In iOS 13, Apple added an important new feature to its HomeKit smart home ecosystem called HomeKit Secure Video. With it, you have a secure, private way to store and access recordings from your smart home IoT cameras. Apple's HomeKit has long been branded as a safe, secure al ...more
Apple's Podcasts app just got a big feature: transcripts. Before, you had to rely on third-party services or the off chance that podcast creators posted transcription links to each of their episodes. Now, you can view, read, and search show transcripts directly in Podcasts, wh ...more
When creating video content for social media, such as a story on Instagram, it's common practice to add captions or subtitles to the post so that people can watch it wherever they are on silent. Doing this by hand is time-consuming and frustrating, but Instagram has a solution ...more
For many, the stock version of Android is often considered the epitome of what the operating system should look and feel like by default. It's clean and clear of unwanted extra apps that come pre-installed with the system, provides a fluid and fast user experience, and runs on ...more
Hot on the heels of all the talk about Google's newest Android Q update, known as Android 10, there's a new beta to check out. OnePlus is one of the many partners that can now offer its users a chance to test the latest version early. That means you can install the newest Andr ...more
During the Google I/O 2019 keynote, the latest Android Q Beta was released to the public for Pixel smartphones along with 15 other non-Pixel devices. It's the third Developer Preview for Android 10, but it's the first official public beta outside of Google's Pixel smartphones. ...more
While photography usually gets all the love, our phones have gotten really good at capturing video. Think about it — when was the last time you needed a camcorder for a vacation? With mobile cameras getting better each year, we're now at a point where smartphones can be used f ...more
Apple's most significant software updates for iPhone and iPad in 2024 have massive changes for apps like Calculator, Messages, and Notes, but iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 also have exciting new features for your Lock Screen. There are plenty of new Lock Screen widgets to take advanta ...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
The music you listen to is often a reflection of your personality, which is why people tend to use the artwork from their favorite albums as device wallpapers. But one lonely album cover may not look right on your iPhone's lock screen, and it's not indicative of your broader m ...more
Rumors about the 2022 iPhone series stirred well before the iPhone 13 models were even released. While Apple remains quiet on the next big iPhone, as it always does, we're seeing more and more leaks and reveals for the iPhone 14 series as we lead up to a likely fall release. ...more
Welcome to the first annual Next Reality 30, our list of people who've made the biggest impact on the augmented reality space in the last 12 months — and what a 12-month roller-coaster ride it's been. Apple introduced ARKit-powered apps last fall, Google launched ARCore for An ...more
One of the best things about Android is the ability to customize your phone to your liking. From changing the layout of icons to finding the perfect wallpaper to reflect your current mood, there's a wide range of tools to make your phone yours. One of the easiest ways is to t ...more
This week, Apple announced the beta version of its new wireless, cloud-based service, iCloud. I wrote a summary of it here. The iCloud service includes some new features in the latest version of the iTunes Store, which allows you to access all your iTunes songs, mobile apps, a ...more
Minecraft may seem like a game for just hardcore gamers and computer nerds, but it's totally not. It can hook anyone and everyone, from casual gamers to online addicts to total newbies—it can even turn its users into serial killers. And now, Notch and his Mojang crew have made ...more
Remember last month when we introduced you to Trover? Well, now this great little discovery app for iPhone has completed its beta mode and has officially launched in wide release. Trover can be classified in the travel section, but it's not your standard tourist app. Instead, ...more
By now you’ve heard about the iPhone 4S announcement, possibly through our article about Apple’s newest smartphone. However, the star of the show was not the only announcement, so here are a few other announcements that were served along side the main entrée this morning. Let’ ...more
ARGs have taken the concept of video games to some odd and wonderful real-world places. Socks, Inc. might not be the first ARG, and LittleBigPlanet might have defined the sock-puppet-based game archetype, but it is the first game to combine ARG and sock puppet elements into on ...more
Christian Cantrell, Adobe's Air Product Manager and Evangelist, has released a video to demo websites that take advantage of the motion sensors in a mobile phone, tablet, or laptop via JavaScript. Now, let's take a look through the code and break down the core pieces that you' ...more
Apple's "Let's talk iPhone" event has just ended, and the information isn't anything that wasn't already anticipated. Much to everyone's hopes, the iPhone 5 was not the headliner of the event. Instead, Apple's new CEO Tim Cook unveiled the iPhone 4S to the 250-seat audience, a ...more
Welcome to the Google+ Insider's Guide to all things Google+. We're dedicated to keeping you updated with all the latest news, tips and tricks on Google+, and this official index will serve as a one-stop catalog of all our How-To articles, as well as all the news & updates we' ...more
If you're like me, you enjoy using your phone's dark theme at night and light theme during the day. When switching from dark to light and vice versa, many of the UI elements in supported apps adjust accordingly, but you have no control over what does and doesn't change. WhatsA ...more
As one of the household brands in creative software, Adobe is now ready to lay its claim to the artistic side of augmented reality. On Monday, concurrent with the kickoff its annual Adobe Max conference, Adobe's Project Aero officially graduated to public release, but Adobe a ...more
Three months after its promise, Apple has pushed out an iOS update that gives you important information about the health of your iPhone's battery. This means you no longer need tools such as Geekbench and Battery Life to determine whether or not you need a replacement battery. ...more
The fourth and final beta version of Android O just made its debut, and the biggest change is what appears to be a new code name. When you access Android 8.0's version number Easter egg, you'll be greeted by ... a cartoon octopus. Octopus starts with the letter "O," and Googl ...more
Possibly the most popular feature in iOS 14, home screen widgets are here to stay. Apple created a ton for its own apps, and third-party developers keep building ones for their own apps. But home screen widgets go beyond that since you can make a widget for practically anythin ...more
Apple pushed out iOS 11.4 on May 29 to iPads and iPhones, which included the long-awaited Messages in iCloud feature. The company did not release macOS High Sierra 10.13.5 at the same time, limiting the usefulness of being able to sync messages in the cloud since 10.13.4 is no ...more
Mobile AR developer Blippar has achieved a breakthrough by releasing what appears to be the first commercially-available AR navigation app. The company's new app, AR City, gives users overlay directions for walking routes as well as points of interest. The app is available vi ...more
Apple introduced Portrait Mode with the iPhone 7 Plus, a feature which utilized the iPhone's dual cameras to create a shallow depth of field around a subject. This effect replicates the look of DSLR cameras, making your photos look more professional. Apple, of course, carries ...more
There's never an Apple announcement without some good ol' anger and backlash. To be fair, Apple received some really positive feedback from parts of the iOS 11 presentation at WWDC back in June. Fans had been waiting for years to customize the Control Center, as well as for n ...more
While rooting your Galaxy Note 2 certainly has its advantages—everything from increasing security to relieving the Power button of its duties—it's definitely not for everyone. Whether you're concerned about voiding your warranty or just really like your stock device, rooting ...more
Android 10 is officially out, but a lot of phones didn't get it in 2019, and others may not get it at all. With this page, you'll at least know when or if. Despite all the improvements to Android's updating process, only 10.4% of devices were updated to Android Pie (9.0) as o ...more
So you finally decided to make the switch from iOS to Android, huh? Well first off: welcome to the world of tomorrow. And secondly: good call, mate. In all seriousness, switching between mobile ecosystems can be quite the hassle. Even after you've grown accustomed to the new ...more
Apple released iOS 13.7 for iPhone today, Tuesday, Sept 1, upgrading iOS' existing COVID-19 exposure notification feature. Now, US states no longer need to create an app to take advantage of exposure notifications. Instead, they can simply offer supports right to compatible ph ...more
Since the Razer Phone's announcement in 2017, we've seen a new subgroup of phones emerge. Gaming phones are now a thing, leading to companies like ASUS creating phones that are thoroughly optimized for the mobile gaming experience. And with their second iteration, they perfect ...more
New updates are always exciting, even more so when Google's behind the wheel. Yes, Android 10 "Q" is here, at least in beta form, ready for software testers to dive in and explore all the new changes. Among those changes, however, lie some issues. We won't sugarcoat it — there ...more
| Updated Aug. 22, 2019 with new phones. When will my phone get Android Pie? For the first time since Android's inception, this question shouldn't have an answer that lets you down. That's because Android Oreo introduced Project Treble, a new low-level arrangement that makes ...more
Apple just released the latest developer preview of OS X 10.11 El Capitan, currently in its sixth beta. While this latest build mostly deals with tiny improvements and bug fixes, it also includes a brand new breathtaking wallpaper of the El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite N ...more
While it's still a few months before iOS 8 and Yosemite are released to the general public, that doesn't mean you can't get a part of Apple's new operating systems on your devices right now. Check out some of the free wallpapers from Mac OS X Yosemite and iOS 8 below, with do ...more
When the new iOS 6 came out a few months ago, I was pumped because I finally would get Siri on my iPhone 4. Having the automated voice assistant readily available on my phone would be cool, even if I probably wouldn't use it all that much. Unfortunately, we peasants with A4 d ...more
One of WhatsApp's best features is being able to change the default wallpaper for all chats. There's no reason to stick to the default WhatsApp backgrounds when you can be texting over an image of literally anything. In a newer WhatsApp update, you can go a step beyond that by ...more
For many, phones are starting to replace televisions as the primary device for watching videos. Thanks to their portability and easy to use apps, it's often simpler to watch Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, or Prime Instant Video on the smaller screen. But not every phone is suited to ...more
Due to their large size and added screen real estate, Apple included a new feature for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus known as "Reachability." Essentially, this function makes reaching the top part of the display easier by double-tapping the home key to shift the screen down closer t ...more
Even though the Music app took a backseat during Apple's initial iOS 14 announcements, there's a lot going on in the updated app. Some of the new features and changes apply only to Apple Music subscribers, while others apply to your own music library, so there's something for ...more
Your iPhone's lock screen is about to get a major upgrade in iOS 10, as shown off by Apple at WWDC '16, and it will make dealing with notifications and apps a breeze. The new lock screen has been fully redesigned to give users better and faster interaction with the apps they n ...more
In the 21st century, we're all looking for ways to stay private, especially on our electronic devices. We have big tech corporations, enemy countries, malicious hackers, and other prying eyes watching our every move, so it's only natural to want to limit what they can see. Mak ...more
There was a time when building a website required coding knowledge. Eventually, software came along that made the process easier, and then services like Squarespace made it dead simple for even a technical novice to design a website. Now, with the content creation platform fr ...more
The Razer Nabu is a smartband that alerts you when you've received a notification on your Android or iOS device. This fitness smartband not only notifies you, but keeps track of your steps, sleep time, messages, calories lost, and of course, the time. The screen is very simpli ...more
Android 11 is officially out. With Google's continuous work on the update process, it is expected that more smartphones will receive the latest update in a timely fashion. However, exactly when the update is expected isn't always known. So we'll try to make it easier for you. ...more
If you're like me, you don't have time to sit down and leisurely read an entire article from start to finish — but you still want to be informed throughout the day. Instead of just browsing the daily headlines, there's a free service that will summarize any article you throw a ...more
Apple has released and continues to test 2024's major software updates for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV, and Apple Vision. But are your devices compatible? Will you need to upgrade a device or two to get all the latest features? Find out here. The latest OS versio ...more
The Apple Watch is rapidly becoming a standalone device that you can use without an iPhone or internet connection, and Deezer and Spotify have just helped make that even more true by adding support for offline playback on the watch. Spotify has only offered streaming music on ...more
Castlevania ranks up there with Super Mario as one of the most memorable video games ever, and a new iteration of the side-scrolling action RPG has been soft-launched in Canada ahead of a worldwide release. If you want to try out the game on your iPhone before everyone else, t ...more
It takes confidence and guts to pull off attractive and yet adequately frightening Halloween makeup as an adult. But rest assured, Perfect Corp's makeup try-on app YouCam has published a new face filter that it crowns the "spookiest, most glam and ghoulish" of all the makeup ...more
One of the best features in the Apple News app is the ability to save stories for later. If you see an interesting or important article but don't have time to read it right away, there's a good chance you'll never find it again unless you save it. Ever since News' birth in iOS ...more
While mobile gaming, in the 10 years since the App Store launched, has matured to console-level quality, premium augmented reality games built with ARKit (or ARCore) have been scarce. Immersive VR is looking to do its part reduce that deficit with the launch of The Ancients A ...more
WhatsApp is a great app to keep in touch with friends and family across phone brands and countries, but sharing a post on Instagram hasn't always been as easy as it should have been considering Facebook owns both companies. Now, whether you have Android or iOS, all it takes is ...more
It's hard to believe iOS 11 was announced three months ago. In that time, we have downloaded multiple betas, experienced the Golden Master, and seen the new software in action on the iPhone X, iPhone 8, and iPhone 8 Plus. After all this waiting, however, the official release o ...more
Android O doesn't have an official code name yet, but it's certainly got plenty of cool new features. The OS won't officially debut until Q3 2017, but we've gotten our hands on some of the updated stock apps thanks to the Android beta program. Developer krisyarno went ahead a ...more
Oh, Waze—you know, that Google-owned traffic navigation app that tempts drivers into stopping at local food joints like Dunkin' Donuts and Taco Bell? Well, now you can even order a large iced coffee through the app before you even arrive at a fast food hotspot. Starting today ...more