App Ops Android

On May 17 2018, Valve released the Android beta version of their Steam Link app, which allows you to stream Steam games from your computer directly to your phone. You'll probably also want to connect your favorite controller to your phone, but you may run into some issues if y ...more

Driving in your car can cause a pretty spasmodic GPS connection on your Samsung Galaxy Note 2. Making a lot of turns, speeding past large buildings, and going underneath trees and highway underpasses can all disrupt your GPS signal, making it difficult for the satellites (in t ...more

Working from home has its perks. You don't need to commute, you can work in your pajamas, and you don't even need to clean your house, especially if you're using Zoom for video meetings on your smartphone. Instead of clearing toys from the floor or moving that pile of clothes ...more

According to Google's new Android ecosystem transparency report, you're eleven times more likely to be infected by malware if you're running Android Lollipop (5.0) as opposed to Android Pie (9). The same report shows that if you sideload apps, you're almost seven times more li ...more

The great thing about competition is it drives innovation. But when a company tries to one-up its competitor, it's not always with something brand new. Sometimes, one party will draw heavy inspiration from the other — but hey, it's still all good, because the consumers benefit ...more

When you're sitting at your desk trying to get some work done, your Android device can be a big distraction. If a text comes in, you have to pick up your phone, unlock it, then respond with the clumsy touch screen keyboard—and by then, you've probably forgotten what you were d ...more

Google is on a mission to bring a better messaging experience to Android users. We've seen them try and fail over the years with various messenger apps, but this time, they're taking a different approach by working with industry leaders to create a new messaging standard. The ...more

Whether it's for handling your business's social media account or just for personal reasons, like trolling an ex-girlfriend's page (not that I've ever done that) or posting on behalf of your pup, there are instances where having two different Facebook accounts on one device is ...more

Line breaks signify not only the ending of one line of thinking, but the beginning of another. We use them to emphasize points, to fragment information, to shift tone, and more. They're important in getting our message across properly, which is why I'm always disappointed when ...more

Android's settings menu is actually pretty daunting. There are options for nearly everything, so in the sea of various menus and submenus, it's easy to overlook important privacy and security settings. On Google's Pixel phones in particular, there are 20 such settings that you ...more

Look, tests are no fun, and doing poorly on them is rarely an option. Whether you're studious or a slacker, everyone needs a little boost now and again. While students have found ways to cheat as long as tests have existed, the invention of smartphones has greatly enhanced the ...more

I'm not a fan of this practice, but many developers release their wares on iOS before eventually porting their apps to Android. This was the case for PhotoMath, a popular and very useful app that can solve math problems with your smartphone's camera. The app is incredibly int ...more

In 2015, MyFitnessPal launched its premium service, an ad-free subscription for $9.99 a month or $49.99 a year which provides food analysis, deeper nutrient tools, more goal options, and exclusive content. After giving MyFitnessPal Premium a shot on your iPhone or Android phon ...more

Unless you're completely new to Instagram, it's likely that you've linked your account with a third-party service at some point and forgotten about it. Those services still have access to data such as your media and profile information, so it's important that you not only know ...more

The Pixel 3 runs stock Android, so you might think that since you've used an Android device before, you should know your way around the new phone by default. But Google has actually added several great Pixel-exclusive software features to its flagships, and not all of them are ...more

On Android, you can uninstall an app by opening Settings, selecting "Apps," then choosing the app from the list and finally tapping "Uninstall," then "OK." You can also drag the app's icon from your home screen or app drawer and drop it on the "Uninstall" button. But if you ha ...more

By default, the Play Store app on Android is set to automatically update your apps in the background. This definitely makes it easy to ensure that you're always running the latest versions, but it does come with some downsides. For instance, apps will occasionally have update ...more

Thanks to cloud storage's increasing accessibility, permanently losing photos is becoming less and less common. Still, if you accidentally delete a picture from your smartphone without first making a backup of some sort, that data is pretty much toast — unless we're talking ab ...more

Up until now, experiencing augmented reality through Vuzix's next-generation Blade 3000 smartglasses would have required a trip to a tech conference where the company has an exhibition booth. Thanks to Paul Boris, the chief operating officer at Vuzix, you can now get a brief ...more

Quickness and efficiency should always be a fundamental aspect of the experience when using any Android device. Anything less, and we've got a problem. As app development continually progresses, these adjectives become much more refined and polished, making the use of a smartp ...more

The first question people ask me when they come to my apartment is usually "What's your Wi-Fi password?" While I'm happy to give my friends free access to the internet, it's hard to walk each person through my secure password. Luckily, there's a way to create a QR code that wi ...more

You can add a timestamp to any YouTube video in just a few clicks from the desktop website on your computer but not from YouTube's iOS or Android app. Until YouTube adds a "start time" when sharing videos from the mobile app, you'll have to use one of these workarounds on your ...more

While two augmented reality companies were recently recognized for their innovative technologies, other companies have turned to augmented reality to innovate in their respective fields. Over the past week, use cases have ranged from selling snacks and video games to raising a ...more

It's finally here. After months of amazing games and one of the best playoffs I've seen in years, two teams have finally made it to the top of the mountain. The Baltimore Ravens and the San Fransisco 49ers are set to square off February 3rd at the Mercedes Benz Superdome in Ne ...more

If you subscribe to notifications for Magic Leap CEO Rony Abovitz's Twitter feed, you'd think everyone in the world already has a Magic Leap One. Alas, that is not the case, but those not within the geographic areas of Magic Leap's LiftOff service now have a loophole through w ...more

Amazon has completely changed the way we purchase household items, to the point where many of us haven't visited a big box, brick-and-mortar store like Walmart or Best Buy in years. And when you think about it, all of this success comes down to two main factors—convenience and ...more

Is social media ready to make the jump to the big screen? The developers behind the Android app Stevie think so. Stevie is a social media aggregator that is currently available on both Android and iOS, but the Apple-compatible version does not support Chromecast just yet. The ...more

Investing is like exercise—we all know we should be doing more of it, but we often just can't find the time. I mean, really, who's got the hours, inclination, and skill to pour through volumes of data and put together a balanced yet sophisticated portfolio of investment vehicl ...more

Sometimes, it helps to be prepared before jumping into a new relationship; look before you leap! To have a healthy relationship with someone who has an STI, it is advisable that you enter the relationship knowledgeable about sexually transmitted infections and what your risks ...more

The long standing popularity of 4chan has been due to the entirely anonymous setup. The site's anonymous community and culture has provoked media attention, in turn inciting larger audiences. On the other side of the spectrum is Facebook—popular for its connectivity and easily ...more

I love my iPhone, but it would be a lie to say there aren't some Android features I wish would find their way to iOS. While iOS has plenty of its own advantages, Android has pulled ahead in many other areas. With iOS 12 coming later this year, we're hoping Apple takes a hint f ...more

No matter how far technology advances, battery life continues to be an issue. Powerful new hardware is introduced each year, but smartphone batteries only get a few extra milliamp-hours to compensate. There are several power-saving Android apps that aim to help with this issu ...more

If you have the Xposed Framework installed, there's a module that lets you enable background playback in Android's YouTube app without buying a YouTube Red subscription. But Xposed is not available on many devices—particularly those running Android Nougat—so this isn't an opti ...more

Data is king. Nearly every carrier and MVNO offers unlimited talk and text with their cellular plans. Where they differ is the amount of data available, so that's the part that can save or cost you the most money. Both iOS and Android let you monitor your phone's internet usa ...more

With AirPlay for iOS, Chromecast Screen Mirroring, and even third-party PC-pairing apps to play around with, getting your devices to interconnect could not be any easier than it is today. Samsung has never been prone to leave a feature unexplored, so in this mold, they create ...more

This week, Google sidestepped their usual "Update Wednesday" strategy by dropping a huge update to their Maps app for both Android and iOS. We're accustomed to seeing new features and bug fixes to their stable of apps on Wednesdays, but today's Maps update was presumably big e ...more

Let's face it, the stock YouTube app for Android kinda sucks. It has limited capabilities, at-time wavering connectivity, and the pop-up player it comes with is just not very good. If you want to enhance your mobile YouTube experience to how it should be, the answer lies withi ...more

We've known for a while that Facebook had planned to reintegrate SMS and MMS into its Messenger app for Android. Well, it's finally live, and it's pretty great. In order to get SMS and MMS abilities in Messenger, you'll need to being running the latest beta release (75.0.0.11 ...more

Microsoft has invested years and countless man-hours in an effort to get their cloud storage service on par with competitors like Dropbox and Google Drive, who have long resided at the top of this market. Their hard work has definitely paid off, as OneDrive (formerly SkyDrive) ...more

Fast-food chain Jack in the Box has decided to put an augmented reality twist on the traditional sweepstakes promotion by employing the immersive powers of Snapchat. Now through Aug. 18, the chain will run a Jack in the Box AR experience that gives customers a chance to win p ...more

If you've jumped on board HBO Max to watch more than just HBO's content, such as DC films, Looney Tunes, Turner Classic Movies, Cartoon Network, and movies from Warner Bros., there is a downside to HBO's improved service. Namely, you cannot use it on all of your devices yet. T ...more

Give an 18-month-old a shoe, check back 10 minutes later, and it's a very big maybe he will have it on his foot. But give him your smartphone, and in a mere five minutes, he can take 100 pictures of the carpet, send weird messages, and delete essential apps. Imagine what your ...more

Whether it's for health reasons or just to look better, many of us want to get in shape. It's a long process that starts with nutrition, and dieting is never easy. Fortunately, there are some great food-tracking apps that will make it a lot easier to become a healthier version ...more

In the weeks following Google's AR toolkit launch last month, the availability of quality ARCore apps has been somewhat limited. That changed on Tuesday, as a flurry of new and updated apps arrived on the Play Store, including some AR experiences available exclusively on Andro ...more

Newer businesses, or older businesses looking for more traffic and sales, often offer enticing deals to attract customers. On Yelp, any business has the option to provide a deal to users, which is essentially a Groupon-like coupon. But how do you find these deals in the Yelp a ...more

If you've been paying attention to the smartphone industry, you've certainly noticed a rise in dark mode lately. With most phones now sporting OLED panels, which use less power to display darker colors, users have been begging developers to include a dark theme in their apps. ...more

Thanks to Smart Switch, it's easier than ever now to ditch your iPhone for a brand new Samsung device, like the Galaxy S6 Edge+ or Galaxy Note 5. Alleviating one of our biggest fears when switching over from iOS to Android, Samsung has made transferring data like contacts, me ...more

Bitmoji has experienced explosive success this year thanks to Snapchat. The app allows users to create their own personal emoji and send responses to other friends, and even though it's only two and a half years old, this customizable emoji app is growing at an impressive pace ...more

Slow motion recording is an incredibly handy feature that works by capturing moments at a higher frame rate than they're played back at. Timing is everything when recording in this setting, so if you want a user-friendly app that keeps device interactions to a minimum and leav ...more

Not that long ago, Google introduced a beta program for their Google Search app on Android. Much like any beta program, testers will get access to new features before they officially debut, but you might have to put up with the occasional bug as new functionality is introduced ...more

Keeping track of your phone's battery life can quickly become a chore. Since no one wants to get stuck without a charge, we constantly find ourselves checking to see exactly what percentage remains. But developer Chris Kröger has an app that will make this task a bit less ted ...more

An accelerometer/gyro goes onto an Arduino board and transmits the angular motion of the skateboard via Bluetooth to a virtual reality game I made for Android phones and Google Cardboard. DIY Virtual Reality Skateboard Video: . This is a really fun and easy project that can b ...more

CyanogenMod continues to be the most popular custom ROM for a good reason. Their team of developers always stay on top of the latest trends, and ensure that their software is packed with nice tweaks and awesome features. One such feature is an audio equalizer that allows you t ...more

Now that MLB has finally begun to play ball without fans, the NBA is gearing up to restart its season with 22 out of teams qualifying to play in isolation in Orlando and advance to the playoffs. While baseball teams are piping in crowd noise from MLB The Show and propping up ...more

Now you can watch your old copy of Bridget Jones's Diary anywhere, anytime, on your smartphone. It's a dream come true! (Disclaimer: This dream may oddly specific to me.) Vudu, the digital streaming company owned by Walmart, has taken another step to make its disc-to-digital ...more

Nothing beats a human translator, but Google Translate and other software-based solutions have developed into decent alternatives for help with basic translations. Need an English word translated into German? No problem — but what if you need to have a conversation with someon ...more

Since starting as a simple messenger with self-destructing pictures, Snapchat has grown into a full-fledged social media platform. As features were added, new permissions were requested, and we're all probably guilty of just tapping "OK" to try out the latest and greatest. But ...more

The mother of all games is almost here. Super Bowl XLVIII pits the Seattle Seahawks (or Seachickens, if you're from the Bay Area) against the Denver Broncos and regent exemplar of neck surgeries, Peyton Manning. Over the years, the Super Bowl has become one of the world's mos ...more

Life can get busy. Between work, school, and all the extracurricular activities, weekly chores like making a grocery list can get pushed to the back burner. But with a little help from the Google Keep app for Android or iPhone, you can at least make one thing easier. Say your ...more

Another entrant into the do-it-yourself AR content creation market has emerged, as Zappar has updated its ZapWorks Studio software to include features for development newbies. Available now, ZapWorks Studio 5 brings a new feature called Actions that enables users to build AR ...more