How to Change the Number of Recent Items in OS X
With OS X 10.11 El Capitan, Apple has added a considerable amount of new features, but among all the hubbub and hoopla, are smaller items that the company slipped in unannounced. One of these is the ability to change the number of recent items.
Let’s show you what we mean. In many instances, OS X will collect recent items such as documents, apps, and servers you’ve connected to. For example, here on the Go menu, we see a list of recently...
How to Customize the iOS Sharing Menu
The sharing system in iOS is one of the more overlooked features and, within that feature, the ability to customize the options of the sharing system is even more overlooked. Read on as we show you how to tweak the sharing system to fit your needs.
Why Do I Want To Do This?
The share system in iOS allows you to send something from the application you’re currently using to another application. Anywhere you see the little sheet icon with an arrow...
How to Update Your Apple Watch to Watch OS 2.0.1 (Or Higher)
The new version of Apple’s watch operating system, Watch OS 2.0.1 is now available to the public and, thanks to a host of new features and improvements, an important upgrade for any Apple Watch user. Read on as we show you how to update your watch to the most current OS.
Note: since we wrote this, Apple has released Watch OS 2.0.1 with more bugfixes, but you still use the same mechanism to update.
What’s New In Watch OS 2.0
In addition...
Don’t Trust Caller ID — It Can Be Faked
Telephone scams are on the upswing, and they’re often enabled by caller ID spoofing. That name and number that appears when someone calls you can be faked, so you can’t place all your trust in it.
Caller ID is more of a convenience feature. If a friend, family member, or business is calling you, you can easily see who it is before you answer. It’s not a security feature, and scammers can appear as any phone number and name they like.
Yes,...
How to Mute Individual Browser Tabs in Chrome, Safari, and Firefox
Web pages can automatically play audio thanks to HTML5, even if you’ve set Flash and other browser plug-ins to click-to-play. Most modern web browsers include an audio indicator that will show you which tab is playing sound. Most modern browsers also let you mute individual tabs.
This feature was available behind a hidden flag in Chrome for a while, and is now stable. Apple’s Safari was the first web browser...
How to Hide or Show the Battery Percentage on iPhone or iPad
If you find the battery charge percentage in the upper-right corner of your iPhone or iPad screen distracting, it can be turned off easily. However, if you decide you want to easily keep track of your battery life, you can easily turn the percentage back on.
To turn off the battery charge percentage, tap “Settings” on the home screen.
On the “Settings” screen, tap “Battery” on the left.
The “Battery” settings display on the right. Tap...
How to Set up Text Message Forwarding on Your Mac or iPad
We love Apple’s Continuity features, including the ability to receive calls and text message from your iPhone on your Mac or iPad. If you want to automatically forward text messages to your Mac or iPad however, you first need to set it up.
Text message forwarding works great because you don’t have to actually be on your iPhone to communicate via text. Any text messages that arrives on your iPhone will automatically be forwarded to your Mac or...
How to Enable Android 6.0’s Experimental Multi-Window Mode
Android 6.0 Marshmallow contains a highly experimental and hidden multi-window mode. Perhaps this will be stable in the next version of Android — it would definitely make Google’s Pixel C, Nexus 9, and Nexus 6 phones more useful. For now, you can enable it if you’re willing to do some tweaking.
Unlike Samsung’s multi-window mode, Android’s built-in multi-window mode works for all Android apps. It’s Android’s long-overdue answer to...
Tested: Should You Unplug Chargers When You’re Not Using Them?
How much energy do your smartphone, laptop, and tablet chargers really use? Should you unplug them when you aren’t using them to save power and money? We measured exactly how much power a variety of common chargers use, and how much keeping them plugged in will cost your each year.
You’ve probably heard of “vampire power” — the amount of power a device uses in standby mode when you aren’t using it. But just how much vampire power does...
How to Change the Names of the Icons on Your Android Home Screen
When you install an app on an Android device, a shortcut for the app is created with a default name and added to your home screen. The Android system does not allow you to change the name of your shortcuts. However, there is a way around this.
We’re going to use a free app available in the Google Play Store called “QuickShortcutMaker”. Search for it in the Play Store and install it.
Once the app is installed, open it and scroll down the list...