Gadget Hacks: Page 43

iPhones aren't immune to occasional bugs. But starting with the iPhone X, performing a reboot to fix minor issues has gotten a little more tedious. Thankfully, iOS 13 has a hidden option that makes the process a whole lot simpler.

Between school, work, and your personal life, there's a good chance you have multiple Google accounts. Most Google apps let you log into all of them simultaneously to receive applicable alerts when they arrive. Well, there's a dead-simple way to switch between these accounts, and it just takes one swipe

Slack is meant for business, but it's inevitably used for personal reasons too, or even just to goof off with colleagues. However, you never know who's looking over your shoulder (nosy coworker? boss?), and you could get in trouble for something sent to you. That's why you might want to hide images and GIFs to help keep your conversations private.

When you type on a computer, you have the help of a mouse or trackpad to guide your cursor. Unless you set up a mouse with your iPhone, however, you don't have that option on the go. Therefore, iOS needs to come up with ways for you to move your cursor around to easy pick up typing where you want to. Among other solutions, Apple has a way to jump your cursor wherever you want.

Procrastination is an ugly beast. At first, it seems so innocent to spend five minutes checking Reddit or Twitter. You'll get started on work right after. Next thing you know, it's 1 a.m. and that paper is due in seven hours. Before you start anotherYouTube video, know you don't have to be like Spongebob. You can be like me, taking control of your productivity with the right app.

If you rely on WhatsApp as your messaging go-to, you're probably all too familiar with the default background in chats. While its distinctive look definitely sets it apart from other messaging apps, you're free to swap it out for something more appealing.

Since iOS 13 iPhones (tested 7,7+,X and Xs) are having issues 1: overall lag and buggy mostly noticeable on 7, 7+ and X 2: on 7 when you turn on/off mobile data phone will hang for good 4,5 sec 3: 3D Touch made worse for these devices (not a bug but intended "feature") 4: problems at moving app icons around pages, when you are done moving your icons around and hit done all the icon will go back to their old place (7,7+) 5: no new feature for iPhone XS (for example: iPhone 11 has an option when...

So, you undid something you typed on your iPhone. Maybe you used the new gesture in iOS 13 to do so. Maybe you shook your iPhone, on purpose or accidentally, to trigger the traditional undo method. Either way, you want your text back, or to redo your edit, and you aren't sure how to do it. Luckily, it's as easy as a swipe.

Slack's in-app web browser works fine, but it just doesn't offer the functionality and features that a dedicated browser such as Chrome, Firefox or Safari can. Features like the ability to bookmark a page, search for specific text, or request the desktop site are missing. Luckily, Slack makes it easy to change your default browser.

By default, Slack optimizes the images you upload and send to other users in your workspace. Although optimization lowers the resolution of the image, it does send quicker, which is better if your internet service is poor. However, you may want to send the highest-resolution image possible, so how do you stop Slack from sending only optimized and lower-quality photos?

Look, tests are no fun, and doing poorly on them is rarely an option. Whether you're studious or a slacker, everyone needs a little boost now and again. While students have found ways to cheat as long as tests have existed, the invention of smartphones has greatly enhanced the potential to get ... creative.

When you think about it, isn't life just one big open-world RPG just begging to be conquered? We all have a set number of specific tasks or chores we must complete every single day like clockwork. Sometimes, these items on our to-do list can become tedious and cause us to lose motivation. What if you could take those tasks and turn them into something awesome instead? Now you can.

Sticky notes and the refrigerator go perfectly together, like chocolate and peanut butter. They're particularly popular among families with young kids, so they've been a key part of our personal lives for many years now. But what if you could turn those sticky notes into a digital format? Now you can.

Being organized is a big part of being productive. Keeping your important documents where they need to be is key to an optimized workflow. When using Google Keep, sometimes a note may outgrow its note status and you may want to upgrade it to a full on Google Doc. Thankfully, that's really easy to do.

The Google Assistant is available almost everywhere. It powers smart speakers like the Google Home, it's built into Android phones, and it can even be installed on iPhones and iPads. So when Google adds a feature like the ability to send reminders to other people's Assistants, it's far reaching.

Gboard is often considered the best keyboard for iPhone or Android. Google made sure to jam-pack it full of features, and you should expect nothing but the best when it comes to Google's own first-party software. But with so many capabilities, a few things might slip through the cracks.

We're basically living in the future, so let's work like we are. For decades, we have, without question, opened a word processor like Pages, and clicked or tapped our way to starting a new document. What's wrong with that? It's unnecessary. We all have a digital assistant living in our iPhone, one that can start up a new Pages doc by verbal request.

Who needs a pen when you've got an iPhone? If you have a form, agreement, or contract that you need to quickly sign, you do it directly from iOS without the use of a third-party app. Using Markup, which is available in several native Apple apps, you can sign and send important documents in just a few seconds.

Everyone occasionally has tipsy fingers that lead to mistaken button taps. Even if you didn't accidentally delete your note, you may have found that it is in fact still relevant and not time for that note's demise. Thankfully, there's a simple way to undelete your Google Keep notes.

There's no doubt that Microsoft Word is the go-to for businesses worldwide. As such, you might receive Word documents to open on your iPhone, whether or not you actually have Word for iOS installed. If you prefer editing text documents with Pages, Apple's own word processor, you can import and export Word docs easily.

For many of us, our work phone and our personal phone are one and the same. Just any old phone isn't going to cut it when you need to meet a deadline — a phone with built-in features that make it easier to get things done is almost a must.

The Files app was first introduced to the iPhone with the release of iOS 11. In the two years since its unveiling, we've enjoyed a more desktop-class experience since there's finally a decent file manager for mobile devices. That said, there was always one major issue with the Files app, an issue iOS 13 solves for good.

You usually reply to emails on your own ... unless it's related to your work. You may want input from coworkers or higher-ups, and while forwarding works, Spark offers an easier way to discuss important emails with others. Using Spark for Teams, you can easily share an email with your team and discuss it privately.

As paper forms become a thing of the past, it's becoming commonplace to fill out contracts, rental agreements, waiver release forms, and non-disclosure agreements online. You can easily fill out forms on your laptop, but how can you best do this using your iPhone or Android device?

In its never-ending quest to innovate its flagships, Apple's newer iPhone models with Face ID do away with the iconic Home button present since the first iPhone back in 2007. That means screenshots, force-restarting, switching apps, Apple Pay, and the home screen all work differently on the iPhone X, XR, XS, XS Max, 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max. One of the more important aspects, Siri, is also slightly different.

True home automation doesn't require interaction from the user. But let's be real, no system is going to be 100% autonomous. You'll always need a manual override for situations programming can't account for. So what's the best manual override system? I'll tell you right now, it doesn't involve yelling at Alexa or Google.

If you have devices that run different operating systems, you know how frustrating it is that Apple's Calendar app isn't available on other platforms. If you use Siri to quickly create an event on your iPhone or Mac, you're not going to see that event on your PC or Android tablet unless you sync your calendar to another service.

Adobe is best known for its photo and video editing software, but they also have a number of lesser-known apps that you may be interested in. Adobe Fill & Sign, available on iPhone and Android, is the best way to electronically fill out important documents on your smartphone with a third-party app.

Creating a digital spreadsheet by hand can certainly be tedious, especially if you're copying a printed paper table word for word, number for number. Instead of typing information that's already there, however, use Microsoft Excel on Android or iOS to snap a photo of that printed chart and import it directly into your digital one.

In Messages, it's pretty hard to miss the timestamps that appear on top of more recent texts, iMessages, or files. But if you want to view the exact times for each text, you'll need to know about a hidden gesture.

At Next Reality we mostly focus on augmented reality, but that doesn't mean we're not also absolutely obsessed with virtual reality, too. If the thing that's been keeping you from diving into the deep end of VR has been clunky tethered headsets or the expensive but necessary gaming PCs, then it's time for you to try the Oculus Quest, which is currently available to buy here for less than most gaming systems on the market.

A relatively unknown musician from the early-'70s that's gained popularity stateside over the last ten years just got the remastered treatment with two new reissues available on CD and 180-gram vinyl. And they're available right now.

Your writing is just that — yours — so the work you do in Apple Pages should remain private until you choose to share it. Apple seems to share this sentiment. As another symbol of its dedication to user privacy and security, the company includes a feature in its word-processing app for iOS that allows you to lock documents behind a password, as well as with Face ID or Touch ID.

Disabling clunky, revealing link previews on Google Keep can serve multiple purposes. You know, those expanded versions of the same URL you pasted into your note, except duplicated, tacked onto the bottom of your note, and showing a preview picture. Removing these can help optimize your productivity formula.

Instagram is a great platform to share photos and videos with the world, but sharing with smaller groups is near impossible. You can directly message pictures, stories, or post links to friends, but that only works for one person at a time or in group chats you create. To share your content with a small group of people you care about the most, you'll want to use the "Close Friends" list.

Though more well known for their OLED displays and advanced cameras, Galaxy phones like the S8, Note 10 & 10+ and S10 series are a force to be reckoned with when it comes to audio. In fact, flagships from the S9 on up feature AKG-tuned stereo speakers, along with a slew of software enhancements that make listening to music a truly pleasurable experience.

The updated Reminders app in iOS 13 makes productivity a little bit more seamless on the iPhone. The overhauled user interface makes it easier to find your reminders, the new Messages integration makes it simpler to remember to-dos regarding your contacts, and the new toolbar provides shortcuts to tasks that were once clunky and confusing.

In iOS 13, Apple is taking the Reminders app more seriously. With its long list of helpful new changes, the app finally stacks up to other task managers like Todoist or Wunderlist. One of the changes is small but mighty — the ability to add custom icons to lists. Doing so lets you personalize each collection of reminders to your liking and can help you identify lists with just a glance.

Apple's Reminders app has always been an underrated yet useful productivity tool for iPhone. It's not as powerful as many third-party to-do apps, but it makes it easy to keep track of a few basic tasks, and it's integrated deeply with iOS, macOS, and watchOS. In iOS 13, it's even better since you can now add attachments to your reminders, such as photos, documents, and webpages.

While iOS 13 might have made waves for some of its more prominent features — most notably system-wide Dark Mode — some of the more interesting tools lie with its smaller, unannounced updates. One of those updates is a new Reminders setting to tag contacts in a to-do task so that iOS pings you when texting that person in Messages.