The Latest on Smartphones

Having tracked telecom policy changes for over five years, I've seen how regulatory shifts can reshape entire markets—but Verizon's latest move hits different. The carrier is pushing to ditch the 60-day phone unlocking rule at precisely the moment when T-Mobile's satellite service via Starlink could change how we think about connectivity. While Verizon claims it's fighting fraud, the real casualty might be your ability to tap into the most significant advancement in mobile coverage since 4G.

You've probably heard this song before: "world's thinnest foldable phone!" But the Honor Magic V5 might actually deserve the hype. At just 8.8mm thick when folded and weighing a mere 217g, this thing makes other foldables look chunky by comparison. Honor didn't just chase thinness records though, they packed in a 64MP periscope telephoto camera and the world's first 6,100mAh silicon-carbon battery for a foldable. The engineering feat represents something bigger than spec sheets: it's the moment...

You lose cell service in the middle of the day, and twenty minutes later, your bank account is empty. Welcome to SIM swapping—the nightmare scenario that's plagued millions and cost victims over $25 million in 2024 alone. The good news? AT&T just rolled out a feature that could slam the door on these attacks before they start. ZDNet reports that Wireless Account Lock is now live for both postpaid and prepaid customers, joining T-Mobile and Verizon in offering SIM protection tools.

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.

Flagship earbuds like Apple's AirPods Pro, Sony's WF‑1000XM5, Jabra's Elite 10, and Soundcore's Liberty 4 Pro sound fantastic, but they come with equally premium price tags. Luckily, there are plenty of stellar alternatives that won't gut your wallet. Spend less than $100, and you can still land punchy audio, rock‑solid active noise canceling (ANC), and marathon battery life without feeling like you settled.

A crucial part of the system that keeps your iPhone, iPad, Android device, and computer secure just lost US government funding — and the ripple effects could soon reach your gadget's next update.

Google Maps makes it easy to find the best routes, and one of its most useful tools is the ability to set departure and arrival times directly in the mobile app. While this feature was initially exclusive to the desktop site, it’s now fully integrated into the app for both iPhone and Android. This allows you to plan ahead and get accurate travel estimates based on predicted traffic conditions.

Hey, all you Instagram lovers, haters, or people who have no choice but to submissively bow down to the social app giant for other reasons, you've come to the right place. Today, I'm going to walk you through a very simple marketing trick to start boosting traffic to your IG account.

I have nightmares about trying to reply to hundreds of strangers on social media. To prevent the overwhelming feeling of having to small talk with people I don't know, I'm now aiming for more control over the ways that people can contact me. One way is to stop users from hitting me up on Instagram Stories.

If you want to share a video to Stories — but it's over 24 hours old — it may seem like you can't, but there's actually a simple hack on how to do just that.

Most of you have probably wondered at least once who has been checking out your social media profiles. While most platforms prohibit you from seeing who's viewed your profile, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, TikTok is one of the few places that lets you track profile visitors. And unlike with LinkedIn, you don't have to pay for the privilege.

Sharing your personal information can come up for any number of reasons: you may want to get in touch with a colleague after work or you've been involved in a car accident and need to stay in contact with the other driver. Unfortunately, giving out information can be the key for others to find your social media accounts, such as Instagram, whether you want it to happen or not.

So, you're trying to show a friend or two a hilarious Reel you liked or saved on Instagram, but where is it? Unlike TikTok, Instagram doesn't make it clear where you're supposed to find your liked and saved Reels. Luckily, we can help.

When Facebook introduced Stories in 2017, many users despised the Snapchat-like feature on their main page. However, despite the outcry, Facebook doesn't plan to let you remove it. But you don't have to settle for this. With the help of some third-party apps, you no longer have to deal with Stories.

If you're in the market for a new smartphone and want nothing but the best of the best, now's the time to act. Some of the greatest phones money can buy are being released as we speak, while others are still in their prime and will continue to be for most of 2024. Whether you want an iPhone or Android, we've rounded up the best picks you have to choose from for top-of-the-line specs and advanced features.

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.

There's never been a better time for streaming videos on your phone. With so many options available (including a potential mobile-only Netflix tier) and so many new smartphones having large screens, there's a good chance you know someone who mainly use their phone for videos. And if you looking for a gift for them, there are some great options.

With smartphone cameras and software getting better and better every year, more and more users are getting passionate about photography. So when you're shopping for a gift to get someone, if they have a smartphone, chances are they'll more than appreciate some tools and accessories for taking better photos with their pocket friend — and we've got some gear ideas they'll love.

Advancements in technology have made it perfectly possible to make a short film or even an entire movie with your iPhone or Android — as long as you've got the right gear. Lenses, stabilizers, tripods, lighting, microphones, chargers, and cases can make the difference between a good movie and a great film, all of which can make a great gift for those aspiring (or current) filmmakers in your life.

Smartphones are vital travel companions. While you're on the go, they connect you with loved ones back home, help you find tickets and passes for tourist attractions, and make it easy to find your way through foreign roads — but even the most powerful smartphone could use help from travel accessories.

Smartphone gaming continues to improve with ever sharper displays and raw processing power to deliver console-quality graphics right in the palm of your hands. Nonetheless, you still stand to improve the gaming experience on any phone by adding the right accessories to the mix.

There's never been a better time for streaming movies and TV shows on the go. With so many services available, the only limitation to your enjoyment is your phone's accessories. Whether you're buying for yourself or someone else, here are some of the best gifts that improve the movie-watching experience on mobile.

You might have missed it, but the virtual keypad you use to enter phone numbers in your smartphone's dialer and contacts app isn't all numbers. Take a closer look, and you'll notice a few mysterious buttons you've likely been tuning out unconsciously. But it's time to stop ignoring them because each has a particular purpose that could come in handy one day.

For all intents and purposes, Google could have called its 2023 developer conference A/I instead of I/O. Capitalizing on the artificial intelligence hype, Google devoted most of its keynote address to AI research, experiments, and developments. But there's some substance behind the hype in the form of new features in the Google services you already use on Android, iOS, and desktop.

While the iPhone came before the first Android smartphone, every new iOS version seems to include a wealth of features already existing on Android, and iOS 17 is no exception.

Spotify lets you customize some aspects of your experience, whether on the desktop, web, Android, or iOS app. And one of the simplest yet coolest customizations you can perform is changing your playlist cover images. However, it doesn't work on all playlists.

Generative artificial intelligence has taken the tech world by storm, and Google's AI chatbot will give you a taste of what it offers.

Handwritten notes are no doubt useful at home, work, and school, but digitizing them with your smartphone will make them easier to edit, organize, and review. You'll also always have a digital copy ready if your handwritten notes get lost or erased. And Google Keep for Android, iOS, or iPadOS makes the conversion from physical form to digital a cinch, especially when it comes to checklists.

A hidden TikTok feature changed how I watch videos in the app, and it's about to transform your TikTok video-watching habits too.

You've decided you want to lose weight or build lean muscle. That's great! Now grab your smartphone. It's a valuable asset that can help you achieve your physical fitness goals, whether to improve your health or enhance your appearance, and I'm going to show you how.

YouTube has offered viewers a video queue on desktop browsers for some time, and the world's most popular video site is preparing to finally bring the queue feature to its Android and iOS mobile apps.

When you expect to take photos of landmarks, buildings, landscapes, and other outdoor scenery with clear blue skies in the background, you may end up with nothing but overcast weather, resulting in a completely different mood in your pictures. Instead of forgetting about all your images with dreary gray skies, try turning those grays to blues for happier, more shareable photos.

In mid-2017, Instagram added the ability to archive posts you've previously shared so that only you could see them going forward. As easy as it is to archive one of your Instagram photos or videos, it can be just as easy to forget how to unarchive it so others can see it again in all its glory.

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.

To play in the World Cup, soccer's ultimate tournament, you have to be among the best players on the planet. For the rest of us, Google has a hidden game to simulate the thrill of scoring goals for your favorite team.

When it comes to finding the exact moment you want to see in a video, the seeking function can be hit or miss depending on the streaming service you're using. On YouTube, though, it just got much better.