Everything Else
How To: Pause & Delete Your YouTube Watch History for a Cleaner Home Feed
If you're an avid YouTube viewer, you may find yourself overwhelmed on the home page by recommendations from your past viewing habits. But now, you can have a clean slate on your YouTube home screen, free of recommendations.
How To: Create a 3D Cinematic Photo in Google Photos from Any Image in Your Library
The cinematic photos feature in Google Photos can create impressive three-dimensional views of normally flat images, turning ordinary pictures into life-like representations of the moment captured. Google Photos would automatically pick images from your library to apply the effect to. Now, you can choose images on demand from your library — it's just not super obvious that you can.
How To: 5 Wild Things You Can Do with Bard, Google's AI Chatbot
Now that Bard — Google's response to the revolutionary ChatGPT generative AI chatbot — is out in the wild, it's beginning to let its freak flag fly.
How To: Use Google's New AI Chatbot Bard to Generate Text-Based Content on Anything
Generative artificial intelligence has taken the tech world by storm, and Google's AI chatbot will give you a taste of what it offers.
How To: 10 Helpful Tools You Can Unlock Using Google Search, Google Assistant, or the Google App on Your Phone
Google has a few hidden tools you might not have discovered yet, and they work in Google Search, in the Google app, and with Google Assistant — on both iPhone and Android phones.
How To: Quickly Purge Your Unwanted Instagram Posts from the Public Eye for Good or Just Temporarily
For whatever reason, you may want or need to remove multiple posts from your Instagram grid. If you only have a couple to hide from the public, archiving or deleting posts one by one is fine, but there's a much faster way when you have tens or even hundreds of Instagram posts to purge from your account.
How To: Use Google Photos' New Collage Styles (And Say Goodbye to Boring White Grids)
Google Photos is not only an exceptional cross-platform app for photo storage but also a handy tool for generating and creating collages, movies, and animations from your photos and videos. When it comes to collages, you can now customize them and dress them up with vibrant templates.
How To: Unlock Snapchat's New Green Screen Filter to Create TikTok-Style Videos Using Any Background You Want
TikTok is all the rage right now, and its green screen effect is one of the more popular augmented reality tricks creators use to boost their viewership numbers. Now Snapchat has leveled the playing field by making it easier to access its own green screen effect.
How To: The Best Wordle Spinoffs You Should Be Playing on Your Phone
There are two types of people in this world: those who recognize Wordle grids of yellow, green, and gray/black blocks and those who do not. No matter which category you fall in, there's a Wordle-inspired game that's perfect for you.
How To: Use Any Emoji as a Message Reaction in WhatsApp for iOS, Android, Desktop, and Web
Instead of responding to a WhatsApp message with short texts like "LOL" or thinking too hard about something meaningful to say, use an emoji reaction. They cut down on clutter in group chats and take up less space than typing emoji individually in a conversation. WhatsApp initially limited reactions to just six emoji, but a new update lets you use any emoji you want.
How To: The Simplest Way to Remove the Background from Photos on iOS, iPadOS, and Android
It's super easy to add filters, adjust levels, and crop images using the default photo editor on your smartphone, but there's rarely any built-in tool for removing the background in a photo. A third-party app can help isolate people and objects in your pictures, and we've found a free one that's easy to use, works with high-resolution images, and is available for Android, iOS, iPadOS, and the web.
How To: Record 10-Minute Videos on TikTok Using Your iPhone or Android Phone
In mid-2021, TikTok rolled out three-minute videos, but it's not stopping there. The company is rolling out a feature that will let you record up to 10 minutes in a single TikTok video — only the update hasn't appeared for everyone yet.
How To: Scan Food with Snapchat to Discover New Recipes to Try Out
Have you ever had a great meal at your local restaurant and wondered how to make it yourself? Or perhaps you've found yourself stumped at what to make for dinner based on the random provisions in your kitchen? Now, you can discover solutions to these food-based problems via Snapchat's computer vision wizardry.
How To: Use Snapchat's Latest Viral Lens to Put a Smile on Your Face — Or Someone Else's
From Time Machine to Cartoon 3D Style, Snapchat has strung together a run of viral AR Lenses as consistently as Beyoncé drops hits songs.
How To: Clean Unwanted Tabs & Alerts from Facebook's Nav Bar to Remove Shop, Groups, News, Watch & Notification Dots
In the Facebook app for Android and iOS, the shortcut bar has a few necessary tabs to go home and view notifications and settings. But other tabs can make the interface feel cluttered if you don't use them often enough — or at all. Thankfully, there's a quick trick to get rid of them for a cleaner navigation bar.
How To: Here's Why It's Harder to Steal a Samsung Phone Than an iPhone or Another Android
Pretend you're a phone thief for a moment. You might be a pickpocket or a stickup kid, but you're in possession of other people's phones on a regular basis. Now ask yourself this: what's the first thing you do after you steal a phone?
How To: Digitize Your COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card on Your Phone for Easy Access Anywhere
As the U.S. inches closer to herd immunity and reopening after the pandemic, it may become necessary to keep your COVID-19 vaccination cards on you at all times to gain access to places and events that are prone to spreading the coronavirus. You probably won't want to lose your card, so it may be wise to load a copy onto your smartphone for easy access.
How To: Add Self-Generating Captions to Your Instagram Stories So You Don't Have to Type Them in Manually
When creating video content for social media, such as a story on Instagram, it's common practice to add captions or subtitles to the post so that people can watch it wherever they are on silent. Doing this by hand is time-consuming and frustrating, but Instagram has a solution: a feature to add automatically-generated captions to any story you make from your iPhone or Android phone.
How To: Auto-Delete Messages for Everybody in Regular Telegram Chats — Not Just Secret Chats
Have some sensitive information you need to share with somebody on Telegram but are worried it might fall into the wrong hands? You don't have to worry anymore because Telegram now sports a way to automatically delete all new messages in any chat of your choosing, not just end-to-end encrypted ones.
How To: Download a Show's Next Episode Automatically on Netflix After Watching the Previous One
One of the most convenient features in the Netflix app is the ability to download movies and TV shows to your device, which lets you avoid potential streaming issues and watch content offline whenever you want. To make downloading even more convenient, you can automatically download new episodes of your favorite TV shows once you've finished the ones already stored on your phone.
How To: Get Netflix to Auto-Download Shows & Movies to Your Phone Based on Your Interests
These days, there's more content than ever, and the sheer amount of titles out there can make picking something to watch seem near impossible. Netflix does provide suggestions based on content you've already viewed, which helps, and the company believes so much in its algorithms that it now gives you the option to auto-download videos on your devices based on your interests, no decisions required.
How To: Set Custom Chat Wallpapers in Signal for All Conversations & Single Threads
Popular chat apps like Facebook Messenger and (these days, sadly) WhatsApp might not cut it when it comes to privacy and security, but they sure do offer some fun ways to customize your chats. If you're worried that moving to Signal Private Messenger means you lose these features, don't — the privacy-focused app also lets you choose custom chat wallpapers for all your threads.
How To: Post Status Updates on Signal for Your Friends & Other Contacts to See
Keeping your friends up to date is one of the reasons chat apps exist in the first place, but sometimes we're not available to respond to every message or to let all of our contacts know what we're up to. That's where status updates come in handy, and the feature has finally found its way to Signal Private Messenger.
How To: Disable or Delete Your Location History in Google Maps for More Privacy
Google Maps tracks everywhere you go with your smartphone, even when you're not using the app. Even if it's as mundane as your weekly grocery trip, Google Maps has it saved for you to see in its Android and iOS apps. And while it's mostly used for recommendations and your reference — you may not want Google Maps to keep such a rich location history.
How To: Separate Vocals & Instrument Tracks from Your Favorite Songs to Make Karaoke Music or Play Along with the Band
Adobe Audition, Audacity, and other audio editing software have tools to isolate vocals and instruments in regular songs so that you can get an instrumental track for karaoke, vocals for an a capella version, or solo drums, bass, keys, etc. that you can use to learn the song yourself. The software is mostly for desktop computers, and it doesn't always do a good job, but that's where Moises comes in.
How To: Set Custom Wallpapers for Individual WhatsApp Chats So That Each Thread Has Its Own Look
One of WhatsApp's best features is being able to change the default wallpaper for all chats. There's no reason to stick to the default WhatsApp backgrounds when you can be texting over an image of literally anything. In a newer WhatsApp update, you can go a step beyond that by setting custom wallpapers for individual chats, personalizing every text thread you have.
How To: Pre-Register for a Plex Account Through the New Google Pay App
Not only has Google released a completely new Google Pay app for US users on both iPhone and Android, but the've also minted a new mobile banking service. Called Plex, it provides online bank accounts at one of 11 partner banks and credit unions, with no minimum balance requirements, overdraft charges, or monthly fees.
How To: See What Traffic Is Usually Like Between Any 2 Addresses
If you're in the market for a new house, how do you know what your commute would be like if current traffic is unseasonably low? Or if you're considering a new job across town and want to weigh the pay raise against the extra time stuck in a gridlock, how do you measure the discrepancy? Google Maps can help.
How To: Send & Receive Disappearing Messages in Your WhatsApp Conversations to Keep Chats Clutter-Free
Sometimes, keeping every message comes in handy. Maybe you want to relive fun conversations from months or years ago, or perhaps you need to recall a piece of data such as an address, name, or link. However, not all chats need to stick around forever. Whether you're concerned about privacy or just keeping your threads clutter-free, WhatsApp's "disappearing messages" may be what you're looking for.
How To: The Best Way to Avoid the New AR Mapping Tasks in Pokémon GO
Niantic recently added a new Field Research task type called AR Mapping that challenges players to capture video footage of PokéStop landmarks and upload them. In return, players receive rewards in the form of in-game items.
How To: What the New AR Mapping Task in Pokémon GO Means for the Future of Augmented Reality Gaming
This week, developer Niantic began rolling out a new feature called AR Mapping to Pokémon GO that has bigger implications on the realism of augmented reality in mobile gaming and beyond.
How To: Curb Your Daily Instagram Usage with Daily Reminders on iPhone or Android
Instagram is addicting — and that's done on purpose. To stop your Instagram habits, your smartphone likely has a built-in feature to curb the daily usage of a particular app, like Apple's Screen Time for iOS and Google's Digital Wellbeing for Android. But you don't need to mess with those complicated settings when Instagram itself can help you get some of your life back.
How To: Use Google Assistant to Quickly Post to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat & TikTok
When it comes to posting to social media from your smartphone, the process is typically the same. Find the app. Open the app. Tap the app's version of the compose button.
How To: These 5 Things Will Help You Get the Most Out of Your NordVPN Experience
VPNs add a protective layer between your data and your internet service provider (ISP) or bad actors (hackers), so it makes sense they've become so popular lately. Probably the most common one of these is NordVPN, so we explored its mobile app to find all the options worth checking out.
How To: 7 Apps That'll Pick Up TikTok's Slack if It Gets Banned in the US
The future of TikTok in the U.S. is all but certain. Microsoft, Walmart, or Oracle could save the day by buying the company, TikTok may win its lawsuit, or China's new restrictions could halt everything — but all could fail. Just like Vine before it, TikTok could be on its way out, only for opposite reasons. But will it matter if TikTok gets banned in the States? With the competition heating up, likely not.
How To: It's Surprisingly Simple to Stop YouTube from Saving Your Search History
Sure, your search history can be useful, but more often than not, it's a paper trail of privacy infringement. It's perfectly reasonable not to want to see a complete list of your YouTube queries every single time you search for a new video. Luckily, blocking YouTube from saving your search history takes only a few taps.
How To: The Best Way for Any Guest to Connect to Your Wi-Fi Network Automatically
"What's your Wi-Fi password?" That's usually the first thing guests ask for when you have them over. You tell them the network name, then try to explain your complicated hacker-resistant password, which becomes a whole ordeal. But there's a better way to do it, which doesn't rely on using the same mobile OS as your guests.
How To: Make Sure Videos Are Playing at the Highest Resolution Possible on YouTube, YouTube Music & YouTube TV
Most streaming platforms have seen a huge viewership increase in the past few months. As a result, wireless carriers and ISPs are struggling to provide the necessary bandwidth for everyone, resulting in some customers being limited to DVD quality. The same applies to YouTube, YouTube Music, and YouTube TV, but you can see the resolution being used and change it to something better.
How To: Read YouTube Videos as Articles on Your Phone Instead of Watching Them
Millions of people use YouTube every day, whether it's for trailers, new music, or gameplay walkthroughs. But according to Pew Research Center, over half of U.S. adults use YouTube to figure out how to do things. If you fall into that crowd, adult or not, sometimes it's good to have written instructions to follow along with the video or in lieu of it completely.
How To: Make Google Calendar Open Meeting Links in Google Meet Instead of the Gmail App
If Google's apps, namely Gmail, Calendar, and Meet, are at the center of your workday, then a new, frustrating change may upset your routine.