Your average Android phone or tablet comes with quite a few apps already installed—even before you turn the device on for the first time. These pre-installed apps are certainly helpful when it comes to getting your feet wet with Android, but in many cases, they're not always t ...more
We use our smart devices for pretty much everything these days, from getting directions to playing games just to kill time. They're extremely important to our daily routine, and as we use our devices more and more, things get a little bit messy. Having tons of apps, contacts, ...more
Three variants of the Pixel 2 have appeared in Google's Android Open Source Project (AOSP) code, confirming various suspicions about which processor will power the Pixel 2. The AOSP code mentions that the devices will use the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, which makes sense, as Goo ...more
The "Discover" tab in the latest version of the Google Home app has a new tip that says multiple users are now supported. Google Home uses a built-in speaker and microphone combo to give users access to smart search, a personal assistant, and smart home controls. This addition ...more
Google Assistant was just released for iOS today. You may know it as the AI-powered assistant that makes Google Home tick, or perhaps you've heard from one of many review sites about how much better it is than Siri. Well, before you run off to the App Store to install Google A ...more
Rooting. As an Android user, I'm sure you've heard the word once or twice. According to Kaspersky, 7.6% of all Android users root — but for the 92.4% who don't, we wanted to talk to you. Rooting allows you to remove barriers and open Android to a level of unprecedented contro ...more
When Snapchat first hit it big, people just assumed it'd be used for seedy activities. And while that's not completely true, it's definitely true sometimes. For those moments when you need to take a sneaky screenshot that doesn't notify the sender, Android has plenty of ways t ...more
For some time now, iPhone owners have been able to use Siri to listen to and reply to text messages, but that functionality has been lacking on Android. That is, until Google silently rolled out a similar feature for Google Now (thanks to Android Police for the tip). Perfect ...more
Rumor has it that Google Assistant will be coming to an iPhone near you. A "trusted source" broke the news of GA's arrival on iOS to Android Police ahead of Google's I/O conference this week. The iOS version of the Google Assistant app would most likely incorporate a chat fe ...more
Google's new Pixel and Pixel XL flagships are some very powerful smartphones, but as with any high-tech gadget, they're only as capable as the user allows them to be. So if you're a proud new Pixel owner, it's time to bone up on a few new features to help get the most out of y ...more
Near Field Communication, or NFC for short, is a feature that allows our smartphones to wirelessly communicate with other devices over a short distance while using almost no power at all. Think of it like a slimmed-down version of Wi-Fi or Bluetooth that can send a small burst ...more
While most of us don't think twice about dragging a pattern or using Touch ID to open our phones, or entering a password in for our email and bank accounts, these features are there to protect some of our most private information. Only problem is, they don't do a good job of i ...more
When Google issues an Android update, the changes are usually all over the place—fixing issues, adding functionality, playing catch-up with the latest thing Apple added to iOS. It's how the smartphone wars have evolved, where the two competing operating systems continually mat ...more
In November 2016, the RCS Universal Profile (Rich Communications Services) was introduced. The technology takes text messaging to the 21st century, emulating many of the features found in IM apps like WhatsApp and iMessage, but working through your phone number like regular SM ...more
With the release of Android 9.0 Pie, Google's focusing on digital health. Digital Wellbeing is a new set of features designed to help you curb your own smartphone addiction. Starting now, the beta version is available, and Google's looking for testers. Although Android 9.0 Pi ...more
Verizon Wireless executives recently cooked up a plan so devious that it could have only come from one of the four major US carriers. Apparently, they aren't satisfied with simply loading every Android device they sell with their own bloatware, so now they're reaching out to b ...more
We all know Google's Image Search to be our trusty little companion when it comes to browsing through ideas on the web. Now, Google is adding on "style ideas" to its search feature to help you boost your "style IQ" every time Google catches you snooping through new handbags on ...more
In previous guides, we showed you how to easily tweak your Google Keyboard by using various colors and shapes, installing an Android L theme, or adding a convenient number row to its main display. And now, you can add another Google Keyboard theme to your arsenal by making it ...more
Yep, Google just put in place a new thing called the dun dun duuuun .... "Device Catalog!" No, not like the Macy's catalog of your smartphone dreams. This is quite the opposite. After all those very exciting updates announced at I/O 2017, Google grandly let you all know that ...more
No matter your reasons, you might need a second phone number that's a little more disposable than your primary number — a "burner" number, so to speak. If you create this burner number using Google Voice, you'll get new functionality like call forwarding and voicemail transcri ...more
If you're a fan of sleek, powerful computers and highly-customizable smartphones, then you probably own a Mac and an Android device. But the downside to this glorious hardware pairing is that it can be hard to get the software on the two devices to play nice together. Previou ...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
Google Keep now has a dark mode. If your device is running Android 10, it kicks in automatically when you turn on the system-wide dark theme. If your device is not running Android 10, you will have to manually switch on dark mode for each app, including Keep. The benefits of d ...more
If you're a tech enthusiast, there's no way you're not watching HBO's Silicon Valley. So you surely know the Pied Piper crew's latest shenanigans involve an app that uses a phone's camera to find facts about food items — a sort of Shazaam for food, if you may. What originally ...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
As paper forms become a thing of the past, it's becoming commonplace to fill out contracts, rental agreements, waiver release forms, and non-disclosure agreements online. You can easily fill out forms on your laptop, but how can you best do this using your iPhone or Android de ...more
Google added a new feature to its mobile app that pairs your searches for events with direct summaries of activities from sites like Eventbrite and Meetup. If you see an event you like, then you can tap on it to check it out for more fun details or book your ticket directly th ...more
Google Home now helps users to discover new music with an added "Listen" tab in the app. The feature offers suggestions based on the Cast-enabled apps on a phone, while offering other apps to download if you'd like to broaden your musical horizons. The playlists are curated to ...more
Our attention spans have vastly shortened thanks to the Internet and our subsequent procurement of information from it at a rapid pace. It's tough to pay attention to something for a good amount of time, unless it's ridiculously interesting and stimulating. It's gotten so bad ...more
Short for Ask Me Anything, AMA threads are one of Reddit's signature features. They enable you to directly interact with a whole range of interesting personalities, from common folk with amazing life experiences to influential celebrities that help shape politics and culture. ...more
Codenamed "Nougat" after the sugary stuff that fills your Snickers bar, Android 7.0 is living up to its name with tons of sweet features. There's almost too many changes over Marshmallow to cover in one go, with new functionality ranging from a revamped Doze Mode for battery s ...more
As Matias Duarte and the team over at Google's Android Design department ready their wares, they've given us a preview version of the upcoming "L" release of Android to try out. A new design philosophy, dubbed "Material", permeates throughout the new OS. Most apps have yet to ...more
Google has a habit of starting on new projects for Android, then hiding them away if they didn't quite complete them in time for a major release. We saw this with multi-window mode last year (which is now an official Nougat feature), and this year, there was the hidden night m ...more
Need to break out of the restrictions your school or workplace have on internet browsing? Maybe you want to waste some time on YouTube, check out some gaming action on Twitch, or simply just browse Facebook or Twitter. Don't Miss: 10 Easy Speed Hacks for Google Chrome Distra ...more
If you're an Android user, Google probably has almost your entire digital life stored on its servers. Family pictures are backed up on Google Photos, your e-book library resides with Google Play Books, videos are on YouTube, chat logs in Gmail and Hangouts, starred places and ...more
When it's most important for me to browse the web incognito, I always seem to forget to enable private browsing. If that sounds like you, it's time you stop making that mistake for good. Manually deleting the cache and browser history is a thing of the past, and as it turns ou ...more
While it can be argued that Google Chrome is generally a better browser, iPhone users tend to remain loyal to Safari. But one feature that gives Chrome the upper hand is its ability to recognize the language on any given page and offer you an option to translate it to your nat ...more
The newest update of the Firefox web browser was released yesterday, and whether you were upgraded automatically or manually, Mozilla is advising that you downgrade to Firefox 15.0.1 as soon as possible. Firefox 16 is Mozilla's latest release, and is apparently extremely susce ...more
The Galaxy Note 10+ is the pinnacle of Android hardware. You won't find many phones with a better combination of specs and design. But you may not love the software. Even with One UI on board, some users still want a more "stock" feel. Thanks to apps from third-party develope ...more
If you were a particularly good little girl or boy this year, Santa might have finally brought you that cool new smartphone you've been wanting. Or perhaps you just took advantage of a great sale and treated yourself to a new gadget this holiday season—totally justifiable, and ...more
Android is Google's project, so of course you can see the search giant's fingerprints all over the operating system. Aside from the obvious user-facing apps, there's Google Cloud Messaging, Google Connectivity Services, and the much-maligned Google Play Services running in the ...more
Starting in Android 4.3, Google added some code to AOSP that tagged your internet traffic when you were running a mobile hotspot, which made it incredibly easy for carriers to block tethering if you didn't have it included in your plan. But as of Android 6.0, this "tether_dun_ ...more
With the whirlwind of noise surrounding the COVID-19 virus sweeping the nation, it's not hard to default to panic mode. One of the best ways to avoid panicking, however, is to follow trusted sources of information and avoid all of the opinions and trolls that don't reflect rea ...more
YouTube's main player interface got a pretty big makeover recently, but chances are, the new UI hasn't made it your way just yet. Google has a habit of slowly testing the waters as they roll out new features, so cool tweaks like this can take some time to reach all users. But ...more
Welcome back, my novice hackers! As we saw in my first tutorial on Facebook hacking, it is not a simple task. However, with the right skills and tools, as well as persistence and ingenuity, nothing is beyond our capabilities. One of the cardinal rules of hacking is: "If I ca ...more
In about 27% of all car crashes, someone was using their cell phone. You may think texting is the big problem here, but many fail to realize that even the smallest smartphone interaction could spell disaster. Thankfully, Google Maps has rolled out an overdue feature that'll he ...more
Some manufacturers, like Samsung and LG, have had split-screen multitasking on their custom versions of Android for years. But starting with Android Nougat, Google added this functionality to AOSP, which means that all phones and tablets running Android 7.0 or higher will now ...more
The latest Google Play Services update has somehow broken major functionality in both Titanium Backup and Substratum. Titanium Backup has suddenly become stuck at zero percent while restoring, and Substratum simply fails to apply themes anymore. Both of these apps do require r ...more
Android version 5.0 Lollipop introduced a ton of changes to the OS—and of course with new features, there's always a new set of bugs. One of the biggest bugs of all was a massive memory leak caused by the new screen-off animation, which loaded its assets into memory but never ...more
Google's Android TV-powered set-top box normally sells for about $100, but for the next 4 days, the Nexus Player can be purchased for roughly half that price when you consider credits. When purchased through this page on Amazon, you'll get a list price of $69.27, but that wil ...more
This how-to article is about changing you Mac icons. It goes into detail on how to make your dock icons a different image, like your favorite sports team or just a cool looking image. Video: . Step 1: Choose an Image Choose an image you would like to use. When searching the i ...more
Has your grandmother ever called you complaining about her internet not working? Don't you wish you could just see what she was talking about and fix it instead of having her try to explain why the mouse won't double-click on the thingamajig? That's just one of many reasons w ...more
Before Google Chrome entered the scene and subsequently dominated the market, Firefox trailed only Internet Explorer as the most popular web browser. Now, Mozilla has its sights set on a new opportunity to revive its browser for immersive experiences. In a blog post on Tuesda ...more
Apple made headlines last month when it announced it would acquire the popular application Workflow. Now, the company should be making waves again with the news that they will reimburse customers who purchased the app. In the weeks since the announcement, Apple has made Workf ...more
Welcome everyone Today i will show you a simple but very useful way to stop your ip leaks . In order to stay anonymous on the web you HAVE to do this. Requirements: -Web Browser Firefox or Iceweasel In Google Chrome you will have to add an extension called WebRTC Leak Preven ...more
Adblock Plus is a well known add-on for Google Chrome and Firefox that eliminates all of those annoying and obtrusive advertisements on the webpages that you visit. You've probably noticed that there's also ads on your Nexus 7 when you're surfing the web, so why not get Adblo ...more
Megaupload was one of the very first file-sharing sites I ever used. But since 2005, the beloved (and pretty gangster) Kim Dotcom, has been in a legal battle with the U.S. Justice Department over copyright infringement. Major movie studios and music labels went after Megauplo ...more
If you're a professional stalker like me, you know that scrolling the photo gallery on somebody's Facebook profile can take some time. In order to see the full-sized image of any one picture, you have to click on it, view it, and then return to the gallery. Anything that slows ...more
Creating your own emblem is a great way to show off your creative skills and show those stock-emblem clowns what's really up. And in the new Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, Treyarch decided to revamp the emblem editor, so now you can make more colorful and elaborate emblems. In th ...more
Having the ability to stream music or video from practically any internet-capable device is a thing of wonder—especially at the airport. I don't know how many times Netflix has saved me from watching something like CNN for 5 hours straight at the gate during long layovers. But ...more