Hot Android How-Tos

How To: Silence the Annoying Camera Shutter Sound on Your Samsung Galaxy S3

SNAP. That's the sound of your Samsung Galaxy S3's camera going off. Not that big of deal, unless you're trying to take some top secret pics or some candid shots of your friends. The shutter sound gives you away, and the next thing you know, you're deleting pictures. On most other smartphones, if the users turns the phone on silent or vibrate, the shutter sound is killed. If that doesn't do the trick, usually muting the shutter sound itself in the settings will do the trick. But for some of y...

How To: Unlock the Hidden Daydream Easter Egg 'BeanFlinger' in Android 4.2 Jelly Bean

Android's newest Jelly Bean 4.2 update comes with Daydream, a feature that allows you to run screensaver-like apps while your Android device is docked or charging. While the feature comes with several stock 'daydreams' available, there's a hidden Easter egg one that you can unlock! The 'daydream', aptly titled BeanFlinger, is hidden inside of Android's 4.2 Jelly Bean. In order to unlock it, you'll have to go to the phone's Settings and click on About phone. From there, you should come across ...

How To: Trick Verizon into Thinking You Never Modded Your Samsung Galaxy S III

One of the main reasons why the Samsung Galaxy S III has dethroned Apple's iPhone 4S as the best-selling smartphone in the world is due to Android's open-source operating system. The vast spectrum of customization that comes with Android has become one of its focal points, allowing n00bs and programmers alike to build and destroy. The open-source OS has allowed rooting and modified ROMs to flourish within Android community. The only problem with this is that rooting and installing your own RO...

How To: Find Out Who's Trying to Unlock Your Samsung Galaxy S III with the Hidden Eye Android App

With the Samsung Galaxy S III being a hot commodity, it's no surprise that your friends might try unlocking your fancy password-protected phone. While some friends have good intentions when using your phone, there are those certain friends who get into the phone to do this... The worst scenario might be that you leave the phone around a group of friends, come back and find that all of your social media accounts have been hacked. When you yell out to your friends asking who did it, no one make...

How To: Google's New Photo Sphere in Android Jelly Bean 4.2 Makes Panoramic Photos Bigger and Better

With some Samsung Galaxy S III owners still waiting for the Android Jelly Bean 4.1 update to hit their device, Google has wasted no time in releasing information on their next operating system update—Android Jelly Bean 4.2, which will come stock with the newer Nexus 7 and 10 tablets, and the all-new Nexus 4 smartphone. While the two Android updates are fairly similar, one of the big features in Jelly Bean 4.2 that sets the two apart is the new camera application, which has a feature called Ph...

How To: Root the New Kindle Fire HD

Yesterday, the entire Internet was talking about how the new Kindle Fire HD was supposed to be incredibly difficult to hack. Turns out, the folks over at XDA Developers are smarter than they thought—one day later, the mystery has already been solved. The exploit is the same one found by sparkym3 in Ice Cream Sandwich, but Amazon must have forgotten to patch it. As with any root, you can cause some serious damage, or brick your device completely if it's not done properly, so proceed at your ow...

How To: Fix the Uneven Screen Lifting Issue on Your Google Nexus 7 Tablet

Those new Nexus 7's sure are nice. Unfortunately, a number of those shiny new tablets have a manufacturing issue that makes the screen uneven with the bezel. Google's solution is to have you send it back in, but why waste your time considering the problem can be fixed by simply adjusting a single screw. All you need to perform the adjustment is a guitar pick or coin, and a very small Phillips screwdriver. Also note, opening up your tablet will most likely void your warranty, so consider that ...

How To: Unlock and Root Your Google Nexus 7 Tablet

Google's Nexus 7 tablet has just been released, and for only $199, it seems like a great deal. Now, some of you are probably immediately thinking that you're going to want to root this thing as soon as possible to install all of your tweaks. Luckily, some clever hackers have already developed a fairly automated solution to rooting the device. Here's how it works. A word of caution however, rooting your tablet will very much void the warranty and there's no 100% guarantee that this procedure w...

How To: Buy a new eBook on an Amazon Kindle 2 eReader

Interested in adding a new book to your digital collection? It's easy! And this brief video tutorial from the folks at Butterscotch will teach you everything you need to know. For more information, including detailed, step-by-step instructions, and to get started buying and downloading eBooks from the Amazon bookstore to your own Kindle 2 or Kindle 3 eReader, take a look.

How To: Install a Mirror screen protector on an HTC Evo 4G Google Android smartphone

In this clip, you'll learn how to install a Mirror screen protector on an HTC Evo 4G. Whether you're the proud owner of a Verizon HTC Evo 4G Google Android smartphone or are merely considering picking one up, you're sure to be well served by this video tutorial. For more information, including a complete demonstration and detailed, step-by-step instructions, and to see what it takes to install a screen protector on your own Evo 4G, take a look.

How To: Install Ubuntu Linux on an HTC Evo 4G

Looking to make your HTC Evo 4G smartphone even better? Unlock your phone's full computational potential by installing Linux on it! This video guide presents a complete, step-by-step walkthrough of the process. For more information, and to get started installing the Ubuntu Linux distribution on your own Android smart phone (without blowing out your phone's Android installation), take a look!

How To: Increase the battery life on your HTC Evo 4G phone

The Evo 4G does a lot of fancy things. Unfortunately, a lot of those fancy things are power-intensive. Interested in getting the most out of the HTC Evo 4G's battery? Whether you're the owner of an HTC Evo 4G Android smartphone or just covet one, you're sure to enjoy this Evo owner's guide from HTC Evo Hacks, which presents a complete, step-by-step walkthrough of how to improve your Evo's battery life. For complete details, take a look!

How To: Hack an HTC Evo 4G phone to record video in the dark

Want to shoot video in low-light conditions with a HTC Evo 4G smartphone? Whether you're the owner of an HTC Evo 4G Android phone or just covet one, you're sure to enjoy this Evo owner's guide from HTC Evo Hacks, which presents a complete, step-by-step walkthrough of how to turn on the camera's built-in LEDs to illuminate subjects in less-than-ideal lighting conditions. For complete details, take a look!

How To: Root your HTC EVO 4G

In this tutorial, learn how to root your HTC smartphone for super user access. With a rooted phone, you will be able to tether for free, install and create new ROMS, alter the CPU and much more. Follow along with this instructional video and get started with you new "jailbroken" EVO 4G.