Hot Gadget Hacks Posts
How To: Enable ARCore on Any Android Phone
When it comes to augmented reality (AR) on Android, you might be wondering how you can get those cool new games and apps on your unsupported phone. Google has an officially supported device list for its ARCore platform, which usually consists of the more modern devices. You won't find very many older devices on the list for a reason, but that doesn't mean your "old" phone can't use ARCore still.
How To: Disable Photo, Screen & URL Sharing for Participants on Zoom to Prevent Unwanted Images During Video Calls
As long as you have the meeting ID, you can join and interrupt virtually any video call on Zoom. And that's how we get terms such as "Zoom-bombing," where someone jumps into a chat to say or visually show vulgar and inappropriate things to the other participants. However, hosts can put an end to it.
How To: Disable Your Mic & Camera Automatically When Joining Zoom Meetings to Slip into Chats Quietly
By default, as soon as you join a meeting on Zoom, both your microphone and camera turn on, sharing your audio and video to the other chat participants. While that isn't usually a problem, it can be an issue if the meeting hasn't started or you're entering in the middle of a class, and you don't want to disturb the video conference.
How To: The Not-So-Obvious Way to Bold & Italicize Text on Your iPhone
On a computer, you have keyboard shortcuts like cmd+b and ctrl+i to bold, italicize, or underline text. But how exactly do you this on your iPhone?
Spotify 101: How to Change Playlist Pictures from Your iPhone Instead of from Your Computer
Spotify is one of the most popular music streaming services available and allows you a high degree of control over the way you experience your music. Included in that is the album art for your playlists. While not an option ingrained in the mobile app itself, changing a playlist's cover image on your phone can still be done.
How To: How Many TikToks Have You Watched?
If you're as addicted to TikTok as much as I am, you probably heard about the app's alleged, hidden views counter, which can show you how many TikToks you've watched on your account. Most people who look at their counters are horrified to see that they've watched hundreds of millions of TikToks so far. Can that be right?
How To: Completely Change the Status Bar on Any Android Without Rooting
Despite Android's flexibility in regards to customization, the options available in stock Android are pretty barebones. It is only with the help of third-party apps that we can entirely transform sections of the UI to our liking. And thanks to a new app, we can modify another part of the OS, the status bar.
How To: See Passwords for Wi-Fi Networks You've Connected Your Android Device To
Over the course of owning your Android device, you've probably connected to dozens of Wi-Fi networks. School, home, work, the gym, your friends' and family's houses, coffee shops — each time you typed in one of these Wi-Fi passwords, your Android device saved it for safekeeping and easy access in the future.
How To: Use This Zoom Hack to Make Everyone Think You're Still in the Video Meeting When You're Not
It's OK to want an extended break when you're working or learning from home. Maybe you want to play a video game, spend more time with your family, hang out with your dog, or FaceTime with friends. But how can you do that when you're supposed to be in a Zoom video conference or class? Thanks to one Zoom feature on your iPhone, it may be easier than you think.
How To: Get Your 'Animal Crossing - New Horizons' Photos on Your Phone
We might not be able to hang out with friends in-person during a mandatory lockdown or self-quarantine, but we sure can in "Animal Crossing: New Horizons." Snapping pictures with the new NookPhone feels almost as personal as taking selfies in real life, so, naturally, we want those memories to live on our real phones as well. In pure Nintendo form, however, it's not easy.
How To: Enable the Built-in Screen Recorder on Android 10
Downloading third-party screen recording apps can be dangerous. The primary function of these apps is being able to record everything on one's display, so it's easy to see how a malicious developer could exploit this for their own gain. That's why the addition of Android 10's built-in screen recording is so impactful.
How To: Add a Virtual Background to Your Zoom Video on Mobile to Hide Your Real Background
Working from home has its perks. You don't need to commute, you can work in your pajamas, and you don't even need to clean your house, especially if you're using Zoom for video meetings on your smartphone. Instead of clearing toys from the floor or moving that pile of clothes on your chair, you can take advantage of Zoom's virtual background feature to hide what's really behind you.
News: No FaceTime on Android? Try These Video Chat Apps Instead
In these times of social distancing, video calling is becoming the technological substitute for face-to-face connections. For those who carry an iPhone, the art of video calling defaults to FaceTime, the native app on iOS that is exclusive to Apple devices. But what do you do if you or the other party is on Android?
How To: Share Your Friends' Instagram Stories in Your Own Story
Instagram has long-resisted easily resharing content. While it's been testing a "regram" feature for a long time, it still lags behind apps such as Twitter and Facebook when it comes to resharing content. But while Instagram is a bastion of original material, there is a feature in place for you to reshare stories from those you follow. Your friends can reshare your stories too.
How To: 7 Ways to Bypass Android's Secured Lock Screen
If you somehow forgot the pattern, PIN, or password that locks your Android device, you might think you're out of luck and are destined to be locked out forever. These security methods are hard to crack by design, but in many cases, it's not entirely impossible to break into a locked device.
How To: Get Water Out of Your iPhone's Speaker with a Simple App
Look, this article is a judgment-free zone. Whether you dropped your iPhone into a toilet or shower with it on a regular basis (guilty), some water will likely become nestled inside its speaker grilles. This causes audio to soften and/or sound muffled, and getting that water out is no easy task. Luckily, there's an app for that.
How To: Download Any TikTok Video on Your Phone — Even if They're Blocked from Saving
Many apps, including Facebook, Twitter, and Facebook, do not let you download videos, even if they are living on your own account. Saving these videos usually requires a third-party app or screen recorder, which is inconvenient and can result in loss of quality. However, TikTok, the newish popular short-form video platform, makes it easy to download videos — even if they're not yours.
How To: The 4 Best Phones for Privacy & Security in 2020
Smartphones are inherently bad for privacy. You've basically got a tracking device in your pocket, pinging off cell towers and locking onto GPS satellites. All the while, tracking cookies, advertising IDs, and usage stats follow you around the internet.
How To: Make an Easy DIY Stylus for Your iPhone 6 or 6 Plus Using Stuff You Already Have
Update: After playing around with our new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus over the last couple weeks, it occurred to me to see if my DIY stylus would work with these new devices. I'm happy to report that it does, just as expected.
How To: Automatically Delete Pictures & Videos You've Backed Up to Google Photos
Even with Pixels now coming with 128 GB of internal storage, many folks still struggle with low storage. The culprit is usually photos and videos, which can quickly eat away the space. Thankfully, there's a feature that solves this problem.
How To: Force Restart the iPhone X When It's Acting Up
Every now and then, an iPhone will freeze up and become unresponsive due to a software glitch. It can be a buggy app that somehow interferes with iOS or a software update that somehow didn't install properly. Whatever the cause, it's safe to say that no iPhone is immune to this problem, not even the new iPhone X.
How To: Make YouTube Default to HD Resolution Always on Your Phone
To reduce stress on internet bandwidth during the COVID-19 pandemic that the novel coronavirus is causing, Google decided to set YouTube's default video quality to 480p. That said, even when you could stream at HD quality without adjusting anything, you still couldn't switch the default to whatever you liked. We have a few methods on hand to help you change that.
How To: Share iCloud Drive Folders to Collaborators or as ZIP Files to Anyone from Your iPhone
In the iOS 13.4 update, Apple added folder-sharing capabilities in the Files app. That means you can share multiple documents at the same time instead of doing it one by one. But that's not all — you can share folders with numerous contacts and even enforce access and permission settings.
News: Apple Releases iOS 13.4 for Public Beta Testers, Includes New Memoji Stickers, Updated Mail Toolbar & More
Apple released iOS 13.4 to public beta testers today, Wednesday, March 18. The update comes the same day we learned that iOS 13.4 will be made available March 24. Today's update is 13.4's GM (golden master), even though Apple refers to it as "beta 6" on the dev site.
How To: Hide Private Photos on Your iPhone
When a photo or video is just too sensitive to leave laying around in your Photos app, you'll want to either delete it for good or hide it away in safe, secure location on your iPhone. As for the latter, Apple actually has a few tools available to make photos and videos hidden — even password-protected — on your iPhone.
How To: iPhone Not Charging Past 80%? Here's Why (& How to Fix It)
So you've been using iOS 13 for a little while and noticed your iPhone is pretty slow to charge. Using the 5-watt power adapter out of the box, in the time it used to take your iPhone to charge its battery to 100 percent, your iPhone is stuck at 80% or below instead. That's because Apple introduced a new feature in iOS 13 that slows down charging — but for a good reason.
Magisk 101: How to Install Magisk & Root with TWRP
There are a few different ways to install Magisk. If you're already rooted and you just want access to Magisk modules, you can use Magisk Manager to install the Magisk framework. Or, if you want to pass SafetyNet on a rooted device, you can switch from SuperSU to Magisk SU. But the best way to do it is to start fresh by installing Magisk on a non-rooted phone using TWRP.
How To: 14 Tips Every New TikTok User Should Know About
By now, there's no way you haven't stumbled upon a TikTok video, whether it was on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or YouTube. Just watching these addictive short-form videos is enough to make you want to join up and make your own, and when you do, we've got some tips that will help get your TikTok account in order.
How To: Customize the App Icons on Your iPhone's Home Screen
If there's one thing iOS isn't known for, it's customizability. Apple runs a pretty tight ship, and that's part of what makes iOS such an excellent operating system, but it's not great for those of us who like to modify the appearance of our iPhones. However, that doesn't mean we can't do perform some simple customization such as changing the app icons on the home screen.
How To: Trigger iMessage Effects with Just a Keyword
One of the coolest aesthetic features of iMessage is its animated message effects. If you're like many users, you might even have discovered them by accident; wishing your friend a "Happy Birthday!" or congratulating them on a promotion suddenly floods your screen with balloons or confetti.
How To: Fully Control Your Android Device from Any Computer
Have you ever been using your computer when a friend randomly decides it's time to start up a text message conversation? You usually have to stop what you're doing on the desktop, then go pick up your smartphone and respond to the text. Then, if your buddy replies with another message, you have to juggle back and forth between your mouse and keyboard and your handheld device.
How To: Cast Your iTunes Movie Library to Chromecast or Android TV
Google announced a partnership with Movies Anywhere that allows you to connect your iTunes, Amazon, and Vudu movie library with Google Play Movies. In other words, movies you purchase from any of these online retailers will be available for playback in the Google Play Movies app after a little setup.
How To: Dance TikTok's Footshake Challenge in 3 Different Ways
Whether you call it the foot shake or foot dance, videos of people tapping their feet together have been and still are blowing up all over TikTok. If you want to get in on the action but can't follow along with all of the fast-paced TikToks, we'll slow it down a bit for you and a friend.
How To: Prevent People Who Have Your Contact Information from Finding Your Instagram Account
Sharing your personal information can come up for any number of reasons: you may want to get in touch with a colleague after work or you've been involved in a car accident and need to stay in contact with the other driver. Unfortunately, giving out information can be the key for others to find your social media accounts, such as Instagram, whether you want it to happen or not.
How To: Use Desktop Chrome Extensions on Android
For years, there has been a disconnect between the Chrome app on your smartphone and the Chrome browser on your computer. The latter was a powerfully fast browser which could be enhanced with extensions to add new features and functionality, while the former was just a fast browser. Well, that all changes now.
How To: 5 Apps That Let You Make Calls Without Giving Out Your Real Number
Throwaway phones aren't just for seedy criminals and spies—they can be useful for many everyday situations.
How To: Save YouTube Videos Directly to Your iPhone's Camera Roll
Downloading YouTube videos for offline use to watch later has always been a problematic endeavor. Dedicated third-party apps don't last long in the App Store, web-based converters aren't very functional on mobile, and rogue apps outside the App Store are tricky to sideload and open up the possibility of vulnerabilities. But that doesn't mean you still don't have a few good options.
How To: Put Music on Your iPhone Without Using iTunes
There are quite a few flaws with Apple's mobile products, and one that drives me crazy is their reliance upon iTunes for all your music syncing needs. If you want a song on your iPhone, you pretty much have to use iTunes to get it on there. Either that or buy it directly from the iTunes app on your device.
How To: Set a GIF as a Live Wallpaper for Your iPhone's Lock Screen Background
In iOS, Apple provides a few live wallpapers that you can use for the background on your iPhone's lock screen, but these animated options are just wavy color shifts and ink-in-water effects. To really customize your lock screen, you can use a Live Photo for your wallpaper. If you can't find the right Live Photo, GIFs are the next best thing, and experimenting with them feels like a game almost.
How To: Permanently Delete Text Messages on Your iPhone
Deleting text messages on your iPhone may seem like a pretty simple task, but it's those really simple tasks that usually end up causing headaches later on. Data can stick around, even if you asked it not to, so there's always a slight chance that embarrassing and incriminating texts you supposedly deleted may end up in the wrong hands one day.
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