Are you thinking of switching from an iPhone to an Android phone? Before you make a permanent change from Apple to the other side, it's good to try out the other ecosystem and see if it makes sense for you. If you can't get your hands on an Android phone to try it out, you can ...more
Apple last month released iOS 17.2, its biggest iPhone software update since iOS 17.0, with 60 new features. Now, as of Jan. 22, we have iOS 17.3. Overall, it's not the behemoth software update that iOS 17.2 was, but it has a few exciting new things you'll definitely want to k ...more
With iOS 17 on your iPhone, you have access to new health- and fitness-related features that can help you improve your mental well-being, reach your fitness goals, take your medication on time, avoid eye strain, and more. The biggest new features are found within the Health a ...more
With Apple's newest iOS software update, you can turn your iPhone into a smart display that's always on when you're not actively using it. So your iPhone can quickly transform into a bedside clock, digital photo frame, miniature HomePod, Live Activities tracker, widget-monitor ...more
Apple previewed new cognitive, speech, and vision accessibility tools for the iPhone back in May, and they've finally been realized with the iOS 17 release. But there are more accessibility features than that hiding in Apple's latest software update — and they're not just for ...more
The volume buttons on the side of your iPhone can do more than just adjust the volume levels for media, ringers, alerts, Siri, and other sounds and voices. You can use them to perform different actions in certain apps and even create custom actions using the Shortcuts app. It' ...more
Your iPhone has a safety feature that makes it easier to call 911 in the U.S. and other emergency services abroad. Instead of fumbling with your iPhone's dialer, you can call someone for help in various ways — with or without your hands. Emergency SOS has been around since iO ...more
You might have missed it, but the virtual keypad you use to enter phone numbers in your smartphone's dialer and contacts app isn't all numbers. Take a closer look, and you'll notice a few mysterious buttons you've likely been tuning out unconsciously. But it's time to stop ign ...more
An invaluable button on your iPhone can do hundreds, even thousands, of amazing things, but most iPhone users don't even know it exists. You can't push it. You can't click it. You can't press it. But it's the largest button on your iPhone, more powerful than the versatile Side ...more
Siri can perform many actions for you on your iPhone, such as sending messages, providing information, getting directions, looking up a contact, and playing music. Still, there are even more important Siri voice commands that every iPhone owner should know — even the ones who ...more
The latest software update for iPhone has a few new features you should know about, including an enhanced security feature to protect your Apple ID account from phishing and other attacks. Keep reading to see everything new that's included with iOS 16.3 for iPhone. The iOS 16 ...more
Unlike most of Apple's other apps and services, it's not always obvious when Siri gets new features. Even if you're an avid Siri user, there's no way you can catch them all, especially when half of them aren't even mentioned by Apple anywhere. But that's what we're here for, a ...more
You've decided you want to lose weight or build lean muscle. That's great! Now grab your smartphone. It's a valuable asset that can help you achieve your physical fitness goals, whether to improve your health or enhance your appearance, and I'm going to show you how. Numerous ...more
If you're doing the same tasks on your Android phone repeatedly each day — like playing a specific playlist at the gym, viewing work documents, or watching your favorite music video — you can save some time by automating your routine, turning each task into a one-tap gesture o ...more
When the topic of Pokémon Go comes up, the typical response is, "Do people still play it?" The answer is a resounding yes! While the game doesn't command the zeitgeist as it did at launch, it has sustained a community of players who have stuck with it over the years. Pokémon ...more
It hasn't been long since Apple released iOS 16.0 with over 350 new features, but iOS 16.1 just came out with even more cool updates for your iPhone. While some of the recent upgrades were expected, others are somewhat surprising — and there's even one that you may not even th ...more
Apple's Siri is well-versed in the spells of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, but it's not like Android users are Muggles. Google Assistant, Android's virtual concierge, can cast a few spells out of the box, and it can learn the spells it doesn't know quicker than a year o ...more
If you haven't noticed yet, there are a lot of new features hiding in your iPhone's Messages app, and some of them are things users have been requesting for a long time. While iMessage is getting a lot of attention by letting us edit and unsend messages, it's only just the sta ...more
Apple made significant improvements to its Shortcuts app in the latest iOS update, so you can do even more with your custom-made macros for iPhone. The big story is "App Shortcuts," which takes all the work out of building shortcuts, giving you immediate access to premade one ...more
While it doesn't come with any iPad models out of the box, the Apple Pencil is perhaps the best iPad accessory you can get. It's a powerful writing and drawing tool with an intuitive design and user-friendliness that makes it easy to take notes, draw sketches, mark up document ...more
You may not always want to, but there will probably be a time when you'll want to know if an email you send — like a job application or a support request — is opened by the recipient. It's actually easy to implement, and you may be using an email client on your device right no ...more
Fans of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" will remember the Babel fish, the universal translator you put in your ear so you can understand every language you hear. While Apple has its Translate app, there's another iPhone feature reminiscent of the Babel fish, but it lets ...more
Apple's bringing big changes to your iPhone's lock screen in iOS 16, and one of those changes lets you pick an always-updating wallpaper for your local weather conditions. If you don't want to wait until the fall for the stable iOS 16 version and don't want to install any iOS ...more
You may be tempted to install the iOS 16 developer beta on your iPhone to try all the exciting new features it has to offer, but it may be a good idea to wait if you only have your personal iPhone that you use every day. If you watched WWDC 2022, you know that Apple came up w ...more
Apple's latest iPhone and iPad software, iOS 15.5 and iPadOS 15.5, became available on May 16, so you can download and install it right now if you haven't already. While there aren't as many new features as iOS 15.4 and iPadOS 15.4 had, there are a few big ones in the U.S. you ...more
You can view and hide iCloud contact groups on your iPhone, but Apple won't let you create or delete groups or add or delete contacts from any groups unless you're on a tablet or computer. Why Apple refuses to add a group management tool to Contacts on iOS is anybody's guess, ...more
SharePlay is arguably one of the most significant features to hit FaceTime since group calls, and it's still hard to find apps that support shared experiences in FaceTime. Apple does list a few apps, but there is no official index of all the apps with SharePlay integration. Th ...more
Samsung has a cool security feature built into One UI that has an interesting side effect, one that lets you have two separate copies of any Android app on your Galaxy phone. And that's not the only integrated Samsung tool for cloning apps. Some mobile apps have built-in acco ...more
One UI has an exciting privacy feature that lets you lock apps, photos, videos, and files on your Galaxy device behind Samsung's defense-grade Knox security platform. Only you can unlock it using a pattern, PIN, or passcode, or with biometrics like fingerprint and iris locks. ...more
Have you ever been locked out of your iPhone? Maybe you forgot your passcode. Or perhaps someone with access changed the passcode as a prank. Your iPhone's display could have even been damaged and unresponsive. Whatever the reason, there's an easy way to get back access to you ...more
The hottest word game right now is Wordle, a simple game that gives you six chances to guess the five-letter word of the day. I've already shown how you can add the real Wordle app — not a fake clone — to your iPhone or Android phone's home screen. But there's also a way to sa ...more
Using an iPhone isn't difficult, but it can be if you're using it for the first time, especially if you switched from an Android phone. That's primarily because of the massive difference in the user interface between the two operating systems. And when it comes to taking scree ...more
Privacy is a growing concern in the tech industry, but Apple has fallen behind many of its peers when it comes to email security. Fortunately, iOS 15 changes that. Your email address is the key to a vast amount of personal information, not to mention a stepping stone into your ...more
The iPhone has included a real-world magnifying glass called "Magnifier" since iOS 10. Still, it remained relatively obscure until iOS 14 when it received significant upgrades such as a new interface, hideable controls, a customizable toolbar, improved filters management, mult ...more
If you've ever been in a crowded, noisy place, chances are you've dealt with having to talk louder just so the other person can hear, and vice versa. You can alleviate this headache in the latest Pixel update by using the Sound Amplifier app's new conversation-geared tool. So ...more
With the holidays right around the corner, it's easy to miss a big software update on your iPhone, and by that, I mean iOS 15.2, which was pushed out Monday, Dec. 13. There's a surprising amount of new features and changes in the updated firmware, and there are a few big ones ...more
You've probably already used a few Safari Extensions on your Mac, but if you haven't explored Safari's web extensions on your iPhone yet, you're missing out on some fantastic possibilities to increase productivity, make tasks easier, filter out noise, and bring more fun to you ...more
Apple's next big iOS update is ready for your iPhone, and it's out just a little bit more than a month after the iOS 15.0 update was released — and 14 days after iOS 15.0.2. The hottest feature you'll find in iOS 15.1 is definitely SharePlay, but what else is hiding within Oct ...more
Google Lens has easily been one of the more useful AR apps and a tantalizing tease of life with smartglasses in the not-so-distant future. Now, Apple has its own version of Lens, dubbed Live Text, built right into iOS 15 and iPadOS 15. Like Lens, Live Text can copy text from ...more
Google's new Material You theming engine in Android 12 adds a personal touch to your user interface. The main colors of your wallpaper dynamically affect the colors in menus and apps, essentially putting you in control of the overall theme. But there's another new design eleme ...more
When Tim Cook, Craig Federighi, and other core Apple leaders take the stage for WWDC 2021 on June 7, we'll hear a lot about exciting new things to come. We're likely to see what's in store for watchOS 8 and macOS 12, but more importantly, we'll get a glimpse at what iOS 15 and ...more
Whether it becomes mandatory or not to show your COVID-19 vaccination card at events, restaurants, bars, hotels, airports, and other public places, it's a good idea to digitize the paper card on your smartphone so that it's always with you. It's also wise to give yourself quic ...more
Apple's "Spring Loaded" event introduced us to many new and exciting products, including iMac and iPad Pro models with the M1 chip, an upgraded Apple TV 4K, a purple iPhone, and the long-awaited AirTag. However, one of the most anticipated announcements came in the form of a s ...more
Apple's new iOS 14.5 will be coming out very soon, and that's even more evident now with the release of the iOS 14.5 Release Candidate (RC) on Tuesday, April 20. Anyone can install this update and get all of the same features iOS 14.5 will give everyone for iPhone; only you'll ...more
Automatic phone menus are the worst. You call the number, listen to prerecorded prompts, press button, listen, press button, listen, press button, listen, until you're routed or connected to the right extension, directory, menu, person, or whatever. But you can bypass these au ...more
When iOS 14 was released, the "Favorites" widget, which provided quick access to your most-used contacts, was nowhere to be seen. There's a workaround that brings it back via the Shortcuts app, but the original Favorites widget was better all around. For those of you looking f ...more
ESP8266-based microcontrollers can be used to create exciting and legal Wi-Fi hacking games to test your or your friends' Wi-Fi hacking skills. When you first start learning how to hack Wi-Fi, it can be tempting to use your powers on Wi-Fi networks you don't have permission t ...more
Next to spam calls, few things are more annoying than being inundated with spam, scam, and smishing texts. Your iPhone's Messages app should be a place for your friends and family to stay in touch, not a minefield of phishing attacks, malicious links, and viruses. Luckily, the ...more
Most packages sent to you via delivery services include a tracking number that allows you to track it from the creation of the shipping label all the way to your doorstep. The U.S. Postal Service includes tracking information with many of its mailing services, but not for firs ...more
There are hidden Wi-Fi networks all around you — networks that will never show up in the list of available unlocked and password-protected hotspots that your phone or computer can see — but are they more secure than regular networks that broadcast their name to any nearby devi ...more
If you've wanted to get into Wi-Fi hacking, you might have noticed that it can be pretty challenging to find a safe and legal target to hack. But you can easily create your own test network using a single ESP8266-based microcontroller like the D1 Mini. Our goal is to crack a ...more
Night mode, which helps you snap great photographs in low-light environments, is a feature available only on the iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 lineups. It's a useful tool to have in your arsenal, especially if you're fond of nightlife photography. Still, you don't have to purchase a ...more
Outside of iPhone releases, software updates are arguably the most exciting aspects of iOS life. It's like Christmas morning when your iPhone installs an update, as you dive through your device to find all the new features and changes Apple thought to include. With iOS 14.4, t ...more
Adobe Audition, Audacity, and other audio editing software have tools to isolate vocals and instruments in regular songs so that you can get an instrumental track for karaoke, vocals for an a capella version, or solo drums, bass, keys, etc. that you can use to learn the song y ...more
Withstanding an attack from a motivated hacker is one of the most important responsibilities a system administrator must undertake. This is especially true for websites that may contain sensitive customer information and a high volume of users. So it's important for a sysadmin ...more
The new iPhone 12 Pro Max is equipped with MagSafe, the iPhone 12 lineup's most talked-about feature. While Apple previously used MagSafe for its magnetic charging connectors on older MacBook models, it's given new life to it on the iPhone, and in a much better way. But can it ...more
Apple's latest update, iOS 14.2, is finally here. As the name implies, it's the second major update to hit iPhones since Apple released iOS 14 in the fall. The update brings at least 13 new features and changes to all compatible iPhones, including over 100 new emoji and eight ...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
Not everything about iOS 14 is great or even good. Some of its new features and settings are disappointing, inconvenient, bothersome, missing, or just don't belong. While you may think that you're forced to adapt, there might be a way to fix some of the biggest annoyances you' ...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