Rooting usually means sacrifice. With most root methods, you lose access to apps like Netflix and Android Pay when SafetyNet gets tripped. More importantly, you lose the ability to accept OTA updates, forcing you to manually flash new Android versions. But there's a way around all of this if you root the right way.
Although the Galaxy Note 9 is an amazing phone, many members of the Android community won't even look at it. This isn't just because of the Samsung Experience skin, but the large amount of bloatware that comes with this device. However, with a little work, you can remove all of it.
For modders, there are few tools more important than TWRP. TeamWin's custom recovery makes flashing mods like Magisk, Xposed, and custom ROMs incredibly easy, and it lets you root your phone at the press of a button. On top of that, it can make complete backups of your phone in case you mess up. That's why, for Essential users, this should be the first mod you add.
If you've ever wanted to download YouTube videos directly to your iPhone, there's an easy solution — just update to iOS 12 and install Apple's new Shortcuts app. With the Workflow-replacement app, you can add a shortcut that lets you download any YouTube video you want, without needing to jailbreak or use shady third-party tools.
Android does a great job at multitasking. Split-screen mode and picture-in-picture are terrific at letting you manage more than one app at a time. But there are some limitations. For instance, when you're playing a video and you open a second video in split-screen, the first one pauses. Thankfully, Samsung has a fix for this.
Despite a very vocal distaste for Bixby, Samsung continues to push their voice assistant on customers. For many, the button is not only a waste, but placed perfectly for accidental presses. While it appears Samsung has no intention of giving up on Bixby, with the help of an excellent app, you can get rid of it yourself.
Having a dropped call can be incredibly frustrating, especially when you look down and see that your iPhone has full reception. While there's any number of issues that can cause this, one common and often overlooked issue is your iPhone failing to switch cell towers as appropriately needed.
Is your smartphone taking over your life? Do you need help putting your Pixel down at night? Well, update to Android Pie! Android 9.0 comes with Digital Wellbeing, a new tool to both help you understand your smartphone habits and perhaps step away from the apps, games, and notifications every now and then.
A team of academics from three different universities and two private companies have just discovered a new vulnerability that affects almost every Android device since 2012. The vulnerability is known as RAMpage, and it could be used to gain complete control over the device.
For a while, YouTube Red original content was a joke, lagging behind other services like Netflix and Hulu in terms of quality, so breaking down the paywall didn't seem necessary. However, with series like Cobra Kai turning heads, it's a good time to start using Red. Luckily, Android users can get all of this content for free, and without rooting.
Apple's goal with iOS 12 is to smooth out the problems with its famously flawed predecessor. Of course, change isn't for everyone, and by iOS 11.4.1, Apple had a pretty stable thing going. If you're not digging all the bugs and new features included in iOS 12, here's how to downgrade your iPhone back to iOS 11.4.1.
One of the latest trends in Instgram is breaking up larger videos into more digestible clips to use in stories. Stories max out at 15 seconds, making it a pain to show anything meaningful in that short time frame. Fortunately, you can virtually extend the duration of your Stories on both your iPhone and Android phone.
With much of the hype centered around its powerful cameras, it's easy to overlook the equally impressive audio capabilities of the Galaxy S9. After all, the S9 and S9+ are the first Samsung flagships to feature AKG-tuned stereo speakers, and that's not even mentioning all the software enhancements that help deliver rich, immersive sound in several different listening situations.
Now that ARCore is out of its developer preview, it's time to get cracking on building augmented reality apps for the supported selection of Android phones available. Since Google's ARCore 1.0 is fairly new, there's not a lot of information out there for developers yet — but we're about to alleviate that.
The default Camera app got a few more tricks up its sleeves when iOS 11 was released, and the best addition by far was the inclusion of a built-in QR code reader since that meant no more third-party apps just for QR code scanning. However, Apple's built-in QR code scanner did have a vulnerability at one point that would let hackers direct you to a compromised website without you even noticing it.
After setting up your phone, there are a number of things you should do immediately before download your favorite apps. Specifically, now that your data is on the device, you need to take steps now to ensure it's both protected and retained. Fortunately, most of these steps are a one-time process.
IFTTT is an application that allows you to automate certain tasks on your iPhone or Android. It can communicate with a myriad of apps and services on your phone by creating applets that perform actions automatically — actions you'd normally have to do manually. Finding those applets, however, can be a little difficult.
As cheesy as it sounds, #HODL became a thing for a reason. A lack of discipline when dealing with cryptocurrencies can lead to impulse buys and panic selling, and ultimately, depleted funds. Luckily, Coinbase has a way to safeguard your cryptocurrency savings to not only protect them against thieves, but to also help you resist the urge to sell off your investments.
Android used to have a notification ticker, but those days are long gone. Now, important new messages pop up on the top half of your screen with what's known as a "heads up notification." If you're in the middle of something, these popup notifications can be pretty annoying — luckily, it's pretty easy to turn them off.
As cryptocurrencies gain mainstream acceptance, it's not far-fetched to think that we'll one day be able to buy alt coins like Ripple (XRP) and Stellar (XLM) using debit cards and bank accounts. Until then, we'll have to rely on using bitcoins and ethereum to buy digital coins. Thankfully, depositing and withdrawing cryptocurrencies with Binance is relatively hassle-free.
Many people think antivirus apps are useless — why pay a subscription fee when most malware can be avoided with common sense? But the thing is, there were an estimated 3.5 million malicious Android apps discovered last year, with many of them making their way onto the Play Store. As this number continues to rise, can you truly depend on common sense to protect you?
Over the past month, we've spent significant time covering Samsung's Oreo Beta program, and the detailed list of features in Oreo is extensive for the Galaxy S8 and S8+. Many of you were upset when the Galaxy Note 8 was left out of the official Oreo beta program entirely, but we found a method to install a beta Oreo build right now on the unlocked and US variants if you'd like to give it a try.
The iPhone X is one of the most beautiful phones ever made, but the aesthetics stop just short of perfect due to one thing: That notch. It was a necessary evil since Apple had to incorporate a front-facing camera somewhere, plus it houses all the sensors for Face ID, but that doesn't change the fact that it looks a bit goofy.
The Watch Dogs video game series came out in 2014, enamoring audiences with the idea of a seemingly magical smartphone that could change traffic signals, hack web cameras, and even remotely control forklifts. This may sound like science fiction, but The Sonic uses a customized flavor of Kali Linux to allow you to unleash the power of Kali from any smartphone — all without the need to create a hotspot to control it.
Due to the overnight success of smartphones, millions of people are connecting with others. Currently, over 15 million text messages are sent every minute worldwide. Most of this communication is happening in the open where any hacker can intercept and share in the discussion unbeknownst to the participants. However, we don't need to communicate insecurely.
After numerous scandals like the Equifax data breach and the 2016 US election, cybersecurity has become a significant issue for Americans. Unfortunately, anytime we use our devices, we're open to a cyber attack — especially when we browse the web. However, there are ways that we can make it harder for hackers and data miners.
When you create a profile in Tasker, it will run a task as soon as all of the conditions in your profile are met. But what happens when the profile's conditions stop being met? By default, nothing will happen, but if you create an exit task, the automation tool will run that instead.
When it comes to modding Android, root gets all the glory, but a good custom recovery is really the only thing you need. Not only does it allow you to back up your entire phone, install flashable ZIPs, and load custom ROMs like LineageOS, but a custom recovery will even let you root your device. For years now, the only custom recovery worth mentioning has been Team Win's TWRP.
On the surface, iOS 10.2 might look the same as iOS 10.3, but there's one big difference between the two versions: iOS 10.2 can now be jailbroken! Jailbreaking your iPhone means gaining access to thousands of tweaks and mods which greatly enhance the iOS experience, so this is great news for the power users out there.
Remember the live fish wallpapers from iOS 9? They may be a fading memory at this point since Apple removed them all from the iPhone in iOS 11, but there is a way to get those fishies animated on your device again. They'll be live photos for your lock screen, which is as good as it will get until Apple lets us use all its live wallpapers, new and old, one day, which will probably never happen.
Sharing your Wi-Fi password is like giving an unlimited pass to snoop around your network, allowing direct access even to LAN-connected devices like printers, routers, and security cameras. Most networks allow users to scan and attempt to log in to these connected devices. And if you haven't changed the default password on these devices, an attacker can simply try plugging them in.
There are many great reasons to root your phone, but if you're not experienced with tools like ADB and Fastboot, it can seem like a daunting task. Fret not, because if you want to root your HTC 10, we're here to walk you through the process.
If you haven't been on any sort of social media all day — which I seriously doubt — then you might not have heard that today, June 30, is Social Media Day. It's been trending on Twitter, but has also been making appearances on Instagram and Facebook. While major influencers are talking up a storm about this, most people are simply asking "what is social media day?"
Apple gave the Messages app a massive makeover with iOS 10, with a slew of options that made iMessages on the iPhone a lot more fun. While not quite as comprehensive, iOS 11 builds upon that success and makes the app more user-friendly and all-inclusive.
The Galaxy S8's AMOLED display is prone to screen burn-in, particularly with the navigation and status bars. But hiding these bars would make it hard to navigate your phone — that's where Pie Controls come into play.
Earlier this year, Google rolled out the first developer preview build of Android O. The new version added tons of cool features, but the downside was the fact that you needed to use Fastboot to manually install the update if you wanted to try it out. Thankfully, things just got a lot easier.
Google's Pixel phones claimed the top spot in our ranking of the best phones for rooting, but they do have one drawback from a modder's perspective: Because of their A/B partition layout for seamless updates, the devices don't have official support for Magisk. Thankfully, though, developer goodwin has stepped in with a fix, so we can now get Magisk working on the Pixel and Pixel XL.
For many of us, pets are important family members. They give us loyalty, companionship, and comfort. Now, researchers have given us another reason to welcome them into the family: Babies from families with furry pets — the majority of which were dogs — had higher levels of two types of beneficial gut bacteria.
Unless you're experienced using the Linux terminal, running ADB and Fastboot commands can get confusing very fast. The problems often stem from having to hunt for various files — usually IMG or ZIP files that you need to mod your Android phone — and then move them to your platform-tools folder, which, depending on how you installed ADB in the first place, could be anywhere.
The Shadow Brokers, a hacker group known for its dump of NSA hacking tools in 2016, has just leaked their remaining set of data which implies that the NSA compromised SWIFT, the global provider of secure financial services, to spy on banks in the Middle East.
