How To: Secretly Monitor Text Messages on Your Galaxy S4 or Other Android Device
UPDATE: The mod discussed below is no longer available for download. We are looking for an alternative and will update this page when we find one.
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How To: Give Your Food a Bath or a Rubdown for More Flavor
Brining is magic. All you have to do is make a mild saline solution, toss in your protein of choice, let it soak, and cook. You end up with incredibly tender, flavorful meat or tofu for very little effort. So why aren't more of us doing it?
How To: 18 Sneaky Privacy-Betraying Settings Every iPhone Owner Must Know About iOS 7
You saw our post on the 18 coolest new features of iOS 7, but now that you've had a chance to play around with your updated iPhone, it's time to lock it down.
How To: Recover Deleted Photos from Your iPhone
In one of Apple's newer ads, the company claims that "more photos are taken with the iPhone than any other camera." If this is in fact true, then it might also be appropriate to say that more photos are accidentally deleted on iPhones than any other camera.
How To: The Quick and Dirty Beginner's Guide to Steampunk Leatherworking, Part One
This two-part series (second part here) will teach you literally everything you need to know in order to make pretty much anything out of leather.
Steamdown: How I Made My Liquid-Cooled Steampunk Rifle Prop
I know, "Steamdown" conjures images of a hoedown, but "Steampunk prop breakdown" is a bit of a mouthful, I thought.
How To: Create a Two-Sided Dynamic Profile Picture on Instagram to Show Your Photo and an Animated Avatar
Breathe new life into your Instagram profile picture with another layer of self-expression. It's the perfect way to show another side of your personality without sacrificing your current IG profile photo.
How To: 15 New Features Hiding in Your iPhone's iOS 16.6 Software Update
Apple just released its iOS 16.6 update for iPhone on July 24. When you install the new software, it may look like there's not much to it since Apple doesn't include any features in the release notes beyond "important bug fixes and security updates," but a few new features are hiding within.
How To: Attention Android Users — Activate This New Privacy Setting to Help Keep Thieves Out of Your Phone
Android has a new security feature that every Android smartphone user needs to start using — even you. It won't change how you use your phone, but it will make life harder for nearby thieves.
How To: 7 Hidden iPhone Apps You Didn't Know Existed
Your iPhone has hidden apps that work behind the scenes to filter SMS messages, trust computers, deal with payments, test ads, and perform other actions. You won't find any of them in your App Library, but there are tricks you can employ to unlock and use some of these secret apps.
How To: Create a Shortcut to Google's Password Manager on Your Android Phone for Faster Access to All Your Credentials
Everyone should know that assigning complex passwords to sensitive digital accounts is the best practice for protecting yourself against hacking. Those who adhere to password creation best practices also know that keeping up with passwords for every account is nigh impossible, even when using passphrases. This is why using a password manager is highly recommended.
How To: Shazam Songs with Blazing Fast Speed Straight from Android's Quick Settings Panel
While you can use Google Assistant on your Android phone to identify songs playing around you, you may still prefer Shazam's music recognition service, which has been available on Android since 2008 — a full nine years before Google Assistant's audio-fingerprinting technology. If that's the case, it's even easier now to Shazam songs in seconds, no matter what screen you're on.
How To: Do the iPhone 14 Pros Really Have the Highest Peak Brightness of Any Smartphone?
Apple claims that the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max have the highest peak brightness of any smartphone, but is that really true?
How To: 11 Best Calculator Apps for iPad to Solve All Your Math Needs
Apple doesn't include its Calculator app on the iPad and never did. One almost appeared over 12 years ago but was nothing more than a blown-up version of the iPhone app. Since then, the company still hasn't made an iPad-optimized calculator, and there is no shortage of third-party alternatives to fill the gap. It may happen one day, but for now, these are the best calculator apps for your iPad.
How To: Try Upcoming Apps, Features, and IAPs on Your iPhone for Free — Before They Hit the App Store
Believe it or not, there are legitimate iOS apps beyond the App Store that you can install on your iPhone. Some of them even work for iPad, Apple TV, and Mac, and there are also benefits to using them over apps found in the App Store.
How To: Netflix Games Coming to Android Tomorrow — But You Can Play Its Games Right Now
You're caught up on "Squid Games," and you've rewatched "Seinfeld" for the umpteenth time. You're looking forward to the next season of "Stranger Things," but it isn't out yet. Why not play Stranger Things on Netflix instead?
News: What Is the Difference Between Facebook Ray-Ban Stories, Snap Spectacles, & Amazon Echo Frames Smartglasses?
The emergence of Facebook's collaboration with Ray-Ban to launch Stories smartglasses has finally put an exclamation point on a new category of smartglasses: the pre-augmented reality wearable segment.
News: Grid Studio Turns Old iPhones into Works of Art
Apple is known for its dedication to design, attention to detail, and for its apparent belief that its products are half device, half art. If you've ever felt similarly about that latter point, or had a desire to hang your iPhone on the wall, Grid Studio might just have the piece for you.
News: Snapchat Extends Its AR Lenses to Viber Messaging App
Yo dawg, Snap heard you using Snapchat augmented reality Lenses in your messages, so it's putting its AR Lenses in other messaging apps.
AR Snapshots: Snapchat Lens Shows Us What Our Fav Live-Action Movies Would Look Like from Pixar Animation
For its latest augmented reality trick, Snapchat has brought the world an AR Lens that has become a bit of a viral hit on Twitter as users turn themselves and their favorite movie stars into characters out of a Pixar movie.
Market Reality: Apple's New AR Tools, Snap Spectacles Apps, Magic Leap Exec Shake-Up, & Microsoft's Military HoloLens
Over the past few weeks, Google, Snap, and Facebook have all taken their turns to show off their new augmented reality technologies. This week, it was Apple's turn, with new AR features for iOS 15 along with new capabilities for developers.
News: Google Adds Raw Depth API to Improve Spatial Awareness & Depth Data for Android AR Apps
For most mainstream users, LiDAR sensors for precision depth sensing remain the exclusive domain of Apple iPhones and iPads, but Google is helping Android device makers close the depth gap on the software side via its ARCore toolkit.
News: Marvel Heroes Invade ESPN's NBA Broadcast of Warriors vs. Pelicans Game via AR
Two brands with affinities for augmented reality, Marvel and the NBA, joined forces to inject some AR superpowers into Monday night's matchup of the Golden State Warriors and New Orleans Pelicans.
Market Reality: Epic Games $1 Billion Raise, Apple AR Surprise, Deutsche Telekom Smartglasses & HoloLens Helps Intel
The Metaverse, or AR cloud, has been a sci-fi dream for decades, but only recently have companies begun to actually develop the technology to build it. With its latest funding round, Epic Games is suddenly a front-runner in this pursuit.
Market Reality: Apple AR Headset Event in the Works, Snap & Niantic Have Their Own Smartglasses Plans
The race for the future of AR wearables gained steam this week with several pivotal developments. First, Apple, the subject of numerous reports and rumors regarding its purported AR headset, is reportedly eyeing an in-person unveiling of the device for later this year, rather than introduce it at its upcoming virtual Worldwide Developers Conference, which would usually be as good a time as any to make a big AR hardware announcement.
How To: Mirror Your iPhone's Entire Screen to Mac & Windows Using Any Web Browser
Screen mirroring software has been around for ages, allowing you to mirror your iPhone to a projector, laptop, TV, or another device. It's useful to have during lectures, presentations, and meetings, so it's no wonder why Apple created its AirPlay technology. However, AirPlay doesn't work in all situations.
How To: These Hidden Key Codes Will Lock Your Microwave's Controls So Nobody Can Use It
You might think that you have your microwave all figured out, but chances are you don't know all of its secrets. Some microwave tricks are truly hidden; obscure information nowhere to be seen in the user manuals. Other tricks are hiding in plain sight, often overlooked or tossed to the curb because a microwave oven is so simple that instructions aren't needed, right?
News: Cleanbox CEO Amy Hedrick Is Saving the AR & VR World One Headset at a Time Through Virus-Fighting Tech
The process of trying out new augmented reality and virtual reality hardware is as personal as it gets. Bottom line, if you can't directly try these immersive devices on, it's difficult to really understand the benefits they can bring to your life and work.
Market Reality: Magic Leap Founder Launches New Company, Snap Acquires AI Tech, & Facebook Offers Spark AR Classes
Just as the augmented reality industry grows, so too does the segment dedicated to creating experiences for the tools becoming available.
How To: Uninstall Bloatware Without Root or a PC Using Android's New 'Wireless Debugging' Feature
Bloatware is a problem on Android, and it's not just a Samsung thing. Removing apps that have the Uninstall or Disable button grayed out in Settings has always involved sending ADB commands to your phone from a computer, which itself was always such a pain to set up. Thankfully, that has finally changed.
How To: Quickly Generate Anonymous, Throwaway Email Addresses on Your iPhone to Keep Your Real Email Accounts Safe from Spam
A temporary email can go a long way. Using your actual email to sign up for a mailing list to receive 10% off a purchase doesn't make sense if you don't use the website much. It means you'll have to deal with spam emails from then on, which is why an anonymous email is perfect not to have to deal with all that trouble. And that's where the TempMail shortcut for your iPhone comes in handy.
How To: The Notes Widget Sucks — So Here Are 4 Better Ones for More Useful Sticky Notes on Your Home Screen
I won't mince words: the Notes widget in iOS 14 is bad. But you're not stuck with it if you want sticky notes on your home screen.
How To: Pre-Register for a Plex Account Through the New Google Pay App
Not only has Google released a completely new Google Pay app for US users on both iPhone and Android, but the've also minted a new mobile banking service. Called Plex, it provides online bank accounts at one of 11 partner banks and credit unions, with no minimum balance requirements, overdraft charges, or monthly fees.
How To: Put a Child Lock on Your Logitech Harmony Remote
They say you're supposed to keep your kids away from screens until they're at least three years old. They say a lot of stuff, but then real life happens and your toddler watches a little TV while you're working from home during a pandemic.
How To: Force Your iPhone 12 or 12 Pro to Use 5G All the Time When 5G Networks Are Available
Excited about experiencing blazing-fast 5G speeds on your iPhone 12, 12 mini, 12 Pro, or 12 Pro Max? Well, that brand new iPhone you just bought might not actually be using 5G, even when you see that 5G symbol in the top right. Unless you follow these instructions, your iPhone will use regular old 4G LTE more often.
How To: Get Google's Fantastic Caller ID & Spam Blocking on Any Phone
As if telemarketers weren't bad enough, now we have robocalls and spoofed numbers to deal with. Many of us get a least one spam call per day, if not much more than that. Google's Phone app has always been great at managing these calls, but it's been exclusive to their Pixel phones — until recently, that is.
How To: Bring Back the Screenshot Button in Your Power Menu on Android 11
Android 11 has a new power menu with integrated contactless payment cards and smart home toggles. It's definitely futuristic — so much so that it pushed out a tool many of us use in the present: the screenshot button.
How To: Force Dark Mode for News Stories in Apple News
It's almost impossible to use Apple News at night without having to mess with the white point and zoom filters. That might sound a bit dramatic, but it's really not when you consider that iOS 13 has a perfectly good Dark Mode that should work for News. So why are we stuck reading most news stories in Light Mode? We're not, but you have to put a little work into it going dark in News.
How To: iOS 14 Makes Biking City Roads Better & Safer with Cycling Routes in Apple Maps
It's been a long time coming, but Apple Maps finally has cycling directions for your iPhone. Google Maps has had cycling support for ten years now, though, many of its more useful features had been incorporated within the last few years. Well, with iOS 14, Apple has caught up, and it's done a fantastic job.
How To: Deep Fake Yourself into Movie & TV Scenes & Viral GIFs with the Reface App
Deep fakes, the art of leveraging artificial intelligence to insert the likeness and/or voice of people into videos they don't otherwise appear in, typically focus on celebrity parodies or political subterfuge.