One Handed Phone

As we first reported here on Gadget Hacks, Google's new Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones come with an unlockable bootloader, with the exception of models sold by Verizon. This means that by sending a simple fastboot command, you can flash third-party firmware images like TWRP c ...more

Among the many changes in Android 7.0 Nougat, a less talked-about feature may very well be one of the most interesting. As part of a new system-wide API, apps can now create their own Quick Settings tiles, and it doesn't require any complicated workarounds like it has in versi ...more

Starting with the Priv, BlackBerry's become an Android manufacturer. This move gives BlackBerry's phones access to Google's sizable app store, but it also presents several hurdles to keeping the security brand they've built intact. For example, Android encryption still lags b ...more

It just got a whole lot easier to decide whether or not saving $50 on Amazon's new ad- and bloatware-subsidized smartphones is worth the headache of having to see an advertisement on the lock screen every time you wake the device. That's because you can get rid of the lock sc ...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

I've been an iPhone user in the iOS ecosystem for years now after a brief stint in the Android realm. But, I'm also enthusiastic about varying forms of technology in general; I realize that iOS is far from perfect and that healthy market competition is beneficial for all. So, ...more

After months of speculation and sifting through rumors, Samsung finally unveiled its Galaxy S7 and S7 edge flagships, and they're pretty much what we had been anticipating. But just because there weren't any major surprises doesn't mean that it's not still exciting. Let's have ...more

Social engineering is a pretty important item in a hacker's toolkit. In Mr robot there was a time, we saw Elliot using social engineering to gain access to his therapist's boyfriend's email and bank accounts by calling him and pretending to be someone from his bank, then Elli ...more

This past weekend, one of the most notorious hacker organizations in the world, Hacking Team, was hacked by some unknown organization. The Hacking Team is an Italian company that sells it software and services to companies and governments (yes, my rookie hackers, there are leg ...more

T-Mobile's "Uncarrier" initiative has done wonders for my wallet and my data usage. Before I had to deal with being throttled down to 2G speeds after passing my data limit, but thanks to their unlimited data plans, I'm free to use as much LTE data as I possibly can. The only d ...more

Thanks to a newly discovered iOS exploit, a text message can now ruin your day. It will literally cripple your iPhone, and the worst thing is that anyone with a phone that supports double-byte unicode can do it to you. While it initially sounded like bullshit, we tried it out ...more

The Galaxy S6 might just be the best Android phone on the market right now. From a hardware standpoint, Samsung truly knocked this one out of the park with its finely-crafted build quality and amazing screen. But the lone drawback here is that TouchWiz is still as intrusive a ...more

Better sleep, smartphone news, and changes to your favorite forms of entertainment. There's been a lot going on over the last couple of weeks in the world of tech, and we thought we'd show you all of the need-to-know products, updates, and ideas that we think are most importan ...more

The Galaxy S5 comes with an awesome feature for those times when you're running low on battery life with no charger in sight. Ultra Power-Saving Mode allows you to cut back on non-vital services and convert your phone's display into a juice-saving grayscale mode to greatly ext ...more

Most of the time, the LED notification light on the front of your Android device just sits there doing nothing. Other than that brief period of time between when you receive a notification and when you turn your screen on, it's practically useless for anything other than showi ...more

Staying cool in the summer heat sometimes feels like it takes all the energy in the world. But what about a fan using no-cost electrical energy? If you're looking to keep cool during a power outage, or if you don't want to break the bank by running your DIY air conditioner all ...more

Earlier today, @DesignGears leaked an unofficial KitKat build for the Galaxy Note 3, and now they've dropped one for our Galaxy S4s, too. How to Install the 4.4.2 Build Check out my install guide on Galaxy Note 3 softModder for step-by-step instructions, just make sure to sub ...more

You know that feeling when your cell phone gets stolen and you figure it is pretty much lost forever. You could've used one of the millions of device managers and trackers, but ya didn't. And the Good Samaritan is not coming to your rescue. Of course you could call the police ...more

We have shown you how to get CyanogenMod on your HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S3 in only a matter of minutes. But when modding your phone by installing custom ROMs, you'll often lose your access to Google Apps. Since Google's Apps are very useful (Gmail, Chrome, and Maps to name ...more

Like what iMessage is to iOS, Google Hangouts is to Android—allowing users to share messages instantly, as if quickly wasn't good enough. With Google Hangouts, you can share locations and send maps, receive and send SMS, share animated GIFs, make video calls, and chat not only ...more

One of the best-selling video game consoles of all time is the Nintendo Entertainment System, better known by its acronym, NES. However, cartridge-based gaming consoles are a pain now when compared to the newer download-and-play alternatives. If you miss the days of old schoo ...more

To really customize your Samsung Galaxy S3, you'll need to be rooted, because most of the coolest mods and hacks require root access. If you haven't rooted yet, you're just barely touching the surface of what your GS3 can do for you. However, if you've never rooted before, it ...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

Sense appears on over forty Android devices, but HTC's notorious GUI was actually designed with a completely different mobile OS in mind—Windows. HTC first built Sense to fill in missing functionality of Windows Mobile, the predecessor to Windows Phone 7. When it was ported o ...more

Inductive charging is already a reality on popular smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S III and Google Nexus 4, and Apple has recently published a patent that would make inductive chargers a reality for the iPhone. There are also several phones that have the capability for wi ...more

Android has released a new application called ezNetScan, which is a free app that scans the wireless network you're connected to and gives you a full log of all of the devices connected to that network. This isn't new for smartphone users, let alone Android users. Fing has bee ...more

Getting a new phone is like getting a pair of new socks—you can't wait to try them on and when you do, they feel totally awesome. Maybe that's just me, but for many customers that have already received their highly anticipated iPhone 5 in the mail, awesome is definitely not th ...more

Have you ever used an open wifi, which after you connect displays a website to enter your credentials to get internet? That website is called captive portal and widely used in airports, hotels, universities etc. Have you ever wondered what would happen if someone would set up ...more

Smartphones are still "phones," which means communicating with others is usually a primary use. Ranging from a simple "hi" to a more personal conversation and even sharing passwords, our messages should remain private so that only the intended recipient sees their content. Whi ...more

Just days after Google released the official Android 11 update, Samsung already had a pre-beta build of One UI 3.0 available for developers to test their apps on. So this year's main OS upgrade is likely hitting Galaxy phones even earlier than we thought. Some features in the ...more

Signal is one of the best end-to-end encrypted messengers on the market. It offers robust security, keeps minimal information about its users, and is free to use. Switching to it as your main messenger can be a bit daunting, so to help, we created a guide to walk you through t ...more

Everyone loves using their cell phones for everything except actually making phone calls. Whether it's watching streaming video, listening to music or playing video games, it would seem that calling people is almost an afterthought to cell manufacturers in this day and age. U ...more

Google just released the first version of the next major Android update. Early Android 11 builds will only available as developer previews, so you can't just sign up for the beta program and install the update as an OTA for the first couple months. That said, it's still pretty ...more

Think back to when you last wanted to transfer some music or videos to your friend's smartphone and how difficult and slow it was. As powerful as our phones are, the default file sharing options are limited. There are, fortunately, some better options which make moving files e ...more

As the week of the Game Developer's Conference hits the mid-point, we've already had some major announcements hit the AR space. The specific timing of these announcements are thanks in part to a conference within a conference called VRDC, aimed at VR, AR, and MR developers. An ...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

Despite their awkward appearance, Apple's AirPods have become the earbuds of choice for working out, largely thanks to quality audio without any wires to tangle. However, at $159 to start, they aren't exactly for everyone. As with most innovations, when one company makes big ...more

There have been concerns with how much personal information Google tracks and all the things they know about us. Of course, that's what makes Google services so useful, they can use that information to cater to each of us individually. So yes, it serves a purpose, but it's not ...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

Your childhood "social networking" may have been to go outdoors to the neighbor's — and outdoors is a great place for kids to be. But these days, the terms educational, digital media, entertainment, and toddlers don't have to be mutually exclusive. Like most things in life, it ...more

There are hidden Wi-Fi networks all around you — networks that will never show up in the list of available unlocked and password-protected hotspots that your phone or computer can see — but are they more secure than regular networks that broadcast their name to any nearby devi ...more

If you've ever received an email from a sketchy address purporting to be Uber, asking you to sign in with your credentials, you might be a phishing target. Hackers use a fake login page from real-looking domains to trick you into giving up your account information, and while i ...more

Unlike past Pixel releases, it appears Google isn't done with their current lineup. Rumors have it that Google plans to put out two new phones that act as budget variants for their existing devices. And based on the leaks, it looks like one of these variants might be better th ...more

When it comes to the sub-$250 price range, the new Nokia 5.1 might be the perfect phone. Of all the new models announced at Nokia's event in Moscow, the Nokia 5.1 offers the most with the least compromises. For a third of the cost of a flagship, you get a phone with a premium ...more

There are a number of options and hidden menus within Android that provide users more control over their device. With this control, you can better manage how your phone operates. We came up with a list of tips and shortcuts that, when used, will slowly put you on a path to bec ...more

After setting up your phone, there are a number of things you should do immediately before download your favorite apps. Specifically, now that your data is on the device, you need to take steps now to ensure it's both protected and retained. Fortunately, most of these steps ar ...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

There's nothing more inherently awesome than looking up into the stars and wondering WTF is really out there. Outer space is one of those rare items that a Google search cannot provide all of the answers for. There are a lot of popular space apps already available for Android ...more

NANDroid backups are one of the best reasons to root your Android device and install a custom recovery. They're essentially a snapshot of your phone's entire operating system and all installed apps, so if you ever screw something up when installing a flashable ZIP or custom RO ...more

The LG G7 ThinQ will likely be lambasted for its notch and awkward name, but one thing they seem to have gotten right is the new display. The G7 ThinQ will give many a first look at a new type of panel with lots of promise. While it was previously limited to TVs, from what we ...more

When it comes to sniffing Wi-Fi, Wireshark is cross-platform and capable of capturing vast amounts of data. Making sense of that data is another task entirely. That's where Jupyter Notebook comes in. It can help analyze Wi-Fi packets and determine which networks a particular p ...more

There's a lot of misinformation about VPN services, and it stems from the fact that not all of them are created equal. Some focus on privacy, others on security, and a few VPNs are seemingly even purpose-built for the polar opposite: data collection. We made this guide to help ...more

By now, there's no way you haven't stumbled upon a TikTok video, whether it was on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or YouTube. Just watching these addictive short-form videos is enough to make you want to join up and make your own, and when you do, we've got some tips that will ...more

Despite its rocky start, the Essential PH-1 has a lot going for it. Not only does it get consistent security patches and system updates hours after the Pixels, but like the Google-developed lineup, it's also great for rooting. Not only is your warranty not void with rooting, b ...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

An incorrectly scaled object in your HoloLens app can make or break your project, so it's important to get scaling in Unity down, such as working with uniform and non-uniform factors, before moving onto to other aspects of your app. This HoloLens Dev 101 series has been desig ...more

No more carrying around heavy laptops and thousands of Linux Live CDs and USBs to always be ready for pentesting on the fly! I hope you had a good Christmas and happy new year! Update1: Added the section "weaponizing your Android" where I talk about apps and fundamental Kali ...more

Android 9.0 Pie moved the status bar clock from the right corner to the left to accommodate phones with notches, but there's one major downside for Samsung users: since no Galaxy phones have a notch, all this did was take away space for the notification icons that would otherw ...more

Depending on how you use your phone, you may have noticed your status bar is a bit crowded due to various icons being enabled. While some icons make sense to have, such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, the VPN key icon can be redundant, especially if the app uses a notification. Good t ...more

If you or someone you're shopping for has a newer iPhone model or an Android smartphone like the Galaxy Note 9 or Pixel 3, they come with wireless charging capabilities. Problem is, they don't come with wireless chargers. But there's no better time to snag one than on Black Fr ...more