Hot Smartphones How-Tos
How To: Stream Spotify Music to Chromecast from Your Android or iPhone
One of the highest rated posts on Spotify's own community forum is titled "Add support for Google Chromecast," a clear indicator of not only how much this feature is desired, but also of Spotify's lack of care for it. Remaining consistent with statements made in the past, Spotify is firm in their decision to not pursue Chromecast support at this time—or maybe ever—thanks to a deal with Sonos and Spotify Connect.
How To: Order Food Directly from Google Search on Android & iOS
Google constantly adds useful little features to stay on top of the search engine heap. Recently, we've seen them add "Find my phone" functionality, as well as the ability to set alarms and send directions to your Android phone or tablet.
How To: Reduce Eye Strain When Using Smartphones
The smartphone has become one of the basic reasons for sore eyes. If you are addicted to your beloved smartphone, there is a fair possibility that your eyes will be paying off its expensive price. If you use your smartphone, tablet, laptop or any other similar gadget consistently, you may experience tired, dried, itchy eyes and also severe headache. Your vision can also become blurred by the time, which it means it is affecting your eyesight. However, you can lower down your eye strain by mak...
How To: Play the Classic Snake '97 Game on Android, iOS, & Windows Phone
Aside from the fact that it was the only game available on my cell phone at the time, I was really good at Snake. I still occasionally play it on my smartphone, but I've never been able to duplicate the same level of achievement as I once did.
How To: Scan & Save Old Printed Photos to Your Smartphone
Believe it or not, there was a time when smartphones weren't the primary tool for taking photos. People actually walked around with bulky film-based cameras on their necks, and some even used cheap disposables. While photography wasn't introduced to the world when smartphones came out, it's definitely more accessible—and everyone is a photographer now.
How To: Party Pooper Lets Your Friends Vote on What Plays Next in Spotify
Everyone's a music aficionado these days. Whether you're having a party or on a road trip with friends, someone is always complaining about the music. There's no possible way to satisfy everyone, so instead of having your music drowned out by persistent nagging, turn Spotify into a democracy, allowing the consensus to pick what plays.
How To: Combine Top News Stories Shared by Facebook & Twitter Friends into One Easy-to-Read Place
Serving as the primary tool of distribution for many websites, social media is how most of us catch up what's going on around the world. While there is a bunch of clickbait going around on Facebook and Twitter, there are plenty of genuinely interesting articles being shared.
How To: The Easiest Way to Discover New Music on Your Phone
Resources for finding new music are at our disposal in all corners of the internet; the only problem is deciding which one is the best for you. Spotify, Pandora, and Rdio all have options to discover new music on your smartphone, but they tend to expose mostly established artists, making the process of finding lesser-known but good music a game of trial and error.
How To: The Best Way to Create Photo Collages for Instagram Pics on Android & iPhone
If you're one of the many that likes to upload collages to Instagram, the Facebook company has a new tool for you. Instagram released a brand new app in March called Layout to help facilitate the process of creating photo layouts to post onto social media or just share with friends.
How To: Unsubscribe from Paper Junk Mail Using Your Phone
The only mail I like getting comes in the form of an Amazon package, but when I go to my mailbox, it always ends up being a pile of credit card offers and catalogs I could never see myself ordering from. Those pieces of junk mail usually end up in the trash, which is horrible when you think about all the trees that had to get cut down in order to produce them.
How To: Upload, Buy, Send, Receive, & Redeem Almost Any Gift Card on Your Phone
Big box stores love to sell gift cards, and as consumers, we snap them up almost as quickly as they can be printed. This industry has become rather profitable, though, because portions of the gift card balances often go unused.
How To: Use Your Phone's Camera to Split Bills More Easily with Friends
When going out to eat with friends, it's inevitable that one person takes charge at the end of the meal to split the bill. They whip out a pen and begin asking everyone what they ordered, carefully dividing, adding, and subtracting on the back of the receipt for everyone to use. Unfortunately, that never seems to work as intended. One person will end up paying a little more, while another will pay less.
How To: Share Large Files in Seconds on Android, iOS, Windows, & Mac
As technology continues to advance, we as consumers are privileged enough to be able to take higher quality photos and videos and listen to clearer and better-sounding music on our mobile devices. But sometimes we forget that there's a price to pay for that awesome content—enormous file sizes.
How To: We Tested Out Magic, the Service That Lets You Order Whatever You Want via Text (& It's Awesome)
With the brand new SMS-based ordering service called Magic, anyone with a mobile phone can order whatever they want—really, anything—by sending causal text messages. Who says magic isn't real?
How To: Automatically Add Your Shazam Songs to a Rdio or Spotify Playlist
We recently showed you how to recover your Shazam history from Siri, which is a lot less intuitive than finding the songs you've tagged directly in the Shazam app. But with a subscription to Rdio or Spotify, there's no need to even locate your history. You can Shazam songs and have them automatically added to a newly created playlist titled "My Shazam Tracks."
How To: Trivia Crack Cheats Your Friends Are Probably Using Against You
When my girlfriend told be about a Trivia Crack cheat she discovered, I was a little dubious. Then, after witnessing her trick in action and trying it out myself, my faith in the popular trivia game was forever tainted.
How To: Get a Working Phone Number from Almost Anywhere in the World
With all of the productivity tweaks and usability enhancements that we cover here at Gadget Hacks, it's nice when we come across a unique and noteworthy app that's simply about having fun.
How To: Get More Bro Time by Automating Loving Texts to Your Girlfriend
Those of us with girlfriends understand that in order for the relationship to run smoothly, you have to keep your woman happy and let her know that you're thinking of her—even when you're not.
How To: Roadie App Lets You Ship Things Cheaper & Make Money While You're Traveling
The next time you plan on going on an adventurous road trip, get paid for it! With the the new mobile app called Roadie, from developer Marc Gorlin, you can get paid to go where you're already going.
How To: Turn Your Smartphone into a Wireless Mouse & Keyboard for Your Computer
While you can do a lot of things on your smartphone that were once only done on a computer, having a laptop is still necessary and critical for many tasks. Often times, the two devices work very well together.
How To: Tutanota for Android, iOS, & Web Keeps Your Emails Private with End-to-End Encryption
In the wake of the NSA scandal and celebrity-photo hacks, lots of people scrambled to find more-secure ways to send text messages, share emails, and surf the internet. Known for their incredibly secure data networks, Germany's email services saw a remarkable increase in new users from across the world. Last year, we covered Sicher, a German app that lets you send and receive encrypted self-destructing messages on your smartphone.
How To: Securely Send Self-Destructing Files & Notes with DSTRUX
The internet is forever. When you put something out there, it can easily be re-shared, floating from server to server indefinitely with no way of taking it back. It's a scary thought when you consider that a young adult's grandchildren will one day have access to their drunken party pics.
How To: Take Spinning Video Footage from Above with a Ceiling Fan & Phone
This is a simple process for those wanting to capture a circular view of an object with their smartphone or other type of camera.
How To: Create Your Own Happy Hour, Any Time You Want
Happy hour is a great way to wind down after a long day at work or school, to relax with friends and enjoy a well-deserved drink. While the experience of this on-the-cheap imbibing promotion is great, the hours usually aren't.
How To: Take Restroom Breaks During a Movie Without Missing a Scene
When I watched the first Cincinnati Bengals edition of the HBO series Hard Knocks back in 2009, among wide receiver Chad Johnson's bravado and attention-grabbing antics was a segment on backup quarterback Jordan Palmer and his newly-developed app, which was still in its infancy. Six years later, I've revisited his creation and have to admit—it's pretty damn useful.
How To: Make Companies Call You Back Instead of Waiting on Hold
Getting on the phone for customer service can be extremely frustrating. First you've got to find the correct phone number for your region (good luck trying to get customer service from a sales department), then you have to listen to the annoying automated system to navigate your way to the department you want. More often than not, you'll be stuck with some elevator music while you wait to speak to an actual human.
How To: Make Your Photos Go Viral with Plague for Android & iOS
Most people's fascination with social media these days is the instant gratification that can come with it. Whether you post an image on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, or Twitter, a minute or two later your phone will receive a notification informing you of a buddy or two who liked it.
Dasher Messenger: Watch YouTube Videos, Delete Sent Messages, Send Money, & More
A messaging app that blows your mind doesn't come along very often. Yeah, there's WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, which are both good for what they are (web-based messaging platforms), but when it comes to interesting or unique features, they're somewhat lacking.
How To: Share Clips of Your Favorite TV Moments with Friends
Social media is constantly evolving, and as a result, we're now capable of sharing much more than we were even just a few years ago. Television, on the other hand, continues to hold strong as one of America's favorite pastimes.
Snapcash: Send Money to Friends Directly in Snapchat
Snapchat is definitely not known for its stellar privacy or security features, but that hasn't stopped them from gaining millions of users. Now, those millions of users can do more than just share pictures and videos—they can share money.
How To: Use Text Messages to Surf the Web on Your Phone Without Any Data
In places like underground bars or national parks, your phone's Internet service is sure to slow down to a very sluggish pace, making it difficult to surf the web. Or worst case, data will be non-existent, leaving you with only low-level network support for calls and SMS text messages.
How To: Speed Up Phone by Uninstalling Unnecessary Apps in Sony Xperia Z2
This video will show you how to remove or uninstall unnecessary apps in your Sony Xperia Z2 phone. The Uninstalling unnecessary app will speed up your phone a little and create space for other apps. This is very easy to employ. So please watch the video and follow all the steps to employ it in your phone.
How To: Stop Snoozing with a Personal Wake Up Call—No Concierge Required
I have never been a morning person, and that's a trait that I don't think is going away. Combine my distaste for early hours with being a heavy sleeper, and it adds up to a lot of alarms being dismissed in a haze, with no real intention of ever waking up.
How To: Microsoft's Xim Makes Syncing Everyone's Photos from Group Events Easy
Ah, the age-old problem of sharing pictures with friends and family. Ten years ago, the best method available to us was passing around duplicate photos printed out at the local drug store. As easy as smartphones have made this act, you'd think we'd be satisfied by now.
How To: Keep Your Smartphone Usage in Check for Android & iPhone
We're living through the technological revolution, and while devices like the iPhone 6 or Galaxy S5 have made life easier and more entertaining, it's possible that sometimes our smartphone usage can become uncomfortably excessive. In your own experience, think about how anxious and off you feel when you leave your phone at home—Cell Phone Separation Anxiety or Phantom Phone Vibrations shouldn't be a real thing that we deal with.
How To: Path Talk App Lets You “Text” Businesses Instead of Calling Them
In today's world of ordering food from your PC or hailing a cab with an app, it almost seems archaic when we have to actually use our vocal cords to contact a local business. It sure would be nice if we didn't have to use our smartphones as, well, you know...phones.
Reduce Timeline Clutter: Stop Tweets from People You Don't Follow
If you've used Twitter on your smartphone sometime in the past two weeks, you've probably noticed that tweets from users you don't follow have been popping up on your timeline.
How To: Android + Drive Assist = Augmented Reality Goodness for Your Car
While texting and driving may get you a ticket, there are still a ton of uses for your phone in your car, music and navigation just to name a couple. Every Android device comes with access to GPS and traffic updates, but none of those apps really have your back in real-time.
Samsung Galaxy S5: How to Set Finger Print Scanner for Phone Unlocking
This video will show you how to set finger print scanner for phone unlocking in Samsung galaxy S5. The finger scanner option allows you to register your finger print for unlocking your phone. This method of unlocking your phone saves your time over typing password. This way no one can open your phone except you. Watch the video and employ the tricks in your Smartphone.
Samsung Galaxy S5: How to Clear Cache and Cookies for Faster Browsing
Clearing cache and cookies often solve many small problems in your phone. This video will show you how to clear cache and cookies from your Samsung galaxy s5 android phone for a faster browsing experience. So please watch the video and follow all the steps carefully.