Hot Android Posts
How To: Check if Your Phone Can Stream HD Video from Netflix, Amazon Prime Video & Other Services
It recently came to light that a number of Android phones are unable to stream HD video through services like Netflix, Google Play Movies, and Amazon Prime Video. If you're worried that your phone may be affected, there's a simple tool you can use to find out for sure if you can actually stream video in 720p or higher.
How To: Unlock Your LG V20's Bootloader (US Variant)
LG, like many other OEMs, usually locks down their bootloaders with an airtight seal. There are a few good reasons for this, the big one being that an unlocked bootloader technically compromises some device security measures. LG would also argue that unlocking your bootloader is absolutely pointless, as having it locked will not hinder normal device usage, which is kinda true.
How To: Install & Multi-Boot Bodhi Linux on Your Nexus 7 (& Why You Should)
When people first learn that their Android device is capable of dual-booting different operating systems, e.g. Linux, they almost universally respond with, "That's so cool." And for those of us ambitious enough to actually try one out, we are typically filled with glee as we see Ubuntu, or something similar, boot up for the first time on our tablet or phone.
How To: Pick Your Own Status Bar Icons for Wired or Bluetooth Headphones
The skinned versions of Android that come with Samsung, LG, and HTC phones usually have a feature that displays a small icon in your status bar when you connect a pair of headphones. It lets you know that your earbuds are plugged in or connected properly, and offers assurance that your music won't be blaring out of the loudspeaker—but mostly, it's just a nice little touch.
How To: Test Your Samsung Phone by Using Secret Code *#0*#
Besides obvious features like a touchscreen and biometric sensors, the modern smartphone comes with an array of state-of-the-art hardware in the form of various sensors that help your device sense the environment around it. And if you have a Samsung handset, chances are, you have a handy feature built in that enables you to check if these sensors are functioning 100 percent.
How To: 19 Harry Potter Spells Your Android Phone Can Cast Using Google Assistant
Apple's Siri is well-versed in the spells of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, but it's not like Android users are Muggles. Google Assistant, Android's virtual concierge, can cast a few spells out of the box, and it can learn the spells it doesn't know quicker than a year of studying at Hogwarts.
VLC 101: How to Stream Movies from Your Computer to Your Android Phone
Even though your phone has a built-in media player, it's got nothing on VLC. The popular third-party video player supports virtually every codec and file format, and even better, you can use it to stream movies, shows, and other video files from your computer to your phone.
How To: The Complete Guide to Flashing Factory Images on Android Using Fastboot
If your phone has an unlocked bootloader, you can use Fastboot commands to flash factory images. That may sound like a bunch of technical jargon, but when it comes down to it, this is the best method for updating a rooted device, fixing a bricked phone, reverting to stock, or even getting new Android updates before everyone else.
How To: 100+ Secret Dialer Codes for OnePlus Phones
There's actually more to the dialer screen on your OnePlus than meets the eye. Besides its obvious purpose of calling people, there's a vast array of secret codes that you can input to troubleshoot your device, in addition to revealing important information, making anonymous phone calls, and so much more.
How To: These Auto-Redial Apps Can Call Busy Phone Lines Over and Over Again Until You Get Through
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 you can use to help break through the noise.
How To: Boot Your Galaxy S20 into Recovery Mode or Download Mode
Recovery mode and download mode are useful for modding and they can come in handy in a pinch. Booting into recovery mode to do a factory reset or wipe cache fan save your Galaxy S20 from a soft brick, and entering download mode lets you install firmware with utilities like Odin and Smart Switch.
How To: Use the Built-in Document Scanner on Your Google Pixel
Document scanning is possible via the Google Drive app, but my brain doesn't think of opening a cloud storage app to scan a document. I usually just open the camera app and take a picture instead — and apparently, I'm not the only one.
How To: Boot Your Galaxy S10 into Recovery Mode & Download Mode
You don't need to be a hardcore modder to know the importance of booting your S10 into either recovery mode or download mode. In fact, these pre-boot menus are something everyone should be familiar with. The former can help you get out of soft bricks, while the latter lets you use utilities like Odin and Smart Switch to flash firmware files and fix your phone when all other solutions fail.
How To: The First 10 Things to Do After Rooting Your Phone
Okay, so you rooted your Android phone .... now what? There are a few ducks you need to get into a row, like backing up your stock boot image, getting SafetyNet sorted, and improving security with biometrics. But there are also awesome root mods waiting for you — just don't get ahead of yourself.
How To: Set Up Wireless Debugging on Android 11 to Send ADB Commands Without a USB Cable
From booting into Fastboot mode with a single command to installing mods without root access, there's no shortage of reasons to use ADB. The catch, though, you had to be tied to a computer with a USB connection. However, a new feature in Android 11 finally allows you to run ADB commands over Wi-Fi instead of being tethered.
How To: Permanently Stop Any App from Updating on the Play Store — No Computer Needed
App updates bring new functionality, but they can also break old features or introduce changes no one wants. Unfortunately, if you're holding onto an older app version because you don't want to accept the update, it becomes a lot harder to keep the rest of your apps updated.
How To: Prank Your WhatsApp Friends by Sending 100 Messages in Only 1 Second
When I got my first smartphone, it didn't take long before my friends and I created a game that we liked to call "Paste-Send." You see, instead of having to use T9 to type out text messages, the touch-based interface made copying and pasting incredibly easy. So that meant we could copy a piece of text, then paste it into text messages in rapid succession to text bomb the annoyed recipient. It was all in good fun, of course, and it usually evoked a stream of swear words from the guy on the oth...
How To: Activate Your Samsung Galaxy's Vault to Keep Your Apps, Files, and History Safe from Prying Eyes and Hackers
One UI has an exciting privacy feature that lets you lock apps, photos, videos, and files on your Galaxy device behind Samsung's defense-grade Knox security platform. Only you can unlock it using a pattern, PIN, or passcode, or with biometrics like fingerprint and iris locks. It's like having a safe built right into your smartphone, and it couldn't be easier to set up.
How To: Secretly Call & Message Contacts Using an Innocent-Looking Android Calculator
Whether you're a secret spy or just a regular person with a few secrets, you may want to keep certain information on your smartphone private, and it's totally possible on Android to do so.
How To: Quickly Disable Fingerprints & Smart Lock in Android Pie for Extra Security
Following in iOS 11's footsteps, Android 9.0 Pie will include a security feature that lets you immediately disable the fingerprint scanner as well as extended Smart Lock features. After initiating the feature, you will be required to insert your PIN, pattern, or password before any other unlock methods will work again.
How To: Your OnePlus Home Screen Has a Built-in Step Counter
A great way to incorporate a healthy exercise routine is by taking lots of steps throughout the day. While most smartphones can track and report your steps via a third-party app, you can check them right from your home screen if you have a OnePlus phone.
How To: Enable or Disable Chat Heads in Facebook Messenger on Android for Quick Access to Conversations
Popular chat apps like Messenger allow us to communicate with friends and family across iOS and Android phones alike. However, that interconnectivity doesn't mean both apps are the same. While Facebook has made strides to close gaps between these two platforms, chat heads remain an exclusive feature for Android devices, and they let you keep Messenger threads close by.
How To: Send ADB Commands to Your Own Phone Without a Computer or Root
There are three tiers to Android customization: things you can do by default, things you can do with ADB, and things you can do with root. While root is still pretty tricky to get, ADB mods just got a lot easier.
How To: Completely Hide Root Using Magisk
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: Play Sound from 2 Apps at Once on Your Samsung Galaxy Phone
On a PC, you can play sound from multiple apps at once. It's great, but it can also be confusing — there's a volume slider in each app, then the system-wide one, and probably another knob on your speakers. To avoid this dysfunction, Android only has one sound stream for media. But that has its own problems.
How To: Boot Your Galaxy S8 or S8+ into Recovery Mode or Download Mode
Samsung devices have two pre-boot menus that every Galaxy owner should know about: recovery mode and download mode. The recovery screen allows users to wipe cache files or perform a factory reset, which can help save the phone from a soft brick. Download mode, on the other hand, allows you to flash firmware files using utilities like Odin and Smart Switch, which can truly be a lifesaver.
How To: Disable the Startup Sound on Any Android Phone
Android's open source nature means it gets modified quite a bit. First, the phone manufacturer will add their customizations, then your carrier will add even more on top of that. Between the two, someone almost always adds a startup sound so that you and everyone around you will hear their jingle every time your phone reboots.
How To: 20 Privacy & Security Settings You Need to Check on Your Google Pixel
Android's settings menu is actually pretty daunting. There are options for nearly everything, so in the sea of various menus and submenus, it's easy to overlook important privacy and security settings. On Google's Pixel phones in particular, there are 20 such settings that you should double check.
How To: Hide Photos in the Gallery App on Your OnePlus Phone for Extra Privacy
Smartphones have so much sensitive information attached to them. If you share your home with others, then you know the pains of trying to keep anything private. Photos are surely among the things you'd prefer to keep to yourself, so OnePlus has you covered.
How To: Cast Your Samsung Galaxy's Screen to Your Windows PC
After exiting the mobile market, Microsoft has redirected its efforts to better integrating their services with Android. Thanks to a partnership with Samsung, that Windows integration is even better if you have a Galaxy phone.
How To: Use Gestures to Control YouTube's Brightness & Volume on Android
YouTube has a couple of basic gestures: you can double tap each half of the video to skip forward or back ten seconds, and you can swipe down to minimize the video. But wouldn't it be more useful if there were gestures to control brightness and volume? Well, as with all things Android, where there's a will, there's a way.
How To: Keep Law Enforcement Out of Your Android Device
With protests springing up across America, there's a chance you may have your first interaction with law enforcement. Many demonstrators will have their phones in-hand to film the action, which, sadly, could prompt an officer to demand the device and any self-incriminating data it may contain. Before this happens, you should know there are tools at your disposal to protect your data in such situations.
How To: This Samsung Galaxy Dialer Code Lets You Test Each Sensor on Your Phone
With the S9 and S9+ upon us, you maybe wondering if it's time to retire your aging Galaxy and either sell it or do a trade-in to get Samsung's latest flagship. Before you do, however, it's important to make sure that all its components — most notably the sensors — are working fully in order to avoid potential headaches.
How To: The Best Way to Send High-Quality Videos from Android to iPhone
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: Find What's Eating Up Your RAM on Android
Not every app is designed well. With nearly 3 million apps on the Play Store and countless more that you can sideload from other sources, there are bound to be a few stinkers. And many of them do a terrible job using RAM.
How To: Install MicroG to Replace Google Play Services & Prevent Data Mining
With all the talk about privacy concerns recently, Google's name keeps coming up because they are a very data-driven company. As an Android user, they know basically everything about you based on your device usage. That can easily scare some people off who are worried about their privacy and security. You do have some say in what personal data Google controls, but what if you want total control?
How To: Enable 'Flip to Shhh' on Your Google Pixel & Quickly Turn on Do Not Disturb Mode
The Pixel's "Flip to Shhh" feature may not be groundbreaking, but it is useful. Third-party apps are copying it for other phones because it's so convenient. But it's not enabled by default and it's fairly hidden in the settings. So to take full advantage of your Pixel's feature set, you should learn how to use Flip to Shhh.
How To: Disable App Icon Badges and Unread Notification Counts on Your Samsung Galaxy Smartphone
If you scan the notification panel on your Samsung Galaxy smartphone daily, all those red circles with numbers that litter the apps on your home screen and app drawer can feel like persistent nagging and unnecessary clutter rather than friendly reminders to check your app alerts — but you can do something about it.
How To: Delete Files on Android So They Can't Ever Be Recovered
When you delete a file, Android doesn't actually remove it from your storage drive—instead, it simply marks that space as empty and pretends the file doesn't exist anymore. But deep down inside, the file that you originally wrote to that location is still physically there, at least until you randomly happen to save another file on top of that same spot.
How To: 9 Ways to Earn Google Play Store Credit and Discounts for Apps, Games, In-App Items, Movies, and More
There's more than one way to get free credits and discounts in the Google Play Store for apps, games, books, movies, in-app items, and other Play Store content. You may know a few of them — but some of these may surprise you.