If you're not using Control Center on your iPhone, you're missing out on a powerful tool that can streamline how you interact with your device, make certain tasks more efficient, and give you quick access to system tools, switches, and sliders for quick changes no matter where you are or what app you're in.
When you encounter a mysterious laundry care symbol or alarming vehicle indicator light, you might just ignore it rather than ask somebody, search online, or open a user manual for the answer. If you have an iPhone, there's an easier way to decipher the meanings behind perplexing symbols and signs—and it only takes a few seconds.
In case you missed it, Apple has added a lot of new features and enhancements to the Music app on your iPhone, changes that benefit both Apple Music subscribers and non-subscribers. Chances are, you haven't seen all the changes yet, especially since many of them weren't released when iOS 17 first came out, but we'll go over them all with you.
While the iPhone came before the first Android smartphone, every new iOS version seems to include a wealth of features already existing on Android, and iOS 17 is no exception.
The standard way to sort your notes and to-dos in Reminders has always relied on you putting them in the correct list and group. Then came smart lists for flagged and scheduled tasks, followed shortly by a smart list for tasks assigned to you. In iOS 15, Apple brings yet another way to find your reminders more easily — tags.
Night mode, which helps you snap great photographs in low-light environments, is a feature available only on the iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 lineups. It's a useful tool to have in your arsenal, especially if you're fond of nightlife photography. Still, you don't have to purchase a newer iPhone to get Night mode shooting capabilities.
Google Meet might not have virtual backgrounds like Zoom, but it hits all of the other basics, from hosting many multiples of video participants to sharing your screen, that you'd expect from a robust video conferencing platform.
Apple added a Bedtime Mode to its Screen Time tool for curbing smartphone distractions. Google's version of Screen Time, called Digital Wellbeing, actually predates Apple's, but a recent update is finally bringing in Bedtime Mode.
Using a strong password is critical to the security of your online accounts. However, according to Dashlane, US users hold an average of 130 different accounts. Memorizing strong passwords for that many accounts is impractical. Fortunately, password managers solve the problem.
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite has gained quite the fan base since its launch, but not without a few bumps along the way. Niantic, the game's developer, has a long-running history with trying to block all root users on Android. The methods will vary for each game, but this time around with Wizards Unite, they appear to have a new detection feature at play from the recent 2.9.0 update. Let's find out what's going on.
Did you take a vacation this holiday season? It appears Apple did. After the release of iOS 13.3.1 developer beta 1 (then public beta 1 one day later), iOS beta testing went silent for almost a full month. With 2019 now in the books, it seems Apple is back to work, as developers received iOS 13.3.1 beta 2 today, Tuesday, Jan. 14.
In iOS 13, Apple introduced HomeKit Secure Video, which allows smart home devices with cameras to give iPhone users a private and secure way to store recorded videos. Plus, it has benefits such as object detection and activity notifications. Logitech is the first to add support for HomeKit Secure Video with its Circle 2 cameras, and all it takes is a quick firmware update to get started.
Google brought its official dark mode to Android 10 not long ago, but it might take a while for all apps to support the new feature. That doesn't mean you have to wait around for each app developer to add dark mode — just follow this guide to learn how you can force all apps in Android 10 to use dark mode.
It might sound odd to call interior decorating exciting, especially if you're not a professional within that industry. But that's exactly what it is when combined with augmented reality.
True home automation doesn't require interaction from the user. But let's be real, no system is going to be 100% autonomous. You'll always need a manual override for situations programming can't account for. So what's the best manual override system? I'll tell you right now, it doesn't involve yelling at Alexa or Google.
Although early attempts at consumer smartglasses have employed trackpads and handheld or wearable controllers for user input, its the gesture control interfaces of the HoloLens 2 and the Magic Leap One that represent the future of smartglasses input.
As you might know, Tidal differentiates itself from the competition with its audio quality. Unlike Spotify and Apple Music, it aims to give its subscribers studio quality audio from any device. However, before you sign up for Tidal, be aware there are few steps you need to take in order to stream such high-quality music.
In Safari for iPhone, as far back as iOS 7, you can request the full desktop version of websites. The process was streamlined starting in iOS 9, but the process remains relatively hidden and easily missed. Now, iOS 13 shines a light on it, as well as adds functionality to set the desktop view for individual websites indefinitely.
I'm here at the annual AWE event in Santa Clara, California, and the venue is just as packed, if not more so, than last year.
While photography usually gets all the love, our phones have gotten really good at capturing video. Think about it — when was the last time you needed a camcorder for a vacation? With mobile cameras getting better each year, we're now at a point where smartphones can be used for pro-level videography.
Smartglasses maker Vuzix has emerged with the first hardware powered by the Snapdragon XR1 chip, roughly nine months after Qualcomm introduced the chipset designed to drive augmented reality wearables at the Augmented World Expo in Santa Clara.
Sileo is an ideal marketplace for developers to showcase apps, tweaks, and themes that Apple would never allow in the App Store. While a majority of these packages are free to try out, there are jailbreak apps that cost money for your iPhone. But actually paying for mods can be a bit tricky.
The ability for apps and devices to determine the precise location of physical and virtual objects in space is a key component of augmented reality experiences, and the latest advancements in Bluetooth technology may have a hand in facilitating such location services in the near future.
Nearly a year to the day after the unveiling Magic Leap One, Magic Leap has dropped another update to the Lumin OS that runs the device.
With an iPhone that includes a digital eSIM option aside its standard Nano-SIM card, you can have two cellular service accounts. One can be your primary line with your main wireless carrier, and the other can be from your main carrier or another provider. The eSIM account can be prepaid or postpaid as well as data-only, which is great for traveling. But which wireless providers support eSIM?
Hollywood has already proven that it's on board with augmented reality, with examples ranging from Avengers: Infinity War to Ralph Breaks the Internet. But one startup wants to make the augmented reality content that's being used to promote TV and film entertainment smarter.
The company behind augmented reality's first real gaming hit, Pokémon GO, is quietly making moves toward supporting the rapidly growing smartglasses space that may one day move its content away from smartphones and tablets and onto AR lenses positioned on your face.
Another contestant has emerged in the race to deliver a mainstream augmented reality car navigation system, with Silicon Valley-based Phiar picking up $3 million in seed funding to launch its own artificial intelligence-based mobile app by mid-2019.
Thanks to leaks that let us try out the latest Android Pie beta on the Galaxy S9, we already have a good idea of what the update has in store for Samsung's flagships moving forward. As we've come to expect, Android 9.0 brings a slew of notable updates, such as the addition of a system-wide dark theme and an all-new TouchWiz replacement called "One UI."
Who doesn't love a refresh? Samsung's upcoming One UI makes it easier to use your device with one hand and adds a fresh coat of paint to the formally "Samsung Experience" skin. While you're probably looking forward to installing One UI on your phone, not all Galaxies are equal — your device could be one of the first to receive the update, or it could never see One UI at all.
Rooting. As an Android user, I'm sure you've heard the word once or twice. According to Kaspersky, 7.6% of all Android users root — but for the 92.4% who don't, we wanted to talk to you.
After announcing the iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max, one thing was noticeably absent from Apple's Sept. 12 event — the iPhone SE 2, the long-awaited upgrade to 2016's niche yet popular 4-inch model. Not only does Apple have no apparent plans for an update, it has also officially dropped the SE from its online store. Looking for a small iPhone that packs a punch? You might have to try the iPhone 7.
The long and slow road toward the actual release of the Magic Leap One appears to be accelerating, with a couple of new demonstrations of how the system works revealed in this week's creator's portal updates along with the company's developer documentation.
A fresh batch of developer info has been revealed on Magic Leap's Creator Portal. On Thursday evening, the normally secretive company gave the general public perhaps the closest look yet at Magic Leap One's Lumin operating system.
Project Fi, Google's MVNO, is running a new promotion on the latest and greatest from LG. From July 16 until the 29th, whenever you order and activate the LG G7 ThinQ or LG V35 ThinQ, you will receive a $300 service credit. When you do the numbers, that equals a minimum of three free months of service.
Apple is putting their Workflow acquisition to use with the new Shortcuts feature, integrated right into Siri. It allows you to connect commonly-used actions to a phrase that you activate with Siri. In addition to some of the other speed improvements in iOS 12, Shortcuts helps streamline your mobile experience.
Setting up Face ID is simple, but getting it to work correctly every time is a different story. While there are numerous tips for getting Face ID to work every time you need it on your iPhone X, XS, XS Max, or XR, Apple has added a better option in iOS 12 that lets you add an "alternative appearance."
Google's ARCore has expanded its support to include the Galaxy S9 and S9+, which means you get access to all the cool new apps that can sense the world around them. But one of ARCore's coolest uses so far is still Pixel-exclusive: AR stickers built right into the Google Camera app. Thankfully, XDA user lofass33 has an ingenious workaround for using these stickers on your S9.
During Tuesday's keynote at the I/O developer conference, Google unveiled new capabilities for its Lens visual search engine and expanded the availability of the platform in smartphone camera apps.
If you want to play a game in the Play Store before committing to actually downloading and installing it, you can do that with Google's Android Instant Apps technology. However, if you don't see a "Try Now" button on the app's Play Store page, you'll need to check your Android device's settings to make sure you can play games instantly.
