First, they came for our Pokémon...now it's an emoji takeover. Adding to the flurry of Google related April Fool's Day jokes, Chrome for Android and iOS has a new hidden functionality: translating the web to emoji!
The little black status bar at the top of your screen is great for at-a-glance info, but let's face it—it's pretty ugly. If you want to hide it completely, only showing it when you need it, check out our guide on using Immersive Mode in KitKat. However, if you want to keep the at-a-glance convenience and have it blend in with your apps, try out Tinted Status Bar.
With the development kit fully open, the functionality of our Chromecasts seem to expand with each passing day. From a portable gaming system to your own personalized news station, our little gadgets have a lot going for them.
If you're a user of Google Play Music, but not a fan of being relegated to a browser tab, I've got you covered. Developer Sajid Anwar has created a desktop client for Google's music service, but since he made no attempt to hide logos and trademarks, it may not be long before the app vanishes completely. So get it while it's hot...and before Google takes it down.
A banner alert for notifications is like the Robin to our iPhone's Batman—they're taken for granted and don't really get the recognition they deserve. Yes, they can be disruptive at times, but just like Robin, they can be necessary for getting things done.
There are countless mods and apps for Android devices that give them an iOS-style look, but maybe it's about time we take some notes from Android, especially when it comes to the iOS 7 lock screen.
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.
Every day it seems like new information comes to light about how the National Security Agency creeps into our lives. Knowing that they can backdoor into our seemingly private devices is a scary thought, whether you have information to hide or not.
If you're really popular, like myself, then you're constantly receiving a steady flow of notifications on your Android device. This is either a nuisance, or a reassurance of your popularity. Sometimes you get too many notifications at one time to view, or you accidentally swipe an important alert away, rendering it lost forever.
As a preventative measure against exploitation, certain Android applications won't work if your device is rooted. Opening one of these apps that detects root will typically end up with a warning and an inability to access its features, like in the picture below. AS IF!
Here we go again, softModders, it's time for another awesome tweak for your iPod, iPhone, or iPod running iOS 7. Have you ever felt like changing your lock screen with a custom text instead of it saying "slide to unlock"? Why shouldn't we be able to edit this? We're not given much freedom as it stands with our Apple devices.
At the beginning of regular gameplay in Grand Theft Auto 5, you play the role of Michael robbing a bank in North Yankton with his accomplices—shooting police and evading a high-speed train in the process. While you do revisit North Yankton during regular gameplay in Los Santos, it's strangely unavailable for online play.
While ads certainly pay the bills (thank you guys, we love you), they can also be obtrusive and annoying when it comes to accessing and viewing content (not our advertisers though, they rule).
No matter your reason, if you want to hide what's on your computer screen from prying eyes, there are plenty of ways to do it. You can get a privacy filter, install a panic button for your browser, or just develop super fast reflexes. But all it takes is the right angle or a too-slow reaction to blow your cover.
Back in iOS 6, deleting individual text messages in a conversation was just a matter of tapping the edit button on the right-hand corner of the thread, selecting which texts to delete, and then pressing delete.
Personally, my favorite new feature in iOS 7 is the Control Center. With it, you can very quickly and efficiently access popular and much used settings, such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, brightness and more—all with one simple swipe.
With the camera usually being pretty simply in the past iOS versions, iOS 7 has seen a few major changes—built-in filters, Instagram-ready square photographs, zoom-in during video recording, and more.
During today's press event at the company's headquarters in Cupertino, California, Apple announced that iOS 7 will come bundled with several new ringtones—something that has stayed relatively static the past few years.
While there were many highlights during Apple's keynote address at WWDC this year, the new advancements to the sassy personal assistant Siri in iOS 7 were amongst the most talked about—and something I was eager to test drive myself. Currently, there are ways to improve Siri in iOS 6, like making her play Spotify music or adding more commands, but those aren't easy tasks.
Panoramic live wallpapers for the iPhone? If the first beta version of iOS 7 is indicative of the imminent public release of Apple's revamped mobile operating system, the answer is a resounding yes.
With the majority of smartphone carriers no longer offering unlimited data plans for the iPhone, monitoring how much mobile data you use is a key element to saving money on your phone bill.
Sharing just got a whole lot easier in the new iOS 7. Apple has decided to integrate AirDrop, the local vicinity file-sharing service found in Mac OS X, into the latest version of iOS.
With all the little improvements that Apple made to iOS 7, some older features have been changed or moved (and sometimes, it's not obvious).
I find that little annoyances are always far more irritating than their larger counterparts, especially if there's no obvious way to get rid of them.
Most of us have a designated spot where we like to charge our devices, but no one likes to look at a giant, tangled mess of cords. That's why inductive chargers are so awesome. They allow for wireless charging, and are a lot easier on the eyes. But what if you don't even want to leave the charging module sitting out? This relatively simple hack by YouTube user lobbamobba lets you hide the charging module inside a nightstand or other piece of furniture so that you can juice up your device with...
Even though it seems like forever, the phenomenon of "rickrolling" has only been around since 2007. It was started as an inside joke by a 19-year-old who just wanted to troll his buddies, but ended up becoming one of the Internet's most popular memes with over 66 million views (as of this writing).
Last week, the whole world ushered in the new year, celebrating the start of 2013 with family and friends, and of course, that little thing we like to call alcohol. But just because New Years Day is over doesn't mean the party is. And surely, there will be some assholes out there that will drink and drive this year. It happens. So, how can you make sure you're not one of those assholes?
Feeling nostalgic for Super Mario Kart, but don't want to fire up the old Super Nintendo? Never fear, with a free Flash-based emulator called SNESbox, you can relive the 90s and play all your favorite games right from your browser, without having to install anything. With 1,861 games, if there's something made for the Super Nintendo that you want to play, they almost certainly have it. Sure, there are tons of emulators you can use, but SNESbox is different in that it gives you the ability to ...
Christmas sweaters are one of those anomalies that everyone complains about, yet so many are sold every year that someone has to like them (kind of like fruitcake). Whether you're keeping tradition for tradition's sake, or secretly you actually enjoy ugly sweaters (we won't tell anyone), why not at least make this year one to remember?
Inductive charging has been around since the days of Nikola Tesla, but it has yet to be integrated into a lot of popular devices. This is partially because it's slower and more expensive than methods that involve direct contact.
As enjoyable as Facebook can be at times, it can also be a great distraction and even better deterrent of getting work done. A quick "Oh, let me check my notifications" can turn into hours and hours of Facebooking, and before you know it, you're already on your 7th Wikipedia page, all thanks to that status your friend posted. The reason I mention this is because Firefox's new 17.0 update includes many features, but the one that's been making the rounds online is the integration of Facebook Me...
The most recent update for Android's Jelly Bean has some pretty cool new features, like better panoramic photos, gesture typing, and wireless sharing. From a security standpoint, though, the best new feature is the ability to add multiple users to one device. You can create up to 8 different accounts on Android tablets like the Nexus 7 or Nexus 10, so besides saving time hiding or protecting sensitive data, it could also save you some money. You can share a device with your family, kids, or s...
So, you've got Windows 8 now, but what about all of those keyboard shortcuts that took you years to memorize? Just because Windows 8 is geared more toward touch interactions, doesn't mean keyboard shortcuts are gone—they're just a little different.
There are a lot of ways you can use pumpkins to decorate for Halloween. Of course, there's always the traditional jack-o'-lantern, but if you want to step it up a bit, you can make them glow in the dark, or put them to work for you by turning them into surveillance pumpkins to catch pranksters who prefer the 'trick' in 'trick-or-treat.'
It always sounds like a good idea to throw a party... until the party gets there. Next thing you know, you're running around hiding anything breakable, and once everyone leaves, you're stuck cleaning up the mess. But the worst part is footing the bill for everything, and if you don't charge at the door, your chances of getting anyone to chip in are slim to none once the party starts.
A hidden feature residing in Mac OS X Mountain Lion is the ability to view and also reply to your friend's tweets through the Contacts application, previously known as Address Book. The only way to do this, though, is to provide your Twitter account login data to the Contacts app. To integrate your Twitter, just go to System Preferences, then click on Mail, Contacts & Calendars and choose Twitter. Put in your Twitter login information and then click on Update Contacts. Twitter will use your e...
You can do a lot with water guns. Have trouble waking up? Make a water gun alarm clock that (almost) no one could sleep through. Prefer real ammo? Turn your water gun into an airsoft BB gun. And if you don't have one, you can even make your own.
Earlier this week, we learned that you can get people to put more money in a tip jar simply by drawing eyes on it. But what if you want to keep them away from something? Eyes can do that, too, especially when they're Putin's.
Yesterday, we pointed out that hackers could remote-wipe certain Android-based Samsung smartphones like the Galaxy S III using a USSD exploit. All they have to do is hide a small code into any webpage or text—even barcodes—then once you click on it, the phone resets to factory settings in a matter of seconds. The video below shows just how easy it is.
There's nothing better or more rewarding in the tech world than finding a hidden feature on your favorite app, and that app today is Netflix. If you've updated Netflix lately on your Apple or Android device, you can now use it to control the Netflix app on your PlayStation 3. This will work on any iPad, iPhone, iPod touch running iOS 5 or higher. Android smartphones, the Kindle Fire, and the Nook tablet require Android OS 2.3 (Gingerbread) or higher. All other Android tablets will need Androi...
