Android Features
How To: Enable "Unknown Sources" to Install Third-Party Apps (APK Files) on a Nexus 4 or Nexus 5
Here's one of those modding must-haves that's basic, yet easy enough to forget about. If you're going to install apps that don't live in the Google Play Store, like the Google Experience Launcher, the OnePlus One lock screen, or something that needs root privileges like the Xposed Framework, you need to turn on this setting.
How To: Your Nexus 5 Has a Real Pedometer Built In—Here's How You Use It
Seemingly lost in the fanfare of the numerous features and specs of the Nexus 5 were a few highly innovative and handy add-ons—a low-power step detector and step-counting sensor—useful for tracking fitness data.
News: How to Try Google's New Fuchsia OS on Your Android Right Now
Google's working on a new mobile operating system called Fuchsia, and while we don't know much about how they intend to use it, we're now getting a glimpse at what the main interface will look like.
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: Take Screenshots on Android Without Pressing Any Buttons
You no longer need two fingers to take screenshots on Android. As long as you have Android 6.0 or higher on your phone or tablet, you can use Now on Tap to take screenshots for you without pressing any hardware buttons.
How To: Prevent the Screen on Your Nexus 7 from Shutting Down on You While You Read
For being an inexpensive tablet, the Nexus 7 packs a 1,280 x 800 pixel resolution into a relatively small display, offering a very sharp-looking 216 pixels per inch. What does that mean? It's one of the best e-readers on the market.
Hacking WhatsApp: How to Schedule Messages to Send Automatically
Great ideas often strike at random times, but messaging friends and loved ones at an inopportune hour not only risks their wrath, but also increases the chances of your message not being paid proper attention to. Thankfully, there's an app that lets you create and post WhatsApp messages at the time you wish for maximum effect.
How To: Turn a Paperwhite into the New Absurdly-Priced Kindle Oasis
Amazon just unveiled the Kindle Oasis, the latest model in its popular line of e-readers. There are a couple of nice new features, but it's pretty hard to see how any of them justify the whopping $290 price tag (or $310 if you don't want ads littering your screen).
How To: The Easiest Way to Free Up Storage on Your Android Device
The more we use our smartphones, the more storage space becomes occupied—it's an inescapable fact. But as the data accumulates and chokes off our storage, it can become difficult to identify exactly which files are occupying the most space.
How To: The Best HDMI Adapters to Turn Your Galaxy Note 9 into a DeX Desktop
Samsung emphasized its goal of streamlined user experience with the unveiling of the Galaxy Note 9, highlighting the flagship's capabilities of seamlessly connecting with other devices. The Note 9's DeX mode makes it easier than ever to interface with a wide array of displays and monitors.
How To: Turn Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 into an Intelligent Flashlight That Turns On & Off Automatically
There's absolutely no shortage of flashlight apps on Google Play, so when one comes around that sports uniquely different features than the rest—it should definitely be noted. That's why I bring to you Ambient LED Flashlight, a new app for your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 by Android developer Jie Huang.
How To: Turn an Old Galaxy S3 or Other Android Device into a Streaming Media Player
Your beloved Samsung Galaxy S3 is nearing the end of its life cycle. Sure, it can do most of what newer devices can, especially if you were lucky enough to receive the KitKat update, but your diminishing battery and scratched up screen have seen better days.
How To: Play Almost Any Retro Video Game on Your Nexus 7 Tablet
Arcades, Nintendo, Sega, and 16-bit graphics ushered in a new level of gaming that was leaps and bounds ahead of the early Pong days. I remember loading quarters into the machines and playing 2D fighting games until all my money ran out. When I wasn’t in school, you could usually find me at the arcade playing Street Fighter, The King of Fighters and Marvel vs. Capcom. At home, I had my Super Nintendo and Super Mario World keeping me glued to the television until the next boss stage.
How To: This Hidden Trick Lets You Create App Groups for Multi-Window Mode
By now, Samsung's Multi-Window Mode is a pretty well-known feature. With other manufacturers now recreating this functionality in their own flagships, like LG, it's safe to say the feature has been a hit with consumers.
How To: Turn Your Galaxy S3's Menu Key into a Multitasking Button (Like on a Galaxy S5)
Ever since Android 3.0 Honeycomb, Google has been trying to push phone manufacturers to do away with physical menu buttons. Samsung has been one of the lone holdouts, retaining the menu key up until the Galaxy S5, where they finally replaced it with a "recent apps" multitasking button.
How To: Add a Number Row to the Google Keyboard on Your Galaxy S4 or Other Android Device
The keyboard I use the most on my Galaxy S4 is the Google Keyboard, and that's partly because of the custom themes I can play around with.
How To: Improve Your LG V20's Speaker Sound with This Simple Hardware Mod
The LG V20 is a true audiophile's phone when it comes to playing music through headphones, but it only has a single bottom-firing mono speaker. So even though the V20 has received plenty of praise for its overall audio experience, that single built-in speaker ruins the fun by putting out some shoddy and cheap-sounding audio.
How To: Get the iPhone X's Swipe-to-Go-Home Gesture on Any Android
With the new iPhone X, Apple introduced a buttonless design for the first time. But without a home button, navigation within iOS 11 had to change to accommodate the new model. To solve this issue, Apple created gestures to perform the actions that the home button once executed. But while Apple users have to wait until November 3 to use these gestures, you can get these features right now on Android.
How To: Get Moving Cinemagraph Wallpapers on Your Android's Home Screen
Cinemagraphs are basically artistic photos that have been turned into a GIF to showcase a bit of subtle motion and give them life. Unlike regular GIFs, which can sometimes loop with a jarring cut at the end, cinemagraphs give the illusion of perpetual motion, like water drops off a flower's petal or clouds moving over a scenic sky.
How To: Get 'Edge Notifications' Like the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Has on Any Android
Samsung's got a pair of beautiful new flagship devices coming out this spring that will surely top the sales charts. The Galaxy S5's successor is truly worthy of that title, but a second variant with a curved display turned heads at Mobile World Congress this weekend.
How To: The Best Bitcoin Wallet Apps for Your Android Device
Bitcoin continues to make chaotic waves in the finance industry, with one bitcoin currently worth about $1,250 as of this writing. What's great about bitcoin is that you don't need to shell out rent money to get in the game, because bitcoins can be bought in increments—basically, whatever you can afford.
How To: Enable Bedtime Mode on Your Android Device
Apple added a Bedtime Mode to its Screen Time tool for curbing smartphone distractions. Google's version of Screen Time, called Digital Wellbeing, actually predates Apple's, but a recent update is finally bringing in Bedtime Mode.
How To: Remotely Power Off Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 with a Simple Text Message
Gaining remote access to a phone isn't only for super hackers and spies. There are plenty of times when the average smartphone user would want to have remote access to their device.
How To: Turn an Old Android Phone into a Chromecast Remote
Considering how much smartphones cost in the first place, we're understandably reluctant to throw them out when we've bought a newer model. And this is probably the best practice, too, as there are many great uses for an old Android device.
How To: Send Text Messages from Google Home to Any Contact
If you use the Google Assistant on your Android device, you can easily send a text message to any one of your contacts. But even though that same Assistant is powering the Google Home, you can't use the smart speaker to accomplish the same task — at least, not without some tinkering.
How To: Get Samsung's New WatchON App from the Galaxy S5 on Your Galaxy Note 3
It was only a matter of time before the apps from the new Samsung Galaxy S5 leaked for everyone to download and install, and today we've got one that takes advantage of the IR blaster on your Galaxy Note 3.
How To: Get Truly Local Weather Readings from Your Galaxy S5's Built-in Sensors
Your Galaxy S5 is jammed to the brim with all sorts of electronic sensors. These are capable of reading humidity levels, ambient temperature, air pressure, and much more. Yet, while this data is constantly being collected by your phone, there aren't any built-in apps that are capable of displaying much of it.
How To: Get Perfectly Composed, High-Res Selfies on Android Using Your Rear Camera
Maybe it is narcissistic to take selfies, but it has become a socially accepted norm, no matter how stupid you might look doing it. Since so many people are seemingly in love with themselves and mobile photography, I thought it was about time to show you how to step up your selfie game.
How To: Fix the Random Auto Brightness Spikes on Your Nexus 5
If you've ever noticed, even just for a fleeting moment, that the auto brightness on your Nexus 5 seemed to "glitch out"—you are not alone.
How To: 10 Must-Know Tips for Better Note-Taking with Google Keep
When it comes to note-taking, Google Keep is one of the most diverse and functional applications on the Android platform. Sure, there are a plethora of other note-taking apps to choose from, such as ever popular OneNote and Evernote, but Google Keep differentiates itself from the crowd with its user-friendly interface and Google Now integration.
How To: Find Your HTC One or Other Android Phone with a Text Message
Google's Android Device Manager makes it extremely easy to track down your phone or tablet, but while it's simple to set up and use, it does require your device to have an active data connection, which can be an issue in some areas.
How To: Unlock the "All Your Game Are Belong to Us" Achievement on Your Samsung Galaxy S3
In old-school Konami fashion, there's an Easter egg lurking inside your Samsung Galaxy S3, and I'm not talking about gingerbread men, robots, or jelly beans. In fact, it's actually an achievement, like those you would unlock in Black Ops on your Xbox 360, and it's pretty easy to find.
News: Edge Touch Updated for One UI — Stop Accidental Touches on Your Galaxy S10
While the Galaxy S10+ is a fantastic device, the biggest gripe I have with it is the curved display. Yes, it adds to the aesthetics of the phone, but it makes the phone prone to accidental touches. Thanks to a recent update, however, this is a problem of the past.
How To: Keep Your Screen Awake for Specific Apps on Your Galaxy Note 3
Screen timeouts serve mostly as security measures and energy savers, but they can also interrupt you when you're reading a book or editing a document. There is no built-in way to manage screen timeouts on a per-app basis, but if you've got root access, you can do just that using Never Sleep from Android dev Hamzah Malik.
How To: Get Android Pie Beta on Your Galaxy S9 or S9+ Right Now
Samsung isn't known for its timely rollout of major Android updates, and Android 9.0 Pie won't be an exception. If we go by their Oreo update timeline, we can expect Android Pie to officially touch down for the Galaxy S9 and S9+ sometime around November, with the final version rolling out the around the first quarter of 2019. But a leaked version of the beta has already hit the internet.
How To: Keep Android's Notification Tray Clean & Clear with a Centralized Hub
Android's notification system is quite robust, especially now that Google added bundled notifications and quick reply features to Android 7.0 Nougat. However, things can still get quite cluttered when you have several unread messages, which fills your status bar with icons and makes your notification tray take up half of the screen by itself.
How To: Get an Automatic Light & Dark Theme on Android
Perhaps the best thing about Android is the endless amount of customization you can add to your device. From icon packs to custom launchers and even custom ROMs, there's truly something for everyone. One of the most popular options among Android enthusiasts is adding a system wide dark theme. The methods to do this vary, but you can now automate this process thanks to Android Oreo.
News: 12 Important Privacy & Security Features Google Added to Android 9.0 Pie
We know Android 9.0 will have the formal designation of Pie, following Google's age-old tradition of naming their OS after items you'd normally find on a dessert menu. And thanks to a slew of new features that centers around your overall security, P could also stand for Privacy.
News: Why Project Treble Is a Huge Win for Exynos Galaxy S9 Owners
Because of quirks with cell radios and how Android was previously set up, custom ROM support for Galaxy S phones has been sparse these past few years. It's been almost nonexistent for US customers, while international users would see some ROMs. Thanks to Android Oreo's Project Treble, this will all be changing soon.
How To: Enable Dark Mode in Google Play Games
While we wait patiently for a system-wide dark theme, Google has provided us with the next best thing. The majority of Google-developed apps now have a dark mode, so you can piecemeal the feature together yourself.