During the Google I/O 2019 keynote, the latest Android Q Beta was released to the public for Pixel smartphones along with 15 other non-Pixel devices. It's the third Developer Preview for Android 10, but it's the first official public beta outside of Google's Pixel smartphones. A new public beta means good things are on the way as the future of Android continues to evolve.
For years, there has been a disconnect between the Chrome app on your smartphone and the Chrome browser on your computer. The latter was a powerfully fast browser which could be enhanced with extensions to add new features and functionality, while the former was just a fast browser. Well, that all changes now.
Because of the way Android is laid out, you automatically lose a portion of the top and bottom of your screen thanks to the status and navigation bars. The thing is, you don't always need the navigation buttons. By hiding them, you can enjoy more of your Galaxy S10's big, beautiful display.
Tapping on your iPhone's display to pick up an incoming call can be annoying when your hands are wet or dirty. It might even fail to register and cause you to miss your call. If you have a jailbroken iPhone, however, you can get rid of this problem entirely, thanks to a free tweak that lets you instantly pick up calls without having to interact with your phone's screen.
Slack recently released a dark mode for its Android and iOS apps, and for the most part, it works great. Super dark gray backgrounds and light gray fonts, which is much easier on the eyes than blinding white backgrounds and black text. But there's one thing that is not affected by the new night mode setting — your sidebar.
After months of waiting, it looks like HMD has finally answered the call. Nokia's parent company is finally releasing a true flagship phone — one that isn't just an enhanced version of a previous phone and actually brings something new to the table. That phone is the Nokia 9 PureView.
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?
In about 27% of all car crashes, someone was using their cell phone. You may think texting is the big problem here, but many fail to realize that even the smallest smartphone interaction could spell disaster. Thankfully, Google Maps has rolled out an overdue feature that'll help ensure a safer drive.
You can mod every aspect of your phone's software with root, but if you want to make changes at the hardware level, you'll need a custom kernel. If you've looked into custom kernels before, one name undoubtedly kept coming up: ElementalX. It's easily the best custom kernel out there, and the reason for that is its awesome developer, flar2, aka Aaron Segaert.
If you've ever been on the receiving end of a threatening phone call, you'll immediately know the value in being able to record phone conversations on your iPhone. Beyond that extreme example, however, recording calls is still an extremely useful feature to have for important conversations like business meetings and verbal agreements, and it's totally doable with a third-party app.
You don't need an obsessive ex stalking you to benefit from the ability to record calls on your iPhone in a pinch. Besides protecting yourself from nefarious intent, recording important conversations like verbal contracts and agreements can help you cover all your bases and ensure you're insulated from any potential liabilities that may appear down the road.
Until next March, the iPhone XS and Samsung Galaxy S9 will be the only phones considered by many. Whether you're an Apple fan wanting to see how your new phone stacks up against the competition or a buyer on the fence, here's how the latest flagships from the two biggest brands compare.
Samsung Experience isn't for everyone. While it's a far cry from the TouchWiz days, it is still too heavy of a skin for Android purists. But you shouldn't let that dissuade you from a powerful device that checks nearly all other boxes — there are ways to make the Galaxy Note 9's software look and feel almost exactly like stock.
While it's not the best shopping holiday of the year, Labor Day does have a few sweet deals on smartphones this weekend. There are phones from OEMs such as Apple, Motorola, and Sony on sale, to name a few, from stores such as Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart.
When BlackBerry first announced the KEY2 back in June, the biggest gripe we heard was about the price. It was reasonable criticism, as BlackBerry was asking a lot of its consumers at $650. Knowing this, BlackBerry went back, made some downgrades, and cut the price, creating the KEY2 LE.
I was in college, and my 15-inch Sony Vaio laptop was my prized possession. It was my first PC and probably the most important thing I brought with me to my dorm — it was both how I completed my assignments and my primary source of entertainment. How could it turn its back on me in my time of need?
There's actually more to the dialer screen on your OnePlus than meets the eye. Besides its obvious purpose of calling people, there's a vast array of secret codes that you can input to troubleshoot your device, in addition to revealing important information, making anonymous phone calls, and so much more.
Thanks to cloud storage's increasing accessibility, permanently losing photos is becoming less and less common. Still, if you accidentally delete a picture from your smartphone without first making a backup of some sort, that data is pretty much toast — unless we're talking about photos from WhatsApp.
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.
Android has gotten significantly better at handling intrusive ads over the years. Things have gotten to the point to where these nuisances are largely a non-issue for most of us. However, there are still a few ad-laden apps that fall through the cracks — particularly the kind that bombard your lock screen with ads.
Despite years of user complaints, OEMs are still preinstalling third-party apps on brand new devices. Even in 2019, you'll still find plenty of phones with Facebook preinstalled. What's worse, it's installed as a system app, so it can't normally be uninstalled without root access. However, there are a few workarounds.
There's always been a clear divide between flagship and midrange phones. Flagships will run you at least $700, while midrange typically falls between $250 and $550. The main difference is the processor, with midrange phones sporting a 600-series Snapdragon and flagships rocking the 800-series. Now, Qualcomm may have just created another smartphone tier with their newly-unveiled 700-series chip.
After delaying its launch by four months, LG revealed its 2018 entry to the flagship market on Wednesday, May 2. After years of an underperforming mobile division, the LG G7 ThinQ is the first product since a shakeup within the division to get things back on track, and it brings a number of upgrades over its G6 predecessor.
When it's all said and done, it doesn't really matter who did it first — the more important question is who did it best. Still, it's nice to know who's really responsible for groundbreaking innovations in the smartphone space.
Google has started blocking certain devices from accessing the Google Play Store and other Google services. This is part of an effort to clamp down on OEMs that skirt its certification requirements, but now millions of phones have been uncertified to download or update Google apps. Fortunately, there are a few workarounds.
In the Android community, there's a lot of discussion about how display notches should be used. For some, hiding the notch is more appealing, but others feel that hiding it wastes screen real estate. Well, Essential just provided another solution that should satisfy both sides.
We're all aware that Google collects a notable portion of our data. Thanks to the increasing awareness, Google has added a number of privacy controls to limit data collection. But Google doesn't just collect personal data for no reason — many of your favorite apps will use this info to improve their services and add new features.
With Huawei's recent emergence as the second largest OEM in the world, the company was poised to finally make a big push into the US market. Instead, their efforts were derailed by an unlikely foe, the US government. As a result, American customers will miss out on the newly-released Huawei P20.
Smartphones are like high tech buckets that collect our personal information through constant use. This has some obvious benefits, like getting a more personalized experience with our devices. On the other hand, this data is a tempting target for bad actors looking to make a buck at the expense of your privacy.
The Galaxy S9 is an audio powerhouse. It has the first set of stereo speakers on a Samsung flagship, and it even comes standard with a set of AKG-tuned earbuds that would normally cost $99. But if you want to further enhance your audio experience, there's a feature that will customize audio output to your own specific hearing.
Because of quirks with cell radios and how Android was previously set up, custom ROM support for Galaxy S phones has been sparse these past few years. It's been almost nonexistent for US customers, while international users would see some ROMs. Thanks to Android Oreo's Project Treble, this will all be changing soon.
Samsung and Apple are the two titans of the mobile phone industry. After Apple deployed the iPhone X in November, Samsung had three months to brood until Mobile World Congress, where they unveiled the Galaxy S9. Now that both phones are out, it's time to put them head-to-head.
The day has finally arrived — Samsung has unveiled the Galaxy S9 and S9+. Apart from minor upgrades, the two might not appear to be much different from last year's S8 and S8+, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. One feature that hasn't changed is the Galaxy's IP68 water-resistance rating. That's a great score, but it begs the question — what does that number really mean?
Thanks to iCloud and AirDrop, it's really easy to sync photos between an iPhone and a Mac. But if you have an Apple phone and a Windows computer, this process isn't quite as simple. Thankfully, Microsoft has just released a new iPhone app that makes it a breeze to move photos and videos from your iPhone to your PC.
Recently, many manufacturers have started offering phones with a clean, stock Android UI. Motorola, Essential, Nokia, and OnePlus are probably the biggest names that have listened to user feedback and shifted more towards AOSP. But if your phone still has a bloated OEM skin, there are a few things you can do about it.
When it comes to media players, few are more capable than VLC. With its extensive codec support, VLC is able to play almost any video file. Partly due to its open-source nature, features are constantly added. This trend has continued with a new update that added native Chromecast support.
Not many smartphones are announced at CES these days — instead, you'll mostly see other types of electronics like Energeous's WattUp and Li-Fi. However, ASUS decided to share some good news for their US customers, and it comes in the form of a new phone with some interesting specs and a budget-friendly price tag.
Android's Quick Settings menu gives you easy access to certain actions from any screen, but the tiles available are largely dependent on your phone's OEM skin. For instance, the Google Cast button that can cast your entire screen has been exclusive to Nexus and Pixel devices, even though other phones have the requisite software to use it. Fortunately, there's a way to add it on any device running Nougat or higher.
With so many Chromecast-powered devices available, chances are, you're near something with casting abilities right now. Whether it's Android TV, Google Home, or any one of the various gadgets with Chromecast built-in, you can use a more powerful speaker to play media from your smartphone. The only caveat is that the app you're streaming from needs to support Google Cast, but thankfully, Tidal does.
When it comes to technology, there are no bigger names than Google and Apple. They're the two most valuable companies in the world, and they've swapped places a few times over the last year, so they're truly neck-and-neck. But let's put business aside for a moment — which of these companies makes the better flagship phone?
