The automatic software update setting on your iPhone is nice, but you may not always want to install new iOS versions blindly. New updates could contain bugs and vulnerabilities, and your favorite features may even disappear. With the auto-update option turned off, you can manually download and install updates, but there are also hidden options to be more specific about how you want to do it.
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?
Several popular custom ROMs and root mods let you double tap the status bar at the top of your screen to put the phone to sleep. It pairs perfectly with the double tap to wake gesture you'll find on pretty much any Android phone. But if you're not rooted, you'll be glad to know you can finally do this by installing a simple app.
You're a busy, on-the-go professional, so you deserve an email client that keeps up with you. "Mail" on iPhone wasn't always the best option, but thanks to iOS 13, it feels like a completely different app. That said, there are plenty of alternatives that offer a different experience. Better yet, these apps are free. You won't need to spend a dime to try them out for yourself.
If you're concerned about someone accessing your OneDrive files, you may want to upgrade your protection by enabling fingerprint or Face ID unlocking. Your sensitive information deserves to be protected, and now you can do so easily. Worry no longer — if you need to let someone else use your phone, with a password-protected OneDrive, sneaky file grabbers will be out of luck.
Navigating and editing text is an essential part of any operating system, and with iOS 13, Apple has made some significant changes. Some things remain the same when working with text, but there are many updates to moving the cursor, scrolling, and selecting, cutting, copying, pasting, undoing, and redoing text.
Samsung removed the Bixby key on the Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+ and gave the power button dual functionality. In the process, they changed the way you power off the phone and made taking screenshots a bit tricky. Fortunately, it's not too hard once you get used to things.
With the arrival of iOS 12, Do Not Disturb has received long-overdue enhancements to make the feature more user-friendly. Among these changes is a subtle but incredibly convenient feature that helps ensure you remain undisturbed for short periods of time to more focus on your task at hand — without having to worry about turning it off manually or messing with complicated settings.
One of the new iOS 12 features for iPhones is an enhanced version of Do Not Disturb mode. Instead of being limited to times you manually input, Apple added new ways to manage the feature, including activating it based on location. For those on the go, this can be done pretty quickly.
Despite the abundance of sci-fi titles in the iOS App Store, very few of these mobile games ever have the staying power keep us glued for more than a few hours. Enter Space Pioneer, an awesome space exploration game that soft-launched in Canada ahead of a worldwide debut. With a little spoofing, you can experience the game yourself right now.
Taking a cue from the smash hit Super Mario Maker, Bandai Namco has soft launched PAC-MAN Maker in Canada ahead of a worldwide release. This is welcome news for mobile gamers, as you won't need a console to enjoy this classic arcade game when it finally touches down stateside. But if you want to give PAC-MAN Maker a shot right now, we've got you covered.
NBA 2K18 has been out for the iPhone for months, but its $7.99 price tag put it out of reach for many mobile gamers. There's light at the end of the tunnel now, as a free-to-play version is in the works as a soft-launch in New Zealand. If you can't bear the wait, you can play the free NBA 2K Mobile right now in any country.
The LG G7 ThinQ will likely be lambasted for its notch and awkward name, but one thing they seem to have gotten right is the new display. The G7 ThinQ will give many a first look at a new type of panel with lots of promise. While it was previously limited to TVs, from what we know, it should really shine on a smaller screen.
Apple's latest iPhone operating system is notorious for its frequent bugs and glitches. The latest iteration, iOS 11.3, is no exception, as users are experiencing not only 3D Touch issues but missing screenshot previews as well.
One of the most popular mobile games out there for kids has added an augmented reality mode that brings the titular character into the real world.
Spring training has begun in earnest, and to mark MLB's soft debut, GLU has soft-launched a followup to the smash hit MLB Tap Sports Baseball 2017 in Canada. While MLB Tap Sports Baseball 2018 is still technically unavailable outside of Canada, you can actually play this game right now through a simple hack.
If the Notes app on your iPhone is anything like mine, it's a mess. Even with the addition of folders, adding note after note can really clutter things up. You need a way to quickly identify the notes that are most important, and that's where pinning comes in.
Apple pushed out iOS 11.2.5 beta 6 today for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch to developers and public beta testers. Last week two beta updates were rolled out, and this fast pace may indicate that iOS 11.2.5 is almost ready for prime time.
Whether you're watching Netflix on your Android tablet, smart TV, or computer, the process for changing how subtitles and closed captioning appear is the same. Plus, when you customize the font, size, color, and the background, all devices connected to your Netflix profile will update — except for iOS and tvOS devices. A different process is necessary for an iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, or Apple TV.
With Apple Pay Cash, you can easily and securely pay your contacts directly in your iPhone's Messages app. While you can always use the normal method of paying someone with Apple Pay Cash, there's actually a faster way, as long as your contact asks you for money in an iMessage.
One of the byproducts of the success of Pokémon Go was the viral images that made the rounds on social media of people putting Pikachus, Charmanders, and their brethren in compromising positions. Snapchat has a similar claim to fame, most recently with the inexplicable popularity of the dancing hotdog.
It was extremely simple in iOS 10 to switch your iPhone's display to warmer colors at night, but iOS 11 buried the "Night Shift" toggle for some reason. So don't beat yourself up if you couldn't find the setting right away.
Apple's been hard at work adding new features and finishing touches to iOS 11, and there's evidence of it everywhere. But there's one place where these changes are more noticeable than perhaps anywhere else — Safari.
With iOS 11, Apple is working hard towards breaking down language barriers to bring people closer together than ever before, as evidenced by Siri's newfound ability to directly translate words and phrases in different languages. In the near future, it's easy to imagine Siri as our very own real-life BabelFish.
Though its necessity is less frequent compared to Android devices, iPhones still need to be shut down from time to time. Whether it's to help correct a buggy app, prevent overheating on a hot day, or conserve battery life in a pinch, the power button on any device is an indispensable tool that can't be taken for granted. So when it's busted, what do you do?
One thing that annoys the hell out of me is when a popup appears on my iPhone in an app I'm using asking me for a rating or review on the iOS App Store. I like to share my opinion on applications just as much as the next person, but I want to give stars when I'm good and ready. Now, iOS 11 lets me.
Kodi, formerly known as XBMC, is one of the most versatile media players available. With it, you can play virtually any internet and media file in a large variety of formats, and it can be used on practically every single operating system out there, including iOS 10. Kodi, an open-source software, was originally designed to connect to your TV so you could control your media from up to ten feet away, and the core functionality still shines today. All of this is what makes Kodi so popular today...
Google made an entirely new launcher for its Pixel devices, and it's got a lot of cool features such as a swipe gesture to open your app drawer and an entire home screen page dedicated to Google search. We've already shown you how to get this so-called Pixel Launcher on other devices, but there was always one feature that was missing.
The Google Pixel and Pixel XL have an exclusive set of navigation buttons that you can't get on any other device without some tinkering. But aside from just being solid, filled-in shapes, the real treat in the Pixel's nav bar is the Google Assistant animation that gets activated by long-pressing the home button. The four colored dots that animate outward give you some visual feedback for triggering the Assistant, but really, it's just a nice little touch.
Keyboards and mice work fine for computers, but in a holographic environment you'll want to do more than just point, click, and type. While we can still benefit from these input devices, complex hand-tracking methods are necessary for the evolution of mixed reality user interfaces.
Ever since iOS 8, you could add widgets on your iPhone using the "Edit" menu on the Today view page, but there's an easier and faster way to get widgets set up for viewing via a right swipe on the lock screen, a swipe right from the first home screen page, and a swipe down from center top everywhere else.
We recently covered an app called Touch Controls for YouTube that allows you to swipe up or down on any YouTube video to quickly adjust volume levels or brightness. As awesome as that app is, commenters here and on our YouTube channel thought it was lacking one big feature—the ability to seek forward or backward in the video by swiping the screen.
If you like having Siri available to answer a quick question every now and again but don't want everyone who picks up your iPhone to also have access to your personal assistant, there's an easy way to disable her from working on your iPhone's lock screen. This is also something you can do if you're always activating Siri accidentally in your pocket.
Google has been working on its voice recognition technology ever since the days when you had to call a phone number with a Silicon Valley area code to dictate your query. As you can imagine, things have come a long way in the decade or so that has passed, to the point where we talk to our phones as if they were a person nowadays.
With a price that undercuts flagship devices like the iPhone 6s and Galaxy S7 by hundreds of dollars and a smaller size, new tests show that the iPhone SE incredibly packs just as much power as its bigger brother.
Whatever you want to call it for now—Android Nutella, Android Nougat, or Android 7.0—the upcoming "N" release of Android will surely bring in tons of new features and functionality. We know it will be named after a dessert, and we know that Google uses an alphabetical naming system, so something starting with "N" is next in line after Android 6.0 Marshmallow.
Apple's once flawless mobile operating system has seen its fair share of bugs recently. From Messages and Wi-Fi settings crashing to having your photos and contacts exposed, iOS has been standing on shaky ground for a while now.
Most people are familiar with the fact that vinegar adds sourness to a dish, in varying degrees from light acidity to puckering acid. However, vinegar can also be used in lieu of salt when seasoning the final touches to sauces, soups, and stews.
The notification light on phones and tablets is slowly disappearing. The once staple feature is now only found on a few devices, and a bevy of other notification systems have sought to fill the gap. The most popular of these systems is Ambient Display, which has grown in popularity with OEMs over the last couple of years; even Google's own Nexus line of phones have made the plunge.
With as much creativity and freedom that we have on Android, it feels a little underwhelming that the only gesture we can perform on the status bar is a downward swipe to expose the notification tray or quick settings. Maybe this is a field for Android to expand on in the future, but until that day, third-party developers are exploring this now.
