Smartphone

While some of our group chats should probably remain private and closed off, others will only get better with more people. Whether you're organizing an event and need a headcount or you want to share a funny YouTube video with a large crowd, you can add all the friends you wis ...more

It's one hell of a device, but the Samsung Galaxy S5 is still susceptible to the many hazards that other smartphones are prone to: theft, cracked screens, poor battery life, and particularly, overheating. If your Galaxy S5 is burning a hole in your pocket—and it's not from yo ...more

On the internet, everything is possible, even if it's not grounded in reality (check no further than anything The Onion publishes). Witty headlines combined with clever photo edits make even the most absurd topic seem like a serious news story. Some of these stories are so con ...more

Instagram stories are a great way to share your day-to-day experiences with your followers. However, it can be disappointing to see them go after 24 hours, especially if you shared something really special. Now, Instagram has a way for you and your followers to relive those gr ...more

In Apple Music, loving and disliking songs is a great way to teach Apple's subscription service what type of tunes you like and which you don't. While it also seems like it should be an excellent way to keep track of songs you enjoy in the wild, there's no clear way to view al ...more

The idea of a dock on any smartphone, be it iPhone or Android, is a fantastic invention. It allows you to stay grounded with a core group of apps that you frequently use. However, sometimes that dock can feel like an obstruction in the face of style — but there's a trick to hi ...more

For all of its advantages, Facebook Messenger isn't the best for people who like their privacy. The popular app lets all your Facebook friends know when you're online by default, as well as how long you've been idle, making it impossible to check up with one person without lea ...more

Starting with Marshmallow, Android added a built-in theme engine called "Runtime Resource Overlay," or RRO. This theme engine was intended to be used only by smartphone manufacturers, not end-users, so unlike Cyanogen's CM Theme Engine, owners can't use it to change the look a ...more

If you're an owner of a BlackBerry smartphone, chances are you're going to want to use BBM, which for all of you newbie BlackBerry owners, stands for BlackBerry Messenger. BBM is an instant messaging application developed solely for BlackBerry device owners. Video: Add contact ...more

We've all been there. Your phone's either dead or barely hanging on with a few minutes of life left, and you only have a small window of time to charge it before you need to head out. Sure, you can charge it for the few minutes you have, but what's the point if your device is ...more

WhatsApp, like other popular messengers on iOS and Android, shows when recipients have read your sent messages with a blue double check mark indicator. On the flip side, for those of you who are bad at replying promptly or don't feel like replying at all, you can disable "read ...more

You've probably noticed how we like to stress the importance of a strong password. After all, there are still people out there who continue to use passwords like 123456 and even just "password". But passwords aren't the only barriers that protect your information. According t ...more

Old people are usually perceived as wise and enduring, whereas an old smartphone, like my iPhone 4, becomes the butt of a joke every time I take it out of my pocket. I mean, come on, it's not like I'm still rocking one of these... And if I was, I guarantee you wouldn't beat my ...more

One of the best things about the Nexus line of devices is the ease with which one can achieve root. Plug your phone into your PC, download a couple files, type a few commands, and you can be rooted within 30 minutes. No muss, no fuss, no carrier-locked bootloaders. But it too ...more

While the PlayStation 3 is an awesome gaming console and the iPhone is an awesome smartphone, Apple and Sony have made two devices (that could be perfect for each other) nearly incompatible. Truth be told, this is more Apple's fault than Sony's, but we'll get into that later. ...more

Anonymity is something that doesn't exist today. Everything you do in the world is tracked, from the purchases you make to surfing the internet—even taking pictures on your iPhone. Everything you have ever said and done on the internet is still there—somewhere. This is called ...more

If you haven't heard yet, Google made it possible a couple months ago for every Android user running 2.2 or higher to track his or her smartphone or tablet using their Android Device Manager service. It's a super easy way to track, lock, and secure erase your Android device fr ...more

Why is transferring contacts from an old smartphone to a new one still insanely difficult? I can check my bank account, upload a picture to Instagram, email someone across the globe, and check the weather forecast on my phone—all in under five minutes. So why does transferrin ...more

Patience is a virtue that many of us do not possess, which is exactly why we've previously shown you how to acquire the initial wallpapers for Mac OS X Yosemite and iOS 8 beta. Now, thanks to Jason Zigrino and Benjamin Tourin, we'll be giving you access to the rest of the iOS ...more

No one likes in-app advertisements, especially in mobile gaming, but they're necessary because they offer developers a way to make revenue without having to charge you to play. In some games, in-app purchases give you the chance to remove ads, but what can you do about apps th ...more

We've already shown you how to free up internal space on your iPhone, and now it's time to tackle another problematic storage issue—your iCloud account. Having an iCloud account is great for keeping backups of your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, and it's also handy for freeing ...more

Android devices are known for their USB and Wi-Fi tethering abilities—rooted or unrooted—which comes in handy for those that travel and need internet on their laptops in areas that don't have any Wi-Fi networks available, but have a strong cellular signal. And tethering via U ...more

The stock music player on the iPhone hasn't changed much since its inception. Sure, with the recent iOS 6 update the design became sleeker, but it's not really what you'd expect from a top of the line smartphone. And when I say "MEH," it isn't directed towards the Kendrick Lam ...more

Besside-ng is the hidden gem of the Aircrack-ng suite of Wi-Fi hacking tools. When run with a wireless network adapter capable of packet injection, Besside-ng can harvest WPA handshakes from any network with an active user — and crack WEP passwords outright. Unlike many tools, ...more

Some phone lines make it nearly impossible to get past the busy tone, whether it's a viral call-in giveaway, your state's unemployment office, your local post office during the holidays, or the repair office for a broken warrantied product you have. Thankfully, there are apps ...more

No matter how many camera improvements a phone adds, you're always better off using manual mode. Known as "Pro Mode" on the Galaxy S20, this feature can remove Samsung's pre- and post-processing from photos, putting you in total control. At first glance, manual mode is intimi ...more

When it comes to media players, few are more capable than VLC. With its extensive codec support, VLC is able to play almost any video file. Partly due to its open-source nature, features are constantly added. This trend has continued with a new update that added native Chromec ...more

With over 20 million songs, Spotify has become my go-to source for music. I can stream tunes to my desktop or phone, without ever having to worry about storage space being eaten up. One key difference between the desktop and mobile version that really bugs me is the lack of o ...more

To bring things up to code with a new FCC standard, Android recently added an "Emergency broadcasts" feature that will make your smartphone notify you whenever a potential safety threat or Amber Alert is posted in your area. Even if you have your phone set to silent, these eme ...more

Most newer phones come with a grayscale mode that you can activate when you want to save some battery life. The way it works is simple: If your graphics chip only has to render elements in black and white instead of full 32-bit color, it won't consume as much power. But Googl ...more

To help keep potential drama at bay, WhatsApp lets you delete questionable messages before the other person even sees them. If you're on the receiving end and you're curious about the deleted text, however, there's an Android app that lets you view erased messages. WhatsApp n ...more

Instagram is a great platform to share photos and videos with the world, but sharing with smaller groups is near impossible. You can directly message pictures, stories, or post links to friends, but that only works for one person at a time or in group chats you create. To shar ...more

The Galaxy S5's camera is amongst the most capable smartphone shooters on the market. With a 16-megapixel sensor that is capable of recording 1080p video at 120 frames per second, the stat sheet was officially stuffed when Samsung brought this device to market. But it's not a ...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

The new iPhone 12, 12 mini, 12 Pro, and 12 Pro Max may seem like minor updates to the iPhone 11 lineup, but there are quite a few features that make them worth the upgrade. Apple has done a good job of highlighting all of those features, but some didn't get all of the love the ...more

Long-exposure photography gives us the ability the capture some pretty amazing shots by delicately capturing moving elements in an image while keeping the shutter open at a slow speed. While that's great for things like traffic, scenery, and carnival rides, it can come in espe ...more

Unlike the Moto X with its Active Display or the Nexus 6 and its Ambient Display, some devices (especially those now running Lollipop) do not include a function that permits the display to turn on upon getting new notifications while the device remains locked or the display in ...more

WhatsApp is one of the most well-known and most utilized cross-platform chat applications available today. It's free for one year, and only $0.99 a year after, which is chump change when you realize there are no hidden costs like international charges. Basically, it creates an ...more

You're minding your business when your Apple Watch taps you. To your surprise, the watch claims your heart rate dipped abnormally low. The news might come as a shock — especially if you have no history of a heart condition — but before you panic, you should take the time to fu ...more

We might not be able to hang out with friends in-person during a mandatory lockdown or self-quarantine, but we sure can in "Animal Crossing: New Horizons." Snapping pictures with the new NookPhone feels almost as personal as taking selfies in real life, so, naturally, we want ...more

Mobile gaming has exploded in recent years, with experts predicting 2.4 billion global mobile players by the end of 2019. It already accounts for 47% of the worldwide gaming market, besting console and PC. No wonder we've seen the rise of gaming smartphones, a class of phones ...more

For the most part, people use real names on Facebook. That's all fine and well for keeping tabs on those you know, but it can make friendly Messenger chats feel oddly formal. Skirt around this stiffness by giving your friends nicknames in Messenger for Android and iOS, so your ...more

FaceTime has been around since iOS 4, and year after year, things stayed pretty much the same aside from a few small changes. In iOS 6, calls over cellular networks were finally possible, and audio-only calls were officially supported starting in iOS 7. But the one feature mos ...more

If you're completely new to Android, you're in for a treat with all of the software tweaks and customization options that your smartphone or tablet offers out of the box. But if you really want to take things to the next level, the ability to mod your device expands exponentia ...more

We've all been hit by inopportune screen rotations at some point or another. Having the display orientation suddenly go from portrait to landscape when reading an interesting article in bed is one of the biggest irritations that come with using a smartphone (at least, for me). ...more

Between the Cambridge Analytica scandal and the revelation that Facebook logs your calls and text history on Android, many are considering joining the #DeleteFacebook movement. But it can be difficult to leave the site, because so much of its content is only available to activ ...more

Apple added the option to install custom fonts and use them in different apps on iOS 13. The rollout has been a bit confusing, with Apple announcing partnerships with vendors such as Adobe, but also limiting the feature to work with only certain apps. Nonetheless, you can now ...more

The Calculator app is probably one of Apple's most-used iPhone apps, yet I always meet people who don't know all the little tricks there are to using it more efficiently. You may know most of them, but there's a chance you don't or at least forget about some of them. What a " ...more

Switching from one popular music streaming service to another shouldn't have to be a hassle, but it is if you want to transfer all your favorite music over. No popular service offers a built-in feature to export or import playlists, so if you want to move your favorite Apple M ...more

Smartphones are like high tech buckets that collect our personal information through constant use. This has some obvious benefits, like getting a more personalized experience with our devices. On the other hand, this data is a tempting target for bad actors looking to make a b ...more

Your smartphone is the perfect place to watch Hulu on the go. Whether you're looking to catch up on your shows in a hotel, or your phone is the only screen available, mobile streaming can be a lifesaver. But what about when you have access to a TV? Wouldn't you rather watch yo ...more

As much as you try to safeguard your personal information, you may have made a small mistake by giving your phone number to the wrong entity, and now you're being bombarded with dozens of spam calls every day. To help parse your call log and reject the proper numbers without a ...more

With over 500 million downloads on Android alone, I find it safe to assume that most of us use the Chrome Browser on our mobile devices; it's great for reading articles with Reader mode enabled, syncs open tabs and bookmarks across all your devices (as long as you're signed in ...more

The software released in the 2015 iterations of the Samsung Galaxy line of devices—the S6, S6 Active, S6 Edge, S6 Edge+, and Note 5—have some pretty neat camera features that give these devices arguably the best smartphone camera on the market today. Out of the box, Samsung's ...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

Boasting over 800 million users a month, WhatsApp has quickly become one of the most popular messaging services available today. Thanks to its low price, ease of use, lack of ads, cross-platform functionality, and great features, its popularity is well-deserved. While there's ...more

A single paper clip can go a long way. Having just one of these ubiquitous office supplies can make you a smartphone mount, replace your broken zipper tab, scratch your lottery ticket, and eject the CD from your stuck DVD drive. Multiple paper clips chained together can make ...more

In Telegram — as with all instant-messaging apps — threads and conversations can pile up quickly. But you don't need to stare at all of your open chats on the main screen of the Android and iOS app. Instead, you can archive any conversation you like, keeping your main chats vi ...more

Let's say you want to download an Instagram video to your iPhone. What do you do? While Instagram doesn't offer an official solution, there are backchannel methods that exist to get the job done. However, if you want native support for downloading Instagram videos directly to ...more

If you have devices that run different operating systems, you know how frustrating it is that Apple's Calendar app isn't available on other platforms. If you use Siri to quickly create an event on your iPhone or Mac, you're not going to see that event on your PC or Android tab ...more