|Choose Your View: Quick Bullet Points | Detailed Descriptions Android's newest major update is a special one — it's the tenth full version of the world's most commonly used operating system. The latest release, dubbed simply Android 10 (codename Android Q), was first showcas ...more
As the first phones to be made by Google, the new Pixel and Pixel XL have several slick customizations that you won't find on any other Android device. There's tons of functional stuff like the new Google Assistant and a much-improved camera app, but also a few aesthetic tweak ...more
The biggest problem with Netflix (which is hardly a real problem) is the overwhelming amount of content available for streaming. Browsing through profile-specific categories might help narrow down your search on something to watch, but some of those categories come and go with ...more
If you ever need help troubleshooting an issue that you're having with your Android device, one of the most useful tools you have available to you is the screenshot. Essentially, this is an exact copy of everything that is showing on your screen at any point in time, which you ...more
Directing a message at a specific person in a group conversation, or to a select few people in the group, can be difficult if you're in a particularly active or hectic chat. Notifications and badges on your iPhone can help you keep track of important messages, but it's still e ...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 Google Pixel and Pixel XL have an exclusive set of navigation buttons that you can't get on any other device without some tinkering. But aside from just being solid, filled-in shapes, the real treat in the Pixel's nav bar is the Google Assistant animation that gets activat ...more
It's official: The next version of Android will be code-named "Marshmallow," and we're getting a whole number bump to version 6.0. Lots of exciting new changes are coming to the world's most popular operating system, including a "Now on Tap" feature that will give you relevant ...more
One Instagram creator's augmented reality homage to Disney's deep bench of animated characters has earned him fifteen minutes of fame. Taking a page from the enchanted book attraction at the Sorcerer's Workshop of Disney California Adventure, content creator Arno Partissimo p ...more
Just because Developer Options is hidden by default doesn't mean you shouldn't unlock it. While for rooters its benefit are obvious, even for the average user it opens the door for tools which enhance your experience. From animation speed to improving gaming graphics, Develope ...more
You really can't beat Google Photos. Not only does it give you free unlimited cloud storage and let you search for almost any object in one of your pictures, but it also packs a few powerful editing tools. Among these is a dead-simple way to create your own animated GIFs out o ...more
On November 18, 1928, a star was born. His name: Mickey Mouse. Walt Disney's most famous character appeared before that date, but November 18 is known as Mickey Mouse Day because that's when he appeared in "Steamboat Willie," the first cartoon to feature synchronized sound. Th ...more
Rooting. As an Android user, I'm sure you've heard the word once or twice. According to Kaspersky, 7.6% of all Android users root — but for the 92.4% who don't, we wanted to talk to you. Rooting allows you to remove barriers and open Android to a level of unprecedented contro ...more
The Snapdragon 801 processor inside the OnePlus One puts the device on par with other phones like the HTC One M8 and LG G3 in terms of power and speed. While the OPO is just as fast and responsive as many of the flagships currently available, there's no reason why we can't try ...more
Texting has become the king of communication—gone are the days where everyone called each other. These days, it's down-right weird when someone calls first. Whether it be on a phone or on a computer, SMS and MMS messages are the most common way people keep in contact, so why n ...more
The new preview build of Android is out, and it looks good. But if you're not quite ready to install Android L on your phone, there's still another way to enjoy some of these new visual elements on your Nexus device. Developer Adhithya Rajagopal has created an Xposed module t ...more
Your new LG G3 is fast, no doubt about it. With a state-of-the-art Snapdragon 801 processor and 3GB of RAM (dependent on model), there is more than enough under the hood for blazing fast speeds. The problem is, the device actually slows things down on purpose. This is meant so ...more
The music and sound effects that play in the background of any videos you edit helps set the tone, so it's essential to get it right. Enlight Videoleap, an extremely powerful and popular mobile video editing tool for iOS, lets you quickly and easily add audio from your iPhone ...more
If you remember last time, we successfully uploaded picture with a small hidden PHP command executer embedded in it onto a server. Now, our goal is to take this a step further and get an interactive shell. To do this, we need to upload another file that either binds a port for ...more
With every version bump, Android gets a new Easter egg that can be accessed by tapping the "Android version" entry in Settings. For the most part, these have generally been little animations or live wallpapers that depict the Android code name, but starting with version 5.0 Lo ...more
In this how-to video, you will learn how to make an animated optical illusion with paper. First, start off with one ball and copy it five more times so that it goes in a line to the corner. Make sure there are six balls in total. Next, create a striped pattern shown. There are ...more
Apple just made its most significant update ever to the iOS lock screen, with a lot of features to be excited about. The theme of this upgrade is customization, giving you complete control over the look and functionality of your iPhone's lock screen. The new lock screen capab ...more
Get started using Adobe After Effects with the help of The New Boston! This beginner's tutorial is bound to answer the many questions you have about the popular digital motion graphics and compositing software. The main purpose of After Effects is for film and video post-produ ...more
The bouncing ball animation is a classic beginning point for animating in every 3D software package. This tutorial shows you how to do it in Maya. Part two will concentrate on keyframes. Part three will turn the bouncing ball into a character set. Part four will cover using th ...more
Apple's iOS 13 has been quite the disrupter. The initial update featured over 200 new features and changes, while its successor, iOS 13.1, brought another 22 to the mix. With the company's latest update, iOS 13.2, you'll see an extra 22 amendments on your iPhone, including new ...more
There are several ways you can go about creating your NURBS helix curve in Maya; I will demonstrate the two easiest ones. For advanced users, and people that like to figure stuff out by themselves, here are the two techniques in a nutshell: You can either create a straight N ...more
Why make a flip book? Because all animation – even stick-figure Flash animation and multilayered, highly technical 3-D effects – is built on, and can benefit from, the basics of the craft first developed by artists working at the beginning of the last century. And while fancy ...more
Apple has a secret iMessage effect so hidden that there's only one way to unlock it, and it's not by digging through the Messages app's settings, tools, effects, or interface. However, it's used the same way whether you're messaging from an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, so it's easy t ...more
It hasn't been long since Apple released iOS 16.0 with over 350 new features, but iOS 16.1 just came out with even more cool updates for your iPhone. While some of the recent upgrades were expected, others are somewhat surprising — and there's even one that you may not even th ...more
If you haven't noticed yet, there are a lot of new features hiding in your iPhone's Messages app, and some of them are things users have been requesting for a long time. While iMessage is getting a lot of attention by letting us edit and unsend messages, it's only just the sta ...more
Business cards are a great way to keep tabs on the contacts we network with. So why shouldn't our smartphones make them even more useful? Enter Google Lens, which will help you save, search, and expand on the contact information found on all of the business cards you've collec ...more
If you've seen ParaNorman or Fantastic Mr. Fox, then you have some kind of idea of what stop-motion animation is. Basically, these artists make objects, or small figures, appear to be moving on their own by manipulating and repositioning them in the smallest increments, then c ...more
When Apple first introduced Live Photos in iOS 9, it was a big hit for those who had 3D Touch devices — but one thing this cool feature was sorely missing was editing options. Thankfully, Apple has fixed that in iOS 11 by turning Live Photos into a complete package with editin ...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
A low-key iPhone feature that's been around since iOS 10 can make the iMessages you send to family and friends more exciting overall. One particular element is, if you'll forgive my decades-old slang, "da bomb" for emoji. And no, I'm not talking about text bombs, i.e., automa ...more
Cinemagraphs are basically artistic photos that have been turned into a GIF to showcase a bit of subtle motion and give them life. Unlike regular GIFs, which can sometimes loop with a jarring cut at the end, cinemagraphs give the illusion of perpetual motion, like water drops ...more
For over 37 years, Apple has been using the same "bitten" apple as their company logo. Sure, it's looked slightly different over the last couple of decades, from rainbow stripes to monochromatic colors, but its shape has change very little. Since I'm constantly applying new t ...more
Every fisherman has dealt with having to tie their own fishing knots, and when you come into a situation where you have two similar fishing lines with different rated strengths. Tying this fishing line together is simple and can be done with the Double Uni knot, sometimes call ...more
When theming Android, it's the little touches that complete the look, making your device yours. If you're rooted, you probably know by now that there's virtually nothing you can't change the look of on Android. The Xposed Framework allows modules to easily hook into system-le ...more
Emoji are, without a doubt, an integral part of messaging on smartphones. Whether you're team iPhone or Android, chances are you send emoji daily. However, years after their introduction, emoji remain static in most cases, even with animated stickers and GIFs supported on almo ...more
Apple introduced Touch ID on the iPhone 5S back in 2013, which let you unlock the device with your fingerprint. While it was an impressive feature, it could only do that one thing—unlock the device. When the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus were released this year, Apple added a few more ...more
Here's a noncomprehensive list of current features confirmed and experienced in Minecraft 1.8. If you have anything to add, please do so in the comment section below. Biomes are MUCH larger and more uniform than before. Swamp Biomes were added to the list of existing biomes ...more
Thanks to online music services like eMusic and iTunes, compact discs are becoming a far distant memory, turning local music shops around the country into desolate wastelands. The once mighty movie rental store Blockbuster is now bankrupt because of online streaming services l ...more
While you may not notice them at first, iOS 11 included some pretty significant improvements to the Photos app on your iPhone. These upgrades will help you make your Live Photos livelier, surprise you with photos you totally forgot about, keep your photos and videos organized, ...more
3D modeling tool Mayafrom Autodesk is a monster of a program, able to do SO many things. One of the things you'll need to learn is how to use the CV Curve tool. This will allow you to create objects with curves of any shape or dimension you desire. Let's be honest, most of you ...more
Samsung's got a pair of beautiful new flagship devices coming out this spring that will surely top the sales charts. The Galaxy S5's successor is truly worthy of that title, but a second variant with a curved display turned heads at Mobile World Congress this weekend. The S6 ...more
Now that Android 7.1.1 has been released, several features that were previously exclusive to Google's new Pixel phones are now available on the Nexus 6P. However, Google seems to be holding back on the Pixel's best features, as things like the "Night Light" red screen filter, ...more
On stock Android 9 and 10, it is easier than ever to take a screenshot and quickly edit the captured image. However, the downside to that convenience has manifested itself in a heads-up notification that can also get in the way. Google added a screenshot markup feature in And ...more
The debate between physical and virtual navigation buttons and their respective benefits has been going on for a few years now. It looks to finally be settled, with the Samsung Galaxy S5 being the only current-generation flagship Android phone that has yet make the switch to o ...more
The new Google phones, which are rumored to ditch the Nexus moniker for Pixel, will most likely come with an Android feature that 7.0 Nougat doesn't currently have—a new set of navigation keys. Don't Miss: Get Android Nougat Features on Your Marshmallow Device The new phone ...more
Samsung just launched their Galaxy S9 flagship, with preorders shipping in the US already. The Galaxy S9 is an amazing smartphone, with a number of advanced features. Despite this, over time your S9 or S9+ may slow down a bit more than you would like. Thankfully, there is a lo ...more
Learn how to animate sprites (like characters from video games) that you can download using Adobe Flash
Apple's new iOS 16 software update is finally here, and there are over 350 new features and changes for you to enjoy on your iPhone. There are major lock screen and home screen improvements, a pleasant surprise for the Contacts app, and tons of new upgrades to Safari, Mail, Me ...more
Beyond spotlight-grabbing features like Dark Mode and computer mice support that iOS 13 contains, Apple has also made its mobile platform more user-friendly for people that exhibit sensitivity to on-screen animations. If you've always found the transitional effects between app ...more
Largely self-taught, Ryan John Kothe is an animator working out of Auckland, New Zealand. After picking up some rudimentary After Effects skills, he went on to create an impressive portfolio of beautifully rendered stop-motion animations with a distinctly tactile feel. Curious ...more
All across the world, Nexus 7s have been secretly living a double life. The clean, simple look of the stock Holo user interface is nice if minimalism is your thing, but to softModders like me, Holo is bare, lacking style, overly blue, and an eyesore. It gets the job done, but ...more
Ubuntu isn't just a cool sounding name, but pegs itself as the world's favorite free operating system. It gained its popularity for being lightweight, fast, and visually appealing, and now that great look and speed can be placed right on the lock screen of your Samsung Galaxy ...more
Closing apps in iOS 6 was different that what is now in iOS 7. Shown in the video below is the old clumsy way of closing apps on the old iPads. Video: . Closing the apps prevents from taking up precious memory, resources and battery charge. Simply quit of the screen with the c ...more
This simple video tutorial teaches you how to change the pivot point position when using Flash. The tutorial handles drawing basic shapes, such as squares and rectangles and converting them to movie clips. Then, through the use of the free transform tool and by manually movi ...more
A lot of people use Flash for 2D cartoon animation, but Adobe After Effects is another great tool to create some very cool cartoon animation. This how to gives you a clear idea of the steps to take to use AE as a cartoon creation device. This short video tutorial will demonstr ...more