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How To: Use Telegram's GIF & Sticker Search to Find a Perfect Reaction for a Chat

Remember trying to express yourself over the 160-character limit on SMS texts? We've come a long way since then, and messaging services have nearly taken over with emoji, chat effects, custom interface colors, and other personalizations. Necessities for messages these days include GIFs and stickers, and Telegram makes it easy to find those perfect reactions for any moment.

How To: Set & Remove Nicknames in Facebook Messenger Chats for More Personalized Conversations

For the most part, people use real names on Facebook. That's all fine and well for keeping tabs on those you know, but it can make friendly Messenger chats feel oddly formal. Skirt around this stiffness by giving your friends nicknames in Messenger for Android and iOS, so your conversations reflect the way you and your friends communicate in real life.

How To: Facebook's Adding a Way to Watch Videos Together with Friends Around the Globe Using Messenger

For all its faults, you can't say that Facebook hasn't been instrumental in connecting friends and family together, no matter where in the world everyone is. That's why one of its upcoming features — watching videos together with Facebook friends directly in Messenger — is so novel. It's just another example of the internet bridging gaps that couldn't be bridged just a short while ago.

How To: Enable Dark Mode in Telegram for More Comfortable Late-Night Messaging

Whether gabbing via cloud chat or Secret Chat, there's no denying that private messaging is one of Telegram's strengths. Communications can often occur at night, where Telegram's default bright white theme can be a bit uncomfortable to use, but Telegram supports dark mode on Android and iOS — with a few different themes to match any late-night chatting style.

How To: Fix Blemishes in Photoshop Express to Get Flawless Skin in Your Selfies

You finally did it! You've combined all your knowledge about photography and angle to take the perfect selfie. It looks stunning, and you cannot wait to post that bad boy to Instagram. But wait, what's this? Your skin looks so uneven and — is that a zit!? I guess the selfie gods were not in favor of your skin when you snapped it. Luckily, you can fix all of those minor flaws with the help of Photoshop Express.

How To: Change the Notification Sound & Call Ringtone in Facebook Messenger

When you hear a "ding" on your phone, chances are it's a new notification for Facebook Messenger, and it could be a fairly painful sound depending on how loud your volume's set. Thankfully, you aren't stuck with this singular alert option, so if you're unhappy with both this sound and the call ringtone, you can change it to something else — something less distressing.

How To: Mute or Leave Group Chats in WhatsApp, So You Never Get Annoyed by Notifications

Group chats on WhatsApp are great for getting your friends all in one place, but the bigger the group, the more notifications you'll probably get. Needless to say, it can get annoying real quick. You can mute notifications for all your conversations, but that's not practical if some are important. However, there is an option to mute group chats themselves and even leave them when needed.

How To: Delete Telegram Messages & Whole Conversations for Everyone in the Chat

If you're looking to keep your conversations private, look no further than Telegram. Its cloud-based chats are secure and its optional end-to-end encrypted chats even more so, but you can't really prevent someone in the conversation from sharing your messages. However, you can lessen that chance by taking back your messages, deleting them for both you and the other end of the discussion.

How To: Change the Chat Color in Messenger Threads to Personalize a Conversation

Blue has defined Facebook's color scheme since its inception. Both Facebook's main app and Messenger theme are blue, which means your chat bubbles, like emoji, and menu bar items are also. While certainly a satisfying color for chat, you may get sick of it after a while, especially when it's in every thread. Luckily, Facebook lets you customize the color of individual Messenger chats.

How To: Disable Read Receipts in WhatsApp So Nobody Can See Those Blue Check Marks in Chats

WhatsApp, like other popular messengers on iOS and Android, shows when recipients have read your sent messages with a blue double check mark indicator. On the flip side, for those of you who are bad at replying promptly or don't feel like replying at all, you can disable "read receipts" so the senders won't know when or if you even read their messages.

How To: Enable Dark Mode in Google Maps on iPhone & Android

Dark mode is one of the most requested features these days, but it's even more important with a navigation app. If you're using Google Maps for directions while driving at night, the default white background will shock your eyes and make it harder to see the road in front of you. Thankfully, you can now enable a dark theme to make this whole process a lot safer.

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.

Coming Soon: Call & Message All Your Facebook, Instagram & WhatsApp Friends from One App

You're in constant communication with your friends and family. The only issue? Nobody uses the same app. Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp — you have contacts spanning all three, and the resulting balancing-act to keep in touch can be overwhelming. That's why Facebook — who owns all three apps — is coming out with a way to call and message friends across all three platforms from one place.

How To: Use Color Adjustments in Photoshop Express for More Vibrant Images

Imagine an Instagram feed filled with a wild array of vivid color. Beautiful right? But when you look at the photos in your iPhone or Android phone's albums, they're all just too dull to pull off that dynamic look. There's no doubt that colorful images are more eye-catching than dull ones, so how do you get your photos to overflow with vibrant color? The answer: Add it in post.

How To: Turn Your Phone into a Teleprompter to Record Selfie Videos Without Breaking Eye Contact

If you record yourself for a vlog or story post using your selfie camera, it can be challenging to stay on message. You might worry too much about the way you look or sound to focus on what you want to say. Using a script can help, but looking away from the camera to read is unprofessional, even on social platforms like Instagram. What you need is a teleprompter, and there are apps for that.

How To: Save Custom Shooting Presets in Filmic Pro So You Don't Have to Adjust Settings Later for Similar Shots

Filmic Pro has a superb suite of professional settings — bit rate, frame rate, and mic choice, to name a few — which can enable you to capture the best footage possible. But different shots require different setups, and it can be frustrating to change settings on the fly. Filmic Pro lets you skip that whole process by saving your favorite settings as presets for quick and easy access.

How To: Automate Focus, Zoom & Exposure Changes in Filmic Pro for Smoother Pull Operations

There are many reasons to use Filmic Pro if you're a mobile videographer. Chief among them is its automated controls, called "pull-to-point" sliders. These pull-to-point controls not only allow you to manually adjust focus, zoom, exposure, ISO, and shutter speed before and during the action, they also let you set start and end points to automate each function, leaving you free to focus on filming.

How To: Automatically Delete Your Google History on a Schedule

Your Google history is mostly a binary choice — either you enable it fully, taking advantage of all its features while letting Google record your activity, or you disable it, staying incognito but also missing out on some fun stuff. But now, Google will let you auto-delete your history, allowing you to utilize all the perks that come with recording your history while maintaining some level of privacy.

How To: Everything You Should Know About Rolling Shutter on Your Phone's Camera

Smartphone videos get better and better each year. Seven or eight years ago, who would have thought iPhone and Android phones could support 4K video recording. Some phones can even shoot slow-motion at 960 fps. But no matter the resolution or frame rate, a phone's rolling shutter can make quick movements in front of the camera appear wobbly, distorted, or with artifacts.

How To: Choose Which Microphone Your Phone Uses When Recording Video in Fimic Pro (To Capture Clearer Audio)

When shooting video on your phone, you have two cameras at your disposal, the rear camera and the selfie camera, and you can switch freely between the two. As for microphones, you may have more than one but, unlike with the cameras, it's not easy to switch between them. Filmic Pro solves this problem by isolating the mics so you can choose the best option for the audio track.

How To: Share a Netflix Video You're About to Watch to Your Instagram Story So Friends Can Watch with You

For me, there's nothing better than popping on a favorite show or new movie after a long day at the office — except when there's a friend or two I can talk to about that crazy ending. Netflix doesn't double as a social media app, so you can't chat about what you're watching there. What you can do is share your latest obsession to your Instagram story, to get the discussion going with all your followers.

How To: Get Taylor Swift's 4.26 Instagram Filter Right Now

Is there a bigger name in pop music than Taylor Swift right now? Her 116 million followers on Instagram would probably argue, "No." As such, if you're one of these many followers, you might have seen Taylor advertising a new "4.26" filter on her story. Problem is, there's no clear instruction for actually using the filter. That's where we come in.