Today we are pleased to announce the end to the Apple vs. Android war. About a year ago, our Gadget Hacks team started working on a top-secret project to dual-boot both Android and iOS on the same phone—and we couldn't be more proud to announce that we've finally succeeded! Your phone can now run both iOS and Android—whenever you want. Right now.
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.
Most of us enjoy taking photos with our iPhones and sharing them with friends and family, but it's adding that extra touch or funny caption that turns an ordinary picture into something unforgettable or downright hilarious. With Inkboard, you can use your imagination to draw and scribble over any photo you take or have in your iPhone's camera roll.
It feels great to wrap up in a big, fluffy towel after a steamy shower, but it's frustrating when that towel isn't quite up to the job. Over time, towels lose their ability to hold water and dry as needed thanks to daily use and the biggest culprit—laundry detergent.
Televisions used to be great for just one thing—watching TV. But a more connected world brought with it Smart TVs, devices that can access the web, stream Netflix, and even mirror your smartphone's display. And with this level of connectivity, OEMs like Samsung saw it fit to place targeted and interactive ads on your screen.
The more we use our smartphones, the more storage space becomes occupied—it's an inescapable fact. But as the data accumulates and chokes off our storage, it can become difficult to identify exactly which files are occupying the most space.
When you press the "Call" button on most Bluetooth headsets, the majority of Android devices will launch a built-in Voice Dialer app. This app has been around since the dawn of Android, and has received very few interface or functionality updates.
I once had a collection of over 300 different wallpapers for my MacBook, set to randomly change every 30 minutes. Needless to say, my desktop never got boring. Wallpapers can facilitate a mood, imply a political stance, or just add aesthetic appeal, so having to manually change them on my iPhone is a bummer because of how many times I want a new home or lock screen look.
Finding the right mix of custom ROM, kernel, and tweaks for my OnePlus One has left me flashing every new release I come across. This has led to many hours going through thread after thread trying to find the latest and best software out there for my phone. While I do enjoy the hunt, I would rather have a centralized location that covers all my bases, so that's why I have started using OnePlus One, an app by Alex Inthiaano.
Sitting at home alone on Friday night, I'm often in the mood to watch something more recent than the offerings on Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime Video. And since the demise of video rental stores, that leaves me with browsing through the Redbox catalogue, then strolling down to the nearest 7-Eleven to pick up my movie.
Android is all about customization: "Be together. Not the same," as Google's latest ads for the platform put it. Changing your device's boot animation, for instance, is one of the many great ways you can add a touch of personal flair.
With Nexus devices already enjoying Android 5.0 Lollipop, most other manufacturers are scrambling to get their flagships updated to Google's latest operating system. While HTC has promised Lollipop by the end of 2015, OEMs such as Motorola and Sony have already issued updates to their latest models. Then there's Samsung.
You'd be hard-pressed to find a working Super Nintendo in someone's house nowadays, but back in my adolescence it was gaming heaven. But now there's no reason to have an SNES console at home, because there are so many ways to play those retro games without one. All it takes is a good emulator.
Not every mod you add to your Android will revolutionize the way you use it, but many of them can make things a little more simple and convenient for you on a regular basis, like sliding across the status bar to adjust brightness or swiping the screen to put your display to sleep.
Back in March, Samsung partnered with Slacker Radio to create a streaming service called Milk Music. For those of us who don't own a Galaxy device, this news was a non-starter, as it was exclusive to Samsung's flagship line of phones and tablets.
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.
Automatic brightness adjustments are supposed to make it easier to maintain good visibility on your phone, but it really never works as intended. It usually doesn't adjust properly, leading you to manually pull up the Control Center to adjust brightness via the slider.
While stickers have long existed in the messages section of Facebook, they've only just recently rolled out sticker capability in comments for events, groups, and timeline posts. That means you can now reply with a cute sticker of a cat eating a slice of pizza on someone's status instead or writing something more thoughtful. While an animated sticker can show off enthusiasm and excitement that words or a too-simple emoji may not be able to convey, you can bet that your comment section will qu...
The Xposed Framework offers many great customization options for your Galaxy S5. S Health, with its ability to read your heart rate through a built-in monitor, is one of the main selling points of the GS5. Trouble is, the two don't seem to play nice together.
I'm always looking for the best apps and services for my Android, and that means sticking strictly to the Google Play Store is a no-go. If you're like me and tend to install a lot of APKs (application files), you're probably tired of seeing the "Install" confirmation that always pops up.
Aside from a collection of new features, like Carousel Pinning, the latest update to the Amazon Fire Phone also ushered in Quick Switch functionality, allowing for quickly switching between or closing recent apps. Like the majority of mobile devices, this is our primary tool in multitasking as it allows us to easily jump from app to app, or close them with a flick.
A couple months ago, I attended a Pokémon-themed party. Everyone dressed as their favorite Pokémon or trainer, Poké balls flew around the backyard, and more importantly, there was a lot of Poké booze. My friend who created the colorful drinks you see below informed me that they were infused with Skittles. This, my humble readers, was a defining moment in my life.
An app can request a wakelock to prevent your Android device from entering sleep mode so that it can sync data in the background. This obviously drains your battery, because instead of running in low-power sleep mode, your processor is fully activated while it performs its tasks.
With over 20 million songs, Spotify has become my go-to source for music. I can stream tunes to my desktop or phone, without ever having to worry about storage space being eaten up.
The first thing we usually do with a new smartphone is download apps, and lots of them. There are your must-have games, utility apps, and of course—the free daily "app of the day" from Amazon. If you're like me, you'll install every single one of these free apps, and whether they get used or not, they'll be waiting in the app drawer.
The idle screen for the Chromecast is certainly beautiful. Full of many high-definition pictures taken of various parts of the world, it's almost a shame that we have to dismiss this screen in order to cast content.
Even with display sizes increasing by the year, smartphone screen real estate is still at a premium. We want the content we're viewing to take center stage, and this leaves little room for functionality beyond the focused app.
Most of the time, the LED notification light on the front of your Android device just sits there doing nothing. Other than that brief period of time between when you receive a notification and when you turn your screen on, it's practically useless for anything other than showing when your charger is plugged in.
If you're one of the millions of people who use the WhatsApp service for messaging, you've probably noticed a recent propensity that the app has had for adding buttons to its interface. Two such buttons have made their way into the message thread screen, cluttering up the interface with functionality that is a tad bit redundant.
Sometimes when non-Asians go to ramen bars, they're mildly weirded out by watching the patrons eat. To the uninitiated, the eating behaviors can seem kind of extreme. Why are people hovering over their bowls like animals at a feeding trough? Why do they let endless lengths of noodles dangle from their maw as they slurp—very, very loudly—over their bowls of broth?
The Galaxy S5's screen is truly a feat of modern technology. It uses what is known as an AMOLED display—an acronym for Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emmitting Diode. In short, this technology means that every individual pixel on your phone's screen emits its own light. This is a break from the traditional LCD technology that requires a backlight for any pixels to be visible.
Taking pictures, sharing your location, and making calls are easy enough to do with an Android device, but for the most part, they all require your screen to be on with some sort of swiping and pressing actions. Dedicated shortcut keys are virtually non-existent on any modern day phone, but their utility is something that can be very useful.
Love making gifts for your loved ones? Here is a tutorial that shows you how to make a play doh rose. It's really easy and fun to make.
HTC's Sense 6 has been out for over a month now with the One M8, and most of you have probably played around with its better known features, like the new Camera app and Harman Kardon audio.
Sometimes, ceiling fans just don't cut it. They spin meekly, barely generating any air flow to cool down your sweltering room. Or, when turned up high, they can wobble wildly, shaking and vibrating as if the ceiling is about to come crashing down. If this sounds like your ceiling fan, chances are the solution is a simple as flipping a switch.
Update: May 7, 2014: Google's Camera has seen its first update, with a small yet important addition baked into the app—the ability to take pictures while recording a video. Now, when in video mode, simply tap on the screen to take a picture, while your recording continues as normal. The update to version 2.1.042 is set to hit today, but if you haven't yet received it, apply it manually by downloading the apk here.
Google released its long-awaited Google Now launcher a couple months ago, allowing users to access Google Now with the simple command of the voice. As great as the feature is, it requires that our screens be on, unlike the Moto X's "active listening" service that operates with Google Now, activating through a screen-off state.
Have you ever been a little overzealous in dismissing notifications on your Nexus 5? Perhaps you missed your target and swiped away the notification you meant to read later. Or maybe you simply hit the "Clear All" button when you really meant to tap the button that switches to the Quick Settings tiles.
Just short of a week after its release, the new HTC One has been rooted thanks to Android devs beaups and jcase, the same guys that brought us S-OFF for the original HTC One (M7).
Samsung's exclusive music streaming service, Milk Music, has been making waves across the web thanks to its peculiar name and ad-free stations.
