Instagram is all about sharing and interacting with others, but sometimes we hide in the shadows and lurk. Whether their ex-lovers, current crushes, former high school classmates, or future coworkers, we silently view their content without them knowing. You can deny it all you want, but we've all lurked at one time or another.
As far as customization goes, there's nothing you can do to change the look and function of the Control Center on your iPhone. By default, you can't alter the system toggles, but if your device is jailbroken, it's a completely different story. With the help of a tweak from developer plipala, called CCSettings for iOS 8, you can add, remove, and rearrange your Control Center toggles.
One of my favorite new additions to iOS is the ability to view battery usage stats on a per-app basis, which is helpful in knowing exactly which apps are taking up all of my iPhone's battery life. If you jailbreak iOS 8 on your device, you can take Apple's stock battery stats feature even further to give you details on how those apps are actually using the battery.
While the "Hey, Siri" feature in iOS 8 is useful for hands-free multitasking, you can only use the command when your device is actually charging.
Keeping a close eye on your device storage can be a 24/7 job, especially if you're space is filling up and your device doesn't have SD card support. No matter how close of an eye you keep on it, there are always going to be apps updating databases, adding to their cache, and deleting old files.
With the Power key located on the back of the device, LG included a convenient "double-tap to sleep" function in their G2 and G3 devices. The function allows users to simply double-tap the display to put their device to sleep instead of picking it up and pressing the Power key.
Shortly after Apple's iOS 8.0.1 update fiasco ruined many iPhone users' cellular reception (which was fixed with iOS 8.0.2), developers were treated to the first beta release of iOS 8.1, which will be the next big update for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch.
One of the easiest ways to adjust brightness on an Android device is to use the slider found in the notification shade. Unfortunately, for some odd reason, the Sprint variant of the LG G3 does not have this feature.
The Billboard Charts have been a measurement of commercial success for pop songs since roughly the time that radios became a household item. In its modern form, Billboard ranks the sales and performance of all singles with its "Hot 100" chart, as well as many other genre-specific rankings.
Google's Chromecast streaming device is a marvel of functionality and form. Even with powerful features such as screen mirroring and collaborative party playlists, it's the device's idle screen that first catches the eyes of most folks.
Oddly enough, stock Android does not come with a "do not disturb" function out of the box. Samsung has their own version built into to TouchWiz called "Blocking Mode," and Apple has had their "Do Not Disturb" feature since iOS 6, so why is stock Android so late to the game?
If you've done any root-level hacking or modding on any of your previous Android devices, you're probably well familiar with Rovo89's famous Xposed Framework.
Whether you are just starting or returning to college, or have already been out in the real world for some time, it's always a good idea to stay on top of your game by keeping your intellect sharp. While it may be easy to just sit in front of your TV, watching reruns of The Big Bang Theory, why not use that time to brush up on some chemistry, calculus, or general learning strategies?
Jotting down notes is something we all do, and with the convenience of Google Keep, it is easier than ever to have them synced across all your devices.
For some reason, when you're typing in landscape mode, Android extends the text input field to cover every bit of the screen that the keyboard's not occupying. This gets pretty annoying sometimes, especially with messaging apps where you might need to reference what the other person just said in order to properly form your response.
Finding a unique wallpaper can be extremely difficult, and even the most dynamic wallpapers become exhausted and boring to look at after a while. Searching for new, interesting wallpapers can become a tedious task, so instead, let's just make our own instead.
Much like the high volume warning, there are various minute features on Android that users either hate or just find annoying. Thankfully, there are developers out there that sympathize. It may seem frivolous, but one feature that a lot of people want eliminated is the screen waking whenever a charger is plugged in.
Even though there are over 1.3 million apps available for Android, we normally confine ourselves to a select few for day-to-day usage. With an average of 41 apps installed per user, most apps on our smartphones lay idle for the majority of the time we spend using them. Instead, we find ourselves constantly coming back to that small set of apps that meet almost all of our needs.
It's hard to believe it's already been a year since I was frantically searching every Best Buy in the Los Angeles metropolitan area to find one with a Chromecast in stock.
On a recent trip to Palm Springs, I found myself navigating with Google Maps and virtually exploring my destiniation using its built-in Street View feature. The thing is, using Street View can make keeping track of your exact location difficult as you zoom in, out, and about. It's a little discombobulating.
Thanks to a recent back-end update to Google's Search app, every KitKat-running device can use "Okay, Google" from within any app—even the lock screen. However, the default settings for the OnePlus One's mic leave it unable to detect your voice unless you have it right up to your face. That isn't a good look for anyone, but thankfully there is an easy fix to get this working correctly.
Podcasts have been around and popular for close to a decade now. For the uninitiated, podcasts are like radio shows that can be downloaded directly from the web and listened to on any device. Up until now, only paid apps allowed podcasts to be casted via Chromecast, but with the latest update to Xavier Guillemane's Podcast Addict, you can now do the same thing for free!
For any multitude of reasons, some apps require you to be connected to Wi-Fi in order to function properly. This could be because they would rather you have a stable connection to enjoy their content, or that they don't want users complaining about the amount of data being guzzled from carrier data plans.
Unless you are or know a developer, you'll have to wait until sometime in September for the official iOS 8 to hit your iPad or iPhone. However, that doesn't mean you can't get some of iOS 8's new features on your iOS 7 device right now. For example, the new Notification Center, which I'll show you how to install below.
Google I/O, the national developer conference for the Mountain View giant, has come and gone. We saw the preview for Android L (which you can get right now on your Nexus 5 or Nexus 7), Android Wear, and Android Car and TV.
You suck at karaoke. Most of us do, but that doesn't stop any of us from hitting up the karaoke bar. It's not about who sounds best; there's American Idol for that. It's about having a great time without incurring negative judgement; the worse you are the better time I'm having.
With the release of the M8, HTC decided to begin publishing some of its exclusive apps to the Google Play Store. While most of these apps aren't available for download unless you own an HTC device, this practice made it possible for the Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer to issue updates to its users independently of carrier-modified firmware upgrades.
Just in case you weren't aware, Google has more money than you and I will probably ever see in our lifetime, and now it seems that the search giant will be spending that money sending satellites into space.
Keeping track of your phone's battery life can quickly become a chore. Since no one wants to get stuck without a charge, we constantly find ourselves checking to see exactly what percentage remains.
When I first used the Google Now Launcher, I appreciated the transparency that came with it, and how it made the real look larger than it did before. But now that I'm used to it, that transparent navigation bar is beginning to look a little stale.
You've packed your own lunch and can't wait to get to the little vacuum-sealed cup of dessert you brought along. You keep rummaging in the bottom of the bag, searching for the spoon you're certain you packed…except you didn't. Uh-oh.
Utility tool apps provide extremely powerful and useful lightweight replacements for your parents' heavy archaic tools—everything from flashlights to tracking systems and more.
April Fool's has come early, with an update for Google's Maps application for both Android and iOS that's geared towards finding their next big hire: Pokémon Master.
One of the biggest issues I have with iOS 7 is the volume change indicator that pops up every time you adjust the volume of a playing a game or video. Its large, oafish demeanor blocks the entire middle of the screen for a couple seconds, obstructing your view.
Now that the Chromecast development kit has been out for over a month, more and more Android apps are being released or updated to work with the Chromecast.
This how-to article is about changing you Mac icons. It goes into detail on how to make your dock icons a different image, like your favorite sports team or just a cool looking image.
There are a lot of cool new features in iOS 8 that weren't available in previous iOS versions, but it's still lacking overall in terms of customization.
Jotting quick notes can be a pain. There have been countless occasions where I've needed a pen and paper to quickly write something down, but either didn't have them near me or was doing something on my phone and neglected to remember.
Keyboards tend to get overlooked as we rapidly text or type up emails, but when we do find the time to look at it, it's pretty bland. That's why we showed you how to spruce things up with a dark keyboard on your iPhone, which served as my default keyboard...until now.
Back when 4.1 Jelly Bean came out (boy, how time flies), Android introduced expandable notifications. Depending on the notification, a simple swipe down with your finger could expand it and show extra content, like Delete and Reply buttons for Gmail messages.
