Gadget Hacks: Page 144

We regret to inform you the former king of third-party keyboards, Swype, has officially retired on both Android and iOS. A few weeks ago, we noticed Swype's mysterious disappearance from the iOS App Store but had hoped it was just pulled temporarily, not gone forever. Unfortunately, Swype is no more, but there's something that's ready to take its place for you on your phone.

Apple released the second beta for iOS 11.3 on Tuesday, Feb. 6. The update comes two weeks after the original announcement and release of the iOS 11.3 beta, which brought new Animoji, Messages on iCloud, and Apple Music Videos, among other features. One glaring omission was the promised battery health tool, but iOS 11.3 beta 2 just introduced it.

I'm using Dbase IV during many years. But yesterday I opened my database and I got: Table Mine32.dbf has become corrupted. After that I repeated the procedure, but it didn't assist me. I've no idea what to do next, I hope some experienced users might help.

Throwaway phones aren't just for seedy criminals and spies—they can be useful for many everyday situations.

If you have an iPhone, you probably know that iOS 11 hasn't been the smoothest iOS version released, to put it lightly. We've seen bug after bug cripple the software's usability, many times within the Messages app. Now, yet another glitch has emerged to drive us crazy, one where just a simple Indian character can crash Messages as well as other third-party apps.

With Mobile World Congress fast approaching, all eyes in the industry are set on Samsung's Galaxy S9 announcement on February 25. While leaks and rumors about the S9 and S9+ have been flooding in for quite some time, we're getting a much clearer picture of these handsets as the announcement draws near.

As expected, Apple began pushing out the final version of iOS 11.2.5 to all iPads, iPhone, and iPod touches today after 41 days of beta testing. Highlights include a fix for the ChaiOS vulnerability, a persistent Now Playing bar in Music, and some signs of AirPlay 2 just in time for the HomePod launch on Feb. 9.

Mobile World Congress is a four-day event that is both a showcase and conference starring prominent figures in the mobile industry. Oftentimes, OEMs will use this event to announce new products for the upcoming year — and this year shouldn't be any different. Here are all the phones we expect to be announced.

This year will be an interesting one for iPhones. With speculation that the expensive iPhone X is underperforming, rumors have circulated that Apple will release three "bezel-less" devices, one of which will cost less by omitting the OLED panel for a traditional, yet large, 6.1" LCD. Now, thanks to the source of this rumor, we have an idea how much that lower-tier iPhone will cost.

The latest and greatest in Qualcomm's long line of mobile processors, the Snapdragon 845, is now set to touch down along with the Galaxy S9 and S9+. And as gorgeous as Samsung's newest flagships are, the processor that powers them under the hood is just as highly anticipated.

Not all microwaves are created equal, so when you use the recommended cooking time on any microwaveable meal, chances are you're actually cooking the food too much or not enough. And unless you're really good at mental math or have a virtual assistant that's smarter than Siri and Google, you have to do things the long way — but not with these helpful apps for iOS and Android.

Thanks to iCloud and AirDrop, it's really easy to sync photos between an iPhone and a Mac. But if you have an Apple phone and a Windows computer, this process isn't quite as simple. Thankfully, Microsoft has just released a new iPhone app that makes it a breeze to move photos and videos from your iPhone to your PC.

One of the best-received features of the OnePlus 5T was the relatively secure face unlock, which made it quick and easy to get into the phone. Unfortunately, this feature wasn't included with the slightly older OnePlus 5 at first, but now, face unlocking is finally out of beta and available to everyone with a 2017 OnePlus.

The story of the Essential Phone isn't one for the faint of heart. The company was founded by Andy Rubin, and their first phone was supposed to have only the "essential" qualities. Unfortunately, it lacked a decent camera, and still cost as much as most flagships. Since that rough start, however, things have taken a turn for the better. Now, Eseential's doubling down with a new set of colorways for the PH-1.

HBO's Westworld has touched down on iOS as a mobile game, giving players the chance to manage their very own futuristic theme park set in the wild west. Unfortunately, the game is currently only available in select countries as a soft launch until its fully developed. But if you'd like to try out this game right now, there's a simple workaround to get Westworld on your iPhone.

Today's the big day for all Apple fans to start updating their devices to the new iOS 5, which has many improved features compared to its iOS 4 predecessor.

Facebook's status update box has received many new features over the years. You can go live, sell something, and even create a poll. But since all this was added, the status update box has been relatively stagnant. That's finally changing again with Facebook's newest addition: Lists.

Ever since Microsoft sold Nokia to HMD, they've hit the ground running with a new lease on life. Quick updates have become their hallmark, with even their lower-end phones getting Android Oreo in a timely fashion. The same holds true for their current flagship, the Nokia 8, which by our count is now the first phone outside of Pixel or Nexus devices to get Android 8.1.

When first released, Snap Map made a lot of users uneasy. Beaming their location to the world at all times isn't necessarily the definition of privacy, but Snapchat's map is nonetheless intriguing, offering users a view into the lives of people across the globe. Now, you don't even need to have an account to access Snap Map — you can view it right from your web browser.

While it's easy enough to make yourself invisible on Snap Map, nothing is quite as private as not having a Snapchat account at all. Whether you're concerned about your privacy or you simply never signed up for the social media platform, Snapchat's web-based map is an easy way to check in on what's happening in your area and beyond.

Introduced on the iPhone 6s, 3D Touch is just about the closest thing to a "right-click" that we have on iOS. Apple and app developers utilize this feature to give us helpful options that might otherwise clutter the overall app experience, as well as opportunities to "peek" into an action without committing to it. Safari on iPhone is no exception.

The internet is chock-full of fun and interesting content, but there's only so much time in the day for consuming it. That's when saving webpages for later comes in handy. If you don't want your bookmarks and favorites folders to clutter up fast, consider using the "Reading List" feature built right in Safari on your iPhone.

In 2018, there are more ways than ever to watch your favorite sporting events. You can stream them with a number of services, or you can simply watch it on a TV. Many fans will even watch it at a sports bar. The problem with a sports bar is that you won't be able to hear the game over the sound of dozens of loud bargoers.

Because it sources a majority of its vital data from actual drivers on the road, Waze is easily one of the best navigation apps to use if you prioritize safety. Benefits such as crowd-sourced traffic data, police trap locations, and road work avoidance, when combined, help you anticipate traffic conditions with unprecedented accuracy and make adjustments accordingly.

Snapchat is in the midst of a massive redesign — one that not everyone loves. Still, it's clear that this is a decision fueled by money, and Snap Inc. believes this redesign will help attract more advertisers. Even so, Snapchat has a few more tricks up their sleeves to make a little extra dough. And while the average user couldn't care less about ads, they very easily could care about custom Filters and Lenses.

In 2014, Snapchat introduced a special type of Filter called Geofilters. Geofilters only appear when you're in a specific location. For example, a Disney Land Geofilter will only appear if you're actually there. Rather, your phone needs to think that you're at Disney Land. By spoofing your GPS location, you can effectively travel all across the globe — at least in the eyes of Snapchat.

The horizontal dotted icon in your iPhone's status bar serves as an indicator of your device's network strength. And while it does help provide an approximation of how strong your signal is, swapping it out to display an actual numeric value is a lot more precise and can change up the look of your iPhone (or at least the status bar). The process is quick, painless, and you don't even need to jailbreak your phone.

Unlike many browsers, Firefox gives a lot of control to the user. By default, Firefox does a great job of balancing security and performance. However, within the app's settings, you can modify options to shift this balance in one direction or another. For those looking to shift it toward security, here are few suggestions.

Waze is the go-to navigation app for millions of drivers, and it's easy to see why. Benefits such crowd-sourced traffic data, police trap locations, and road work avoidance are just the tip of the iceberg. It can almost be overwhelming, but with these simple tips, you'll master Waze and start navigating like an expert in no time.

Samsung kicked off their Android Oreo rollout earlier this week. The update already improved the lock screen significantly with new wallpaper color-matching for the clock. With the newest update, we also get the ability to tweak the transparency of lock screen notifications.

Apple's latest mobile operating system, iOS 9, may not be the huge overhaul that iOS 8 was, but that doesn't mean there aren't plenty of new features. In fact, there are a ton of subtle changes that you may not notice right away. Here's a rundown of all the coolest new features you need to know about on the new iOS 9 for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch.

After Apple's recent fiasco, it's now common knowledge that smartphone batteries degrade over time. But aside from causing terrible battery life, a degraded battery can also trick your phone's software into thinking the device has more juice left than it actually does.

Snapchat's redesign has really taken off, slimming the app down to two sections: Friends and Discover. Snapchat appears to be celebrating this massive success by giving all users a sort of "best of" filter, one that encapsulates the complete Snapchat experience complete with the Dancing Hot Dog.

Earlier this week, Snapchatannounced a partnership with NBCUniversal regarding the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea. Starting on February 10, Snapchat will be streaming a feed of NBC's live broadcast of the Olympics in Pyeongchang.

When OnePlus announced the 5T, many were disappointed that it wasn't shipping with Android Oreo. To curb some of this disappointment, OnePlus quickly introduced an open beta for both the 5 and 5T and promised that each would receive the official version by Q1 2018. Well today, OnePlus has met this promise and pushed the OTA out for the official stable version of Android Oreo.

Update 1/17: Tim Cook chimed in about the upcoming iOS upgrade with expanded battery health data. We'll expand on that below.

It's tough to keep pace with Apple lately. As expected, only one day after the public release of iOS 11.2.5, the company released iOS 11.3 to developers. A day after that, Apple pushed it out to public beta testers, too. With new Animoji, more transparent battery information, Apple Music receiving music videos, and more, this update is the one to watch out for.

Amazon has had a long-standing partnership with its consumers regarding special offers. Amazon sells these Prime Exclusive Phones with lock screen ads and Amazon apps in exchange for discounts on the phones. You also need to be an Amazon Prime Member, leading us to historically believe that these "special offers" weren't really all that special. That is, until today.

IFTTT is an application that allows you to automate certain tasks on your iPhone or Android. It can communicate with a myriad of apps and services on your phone by creating applets that perform actions automatically — actions you'd normally have to do manually. Finding those applets, however, can be a little difficult.

Venmo makes it incredibly convenient to send money to friends and family, and it all happens instantly from the comfort of your smartphone. Even better, if you have an iPhone, Venmo lets you conduct transactions straight from the default Messages app, giving you more flexibility and convenience over Android users.