When it comes to live wallpaper for your Android device, the choices are pretty much limitless. Anything from a planet's elliptical orbit around the sun to a school of fish swimming across your screen are just a click and a download away. With the advancement of smartphones, live wallpapers have greatly improved. What once used to be a bit of snow falling down the screen has now evolved into very complex animations, with some that are even susceptible to your interaction with them.
Google Now is an extremely intelligent personal assistant that automatically updates and prepares the most pertinent information for you on your Android device. Traffic updates, alternatives routes, weather conditions, and other important data is constantly being monitored and updated for you.
Erasing everything off of your phone and starting anew is a pretty drastic step to take for a little glitch. For most people, system restoring is a last resort option, but there are a few reasons to want or need to restore your device to factory settings.
The new 007 film, Skyfall, comes out this Friday, and dreams of becoming a super-spy have taken over my mind. Only I can't afford any of James Bond's awesome gadgetry or amazing cars—and you probably can't either.
Rooting your device gives you all-powerful administrative access to your phone and its system settings. Of course, with such power comes great responsibility, and sometimes that responsibility becomes to burdensome or just plain unnecessary.
Samsung's Galaxy Note and Note II phablets have been hailed for their large displays and responsive systems, making them ideal for gaming and movie watching. But if you've recently upgraded to Jelly Bean (Android 4.1) from Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0), you'll be sad to know that some Android devices running Jelly Bean no longer support Adobe Flash Player.
Recently, I wanted to share a large video file from my Nexus 7 to my friend's Samsung Galaxy S3, and even though he was standing right next to me, it was an extremely difficult and frustrating thing to do. Every single Nexus 7 tablet comes NFC equipped, so it can share files with other NFC-equipped devices just by tapping and holding them together. With both NFC and Android Beam enabled, sharing a small file between two devices should be fairly simple.
I'll give Samsung credit where it's due—the stock keyboard on the Galaxy S5 is actually pretty nice. There's a dedicated number row that resides at the top (something that the Google Keyboard needs a hack to achieve), and various settings exist to make switching between languages a breeze.
An average of 140,000 hard drives crash in the United States each week, according to online backup service Mozy. Additionally, 70 percent of Americans have lost a laptop, smartphone, or tablet, and the average person now loses 1.24 devices each year—less than half of which are ever recovered.
Another year, another battle between Samsung and Apple. We recently saw what Samsung is bringing to the table this year with the release of the Galaxy Note 10+, and now it's Apple's turn. For those who want a truly large device, Apple is offering the iPhone 11 Pro Max. Let's see how they match up.
Despite its battery issues, the Samsung Galaxy Note7 is one impressive piece of machinery. Packed to the brim with loads of RAM, a top-notch GPU, and one of the best processors on the market, this thing should be able to zip through any task you throw at it with lightning-fast speed.
Normal wear and tear, combined with unfortunate accidents, can take a toll on any smartphone leading to scratches, cracks, and breaks that can leave physical buttons useless. One of the first buttons to usually go is the power button, since it's the main way to turn your phone (and screen) off and on.
The newest version of Android, 4.4.2 KitKat, is making its way onto AT&T Samsung Galaxy S4s right now. Itching to try out the latest that Google has to offer? Keep an eye on your status bar for a notification letting you know that a system update is ready.
While browsing the internet on your Samsung Galaxy S4, you've probably scrolled to the bottom of a very long webpage, Twitter feed, or down into the abyss of some other app. Depending just how far down you've scrolled, it can be a test of your patience (and fingertips) scrolling back up to the top.
Introducing a unique way to share photos and videos among friends and family, Snapchat was the big hit of 2013 (despite its many flaws). Thanks to its ephemeral nature and lack of third-party sign-in integration, it quickly grew into a multibillion-dollar company in the span of just 12 months.
When we're dead tired but need to stay awake, we humans can do many things to make the drowsiness go away, from taking a cold shower to downing energy drinks or coffee to acupressure.
With CyanogenMod 10.2 recently released and the Samsung Galaxy S4 still waiting on Android 4.3, it only makes sense that the coveted features from both firmwares are highly desired by Android owners all over. We've already brought you a feature from each firmware—the cLock home/lock screen widget from CyanogenMod and the Google Play Edition Camera and Gallery from Android 4.3. Now we're bringing you another in the form of an updated text messaging application, ported from both Android 4.3 and...
I'm constantly browsing the web, taking pictures, and playing games on my Samsung Galaxy Note 2, but there's one thing that I'm always doing—playing music. No matter what I'm doing on my smartphone, I'm always playing my music in the background at the same time.
While the legality of secretly recording phone calls varies in each country, sometimes it's useful to have audio documentation of conversations you have on your Samsung Galaxy Note 2.
I've been on a customizing kick over the past few weeks, showing you sweet mods for your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 like interactive live wallpapers, app and settings backgrounds, status bar tweaks, and more. But, I'm not done yet. There's still plenty to softMod on your Note 2, and today I'm going to show you how to customize your Quick Settings toggles.
While it may not always be practical, controlling your smartphone with air gestures can be pretty awesome. I would bet that if someone in public saw you using gestures to maneuver through your device, they'd be pretty impressed—and also kind of creepy for watching you.
While we're usually responsible for leaking our own private information through mediums like Facebook, there are other times when we mistakenly and unwillingly allow certain applications to scour through our personal data. Some apps may have enabled permissions for internet access, thus allowing it to share said data with its external servers.
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...
While the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 has an integrated LED for notifications, it only works for a few things, like charging and low battery, and it only flashes two main colors (red and blue) when the screen's off. As someone that usually has their phone on silent or vibrate, it's hard to tell when I receive important messages or notifications. Sure, I could set a specific vibration or ringtone for individual apps, but that can quickly get annoying and distracting, especially at work or school.
With its awesomely enormous size, the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 can at times be difficult to navigate when you only have one hand free—especially if you have really small hands.
When you have to take four different freeways to go twelve miles, Google Maps becomes a very close and dear friend—especially in Los Angeles. Without my trusty Samsung Galaxy S3, I seriously don't know if I could make it back home half of the time. Of course, you'd probably get better directions using a Garmin, TomTom, or other GPS device, but when you already have a smartphone like the GS3, dedicated GPS units become nothing more than a luxury item.
Last month, Alexander Heit drifted into oncoming traffic after being distracted from the road. His sudden correction forced his vehicle to roll and flip over. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital shortly thereafter. All because of a freaking text message. He was only 22 years old.
Samsung does a good job of making their devices fairly open, and the Galaxy S3 is no different. There are numerous way to root a device, but sometimes the jargon and steps can be a little intimidating for new rooters, and even pro rooters.
It's all about widgets. Widgets are one of the most important features on an Android phone—they can provide valuable information at a glance and are easily customizable.
The advantages of rooting have been covered before, and with rooting comes flashing ROMs and mods to your device. The easiest method for flashing anything is to do it through recovery.
While many of the U.S. carriers have updated their Samsung Galaxy S3 devices to Android 4.1.2 already, one major absence from the upgrade is Samsung's Premium Suite. One of the coolest features from the Premium Suite is Multi-View, a function that lets you truly multitask by running two apps at the very same time—right next to each other. As you can see above in the left image, I have both Pandora and Spotify running. Why? Because why not?!? On the right, I have YouTube on top and Maps on the...
The newest firmware update for Android, Jelly Bean 4.1.1, has been out for a while now, but not every device has gotten it yet (some never will). One popular device that has recently gotten it is the Samsung Galaxy S III, only they'll be pushing the update out overseas during the next couple weeks, with the UK already seeing Jelly Bean from the cellular provider Three (if you're on Three, see how to update your device here). Unfortunately, stateside users will have to wait a bit longer. There...
The Guardians of the Galaxy have to be the most fun superhero team to have at a Halloween party. They dance, they break the rules, and they definitely have the grooviest music. So the Guardians are a great bunch to pick from for your Halloween costume — or even for a themed group costume. Just imagine the badass vibe when you all walk into a venue together with Star-Lord blasting "Cherry Bomb" from a portable speaker. Here's a roundup of some of the best Guardians of the Galaxy costume guides...
The Samsung Galaxy S8's almost bezel-less display is truly a sight to behold, especially when set to Immersive Mode. While transparent when on the home screen, the navigation and status bars on the S8 will often turn opaque depending on what app you're using at the moment. This, in turn, can detract from the overall experience when viewing anything from the S8's display, as the bars along the top and bottom of the screen bump the phone's aspect ratio down to lower levels.
For the most part, Google Play Music makes it extremely easy to upload and organize your music library, as well as access it quickly using the default settings—but there are a few things it could do better.
Improved S Pen functionality materialized in the form of Air Command controls on the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, allowing users to access shortcuts for their stylus features from anywhere on the screen. While the pie-interface controls are extremely useful, the only way to access them is when the S Pen is removed—making it impossible to use otherwise.
Adjusting the brightness on your Samsung Galaxy S3 can be a real pain sometimes. Each app you open may need a different amount of light to better optimize its use of the screen, and then you have to worry about it potentially eating up your battery life if it's too bright.
With millions of options to choose from in Google Play's expansive library of songs and albums, it can most definitely take a toll on the wallet after a while. As (slight) consolation, Google offers one free song a day, available for download straight from Google Play onto your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 or other Android device. Google's daily free song sure beats other services' free selections. Apple only offers one free single each week, and Amazon offers a decent selection of free songs from r...
Whether you're pressed against your bedroom window, hidden deep inside your linen closet, or lounging on the rooftop, finding that area of maximum Internet speed around your house is usually just trial and error. And when you finally find the sweet spot, apps like Speedtest.net can help you determine how fast your Wi-Fi or cellular connection is overall on your computer or smartphone, so you know your full capabilities. But, if you want to know exactly how fast your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is u...
I'm sorry your mom hates you now, but it's pretty hard to forgive someone who forgets to say "Happy Mother's Day." Your poor ole ma could've spent anywhere from 10 to 20 hours popping you out, so the least you could do is set aside two minutes every year to say thanks. If you live to be 90 years old, that's only 3 hours over your entire lifetime!
