Group chats in Facebook Messenger can devolve into outright noise pollution as people chit chat randomly and bombard you with distracting notifications. Unfortunately, leaving the group outright alerts everyone inside, so if you want to get out of the thread unnoticed, what ex ...more
It's easy to block a person or a website from appearing in your Facebook feed, but it isn't as easy to undo that. Thankfully, there are still ways to unblock people directly from your phone. The problem with blocking someone is that when they're blocked, they're no longer vis ...more
If you're tired of the so-called "top" tweets appearing first in your Twitter timeline instead of only the latest from the people, companies, and bots you follow, there's a way to get rid of them. Twitter switched to an algorithm-based timeline in 2016, which replaced the sta ...more
The Google Pixel's camera is a status symbol of sorts. When someone sees you with one, you become the photographer of choice for social events. And where do those photos end up? Social media, of course. It's how we share our lives now, and the smartphone camera defines how we ...more
Arduino is a language that's easy to learn and supported on many incredibly low-cost devices, two of which are the $2 Digispark and a $3 ESP8266-based board. We can program these devices in Arduino to hijack the Wi-Fi data connection of any unlocked macOS computer in seconds, ...more
I love my iPhone 8 Plus, but the allure of modern iPhone gestures is sometimes more tempting than I care to admit. I imagine many of you with a home button iPhone feel the same. What if I told you, however, that your iPhone is capable of iPhone X-like gestures? In fact, you ca ...more
Here's the situation: you need Face ID or Touch ID disabled, yesterday. You don't have time to dig around in your settings, slowly working through an authentication reset. If you find yourself in a place where you think your own face or fingerprint will be used against you, us ...more
There's definitely some malware-ridden apps on the Play Store. When it comes to the third-party apps you've connected to your Google Fit account, some have a crazy amount of permissions they have no business accessing. For example, you probably don't want a heart monitor app h ...more
Every iPhone since the 5S has come equipped with a microchip called a motion coprocessor, which collects data from integrated accelerometers, gyroscopes and compasses, and can then transfer that information to fitness apps that track physical activity. Essentially, the chip kn ...more
Windows 10 passwords stored as NTLM hashes can be dumped and exfiltrated to an attacker's system in seconds. The hashes can be very easily brute-forced and cracked to reveal the passwords in plaintext using a combination of tools, including Mimikatz, ProcDump, John the Ripper, ...more
When an app is acting up, the first thing you should do is head to its App Info page. Here, you can force stop the buggy app or delete its data and cache. It even lets you manage permissions and notifications, quickly uninstall the app, and more. So you should definitely know ...more
As efficient as your iPhone is, it doesn't hurt to fully close running apps from time to time to free up memory and keep background processes to a minimum. Force-closing is also a great way to troubleshoot buggy apps, and can often resolve minor issues without having to restar ...more
The iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max are the most advanced flagships Apple has to offer, but that doesn't mean they're immune to occasional bugs. Anything from an app plagued with issues to a faulty software update still can cause your device to freeze up, so having the abili ...more
iPhones aren't immune to occasional bugs. But starting with the iPhone X, performing a reboot to fix minor issues has gotten a little more tedious. Thankfully, iOS 13 has a hidden option that makes the process a whole lot simpler. The old ways to restart a "notched" iPhone re ...more
By default, Slack optimizes the images you upload and send to other users in your workspace. Although optimization lowers the resolution of the image, it does send quicker, which is better if your internet service is poor. However, you may want to send the highest-resolution i ...more
Ever tried using Android's split screen mode only to find the app you wanted to split doesn't support it? Even big-name apps like ESPN still don't support the feature despite the majority of Android devices having split screen. So instead of waiting for the developers, how abo ...more
With the back button gone in Android 10, the new back gesture forced Google to change the way you access side navigation menus. The new angled swipe that you have to do to access the hamburger menu isn't the easiest, so you'll likely go back more times than you want. Well, the ...more
Disabling clunky, revealing link previews on Google Keep can serve multiple purposes. You know, those expanded versions of the same URL you pasted into your note, except duplicated, tacked onto the bottom of your note, and showing a preview picture. Removing these can help opt ...more
Being organized is a big part of being productive. Keeping your important documents where they need to be is key to an optimized workflow. When using Google Keep, sometimes a note may outgrow its note status and you may want to upgrade it to a full on Google Doc. Thankfully, t ...more
You may note be able to root your Snapdragon-powered Note 10, but thanks to the hidden Developer Options, you can still tweak low-level settings like custom codecs for better audio quality on Bluetooth headphones and faster animations to enhance your experience. Best of all, y ...more
Listening to your favorite podcast in bed can be a very relaxing way to unwind after a long, busy day. However, there's a good chance you'll fall asleep with the show still playing. That means episode after episode will play, causing you to forget where you left off. Even wors ...more
From XXXTentacion to R. Kelly, many artists have been accused of inappropriate actions, so some of us just don't want to hear their music anymore. However, each time streaming services attempt to ban such artists, they face heavy backlash. Recognizing this, Tidal decided to of ...more
In general, the internet can be a cruel place, and Instagram is no exception. Most of the time, the platform is a fantastic way to share and view unique and creative content, to reach an audience of both fans and friends. People can step out of line and harass or bully others ...more
There are many reasons you might want to increase your text size in Google Chrome. The browser's accessibility options have a few tools to help the readability of text on websites. Changing the text scale, enabling zooming, and toggling the simplified view can customize Google ...more
With both iOS 13 and Android 10 around the corner, system-wide dark mode is moments away from hitting your phone. In preparation, many developers have been adding a dark mode to their apps, including the official Reddit app. Reddit has one of the more robust dark modes out th ...more
Contrary to popular belief, it takes more than just one artist to create the sound, lyrics, and vocals of a song. With most music being enjoyed digitally nowadays, it's harder to know all of a track's collaborators, as this info used to be in the CD booklet. Well with Tidal, y ...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
Pandora has a simple rating system that works by hitting either the thumbs-up or thumbs-down icon on a track that's playing on your station. If you choose the former, the song you like along with others similar to it will play with more frequency, while selecting the latter wi ...more
One of the best parts of Pandora is its personalized stations that auto-generate songs within the specific style or genre you've chosen. Not only does this play your favorite tracks with regularity, but it also opens your ears to previously unknown songs or artists — ones you ...more
Whether you're out for a drive, commuting to work, or just taking a stroll, listening to your favorite tracks on Pandora takes the legwork out of choosing which songs to play next. After a while, however, you go-to playlist can get repetitive, as the same songs from the same a ...more
Earlier than expected, Apple just released the first public beta for iOS 13 today, June 24, three weeks after Apple first seeded the beta to developers. The general testing pool now has access to iOS 13's expansive list of new features, including system-wide dark mode, robocal ...more
I don't know about you, but I like to listen to music throughout the day. As I am writing articles or doing some cardio at the gym, I go through my playlist, only stopping the music in situations where I have to. And ever since I switched to the Samsung Galaxy S10+, this has g ...more
With such a vast selection of music genres available, it's easy to build up a massive list of stations in Pandora that can make your go-to playlists harder to find. Fortunately, the app lets you easily remove unwanted stations to streamline your experience and listen to your f ...more
If your job revolves around prospective clients and customers, you may frequently receive iMessages from unknown numbers. Although this isn't necessarily a bad thing, being bombarded with messages from strangers can create disarray in your inbox if you're not careful. Luckily, ...more
While you can now apply a dark theme to Samsung Messages thanks to One UI, you may want to further personalize your texting app. A great way to do this is by applying a custom font, which not only enhances the app aesthetically, but can also go a long way towards making your t ...more
Video calls are not only awesome for socializing, they're also handy for demonstrating a process or showing people what you're currently working on with your phone or computer's screen. Skype lets you do just that on both Android and iPhone in just a few taps. Besides having ...more
The Messages app on iOS features contact photos for every one of your conversations — including group chats. Even if you don't have a picture for a specific contact, their initials will appear instead. For non-contacts, a generic profile avatar appears. These give threads a bi ...more
There are plenty of reasons the Pixel's Google Camera has become a must-have app for Android users. Google Playground AR stickers and Night Sight for low light photography are just the tip of the iceberg. Beyond those, the app comes with other, less-publicized options that add ...more
Phone displays have gotten taller in the past few years, and it seems the OnePlus 6T might not make use of the entire screen by default for a few games. Most games play nicely with the large display on the 6T and its teardrop camera notch, but Pokémon GO is one that doesn't sc ...more
You don't have to be a frequent flyer to know how indispensable navigation apps have become. Many of us rely on these apps for traveling from state to state and getting around in foreign cities, but even more of us count on these apps to beat rush hour traffic and find the qui ...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
The latest film addition in the American-produced Millennium series, The Girl in the Spider's Web, was just released on Blu-ray a few days ago. As you could expect, the movie has many hacking scenes throughout, just like the previous English and Swedish language movies centere ...more
You open the App Store to see a huge red number hovering over your profile icon. There's a ton of updates to install, so you tap "Update All." But wait! You needed to check Instagram or send a reply to a timely WhatsApp message, but those apps are now stuck waiting for others ...more
Back in 2018, Spotify began testing a new mobile feature that has grown very tiresome: three to eight-second looping videos that take over the entire screen. Known as Canvases, they effectively hide the cover art and lyrics of the current song — and they're still very much aro ...more
Many apps, including Facebook, Twitter, and Facebook, do not let you download videos, even if they are living on your own account. Saving these videos usually requires a third-party app or screen recorder, which is inconvenient and can result in loss of quality. However, TikTo ...more
Unless you want to make your TikTok account totally private, anyone that uses the app — with or without an account — can view your profile and all the videos of you performing new dance moves, singing along to popular songs, and recreating your favorite TV show scenes. Even wo ...more
Can you trust every user you come across on TikTok? The answer to that may depend on how use the service, but the real question is — can you trust every user that sees your content? Not everyone on TikTok is someone you want viewing or interacting with your content, and there' ...more
While many of Facebook's tools are well received as they enhance the experience, one which is often complained about is the Marketplace. The Craigslist-like feature which offers a way to facilitate transactions between users can be a little overbearing with its alerts. However ...more
Whether it's an ex you can't stand, that annoyingly political friend of a friend, or good old fashioned trolls, the block feature on Facebook can be a great way to de-stress your feed. It will keep people from contacting you, and it will also prevent them from viewing your pro ...more
MyFitnessPal has become extremely popular thanks to features that help users keep themselves accountable and stay motivated as they eat healthier and lose weight. While the application does a great job of reminding you to log the food you eat in order to keep track of your cal ...more
In MyFitnessPal, you can search through a food database to add your meal into the app's diary and track your calories. Unfortunately, the sheer size of the database can make it hard to find exactly what you have just consumed, which is why MFP includes a barcode feature to mak ...more
There are more than a few subscription-based movie streaming apps available for Android and iPhone, each with different benefits and varying pricing plans. Needless to say, it can get expensive fast if you sign up for multiple services because you can't decide on what's best. ...more
For the uninitiated, it can be difficult to buy that special hacker in your life a perfect holiday gift. That's why we've taken out the guesswork and curated a list of the top 20 most popular items our readers are buying. Whether you're buying a gift for a friend or have been ...more
Apple's stock Podcasts app in iOS remains my go-to for all of my podcast-listening needs, but skipping around during an episode can be frustrating. Scrubbing audio along the timeline is often an imprecise maneuver, which is why the skip buttons can be so useful and efficient. ...more
With the iPhone X, Apple introduced a brand new way for iOS users to interact with their iPhones. Gestures took the spotlight, as they very apparently replaced functions you would normally execute on the Home button. But swipes aren't everything for the new iPhone XS, XS Max, ...more
The iPhone X ushered in the Swiss Army Knife-like Side button, which can perform numerous functions, such as summoning Siri and opening Apple Pay through click gestures. This has carried over into the iPhone XS, XS Max, and iPhone XR, so if you've upgraded to one of these devi ...more
Thanks to Android Pie's gesture controls, features like split screen mode now take several additional steps to activate. This change is due to the revamped navigation bar which removed the recents apps button. Luckily, we can still change it back. With some tinkering in Setti ...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
I don't know about you, but nothing is more annoying than when my phone hits 15% and I'm nowhere near a charger. Not just because I know my phone will die soon, but until I reach a charger, I have to deal with the annoying low battery notification and LED light. Well, with And ...more
Don't think because your MacBook is using FileVault disk encryption your device is secure or immune to hackers. Here's how to find out if that FileVault password is strong enough to withstand an attack from a motivated attacker. FileVault, created by Apple in 2003, is a hard ...more