Android

How To: Here's Why You Should Be Using Google Photos' Auto Backup

Being an Android user and having friends who are in the Apple ecosystem does not need to be a pain. You can easily send high-quality videos to iPhone users, so don't feel handicapped without access to iMessage. Sending high-resolution videos to iOS users is easy with this fast video-sharing method.

How To: Make Chrome Always Open in Incognito Mode

Chrome's Incognito Mode gives you a layer of privacy when browsing. While it's enabled, your browsing history, cookies, site data, and information entered in forms is not saved, making it perfect for, cough, more private web usage. With an Android smartphone, you can jump right into this mode.

How To: Draw on Real World Objects with AR Doodles on Your Galaxy Note 10

Thanks to improvements in technology, AR has become more prominent on our phones. With all the power of the Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+, Samsung decided to add some pretty nifty AR features. One of these is the new AR Doodle mode, a feature that will make your videos pop.

How To: 5 Wireless Headphones That'll Pair Perfectly with Your Galaxy Note 10

As you already know, the Galaxy Note 10 and 10+ have gotten rid of the beloved audio jack (RIP). Fortunately, it has never been a better time to switch to wireless. There are Bluetooth headphones and earbuds for every budget and every need.

How To: Unlock the Note 10's Hidden Settings Menu

You may note be able to root your Snapdragon-powered Note 10, but thanks to the hidden Developer Options, you can still tweak low-level settings like custom codecs for better audio quality on Bluetooth headphones and faster animations to enhance your experience. Best of all, you don't need to be an expert at modding to take advantage of this menu.

How To: The S Pen is Like a Magic Wand for The Note 10's Camera App

The S Pen in the Galaxy Note 10 and 10+ has improved to make remote usage even easier. Controlling your phone with just the stylus is no longer a party trick, as you can now move around and take actions in both first-party and third-party apps. One of the best examples of this is the Camera app.

How To: The Galaxy Note 10's Power Button Opens Bixby, So How Do You Restart It?

The Galaxy Note 10 is a radical departure from what Samsung has traditionally done with past releases. The most noticeable change is the fact that there are four distinct variants. But Samsung also turned the power button on the Note 10 into a Bixby key, which means powering the phone off or rebooting it is a bit different.

How To: Take Screenshots on the Galaxy Note 10 or Note 10+

Samsung removed the Bixby key on the Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+ and gave the power button dual functionality. In the process, they changed the way you power off the phone and made taking screenshots a bit tricky. Fortunately, it's not too hard once you get used to things.

News: How Much Water Can the Galaxy Note 10 Withstand?

Samsung's not one to make drastic changes to what already works. They've continued on with the IP68 rating under IEC 60529 first given to the Galaxy S8 all the way to the the Galaxy Note 10. If you're a little confused as to what this rating means, don't worry, it's actually pretty simple once you get to the meat and bones of it.

News: Upgrade to the Galaxy Note 10+ or Save Some Dough With the Galaxy S10+?

Unlike many other OEMs, Samsung has two prolific phone series they release each year, the Galaxy S series and Galaxy Note series. At first, the latter was the bleeding edge of technology, but in recent years, the line has been blurred. So what do you get with the Note 10+ over the S10+ besides a stylus? Let us compare.

News: 7 Things You Need to Know About the Galaxy Note 10 & Note 10+

Samsung has just announced the Galaxy Note 10 and 10+. These are the latest and greatest from the largest smartphone OEM in the world. Plenty of numbers and specs have been thrown your way to showcase how good the Galaxy Note 10 is, but we wanted to simplify all this for you and key in on the most important things.

How To: 5 Ways To Score Free Games on the Google Play Store

I think we all like the idea of getting paid games for free with minimal effort. Typically, though, anything claiming to help you do that is either illegal or a scam. But there are actually quite a few no-fuss methods that can get you paid games without going too far out of your way. From checking notifications to discovering hidden offers, you might have something waiting for you.

How To: Turn Almost Any Android Phone into a OnePlus Device

OnePlus is known for making a quality products with their line of smartphones, but as with most, they have their own specific customizations that you can't get anywhere else. Font types, boot animations, sounds, and proprietary apps — they are all unique to each different skin of Android. The good news, though? There's an effortless way you can grab some of that OxygenOS goodness right now.

How To: The Quick Fix for Missing Gmail Notifications on Your OnePlus Phone

OxygenOS is often described as one of the best skins for Android on the market. It's fast, clean, and has a ton of useful features that appeal to just about everyone. However, it's also faced a significant issue for the longest time — overly aggressive battery optimizations that frequently kill background apps, including Gmail services.

How To: Keep Track of Your Root Permissions with Magisk

As a root user, you have a lot of responsibilities to make sure your phone stays secure. Expectedly, some things may slip through the cracks. Remembering to check which apps have been granted root access is extremely important. All it takes is one bad app, so it's good to learn how to avoid that at all cost.

How To: Secure Your Magisk Root Permissions with Biometrics

It's been proven that hackers can manipulate your screen with fake taps through specific exploits, so they can potentially hit the "Grant" button when you get a superuser request. This is the last thing you'd want to happen since the malicious app from that point forward has full system privileges. Luckily, using a fingerprint to lock your superuser requests can prevent this.

How To: See Passwords for Wi-Fi Networks You've Connected Your Android Device To

Over the course of owning your Android device, you've probably connected to dozens of Wi-Fi networks. School, home, work, the gym, your friends' and family's houses, coffee shops — each time you typed in one of these Wi-Fi passwords, your Android device saved it for safekeeping and easy access in the future.

How To: Cast Your Android's Screen in 2 Seconds Flat

If you have a Chromecast or Android TV, you can mirror your phone's display to the big screen. It's helpful for showing off something you found interesting without having to pass your phone around the living room, but the actual process of casting your screen is a bit clunky. Thankfully, there's a better way.

How To: Speech to Text Adding an 'Oh' Before Every Comma? Here's the Fix

Many users have reported Android's speech-to-text feature adding an 'Oh' before each comma. How annoying is that? Fortionitly Reddit user Jay-jay1 has found a solution to this pesky problem. This quick fix should make your 'Oh' so annoying problem disappear.

How To: Check Any Game's FPS on Android

When you're gaming on your Android phone, does it sometimes feel "slow" and you can't figure out why? That means a drop in performance, which is when the frame rate dips, causing some noticeable stutters and lag. There's not really a way to know what's wrong unless you made the game yourself. But on the bright side, you can check any game's FPS with a simple tool.

How To: Your OnePlus 7 Pro is 90 Hz. Your Apps & Games Should Be, Too.

One of the standout features of the OnePlus 7 Pro is the 90 Hz display. A higher refresh rate means smoother gameplay for all your favorite games, which is precisely what you'd want out of your gaming experience. However, not all games play nicely with these higher refresh rates — but luckily, there's a pretty simple fix.

How To: Turn Any Android Phone into a Portable PS4

The PlayStation 4 has been around since 2013 and has brought with it countless game releases since then. One thing that hasn't changed, though, is the strict device restrictions on the PS4 Remote Play feature for streaming your games. The capability has always been there, but you still had to have an iPhone or Sony smartphone to get the best experience possible — until now.

How To: Go Beyond with Fnatic Mode for Better Gaming on Your OnePlus 7 Pro

The OnePlus 7 Pro is an outright beast. From the highly rated display with minimal bezels to the 90 Hz refresh rate, there's no denying this phone is great for gaming. Although not explicitly marketed as a gaming phone, it seems OnePlus unintentionally created one by cramming in great specs and game-friendly software features like Fnatic Mode.

How To: Turn Any Android Phone into a Steamboy

When the Steam Link app was first introduced in 2018, I was impressed. As long as you were on the same network as your PC, you could play your Steam games on your phone. But now, it's even more impressive. By enabling a few extra settings, you can play your Steam library on mobile data anywhere in the world.

How To: Turn Any Button on Your Phone into a Dedicated Google Assistant Key

Samsung has the Bixby key, Pixels have the Google Assistant squeeze gesture. It's nice having a hardware button just for your assistant so you don't have to say "OK Google" or press an on-screen button. If your phone doesn't have such a shortcut, though, you can remap an existing hardware button to trigger the Google Assistant.

How To: Okay, So You Might Have a Smartphone Addiction. This App Can Help.

The OnePlus 7 Pro comes with a new Zen Mode feature to help increase your concentration and reduce distractions. It takes things a step further than Google's Digital Wellbeing by disabling your device and stopping sounds. But even if you don't have a OnePlus, you can now get this distraction-free feature on any phone.

How To: Take Scrolling Screenshots on Any Android Like iOS 13

Some Android phones have had scrolling screenshots for years, but now that Apple added the feature to iOS 13 for iPhones, it should be standard on all phones. Thankfully, if your Android didn't come with the ability to take long, vertical screenshots, you can download an app that brings this feature to the masses.

How To: Protect Your Data from Facebook & Other Companies With 1 Android App

Many popular apps automatically share your personal data. While I have accepted a certain amount of data collection from Google, to know companies such as Facebook perform this without my consent bothers me. After some researching, I've found a great solution, and it doesn't require root.

How To: Improve Your Battery Life With 1 App — No Root Required

Despite newer phones having larger batteries, after a few months, my battery life drops significantly. I started researching solutions after my third phone. No matter who I asked, the most recommended solution was always Greenify. And unlike other solutions, you don't need root to use it.

How To: Avoid Sneaky Root Detection Apps like a Pro

Ever since the introduction of Google's SafetyNet feature, it's been an ongoing battle with apps trying to detect root access. For a while, there was a lot of back and forth between Magisk and certain apps. Pokémon GO was a high profile example of an app aggressively checking for anything related to root. Luckily, Magisk has made great strides to keep apps from detecting root for good.

How To: Tired of Android's Emojis? Try Twitter's Instead.

The art of emoji — the next level beyond the simple text-based emoticons we used once upon a time in the not so distant past. We rely upon emojis so much in our always-connected world of today simply because they help portray emotion into our typed out words. They've not been around very long, but have taken the world by storm just as quickly as they made their first appearance in our society.

How To: Using Dark Mode in Magisk Will Save Your Eyes & Your Battery

With Android 10 "Q" right around the corner, now would be a great time to get accustomed to the new system-wide dark mode it's bringing with it. Dark themes not only allow for more comfortable viewing at night, but can also consume less battery at the same time. With a single button tap, you'll be able to enable this new dark theme for all compatible apps without having to jump through hoops.

How To: You Can Now Send ADB Commands from 1 Phone to Another

ADB and Fastboot are powerful tools, but they've almost always required a computer. Now, you can totally break free of this by using two phones if you wanted to. It might be easier to purchase a cheap Android phone that can be rooted to use as your ADB and Fastboot source rather than buying a computer. This opens up an endless number of possibilities.

How To: Flip Your Phone to Silence It — Just Like the Google Pixel

Some of the Pixel 3's coolest features are software related, which means you can get many of them on non-Pixel devices. "Flip to Shhh" is a perfect example of this. It lets you quickly put your phone into do not disturb mode by placing it face down, and this can be replicated on other Android phones with the help of a simple app.

How To: Install Xposed on Almost Any Phone Running Android 9.0

Well before Magisk was in our lives, the Xposed framework was where all the mods and magic happened. Magisk was built on a similar concept with the ability to customize your system via modules. We can thank Xposed for where we are today in terms of root-related mods, but it's not done just yet — it's still very much alive and kicking after all these years.

How To: Turn Your Galaxy into a Pocket BoomBox With These Audio Settings

Though more well known for their OLED displays and advanced cameras, Galaxy phones like the S8, Note 9 and S10 series are a force to be reckoned with when it comes to audio. In fact, flagships from the S9 on up feature AKG-tuned stereo speakers, along with a slew of software enhancements that make listening to music a truly pleasurable experience.

How To: Get an Automatic Day & Night Theme on Your Galaxy

Samsung may have beaten Apple to the punch in introducing a system-wide dark theme with One UI, but they left out the ability to schedule night mode to kick in automatically. It's nothing that a little update can't fix, however, and that's exactly what Samsung just did to remedy this issue.

How To: Android 10 'Q' Gesture Controls Grayed Out? Here's the Fix

So, you just updated to Android 10, ready to explore all of the new features Google has to offer. There's just one hiccup — those gesture controls everyone talks about? They don't work. In fact, the option is completely grayed out, taunting you from the get-go. What's going on here, and how can you restore functionality to a staple Android Q feature?

How To: Enhance Your Pixel Experience with New Squeeze Gestures

The idea of squeezing your phone might have sounded a bit out there when it was new, but it's now a hallmark feature on Pixel devices. As useful as it is for summoning the Google Assistant, however, it certainly would be nice to be able pick and choose what action is triggered by squeezing the phone. Well, now you can.

How To: Unlock Your Pixel 3a's True Potential with TWRP

TWRP is a name many are familiar with since it allows your Android device to install any custom file of your choosing. You can create a NANDroid backup to keep your data safe or even use Magisk to achieve full root access. In fact, TWRP is often seen as the gateway to modding your system for creating a unique user experience.