If you’re new to Android, Chrome, or anything related to Google, it can sometimes be a little difficult getting yourself familiar with the platforms. That’s why we created Basics!
Whether you’re looking for help changing your wallpaper, adding apps to your home screen, removing apps from your home screen, or just want to know how to set an alarm, we’ve got you covered.
All of our Basics guides can be found below, in the order they were published.
Experiencing poorer battery life than you would like on your Galaxy S9 or S9+? Well, you’re in luck as Samsung has built several battery-life saving features into the phone. Here’s how to use them all…
One of the easiest ways to customize your smartphone and make it feel more like your own is to set a custom wallpaper. While you can always find pictures online, Alvar Carto, a company that makes map posters, is now letting any create wallpapers of your favorite cities. Here’s how…
NCAA’s March Madness kicks off tonight (March 13) with LIU-Brooklyn facing off against Radford and St. Bonaventure taking on UCLA. Here’s how to watch the entire tournament live on Android, Chrome OS, Chromecast, Android TV, and more…
YouTube recently officially announced a dark theme for its mobile apps on Android and iOS. While we’re still waiting for the feature to roll out to Android’s app, it’s already live on the iPhone. Here’s how to enable it…
Tonight is the annual iHeartRadio Music Awards, hosted by DJ Khaled and Hailey Baldwin. Here’s how to watch the award show live on Android, Chrome OS, Chromecast, Android TV, and more…
Just like many other Android OEMs, Samsung has built fingerprint gestures into the Galaxy S9 and S9+. Here’s how to enable and use them…
To celebrate Mario day (March 10, Mar10), Nintendo and Google partnered up to allow drivers to roll through the streets as the little plumber. Here’s how to drive as Mario on Google Maps on Android and iOS…
Are there any apps that you’re continually opening on your Galaxy S9/S9+? Well, you’re in luck because Samsung lets you set up shortcuts right from the lockscreen. Here’s how…
Have you ever had a need or want to control your phone from your desktop? While it’s not the only existing solution on the market, the developer behind GenyMobile just released their own version that’s open source, free to use, and it doesn’t require installing an app on your phone. It’s called Scrcpy, and here’s how to build and use it yourself…
With the release of Android P Developer Preview 1, Google is letting developers prepare their apps for phones with ‘notches’ by simulating a display cutout on Pixel handsets. Here’s how…
Google just took the wraps off of the first Developer Preview build of Android P. This early build introduces a redesigned notification shade and much more. Here’s how to manually install Android P DP1…
For the longest time, the only way “save” tweets so that you can look back at them was to “heart” them. Thankfully, Twitter has introduced a bookmarks feature that lets you save tweets privately so that you can look back at them. Unfortunately, though, the function to bookmark a tweet is sort of hidden. Here’s how it all works…
While we all want a proper dark mode on Android, it doesn’t seem to be coming anytime soon. However, Google did implement it in a limited capacity with Android 8.1 on the Google Pixel 2 family. That was tied to the color of the wallpaper, though, forcing users who want a dark theme to stick to a select few backgrounds for their homescreen. Thanks to a new app, though, it’s possible to get that dark theme with any wallpaper…
It’s no secret that Samsung has been really pushing for people to use its virtual assistant, Bixby, since launching with the Galaxy S8. One of the ways its done that is by including a physical button on the left side of the phone that can only be used to launch Bixby. Here’s how to completely disable the virtual assistant on the Galaxy S9 and S9+…
For the second year in a row, Jimmy Kimmel is set to take the stage Sunday night to host the 90th annual Oscars. Here’s how to watch the event live on Android, Chrome OS, Chromecast, and Android TV…
With your Galaxy S9 or S9+, the process of protecting everything on your phone with different types of lockscreen security is straightforward. And to make it even quicker to get into your device, Samsung includes multiple biometric options to choose from. Here’s how to set it all up…
For the second year in a row, Nick Kroll and John Mulaney will be hosting the Film Independent Spirit Awards with awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Here’s how to watch the Film Independent Spirit Awards live on Android, Chrome OS, Chromecast, Android TV, and more…
Samsung is one of the few Android OEMs that allows its users to run multiple instances of a select number of messaging apps. Here’s how to enable it on the Galaxy S9 and S9+…
By default, the on-screen navigation buttons on the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ are in a mixed-up order if you’re used to using any other Android smartphone. Here’s how to change the order of the navigation buttons on the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+…
The Galaxy S9 and S9+ are only available to purchase with 64GB of built-in storage. For many, this just isn’t enough storage space, especially when you account for the size of 4K videos, photos, and music. Thankfully, owners can add up to 400GB of additional storage via a microSD card…
Despite sporting a 2960×1440 display, the Galaxy S9 and S9+ ship with the screen downscaled. While this was most likely done to maintain long battery life, you can quickly change the setting to take full advantage of every pixel. Here’s how…
Just like the Google Pixel 2, Samsung allows Galaxy S9 and S9+ owners to take those blurry background portrait mode selfies with the single front-facing camera. Here’s how…
While some Android phones only allow you to display notifications on the lockscreen, Samsung allows you to show off your favorite photo on the Galaxy S9 and S9+. Here’s how…
2017 was the year that we were introduced to Android smartphones with 18:9 aspect ratio displays. Thankfully, since most videos are created in 16:9, YouTube gives you the option to still watch the video in fullscreen. Here’s how…
