Experience H

As we all use our smartphones for more and more things, we constantly want to share and view those items on a larger screen, especially when it comes to media. While phones like the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and tablets like the iPad do make watching Netflix on a portable device p ...more

Many of us rely on our smartphones for all our media needs. Now more than ever, we're using Bluetooth connections to play audio over speakers, headphones, car sound systems — the list goes on. If you own a Samsung smartphone like the Galaxy S9, there are a number of Bluetooth ...more

Update (February 2019): The methods below will help on older Android versions, but we've recently revisited this topic. So if you have a newer Android phone and you want to get rid of Google, head here. It seems like every week there is a new exposé revealing all of the backr ...more

Sometimes, stock just doesn't cut it. When you're sick of the limitations in Sense on your HTC One, a new ROM can be a ray of sunshine. By installing a custom ROM, you can add or unlock new features in Sense, or you can get a pure Android experience instead. It's all up to you ...more

Point-and-shoot cameras are practically extinct these days now that every new phone on the planet has a camera built right in. This makes the smartphone market highly competitive, because the camera specs and features are a big selling point. Your Samsung Galaxy S3 actually h ...more

Instagram has extensive tools built in for creating and editing posts and Stories, but there could always be more. Third-party apps can help you add photo and video effects for even more visually stimulating content, as well as create announcements, text-based images, and ever ...more

The new Samsung Galaxy S4 just received an update to Android 4.2.2, so why is it that my Galaxy Note 2 is still running an older version of Jelly Bean? It felt like yesterday that my device was finally updated to 4.1.2, but why even bother since 4.2 has been around since last ...more

You know what's awesome? You own a Nexus. That means, with Google's blessing, you have easier access and control over your device than other manufacturers allow. You can really dig in and do some interesting things if you root. The big 'R' word can be intimidating for the new ...more

In the past, we've shown you how to install CyanogenMod 10.1 on your Nexus 7, but that version was based off of the older Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. If you want to stay current, the newer CyanogenMod 10.2 is out in the nightly stage, which is based on Android 4.3, and you can get ...more

If you're like me, then you were a little disappointed after updating your Nexus 7 to KitKat and realizing that not much has changed. The old Jelly Bean look still occupied your home screen, and there wasn't really anything noticeably new overall. All of that waiting and antic ...more

Say you're on a train to work, but you forgot your headphones. You'd normally listen to music to pass the time, but given the circumstances, your choices are to sit silently like a considerate adult, or to blare songs out of your phone's main speaker like a jerk. Thankfully, t ...more

As if you needed another example of Android's open-source awesomeness, before the Pixel phones were even released, a flashable ZIP that will give you almost all of Google's Pixel-exclusive features on other devices appeared. Well, this ZIP is still very much relevant now, and ...more

Your Instagram feed is jam-packed with interesting and lively photos, videos, and stories that largely offset the iOS app's comparatively bland user interface. If the interface's dull colors have always bothered you, you can splash on some much-needed color to better reflect y ...more

Android Nougat is a godsend for tablet users, as it's packing some serious multitasking improvements. It goes well beyond the new split-screen mode, too, because as it turns out, there's a hidden setting that turns your apps into completely resizable windows within a desktop-l ...more

A virtual private network is a necessary part of your arsenal if you're insistent on surfing the web privately and securely on your iPhone. The App Store is littered with hundreds of different VPN services that encrypt traffic and mask your IP address, but what they all have i ...more

Need help getting started on this week's WTFoto Challenge? Look no further! In this tutorial, I will teach you how to create simple chalk symbols and writing in Photoshop. So read through this post and try it out yourself—or I'll tell your cousin what you said when you were dr ...more

Ditching Sense (HTC's stock Android Launcher) is a great way to breathe new stock-like life into your HTC One smartphone without rooting, but even that has its limitations. If you really want the full Google experience, albeit with some extras, CyanogenMod has always been the ...more

The Google Assistant comes in several different flavors. There's the baked-in Google app on Android, the dedicated Google Assistant app on iOS, and the Assistant-powered Google Home smart speaker. But no matter how you access it, your Assistant will only get better if you take ...more

When choosing a phone or tablet, I always take in to consideration what my music experience will be. Unfortunately, the Nexus 7 doesn't have Beats by Dre technology, which some may view as overrated, though it's definitely one of the better ways to get perfect-sounding tunes w ...more

We've covered Chrome browser extensions that make your Google+ experience richer and more useful, but there are still many users who prefer to use Firefox. To that end, I've gathered 13 Firefox add-ons to aid in the enhancement of your Google+ experience. A word of caution: m ...more

The OnePlus 7 Pro is an outright beast. From the highly rated display with minimal bezels to the 90 Hz refresh rate, there's no denying this phone is great for gaming. Although not explicitly marketed as a gaming phone, it seems OnePlus unintentionally created one by cramming ...more

Venom, the latest in a long list of comic book characters to headline its own movie, is known by comic book fans by his catchphrase, "We are Venom." Now, via augmented reality, we, too, can be Venom. Sony Pictures, in conjunction with the release of the film Venom, has publi ...more

You've probably heard of RCS messaging. The new standard has been promoted by Google as their answer to iMessage and is the backbone behind the new "Chat" features in Android Messages. With RCS, Android phones will now enjoy enhanced messaging like iPhone users have had for ye ...more

Apple's latest big update to iOS 14 has a lot to be excited about. While iOS 14.2 had some fun new features, such as new emoji and wallpapers, People Detection in Magnifier, and a Shazam control, iOS 14.3 brings on the heat. There are new Apple services and products that are s ...more

Incognito Mode is a privacy feature that was popularized by Google Chrome, and it recently made its way to GBoard. Now it's coming to the YouTube app to help make your video watching experience truly private. While Google initially rolled the feature out slowly, Incognito Mod ...more

As carriers finalize their variations of the Android 4.4.4 update, we're left with only brief glimpses of what the new "Eye Experience" holds in store for us while we wait. However, thanks to a system dump of an updated European HTC One M8 and some clever hackery by donmarkoni ...more

One of the best things about Android is being able to control everything you want, from your wallpaper down to the default apps you use for every action. Changing the default SMS app from the one that came with your device can drastically alter your messaging experience. Many ...more

Sprint has their EVO 4G. AT&T has their Inspire 4G. And now HTC has designed Verizon Wireless's first 4G smartphone—the ThunderBolt. It launched last week with high praises amongst Android devotees, despite its hefty weight, mainly because of the blazing fast speeds Verizon us ...more

Lebron James, or King James to his royal subjects, is extending the reach of his kingdom beyond basketball and into the realm of augmented reality. The NBA superstar, in his role as pitchman for Nike, is the centerpiece for a new in-store Snapchat AR advertisement at the Hous ...more

Space Ape has soft-launched Go Race: Super Karts, giving you a fresh take on mobile racing games by blending in elements found within the classic Mario Kart series and RPGs for some seriously addicting gameplay. And while it's only available in Australia, Netherlands, and Phil ...more

After the mobile augmented reality platforms of ARKit and ARCore moved Google's previously groundbreaking Project Tango (the AR platform that gave us the first smartphones with depth sensors) into obsolescence in 2018, we've seen a bit of a resurgence of what was then a niche ...more

If you're tired of Google tracking you, but love how Chrome works, CyanogenMod has you covered. Their browser is called Gello, which is based off Chromium, Chrome's open-source counterpart. It's basically a souped-up version of Chrome—without all of the intrusive Google stuff ...more

The wait is over. The Samsung Galaxy S6, arguably the best Android phone of this year, has just launched. There was already a lot of hype about this super phone—its looks, its specifications, and its other functions have been under the microscope for quite some time. It will n ...more

Filmed in what appears to be a single continuous shot, war film 1917 is now the front-runner to conquer the Best Picture category of the Academy Awards after bringing home the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture in the drama category. To commemorate the occasion, film buffs ...more

Dark mode themes for mobile apps are all the rage these days, but YouTube is taking that a bit literally with its latest augmented reality experience. On Monday, to promote the release of Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, which debuts in US theaters on Friday, Disney released a v ...more

To celebrate YouTube's 17th birthday, Google has gifted the app with new features, including pinch to zoom, precise seeking, and a darker dark theme. But the highlight is a new cosmetic upgrade called Ambient mode, which makes the viewing experience more immersive. Here's ever ...more

With Snapchat making the leap into the smartglasses realm, Facebook had to find a way to try and steal its competitor's augmented reality thunder. On Tuesday, the social media giant took the opportunity to fulfill its promise from this year's F8 developers conference, as Spar ...more

While the portability of mobile phones makes gaming convenient, it isn't a perfect playing experience. With touch controls, small screens, and limited specs, smartphones lack the comfortability of dedicated gaming devices. But with a few tips, you can enjoy games as if you wer ...more

Pokémon, Google, and augmented reality go together like wasabi, soy, and ginger, and the trio has come together again for the release of the latest game from the Pokémon universe. As Nintendo released the eagerly-anticipated games Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield for the Swit ...more

As expected, Apple revealed today at the WWDC keynote that ARKit 2.0 will support multiplayer gaming support and persistent content, which will arrive this fall with iOS 12. In addition to persistent and shared experiences, ARKit 2.0 will bring improved face tracking, more re ...more

In the last couple of days there's been a lot of speculation about the powers of Microsoft's HoloLens 2, but few have had a chance to get their hands on one to see if the company's claims live up to what HoloLens inventor Alex Kipman showed off on stage. Nevertheless, amid th ...more

VPNs add a protective layer between your data and your internet service provider (ISP) or bad actors (hackers), so it makes sense they've become so popular lately. Probably the most common one of these is NordVPN, so we explored its mobile app to find all the options worth che ...more

In the Tom Holland era, it appears to be impossible to promote a new Spider-Man movie without an augmented reality experience, a trend that continues with Spider-Man: Far From Home. Starting on Thursday, Papa John's customers who order a Superhero XL two-topping pizza can sca ...more

Magic Leap loves to stoke mystery around its still unreleased product, the Magic Leap One: Creator Edition, and now we've found yet another piece of the puzzle in the form of an Easter egg on the company's website. When you hit one of Magic Leap's 404 error pages, you see a s ...more

It's never fun when you install an app and then proceed to be bombarded with constant notifications. The SoundCloud app, while great in other regards, tends to have a bit of an issue on this front. So it's only fair that I share with you how to turn off every single one of th ...more

Sony Pictures has tapped the powers of augmented reality as provided by startup 8th Wall & the Amazon Sumerian development platform to help it promote the latest motion picture manifestation of Spider-Man. On Monday, the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse mobile web AR experie ...more

Beginning in November, National Football League (NFL) fans visiting New York's Times Square can come as close as any civilian can to stepping onto a professional football field. All for less than the price of a pair of cleats. Today, the NFL unveiled details of the NFL Experi ...more

Hollywood loves sequels so much that studios and their marketing teams are not too proud to release a sequel of an augmented reality promotion. After webbing up a web-based augmented reality experience to promote the theatrical release of Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse, So ...more

What was your first experience with Kinect? Mine was through my friend Robert. (He's in the blue shirt above.) I was over at his place, and he and his girlfriend had just gotten a Kinect. After much futzing with the Kinect because it kept falling off their flatscreen TV, they ...more

Some websites require you to perform a verification task so they know you're human and not a bot. It helps websites curb spam, abuse, unauthorized access, and cyberattacks but also adds an obstacle for anyone trying to visit their content. If you find it more of a nuisance tha ...more

At its annual MAX event kicking off on Monday in Los Angeles, Adobe gave the audience a new preview of its forthcoming Project Aero augmented reality authoring tool during the keynote presentation. As part of the preview, Adobe showcased a collaboration with Adidas that place ...more

We've got almost a full year until the next installment of Ghostbusters arrives, but in the meantime, it turns out that Sony is about to launch an augmented reality experience that will let fans use immersive computing to combat the franchise's whimsical apparitions. Starting ...more

If you want the latest in breaking news, a heavy dose of humor, and all things kittens, look no further than reddit. But no matter how great the content and community is, reddit has yet to fully catch up to the mobile world. They currently have no official mobile apps, though ...more

While most iOS updates will only improve the experience on your iPhone, some can cause more havoc than good. If an update unexpectedly breaks or degrades certain functions on your iPhone, you may be able to roll it back to the previous software. Like Windows computers, Apple ...more

One of the most successful rock bands still making music has just made augmented reality an integral part of its upcoming tour. Irish rock band U2 has announced a new mobile app experience that allows you to preview the group's live performance in your own home in AR. To expe ...more