The Latest from Gadget Hacks: Page 99

In iOS 11, Apple made it easier for you to share passwords with friends. Back then, it was just Wi-Fi passwords, which made sense. "What's the Wi-Fi?" gets old after a while. But now, whether you're running iOS 12 or 13, you can share any password you want with any iPhone around, all with one of iOS' best features: AirDrop.

The Reminders app has always lacked the oomf that would make a person switch from a powerful third-party task manager. But Reminders has received quite the makeover in iOS 13, including a revamped UI and several new features, such as timed reminder alerts, which make the app a worthy to-do list option for the iPhone.

Apple's iOS 13 has been available for beta testing since June, and the stable release pushed out to everyone on Thursday, Sept. 19. To help you make the most out of iOS 13 for iPhone, we've rounded up everything you'll want to know, whether a colossal feature, small settings change, interface update, or hidden improvement.

When an app is acting up, the first thing you should do is head to its App Info page. Here, you can force stop the buggy app or delete its data and cache. It even lets you manage permissions and notifications, quickly uninstall the app, and more. So you should definitely know about the easy new way to get to this page.

When Apple acquired the popular Workflow app in 2017, many were worried that it would either get replaced with something much worse, or just disappear entirely. Thankfully, Apple put these concerns to rest with the launch of Shortcuts. In iOS 13, Shortcuts is becoming more powerful than ever, providing functionality on the iPhone that the original Workflow team could only dream of.

One of iOS 13's coolest features is the ability to download, install, and choose fonts in select apps like Pages and Mail. However, you might notice an issue when writing an email with a custom typeface: there's no option to return to the default font. What gives?

One of the more low-key functions to arrive with the Note 10 was the ability to easily record your screen system-wide. Thankfully, this long-awaited feature will finally make its way to popular Galaxy devices like the S10 and Note 9 thanks to One UI 2.

Semi-untethered jailbreaks are here to stay, as evidenced by iOS 11's Electra method, Chimera for iOS 12, and even the new bootrom-based Checkra1n tool for iOS 13. While not as convenient as fully untethered, re-enabling a semi-untethered jailbreak is still pretty easy once you get used to the steps involved.

The wearables space experienced its "big bang" moment back in 2015 when Apple released its first wearable device, the Apple Watch. Although the device was initially dismissed by some as an unnecessary charm bracelet packed with frivolous tech, in very short order, the public learned just how useful the Apple Watch can be.

With EA chief executive Andrew Wilson stating the official mobile version of Apex Legends won't arrive until the 2021 fiscal year, fans have to wait at least another year to enjoy their favorite battle royale game on the go. But for those who can't wait, there are ways to play the game on iPhone and Android right now.

Lenovo has done a great job preventing leaks of their new Moto RAZR. We've seen a few images here and there, but for the most part, we knew very little about the long-rumored phone. But with the announcement date just around the corner, an FCC filing has given us a look at the new RAZR from almost every angle.

Who's ready for another beta season? We beta testers have had quite the break: Apple released the fourth public beta for 13.2 on Oct. 23, and since then, two full weeks have gone by without a shred of beta news. It seems this Wednesday, Nov. 6 is our lucky day, as Apple just released the first public beta for iOS 13.3.

The latest official update for iPhone, iOS 13.2, introduced 22 new features and changes to the iOS 13 era, building off the improvements brought by iOS 13.1 and iOS 13 proper before it. It's time to take our first peek into what's next for iPhone and iOS, as Apple releases iOS 13.3 developer beta 1 today, Tuesday, Nov. 5.

The Pixel 4 comes with a new "Styles and wallpapers" app that lets you change icons, accent colors, and more. But if you're on a first-gen Pixel, a Pixel 2, or a Pixel 3, you don't get this feature. On the bright side, there's still a way to use it.

Since the Razer Phone's announcement in 2017, we've seen a new subgroup of phones emerge. Gaming phones are now a thing, leading to companies like ASUS creating phones that are thoroughly optimized for the mobile gaming experience. And with their second iteration, they perfected it.

The home bar first introduced on the iPhone X is a handy visual guide as you get accustomed to using gestures like swiping up to unlock or going back to the home screen. As you master the gestures, however, the home bar becomes less of an aid and more of an obstruction that you can't remove or resize, unless you've jailbroken your iPhone.

ADB and Fastboot are probably the most essential tools for any Android aficionado. They can do everything from backing up your device to unlocking your bootloader with a few simple steps. This paves the way for many new tweaks and customizations that weren't possible before. The required platform works with the three most popular computer operating systems, too, which is good news for everyone.

Hi all, I've noticed that my battery, surprise surprise, isn't what it used to be (the phone is about 4 or 5 yrs old). I've installed acubattery which tells me that it is still 77% which is great but I'm considering buying a new battery to replace the old one. So, my questions are: -is it a good time now that is has degraded a bit (don't be fooled by that 77%, it discharges pretty quickly i have to charge twice a day even if I've done my best to optimize it) -i seem to understand that they...

QR codes are like smart little cubes of data. To unlock this data, you will need a QR reader. These are annoying because you typically have to download a third-party app, and some of these apps are shady. Luckily your Samsung Galaxy running One UI has a hidden QR scanner built right in.

Game streaming has never been better. Not only can you watch your favorite Twitch streamer play, but with the new tools being added to YouTube, you can even play along with them. And now, with a solid internet connection, you can stream your Xbox One games to your phone to enjoy console games on the go.

The Pixel 4 is one of the most talked-about phones of 2019, and it has many things going for it, especially in the world of rooting and modding. Just as with previous Pixel generations, unlocking the bootloader is the gateway to realizing your device's true potential. It can make way for such things as TWRP, Magisk, custom ROMs, and many other device-specific mods just the same.

If you're a beta tester, you know Apple released iOS 13.3 this week, bringing with it stability for multitasking as well as minor changes throughout the OS. It seems Apple doesn't want the rest of us to go without this critical patch, as the company releases iOS 13.2.2 today, Thursday, Nov. 7.

When the Steam Link app was first introduced in 2018, I was impressed. As long as you were on the same network as your PC, you could play your Steam games on your phone. But now, it's even more impressive. By enabling a few extra settings, you can play your Steam library on mobile data anywhere in the world.

Castlevania ranks up there with Super Mario as one of the most memorable video games ever, and a new iteration of the side-scrolling action RPG has been soft-launched in Canada ahead of a worldwide release. If you want to try out the game on your iPhone before everyone else, there's a simple hack to try.

The prospect of loss or theft is something we constantly live with. Stolen iPhones fetch a premium price on the black market for parts like OLED display assemblies, frames, and charging ports. Making matters worse, if someone were to steal your phone, they could simply turn it off to avoid anti-theft features like Find My iPhone.

With the files on our devices getting more important as the years go by, the need to keep things organized continues to rise. The longer you have a device, the messier the internal storage might become. Having a file manager would be extremely useful in this situation. You could also reorganize the folder structure as well, just like you could on a desktop computer.

Cases and stickers are always great, but they aren't the only way to customize an iPhone. The software on your device is full of customization options, from a better-looking home screen and cooler lock screen wallpapers to app icon changes and a system-wide dark mode. There's literally over 100 ways to make iOS on your iPhone genuinely unique, some of which are hiding in plain sight.

The first thing you'll always have to do before getting your customization game on with most phones is to unlock the bootloader. Doing so opens the true potential of the device, allowing you to root, install TWRP, Magisk, custom ROMs, and other mods. No matter your wants or needs, there's no way around it — the bootloader must be unlocked to modify the system.

Restarting your iPhone can cure software glitches, but it should only be done as a last resort if your device has a semi-tethered jailbreak, because it will disable any tweaks you've applied. Luckily, your jailbroken iPhone has a faster alternative to rebooting to help you troubleshoot and make changes on the fly.

It's easy to take your iPhone's Notification Center for granted. As useful as it is for viewing important alerts, reminders, and more, the feature is pretty drab when compared to the customizable Control Center, Accessibility Shortcuts, and others.

Incoming phone calls and FaceTimes, whether you want to answer them or not, will take over your entire iPhone's screen — no matter what you're in the middle of doing on the device at the moment. You could be browsing the web, playing a game, or chatting on social media. It doesn't matter, you'll get interrupted. But you don't have to put up with it anymore.

If you've ever tinkered with a phone, you're familiar with booting into recovery mode. You're probably used to using a combination of hardware buttons to get into recovery, which usually includes the power button and one of the volume buttons. The thing is, you don't really need to press the power button.

Sometimes you might find that a certain app keeps sending you notifications. What are you to do? There are plenty of useful apps that might send one too many push notifications, but that doesn't mean you should dump them. Luckily, Android gives you complete control over how each installed app handles notifications.

Low Power Mode (LPM) decreases the amount of battery your iPhone uses by disabling background app refreshing and automatic downloads, locking your screen after 30 seconds, and more. While it's only meant to be used temporarily, if you're struggling with battery life, you may want to enable LPM permanently.

Smartphones and dark mode go hand in hand. Screens can be bright, causing eye strain and battery drain, and dark mode can take the edge off both. It's perfect for nighttime browsing, but also for general use, especially on OLED displays with inky blacks. Dark mode, aka night mode, is particularly great for tweeting, and Twitter makes it easy to switch.

If you want to root, it's step one. If you're a tinkerer, it's vital. It's Android's hidden "Developer options" menu, and it's definitely worth taking 30 seconds to unlock.

One of the best things about Android is being able to control everything you want, from your wallpaper down to the default apps you use for every action. Changing the default SMS app from the one that came with your device can drastically alter your messaging experience. Many SMS apps have loads of themes to pick from while also offering other features you can't find anywhere else.

There's something about alcohol that compels you to contact people. Most of the time, the drunken calls or messages you send out will have you cringing hard tomorrow morning. But if you have a jailbroken iPhone, you can help prevent this potential embarrassment with a free tweak.

Back in its infancy, the App Store was filled with text bomb apps that allowed users to send a barrage of text messages to friends, family, and foes. It was a fun way to annoy people, but Apple quickly scrubbed the apps because of technical issues. Although text bombs are still banished, you can now use a Siri Shortcut to send text bombs through iMessage on your iPhone.

Compared to fully untethered jailbreaks, semi-untethered methods like Chimera for iOS 12 have one major handicap: you need to re-enable the jailbreak every time your iPhone turns off or restarts. As intimidating as it seems, however, kickstarting the mod and restoring your tweaks is still pretty easy.