MAC addresses (not to be confused with Macs) are unique identifiers assigned to network devices in order to access the internet. Hotels use these Mac addresses in order to check if a registered patron has agreed to their terms and conditions, how much bandwidth is being consum ...more
It's no secret that Apple's iOS 16 update is packed with useful features, but some of them Apple never even mentioned. Not at the software's unveiling in June and not even after iOS 16's public release in September. It's actually surprising considering that one little-known ne ...more
Trying to figure out which music streaming service to subscribe to can be a difficult task when the playing field is so crowded. Each has its benefits, as well as downsides, so finding the right one for your needs and wants can take a lot of overwhelming research. But we've do ...more
Apple's iOS 14 is here. With it, you'll see over 200 new features and changes hit your iPhone, including home screen widgets, inline replies in Messages, and cycling routes in Maps. Here's how you can get your hands on the brand new update. Apple released iOS 14 to compatible ...more
Privacy and security go hand in hand, especially for smartphones. When it comes to privacy, you decide what personal information about yourself is out there to discover. Security, on the other hand, is all about enforcing those privacy decisions. Sometimes privacy and securit ...more
As we all use our smartphones for more and more things, we constantly want to share and view those items on a larger screen, especially when it comes to media. While phones like the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and tablets like the iPad do make watching Netflix on a portable device p ...more
Smartphones and other Wi-Fi enabled devices send radio signals called probe frames to locate nearby wireless networks, which makes them easy to track by listening for their unique MAC address. To show how this kind of tracking works, we can program a NodeMCU in Arduino to snif ...more
The iPhone has a setting that will obfuscate the content of notifications on its lock screen until you're recognized by Face ID. Google implemented this same feature in its Pixel phones, but many Android devices have no such option. At least, not by default. If you use Androi ...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
If you're not using Control Center on your iPhone, you're missing out on a powerful tool that can streamline how you interact with your device, make certain tasks more efficient, and give you quick access to system tools, switches, and sliders for quick changes no matter where ...more
Using shortcuts to control the playback of your music on your computer makes life just a little bit easier. Instead of needing to open up an app, we've shown you how to use keyboard shortcuts, a Notification Center widget, and even Siri to control music on your Mac. Now we're ...more
One of the biggest grievances with Safari on iPhone was always its lack of customization, and iOS 15's browser upgrades tackle that problem head-on. Apple added many great features, including Safari extensions, Tab Bar, and Tab Groups, but the most prominent feature caters to ...more
When you're on the go, Plex makes sure your media always stays with you. Just install the server app for Mac or PC and enable remote access, then you can stream movies and TV shows from your computer to your phone over the internet. But video playback uses data like nothing e ...more
There's a new operating system on the horizon, and this one's so big that it may actually live up to its galactic moniker. Andromeda, a merging of Android and Chrome OS, has the potential to bring Google to the ubiquitous status that Microsoft's Windows enjoyed in the '80s and ...more
Google and Microsoft have both established platforms and hardware for emerging digital realities, but Apple, true to form, hasn't had much to say on the subject. They've shown interest in augmented reality, and we've seen patent filings that indicate research and development, ...more
So, you've just got yourself an Apple iPad, but it already needs fixed, or you want to check the innards out for yourself, you're going to have to know how to open that sucker up. This video tutorial will show you how to do just that. Learn the whole teardown procedure for th ...more
The new iOS 14 for iPhone arrived Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2020, alongside iPadOS 14, and there are a lot of features to uncover. Improved widgets. Better home screen customization. Exciting Messages improvements. New abilities in Camera and Photos. There's so much here that it'll ...more
You may know the traditional way to take a screenshot on your iPhone, but it may not be the best action for your needs. There are faster ways to capture an image of your iPhone's screen, methods for capturing overlays and other elements that won't show in regular screenshots, ...more
Google announced a partnership with Movies Anywhere that allows you to connect your iTunes, Amazon, and Vudu movie library with Google Play Movies. In other words, movies you purchase from any of these online retailers will be available for playback in the Google Play Movies a ...more
The battery icon in your iPhone's status bar gives you a visual idea of how much power is left, and there's a battery percentage option you can switch to or view in the Control Center, depending on your model. But what you may not know is that there's a way to view the battery ...more
The internet is chock-full of fun and interesting content, but there's only so much time in the day for consuming it. That's when saving webpages for later comes in handy. If you don't want your bookmarks and favorites folders to clutter up fast, consider using the "Reading Li ...more
Apple's first big iOS 17 point update for iPhone just came out, and it includes some of the features initially planned for the iOS 17.0 release last September. But there's much more to iOS 17.1 than that — exciting new features and changes are hiding within Books, Music, Stand ...more
AirPods are starting to show up everywhere, and with more and more people owning them, it can be fun to make yours a little more personalized. One way you can do that is by giving your AirPods a unique name, something a bit more fun than "John's" or "Jane's AirPods." With just ...more
Update 6/20/17: Olixar, a smartphone case manufacturer, has released images of an iPhone 8 case design. While at first glance this might seem to confirm the iPhone 8's final design, 9to5 Mac reports that Olixar admits they produced these renders based on "information and schem ...more
While iOS 13 might have made waves for some of its more prominent features — most notably system-wide Dark Mode — some of the more interesting tools lie with its smaller, unannounced updates. One of those updates is a new Reminders setting to tag contacts in a to-do task so th ...more
Esports — and, subsequently streaming it — are possibly some of the more surprising products of the 21st century so far. Who would have thought that people would be watching professional gamers play, the same way we've watched pro sports players on TV for more than half a deca ...more
The only official way to record your iPhone's screen before iOS 11 was to hook it up to a Mac and use QuickTime Player to do the recording for you. If you wanted to record your iPhone's screen without an external device, there were unofficial apps you could use, like AirShou, ...more
We haven't had a working jailbreak method since October of last year, and that only worked for about a month until iOS 9.2 came out and shut down the loophole it was using. So all of those cool Cydia tweaks have been out of the question for quite a while now, unless you downgr ...more
In the revamped Messages app in iOS 10, you can now send animated GIFs from your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch without a third-party keyboard like Giphy or GIF Keyboard. Best of all, this is not just an iMessage-only feature. We tested it out and were able to send animated GIFs ...more
It's not the additions Apple brought to iOS 8 that irk me, but what they didn't add that breaks my heart. We did get some cool new features, like battery stats and interactive notifications, but what about a simple customization feature that most—the option to have a transpare ...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
Apple has released the 2nd beta of iOS 8, exactly fifteen days after the first version was unveiled at WWDC and subsequently released to developers. I've already shown you some of the new features of iOS 8, like location-based app alerts, randomized MAC addresses, hidden Safar ...more
The last iOS software update was a modest one, but iOS 17.4 has a lot more for your iPhone, including changes to emoji, Podcasts, security, Safari, widgets, Apple Cash, CarPlay, and more. Many of the exciting changes in iOS 17.4, as well as iPadOS 17.4, apply to users in the ...more
Apple just announced the iPhone 6, and no matter whether you've been with Android for a few months or few years, there's a good chance you're enticed by the idea of switching over to the other side. As a diehard Android user, I can't blame you. A bigger screen, better camera, ...more
You've probably already used a few Safari Extensions on your Mac, but if you haven't explored Safari's web extensions on your iPhone yet, you're missing out on some fantastic possibilities to increase productivity, make tasks easier, filter out noise, and bring more fun to you ...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
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
The hottest word game right now is Wordle, a simple game that gives you six chances to guess the five-letter word of the day. I've already shown how you can add the real Wordle app — not a fake clone — to your iPhone or Android phone's home screen. But there's also a way to sa ...more
Short for Ask Me Anything, AMA threads are one of Reddit's signature features. They enable you to directly interact with a whole range of interesting personalities, from common folk with amazing life experiences to influential celebrities that help shape politics and culture. ...more
Whenever you make FaceTime audio or video calls from your iPhone, Apple automatically uses your phone number or Apple ID email address as the caller identification. So when someone that you're calling sees the incoming call, they'll see it's from your phone number or email add ...more
Safari's massive upgrade in Apple's latest iPhone software update includes new features you won't find in any other web browsers on iOS, from better ways to stay organized to enhanced security and further privacy protections. Apple's latest Safari improvements make web browsi ...more
Filter effects aren't a new thing. But when Instagram hit the market, everybody began using them because it was simple. Take a picture, add an effect. It wasn't only easy, it was fun. It started a craze among smartphone users everywhere, prompting a slew of retro photo filter ...more
Unlike on Android, you can't easily hide your iPhone apps. Sure, you can nestle them away in folders labeled "junk," but they're supposed to be omni-present somewhere on your home screen. That is, until one day they're just ... gone. The fact that some of your apps disappeared ...more
The screenshot tool on your iPhone can come in handy in various ways, but it may be even more helpful than you realize. So if you thought you knew everything there was to know about your iPhone's screenshot tool, it's time to put your knowledge to the test. Many of these hidd ...more
Apple said goodbye to iTunes with the release of macOS Catalina, breaking up music, videos, and podcasts into their own respective apps, Music, TV, and Podcasts. But without iTunes, what app's in charge of interfacing with your iPhone? That would be Finder, and you use it to s ...more
If you have a Mac, you can use Apple's Handoff feature to open one of your Safari desktop tabs in Safari on your iPhone. But if you prefer to use Google Chrome as your desktop browser, whether or not that's because you have a Windows PC, you can't "hand off" open tabs from Chr ...more
Apple's "Spring Loaded" event introduced us to many new and exciting products, including iMac and iPad Pro models with the M1 chip, an upgraded Apple TV 4K, a purple iPhone, and the long-awaited AirTag. However, one of the most anticipated announcements came in the form of a s ...more
Whether you've made a resolution to try and read more books this year or are just looking to set time aside to listen to an audiobook a little bit each day, building good reading habits can be tough with a busy life. However, with iOS 13, Apple Books includes reading goals, wh ...more
It can feel pretty chaotic when you have a lot of open windows on your Mac that are different sizes, but there's an easy way to organize the mess in just a few seconds. I regularly have a lot of windows open across my MacBook and external displays. Right now, I have 11 apps o ...more
It's not rare to see an advertisement in tech directly call out the competition. Whether it's the famous Mac vs. PC ads from back in the day or the Pixel burning the iPhone 7's lack of a headphone jack, rivalries in these commercials are certainly commonplace. Samsung's new ad ...more
Smartphones have become such a big part of our lives these days that they're now closely associated with our personal identities. No longer is it Ford versus Chevy, rock versus rap, or PC versus Mac—now, you're either an Android person or an iOS person. Don't Miss: 10 Things ...more
There are few apps on my iPhone that I visit on a daily basis, and one of them is Drippler, the discovery and news app that tells you everything you need to know about your device. I've actually been using Drippler on my iPhone since it was released back in March of this year ...more
With the iOS 13 beta right around the corner, Apple is churning out the betas for iOS 12.4 with developer beta 3 out today, May 28. It's the third beta in just 14 days and just eight days after developer beta 2 and public beta 2. The third beta may only house improvements over ...more
Based on newly surfaced information, transparent smartphones like those teased in Iron Man 2 and those hand-tracking monitors made famous in Minority Report may eventually end up being "designed by Apple in California." Among a treasure trove of more than 60 patents awarded t ...more
Typos are a constant annoyance that we all deal with thanks to the cramped touchscreen keyboards on smartphones. For many, nothing beats the feel of a good old physical keyboard when it comes to typing fast with minimal errors. Fortunately, WhatsApp has an awesome feature whic ...more
Your iPhone's Messages app has some impressive new features and changes with iOS 17, and you've probably already noticed some of them just by using the updated app. But there are less apparent features, even hidden ones, that have likely eluded you that you're going to want to ...more
Last week, Twilio showed off how avatar-based chat communications will work on the Magic Leap One, and now a new startup has unveiled yet another way that augmented reality telepresence and remote collaboration can take place on the device. Emerging from stealth on Wednesday, ...more
If you purchased something from iTunes, the iOS App Store, iBooks Store, Apple TV App Store, or the Mac App Store and it doesn't work, didn't download, is buggy, or wasn't what you thought it was, you can get a full refund from Apple—you just have to know how to ask. Whatever ...more
It was the star of the show, but now that Android L has been released for preview to Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 owners, there's a lot that Google didn't tell us about their latest mobile operating system, rumored to be called Lollipop. First off, if you haven't already installed the ...more
TouchDevelop is a browser-based programming tool that allows anyone to build your own Windows 8 apps directly from any touchscreen device, including iPad, iPhone, Windows Phone, Android, PC and Macs. Once the script is created and the app proves to work, it can be placed in th ...more