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.
Instagram recently announced a new Focus Mode that replicates a bokeh or background blur effect found on most modern Android smartphones. But instead of just working for photographs, the social network’s Focus Mode works for both stills and videos…
Sometimes you don’t want your text messages and emails showing up in its entirety on your lockscreen for anyone to see. Thankfully, Android allows you to hide sensitive notifications until you’ve unlocked your handset. Here’s how…
One of the underlining themes of Mark Zuckerberg’s testimonials in front of Congress is that people don’t like the idea of being served ads based off of their browsing habits. Thankfully, you can disable these types of ads, but it won’t stop Facebook and others still tracking you…
After the news broke that a company called Cambridge Analytica had collected private data from millions of users’ Facebook profiles, many wanted answers from the company’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. While he has apologized publicly several times, Zuckerberg will be speaking to two congressional committees this week. Here’s how to watch both testimonials live…
If you’re like most Galaxy S9 and S9+ owners, you probably never use the physical Bixby button found on the side of your device. Thankfully, instead of just disabling the button altogether, an app called bxActions works surprising well at remapping the button to launch different apps or actions.
Late last year, we reported that YouTube was working on a new feature that would automatically play videos found on the mobile app’s Home tab. Now, it appears that the “Autoplay on Home” feature is rolling out to the masses. Here’s how to disable the YouTube app from autoplaying videos in the Home feed…
Before Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg addresses two Congressional committees on Tuesday and Wednesday, he met with legislators today to apologize for the social network’s mistakes when handling its users’ private data. To help with its credibility, Facebook is letting users know if Cambridge Analytica collected their data. Here’s how to know if you were affected.
Unfortunately, due to contracts made between sporting events, award shows, and other televised events with TV networks, sometimes you can’t watch something just because in a blacked-out market. Thankfully, it’s pretty easy to spoof your location to get around these.
Whether you’re going on vacation overseas or just want to be able to navigate around town without draining your data plan, you can download different areas within Google Maps to use while offline. Here’s how.
As we have seen time and time again, once a handful of manufacturers introduce new design styles like a display notch, the rest of the market tends to follow. But if you’re someone who dislikes the notch and how the screen works around it, you can give an app called “Nacho Notch” a try which will hide the notch as much as possible.
If you’re an emoji lover, you probably know that it can be challenging to use emojis on your computer. While there are keyboard combinations and extensions to launch the system’s emoji picker, the Canary build of the Chrome browser now has a right-click shortcut to make it easier to type emoji right from your computer…
Whether you’re running a contest and looking for a winner or just need to pick a number between one and 10, having a random number generator can be a handy tool. Thankfully, you no longer need to visit a separate website as Google has a random number generator built into its search results. Here’s how to use it…
If you’re a musician, you most likely know that a metronome creates a steady beat to help keep pacing when performing music. While some apps and websites can do this for you, Google has a metronome tool built directly into its homepage. Here’s how to use it…
When setting up your Facebook profile, you can choose to self-identify your political beliefs if you want to share those with others. But despite this option, Facebook monitors your activity and can identify where you land on a political spectrum in hopes to better serve you ads.
Although some Android smartphone manufacturers have ditched the microSD card slot, there are still a good number that haven’t. In case your phone can use a bump in storage, here are our top three microSD card suggestions for your Android smartphone…
Out of the box, the Galaxy S9 and S9+ were able to show an image of the user’s choosing on the Always-on Display. Now, any Samsung phone running Oreo including the S9, S8, and Note 8 can add a GIF to the lockscreen. Here’s how…
Google has announced that it has begun shutting down its URL shortener goo.gl. Here are the best alternatives to that let you shorten your links as well as track different types of data…
Whether you visited a website by accident or just don’t want your browser history saved, you can quickly delete it right from your Android phone or on your desktop computer. Here’s how to remove your Chrome browser history…
Weirdly enough, there’s no way to livestream your Android device’s screen directly from the Twitch app. While there’s a way to stream your front or rear camera, you’ll need to download a third-party app to share your gameplay and commentary to your Twitch fans. Here’s how it all works…
With the introduction of the Pixel 2 and 2 XL, Google showed off a squeezable input method called Active Edge. Just like a feature first introduced by HTC, by squeezing the two sides of the phone, you can trigger an action. By installing the ‘SideSqueeze’ app, you can bring this functionality to almost any Android phone…
With the recent outcry against Facebook and its handling of data on its millions of users, it wouldn’t be surprising if you wanted to delete your account. Here’s how to do just that from your phone…
With today’s official launch of the Galaxy S9 and S9+, Samsung has released a new AR Emoji pack that allows you to look like Disney’s Mickey or Minnie Mouse. Here’s how to install and use the new AR Emojis on your brand new Galaxy flagship smartphone…
As you probably know, studies have shown that the blue light from electronics suppresses melatonin production and makes it harder to fall to sleep and causes eye strain over time. Thankfully, the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ have a built-in blue light filter and a grayscale mode that cuts out this form of light…
With the release of Android P, we’ve uncovered several graphical changes to the mobile operating system. Two of these updates include a new vertical volume slider and an updated Pixel launcher with a taller dock. Here’s how to get these on your older Android devices…
