If you've got an Android phone, you may have wondered if there is a way to manually update your Android applications. There is and it's fairly easy to do. So easy, in fact, that this video guide from Butterscotch can present a complete, step-by-step overview of the process in just under two minutes. For complete instructions, and to get started updating the applications on your own Android phone, take a look.
Are you getting little jealous of all those Droid users out there? If so, check out this clip. In it, you will learn how to hack your jailbroken iPhone and install an Android style startup screen to take the place of your normal iPhone display. This will give your iPhone an updated look and make it look just like it came off the Android market.
Looking to game on your Android phone? Watch this video to learn how to get the game APK files onto your Android device. Download and install games on your Android device and spend the rest of your day having fun playing.
Trying to install an app on your Android smartphone that you got somewhere other than the Android market? You'll need to side load it. Watch this video to learn how to side load third party Android apps downloaded on your mobile device.
Concerned about unwanted eyes setting upon the information in your Android phone? This video will show you how to turn on the screen lock feature of your Android smartphone. Keep the information on your Android device to yourself with a lock screen.
Want to watch Netflix Watch Instantly on your Android device? Watch this video and follow these instructions to learn how to hack any rooted Android device with an APK to work with Netflix. Watch thousands of streaming movies and TV shows with your hacked Android tablet or smartphone.
Make your Android phone your own by customizing the wallpaper. You spend a lot of time looking at the screen of your Android device, so make sure you've got something easy on the eyes there. This video will show you how to set the wallpaper on an Android HTC Thunderbolt.
iPhone and Android both have a lot of great features. Enjoy the best of both worlds when you install Android lock on your iPhone. This is a great way to secure your iPhone. Use Android lock to get an extra layer of security.
If you're looking to get a faster Android phone without resorting to installing a custom ROM, check out this helpful video to learn seven tips for speeding up an Android smartphone. There are a number of easy adjustments to the standard Android settings that will make the phone seem much faster.
Get started on your new Android smartphone by installing some apps! This video will show you how to install apps to your Android cell phone by visiting the Android market and downloading them. You'll also learn how to remove an app from your phone.
If your phone has an A/B partition layout, there are two virtual hard drives that each contain a copy of Android. After every restart, it picks a partition to boot from, then the other lays idle. The idle partition can be overwritten with a new copy of the OS and it won't affect the active one. So the next time you reboot, it just switches partitions and it's as if you updated instantly.
An unfortunate byproduct of Samsung's One UI version of Android is redundancy, where you have the Google/AOSP way of doing things mixed with Samsung's methods at the same time.
If you haven't used a Samsung device in a few years, the Galaxy S20 series will be your first taste of One UI 2, the skin running on top of Android 10. Although One UI is on the heavier side, it has loads of exciting features that go beyond what's offered in stock Android.
OnePlus often introduces unique features that receive praise from the smartphone community. But they can sometimes change things up and confuse their users as well. Take dark mode, for example, which became a huge hit thanks to Android 10. Both Google and Samsung offer their dark mode settings in the same general location, but OnePlus took a slightly different approach here.
In older Android versions, you could flood your status bar with a wall of notification icons. But starting with Android 9, Google made it to where you can only see four icons by default, and it was mostly done to accommodate phones with notches. But Google's only notched phone is the Pixel 3 XL, so what if you have literally any other Pixel?
Disabling clunky, revealing link previews on Google Keep can serve multiple purposes. You know, those expanded versions of the same URL you pasted into your note, except duplicated, tacked onto the bottom of your note, and showing a preview picture. Removing these can help optimize your productivity formula.
Unless you've been hiding under a (moon) rock for the past month, you already know that Saturday, July 20 is the 50th anniversary of NASA's Apollo 11 lunar landing.
When new Android versions come out, the modding community has to find new ways to root the OS. It's a fun cat and mouse game to follow, but it also means the process of rooting isn't exactly the same as it was the last time you did it. Android 10 changes how root works on a system level for some devices, but luckily, the developers are already on top of things.
While browsing the web on a computer, most of us are familiar with using Ctrl + F (or Command + F) to search for a specific word on a page — but what if you want to do that on mobile? If you're using Google Chrome, there's a simple way to search for specific words on iPhone or Android.
Google is going all in with Childish Gambino as its musical champion for augmented reality, as the duo has now dropped its second AR collaboration of the year.
Many of our online accounts now come with an added two-factor authentication (2FA) functionality to help keep our data safe. This essentially means no one would be able to access the account until a specific set of requirements were met. It could be a combination of a password with a security key or even a passcode with some form of biometrics, like a fingerprint or face scan.
For those of you who like to frequently change the icon shapes on your home screen, the process has changed in Android 10. The setting is buried and now applies to more than just home screen icons.
The word on the street is Android users want a dark mode. With the increased usage of AMOLED panels on smartphones (including some midrange devices), there is a considerable demand for dark themes and their battery saving benefits. Recently, Nova just added the feature to Google Discover.
Unlike past Pixel releases, it appears Google isn't done with their current lineup. Rumors have it that Google plans to put out two new phones that act as budget variants for their existing devices. And based on the leaks, it looks like one of these variants might be better than its non-budget counterpart.
Owning digital movies has many advantages over physical discs, such as easy access and a variety of online stores you can turn to for good deals. There's Prime Video, iTunes, Vudu, and the list goes on. However, this leads to fragmented video libraries, unlike DVDs and Blu-rays which can be stored together. Surprisingly, YouTube is one app that can help consolidate your collection online.
Group chats in WhatsApp are great for communicating with multiple people at once, but that can be a blessing and a curse — any message you send will be seen by everyone, and that's not always ideal. Thankfully, there's a new feature that lets you respond to group messages privately.
After poor sales of the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, Google needs to reinvigorate its Pixel lineup, devices it's been pushing heavily over the last couple years. On May 7, Google had the eyes and ears of the technology industry at its Google I/O keynote, making it the perfect time to announce new devices that would attract a different crowd of users. Meet the Pixel 3a and 3a XL.
For the entirety of its existence, Snapchat has lived on mobile, but in its quest to lead the augmented reality industry, the company is now bringing those mobile AR experiences to desktops.
Ever-shrinking bezels and disappearing hardware buttons make for good looking phones, but they also increase the need for gesture controls. Android Pie comes with seven new swipe gestures, but if you don't have the update yet (or find its default gesture options to be lacking), you should take a look at the Microsoft Launcher.
Among a treasure trove of new developer information on the Lumin OS that Magic Leap recently published on its Creator Portal appears to be the official confirmation of the Magic Leap Mobile Companion App.
Note-taking apps are a dime a dozen on the Play Store. However, due to their inability to sync across devices, many can't compete with Google Keep. Mozilla decided to throw their hat in the ring with Notes by Firefox, and unlike others, their notes app syncs easily with one of the most popular browsers, plus it's encrypted.
For those of us who love to multitask, picture-in-picture mode is a godsend. The feature, introduced in Android 8.0 Oreo, lets you enjoy videos in a floating window overlaid on top of another app. However, while the OS does have native support, only a select number of apps support the feature.
Developers can now publish augmented reality experiences that are viewable through the experimental version of Chrome and ARCore.
When traveling or sightseeing, you may come across a landmark you can't quite identify and want to know what exactly it is and the history behind it. It could be a building, waterfall ... anything. If there are no signs around or they're in a different language, you'll have no idea what you're looking at. Fortunately, Google Photos can be your personal tour guide with the power of Google Lens.
Android Pie is bringing in plenty of changes, but the headlining feature is a set of navigation gestures like the iPhone X uses. With Android 9.0, you can now navigate through your phone using a total of seven new swipe gestures.
Privacy is a hot topic. In the wake of Facebook's data scandal, many want to safeguard their personal info. On the other hand, we all gain a certain amount of convenience by using services administered by huge companies like Google, Facebook, and Twitter. Google Assistant collects plenty of data, but you can easily check what is stored and delete items at will.
We regret to inform you the former king of third-party keyboards, Swype, has officially retired on both Android and iOS. A few weeks ago, we noticed Swype's mysterious disappearance from the iOS App Store but had hoped it was just pulled temporarily, not gone forever. Unfortunately, Swype is no more, but there's something that's ready to take its place for you on your phone.
After testing a series of Android 8.0 builds, Essential hit the reset button and jumped to Android 8.1 Oreo. The beta program didn't last long, as Essential has now released the official 8.1 update to the masses. The features from the 8.0 betas are all still there, plus a few goodies specific to the updated version. We'll highlight the standouts here.
When it comes to media players, few are more capable than VLC. With its extensive codec support, VLC is able to play almost any video file. Partly due to its open-source nature, features are constantly added. This trend has continued with a new update that added native Chromecast support.
The Pixel 2's camera is one of the best you'll find on an Android phone. Among its standout features is the incredible Portrait Mode, which Google accomplished with some impressive software processing. Thanks to a few clever developers, you can now enjoy the Pixel 2's Portrait Mode on your Galaxy S8 or Galaxy Note 8.
