How To

How to Make the Most of the iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max Cameras

If you’re paying hundreds of dollars extra for a Pro or Pro Max version of the iPhone 12, then you want to make sure you’re getting your money’s worth—and taking advantage of the extra photo-taking capabilities is a key part of that. Here are the features you get, and how to get the most out … Continued

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11 Games You Can Play With the Family Remotely Over Zoom for Thanksgiving

Unless you spend every year sheltering in place and worrying about a global pandemic, the upcoming holiday season is going to be different for a lot of us. Video calling apps like Zoom can keep us in touch with each other even while we’re apart, and these online and offline games will save you from … Continued

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How to Listen to Your Music on Any Smartwatch

If you’re thinking about buying a smartwatch, you might also be thinking about how well it’ll serve you when it comes to music playback—will it just act as a remote control for whatever’s on your phone, or will it actually stream and sync songs so you can listen to them anywhere (and leave your phone … Continued

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Bring Back Deleted Files on Any Cloud Service (or Make Sure They’re Gone Forever)

Digital life is easier now that we’ve got services like iCloud, Google Drive, OneDrive, and Dropbox to fall back on—not least because if you accidentally delete a file or folder from one of these platforms, you’ve got a few days before it’ll be erased for good. Here’s how to bring back deleted data, or—for more … Continued

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19 Time-Saving Tips for macOS

We could all use a little more time in the day—and probably a little more time away from the computer, too—so we’ve collected together our favorite time-savers for Macs. Apply just a few of these to your various workflows and you’ll find yourself powering through everything on your to-do list faster than ever before. 1. … Continued

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19 Time-Saving Tips for Windows

Time. There’s never enough of it, so the more ways you can find to speed through the business of the day the better—and if you spend a good number of hours sat in front of a computer, then time-saving shortcuts for operating Windows can make a big difference to how much free time you find … Continued

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All the New Privacy Protections in iOS 14 and macOS Big Sur

Apple’s big annual software updates, iOS 14 and macOS Big Sur, include plenty of new privacy and security features to lock up your data and protect your devices. These are all the ways that your iPhone and Mac are now being kept safer than ever. Data breach warnings iOS and macOS already offered to sync … Continued

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11 Things You Can Do in macOS Big Sur That You Couldn’t Do Before

The next major update for macOS is here, and Big Sur brings with it a bunch of new features as well as a significant revamp on the visual side. These are 11 of the most significant upgrades that enable you to do more with your Mac, once you’ve downloaded and installed the 2020 update. 1. … Continued

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How to Run Alternative Browsers on Your Chromebook

Chromebooks are characterized by their ability to run Chrome and very little else—which makes sense, given the name—but these laptops are actually more versatile than you realize. One or two exceptions aside, you can run just about every other modern browser on your Chromebook if you need a change from Chrome, and there are a … Continued

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Your Phone’s Navigation App is Probably Smarter Than You Think

You probably use your smartphone to get from point A to point B, but have you fully explored all the features and options available along the way? Google Maps, Apple Maps, and Waze all have navigation modes that are smarter and more versatile than you might have realized. From changing direction mid-route to avoiding parking … Continued

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The Best Alternative Streaming Services You Can Still Try Out For Free

You’re probably spending more time at home right now, and maybe you’re looking for a new streaming service to try—preferably without paying, at least until you decide to commit. Netflix and Disney+ have ditched their free trials, but there are plenty of other music and movie streaming services you can try out without spending a dime, … Continued

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10 Tips and Tricks to Help You Get the Most Out of Your Amazon Echo

Amazon has refreshed its Echo line again, and this time the speakers are shaped like balls rather than cylinders—though all of the key functionality remains the same. Your Echo can do so much more than summon Alexa, so we’ll steer clear of giving you a long list of commands you can use—you already know most … Continued

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Everything You Need to Know About the New Google TV

There’s a new Chromecast in town, only it’s not so much a Chromecast as a little Android TV dongle with Chromecast built in… but that’s not right either, because it’s running Google TV rather than Android TV… I know, I know. If you’re wondering exactly what this new software platform is, and how it relates … Continued

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If You Recently Upgraded Your iPhone, Make Sure Your Covid-19 Contact Tracing Is Still Active

If you were one of the millions of people who recently upgraded to an iPhone 12 or 12 Pro and used Apple’s automated tools for transferring everything over from your old phone, you’ll probably want to take a moment to ensure that your contact tracing app of choice—either region-specific or the one built into iOS, … Continued

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These Android Launchers Will Change the Way You Use Your Phone

You might already be familiar with launcher apps, which completely reskin Android phones with different icons, app drawers and home screen layouts, but some of these launchers go way beyond a visual overhaul—they actually change the way that apps and information are presented on your screen, and can transform how you interact with your phone. … Continued

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How to Choose the Best VPN

What’s the best VPN? Great question—and one for which you’re probably never going to get a good answer. Virtual private networks can be a great way to add a layer of privacy to your online life. Unfortunately, VPNs are also, in many ways, black boxes: You have to trust them to do the right thing … Continued

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It Is Very Easy to Keep Windows 10 From Randomly Restarting Whenever It Pleases

I don’t like my OS doing things or adding things without my permission as much as the next person. As a life-long Windows user, that little pop-up telling me to restart my PC has gotten on my nerves more times that I can count—but it’s not like Windows doesn’t give me the option to turn … Continued

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Here’s How to Avoid Accidentally Showing Your Genitals to Your Colleagues on Zoom

It’s happened to the best of us during this period of extended working from home: You’re minding your own business when suddenly a Zoom room full of your colleagues and/or business partners gets a non-consensual eyeful of unsecured loin. Accident or not, that’s really fucked up. It’s even possible that the incident could lead to … Continued

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10 Tricks to Get the Most Out of Your Amazon Fire Tablet

The Amazon Fire tablets, running Amazon’s Fire OS take on Android, are perfectly fine budget tablets for doing the basics: Emailing, streaming, posting to your social media channels, and so on. They’re designed with simplicity in mind, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some useful tweaks and features to be found if you dig a … Continued

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HomePod Mini Supports the New Thread Protocol That Could Transform the Smart Home

Besides the A5 chip, backlit touch surface, support for stereo speaker setups, Ultra Wideband capability and $100 price tag, there’s something else about the new HomePod Mini that you might not have noticed: support for a little-known smart home protocol called Thread. The protocol could become a lot more significant in the years ahead. Here’s … Continued