When it comes to streaming your favorite movies and TV shows, there aren't many media players that are better than Kodi. With its fast performance and easy-to-use interface, it is definitely one of the best options. But what really sets it apart is its ability to add functionality.
So you spent all day customizing your phone. You tinkered with all the settings, searched the web high and low for the perfect wallpaper, and found an ideal icon pack to complement the color scheme. You go to sleep, proud of the work you accomplished when the unspeakable happens — your phone freezes and tech support is telling you to do a factory reset to fix the problem.
It's time to set your Facebook "Last Will and Testament" straight. Do you want to assign a contact to look over your account, or would you prefer to have all your online memories fade away the minute you die? It's a tough decision, but with a little time, you can set up at least one of these options to ensure that your account isn't left to sit pretty without you for the rest of time.
Admit it — many of us have not gotten in the Uber's we've requested. Sometimes, you just need to get someone else a cab that you're not going to be going with. No biggie ... but your friend doesn't have any connection to Uber or the driver, which can be a little awkward. Uber is addressing this slight issue today, with an update that allows you to officially request Ubers for others.
Apple Music offers a cheaper subscription option to those of you who look for it — only $99 for a year. If you are already an Apple Music user, you can access the option right now. Otherwise, you have to sign up for a normal monthly plan first, then switch to this plan to get a better deal after.
Google announced several new devices (as well as updates to existing devices) that will take advantage of the company's augmented and virtual reality platforms.
The first augmented reality hardware and software functional requirements guidelines have been released today by UI LABS and the Augmented Reality for Enterprise Alliance (AREA).
Over the years, YouTube ads have become more and more integrated with the videos themselves, which means traditional Android ad blockers can no longer block the ads without blocking the videos. It's gotten to the point where the only ways to get rid of the ads are to either subscribe to Google Play Music and YouTube Red, or go through the complicated process of installing the Xposed Framework.
The Galaxy S7 edge comes with a feature called Edge Apps that lets you quickly launch your favorite apps by swiping in from the edge of your screen. It's a natural and intuitive gesture, and as a result, we've seen a recent influx of apps that look to emulate this feature.
For most Android phones, the system clock is set using a protocol called NITZ, which relies on a connection with your carrier to ensure that the time stays in sync. The trouble here is that this feature won't work when you're outside of cellular range, and a lot of times, the carriers themselves have technical difficulties that can result in your phone's clock being minutes or even hours out of sync.
New technologies in current-generations smartphones allow for much faster charging—Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0, VOOC Flash Charge, and USB Type-C, for instance, can charge a phone up to 4 times faster than traditional methods. However, the majority of phones on the market still don't support these standards. So for the rest of us, I'll go over an easy tip that can charge any smartphone as much as 25% faster.
You've probably heard the old joke about how Ford is an acronym for "Found on Road Dead." Well, the Detroit automaker on Monday announced a new and much better way to help you find your parked vehicle, as well as a whole host of other features—just use your smartphone.
For years, we've had to download third-party apps if we wanted to browse or manage the files stored on our Android devices, but Google has finally included a bare-bones file explorer in Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Only thing is, it's not easy to find—but I'll show you how to access and use it below.
Android 6.0 Marshmallow is bringing in lots of changes to our favorite smartphone operating system, ranging from battery-saving tweaks like Doze to a Now on Tap feature that essentially bakes Google right into every app on your phone. But for folks that like to tweak the interface of their device, a new hidden menu might be the most exciting addition of them all.
Instead of the still image we've been accustomed to since the inception of Facebook, you also have the option to apply a seven-second video as your profile image, which definitely mixes things up a bit with GIF-like animations. Best of all, this can be done straight from your iPhone or Android device.
Microsoft has been listening to user feedback, and they've finally done something about one of the most common minor gripes with Windows 10. As of build 10525, there's now an option for changing the title bar color in apps, so you won't have to use this old workaround to personalize your window coloring anymore.
There are plenty of legitimate reasons that you might want to record a phone conversation. Let's say you operate a business and take orders over the phone, and you don't want to miss an item. Or perhaps you need to jot down some notes from a recent conference call, and things were just happening too quickly in real time.
Quite a few things have changed with Windows 10, but one of the more central features that has received a makeover is the old Windows Explorer program, which has been renamed to File Explorer in this version.
Having websites coded for mobile browsing is great for small screens, but if you have a Plus model iPhone or even the iPhone X, desktop versions of websites might show you more of what you want. Plus, there's the case of poorly designed mobile websites, where the desktop view is clearly the better option with more functionality and features. Luckily, asking for desktop sites in Safari is simple.
Managing files can be time consuming on your Mac, for the simple reason that keyboard shortcuts and right-clicks sometimes lack the effectiveness we need. But with a simple third-part app, you can expedite the process of sharing, moving, deleting, and overall managing files on your computer.
Many Android utilities use Android Debug Bridge, or ADB for short, to send commands from a computer over to your phone or tablet. This enables such utilities to run terminal commands that, in some cases, wouldn't be possible on Android without root access.
Step 1: Introduction: Hello! Hackers
Keeping your OnePlus One running smoothly can be taxing, especially if you spend most of your day looking for ways to tweak performance settings like me. Sometimes I get lucky and end up with a faster phone, but because I experiment so much, I often end up restoring it back to stock. This process can get old really quick, but when I started using the Bacon Root Toolkit from WugFresh, it became exponentially easier.
The Nexus 6 uses an Ambient Display notification system that was heavily inspired by the Active Display feature on the Moto X. Essentially, the device shows a black-and-white version of the lock screen whenever you receive a new notification or pick the phone up. This is all made possible by the N6's AMOLED display that doesn't have to waste any battery to power black pixels on the screen.
Automatic brightness adjustments are supposed to make it easier to maintain good visibility on your phone, but it really never works as intended. It usually doesn't adjust properly, leading you to manually pull up the Control Center to adjust brightness via the slider.
The new Camera app in iOS 8 has a few really great features, but some of the best photo-centric features were packed into the iPhone's photo editing tools. These new editing features can create even more dynamic images than before, no Instagram required.
The OnePlus One definitely fits the phrase "more bang for your buck," and despite the absence of something like the HTC One M8's Duo Cam or the LG G3's Laser Auto Focus, it still takes a great photo. For normal, everyday pictures, the 13-megapixel camera sensor is great, even if night shots can be a little grainy.
In the Apple's iOS beta 3, we were introduced to a new iCloud Drive feature, an option to disable QuickType, time indicators for Recently Deleted pics, and a way to keep "self-destructing" media.
Buried deep in the code of many Google apps is a set of debugging options. These options, which are designed for developers to help test the way their apps interact with Google's own, are normally hidden from view.
While most are still fighting through a somewhat ridiculous invite system, OnePlus is starting to ship out a decent number of their One flagship devices to those who were able to obtain one.
Staying on the move while managing email is a priority for many of us, from parents to students to business professionals. Seems that Apple had this in mind when improving the stock Mail application in iOS 8, which now includes swipe gestures that make marking messages as read/unread, as well as flagging and deleting, a whole lot quicker.
Team Win Recovery Project (TWRP) is a custom recovery for Android devices and the one used by most softModders, mainly because it has touch-based actions, as compared to the more time-consuming button-based approach that ClockworkMod (CWM) uses.
Your shiny new HTC One M8 is a pretty stellar device. From controlling your entertainment center to lock screen gestures and camera shortcuts to being pretty damn indestructible, this device has a lot going for it.
It appears that the next iteration of KitKat, Android 4.4.3, is fast approaching. If the past is any indication, today's update to the Nexus 5 software changelog on Sprint's website tells us a new version of Android will begin rolling out within 24 hours. Sprint has broken the news of a forthcoming Android release twice in the past. With 4.4.1 and 4.4.2, a mini-changelog was posted on the Sprint website about a day before Google began pushing updates to its Nexus devices.
There were some pretty amazing things included in the Android 4.4 KitKat update, but unfortunately, most of them were left inactive on our Nexus 7 tablets. Some, like full-screen immersive mode and the hidden battery percentage status bar icon, could be enabled on rooted devices, but not everyone wants to root.
In the wake of the NSA controversy and its subsequent fallout, many dashed towards finding means of secure communication—using private internet browsing and encrypted text messaging applications—out of fear of being spied on.
If you're a ladies man like me then this next tip could save you from sorely embarrassing yourself. Here's the problem: You think you are texting Kelly M from New Year's when you're actually texting Kelly F from that one bar. Needless to say this could cause a problem with your relationships.
Even if you have the fastest internet connection in the world, it's not going to be fast if your Android device isn't optimized to use all of the bandwidth. I have pretty fast speeds at home, but every now and then my web surfing on my Nexus 7 tablet is halted in its tracks—for seemingly no reason.
A free Wi-Fi hotspot can be a lifesaver. Whether it's because you have shitty reception, need faster connectivity, or just don't want to go over your monthly data plan, free Wi-Fi in public areas is greatly appreciated. While connecting to these free hotspots is fairly easy, finding them can become a whole nother issue. I've been in plenty of situations where I wasted my data plan instead of taking a few steps to the right, where free Wi-Fi would have been waiting for me and my Samsung Galaxy...
There is nothing worse than losing valuable information or programs on your computer. And if you've ever accidentally deleted a file or document, you know how agonizing that entire process can be.
