News and Updates from Gadget Hacks: Page 85

Look, we all like getting things for free. That's why we can stomach things like advertisements and optional purchases in freemium apps and games — we're willing to pay for our mobile experiences in every way but currency. Although freemium seems to be the model for the future of iPhone entertainment, it looks like a different scheme might win out in the end.

It was only a few years ago when the idea of a 5+ inch display on a smartphone was unreal. With most hovering around four inches at the time, a phone that big seemed impossible to hold. We've come a long way since then, but it appears another wave of large displays will soon hit us, and they are all at least six inches.

Google just dropped the new Android 9.0 Pie update for Pixel devices, and it's packed with cool new features. There's notch support, a new screenshot button, and even a way to edit screenshots after you've taken them, just to name a few. But one feature that's easy to overlook is the new transition animations, which have been completely revamped.

It's a sad day for one of the most beloved series of Android phones. For the first time since 2009, there's a new version of Android, but it's not being made available to Google's own Nexus devices.

For the second time in a row, Apple pushed out a new iOS 12 developer beta on a Monday, and for the first time this round, they've done it only one week after the last one. While the August 6 release of iOS 12 developer beta 6 doesn't contain a wealth of updates, there are still a few things you'll want to know about.

Well, that was unexpected. Apple released the fifth iteration of the iOS 12 public beta on Monday, August 6, just hours after iOS 12 developer beta 6. The company sometimes releases developer and public betas on the same date, sometimes even at the same time, but has not done so during iOS 12's beta period until now.

In stock Android Oreo and below, the volume rockers change ringer volume by default unless audio is currently playing. In order to adjust media volume when media isn't playing, you have to tap the down arrow next to the ringer volume slider that appears at the top of the screen to see the option. Now, Android 9.0 Pie has flipped things around, giving media volume the limelight.

Regardless of the operating system, selecting a piece of text on a touchscreen device is never fun. Thankfully, Google has finally added a new feature to Android 9.0 Pie that will make it at least a little less annoying.

In 2018, Motorola is no longer the same brand that introduced the world to the Motorola Droid. The once iconic company is now part of the "Others" group, scrambling for fifth place. The newly-announced Moto Z3 perfectly embodies their current state with competitive specs ... if it came out last year.

After getting confirmation from Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, we now know Fortnite Battle Royale will not be available on the Play Store when it's finally released for Android. Instead, users will have to download the APK directly from Epic Games' website — and quite frankly, this is a bad idea.

Will smartphone batteries ever last as long as we need them to? Perhaps not. That's why we rely on external batteries to help us stay connected for hours, even days, longer than usual. But in 2018, you don't want to use just any external battery. Modern Android phones have fast charging — so should your portable charger.

In the tech world, upgrades are normally a good thing. On iOS, it means bug fixes and security patches that protect your iPhone and keep it up with the times. In the jailbreak world, however, upgrades can mean certain death, as we are reminded today when Apple stopped signing iOS 11.4. That means if you upgrade to 11.4.1, you will no longer be able to jailbreak your iPhone.

It looks like the Huawei P20 Pro won't be the only phone with a triple camera for much longer. Rumors indicate the upcoming LG V40 ThinQ will share the same number of cameras. And just like with dual cameras, LG is showing that there is more than one way to arrange them.

2017 was a down year for HTC. First, the U11 and U Ultra were widely criticized. Later, Google purchased a large chunk of HTC's manufacturing division, leaving the Taiwanese company running with a skeleton crew after losing 2,000 key employees. But that's not stopping HTC — their flagship U12+ was just announced, and it's quite impressive.

Project Fi, Google's MVNO, is running a new promotion on the latest and greatest from LG. From July 16 until the 29th, whenever you order and activate the LG G7 ThinQ or LG V35 ThinQ, you will receive a $300 service credit. When you do the numbers, that equals a minimum of three free months of service.

While devices as old as the iPhone 5s have been treated quite well by iOS 12, the same cannot be said for Fortnite. The smash hit has had a rocky run on the latest iOS betas, with a known crashing issue featured on each beta update's release notes. That changes with developer beta 4, as Apple confirms Fortnite is fixed.

In 2018, notches are the hot trend with smartphones. Essential was first to release a phone with a notch in mid-2017, but Apple kicked off the fad in earnest with the iPhone X. Unfortunately, unlike the iPhone X, every Android phone with a notch has a noticeable bottom chin. Let's take a deep dive to find out why.

Users on Instagram have taken the app's new "Questions" sticker and run with it — it's tough to find a story in your feed that doesn't proudly sport "Ask me a question." However, it appears there's some confusion when it comes to the anonymity of your answers to these questions. News flash — your username is attached to every response.

Since the San Bernardino shooting in 2014, Apple's been engaged in a game of cat and mouse with law enforcement. Authorities want access to evidence on criminals' iPhones, but Apple wants to protect all of its customers' personal data equally. The latest installment in this saga has Apple outright disabling the Lightning port.

Apple has been testing iOS 11.4.1 for just over a month now, and so far, there's nothing to show for it except unknown "bug fixes" and under-the-hood "improvements." And that still rings true with the release of iOS 11.4.1 beta 5 on Monday, July 2, which comes exactly one week after beta 4. Now the question is, when will the stable update be pushed out to everyone?

Apple released the third beta of iOS 12 for developers on Tuesday, July 3. The update comes exactly two weeks after the release of the second developer beta, which introduced a variety of fixes as well as new issues, and just one week after the release of the public beta. Public beta testers received this iOS 12 update on Thursday, July 5, labeled as public beta 2.

Right on the heels of the iOS 11.4.1 beta 3 release, Apple pushed out iOS 12 beta 2 to registered developers on Tuesday, June 19. Public beta testers received the same version, labeled as iOS 12 public beta 1, six days later on Monday, June 25. Last year, the iOS 11 public beta opened up just five days after the release of iOS 11 developer beta 2, so iOS 12 is pretty much right on track in that regard.

Apple's on a roll with once-every-week releases for the iOS 11.4.1 beta. Exactly seven days after beta 3 came out, beta 4 has been pushed out to developers and public beta testers on Monday, June 25. Just like before, there are no new features or any known enhancements or bug fixes. Apple confirmed that iOS 11.4.1 is for under-the-hood improvements only, since iOS 12 beta is already out.

Hours after iOS 11.4.1 beta 4 was released on Monday, June 25, Apple's webpage for its public beta software programs was unavailable because of an "update." Sure enough, that meant the public beta for iOS 12 was being prepped to drop shortly thereafter, which is exactly what happened. In other words, you can now install iOS 12 on your iPhone without a developer account!

During an event in Moscow earlier this year, Nokia announced a refresh to their Nokia 2, 3, and 5 series phones. While there is no official confirmation of a US release for the updated Nokia 2 and 5, we do know that as of July 2nd, you'll be able to snag a new Nokia 3.1.

After a district judge approved the $85 billion merger between AT&T and Time Warner, we knew AT&T would be quick to reap the rewards of capturing Time Warner's media properties. Today, we get our first look at this with two cellular plans from AT&T. What makes these plans unique is they include a new cord-cutting service called WatchTV.

Earlier in June, we learned that Project Fi was going to carry three new phones, one of which was a device previously thought to be AT&T-exclusive, the LG V35 ThinQ. After much waiting, preorders are now open.

Apple released the second beta for iOS 11.4.1 on Monday, June 11. The company seeded the update 12 days after the release of the first 11.4.1 beta on May 30. The initial beta brought no new features to iOS 11, just bug fixes and stability updates, and beta 2 appears to be the same case.

With summer in full swing, these Snapchat lenses are as hot as ever. With people celebrating the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Snapchat contests that earn could earn you a free ride to Comic Con, and the everyday innovation that comes out of Lens Studio, there's something for everyone here this week.

When it comes to the sub-$250 price range, the new Nokia 5.1 might be the perfect phone. Of all the new models announced at Nokia's event in Moscow, the Nokia 5.1 offers the most with the least compromises. For a third of the cost of a flagship, you get a phone with a premium build, solid specs, and good battery life.

During E3, many major game developers announced plans to bring console and PC franchises to mobile. These titles are designed for more serious gamers with competition in mind. All of this points to a shift in mobile hardware priorities — soon, gamers will need gaming phones just like PC players need a gaming rig.

Apple released iOS 11.4.1 beta 1 to developers on Wednesday, May 30, just one day after the official release of iOS 11.4, which brought Messages in iCloud and AirPlay 2 to the public for the first time. There does not appear to be any new features in this first iOS 11.4.1 beta, instead focusing on "bug fixes and improvements" only.

As summer is upon us, new musical Snapchat lenses are as well. This week has entries from Maroon 5, Simon and Garfunkel, and Snow Tha Product with entertaining visuals to match. As kids start to leave school for the summer, expect the lens scene to be kicked up a notch with anticipation.

BlackBerry has formally unveiled its latest flagship, the KEY2, during an exclusive event in New York. The Android-powered KEY2 retains its distinctive BlackBerry aesthetics with a physical QWERTY keyboard. Here's all the juicy details regarding Blackberry's followup to the venerable KEYone.

Google's MVNO carrier, Project Fi, can save you a ton of money in the right circumstances, but it's always had a limited selection of supported phones. Because the service uses Sprint, T-Mobile, and US Cellular towers as its backbone, you could only use Project Fi with a Pixel, Nexus, or the Android One Moto X4 until now.

Apple pushed out iOS 11.4 on May 29 to iPads and iPhones, which included the long-awaited Messages in iCloud feature. The company did not release macOS High Sierra 10.13.5 at the same time, limiting the usefulness of being able to sync messages in the cloud since 10.13.4 is not compatible with Messages in iCloud. But three days later, Apple finally released macOS 10.13.5.

The day has finally arrived — Samsung has unveiled the Galaxy S9 and S9+. Apart from minor upgrades, the two might not appear to be much different from last year's S8 and S8+, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. One feature that hasn't changed is the Galaxy's IP68 water-resistance rating. That's a great score, but it begs the question — what does that number really mean?

It's official — the newest version of Google's mobile operating system is called Android 8.0 Oreo, and it's in the process of rolling out to many different devices. Oreo has plenty of changes in store, ranging from revamped looks to under-the-hood improvements, so there's tons of cool new stuff to explore.

It seems almost every carrier now has an unlimited data plan, and free Wi-Fi is now available in more places than ever before. If you want to be connected, it has never been easier — but that still doesn't mean that everyone can stream as much as they please.

It's really easy to binge-watch episode after episode, and that's exactly what Netflix wants us to do. Before you can even think twice, the next video is playing and you're stuck wallowing in the abyss of unintentionally marathon-viewing your new favorite TV show, and there's nothing you can do. Except there is something you can do — and it's as simple as disabling one little feature.