Transition animations are an essential element of any mobile operating system. They give the user a sense of what's happening on the screen, where the apps are coming from, and where they're going.
Unless you've been living under a rock for the past few weeks, you're probably well aware that the Android world has been buzzing with excitement over the recently debuted Android L preview build that was released for the Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 at Google's I/O conference.
Even as a writer by trade, I'm not intimately familiar with every word in the English language. When you're typing something out on your Nexus, sometimes you think to yourself, "Is that right? Am I using the correct word here?" Then, you have no choice but to bring up Google Now and do a search for that word to make sure you're using it correctly.
There is no SD card support on the Nexus 7, so managing internal storage can be tricky. There are ways to free up space, but the biggest space hog on my tablet is music, and that's not something I'm willing to delete just yet.
Most variants of the Galaxy S5 come with the gesture-based Swype keyboard preinstalled. If you're into gesture typing, you probably already switched to this input method from the default Samsung keyboard (whose gesture service is nice, but it's no Swype).
Ask a thousand Nexus owners why they chose their device over an iPhone, and after getting an earful of Apple hate, you will likely hear a clear pattern in their responses, namely, the freedom to customize their phones.
When Apple recently unveiled iOS 8, many of the newly-added features in their mobile OS seemed eerily familiar to Android users. This is probably because the vast majority of these new features have been available in Android for quite some time.
Last week marked the announcement of LG's new G3 smartphone, and with it came a ton of new features and improvements to their Optimus UI. While most manufacturers put little effort into their keyboards—probably due to the attraction of third-party alternatives—LG has made their latest iteration one of the best OEM keyboards I have ever used.
Sense 6 is great, don't get me wrong, but sometimes I start to miss the vanilla Android experience that comes with Nexus devices. You can always convert your M8 to the Google Play Edition, but then you'd have to ditch all the Sense exclusive features, and we wouldn't want that.
Sony has been hard at work refining its Xperia line of flagship phones. With a 6-month release cycle, they've managed to slim bezels, increase viewing angles, and boost processing power in the 1.5-year span between the original Xperia Z and the Z2.
Whether it's embarrassing pictures and videos on your smartphone, or files you just don't want anyone reading, there are plenty of ways to hide them. For most devices, that means installing third-party apps like Gallery Plus - Hide Pictures, Sectos - Photo & Video Vault, TimeLock, or Hi App Lock.
Just about every softMod requires some kind of reboot. Whether it's because something in the System UI was changed, or because a ZIP needs to be flashed in custom recovery.
We Nexus users are fairly spoiled. There's a ton of third-party development for our phones, which translates to a virtually endless stream of custom ROMs being made available to us.
If you're as bad at locking your Nexus up as I am, you have the "slide" option set for your screen lock. It may not be the most secure option, but it's definitely the easiest way to unlock your device while being able to utilize lock screen widgets.
Watch out Samsung (and you too, Pebble, Sony and the still unrealized Apple), your hold on the smartwatch market is about to get a lot less firm. Announced today, Google has released Android Wear, their platform for developing smartwatches, along with a preview of the Moto 360 smartwatch from Motorola.
It was only a matter of time before the apps from the new Samsung Galaxy S5 leaked for everyone to download and install, and today we've got one that takes advantage of the IR blaster on your Galaxy Note 3.
Whether you have the original Nexus 7, or the 2013 Nexus 7 tablet, rooting it will give you access to tomorrow's features, today.
When we take pictures with our smartphones, it’s safe to assume we’re taking more than one. We're either trying to capture the right light, look, or expression… or maybe a slight nod to the right to show off your good side.
If you're like me, then you were a little disappointed after updating your Nexus 7 to KitKat and realizing that not much has changed. The old Jelly Bean look still occupied your home screen, and there wasn't really anything noticeably new overall. All of that waiting and anticipation only to be left high and dry.
With the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch only several weeks old, the extent as to what you can do with it is limited since there are only about 70 apps in the Gear Store right now, and a lot of those need the full app installed on your Samsung Galaxy Note 3 in order to function properly.
With over 8 million active users, CyanogenMod is definitely the most popular ROM for Android devices, which explains why venture capitalists invested $7 million last month for future development.
Now that iOS 7 has rolled out to the general public, with an overwhelming fit of mass hysteria, it's only custom for people to start bitching about battery drain—and I don't blame them. I was experiencing some rapid battery drain after first updating my iPhone 5, as well.
Have you ever noticed how your home screen and lock screen wallpaper moves underneath your notification, app icons, really anything on display? It's a cool effect, but to some, might be a bit jarring. On top of that, it also uses up precious battery life. If you're sick of seeing this parallax effect on your iPhone, here's how to turn it off.
If you don't want to wait for Android 4.3 Jelly Bean to hit your HTC One, you don't have to. Android developer LlabTooFeR released his MaximusHD ROM, which includes a leaked copy of HTC's own 4.3 update, complete with Sense 5.
You probably know Lenovo from their low-cost Windows PCs here in the states, but something you may not be aware of is that they also make smartphones. Right now, their biggest market is in China, but a rumored merger with BlackBerry could make Lenovo a contender in North America, not to mention one of the biggest smartphone manufacturers in the world.
In this video you will learn how to make a gel like liner using Rallye Balm and Eyeshadow. Just swipe some Rallye Balm on the back of your hand, mix some eyeshadow into the Rallye Balm with a liner brush and then line your eyes. It's super simple to do, longer lasting and moisturizing at the same time!
I've already showed you how to magically unlock your Samsung Galaxy S3 with the simple wave of a hand, but why stop there? Sure, you could go out and purchase a Samsung Galaxy S4 so you have Air Gestures that let you control the lock screen, SMS, sound, wireless, and more.
Your HTC EVO 4G LTE has been lying to you. It will tell you when you're connected to a 4G network, but it will say 3G even if you're connected on 1X, which is a 2G CDMA network!
Something went wrong and your Nexus 7 is freaking out on you. Maybe you flashed a bad ROM or ZIP file, or maybe it's just bugging, and it's time to restore your tablet back to a working condition. Thankfully, you've already made a backup of your Nexus 7!
The new Siri app allows you to use voice commands to search, use apps, and more. The app is available as a beta version in the iOS 5 release for the iPhone 4S. This guide will show you how to use different voice commands to control Siri.
Google has it fingers in just about every digital pie there is, including the App Store of their leading smartphone OS competitor, Apple. This video will show you how to use the Google Mobile App for the iPhone, a great app that allows you to do Google voice searches and all sorts of other handy search tasks. Apple is pretty sweet, but Apple and Google together is a huge mobile phone combo.
The iPad is the reigning king of the tablet PC's (although it isn't one, strictly speaking) and allows users to do things that they never thought possible with a computer. One of it's coolest and most applicable Apps is the Photo app, which allow you to view high-fidelity photos in a fun and portable way. This video will show you how this App works and how to use it to impress your friends with your awesome photos.
Balsamiq is a really cool software suite that allows you to create Apps visually without having to write any code! This two-part video lecture will introduce you to Balsamiq and show you how to use it to create your own cool Apps. If you want to learn Balsamiq, you really couldn't do any better than this.
Google's Goggles mobile app was a big hit on the Android market, and now they've given iPhone users the chance to enjoy the awesomeness of Google Goggles. This iPhone app only works on the Apple iPhone 4 or iPhone 3GS, and it's available in the App Store for download. Simply type in "Google" or "Google Mobile App" and you'll find the app with the Google Goggles feature built in.
Purple is a classic eyeshadow color that can effortlessly be worn as part of the smoky look, whether you're an expert or novice at applying makeup.
In Android 12, you can launch the Snapchat app just by tapping the back of your Pixel phone twice. The latest Pixel update from Google improved upon the feature by giving us access to the shortcut from the lock screen. That means you're mere seconds away from snapping photos, videos, and stories. But first, you have to set up and configure where you want to land when Snapchat opens.
Are you tired of endless rows and columns of apps on your home screen? Before iOS 14, your only option was to hide apps in folders, uninstall them, or use some sort of elaborate workaround. You could hide a few stock apps easily enough, but that's it. Now, in the latest version of iOS, you can hide apps for real, and even hide entire home screen pages, and still access the apps in one convenient drawer.
By default, the One UI launcher on Galaxy phones makes you scroll all the way back to the left when you hit the end of your app list. Luckily, Samsung has its own solution to help fix this problem if it annoys you. Save yourself a bunch of extra swipes and read on to learn more.
Previously limited to apps like Facebook and YouTube as an in-app feature only, picture-in-picture mode is now an OS-level feature in iOS 14. That means any app can quickly flip the switch to let you watch videos in an overlay window while you multitask in other apps. However, sometimes you only need to hear the audio and not see the video, and that's totally possible too.
For the last three years, Apple has hosted its Worldwide Developers Conference at the San Jose Convention Center, but thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, WWDC 2020 is now an online-only event. So what can you expect from the new virtual format and when and how can you watch the keynote and developer sessions?
