Your daily dose of practical, easy to follow tech tips!
By default, the typical Android phone will let you change 4 or 5 settings from the handy Pull-Down Menu. But if you’re like me you probably have several settings that you change on a regular basis that aren’t accessible from the Pull-Down Menu.
For example, I put my phone in Airplane mode and adjust the screen brightness several times on a typical day, and on my Samsung phone I have to open up the expanded settings menu every time to perform either of those tasks. [Read more…]
Could Microsoft be working on plans to give away their cash-cow Windows operating system for free? According to several reliable sources, the answer could be yes.
It’s no secret that Microsoft’s share of the operating system market is dwindling by the day, and it all started way back with the release of Apple’s first iPad. The guys and gals in Redmond apparently thought users would consider tablet PCs to be toys, not suitable replacements for desktop and laptop computers.
Well, they were wrong, and by the time they realized it the genie was already out of the bottle. [Read more…]
Many of us use one or more VOIP (Voice over IP) apps in order to save our mobile phone minutes, but it’s a hassle having to load the app every time we want to make a call.
Bolt is a free app that replaces your Android phone’s default dialer app. What sets Bolt apart from other VOIP apps is how it automatically places calls to other Bolt users via VOIP while still placing calls to everyone else over your carrier’s regular network (using your plan minutes of course). [Read more…]
Question from Ameet J.: I bought a Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 and really like it. The apps that came pre-installed work fine, but I downloaded the Instagram app from the website, but I can’t get it to load. In fact, I can’t even find it in the apps list! What’s wrong?
Rick’s answer: Hi Ameet. Many people have run into this very problem. I recommend installing the Instagram app from the Google Play Store instead of the Instagram website. In fact, it’s best to install ALL apps from the Play Store whenever possible.
Here’s all you need to do:
1 – Open the Play Store app on your Galaxy Tab 3 and log in to your Google account.
2 – Search for Instagram, then tap on the app to install it.
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Important update: The NoBars app is no longer supported and it doesn’t work with the latest versions of Android.
Have you ever noticed how quickly your Android phone’s battery gets depleted when you’re in an area where there’s either a very weak cell signal or no signal at all? This happens because the phone’s radio will go into overdrive while trying to locate any trace of a usable signal.
An easy way to prevent this from happening is to simply place your phone into “Airplane Mode” whenever you enter an area where you know there won’t be a usable cell signal. But if you do that, you’ll have to remember to take the phone back out of Airplane Mode later or else you won’t be able to receive any calls or text messages. [Read more…]