Hot Smartphones How-Tos
How To: Get Around Apple's Expensive Lightning Adapters
Lightning has struck, but not everyone is excited. Apple's new 8-pin Lightning connector for the iPhone 5 has replaced the aging 30-pin connector. Many users have concerns that their current third-party devices will no longer operate properly with the smaller all-digital design, not to mention the expensive price tag for each adapter. What Does This Mean for the User?
How To: Avoid Losing Your Unlimited Data Plan When Upgrading to the iPhone 5
The iPhone 5 will be here in no time. Pre-orders started at 12:01AM PST this morning and it's expected to start shipping in about two weeks. Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint are all handling unlimited data plans differently, so if you currently have an unlimited plan and are going to get the iPhone 5, you'll want to know what your carrier is doing before you upgrade so you don't end up with a very unpleasant surprise on your next phone bill. Verizon
How To: 5 Simple Ways to Add a Macro Lens to Your Smartphone
If you have a smartphone with a good camera, chances are you don't think it's good enough. There's always something that can better with your mobile pics, and for me, that something is closeup shots.
How To: Undo Instagram's Photo Filter Magic with Normalize for iPhone
Tired of the Instagram wave? If you're sick of having to view the world through low-contrast and sepia-toned filters, there's a way to get them back to how they're supposed to look, and it's called Normalize, which undoes the magic filtering that Instagram and similar photo filter apps provide. The process of un-Instagramming your (or anyone else's) photos with Normalize is perhaps easier than Instagramming them in the first place. All you need to do is copy and paste them into the app and wa...
How To: Motorola Shows You How to Unlock the Bootloader on Select Android Phones and Tablets
Motorola launched a new webpage on Friday that tells Android users how to unlock the bootloaders on a limited number of new Motorola smartphones and tablets. This new 'Unlock My Device' page helps demystify the process and make it easier for users to customize their phones.
How To: Turn Your Smartphone Pics into Extra Cash with These Android and iPhone Apps
Everything is documented these days, thanks to the Internet and mobile devices. Most people who own a smartphone use it to take lots of pictures. If you're one of those people, an app called Scoopshot can help you turn some of those photos into extra cash. Scoopshots lets you post your pics so that news organizations can pay you to use them. Companies can also post tasks, so if someone is looking for a particular photo in your area, you can accept the task, go take the photo, and earn money f...
How To: Save on Data Costs with Verizon Wireless's "Secret" High-Tier Data Plans
Verizon Wireless advertises that their highest data plan caps at 10GB, which unfortunately isn't enough for a lot of users (especially if you're fond of tethering your phone). Go over their limit, and they'll slap you with seriously unwelcome charges—$15 per 1GB over. It's funny then that a Computer World writer discovered that Verizon actually does offer plans over 10GB, they just aren't too eager to advertise them.
How To: Take a Screenshot on Any Smartphone or Tablet
Taking screen captures is a standard feature on iPhones and newer Android smartphones, but for some reason it's not very intuitive. Screenshots allow you to share your phone's screen with your friends, document technical problems for customer support, and even make how-to guides easier to follow. So, it's definitely worth remembering. Here's how you do it.
How To: How Strong Is Your iPhone's Signal? Find the Exact Strength in Numbers with This Trick
If you've ever found yourself wandering about a room, holding your phone up to the sky searching for a signal, this is just the trick for you. Edward from Redmond Pie found a great way to configure the readout with just a simple phone call, making your iPhone display its exact signal strength in decibels (dBm). Step 1: Put Your iPhone into Field Test Mode
How To: Use Google's New Handwrite Mobile Search Feature on Your Smartphone
Google just added a new feature for mobile search called Handwrite. Just like the name suggests, you can hand write your queries on the screen of your smartphone and it will convert it to text.
How To: Add Virtual Memory to a Idevice.
WARNING VM uses the hard disk as ram. So it repeatedly writes and reads of the hard disk. Since the iPod has flash memory usage of this tweak will lower your device lifespan to 5-7 years. So i recommend this tweak on a old device you want to speed UP!!!
How To: Fake Your Ios Version.
If you are like me and you have a old iPhone and you don't want to buy a new one, you can fake your ios version by fallowing this tutorial. Just to be safe i am not responsible for what you do with this or if you mess up and wreck your phone. Plus ios and iPhone all belong to their rightful owners.
How To: 4 Ways to Find Your Lost Cell Phone—Even If It's on Silent
There's nothing worse than losing your phone—except losing your phone when the ringer is silent. If you're alone, it can be excruciatingly hard to find your lost device even if the ringer is on, considering most of us don't have landlines anymore. So, the next time you find yourself hunting for your phone, don't tear your house apart until you've tried some of these quick tips.
How To: Use Chine Iphone Clone 4s as a Modem.
How to use chine iphone clone 4s as a modem. Please answer. Thanks
Apple's Fix Failed: In-App Purchases Still Free with This Hack
A few days ago, Russian hacker Alexy Borodin found a way to get free in-app purchases on an iPhone or iPad. In-app purchases include things like items and power-ups for iOS games, as well as subscriptions and "premium" memberships for certain apps.
How To: Create Custom Vibration Notifications for iPhone
Custom ring and text tones are great for knowing who's attempting to contact you without having to actually look at your iPhone. However, this feature is useless when your device is in silent/vibrate-only mode.
How To: Add Formatting to Emails Using Your iPhone's Mail App
Sending and receiving email on the go is made easy with the Apple's "Mail" app on the iPhone. However, up until the release of iOS 5, plain text was the only option for sending emails (even though well-formatted messages could still be received). The information below, coupled with unlocking the emoji keyboard will make you an unstoppable force of communicating accurately.
How To: Replace the Rear Glass Panel on Your iPhone 4 or 4S
Some of the most popular cellular devices on the market today are the iPhone 4 and 4S models. Seeing as they are made of glass, it's not uncommon for the back panel to break.
How To: Control iCloud storage space in iOS 5
If you want to clear up some extra space in iCloud with iOS 5, take a look at this guide to learn how to manage your data on an iPad or iPhone running the service. You will need to access the iCloud panel under "Settings" to do so.
How To: Reset a Nexus One smartphone to default settings
If you're using a Nexus One Android smartphone and a few bugs or glitches start occuring on your device, it may be time to restart it to factory settings. This guide will walk you through the process of resetting the phone back to the original Android OS settings.
How To: Make a Cheap iPod Projector and Screen
This article will teach you how to make an iPod video projector for about $6 (depending on what materials you have) that works pretty well. First off, you need to gather your materials. I had everything except the magnifying glass, which I bought for $3.
How To: Make an Inexpensive Custom Smartphone Cover
This is a great way to repurpose your old covers! Tired of your old iPhone cover? Rather than spend $30 on a new one, why not just paint the old one until it suits you? It's way less expensive, and better on the environment!
How To: Turn on and use text expansion with the Shortcuts feature in iOS 5
iOS 5 introduces an incredible feature that isn't very well known called "Shortcuts." It allows you to use automatic text expansion for whatever abbreviations you want. This is a great way to type several letters into your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch and have them immediately expand into whatever phrase you want. Find out how to configure text expansion in this guide.
How To: Setup and use Notification Center on an iOS 5 device
Looking to manage and configure the new Notification Center in iOS 5? This guide will walk you through the options and settings available in Notification Center, and help you control what notifications you see on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
How To: Setup iCloud backup for your iPhone 4S
The new backup features of iCloud on the iOS 5 devices are extremely compelling. If you're trying to figure out how to connect your iPhone 4S to a new iCloud account, here's a quick video that will show you how to do so.
How To: Move the Newsstand icon into a folder in iOS 5
The Newsstand app isn't used by everyone all of the time, so why not put it into a folder on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad? This guide will show you how to move the Newsstand icon into a folder so you do not need to continue to see it.
How To: Disable weather and stock notifications in the Notification Center in iOS 5
If you're tired of receiving all the annoying stock and weather notifications in the Notification Center of your newly upgrade iOS 5 iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, take a look at this guide on how to disable them once and for all.
How To: Use RedSn0w to jailbreak iOS 5
With iOS 5 coming out, the folks behind RedSnOw were able to jailbreak the operating system so that you can install Cydia on it. This walkthrough / tutorial will show you how to jailbreak your iOS 5 iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch.
How To: Listen to Spotify in offline mode with an Android smartphone
If you want to keep listening to music on your Android smartphone or tablet using the Spotify app, take a look at this video guide from Cnet on how to use Spotify in offline mode. This will let you keep listening to music while in an elevator or when you lose a data connection.
How To: Customize your unlock slider on a jailbroken iOS device
The process of changing your iPod touch, iPad, or iPhone unlock slider is a little lengthy, but is easy if you watch this step-by-step guide. Once your iOS device has been jailbroken, you'll need to install the 'Winterboard' app and have access to photo editing software such as Photoshop. There are also three different files in iOS for each of the different screens:
How To: Chance the text that appears on an iOS device unlock slider
Changing the text that appears on your iPod touch, iPhone, or iPad is fairly easy once you've jailbroken it. With the help of the 'Springtomize Cracked' app, you'll be able to alter the words that show up on the unlock screen for your iOS device.
How To: Root the Droid Bionic using a Mac or Linux computer
You have a brand new Droid Bionic smartphone, but you can only find guides on how to root it with a PC. Never fear, for this guide is here! This will walk you through the process of rooting your Motorola Android smartphone on a Mac or Linux computer.
How To: Use the Mobile Hotspot feature of a rooted Motorola Droid Bionic for free
This two part segment will show you how to use the Wi-Fi tethering mobile hotspot functionality on your Motorola Droid Bionic smartphone for free after rooting it. Segment 2 of the guide will walk you through using Radiocomm to hide your tethering usage from Verizon Wireless so you're less likely to get caught.
How To: Setup the Motorola Droid Bionic Android smartphone for the first time
So you just got back from the local Verizon Wireless outlet with a brand new Droid Bionic Android smartphone from Motorola and you want to figure out how to go through the wizard at the start. Setting up the smartphone for the first time can be a bit confusing, but this guide from Motorola should help.
How To: Boot the Motorola Droid Bionic smartphone into Recovery Mode
If your phone won't boot or you need to dig deeper into the Android operating system on your Motorola Droid Bionic, this tutorial on booting the Bionic into recovery mode should help you out. Just be careful, because a factory reset on the Verizon Wireless smartphone will cause you to lose all of your data.
How To: Fix a Motorola Droid Bionic activation problem on Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless's most recent Android smartphone, the Motorola Droid Bionic, is having quite a few problems with activation. If you need support activating your Droid Bionic, take a look at this walkthrough for a quick little work around for the activation problem.
How To: Remove a battery, sim card, or SD card from a Motorola Droid Bionic
If you need to replace or remove the battery, sim card, or SD card from your new Droid Bionic by Motorola, take a look at this walkthrough on how to remove the back of the case and gain access to all three pieces of the Android smartphone. Yes, you heard right. The Verizon Wireless phone does use a sim card because of its 4G connection.
How To: Set notification and ringtone volumes to the same level on the Droid Bionic
It can be extremely annoying when you set the ringtone volume to one level and then a notification comes in and shocks you with how loud it is. If you own a Motorola Droid Bionic Android smartphone, learn how to set both the notification volume and the ringtone volume to the same level.
How To: Use docking accessories to improve your Motorola Droid Bionic smartphone
The docking accessories available to owners of the Motorola Droid Bionic unlock several different functions dormant in the Android smartphones. The Vehicle Navigation Dock allows you to easily access Verizon's GPS system on the go, or give vocal commands so that you stay safe and handsfree with the Droid Bionic. The HD Station Dock allows you to connect your smartphone to a TV and view photos or use applications on the big screen. This guide by Motorola shows you how to access the different f...