Hot Smartphones Posts
Telegram 101: How to Send Self-Destructing Messages in Chats
While using end-to-end encryption may be enough security for most of your messages in Telegram, you can go a step beyond this by sending messages that disappear after an allotted amount of time. This prevents you from having to manually delete the message at a later time, so you can send it and forget it without worrying about whether or not it's still out there.
How To: The Specs That Really Count When Buying a Phone
When shopping for a new smartphone, you'll encounter comparisons and spec sheets that are filled to the brim with values like mAh, GB, and GHz. To the average consumer, however, these values are meaningless, so we end up looking at which device has the specs with the highest actual numbers.
How To: Hide Facebook Messenger Groups Without Letting Other People Know You Left
Group chats in Facebook Messenger can devolve into outright noise pollution as people chit chat randomly and bombard you with distracting notifications. Unfortunately, leaving the group outright alerts everyone inside, so if you want to get out of the thread unnoticed, what exactly can you do?
How To: 3 Easy Steps to Fixing Stuck Buttons on Your Phone or Tablet
As we go about our daily grind, our smartphones and tablets take a silent beating. Dirt, dust, oil, and grime that our hands have picked up immediately gets transferred over to our shiny pocket-sized computers every time we check the time or look for new notifications, and over the course of months, this can have a very noticeable adverse effect.
How To: Invite People to Messenger Group Chats with a Link So They Can Join Right Away or Wait on Approval
While some of our group chats should probably remain private and closed off, others will only get better with more people. Whether you're organizing an event and need a headcount or you want to share a funny YouTube video with a large crowd, you can add all the friends you wish to on Facebook Messenger by sending them a unique link.
How To: Make the Perfect Finsta That No One Will Ever Find
Everything you post on social media lives there forever — even if you delete it. Just ask anyone that's ever posted something stupid. Instagram does not provide built-in tools to save or download images and videos from other users, but there are workarounds. Third-party tools make saving other people's photos and videos easy, and there are always screenshots.
Snapseed 101: Use the 'Healing' Tool to Remove Unwanted Elements from a Photo
Snapseed is an app that you should definitely be using not only if you're really serious about photography, but also if you want to ensure that your online work sets the standard for social media. It's a great companion app to Instagram and VSCO, and it will save your day many times over when you find yourself on your phone, on-the-go, needing to edit an image beyond the typical everyday filters.
How To: Video Too Long for Instagram Stories? Here's How to Split It Up
One of the latest trends in Instgram is breaking up larger videos into more digestible clips to use in stories. Stories max out at 15 seconds, making it a pain to show anything meaningful in that short time frame. Fortunately, you can virtually extend the duration of your Stories on both your iPhone and Android phone.
How To: Easily Remove Unwanted People and Objects in Your Photos with Google's Magic Eraser
Magic Eraser was one of Google's big selling points for the Pixel 6 and 7 series smartphones, and it's finally made its way to other Android devices. It's even available on iPhone and iPad with the latest Google Photos app.
Venmo 101: How to Send Money to Friends & Family
In the not so distant past, you had to actually go meet someone in person to repay money you owed them. Say they covered your half of dinner or picked up movie tickets — they wouldn't get their money back at least until the next time you saw them. Thankfully, Venmo has effectively eliminated this inconvenience.
How To: How & Why to Enable Negative Calorie Adjustments in MyFitnessPal
MyFitnessPal adjusts your calorie goal for the day according to your activity level. The more active you tell the app you are, the more calories it tells you to consume — simple, right? Unfortunately, MFP doesn't tell you to consume fewer calories when you don't work out. However, an activity tracker like a FitBit or Apple Watch can help.
How To: The Trick to Inserting Line Breaks into Instagram Captions & Comments
Line breaks signify not only the ending of one line of thinking, but the beginning of another. We use them to emphasize points, to fragment information, to shift tone, and more. They're important in getting our message across properly, which is why I'm always disappointed when I can't insert a line break into my masterful Instagram caption.
How To: Take Screenshots of Disappearing Photos on Instagram Direct Without Getting Caught
If imitation truly is the sincerest form of flattery, then Snapchat must be blushing profusely as Instagram continues to shamelessly copy its features and dig into its wallet. Instagram has also managed to copy some of the security aspects — or lack thereof — of one of Snapchat's hottest characteristics.
How To: Sick of Thumbs Up? Here's How to Change the Default Chat Emoji in Individual Messenger Threads
When you can't think of a way to respond in Messenger with words, emojis and stickers will do the trick. Since Facebook is all about the "likes," which use a thumbs-up icon, there's a shortcut to the symbol just to the right of the chat field. It's always there to send a quick like in response to something. But it doesn't have to be the standard Facebook thumbs-up sign — it can be any emoji you want.
How To: Convert TikTok Videos to Live Wallpapers for a More Animated Home or Lock Screen
TikTok is great for creating short videos of people lip-syncing to songs or comedy sketches, but it's also very entertaining to just browse and share cool videos with friends. When you stumble across a video you like, you can download it onto your phone to watch over and over again. Even better, you can turn the video in a live wallpaper if you just can't get enough of it.
How To: Change Slack's Default Browser to Chrome, Firefox, or Safari
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.
How To: This Hidden Setting Is the Trick to Uploading HD Videos on Your TikTok Profile
You might have noticed some of the videos you upload to TikTok don't always look great. If you think the answer is that you need a DSLR, you're wrong. The blurriness, pixelation, and overall bad quality that can happen in your uploaded videos is probably not your smartphone's fault — it might be because you aren't uploading your videos in HD.
How To: Copy & Share a Link to Your Instagram Story That You Can Post Anywhere
On Instagram, it's all about the sharing, but not all sharing is equal. Take stories, for example. Up until recently, stories couldn't be easily shared outside the Instagram bubble. Now, Instagram lets you share a convenient link to a part of your story or your entire story on any other platform — text, email, social app — pretty much anywhere.
Coinbase 101: How to Refer Friends & Family to Earn Bonuses
Every dollar that comes your way is a blessing, especially when it comes to trading in the volatile world of bitcoins. Thankfully, Coinbase rewards you for sending much valued customers their way, giving you more money to feed your cryptocurrency trading needs.
Instagram 101: How to Insert a Line Break in Your Instagram Caption
As you all journey along with me on my challenge to become some sort of Instagram expert, let me share with you one hack that is currently helping me out a lot. If you've ever wanted to put a line break in your posts, then keep on reading.
How To: Send Star Wars Emoji in Text Messages & Chats
Why are there no official Star Wars emoji in the Unicode Standard? We've got the "Vulcan Salute" from Star Trek, so where's the force choke hand gesture?! While you may never see Star Wars officially invade your emoji keyboard, there are ways to send Star Wars emoji and stickers to your friends in your favorite chat app.
How To: Replace the Goals Function in Google Calendar After Google Kills It for Good
If you use Goals in Google Calendar, you've probably already received the notification that Google, in typical executioner fashion, has marked the feature for death. As of November 2022, you can't create new goals, and your current goals won't repeat anymore. Google suggests switching to repeating events or tasks, but there's a better option to use on your Android and iOS device.
Outlook 101: How to Customize Notifications & Alert Sounds for Individual Accounts
With email, one size does not typically fit all. You have multiple email accounts, each for different purposes and with varying levels of importance, so it only makes sense to customize the way your phone alerts you to each account's incoming emails. Luckily, Outlook allows you to do just that.
How To: Can't Dislike Songs in Spotify? Here's How to Really Hide Them from Playlists & Radio Stations
You can block artists no matter where you are in Spotify's mobile app for Android or iOS, but it's not as easy when you want to hide songs from playing. Disliking tracks is possible here and there, but not everywhere, and that's a serious problem if you keep hearing songs you hate.
How To: 'Airdrop' Files from Android to MacOS or iOS Devices (& Vice Versa)
Getting files from an Android device to a Mac or iOS device is not always easy or convenient, and the same goes for transferring content from a Mac or iOS device to an Android device. But we're here to tell you there is a better way than using USB cables, email, and cloud storage, and it gives you the look and feel of AirDrop.
Google Photos 101: How to Use Google Lens to Save Contact Info from Business Cards
Business cards are a great way to keep tabs on the contacts we network with. So why shouldn't our smartphones make them even more useful? Enter Google Lens, which will help you save, search, and expand on the contact information found on all of the business cards you've collected.
How To: The 5 Best Apps for Recording an Electric Instrument with Your iPhone or Android
In the music world, it's safe to say electric instruments are more versatile, but they lack the portability of their acoustic counterparts. However, with the aid of your smartphone plus an audio interface, you can play your electric instrument anywhere — with all the pedal effects you please — and even record your efforts.
How To: Silently Send Messages in Telegram to Avoid Waking Up or Disturbing Friends with Chats
You know the drill. You need answers, and your friend has them. The problem? It's way too late to text them. Maybe they have Do Not Disturb enabled. Perhaps they don't, and you wake them up, ruining their entire Monday. Don't be that friend. Instead, send a message silently with Telegram.
How To: Save Pandora Stations & Songs for Offline Playback
Tuning into a favorite station on Pandora has become part of a routine for many, and it's easy to see why. The app automatically plays songs tailored to your tastes to ensure a relatively hands-free experience. And if you're a subscriber, Pandora even has you covered in moments where there's poor cellular service by letting you keep listening to your go-to tracks uninterrupted.
How To: Use Desktop Chrome Extensions on Android
For years, there has been a disconnect between the Chrome app on your smartphone and the Chrome browser on your computer. The latter was a powerfully fast browser which could be enhanced with extensions to add new features and functionality, while the former was just a fast browser. Well, that all changes now.
How To: Make an Anonymous Facebook Profile to Keep Your Personal Data Private
Between the Cambridge Analytica scandal and the revelation that Facebook logs your calls and text history on Android, many are considering joining the #DeleteFacebook movement. But it can be difficult to leave the site, because so much of its content is only available to active users. If you want to keep in the loop without sacrificing your privacy, you'll want to follow the steps below.
Instagram 101: How to Download a Backup of Your Account to Save Photos, Comments & More
Facebook, parent company of Instagram, has allowed you to download photos and other account data for some time now, but the data request feature is also now available on Instagram to meet the GDPR data portability requirement in the EU — and it's available worldwide, not just in Europe.
TIDAL 101: How to Enable Loudness Normalization
Jay-Z's Tidal streaming service provides Hi-Fi music to a mainstream audience. Even better, Tidal can do this without blowing out your eardrums, because it's easy to enable volume normalization so that one track isn't louder than the next.
How To: Undo a Thumbs-Down Rating for a Song You've Grown to Like on Pandora
Pandora has a simple rating system that works by hitting either the thumbs-up or thumbs-down icon on a track that's playing on your station. If you choose the former, the song you like along with others similar to it will play with more frequency, while selecting the latter will prevent that song and others like it from playing in your station moving forward.
How To: What to Do if You Accidentally Liked a Photo on Instagram
The act of liking someone's really old Instagram post is called "deep-liking," which is pretty apt if you think about it. While going "deep" into older posts on the feed of your ex or crush or whoever, your finger may slip accidentally and double-tap on a photo or video that you'd rather not let them know you're looking at.
News: The 4 Best Apps for Private, Encrypted Messaging on Android & iPhone
Smartphones are still "phones," which means communicating with others is usually a primary use. Ranging from a simple "hi" to a more personal conversation and even sharing passwords, our messages should remain private so that only the intended recipient sees their content. While many apps tout end-to-end encryption, not all apps prioritize security and privacy.
Google Photos 101: How to Use Google Lens to Identify Landmarks in Your Images
When traveling or sightseeing, you may come across a landmark you can't quite identify and want to know what exactly it is and the history behind it. It could be a building, waterfall ... anything. If there are no signs around or they're in a different language, you'll have no idea what you're looking at. Fortunately, Google Photos can be your personal tour guide with the power of Google Lens.
How To: Format WhatsApp Messages with Italic, Bold, Strikethrough, or Monospaced Text
Unless you're a WhatsApp pro user, you may be surprised to know that there are text formatting options that you can apply to your messages. Markdown characters can help you emphasize certain words or phrases by making them italicized or bold, and it'll even let you cross out words and change the font. It's one of those nice touches that isn't available in most other messaging apps.
How To: Completely Disable Your Active Status on Facebook & Messenger
Have you ever wondered how some people know you're online even though you swear you set the Messenger app to hide your active status? No, you're not crazy — it's an issue with two conflicting settings, and there's an easy fix.
How To: Need More Time on a Work Assignment or School Project? Corrupt Your Files to Extend Your Deadline Without Question
You have an assignment due, whether it's homework for school or a project for work, but you've only got a few hours left. There's no way you're going to finish in time and do a good job, and you don't want to turn in anything incomplete or half-assed. While it may seem you're out of luck, there's a simple way to buy yourself more time.