How To: Use “Hey, Siri” on Your iPhone Unplugged & Cord-Free
While the "Hey, Siri" feature in iOS 8 is useful for hands-free multitasking, you can only use the command when your device is actually charging.
While the "Hey, Siri" feature in iOS 8 is useful for hands-free multitasking, you can only use the command when your device is actually charging.
Although sleep mode and screen savers contribute to the security and energy preservation of my MacBook, it can become a nuisance when they initiate unwelcomely. Yes, I could just change these settings in System Preferences, but to do this every time I momentarily leave my Mac unattended would be tedious, to say the least.
Many reminder apps offer various bells and whistles that make them overly complicated to use when all you want to do is one or two things. If the only things you care about doing are setting quick reminders and adding timers, you probably don't care about cloud syncing or calendar integration features.
Call it OCD if you will, but I make it a priority to have a clean Notification panel. Like a chalkboard that isn't wiped spotless, I get an unsettling feeling that something in the universe isn't complete when there's unnecessary clutter in the drop-down. For this reason, I loathe the fact that I can't remove the "Wi-Fi connected" tile from my "Notifications."
The first thing most of us noticed after Apple announced plans for its wearable—the Apple Watch—was the importance and focus they placed on its interface. Starkly different from their Android Wear counterparts, the Apple Watch's interface has applications scattered around the screen and relies on the device's dial to zoom in and out.
Whether you're in a movie theater, driving, or just want to temporarily unplug from the grid, you need to ignore or completely silence your phone. You'll still receive calls and texts during this time, but in a world where people expect instant gratification, you'll end up looking like a jerk who doesn't answer back.
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 Touch ID fingerprint scanner on the iPhone 5S was one of the phone's biggest selling points. Now, the Touch ID system can do more than just unlock your phone, like pay for stuff, and is even present on the new iPads (as well as iPhone 6 models, of course).
Weeks before the music video for Nicki Minaj's Sir Mix-a-Lot-sampled single “Anaconda” dropped, an internet frenzy was sparked thanks to the help of an extremely racy cover image, several promo pictures with her "dancing" with label-mate Drake, and a teaser clip that showed Nicki twerking that hypnotizing booty.
Apple doesn't make it very easy to delete things quickly from your Photos library, mainly for two reasons. First of all, if you delete multiple pictures at once, it's difficult to know the full details of each individual one you're selecting because the tiny thumbnails don't show very much detail. Secondly, if you delete the pictures one-by-one, you'll be able to view them in full screen, but it will take forever. And dealing with a delete confirmation each time is enough to drive anyone crazy.
Accumulating approximately one million downloads on the Google Play Store in less than 72 hours from its initial release, TouchPal instantly became a favorite among Android users.
While your iPhone may have a built-in time-lapse feature, it's nowhere near as smooth as Instagram's newish Hyperlapse app, and it doesn't give you any speed control like the latter does. If you haven't tested out Hyperlapse yet, check out the short promo video to see just how well its stabilization algorithm works.
Back in the days of iOS 6, iPhone users were able to send a quick tweet from their notification center, but that has long since been removed. This convenient feature was missed enough on iOS 7 for devs to create a jailbreak tweak in its absence. Thankfully, due to the new widget capabilities of iOS 8, we can have Twitter back in the Notification Center along with Facebook.
Star-Lord may not have been a household name prior to the release of Guardians of the Galaxy, but you can sure count on a flood of kids and adults alike wanting to dress up as Chris Pratt's character this year for Halloween.
Unless you're sporting an LG G3 or a mod that allows tap-to-sleep and/or tap-to-wake functionality, you're probably hitting the power button to sleep and wake your device. But that button may be awkward to hit, may be worn down, or may just stop working due to a manufacturer's error or a device drop. In any case, it is possible to end reliance on the power button, opting instead for a simple swipe gesture that will instantly lock your device.
Thomas Ridgewell, more widely known as TomSka, is a popular Youtuber who creates over-the-top, ridiculous, and overall pretty funny videos—but sometimes they don't make sense.
Lending someone your phone to make a call is always an awkward situation, as you closely monitor them to make sure they stick to a phone call rather than wandering off into private applications like your photo or messaging apps. You don't necessarily want to eavesdrop on their conversation, but trusting people with your phone is difficult, especially if you have some risqué or embarrassing pictures stored on it.
For the most part, Finder has had the same basic functionality through the various releases of OS X. But Apple's lack of interest in adding new bells and whistles to the backbone of their operating system simply means that 3rd-party developers get to shine, and Tran Ky Nam is one such developer. He created his own extension for Finder that adds tabbed browsing, dual pane mode, cut & paste functionality, and much, much more.
The Maze Runner tells the story of an unpredictable maze designed to kill. If you're looking for a Halloween costume that's both dark and deadly, the film offers a great option.
Minecraft is a simple game with a huge following, and is a great inspiration for easy, DIY Halloween costumes. We've already shown you guys how to make a Simple Steve costume and a Creeper costume—now it's time for a new Minecraft-inspired one.
Considered a huge gamble on the part of Marvel and Disney due to its seemingly small fan base, Guardians of the Galaxy turned out to be well worth the risk, nearing $800 million in world-wide box office numbers. Many may not have known about the comic book prior to the movie, but you can definitely count on plenty of Guardians of the Galaxy costumes this Halloween.
iOS 8's third-party keyboard functionality is one of the best new additions to Apple's mobile operating system, allowing us to use swipe gestures, custom backgrounds, minimal designs, and many other features that the stock keyboard lacks.
Creating interesting photographs used to be more fun, before we all collectively decided that color filters and rotations qualified as "unique" smartphone pics. Scrolling through my Instagram feed only confirms that these supposedly special, filter-laden photos are actually the norm now.
HTC is one of the few OEMs that make it easy to unlock the bootloader on their devices. And while they do warn you that doing so voids your warranty, they don't tell you that it also prevents you from collecting promotions that come with their devices.
While texting and driving may get you a ticket, there are still a ton of uses for your phone in your car, music and navigation just to name a couple. Every Android device comes with access to GPS and traffic updates, but none of those apps really have your back in real-time.
The idle screen for the Chromecast is certainly beautiful. Full of many high-definition pictures taken of various parts of the world, it's almost a shame that we have to dismiss this screen in order to cast content.
There will always be a time when you're not entirely sure what you're doing with a certain subject. But the days of weighing the pros and cons yourself are coming to an end. Whether it's a common quandary like "Where should we eat?", or a more specific question along the lines of "Should I buy this shirt or not?", you can now simply AskInternets.
Rooting your phone is one thing, but to truly be in control of your device, you need to be S-Off. S-Off allows you to flash, mod, and tweak just about any aspect of your phone, including the ability to run custom recoveries and flash kernels, which are vital tools for power-users. Up until now, there have been many ways to S-Off your device, but some newer HTC models have become un-exploitable.
Facebook wants to take your browsing history and sell it to advertisers. Video: .
Keeping track of your phone's battery life can quickly become a chore. Since no one wants to get stuck without a charge, we constantly find ourselves checking to see exactly what percentage remains.
One of the world's largest music festivals in kicking off this weekend in southern California, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. With a diverse lineup ranging from AFI to Empire of the Sun to HAIM to Muse, the music world is on display this weekend and the next.
Like most of you, I find myself scrolling through endless lists of Facebook feeds, Instagram lists, and tweets. Most of the time, it's a pain to scroll all the way back up to the top. Unlike iOS devices, Android has never had a solution to quickly scrolling to the top of a list in an app, but now with a simple Xposed mod, that hole has been filled.
We softModders come from all walks of life, and sooner or later, our devices begin to reflect who we are. Maybe you've followed one of our guides on customizing your Nexus 7, such as getting the exclusive Google Experience Launcher or hiding the navigation buttons for more screen space, or maybe you used one of the various Xposed mods we've covered.
Newsletters, subscriptions, and receipts are all necessary evils that come along with online services and shopping, and they take up a significant amount of space in a lot of people's inboxes. If you've ever signed up for an account on a website, chances are you've gotten an email from them.
These days, there is hardly a place in America that doesn't have access to the internet. But with web usage fees and ridiculous cell phone provider contracts, sometimes it's still necessary to go a little DIY when it comes to staying connected.
Having to read a bunch of articles and tweets everyday can be tiresome, but if you can have a sweet-ass personal assistant read them for you, you're pretty golden.
There's nothing worse than that feeling when you realize you've forgotten something important. Maybe you left an assignment sitting on your desk at home, or forgot to log out of your accounts on the shared family computer.
One of the roles our government has taken on is to provide us with information to be used in making decisions.
It's been a rough week for Instagram. First they came out with a new terms of service that suggested the right to let companies use people's photos for advertisements without the user's permission. Then everyone started freaking out and debating whether or not to leave the online photo-sharing and social networking service. Now, they've changed the controversial wording saying that the selling of user photos "is not true and it is our mistake that this language is confusing".
You can use Twitter to print Instagram photos, track news and weather events, or even remotely shut down your computer, and if you're familiar with IFTTT, there's no shortage of ways your account can help automate your life.