You may not realize it, but most of your apps include third-party tracking services that monitor your activity in other apps and websites to serve highly-targeted ads to you. But now you can stop the creepy behavior on an iPhone and Android phone. While Apple had already impl ...more
If you like to listen to popular songs from huge musicians and hard-to-find music from obscure indie artists, SoundCloud is for you — and you don't have to pay a dime. When you find a song you really love and want to play it back even when you're not connected to the internet, ...more
While the United States, in general, doesn't have the worst overall pollution, the air quality can drastically change from one day to the next. If you're particularly sensitive to pollutants in the air, there are apps that show how clean or polluted the air is in your area, as ...more
YouTube Music just refreshed the user interface for playlists, seemingly taking away the ability to shuffle the songs in your playlists. While the update has been rolling out for months, you might just be getting the updated look on your smartphone, and there's no giant "Shuff ...more
While the new Google TV interface and its ability to run apps are the scene-stealers of the new Chromecast, Google's new hardware has many of the same hallmarks of its predecessors. That includes Ambient Mode, the screensaver (formerly known as Backdrop) that turns your TV in ...more
Alongside the launch of Android 11, Google has gifted Pixel users with several exclusive features, including App Suggestions on the home screen. Another exclusive feature involves Live View, the augmented reality walking navigation feature in Google Maps and one of the more us ...more
Breathe new life into your Instagram profile picture with another layer of self-expression. It's the perfect way to show another side of your personality without sacrificing your current IG profile photo. While photo filters give you the power to create a consistent style for ...more
Safari's advanced experimental features give you access to new browser initiatives, upcoming web tools, element changes, behavior adjustments, and other preliminary feature tests in development by Apple. If you use them on your iPhone, you can either improve your Safari experi ...more
A massive new feature just hit Apple Music, and it's the biggest thing to happen to Apple Music since Apple Music was even a thing. Over the years, Apple's music streaming service added helpful features like Apple Music TV, time-synced lyrics, and Apple Music Sing, and the la ...more
Apple offers many ways to customize the Home Screen on your iPhone, from adding widgets and scheduling rotating wallpapers to hiding apps and entire pages. But some of the best ways to customize your Home Screen are options Apple won't even tell you about, either because they ...more
For most Shortcuts automations you create on your iPhone, you'll get a "Running your automation" notification every time the task is automatically triggered. If you find those alerts annoyingly unnecessary, there's a less-than-ideal workaround to blocking them, but Apple gives ...more
Apple might not have been the first to add a night camera mode to its suite of smartphones, but it's pretty impressive nonetheless. With "Night" mode, your iPhone can shoot photos with incredible detail in some horrendously dark lighting conditions. But when you open up your n ...more
Defcon is the largest hacker conference with something for everyone, whether it be the talks, parties, villages, or any of the hundreds of events. In this guide, we'll take a holistic view at everything that goes into attending the con for the first time, from securing your el ...more
Sure, you can remove apps from your iPhone's Home Screen without deleting them. But there's something satisfying about seeing them laid out and well-organized on the Home Screen, just a tap away, especially if you use user-selectable or custom icons for all your apps. Still, t ...more
When iOS 14 came out, Apple released Translate, an app for translating voice and text between several languages (even within Safari). Unfortunately, it's not as comprehensive as some third-party apps or even Siri. That's why Apple uses Microsoft's translation services within S ...more
Voicing your displease with a shoddy third-party app or professing your love for an album you've just bought is normal, which is why we have ratings and reviews. You hate something, you write something. You love something, you rate it. But feelings change over time, so your ra ...more
You could already schedule an email to send on a specific day and time in Apple's Mail app, but that functionality is now also available in the Messages app. What's even better is that scheduled messages sync across your iPhone, iPad, and Mac, something you don't get in the Ma ...more
There's a tool on your iPhone that can help you with your overall emotional well-being, one that can help you be more aware of your emotions throughout the day and build resilience against the stressors in your life. This State of Mind feature is found in the Health app and i ...more
Of all the new features and changes on iOS 16.5, the Apple News app has the most, and there are a few big ones that will change the way you read stories. Some updates even affect Apple News on iPadOS 16.5; the most significant ones apply to both free users and Apple News+ subs ...more
Unless you have unlimited cellular data, you probably connect your iPhone to every Wi-Fi network you come across. It could be a local coffee shop, public library, or just a friend's place. Wherever it is, you'll need to ask for the access point's password if it's a secured net ...more
Two years ago, the 50th anniversary of the moon landing gave flight to a handful of Apollo 11 augmented reality apps and experiences, including one from the Smithsonian Channel. Now, as NASA's latest unmanned mission to Mars is scheduled to land on Thursday, the Smithsonian C ...more
Its official: On May 8, T-Mobile finally released the Android Oreo update for the LG V30 and V30+. Now, every major US wireless carrier has pushed the update. For me, this update is a big deal. Not only does Android Oreo bring some new tools and features, but LG has also inclu ...more
Apple just made it easier to change a widget's size on your iPhone's Home Screen, so you no longer have to delete widgets and add different-sized versions of them. With iOS 18, you can adjust a widget's size straight from its current widget size on your Home Screen. The new me ...more
After just a few hours, your iPhone's app switcher can become cluttered and even chaotic enough that you won't even want to use it. If you like your app switcher clean and tidy, with only your current session's apps accessible, there's a trick to force-quitting all apps simult ...more
You're caught up on "Squid Games," and you've rewatched "Seinfeld" for the umpteenth time. You're looking forward to the next season of "Stranger Things," but it isn't out yet. Why not play Stranger Things on Netflix instead? In addition to watching movies and binging TV seri ...more
When Apple takes the stage next week, we have no idea what version of iOS it will release. For months it seemed like a given that we would, of course, see iOS 13 seeded to our iPhones. Now, we aren't sure if Apple will tout iOS 13 or iOS 13.1, since the latter is now the focus ...more
It's pretty clear with all of the annoying "Get YouTube Premium" pop-ups that litter the YouTube app that Google really wants you to pay for its Premium membership tier. That's why you'll see that "Get background play with YouTube Premium" ad after closing YouTube with a video ...more
It should be simple to select and copy all text on a webpage in Safari, but it won't work as it does in other apps. Usually, you can press-and-hold down anywhere on a page and choose "Select All" from the edit menu, but that functionality is disabled in Safari and WebKit-based ...more
The Reminders app is a simple yet powerful task manager, and it does a great job of reminding you to start an errand, alerting you to a project that's supposed to be done, or prompting you about a recurring chore. But with the latest Reminders update, the dates and times you s ...more
Thousands of emoji are available on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and you can use these in many of the apps you have installed on your Apple devices. But there's one emoji you'll likely never see on any of Apple's official emoji keyboards, and its absence may surprise you at first, c ...more
Screen mirroring software has been around for ages, allowing you to mirror your iPhone to a projector, laptop, TV, or another device. It's useful to have during lectures, presentations, and meetings, so it's no wonder why Apple created its AirPlay technology. However, AirPlay ...more
If you've jumped on board HBO Max to watch more than just HBO's content, such as DC films, Looney Tunes, Turner Classic Movies, Cartoon Network, and movies from Warner Bros., there is a downside to HBO's improved service. Namely, you cannot use it on all of your devices yet. T ...more
Whether you drop your iPhone into a toilet or your dog's water bowl or regularly take it into the shower or pool, water will likely become nestled inside its speaker grilles. Water exposure causes audio playback through the speakers to soften and sound muffled, and getting tha ...more
The App Library is an excellent tool for browsing all the apps on your iPhone, especially since it includes every one of the home screen bookmarks you've made for websites and shortcuts. But it's all the way past your last home screen page. If you have a lot of visible home sc ...more
Important emails can slip through the cracks in any email client, especially sent emails you were expecting responses to but never received — and ultimately forgot about. Apple has an easy solution for this problem, helping you get answers in Mail for all your pending question ...more
Screen recording is an essential tool for sharing what's on our smartphones. If you want to send your friends and family an unsharable video you're watching, or a neat trick you discovered on your phone, recording your screen is one way to do so. Messenger, Facebook's standalo ...more
Battery management is a never-ending struggle. To be on the safe side, you likely won't want to leave your home with less than 100% battery, but continually checking your charging iPhone is a hassle. Instead of continuously monitoring your battery's power level, have your iPho ...more
The team over at Spatial isn't done innovating its way through augmented reality in 2020. Just days after adding a mobile option to its groundbreaking Spatial virtual collaboration product, the company is releasing Tele, a new app geared toward more casual, AR-powered video c ...more
"What's your Wi-Fi password?" That's usually the first thing guests ask for when you have them over. You tell them the network name, then try to explain your complicated hacker-resistant password, which becomes a whole ordeal. But there's a better way to do it, which doesn't r ...more
Using different sounds on your iPhone for different notifications can help you determine — just by listening — alerts you may want to look at immediately versus untimely alerts or even ones you typically ignore. But Apple has never given us complete control over notification s ...more
When you're playing a game on your iPhone, the chances are good that you'll come across an ad you have to watch before you can continue — especially on free games. While it may be annoying to be forced to wait for 10 seconds or even up to a full minute, it can be even more fru ...more
When you can't reach your iPhone or don't have it on you, how do you get help from emergency services? Unless you have one of those life-alert mobile triggers, someone nearby, or some amazing telepathy skills, hope might be the only answer — unless you wear an Apple Watch, tha ...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
Instead of responding to a WhatsApp message with short texts like "LOL" or thinking too hard about something meaningful to say, use an emoji reaction. They cut down on clutter in group chats and take up less space than typing emoji individually in a conversation. WhatsApp init ...more
Apple automatically converts most URLs in the Messages app into rich link previews, but they aren't always pretty, and sometimes you just want to see the full URL instead. While there is no setting on iOS, iPadOS, or macOS that disables rich link previews in the Messages app, ...more
Whenever your iPhone's ringer is on, you'll hear Apple's iconic "Connect Power" chime every time you connect it to a wired or wireless power source, which lets you know that charging has started. There's no way to disable the sound without turning on Silent mode, but there is ...more
If you're using a mobile device, it's a pretty safe bet that your apps are sending lots of information back and forth from their servers. To make sure there is no inappropriate data collection going on, it's worth setting up a web proxy to spy on this traffic, so you know exac ...more
Wireless emergency alerts help warn mobile phone users of imminent threats to life or property, such as extreme weather and natural disasters. These alerts target affected geographic areas and come with a loud sound scary enough to make you want to turn off emergency alerts al ...more
While there are many ways to see the exact battery life left on your iPhone, you can take all the work out of it by making your iPhone verbally tell you the current percentage every time you start or stop charging it. Best of all, this trick works whether you use wired or wire ...more
Apple CEO Tim Cook has said that augmented reality (or, AR for short) will "change everything." But what, exactly, is augmented reality? Generally, augmented reality refers to the process of presenting virtual objects and imagery — usually through a wearable lens or external ...more
Whether it's for health reasons or just to look better, many of us want to get in shape. It's a long process that starts with nutrition, and dieting is never easy. Fortunately, there are some great food-tracking apps that will make it a lot easier to become a healthier version ...more
Out of all the myths about the iPhone's battery, one that's very true is that charging your phone overnight is bad news. Keeping the charge level at 100% puts the battery under strain, which can permanently damage it. Apple took steps to address the issue in iOS 13, where your ...more
Modern life is almost completely digital ... almost. While you can get by in many cases with just your iPhone, sometimes a situation requires a hard copy. In the past, there was really no convenient way for you to get a Reminders list from your iPhone onto paper, but iOS 14.5 ...more
For those that have deafness or are hard of hearing, the iPhone can be a powerful tool to communicate with others. It works with many hearing aids and Bluetooth headphones, Live Listen makes it easier to hear nearby people and sounds, and the Messages app makes it easy to chat ...more
You might think you need to buy a thousand dollar phone to get a great experience while streaming movies and TV shows from services like Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube, but that's just not true anymore. While phone prices keep rising and the midrange segment now ranges from $300–$ ...more
Home screen widgets might not be a new concept in the Android world, but for iPhones, they're downright revolutionary. A new iOS 14 feature allows you to place small, medium, and large-sized widgets of your favorite apps on the home screen, to see important information without ...more
It's official — the newest version of Google's mobile operating system is called Android 8.0 Oreo, and it's in the process of rolling out to many different devices. Oreo has plenty of changes in store, ranging from revamped looks to under-the-hood improvements, so there's tons ...more
One of my favorite perks of this job is the opportunity to try out all the big flagship phones each year. Whether it's rating their suitability for a particular use-case or just entering their specs into our comparison tool, we have to get our hands on all major phones release ...more
With or without the Shazam app, which Apple acquired in 2017, you can use Siri on your iPhone to identify music playing around you that you want to know more about. In the iOS 14.2 update, there's another way to name songs on your iPhone. Before, you could only ask Siri or He ...more
It's been a long time coming, but Apple Maps finally has cycling directions for your iPhone. Google Maps has had cycling support for ten years now, though, many of its more useful features had been incorporated within the last few years. Well, with iOS 14, Apple has caught up, ...more