News: Facebook Messenger Gets a Huge Update with New Filters & AR Features
Say goodbye to boring video chats over Messenger. Now the app is rolling out new features that can make any chat interesting and fun.
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Instagram 101: How to Break 1,000 Instagram Followers by Linking Your Other Social Media Accounts
I spent just about my entire weekend trying to break the 800, 900, and 1,000 levels of Instagram — because it's a game, y'all — by playing around with my follower count. I shamelessly manipulated my IG account in such a way that was extremely time consuming and left many of my friends pretty pissed off at me as I spent most of my time glued to my phone. (Sorry, friends. I know I'm obsessed.)
How To: Remove Yourself from a Tagged Photo on Instagram
Every morning I head on over to my gym to start storying away classes full of people dripping in sweat. This always makes me feel super awkward because it's not exactly the most photogenic time to take a picture, and if it was me, I would probably give that person a dirty look and hope they'd just eventually go away.
The Clone Wars: Snapchat's New Numbers Mean More Bad News for Troubled App
You were the chosen one, Snapchat! The new download numbers for the social media app show just how hard it will be to bring them back to the light after the rise of the Instagram empire.
News: Blippar Brings App-Free Augmented Reality to Web Display Ads
Mobile augmented reality developer Blippar has escalated the augmented reality advertising arms race, introducing a new rich media ad format that enables augmented reality experiences without a dedicated app.
News: Yo! Flash Back to the '90s with Pasted's New Collage App
Here's another workday distraction for all you social media lovers out there: Pasted, launching out of beta today on iOS, is a simple collage and photo editing app mixing iconic '90s imagery with a love of the The Shins.
News: Live-Stream Your AR Looks with ModiFace's New Makeup Platform for Facebook & YouTube
ModiFace, the makers of Sephora's Virtual Artist app which allows users to try on multiple different combinations of makeup through augmented reality, has just bumped up its augmented reality strategy. The company is now including a live-stream option for all those personal makeup trials you've been secretly admiring from the comfort of your own phone.
How To: Download High-Res Album Artwork & Detailed ID3 Tags for Your Android's MP3 Library
When you're an audiophile, managing music is a labor of love. Metadata, like artist names, album thumbnails, and genres, is attached to many digital audio files, though some of the songs in your library might not have such tags, and others may have missing or incorrect information.
News: The Washington Post to Start Using Augmented Reality to Tell Better Stories
The Washington Post believes augmented reality adds an extra layer to stories, and they're doubling down on that belief by adding in new AR features into their already popular "rainbow" news (iOS and Android) and Classic (iOS and Android) news apps.
How To: Set Default Volume Levels for Each of Your Bluetooth Accessories Individually
If you have multiple Bluetooth accessories, Android's volume system can be pretty annoying. For one thing, most phones reset to a "Safe Volume Level" every time you reconnect a pair of headphones, which means you'll probably need to turn up the volume once or twice a day. But even if your phone doesn't exhibit this obnoxious behavior, you might want your car's Bluetooth connection to be louder than, say, your home stereo or your wireless earbuds.
News: DAQRI's New Smart Glasses Made Tough for the Manufacturing Sector
DAQRI, a company mostly known for its odd but fun-looking industrial Smart Helmet, unveiled their new Smart Glasses product at CES 2017. Their smartglasses look like a strange attempt to answer the Microsoft HoloLens, and the price tag of $4,995 for the developer's edition reinforces that notion.
News: The Japanese Art Form That Turns Ordinary Dirt into Perfect Mud Spheres
People have been transforming mud into art, aka pottery, for thousands of years. This is not a new phenomenon, but often the finished product has a certain utilitarian aesthetic, such as a bowl or vase.
How To: Get the Pixel's Boot Animation on Any Android
As the first phones to be made by Google, the new Pixel and Pixel XL have several slick customizations that you won't find on any other Android device. There's tons of functional stuff like the new Google Assistant and a much-improved camera app, but also a few aesthetic tweaks to help class up the joint.
News: MIT's Temporary Tattoos Turn Your Skin into a Touchpad
We're inching closer towards the singularity—that point where technology advances to the steepest slope of the logistic function S-curve and simply skyrockets at a rate we've never seen before. Somewhere along the way, the line between humans and the tech we rely on will become blurred, and MIT's latest project might very well be a step in that direction.
How To: Get Android Nougat's New Boot Animation Right Now
Android Nougat came with a lot of new features, including a futuristic and sleek circle animation. When this article was originally published, it was rumored that the circular design would be used as the new boot animation in Android 7.0—but as it turns out, you'll only see this screen while you're installing a firmware upgrade or working with ADB.
How To: The Secret to Quick & Easy Italian Dinners Is Instant Ramen
Instant ramen makes me nostalgic for my college days, when a bowl of this cheap noodle soup was my go-to comfort food for many all-nighters.
How To: 10 Virtual Reality Apps to Get You Started with Google Cardboard
Virtual reality is all the rage these days, especially with devices like the Oculus Rift, Gear VR, and HTC Vive hitting shelves lately. But before any of those fancy, expensive headsets ever made it to the market, Google came up with a thrifty and inventive substitute in the form of Google Cardboard.
News: It Only Took Twitter 16 Hours to Make This Chatbot Racist
On Wednesday, Microsoft launched a chatbot on social media that learns from conversation, and trolls quickly taught it how to be a shameless, Nazi-loving bigot. Oh Internet, an opportunity for a Hitler joke never slips past you, does it? This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things
News: 'Metaphor' Exploit Threatens Millions of Android Devices—Here's How to Stay Safe
The Stagefright exploit, which allowed for malicious code to be embedded in files on your device, is now very real in the form of Metaphor. Developed by software research company NorthBit, Metaphor is their implementation of exploits to the Stagefright library, and when executed, can access and control data on your device.
How To: Unlock VLC's Hidden Jigsaw Puzzle Mode
The VLC media player just celebrated its 15th birthday in February 2016, marking a decade and a half of hassle-free video playback for hundreds of millions of users on virtually every major operating system. The free and open-source player is so powerful and easy to use that it has almost completely vanquished all would-be competitors in its rise to the top.
How To: Finally... A Standalone Google Play Music Client for Windows!
Google Play Music has been my go-to music service ever since its release. The free cloud storage for 50,000 songs and full access to Songza-powered radio stations make it a great music app, even without the $10/month streaming service.
How To: 6 Unique Android Launchers That'll Get You to Ditch Your Stock Home Screen
I'm often reluctant to use a home screen launcher other than the stock one on my Android. Once you're well acclimated with something, complacency sets in, welcoming change with much resistance. Well, my friends, I have seen the error of my ways...
News: The 5 Best Free File Managers for Android
One of Android's biggest strengths, when compared to other mobile operating systems is its open file structure. Google introduced a built-in file manager with Marshmallow that provides basic file management, but like with most apps on Android, there are alternatives. Third-party file managers are readily available, providing deeper access and control of all your files.
How To: Make an Easy Amazing Peach Cobbler
I love it when peaches are in season! It means it is cobbler time. This simple peach cobbler recipe will sure to impress your friends and family, it is super easy to make, and it is pretty darn cheap as well. Let's get baking!
How To: Clone Yourself Multiple Times in One Photo on Android
With platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat available for anyone to take advantage of, I'm all about differentiating from the mundane and repetitive images we see on social media everyday.
How To: Disable Lock Screen Album Art in Android Lollipop
Since version 4.4 (KitKat), Android has taken the album artwork for any song that's currently playing, as well as videos, podcasts, and other media, then used it as the background image for your lock screen. While many users have enjoyed this little tweak, others aren't quite as fond of it.
How To: Import, Transfer, & Password-Protect Photos & Videos on Your iPhone
Thanks to a couple of photoshopped images that made rounds across Twitter last year, iPhone users were duped into thinking that iOS 8 included a security feature that would lock individual apps. Of course, none of it ended up being true, but we covered other features and apps that could accomplish roughly the same thing.
How To: Float Videos from Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo, & Other Media Sites Anywhere on Android
We've previously covered an app called YouTube Floating Popup Player which let you watch YouTube videos anywhere on your Android device, but it has since been removed from the Google Play Store due to infringement of certain policies.
Advice from a Real Hacker: Why I'm Skeptical That North Korea Hacked Sony
Seldom in recent history has a cyber security event caused so much media stir (maybe because it happened to a media company?) and international relations upheaval. Cyber security breaches seem to take place daily of major corporations, but the Sony hack seems to have captured the American imagination and, for that matter, the whole world's attention.
How To: Enable Stereo Sound on Your Nexus 5
At $349 off contract, the Nexus 5 has always been one of the best bang-for-your-buck smartphones on the market. In order to keep the price that low, however, Google had to pass up on some of the minor features that other flagship phones offer.
How To: Change the Boot Up Sound to Anything You Want on Your Galaxy Note 3
Every time my Galaxy Note 3 boots up, I'm greeted by the monotonous and slightly annoying AT&T sound. If you're as tired of the stock boot up sound as I am, then follow along with me below to see how to change it to whatever sound you want, no matter what carrier version you have.
How To: Make Yosemite Look More Like Classic, Pre-Mac OS X Systems
Nostalgia sometimes gets the best of us—hence the reason we geek-out when we see emulators for SNES on Apple devices or N64 on Android.
How To: Get Instagram Preview Photos Back on Twitter
In late 2012, Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom made a sudden and controversial change to his social media service when he removed Twitter Card support.
News: Google's New Nexus Devices & Android 5.0 "Lollipop" Coming Very Soon
It's that time of year again, folks. Each fall, Google debuts a new device alongside the latest iteration of its mobile operating system—but this year marked the release of three new Nexus gadgets.
How To: Recover Deleted Photos & Videos from Your iPhone or iPad in iOS 8
What happens when you accidentally delete a photo or video from your iPad or iPhone? How do you get it back?
How To: View Your Twitter Feed Faster & Tweet from Anywhere on Your Samsung Galaxy S4
Fact: we live in a world where social media dictates our behaviors and shapes our perceptions. Maybe some of us are addicted more than others, but most of society uses some type of social media, whether it's Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat , or something new that I've never heard of.
How To: Enable Kids Mode on Your Galaxy S5
Parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and even older siblings have all likely dealt with handing their smartphones over to young children. No matter if they want to play games or watch cartoons or record funny noises, you're handing over a very personal device to those who can mess up what they don't know.
How To: Why You Need to Heat Up Store-Bought Tortillas (And the Best Ways to Do It)
Even though I often end the workday exhausted and just want to wrap rotisserie chicken parts in a store-bought tortilla and shove it in my eating hole, I generally try and take a couple of minutes to warm up said tortillas before I begin my meal. But if you're starving, do you really need to take the time? Do warm tortillas really make that much of a difference?
How To: Install Jailbreak Tweaks on Your iPhone Without Cydia or iFile
There are a ton of great mods and tweaks available in Cydia, but occasionally there will be one you want to install that hasn't quite made it into one of the main repositories yet. If you're not patient, it can be still be installed by manually placing the .deb file directly onto your device and installing it with iFile.
How To: Turn Your Favorite Pics from Instagram, Tumblr, & More into Daydreams on Your Galaxy Note 3
Initially introduced as an Easter egg deep within Android's operating system, the Daydream screensaver feature turned official in the release of 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. Now, it's been out for a few months, which means developers have already figured out how to take advantage of it in their own ways.