13 at WWDC 2019 on June 3, but what will the new operating system hold for iPhone? Rumors suggest that many features initially planned for iOS 12 will show up in iOS 13, codenamed "Yukon," and dark mode will be the big ticket ...more
Internet memes are simply everywhere these days. While they've been popular since the '90s, memes, as we know them now, are much different these days. You used to need a computer to make viral images that spread from one random user to the next, but thanks to modern technology ...more
Twitter's official iOS app is adequate if you're not much of a tweeter, but if you are, there's a lot of useful features that are missing. Luckily, there are plenty of free Twitter clients available that you can use on your iPhone. These third-party apps have features such as ...more
During the keynote at WWDC earlier this year, Apple introduced the latest iteration of its mobile operating system, iOS 12. Despite a thorough demo on stage, Apple glossed over new eye tracking features that use ARKit 2. Developers can now use the TrueDepth camera on the iPhon ...more
AMC Theatres was never a fan of MoviePass and even predicted its unsustainability. After the struggling MoviePass turned off diehard fans with too many new restrictions to combat its cash problems, AMC stepped in to save the day with its AMC Stubs A-List subscription for cheap ...more
Augmented reality is becoming a slam dunk for sports entertainment, as leagues, their teams, and their broadcast partners have been quick to adopt AR. This obsession with the immersive space is particularly true when it comes to the NBA. The league itself has produced AR apps ...more
Smartphones and laptops are constantly sending Wi-Fi radio signals, and many of these signals can be used to track us. In this guide, we'll program a cheap IoT device in Arduino to create hundreds of fake networks with common names; This will cause nearby devices to reveal the ...more
During E3, many major game developers announced plans to bring console and PC franchises to mobile. These titles are designed for more serious gamers with competition in mind. All of this points to a shift in mobile hardware priorities — soon, gamers will need gaming phones ju ...more
There are a lot of things that make iOS great, but lock screen widgets are not among them. If you want more information on your lock screen other than the date, time, and notifications without having to swipe to a sidebar of widgets, you'd normally look toward Android. However ...more
Samsung's big reveal of the Galaxy S9 and S9+ at Mobile World Congress revolved around its "reimagined" camera and augmented reality capabilities. Between AR Emojis, Bixby, and ARCore, the Galaxy S9 and S9+ offer more native AR software features than any other device. AR is s ...more
With only one profitable quarter in the last two years, LG's mobile division is undergoing a shakeup. With a fresh set of executives, LG has delayed the expected launch of the upcoming G7 and instead decided to start the year with yet another variant of the V30. The new varia ...more
Over the past month, we've spent significant time covering Samsung's Oreo Beta program, and the detailed list of features in Oreo is extensive for the Galaxy S8 and S8+. Many of you were upset when the Galaxy Note 8 was left out of the official Oreo beta program entirely, but ...more
When it comes to Hi-Fi music streaming services, Jay-Z's Tidal is one of your only choices. But as you can imagine, true High Fidelity audio requires faster download speeds than your average music service. So the question becomes, how do you listen to Hi-Fi tracks on Tidal whe ...more
One of the most exciting features in iOS 11 was the fully revamped Control Center, which improved the overall interface visually, made it one page only, and finally made it possible to customize what controls actually appear within it. Customizable controls was previously only ...more
"Necessity, not novelty," is a phrase I use often when it comes to HoloLens development. It would be fair to call it my mantra, or mission statement, as I prototype and explore software creation on this new frontier of mixed reality. "What kind of experiences will keep people ...more
The Google Play Store hosts the largest collection of mobile apps on the planet, and it's the default app store for almost all Android devices. Ironically, though, while Google made its name with a powerful search engine, it can sometimes be difficult to find what you're looki ...more
Not many people use their phone exclusively for making calls or sending messages today. If you're an Android user, the chances are high that you're using your phone or tablet for work-related activities. However, the basic set of apps and services your device was shipped with ...more
If browsing speed is important to you—and it should be—you'll probably be interested to know that there are ten simple flag modifications you can make in Google Chrome in order to achieve the fastest browsing speed possible. A few months ago, Dallas covered six ways to speed ...more
After all the leaks and peeks of the HTC One M8, it has finally been officially introduced to the public, available for purchase at most U.S. carriers. HTC also unveiled Sense 6 during the launch event, the newest iteration of its operating system, and thanks to their new Adva ...more
Seemingly lost in the fanfare of the numerous features and specs of the Nexus 5 were a few highly innovative and handy add-ons—a low-power step detector and step-counting sensor—useful for tracking fitness data. Both of these sensors are supported by Android 4.4 KitKat, but t ...more
As reported by member Rick, the Android 4.4.2 KitKat update is rolling out right now for the T-Mobile variant of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, matching the Sprint and US Cellular updates from last week. While we don't have any specifics from T-Mobile regarding the update, it can ...more
I love surprises. Surprise parties, surprise visits, surprise Patrick... But there are times when a surprise is the last thing you want, like reaching into your pocket to find that your Samsung Galaxy S3 is not where it should be. Having your phone stolen used to be the end o ...more
In these times of social distancing, video calling is becoming the technological substitute for face-to-face connections. For those who carry an iPhone, the art of video calling defaults to FaceTime, the native app on iOS that is exclusive to Apple devices. But what do you do ...more
The iPhone's ingenious trackpad function offers an intuitive way to place the cursor where it's needed. Not to be outdone, Samsung phones like the Galaxy S20 have a similar feature baked in. If you're running One UI 2, it's even enabled by default. To use the function on One ...more
Picture it: you wake up in the middle of the night and check your phone. Maybe you want to check the time (your phone is your alarm clock, after all) or see if that person ever replied to your message. You double-tap or lift to wake it, and the screen lights up. You flinch at ...more
QR codes are supposed to make life easier, but having to install potentially shady third-party apps just to scan one is more trouble than it's worth. Thankfully, there's a QR code reader built into all Google Pixels, but you wouldn't know it unless you stumbled across the feat ...more
It's now standard for websites to have a mobile version. Conveniently, we can browse the web with a mostly mobile-optimized experience. But what if you want the desktop experience on mobile? If you want, you can browse the mobile web and see only the desktop version of website ...more
I want my Android device to run how I want, and I want it to be useful and positively contribute to my life. Recently, animations have started appearing on the Pixel's search bar when Google has a seasonal Doodle on their front page. It attracts my attention and distracts me f ...more
Did you know that the YouTube app can tell you how much time you've spent watching videos? If you're like me, you'll be surprised to know exactly how much of your life is spent inside the popular app. You can get a specific breakdown of how much you YouTube you consume. The a ...more
Smartphones have put an end to camcorders. If you want to capture memorable moments in high quality, look no further than that technological marvel in your pocket. Recent Galaxy phones are shining examples of how far we've come — but the more capable a camera gets, the more co ...more
Developers options is one of the first things tinkerers unlock on a new phone. However, even the less tech-savvy users will find some benefits to revealing this hidden menu, as it enables features such as GPS spoofing and faster animations. By default, this menu is hidden awa ...more
Once again, LG is mixing up its launch. Instead of the announcing the latest entry in G series later in the year, the LG G8 ThinQ was announced at Mobile World Congress 2019, shortly after Samsung's Galaxy S10 event. And instead of trying to match what other OEMs are doing, LG ...more
There once was a time in the Android rooting scene where we couldn't rely on using a custom recovery for all of our modding needs. Manual file flashing was very popular in the early days of Android before custom recoveries started taking over. With the rise of TWRP, it seemed ...more
Thanks to Samsung's One UI, we can now experience firsthand what Android 9.0 Pie has to offer flagship Galaxy devices like the Note 9, S9, and S8. Perhaps one of the best features is something we've all been clamoring for: a system-wide dark theme that gives numerous apps and ...more
Just because Developer Options is hidden by default doesn't mean you shouldn't unlock it. While for rooters its benefit are obvious, even for the average user it opens the door for tools which enhance your experience. From animation speed to improving gaming graphics, Develope ...more
Among a treasure trove of new developer information on the Lumin OS that Magic Leap recently published on its Creator Portal appears to be the official confirmation of the Magic Leap Mobile Companion App. The app was alluded to in job postings previously reported by Next Real ...more
When it's all said and done, it doesn't really matter who did it first — the more important question is who did it best. Still, it's nice to know who's really responsible for groundbreaking innovations in the smartphone space. I always try to stay neutral and objective, but w ...more