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As Android's official app provider, the Google Play Store is packed with thousands of useful programs. But Google's terms of service is extremely restrictive, which means that countless apps simply don't qualify to be hosted on the Google Play Store.

Google's YouTube Red is an awesome service, particularly in the United States where it comes bundled with a subscription to Google Play Music. You don't have to worry about ever seeing ads again on any videos, you can continue playback after you exit the YouTube app or even when you turn your screen off, you can download videos for offline playback, and you'll have access to YouTube Music.

Although lots of the bigger hotel chains are lessening the restrictions they put on their room TVs, some smaller ones are still taking measures to prevent you from plugging in computers or streaming devices into an HDMI port. However, there are a few steps you can take to bypass these restrictions and watch your own media in a hotel that has restricted TVs.

MSQRD (aka Masquerade), the popular iOS app that lets you put silly faces on top of selfies, is finally making its way over to Android.

Verizon customers who use the Samsung Galaxy S7, beware: a recent update installs new bloatware over your existing bloatware that installs new bloatware. Confused or pissed off? You should be, as this app can install new apps onto your phone without you knowing.

Google seems to be growing tired of the way links appear in its Search results page, because they're currently experimenting with a color change (that's already causinglotsofcontroversy).

Images of the newest Moto X flagship phones surfaced over the weekend, and it looks like Motorola has a cool new feature in store for the handsets, which are tentatively titled Vertex and Vector Thin.

Celebrating Mother's Day just got more exploitative with Apple's Mother's Day ad.

One of the best uses for an old Android device is to turn it into a security webcam that can be accessed over the internet. But most of the time, this is a rather difficult process, because existing apps usually require you to mess around with network settings and configure a personal web server.

Say you're out and about when suddenly you get the urge to write a strongly-worded email. You get the words down, but still feel like you could really hammer home the message with the right point of emphasis. Or maybe you just want to make absolutely sure that your recipient catches a certain detail. If you were on the mobile app, ALL CAPS was pretty much your only option other than crossing your fingers really hard.

Navigation app Waze occasionally gives you the option to have a celebrity voice provide directions for your trip, like this famous European with a funny voice, or this decidedly less-famous European with a funny voice.

How much you've actually spent and how much you think you've spent are usually two completely different results, and is especially true on Amazon when it's so easy to click and buy. You might think you've given Amazon a couple thousand over your lifetime, when the fact is that it's three or four times that amount.

Apple is planning to completely overhaul its Apple Music streaming service this summer, and is expected to unveil the changes at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June, according to reports from Bloomberg and 9to5Mac.

Opera's web browser for Android, Opera Mini, now comes with integrated ad-blocking technology for a less cluttered browsing experience. More importantly, it decreases the amount of data being loaded, which Opera claims increases webpage loading times by 40 percent. This is in addition to the 90 percent data reduction from Opera Mini's compression technology.

When you click a link from Google search, the link itself turns purple to let you know you've already visited this page. But let's say you're searching for something similar a few weeks from now and you see one of these purple links—you'll probably think to yourself, "What was I reading about on that site?"—and if you don't remember, you'll end up clicking the link again. And if you're a frequent Reddit user, you know this pain all too well.

On the list of problems with Android, manufacturer tinkering ranks near the top. Slow or nonexistent updates, poor performance, excessive bloatware apps—all of these things can be attributed to manufacturer skins like TouchWiz or Sense, and none of them are issues with unmodified, Vanilla Android devices like the Nexus series.

Google launched voice typing for Google Docs last Fall, and followed that up about six months later with voice commands that let you format and edit text as well. You can do things like select text, apply format settings like alignment and headings, and add and edit tables—all with your voice.

The Nextbit Robin, the world's first cloud-oriented smartphone, is on sale at Amazon for $299 plus tax, a savings of $100. You'll have to act quick though, as the deal only runs through May 10th while supplies last.

If you've been keeping tabs on the rumor mill for the iPhone 7, one of the most discussed elements of Apple's upcoming device is the possible elimination of the headphone jack in favor of a Lightning connection.

Turns out, you no longer need third-party flight tracking apps to get information on yours or others' flights—your iPhone and Mac can now give you flight details right from your Mail, Notes, and Messages apps.

According to sources, Google has been working on a travel app for some time, and now it has a name: Google Trips.

Facebook Messenger is getting ready to roll out a Snapchat-esque feature that will let users send messages that self-destruct after a certain amount of time, so you'll have an extra level of security when you need to send sensitive financial information or, more likely, risqué texts or images.

With the FBI getting access to iPhones, and apps like Waze being used to track people's locations, you've got to wonder just how safe and secure your smartphone is... or isn't. When you consider everything you do on your phone, from taking and sharing pictures to mobile banking, keeping your information safe is a crucial step that may seem out of your hands.

Android TV devices have had those beautiful Chromecast background images as their screensaver for quite a while now. Envious of this feature, Apple copied the idea for a similarly-styled screensaver in their newest Apple TV, but with one big twist—they used videos instead of still photos.

Smartphones have become such a big part of our lives these days that they're now closely associated with our personal identities. No longer is it Ford versus Chevy, rock versus rap, or PC versus Mac—now, you're either an Android person or an iOS person.

Google has a lesser-known Android app called Device Assist that might just be one of the most useful programs the company has ever published. It offers interactive guides and general tech support for Android, plus it can diagnose your device and help you fix any issues it finds.

For the past couple of years, random internet dwellers have embarked on an ambitious quest to see just how useless a box can be in hopes of earning sweet, sweet internet points. Welcome to the world of useless machines.

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.

It's a given that if you're driving, you or someone you know has Waze as a go-to on their smartphone. The Google-owned crowdsourced navigation app is one of the best for avoiding traffic, roadblocks, and even cops.

Images of BlackBerry's two upcoming Android phones have surfaced. Reportedly named "Hamburg" and "Rome," keeping with the company's tradition of using cities as code names for its devices, the images come from BlackBerry Central founder Dylan Habkirk (via Times News UK/GSMArena).

Soon all Android users will be able to use Samsung's cool Soundcamp app to write and record music. The announcement was made at the Samsung Developer Conference 2016, stating that the app, which was released last year for Samsung devices only, will become available to all phones and tablets running Android 5.0 or higher very soon.

HTC is developing the latest Nexus phones for Google, according to a recent tweet from Evan Blass, a well-known phone leaker.

Applications are finally beginning to make use of Android 6.0's fingerprint authentication, letting users access sensitive information without having to enter (or unsafely store) complicated passwords on their phones.

There's been a lot of speculation as to what Apple's next iPhone models will have in store for us. There's a lot of credible rumors about the iPhone 7, but is there also a Pro model in the works? We may actually have a legitimate sneak peek at what that device could look like.

If you've had the pleasure of owning both an iOS and Android device, you may have noticed one subtle difference on each one's PIN unlock screen. Android's lock screen requires you to press "OK" after entering the PIN, whereas iOS's simply unlocks the screen right after the last digit.

Spotlight is awesome for finding items in the stock Apple apps, but what if you want to search through the rest of the apps on your iPhone?

I'm really frustrated and feel stupid....I wanted to try the premium version and got a 7-day trial..ok, well, the problem is I didn't write down my username or password, however, I did give them my credit card #..and now it's telling me that there's a free 30-day trial, then they take the $9.99 off of my credit card....Does anyone out there know how I can cancel it, lease help ???????? oh I'm gave my card for Samsung Android tablet 5.2....

If you're a developer looking to get some exposure for your high-quality app, or if you're a user hunting for new apps and would like a chance to win a paid app at no cost, then Jack Underwood's new Promo Codes app may get you there, which you can install for free from the Google Play Store.

Whether you're ready to admit it or not, we've all got our alter egos—especially when it comes to the internet. Perhaps you have one Facebook account that you use publicly, while maintaining a second account for more private interactions.

Many users across the web have reportedissues with receiving notifications from the Gmail and Hangouts apps on Android. The problem is most prevalent with users running Marshmallow, and the gist is that notifications from these apps are extremely delayed or don't come through at all.