Trending on Gadget Hacks: Page 178

Out of all the new features in iOS 9, the two most important ones specific to iPads are split screen multitasking and floating video windows. The latter is truly great, since you can watch movies or use FaceTime while you use different apps. The feature is called Picture in Picture, and here's what you need to know about it.

When it comes to smartphones, the biggest complaint voiced by most users is battery life. Sure, it's unrealistic to expect your Android device to run for weeks without a recharge, but many folks struggle to even make it through the day without having to top off their battery.

Most mobile games have moved to an online-only format, meaning you need to be connected to the Internet in order to get any kind of multiplayer action going. This is great when you're at home on Wi-Fi, but when you're out and about, slow and inconsistent data speeds can cause serious lag. Or worse yet, you may be nearing your monthly data cap!

Have you ever noticed that some Android gallery apps display every last photo that you have stored on your device? This is particularly annoying when most stock gallery apps don't provide an option for hiding certain folders from your filmstrip view. Then there are music players that load up ringtones and video players that queue every video on your device, regardless of whether you want them there or not.

Mac OS X has finally added a way to use two apps side by side in full screen mode, à la Microsoft's Windows Snap. But since it's only available in 10.11 El Capitan right now, those of us with older systems will have to wait until the El Capitan Public Preview or final build is released later this year.

For those of you who've already gotten Beta Preview or Developer Preview access to Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite, I highly recommend installing it on a separate partition on your hard drive.

Apple released the new Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite in the Mac App Store for everyone to download and install for free on October 16th, 2014, but downloading a 5+ GB file for each of your computers will take some serious time. The best thing to do is download it once and create a bootable install USB drive from the file for all of your Macs.

Previously, the only way to see files in iCloud Drive on an iPad or iPhone in iOS 8 was to view them in Safari, which was pretty messy overall. To make iCloud Drive a little less confusing for the average consumer, Apple has included a dedicated app in iOS 9, allowing you to conveniently view all your stored cloud-based files right from your home screen.

Not to be outdone by the announcements of Mac OS X El Capitan and iOS 9, the Apple Watch is also getting a much needed software update. Some of the notable new features we can look forward to on watchOS 2 are Nightstand mode, additional screens for friends, email replies, and other improvements we probably should have already had.

I received this phone in question from a friend. I would like to activate the phone under a new carrier but can't unlock for the new carrier to program it

I currently have a iPhone 4 under contract with AT&T, and I was wondering how/if I could switch the sim card to a Note 2 and continue the same contract from AT&T on that new phone? If so I would like to purchase a Note 2 (been interested in one for a while) and put my sim card in there to use as my main phone. Also, whenever my family upgrades their phones, could I just put the new sim card into the Note 2? Thank you in advance.

I've been a diehard Chrome user since its inception, and even more so since Android was released. The ability to sync bookmarks, passwords, and web history across all of my devices made the switch a no-brainer, but what really made me fall in love was the amount of extensions available for it.

SoundHound's new virtual assistant application, Hound, is gaining a lot of buzz in the tech world—especially after a demo video showed just how awesome it works (it has amassed over 1.6 million views in under a week).

If you're one of the many that likes to upload collages to Instagram, the Facebook company has a new tool for you. Instagram released a brand new app in March called Layout to help facilitate the process of creating photo layouts to post onto social media or just share with friends.

It's nice that most apps ship with multi-language support, but if you only need to utilize one, those extra language packs are doing nothing more than taking up space on your computer. And when you're getting close to filling up your hard drive, every little bit counts.

Android M doesn't even have an official name yet, but that doesn't mean you can't test out of some of its new features today.

SoundHound, the Shazam-like song-matching service, recently announced a new mobile app called Hound, which wants to be your one and only intelligent personal assistant.

Android Lollipop, introduced an array of new features and aesthetics that pleased many loyal users. One of those additions being the new heads-up notifications. Taking subtle inspiration from iOS, these notifications are visually appealing and can be easily dismissed or expanded, but they do require that you take an action before they go away immediately. Of course, you can always wait 10 seconds for them to disappear, but that can be really annoying if you're in the middle of a game or editing...

Android M, the successor to Lollipop, is almost here. If you have a Nexus, you can install a preview of Android M using either the Fastboot method or Nexus Root Toolkit. For those of you without a Nexus, you can still get a piece of M on your device right now by installing the new app drawer.

Relentless in its fury, the iOS text messaging exploit that exploded onto the scene late last week seems to do more damage than initially reported.

pls help......i have a htc one m8,that i mistakenly deleted the os now am left with a soft bricked phone that does not boot pass the htc one logo.....the phone bootloader info are as follows:

Google I/O is like Christmas for Android enthusiasts. Every year, this conference showcases new and upcoming features for the world's leading mobile operating system, and this year's was no different. Shortly after announcing Android M, Google released a preview version of the upcoming firmware for Nexus devices.

Organizing contacts is a bitch, especially on the iPhone. Some contacts will have multiple entries, you can only delete contacts one by one, and certain types of contacts can't be deleted at all. If that isn't enough to make you pull your hair out, then I don't know what will.

Aside from media, there's not a whole lot you can do in 140 characters to make your tweets stand out. You can use emojis, but they aren't exactly ground-breaking. However, now you can use Bedazzle, a Chrome extension from Gordon Zheng that'll allow you to add "rich text" to your tweets.

In an attempt to remain a mobile-exclusive app, Instagram doesn't let users upload photos or videos from their computer. On the Instagram web app, you can pretty much only like and comment on items in your feed, but what about all of those photos on your computer that scream #tbt?

On Thursday morning, May 28th, Google announced an upcoming version of Android—and within a few hours, a preview build of this so-called "Android M" release was made available to select Nexus devices.

While its hardware may already be a little outdated compared to newer flagship phones, the OnePlus One is still a great value thanks to the dedicated community that continues to develop ROMs for it. Cyanogen 12 and Oxygen OS are the two most popular ones, but neither offers the type of unique experience you get with Xiaomi's MIUI (pronounced "Me You I").

KNOX is a major pain for Samsung owners who like to modify their devices. Its combination of hardware and software security measures make things rather difficult when you're trying to modify system-level files and functions without voiding your warranty.

My reliance on autocorrect has made me a horrible speller. I take it for granted that it'll catch all my mistakes, but it only ends up making matters worse (especially when it inadvertently makes correct words wrong). So instead of relying on autocorrect to fix typos, why not try to completely prevent mistakes from happening in the first place?

Google recently announced the beta release of a developer tool called ARC Welder for Chrome, which allows developers to run and test their Android apps on any computer with the Chrome browser installed.

When Lollipop was released, Android's lock screen got a huge makeover. But most of the changes were made for aesthetic purposes rather than functionality.

Sony's Xperia line of smartphones are beautifully crafted and have many great features. But considering the fact that Sony has evolved into a media company over the last two decades, it's their media-related apps that stand out the most.

AMOLED display panels like the one found in most Samsung Galaxy devices, including the Galaxy S6 models, are known for their deep blacks and vivid colors. The downside here is that the colors tend to be over-saturated and not very realistic.

Dolby may have made a lot of Android users angry by only offering their Atmos surround sound equalizer to Lenovo and Amazon, but we all know that exclusivity is only temporary in the Android world. Thanks to worstenbrood, we now have a ported version that can be installed on any device running Android 4.3 and above.

UPDATE 5/21/15

Spotlight, Apple's selection-based search system, received a major facelift on Mac OS X Yosemite. Packed with dozens of new features, such as a central search window and increased app suggestions, the reworked Spotlight was a breath of fresh air.

Carriers like to distinguish their Android phones from the competition by making small changes to the interface here and there. This practice is so common that Android now has a built-in system for managing these small tweaks.

Just the fact that you own an Android device means you're privy to an entire world of third-party development. Many of the mods you'll see here on Gadget Hacks can be performed fresh out of the box, but with root and Xposed, the list grows longer. But to truly be able to take advantage of all that Android's massive development community has to offer, you'll need to have a custom recovery installed.

Living in Southern California means I don't really have a need to check the weather all that often. But every now and then, I'm caught off guard by a particularly chilly or hot day—no one wants to be the only person walking around with a T-shirt and sandals on a rainy, 50-degree day.

I need to know how to bypass lock screen an pin for my phone because I forgot it.