In this week of Snapchat lenses, there was a significant increase in ones that involve Marvel superheroes (the Infinity War effect), as well as ones with YouTubers. Classic sitcoms will also always do well, as evidenced by some of my previous roundups. Overall, lenses are doing well and only continuing to grow.
There was a huge Marvel movie that opened a week ago, and a popular TV show just finished its second episode of the current season. Both of these facts translate to more cool Snapchat lenses to try out on your iPhone or Android phone, thanks to Snapchat's Lens Studio — where anyone can make a sweet lens.
With April coming to a close, there's a fresh group of augmented reality Snapchat lenses you should try out while they're still hot. We've got a prank lens, gamer-oriented ones for Fortnite and Fallout, and ones for the memesters out there.
In late-2017, Snapchat debuted Lens Studio, a way for anyone to create their own augmented reality "world lenses" that can be shared to anyone with a Snapchat account. If you don't mind spending money, you can even create custom face lenses and basic overlay filters for special events. And while making lenses and filters have gotten pretty easy, distributing them is another matter entirely.
Some phones have a feature that turns your screen white for a second when you're taking a selfie in dim lighting. This does a great job of illuminating your face in a pinch, but there are two problems with it: First, not all phones have the feature, and second, it doesn't work in third-party camera apps like Snapchat and Instagram.
A while back, we told you about NoChromo, a no-root ad-blocking browser based on Google Chrome's open source code base, Chromium. That browser was wildly successful, as it offered an identical interface to regular Chrome, but without any ads. Sadly, the developer abandoned NoChromo, but a new ad-blocking Chromium port called Bromite has been released to fill its void.
Mobile AR developer Blippar has achieved a breakthrough by releasing what appears to be the first commercially-available AR navigation app.
CEO (and NR50 member) Tim Cook and Apple unveiled the long-awaited lineup of next-generation iPhones today on stage of the Steve Jobs Theater, packed with hardware improvements to facilitate AR experiences from ARKit, which will arrive with the iOS 11 on Sept. 19.
Most newer phones come with a grayscale mode that you can activate when you want to save some battery life. The way it works is simple: If your graphics chip only has to render elements in black and white instead of full 32-bit color, it won't consume as much power.
Pokémon GO's augmented reality journey is continuing with Apple's newly announced ARKit. It's no surprise considering Pokémon GO is the largest mainstream augmented reality game, with 500 million downloads.
Three years ago, with VR enthusiasts prepared to throw their money at Oculus to get their hands on the yet-to-be-release Rift headset, Google surprised the audience for Google I/O with Google Cardboard, a seemingly late April Fool's joke that actually jump-started virtual reality.
The Galaxy S8 and S8+ might not have made it into the hands of the public yet, but we sure have come across a lot of the stock apps from Samsung's latest flagship phones. First, there was the new launcher, then Hello Bixby, and now, the extremely elusive Record Screen feature has been leaked.
Augmented reality could come in very handy for those of us prone to losing things—namely, our wallets. Pixie Technology, a company from Los Altos, California, has developed a way to locate your lost wallet and keys using AR technology and tracking chips, a platform they call the "Location of Things."
The first sneak peak of Android O is finally here. The developer preview promises more features, stabilization, and better performance, according to the Android Developers Blog. Furthermore, there's speculation that the latest operating system will be code-named "Android Oreo," so it definitely sounds like we're in for a treat.
Apple has yet to create a successful social networking app, but that doesn't mean they want to be left out of the social video conversation. Case in point: Today they announced a new video app set to debut for iOS in April called Clips.
Listen up ladies, there's no need to go to Sephora and model a hundred different shades of lipstick anymore. Now with Virtual Artist, Sephora's award-winning app, for iOS and Android, you can virtually test thousands of shades of single and palette eyeshadows, lip colors, and even false eyelash styles from their new augmented reality-based feature.
Super Mario Run was released for iOS on December 15, 2016. Even though it debuted as a "free" app, almost all of the playable content was hidden behind a ridiculous $10 unlocking package. Despite coming with such a hefty price tag and receiving a two-star rating on the day of its release for iOS, Android users are still very much interested in giving this game a whirl.
Starting with iOS 7, the iPhone has had a cool feature that lets you see upcoming calendar events right on your lock screen, and it only got better with iOS 10. Android used to have this feature with its lock screen widget system, but that was removed back in the Lollipop days, so there's nothing quite like iOS 10's "Today View" feature anymore.
Starting with Marshmallow, Android added a built-in theme engine called "Runtime Resource Overlay," or RRO. This theme engine was intended to be used only by smartphone manufacturers, not end-users, so unlike Cyanogen's CM Theme Engine, owners can't use it to change the look and feel of their phones.
These days, the user experience on stock Android is a lot more refined and polished than manufacturer skins like Samsung's TouchWiz or HTC's Sense. This is mostly due to Material Design, the look and feel that Google implemented back in Android Lollipop, which has finally started to give Android a unified appearance with its sleek icons and abundant use of colors.
Live wallpapers have dipped in popularity lately, with many users favoring a single, static image as their home screen background. But this is generally due to still photos offering a more sophisticated look, while traditional live wallpapers can sometimes seem a little less avant-garde.
Let's say you got a little careless while installing apps from unknown sources, and now your Android device has been infected by malware. Or perhaps your friend has come to you for help after they had haphazardly installed random apps until their phone was filled with popups and garbage like that.
With the Galaxy S6 Edge, the curved display is mainly an aesthetic feature. Unlike the Galaxy Note Edge, Samsung didn't include many software features to take advantage of its unique design, outside of the scrolling tickers and night clock. For instance, with the Note Edge, you can launch apps from the curved portion of the screen—but this isn't true for the S6 Edge.
The biggest complaint I hear about Android Lollipop is the fact that the new Priority Mode notification system has effectively killed off "Silent Mode." Sure, you can still put your phone on vibrate, but that's not truly silent. Selecting "None" as your notification mode isn't a perfect solution either, since no notification icons will be shown in your status bar and your alarm will not go off in the morning.
JibJab may not ring the bell, but you've probably seen one of their personalized videos. Using your own images, JibJab will place you first-hand into silly and usually musically-inspired videos that you can view online. Currently in beta, JibJib has made it's way to iOS in the form of personalized GIF creation. And if you're wondering, "why the hell would I want this", trust me, you'll love creating GIFs starring your and your friend's faces. Check out the guide below to get the app installed...
Many game developers have finally realized that in order for their games to be successful, they have to support Android. To really win Android users over, they should also accommodate us hardcore gamers who have OTG cables with the ability to hook up controllers to our devices.
Imagine that you're the last person alive. After losing all of your loved ones, you thought you'd never see another human being in your life. Then, they arrive. The hoard of 15-year-old zombies looking for a cute British YouTuber so they may feast on his brains.
I'm a pretty nice person, so when someone asks me to take a group picture of their friends or family, I can't easily say "no," even if I have somewhere else to be. Even worse—sometimes I'm the one asking, fully knowing just how annoying it can be. Maybe you've been told "no" before, and have had to settle for being left out of the picture, which kind of sucks.
Sometimes, it's very useful to be able to use more than one app on Android phone or tablet. For example, if you want to watch a movie while surfing or if you need calculator, find some contact, write a note, search web or wikipedia for some facts, etc.
Apple last month released iOS 17.2, its biggest iPhone software update since iOS 17.0, with 60 new features. Now, as of Jan. 22, we have iOS 17.3. Overall, it's not the behemoth software update that iOS 17.2 was, but it has a few exciting new things you'll definitely want to know about.
Facebook Messenger is a messaging app first, but of its more than 1.3 billion monthly users, 32 percent use its video chat feature at least once every month. While it may seem pretty straightforward to video call with family and friends on Messenger, there are many tips and tricks that can help enhance your experience.
Full-page interfaces are so iOS 13. With Apple's iOS 14, alerts such incoming phone and FaceTime calls now appear as small banners instead. The same goes for Siri. Instead of using your iPhone's full display, Siri now exists in an unobtrusive overlay. But if you miss the focus that full-screen Siri used to bring, you're in luck because the feature still exists — it's just hidden.
Now that the transfer tool for migrating your Google Play Music library to YouTube Music is rolling out, more fans of the former, which will meet its end in 2020, are giving its replacement a try.
Drone mishaps, such as the collision that scratched a military helicopter in New York, are becoming something of an everyday hazard.
Now that we've had our hands on the Magic Leap One for almost a year and early adopter developers have had the opportunity to publish apps for the AR headset, it's time to see how it stands up against the rigors of a day at the office. We did just that, and we wrote about it!
When the Steam Link app was first introduced in 2018, I was impressed. As long as you were on the same network as your PC, you could play your Steam games on your phone. But now, it's even more impressive. By enabling a few extra settings, you can play your Steam library on mobile data anywhere in the world.
Filmic Pro harnesses the full native power of your iPhone or Android phone — and then some. If your smartphone shoots in 4K resolution, Filmic Pro will let you choose that resolution. However, it's not all about the pixels — bit rate is an essential factor in determining the overall quality of your 720p, 1080p, or 4K video, something Filmic Pro gives you full control over.
Excessive cell phone use was issue that Apple decided to tackle with iOS 12. Starting with the iPhone's 2018 update, a new "Screen Time" feature give you the ability to set App Limits to encourage more balanced usage, and there's another setting that gives you control over when certain apps can be accessed.
In what's becoming something of a regular occurrence, Magic Leap has yet another internal, unforced error on its hands. Thankfully, this time it's not about legal skirmishes or theft, but a rather unusual break from company protocol that has been quickly swept under the rug.
Whether you mean to or not, taking burst photos is super easy on the iPhone. In the Camera app, just compose your photo, tap-and-hold the shutter button, and watch the number of pics go up and up until you take your finger off the screen. However, finding that one special keeper out of all of them in the Photos app isn't as intuitive as taking them in the first place.
