Apps that have no business accessing the internet can share your location, device ID, and other personal information with potentially malicious data snatchers. If you're connected to the internet on your Nexus 7 tablet, you're a potential target for cyber threats.
As respectful as you may be, it's hard to resist looking through someone's iPhone when given the chance. You're not trying to snoop around, but it's just too easy to open up apps and read embarrassing emails or find scandalous Instagram follows. It's like looking through a digital diary riddled with deep, dark secrets.
Changing the look and feel of an app's user interface can really make it more pleasurable. Popular apps like Facebook or Twitter may take for granted the importance of a clean UI, since the companies have hundreds of millions of users no matter what their apps look like.
My friends can be pretty shitty sometimes, but they're my friends nonetheless. On various occasions, they've secretly taken my device and made me look foolish by posting crude and embarrassing posts to Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. With friends like these, who needs enemies, right? And it's because of these types of friends that we need to substantially upgrade the app security on our devices.
There wasn't really anything too special about the S Pen on the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, with its limited capabilities and finicky sensitivity. Luckily, the S Pen was greatly improved on the Note 3, the biggest enhancement being Air Command, a floating menu that appears when the S Pen is removed that gives quick access to all the new features.
Much like the Pen Window feature in Air Command, Multi Window is extremely useful in its functionality, but bogged down by serious restrictions. While you can open and use two apps at the same time, you're limited to only a handful of apps that can utilize the feature, leaving all the other ones shit outta luck.
When lending our iPhone to our kids, siblings or friends, it's not uncommon to have it returned with what seems like a million apps open in the background. What's worse is being too lazy to close all those open apps, in turn having our battery drain much faster than normal.
To say that there are a lot of app switchers and launchers available is an understatement. We've covered a few ourselves, including Loopr and Switchr. But why not check out one more?
In the midst of furious finger typing on a small non-tactile screen, you're sure to make mistakes—so the majority of keyboards have autocorrect. Generally it works pretty well and is a welcomed feature.
I like to hop between apps pretty often, and luckily my Samsung Galaxy S3 let's me do that fairly quickly. By simply holding the Home button for a few seconds, it will bring up my most recent apps, and I can switch between them with a simple tap. So if I am playing Injustice: Gods Among Us and want to switch the song currently playing on Pandora, I can bring up the recent apps menu to navigate there. While this default app switcher is more than adequate, it takes up the entire screen and coul...
It's fairly easy to switch between running apps on the Nexus 7 by hitting the Recent apps key in the Navigation bar at the bottom of your screen, but for me—it's just not good enough. I don't particularly like leaving the app I'm currently in to see this menu, and the menu itself is kind of clunky, and overall, not as fast as I'd like it to be.
If you've been using Google's hidden App Ops to lock down and prevent some of your Android applications from exposing your privacy, then think twice before updating to the new Android 4.4.2 software.
There are a gazillion lock screen apps available on Google Play, but the majority of them are subpar and not worth your time. However, in my opinion, there is definitely one out there worth your time—one that constantly learns and adapts to what apps you use when and where to determine which shortcuts to give you.
The Xbox One is pinning its success on the fact that is much more than just a video game console. Microsoft is looking for the Xbox One to become the centerpiece for family entertainment, which is why they included features like multitasking, TV controls, and apps.
The design of iOS 7 has its lovers and haters, and if you're an Android user who just happens to love it, there are plenty of ways to make your device feel more Apple-y.
One of the most heated topics in the Android community now (and probably forever) is stock Android, with lots of users requesting the ability to use it rather than the manufacturer's skin.
In the past, we've shown you how to install CyanogenMod 10.1 on your Nexus 7, but that version was based off of the older Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. If you want to stay current, the newer CyanogenMod 10.2 is out in the nightly stage, which is based on Android 4.3, and you can get it right now.
You'd think the ability to block calls from certain numbers would be built in to most phones by now, but that's certainly not the case with the iPhone.
Privacy has been a heated topic in recent months, with everyone now up in arms over unauthorized leaks and exposures. And guess what—tablet and smartphone users are just as vulnerable.
If your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 has been feeling sluggish lately, or you've noticed the battery not lasting as long as usual, the problem could be that you have too many applications running in the background.
Running multiple applications at the same time is one of the Samsung Galaxy S3's and S4's biggest advantages over Apple devices, and it's a fact that Samsung certainly harps on constantly in their well-targeted commercials.
Apple is widely known for keeping a tight grip on iOS, disallowing open-source and third-party downloads. While there are many reasons for this, the three most frequently referenced are quality control, malware prevention, and of course—money.
I've been a Sprint customer for a long time. Normally, Sprint (flagship) phones come with some useful apps, such as Sprint TV, Sprint Zone (for payments, updating PRLs, and account information), and NBA Game Time. In other words, relatively free of bloat.
When you upgrade to a new Android smartphone like the HTC One, you can have browser bookmarks, Wi-Fi passwords, and other settings quickly transferred over from your old device using your Google Account backup. However, you'll still have to download apps individually from your Google Play list, and not all of your saved progress will be transferred over. Fortunately, there is a third-party app that will allow you to backup and restore your apps—with all their data.
In a previous article, I pointed out a few criticisms of the Google Play Store, mostly about how unpolished and inefficient it is. To give you a better idea of what I mean, here are just a few of my complaints with the Play Store:
BEATS by Dr. Dre started making their studio-style headphones and speakers over four years ago, which claim to help listeners actually "hear" music as it was intended by the artists, since commodity headphones and earbuds are known for producing lackluster results. But you can only go so far with Beats Audio headphones, since your computers and mobile devices weren't built to take advantage of high quality audio equipment.
Self-restraint is one of the hardest thing to do. I'm a world-class procrastinator, and one of the biggest causes for my procrastination is my iPhone. Temple Run 2 was probably the best and worst thing that could have happened to me.
When we think of search it's usually in regards to the internet. But when you are using a smartphone, searching your device itself can be just as important and useful.
Our attention spans have vastly shortened thanks to the Internet and our subsequent procurement of information from it at a rapid pace. It's tough to pay attention to something for a good amount of time, unless it's ridiculously interesting and stimulating. It's gotten so bad for me that I keep checking my phone every ten minutes—I even did it during a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises.
Apps are now very much integrated with social media, especially with your Facebook profile. Pretty much every app these days lets you log in using Facebook, while some actually force you to, giving you no other option. But, the most annoying part is that these apps leave notifications all over your Facebook timeline, cluttering the hell out of it. So, how can you completely banish all of these apps from being able to access your Facebook?
At first glance, the iOS home screen looks nearly identical to the original release back in 2007. Though those experienced with the evolving iterations of iOS will tell you that the features have changed. Furthermore, with the App Store continuing to explode with (lets face it) better options than the stock software, these included applications are only causing clutter across the springboard.
Microsoft's first venture into the tablet market, the Surface RT, combines many of the capabilities of a normal Windows 8 laptop into a super compact tablet, whose super-thin touch cover and kickstand can transform it into a functional mini-laptop, small and light enough to go anywhere you want. But like most tablets, the Surface comes with a rather limited amount of storage space. The tablet comes in either 32 GB or 64 GB, but we all know that's not the actual amount of storage space you can...
Hiding apps that you don't want or don't use is a no-brainer, but with Apple's mobile iOS, they try to make it virtually impossible without a jailbreak. Now, with a few downloads and clicks, you can finally get rid of that pesky Newsstand or Stocks app without jailbreaking!
Since iOS 6 has been released, it's had its fair share of problems. From battery drainage, to photo uploading errors, to the Maps debacle, lots of users have been less than pleased. So much so that some are even downgrading.
Looking for a bigger monitor? How about a smaller monitor? With a little app called Screen Recycler, you can hook up your Apple iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad and use it as a second monitor. The app is available in the Apple App store and will let you view things on your hand held Apple device. No need to always think bigger, or rush out to the store to buy more hardware. You may already have what you need at home!
APK files are the EXE files of the Android phone, the executables that mark the point of entry to most programs and Apps. If you have rooted your Motorola Droid or other Android phone, you're probably come in contact of an APK file in or around your custom ROM. This video will show you how to install APK files on a rooted Motorola Droid, which will allow you to find Apps without going to the App Market and take advantage of all of the features of your custom ROM.
Oh, the iPhone 4 antenna. We've heard so much about how the vile human hand has impeded your perfect designs sublime functionality. But finally Apple has come down from it's high horse, admitted it was wrong, and started distributing free signal-fixing bumper cases to all of their iPhone 4 customers via, appropriately, an App for the iPhone. This video will show you how to use the Free Case Program App to order a free case from Apple or get a refund from them if you've already bought your own...
Apple really ate some mud in the media over the iPhone 4's blatant antenna problems, but they're finally trying to make good by offering free problem-solving bumper cases to all of their iPhone 4 customers. Keeping true to their "There's an App for that" slogan, they've made an App that allows you to order the free bumper case that they're promised you right from you iPhone. If you have service that is! This video will show you how to use it and get what you deserve from Apple.
The Android operating system for cell phones from Google lets you run multiple applications at the same time! By long pressing your home key (touching and holding) you can easily go back and forth between your most recently used apps. When you listen to music, you can easily switch to other apps while still enjoying your tunes! This video shows you the gist of it. Learn to run multiple apps on your Android-powered phone.
Update: If you're running iOS 7 or higher, you'll want to check out the new way to fully close your background applications.
