Android 5.0's Material Design is truly a sight to behold. With beautiful transition animations and brand new system menus, Android has never looked better. If you're stuck on an older version of Android, though, looking at all of the screenshots and demos from Lollipop can le ...more
The new Nexus 6 and Nexus 9 models will be shipping with Android 5.0 Lollipop preinstalled, and the Nexus 4, 5, 7, and 10 will be getting the new OS update from Google very soon. But where does that leave the rest of us? All non-Nexus devices running versions of KitKat will h ...more
One of the biggest improvements with the Galaxy S9 and S9+ is the redesigned camera, with the latter scoring an impressive 99 overall on DxOMark. But with an abundance of features and enhancements, tweaking the camera's settings for optimal performance can be a little confusin ...more
Nowadays, protecting your valuables can be challenging especially when you're on the go. That's why I decided to make a little secret compartment inside my car. Only you'll know it's there because nobody will be able to find it. Not only that, but you'll have easy access to it ...more
Apple is set to release its latest operating system for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch this fall, and if you haven't noticed yet from our iOS 7 softModder guides, it's going to be pretty slick. Gone are the boring old icons that have remained basically unchanged since the very ...more
The volume buttons on the side of most Android devices—also known as the volume rocker—make it easy to adjust sound output without having to dig around in any settings menus. But the trouble is, they control notification and ringtone volume by default, and will only adjust med ...more
When you think of nail polish, it's probably almost always in the context of a manicure. I mean, that's what it's made for, right? But there are plenty of other things you can use clear or colored nail polish for besides painting your nails. Even if you're a guy living on his ...more
Changing your wallpaper and downloading icon packs is nothing new to the HTC One, but some people will go overboard with remapped keys, icon layouts on custom grids, and extensive wallpaper cropping—processes that could take hours to get just right. Now you can go overboard t ...more
While LG G3 users have been patiently waiting, developer the cubed and his Codefire team have been diligently working on a successful unlock method for the heavily locked-down bootloader. Now it's finally here, and the unlocking method is extremely easy to do—and it works for ...more
Windows 8 had an easy "Set for monitor" option that allowed you to use different wallpapers on a multi-monitor setup—an option that is seemingly absent from Windows 10. But with a quick command, you can easily restore this function on Windows 10, so that it behaves like Window ...more
Android has a single text file named build.prop that determines tons of various system-wide settings on your device. You need root access to edit this file, since it's stored on the system partition—but the various lines of codes it contains are actually fairly easy to interpr ...more
If you've been keeping up with anything Android these days, you've no doubt heard about a little dandy called Xposed Framework kicking around. Xposed, by XDA developer rovo89, is a framework for Android devices that lets you easily modify your stock or custom ROM. Xposed is r ...more
Hello, my fellow hackers. My name is cl0ck. I am a senior majoring in Computer Engineering with an emphasis is Security. I have been lurking the site for a while now reading and learning from the great minds that reside here. I, too, have some knowledge that I would like to s ...more
In this software tutorial you will learn how to create an island terrain in Unity 3D game engine. PART 1 covers creating a new project and exploring the interface. PART 2 covers terrain extrusion and texturing. PART 3 covers Trees and further environment topography. PART 4 cov ...more
In 2019, the Raspberry Pi 4 was released with specs including either 1 GB, 2 GB, or 4 GB of memory, a Broadcom BCM2711B0 quad-core A72 SoC, a USB Type-C power supply, and dual Micro-HDMI outputs. Performance and hardware changes aside, the Pi 4 Model B runs Kali Linux just as ...more
Many Nexus 6 owners, myself included, have already started to experience the dreaded burn-in issues that often come with AMOLED display technology. These displays are different than your typical LCD screen in that each pixel emits its own light instead of using a backlight, so ...more
Hacking from a host machine without any form of proxying is reckless for a hacker, and in a penetration test, could lead to an important IP address becoming quickly blacklisted by the target. By routing all traffic over Tor and reducing the threat of malicious entrance and exi ...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
Rooting is a great way to unleash your device's full potential, but not everyone's comfortable with it. Rooting can void a warranty, cause issues with certain apps, and the process itself can be tricky for older devices. Alas, most of the great apps or mods out there require r ...more
In a previous softModder guide, we converted our HTC One smartphone into a legitimate Google Play Edition HTC One, but that conversion cause our bootloader to be locked once again. So, if we ever want to convert it back to a regular Sense-style HTC One, we'll need to unlock th ...more
After a few unforeseen delays, the Android Lollipop update is finally here for Google Play Edition HTC Ones. This means that if you have an official GPE M7 or M8, or if you have simply converted your HTC One from a carrier-specific, Sense-based model to a Google Play Edition, ...more
Android Marshmallow was recently released, and as we've grown to expect, a root method was quickly made available to devices running the brand new operating system. Legendary root developer Chainfire has stated that he's working his way towards retiring from the scene, but he ...more
Telegram routinely boasts about its secure messaging for truly private conversations between two parties. However, default cloud chats in Telegram are only encrypted between client and server, not client and client, which means you have to be a little proactive in making sure ...more
With the camera usually being pretty simply in the past iOS versions, iOS 7 has seen a few major changes—built-in filters, Instagram-ready square photographs, zoom-in during video recording, and more. One less obvious feature that the new iOS has is the ability to activate bu ...more
Up until now, if you wanted to record videos of the apps on your screen, you had to rely on a third-party option. However, Windows 10 changes this thanks in part to the new Xbox app. One of the new features of the Xbox app is the Game bar, which allows you to record footage of ...more
To pick locks, one must either have an expensive lock-picking set or be skilled with whatever they have available to them. Bobby pins, soda cans, and even butter knives can get the job done, but each needs to be reworked into something more appropriate for the lock in question ...more
Google has added some fun Easter eggs to Hangouts that'll give you a few more ways to procrastinate throughout your day. All of them (except for one) work on the web browser version, the Chrome app, and the mobile apps for Android and iOS, and are activated by sending a specif ...more
This is a lock picking video which demonstrates how to pick a tumbler lock. Of course the only way to really open locks is to practice. But this is the basic info to picking locks. This lock picking tutorial also covers security pins and clear instructional animations to demon ...more
Many home cooks struggle to cook duck breast because they cook it as they would chicken. But not all poultry is created equal, and duck is definitely unlike chicken. For starters, the breast of the duck is a rich, dark meat, and the cut is covered by a thick slab of fat. When ...more
Getting a new phone is exciting, but having access to its exclusive apps ahead of its release is what we're all about here on Gadget Hacks. If you have a Galaxy Note 3, you've probably only had it for a year or less, so upgrading to the Note 4 may not be a viable option when ...more
Your closet is an area that holds important things such as keys, glasses, clothes and shoes. However, for some reason, it's always messy. Why is this? I know my closet is messy because I don’t have a lot of time to sit down and organize every little thing in there. I have neve ...more
A car is stolen every 33 seconds in the United States, and from that, the percentage of vehicles recovered in the first day is a whopping 52 percent. Over the next week, that number rises to around 79 percent, but after those initial seven days are up, it's unlikely the vehicl ...more
Full screen mode, also called immersive mode, is one of the most popular features on CyanogenMod, but it's almost exclusive to CM and other custom ROMs. What this feature does essentially is remove the Status bar and soft keys from your screen, creating a more mesmeric feel. ...more
If you're part of the Windows 10 Insider Program, build 15048 launched this morning, and included a nice big unannounced surprise. You can now launch the Mixed Reality Portal and enable the simulation to try out mixed reality right from your PC, even if you don't have one of t ...more
The first developer preview of Android Oreo 8.0 was only out for a couple of days before Chainfire created a new root method for it. For the time being, only the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P are supported by this first SuperSU ZIP, as the Pixel's dual-partition layout has created som ...more
Today, we are going to combine what we learned from the Introduction to Cryptography article with our Java programming skills. If you are new to Java, check out Matthew's Learn Java: Part One for a quick beginner's lesson, or check out some of the Java tutorials directly on Or ...more
Haven't you ever wanted to live in a futuristic home? I think that homes are headed towards an era where they will be controlled by our computers and smartphones. No longer will you have to find your keys to unlock your door, or wait until you get home to monitor your security ...more
WhatsApp may be one of the most popular mobile messaging services around since it's multi-platform, but if most of your family and friends use iPads and iPhones, there's no need to go beyond the stock Messages app. Except, it's so damn boring and slow. You can't really custom ...more
After many beta builds, Apple has finally released iOS 7.1 to the public. It includes bug fixes for the old iOS 7.0.6, along with UI enhancements and even some new features. If you haven't gotten around to playing with iOS 7.1 yet, here are a few of the new features and impro ...more
Learn how to play a classic vocal warm-up rising through the keys playing a major scale up to note 5 and returning to the root before rising by a semitone
Surely, constantly forgetting what you were doing in the middle of doing something and constantly looking for your misplaced house keys is not the ideal way to spend your golden years. Don't wait until it is too late to start thinking about improving your memory. If you are b ...more
Apple is putting their Workflow acquisition to use with the new Shortcuts feature, integrated right into Siri. It allows you to connect commonly-used actions to a phrase that you activate with Siri. In addition to some of the other speed improvements in iOS 12, Shortcuts helps ...more
The new Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ phones were announced on March 29 at the Samsung UNPACKED 2017 event. Preorders start on March 30 for the Korean tech giant's latest flagships, and sales officially begin in the US on April 21. Samsung will need a smooth release to win ...more
HTC pulled out all the stops when designing the HTC One M8. From it's sleek body, to it's incredible sound quality, this thing just oozes sophistication. While all of these add-ons are great, they can be incredibly taxing on the CPU, in turn causing some serious lag. While di ...more
The vague 90-day release window for CyanogenMod 12 has done nothing to stop my craving for Lollipop on my OnePlus One. Luckily, there are other "unofficial" means of getting my hands on it. Since CyanogenMod still gives users a way of building their own variants of their ROM, ...more
Samsung's latest flagship devices, the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, as well as the Note7, have a useful feature called "Always On Display." With this one enabled, the clock and some other information will continue to be shown on the screen, even when you lock your phone or turn your ...more
If you've ever taken apart an electronic device that uses physical buttons, you already know why these types of input methods are destined to fail. The rubberized contacts used in physical press-and-release buttons like those of a gamepad or keyboard are incredibly frail and c ...more
Welcome back, my greenhorn hackers! Although we have focused primarily on technical hacks here, social engineering can sometimes be especially effective. This one requires a bit of technical skill, but not too much. In addition, it's limited by how specific a target you can c ...more
You can do practically anything with a modern smartphone or tablet, so it stands to reason that the apps you have installed may serve vastly different purposes. Picture a game and a video player sitting right next to each other in your app drawer—odds are, you want the sound t ...more
Google's own devices have always been the first to get new Android features — but unlike the Nexus series, last year's Pixel phones have a handful of exclusive tweaks that were never intended to trickle down to other devices once the newer Android version rolled out to them. T ...more
Have you ever found something in your suitcase that wasn't yours? Maybe it was, but you're almost certain it wasn't. Maybe a friend slipped something in your baggage before your departure flight? Maybe the TSA was playing a joke on you, since they have all the master keys for ...more
Do you ever lose your house keys? Well here is one extreme way of dealing with the problem, create your own lock pick! To create your own lock pick, you will need your own dremel, an electric grinder, and some hack saws. Follow along with this instructional how-to video to lea ...more
Most phones adjust the ringtone and notification volume by default when you press the physical volume buttons. If media is playing, then the volume rocker will adjust media volume — but only after the first few seconds played at the previous volume level. This has been a point ...more
Messages is arguably the most important app on your iPhone, which is why it's always exciting when Apple pushes out new features for it. With the iOS 14 update, there a few critical changes as well as interface improvements and customization options that make the experience ev ...more
One of the biggest things that differentiates Android from iOS is the app drawer. Instead of the operating system just tossing all of your app icons into a cluttered heap on your home screen, most can be tucked away neatly in the app drawer, which, in essence, is very similar ...more
Locked out? Quit climbing through the windows or calling your ex to let you in. Get serious. Howcast says, do it yourself. This lock pick trick is elementary. I do it on my office door daily. It's a quick shimmy and flick of the wrist. Almost easier than finding my keys. Just ...more
Transferring hundreds of screenshots, webcam recordings, keystroke logs, and audio recordings between your VPS and a local Kali machine can be tricky. Services like Dropbox don't always have the best privacy policies and suffer data breaches just like any other website. To mit ...more
Traditionally, if you were looking for end-to-end encrypted messaging, you'd stick with something like iMessage, WhatsApp, or Signal. However, if you already use Facebook Messenger, you have all you need for truly private chats with its built-in E2E encryption. It's available ...more
As fellow softModders, I'm sure you strive to find any and every way to make your phone unique. Wallpapers and icon packs are great to get started, but to really stand out from the rest, try changing your HTC One's boot animation. A new boot animation for your phone can be in ...more
It goes without saying that a pizza stone is one of the keys to making a perfect pizza. The science behind pizza stones is relatively simple: the stone conducts and holds heat, which keeps the oven temperature steady even when a cold ingredient (such as an uncooked pizza) is i ...more