Lock Screen App

Your iPhone is just that — yours. Why should your home screen look like everyone else's? While iOS, and by extension, Apple, famously locks its users into its way of doing things, there's a lot more room for customization than you'd think. Before you make the switch to Android ...more

The Pixel 2 is a solid upgrade when compared to the 2016 model, but we've reached a point where the latest generation of a smartphone is never leaps and bounds better than the last. It's hard to justify dropping nearly a grand on a phone when it doesn't improve your situation ...more

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of programming languages and variations of those languages that exist. Currently, in the augmented reality space, it seems the Microsoft-created C# has won out as the overall top language of choice. While there are other options like JavaS ...more

If running out of battery while out and about weren't bad enough, the experience is a lot more painful if your iPhone has a semi-untethered jailbreak. With that kind of jailbreak, when the iPhone dies, all of the mods will be disabled after the device powers back up. Fortunate ...more

All the Android fans out there undoubtedly remember the squeeze gestures introduced with the HTC U11. Google continued the trend by bringing the gestures to the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. Thanks to a brand new app, you can now enable similar squeeze actions on your Galaxy S9 or S ...more

You probably already know by now that a custom Android ROM can change your user experience and give you what feels like a new OS on your device, and there's no shortage of them out there to try out. A great perk of being a Nexus 5 owner is that devs tend to commit resources t ...more

You can send and receive money from your iPhone using Venmo, Square Cash, Facebook Messenger, and even Snapchat. There's also Zelle, which offers quick-pay solutions in major banking apps such as Bank of America, Chase, and Wells Fargo. However, Apple has a built-in system to ...more

Introduced along with the iPhone X, Animoji are animated characters, mostly animals, that are rendered from the user's facial expressions using the device's TrueDepth camera system to track the user's facial movements. The first viral phenomenon to emerge from the launch of t ...more

Election Day is today, and Apple News is making it easy for you to stay informed with real-time results for the 2024 presidential election through a new Live Activity feature on your iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch. As one of the most pivotal elections in recent history, the 202 ...more

Smartphones are almost always connected to the internet, so it stands to reason that they can be hacked remotely. Or perhaps a jealous boyfriend or girlfriend got hold of your device physically, in which case they could've potentially installed a keystroke logger, a virus, or ...more

We need to take our privacy and security much more seriously. Whether it's malware-infected apps or the mishandling of our data by companies like Facebook, there are threats all around us in this digital world. Fortunately, some smartphones are simply designed to protect us be ...more

Apple's goal with iOS 12 is to smooth out the problems with its famously flawed predecessor. Of course, change isn't for everyone, and by iOS 11.4.1, Apple had a pretty stable thing going. If you're not digging all the bugs and new features included in iOS 12, here's how to do ...more

Windows 10 is the most cloud-oriented version of Windows to date—yet, while this means you get some nifty new features, it also means some of your personal data is being shared with Microsoft's servers. Don't Miss: 45+ Tips & Tricks You Need to Know for Windows 10 In general ...more

Perhaps you've thought about rooting your OnePlus 5, but thought again when you heard SafetyNet would prevent you from using apps like Google Pay, Pokémon GO, or Netflix. Those are valid struggles when you root using traditional methods. There are no such worries when using Ma ...more

Back in June 2017, Apple promised us AirPlay 2, a simple way to connect and control multiple speakers together via an iPhone or other Apple device. While the feature was included in early iOS betas, by iOS 11's official release, AirPlay 2 was nowhere to be found. After all the ...more

One of Apple's best products is iMessage, which allows for quick, creative, and free messaging between iOS and Mac devices. However, users are reporting that conversation threads in the Messages app are occasionally out of order, which is equal parts confusing and annoying. Lu ...more

Apple pushed out the Release Candidate for iOS 14.6 on Monday, May 17. The 18F71 build includes new features and bug fixes, including an option to unlock your iPhone with Voice Control. It comes just hours after Apple announced Spacial Audio and Lossless Audio playback for App ...more

It's open season on Zoom, the video conferencing platform that has grown in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic but has come under fire due to privacy issues. First, Google has opened up Meet, its video conferencing services for G-Suite subscribers, as a free service for ...more

These days, there are Android apps for every budget—forgive me if that sounds like a car commercial, but that's just the way things are in the age of the smartphone and tablet. You've got apps that require monthly subscriptions, paid apps that will run you a $30 one-time insta ...more

Apple's iOS 15.4 update for iPhone is out after 46 days of beta testing, and it has some exciting features you won't want to miss. Here's everything you need to know about the new software. The iOS 15.4 software has been available to developers since Jan. 27, 2022, and public ...more

If you are reading this article right now on your Galaxy Note 20, you are using one of the most powerful smartphones on the market — but are you taking full advantage of it? The answer is likely no, but you can change this with a few apps. The S Pen is the biggest differentia ...more

As great as the Internet is, it is not without its dangers. Hackers at any time may be breaking into your online accounts and compromising your sensitive information. Last year, hackers broke into Facebook, Gmail, and Twitter and made off with 2 million stolen passwords. It's ...more

As the largest wireless service providers in the United States, AT&T and Verizon Wireless carry some serious clout. Sadly, they use some of this power to heavily modify the Android phones that they offer. While smaller carriers like Sprint or T-Mobile are happy to just have t ...more

The long rumored and recently leaked Amazon phone has finally been unveiled, and in the interest of branding, continues down the Fire line—the Amazon Fire Phone. You can check out the full reveal here (warning: it's long), but I'll take you through all the features that sets t ...more

Switching phones has never been easier. Google backs up most of your app data on the cloud, which can then be restored onto your new phone. Sadly, Signal doesn't use this feature since it could compromise your security. Instead, Signal stores encrypted backups locally, requiri ...more

In a surprise twist, Apple released iOS 12 public beta 8 to software testers on Thursday, Aug. 23, right alongside iOS 12 dev beta 10. The release comes as a bit of a shock, as the company released iOS 12 public beta 7 just three days earlier. The official build of iOS 12 now ...more

We're nearly there — Apple released the seventh iOS 12 beta to developers Monday, August 13. While not totally unexpected, beta testers understand the struggle of predicting the next update, as Apple has switched haphazardly between two-week, one-week, and irregular release sc ...more

With Touch ID enabled, your iPhone needs to scan your fingerprint before you can access your home screen or last app used. Before it unlocks, your iPhone might request that you press the Home button, adding an unnecessary step between you and your data. However, you can turn t ...more

If you've had the pleasure of owning both an iOS and Android device, you may have noticed one subtle difference on each one's PIN unlock screen. Android's lock screen requires you to press "OK" after entering the PIN, whereas iOS's simply unlocks the screen right after the las ...more

As one of only three hardware buttons on an iPhone, the Sleep/Wake button gets a lot of use day in and day out. If you've had your iPhone for a considerable length of time, this button—which is also used to power down the device, as well as turn it on—may begin to malfunction ...more

No matter how careful or decent you are, there will always be pictures or videos that you want to keep private. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but if someone were to go through my photo gallery, only one word would be coming out of my mouth—"%@&#!!" If you want ...more

There's a lot of personal information residing on your phone, possibly even more than on your computer, so it's only a matter of time before someone tries to access it. The perp can be anything from a paranoid significant other to a malicious identity thief. Personally, I'm m ...more

On Monday, Feb. 4, Apple released the second developer beta for iOS 12.2. The update features bug fixes to users running iOS 12.2 beta 1, as well as four new Animoji for Face ID devices. Developers are strongly encouraged to update their iPhones. It's unclear at this time whet ...more

Back in iOS 8.4, Apple introduce a new "heart" icon in their Music app, which works in direct correlation with their Apple Music service that was released at the same time. By hearting a song, you're telling Apple that you love that song, and they can make better suggestions f ...more

While Apple's tech used for Face ID on the iPhone is impressive, it's debatable whether it's more convenient than Touch ID. There are also concerns that your face could be used to track shopping patterns or be seen during mass surveillance by intelligence agencies. More import ...more

App-locking apps have been around for a while, but none have had quite the panache of developer Fazil Kunhamed's latest offering, Oops! AppLock. While others use a PIN or password to restrict access to apps that are installed on Android, AppLock uses a stealthy volume button c ...more

As respectful as you may be, it's hard to resist looking through someone's iPhone when given the chance. You're not trying to snoop around, but it's just too easy to open up apps and read embarrassing emails or find scandalous Instagram follows. It's like looking through a dig ...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

Regardless of how great your friends and family are, they'll more than likely go through your photographs if they had the chance. Hell, if my friend were to leave his/her phone lying around, I'd go through it—no doubt. So, if you want to protect yourself and your embarrassing ...more

I'm an Android user. Over the course of the past seven years, I've owned ten different smartphones—all of them powered by Android. This isn't due to some blind trust in Google or some unfounded hate for Apple, either, because I've always made sure to get my hands on each iPhon ...more

You watched the live stream, pored over the specs, and are now super excited for the Google Pixel 4. But specs don't tell you everything. After using the Pixel 4 XL for over a week now, we've found several things you wouldn't know without getting your hands on the phone. Most ...more

I already know what you're thinking: this guide is blasphemy. I am showing you how to turn a Galaxy Note 10 or 10+ into an iPhone 11 Pro Max. And while I'd usually agree with you, hear me out. How can you know you don't like something until you try it? So here is your way of t ...more

When you tap on a URL link in a text, email, or wherever, your iPhone's default reaction will be to open it up in Safari, and there's no way to change this in the settings. However, there is a way you can work around this to open up links in Chrome instead. Even if you acciden ...more

The LG V30 has solid battery life. With its QHD P-OLED screen and 4 GB RAM, it's able to maintain all-day performance with average use. Heavier users might find that its 3,300 mAh battery isn't quite enough for a full day of work, though, but with a few software tweaks, you ca ...more

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past few weeks, you're probably well aware that the Android world has been buzzing with excitement over the recently debuted Android L preview build that was released for the Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 at Google's I/O conference. This i ...more

We recently ran into a serious iPhone 6 issue here in the Gadget Hacks office, where the device was stuck in an infinite bootloop with intermittent red and blue screens (of death?) and an unresponsive touchscreen and buttons. From what we can tell, we weren't alone, though som ...more

Millions depend on Google Maps for directions, and it's easy to see why. The app comes with tons of features like offline navigation, location sharing, and more. Google is far from done, however, and continually improves upon its navigation app to make it even more efficient a ...more

There's one thing that I've always liked about iPhones, and that's their centered digital clock in the status bar at the top of the screen. On Android, it's always on the right side by default, and there's no easy setting that lets you just change it to the center position. Bu ...more

One of iOS 14's more exciting features lets you tag someone in a group iMessage chat in the same way you would @ someone on Twitter, Instagram, and other social media platforms. Even if the conversation is muted, you can get notified when you're mentioned, which helps you jump ...more

From the iPhone X onward, the Side button has taken on many of the functions associated with the Home button, such as summoning Siri, pulling up the AssistiveTouch shortcut, and more. So if you've finally ditched your Home button iPhone for the latest iPhone 11, the process of ...more

WhatsApp, the popular messaging app owned by Facebook, has several important privacy and security-related features, including end-to-end encryption, screen lock, read receipts, and two-step verification. If you're an avid WhatsApp user, you'll be happy to know there are more p ...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

Chrysaor, a zero-day spyware believed to have been created by the Israeli "cyber war" group NSO, is an even greater threat to Android phones than it ever was to iOS. Related to the Pegasus hack that recently affected iPhones, Chrysaor is malware that baits the user into insta ...more

One of the biggest causes of smartphone battery drain is the mobile data connection—particularly if you live in an area with poor reception. But, chances are, you don't actually need this connection most of the time, because you're probably connected to Wi-Fi for a good chunk ...more

Every time you log in to a website in Safari on iOS, you're also asked if you would like to save the username and password—a great feature of just about all browsers that makes it so that don't have to enter your credentials each time you access website in the future. While th ...more

I misplaced my iPhone 6 just a few weeks ago, so I know firsthand that losing an iPhone sucks. Luckily, my tale didn't have a bad ending. While at a bar, I went to use the restroom and mistakenly left my iPhone on an unguarded chair. When I returned, it was gone. Admittedly, ...more

Earlier this year, Apple announced Continuity, a feature for Yosemite and iOS 8 that lets you connect your iOS devices to your Mac in order to access apps, receive phone calls, send text messages, and more while seamlessly switching between the two. Within Continuity exists H ...more

Accessing your favorite and most recent contacts on your iPhone is now faster than ever before, thanks to the iOS 8 update. Just double-click your Home button, select your contact above the app switcher menu, then choose how you want to contact them. However, for some iOS use ...more

Apple has just released iOS 8 beta 5 to developers, which is speculated to be the second-to-last beta build before they launch the gold master (GM) edition at the end of this month. While the final version of iOS 8 is still over a month away from general availability, you can ...more

Autocorrect, a common feature available on most Android keyboards, helps fix fat-finger typos and even predicts the words you want to write. Without this feature, it'd take me about 5 minutes to write a sentence, and even then, it'd probably still be intelligible. Unfortunate ...more