Android Lollipop still doesn't have a simple way to add a custom lock screen wallpaper, so when I came across Corgi For Feedly from developer Stan Dmitriev, I had to check it out. What sets Corgi apart from other lock screen replacements is that it connects directly to your Feedly account to display top stories from your favorite RSS feeds as your background.
As is the case with most software updates, Android 5.0 brought changes that were viewed by users as somewhat positive and somewhat negative. This generally happens because we're accustomed to the old way of doing things, and changes, no matter how useful, can slow us down.
The biggest complaint I hear about Android Lollipop is the fact that the new Priority Mode notification system has effectively killed off "Silent Mode." Sure, you can still put your phone on vibrate, but that's not truly silent. Selecting "None" as your notification mode isn't a perfect solution either, since no notification icons will be shown in your status bar and your alarm will not go off in the morning.
The lack of Xposed support on Android Lollipop has left modules like GEL Settings incompatible with my Google Play Edition HTC One, so I've had to find a new launcher to meet all of my needs. While I can safely say I will never find the perfect launcher for me, Blinq comes pretty damn close.
Samsung phones have a pretty nifty little feature called Smart Stay that will prevent your screen from turning off while you're actively using your device. Trouble with this is that it's exclusive to Galaxy devices and it uses a ton of battery since it monitors the front-facing camera to detect when you're facing the screen.
If you've ever attempted to report a bug to a developer, no doubt you've heard the response, "Get a logcat." This is infinitely important to a developer because of the fact that a logcat captures a full report of every command that was recently executed on your Android device, and it allows them to see exactly where something went wrong.
There's a common bug that affects many Samsung Galaxy S5 users, myself included. The software that drives the fingerprint sensor can randomly fail to load, leaving you without one of the most unique features of your beloved smartphone.
Decisions are rarely easy to make, and there are countless ways to mull your options over. You can sleep on it, pluck flower petals, make a list of pros and cons, or even follow the advice of a psychic. Yet to make the best decision possible, you might want to consider holding off until a certain time of the day—or even until you feel specific emotions. The state you find yourself in has significant impact on each decision you make.
You wouldn't send your GPS coordinates to a completely random stranger just because he or she asked you for it, right? So why are you constantly sharing your location (and other data) to apps on a daily basis?
Using a combination of my phone, laptop, and an arsenal of apps and plugins, I can send pretty much anything to my Chromecast. However, nothing is ever perfect, and the file type that was still giving me headaches were torrent and magnet files.
Apple's iPhone 6 packs a powerful 4.7-inch Retina HD display with 1334-by-750 resolution, and it's so incredible in person that it almost looks fake. However, as awesome at this display is, it can always be better.
App-locking apps have been around for a while, but none have had quite the panache of developer Fazil Kunhamed's latest offering, Oops! AppLock. While others use a PIN or password to restrict access to apps that are installed on Android, AppLock uses a stealthy volume button combo.
Whenever a new Android device is realized, the first thing I figure out how to do is to get it root access. Generally speaking, rooting has never been easier, with many one-touch methods like Stump and Towelroot available. But as manufacturers and carriers increase security with each new product, there is one tried-and-true root method that continues to work on most Samsung devices—Chainfire's CF Auto Root.
Increased battery life is easily one of the most sought after improvements to a device and often drives intrepid users to root their phones, flash new ROMs, and try out experimental kernels.
Accessing your favorite and most recent contacts on your iPhone is now faster than ever before, thanks to the iOS 8 update. Just double-click your Home button, select your contact above the app switcher menu, then choose how you want to contact them.
Google Keyboard, which comes pre-installed on Nexus devices (and is available for all others from the Play Store), is one of the most functional keyboards currently available for Android. With features like gesture-based typing, next-word prediction, and even text expansion macros, it's a very capable form of text input.
Apple's newest mobile operating system, iOS 8, is out for the general public, and we've got a rundown on the best new features you can use on your iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. While there's not a huge visual change as there was from iOS 6 to iOS 7, there's still plenty of cool new features in iOS 8 to be excited about.
After a week of teasing, ASUS unveiled its Android Wear-powered ZenWatch at IFA 2014. The ZenWatch packs style and performance with a custom ZenUI, Remote Camera, and over a 100 choices of built-in watch faces.
Pushbullet is one of those apps that helps separate Android from its competition. By pushing the boundaries of cross-platform data syncing and file sharing, the service truly demonstrates how flexible and robust the world's leading mobile operating system can be.
At the core of your Galaxy S5's hardware lies the central processing unit, or CPU for short. Practically every piece of data, every binary bit, has to pass through your CPU before it can be used to display a video or execute a game command.
If you're anything like me, you started down the Android-modding path for two distinct reasons; to run cutting-edge software and squeeze every bit of performance out of your hardware. Utilizing the new F2FS file system on your rooted Nexus 4 or 5 fulfills both of those desires at the same time.
It seems like gesture controls are all the craze these days. From camera-opening gestures to "Air Gestures", it's getting to the point where we hardly need to touch the screens on our phones to control them.
When you're not using your phone, it doesn't make much sense that it would be wasting power by maintaining an internet connection for the inside of your pocket or purse. Well, perhaps you need a little bit of intermittent data here and there so that apps can update themselves in the background and still post notifications, but it doesn't need to be constant.
Google's text-to-speech engine is getting pretty good these days. In a recent update, the computerized voice that reads on screen text (like Google Now search results) got an audio quality bump that brought its clarity up to its highest level yet. And with each update, that robotic voice becomes a bit more human.
There is finally a keyboard for smartwatches that would make James Bond proud, thanks to Minuum Keyboard.
The new preview build of Android is out, and it looks good. But if you're not quite ready to install Android L on your phone, there's still another way to enjoy some of these new visual elements on your Nexus device.
Google announced the ADT-1—their first foray into dedicted gaming using their Android TV platform—at this year's Google I/O, in hopes to once again take over your living room on the heels of the immensely popular Chromecast.
In early-2014, Facebook had the brilliant idea of auto-playing all of those annoying videos in your news feed that you never wanted to see in the first place. Fortunately, they realized their mistake and have provided a way to disable auto-play, which means you can now get rid of some of those plugin-blocking browser settings you have enabled.
The newest version of iOS 8 beta is now out. Almost three weeks ago, in the iOS 8 beta 2 release, we saw podcast integration, full-screen caller ID, new assistive touch toggles, and a "disable all" button for app notifications, among other things.
Don't you just love snack food? Me too! but as I get older I notice how the small food choices I make affect my belly. So how do we get over this potato chip world? Easy make your own chips. This recipe with Zucchini is not only a healthier option but also delicious.
I regularly use iTunes on my home laptop and my work desktop forty-five traffic minutes away. I'm ashamed to admit it, but until recently, I'd been saving my iTunes library on a USB and transferring it back and forth, over and over again, between the two computers.
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).
It was the star of the show, but now that Android L has been released for preview to Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 owners, there's a lot that Google didn't tell us about their latest mobile operating system, rumored to be called Lollipop.
Owning an Android device is almost like having a PC in your pocket. Android's ability to easily navigate the file system on your phone is one of many features that separate it from the competition. Just plug your phone into a computer, drag the file over, and you're all set.
Think eating food is as easy as putting it in your mouth? It's considerably more complicated than that. Your brain plays a big role in determining what and how you eat. Understanding how your brain interprets food choices is key to managing your eating habits.
Admit it, you wish Siri was on your Mac, and so do I. She stole my heart on iOS, and now every time I open up my MacBook, I feel something missing. Wouldn't it be great if we could, I dunno, hack Siri onto our Macs? Yeah, it would!
I'll freely admit that I'm a SwiftKey diehard. I've used the keyboard since its inception in 2010, and it was one of the first apps I ever paid for back in the days of my beloved Sprint Evo 4G. Since then, I've kept up with all its beta iterations, and have unabashedly installed it on various friend's devices.
Accessing your recent contacts just became a hell of a lot quicker with iOS 8. In addition to accessing recent apps, double-pressing your Home button now shows off recent contacts at the top of your screen.
With limited storage options available on the Nexus 5, cloud storage can definitely come in handy. But sometimes, with the seemingly endless options of cloud services for us to choose from, our online data can get a bit disorganized.
Facebook rolled out a new feature that lets your friends ask you about your current relationship status. This is great feature if you use Facebook for finding hookups, but if you use it mostly to connect with family and friends, a bunch of questions about your dating status can get annoying real quick.
