With the rise of smartwatches and wearables, you'd almost expect to need one to get a heart rate reading. While these devices can be helpful, not everyone has or wants to wear a gadget all the time to track their BPM. Luckily, when you combine Google Fit with a popular third-party heart rate measuring app, it will make things easy for you.
The Pixel 4 is one of the most talked-about phones of 2019, so you know there will be lots of third-party developer support. Mods are already popping up, so you'll want to get Magisk installed as soon as possible to get root access. The current method used to gain root is the quickest way yet, thanks to the recent TWRP custom recovery support for the Pixel 4.
One of the best things about Android is being able to control everything you want, from your wallpaper down to the default apps you use for every action. Changing the default SMS app from the one that came with your device can drastically alter your messaging experience. Many SMS apps have loads of themes to pick from while also offering other features you can't find anywhere else.
Unlike some of the popular app lockers out there, a nifty app fittingly named App Hider completely erases apps, files, and their associated footprints from your smartphone. Think of App Hider as a micro-OS within your smartphone's system. This miniature ecosystem can operate copied apps independently, thus giving it an unprecedented layer of privacy and freedom within your handset.
Things are a bit more organized in Apple Reminders, so the cluttered mess that it once was is no more in iOS 13. The slapped-together feel in older iOS versions was the main reason I never used it that much, but the updated version for iPhone has finally got me hooked.
The OnePlus 7 Pro is an outright beast. From the highly rated display with minimal bezels to the 90 Hz refresh rate, there's no denying this phone is great for gaming. Although not explicitly marketed as a gaming phone, it seems OnePlus unintentionally created one by cramming in great specs and game-friendly software features like Fnatic Mode.
Samsung has the Bixby key, Pixels have the Google Assistant squeeze gesture. It's nice having a hardware button just for your assistant so you don't have to say "OK Google" or press an on-screen button. If your phone doesn't have such a shortcut, though, you can remap an existing hardware button to trigger the Google Assistant.
Some of the Pixel 3's coolest features are software related, which means you can get many of them on non-Pixel devices. "Flip to Shhh" is a perfect example of this. It lets you quickly put your phone into do not disturb mode by placing it face down, and this can be replicated on other Android phones with the help of a simple app.
OnePlus has purposefully made their devices easy to root so that you can spend less time waiting and more time doing. These phones are a solid choice for anyone looking to dive into the rooting and modding scene. Using the same principles that Google has with the Pixel line, you can always be sure your OnePlus 7 Pro will get first-class treatment from launch day and beyond.
The OnePlus 7 Pro is truly the best phone that the company has ever created to date — it's even one of the hottest phones around regardless of OEM. It offers an awesome display with minimal bezels, a smooth 90-hertz refresh rate, a pop-up selfie camera, and the best triple camera system in a OnePlus phone so far. It can truly compete with other flagship phones while keeping the cost down.
Niantic's Harry Potter: Wizards Unite offers players an augmented reality look into the world of witchcraft and wizardry. The Wizarding World and Harry Potter novel series is full of unique and interesting characters, which is why it makes sense that Wizards Unite offers you to take the role of one of three "Professions" — Auror, Magizoologist, and Professor. The question is, which one do you pick?
The first thing you'll always have to do before getting your customization game on with most phones is to unlock the bootloader. Doing so opens the true potential of the device, allowing you to root, install TWRP, Magisk, custom ROMs, and other mods. No matter your wants or needs, there's no way around it — the bootloader must be unlocked to modify the system.
If you've been paying attention to the smartphone industry, you've certainly noticed a rise in dark mode lately. With most phones now sporting OLED panels, which use less power to display darker colors, users have been begging developers to include a dark theme in their apps. Lately, Google has been happy to oblige.
To bring things up to code with a new FCC standard, Android recently added an "Emergency broadcasts" feature that will make your smartphone notify you whenever a potential safety threat or Amber Alert is posted in your area. Even if you have your phone set to silent, these emergency alerts will cause your device to emit a loud, piercing sound when a potential threat is nearby.
If you record yourself for a vlog or story post using your selfie camera, it can be challenging to stay on message. You might worry too much about the way you look or sound to focus on what you want to say. Using a script can help, but looking away from the camera to read is unprofessional, even on social platforms like Instagram. What you need is a teleprompter, and there are apps for that.
Bloatware remains one of the biggest problems with Android, especially when tied to a carrier. Removing bloatware usually requires you to take extreme measures like rooting. Unfortunately, the Galaxy S10 falls under this annoying umbrella, but there's an easy workaround.
There are many ways to send and receive money on PayPal. You can use an email address, a phone number, or a PayPal.Me link, but if you're standing right next to the person you're trying to pay or get digital cash from, the easiest way, by far, is to use QR codes.
When it comes to customizing Android, there's nothing quite like Magisk. You can potentially combine dozens of modules to create a one of a kind user experience tailored to you, but not all modules will work well together. You might run into a bootloop by accident once in a while, which could cause some issues on its own.
Gboard has come a long way from its roots as the "Google Keyboard" in the earlier days of Android. It's now the most popular, feature-rich, and useful keyboard app on the market. Google even includes quite a few themes right out of the box for Gboard — but what if you could have even more?
The YouTube app will default to 480p playback when you first open a video. It's supposed to switch to your screen resolution a few seconds in, but this isn't always the case. The regular YouTube app doesn't let you change this behavior, but like most things with Android, there is still a way.
With an iPhone that includes a digital eSIM option aside its standard Nano-SIM card, you can have two cellular service accounts. One can be your primary line with your main wireless carrier, and the other can be from your main carrier or another provider. The eSIM account can be prepaid or postpaid as well as data-only, which is great for traveling. But which wireless providers support eSIM?
Update February 25: The new Sony Xperia flagship has been announced, and it has a new name: The Sony Xperia 1. You can read all of the official specs and details at our full article on Sony's new model.
Haptic feedback and vibration of our smartphones have come a long way in recent years. These features are much more premium now than they once were, but most users are still unable to adjust the intensity for notifications or phone calls. Most higher-end devices make less noise on surfaces than in the past, but adjusting these values can still come in handy even today.
Many apps claim to record phone calls on Android, but very few actually deliver. There's just too many different devices floating around out there for one app to be able to support them all — or so it would seem.
Despite its fifth-place finish in our ranking of the best transcriber apps on iOS, Voicera is still worth highlighting due to numerous factors that set it apart from the crowd. Besides being completely free to use on both iPhone and Android, the app's AI-based transcription service performed extremely well in our testing.
As a longtime Android user, one of the changes I was most excited about with Android Pie was the fact that the volume rocker finally controls media volume by default. However, the new way isn't ideal for everyone, but thankfully, there's an app that can change it back.
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.
With the release of Android 9.0 Pie, Google's focusing on digital health. Digital Wellbeing is a new set of features designed to help you curb your own smartphone addiction. Starting now, the beta version is available, and Google's looking for testers.
When BlackBerry made the move to Android OS, they were aware of the limitations it presented. Unlike with BB10, they didn't create the operating system and would have to deal with the vulnerabilities already included. As a result, they added numerous security enhancements, and at the heart of this is DTEK.
Samsung's Good Lock app has has breathed much needed life into its TouchWiz UI by giving us the ability to customize our Galaxy phones in ways that previously would've required root or a custom ROM. One companion app in particular even lets you personalize your lock screen to set it apart from the rest of the crowd.
A revamped Recent Apps overview is one of the most significant changes set to arrive with Android P when it touches down later this year. Incredibly, Samsung has beaten Google to the punch, and has made this feature available for all its Oreo-based Galaxy handsets courtesy of its Good Locks app.
When you hear people say the iPhone "just works," it's because of all the finishing touches Apple adds to iOS. A perfect example of this is the new QR-scanning feature in iOS 12 — by tapping a single button in the iPhone's Control Center, you can scan a QR code within seconds.
Thanks in large part to our phones, many of us don't get the recommended eight hours of sleep. In Android Pie, Google introduced a feature called "Wind Down" that aims to help combat this. However, thanks to a creative app developer, we don't need to wait for Android 9.0 to enjoy this feature.
Android lets you sync your contacts across devices. The OS will use not only contacts saved on your phone, but also your Gmail. This choice can lead to a contacts list populated with entries that don't have a phone number, which can quickly add up. To mitigate this problem, there are a few methods.
Soon, you'll be able to buy your OnePlus 6, but you can experience some of its apps today thanks to XDA user erayrafet, who ripped a few OxygenOS apps like Weather and this Gallery app. While Google Photos is a great service, this Gallery app should be your go-to app for locally-stored photos.
One of the better additions in the stock Android launcher is the Google Now page. Residing to the left of the home screen, this page presents a host of information based on the user's interests, which Google bases on analyzed data. Recently, the Google Now page design received a makeover which Nova Launcher users can now enjoy.
PUBG is continually getting better and more intuitive with each update, and version 0.4.0 is no exception. Besides a new training map to help you practice and a faster-paced arcade mode for on-the-go gaming, the newest version of PUBG now includes a feature that exclusively caters to iPhones from the 6S on up.
Chrome is the browser of choice for millions of iPhone and Android users, largely thanks to its user-friendly interface and native Google support. But with concerns over sharing private information with massive companies growing, many people are starting to want a little less Google integration in Chrome.
When you leave your iPhone on a table or anywhere within somebody else's eyeshot, a private message may pop up on your lock screen that could be read by anyone who sees it. But there's a way to keep others from reading your possibly sensitive text messages and emails without giving up the convenience of lock screen notifications entirely.
Carrier-branded Galaxy S9 models come with a ton of bloatware that you usually can't get rid of without rooting. With a little digital elbow grease, however, there is a way to disable bloatware on your S9 or S9+, and it's a lot safer that attempting to root and modify you precious device.
