Your daily dose of practical, easy to follow tech tips!
Question from Pat: When I first got my Android phone it would put an icon on the Home screen every time I installed a new app, but it’s stopped doing that.
Now I have to find every new app’s icon in the app drawer and drag it onto the Home screen manually.
I know it must be a setting that needs to be changed but I can’t find it. Can you help? [Read more…]
Hackers and scammers have been infecting Windows PCs with malware for years, and the problem is getting worse all the time.
In fact, the majority of the questions I receive every week involve malware infections of one type or another.
Question from Alex: I used to be able to plug my Android phone into my Windows laptop and copy the photos from the phone to the computer.
However, I tried that this morning and when I opened the phone in File Explorer it said “This folder is empty.”
I haven’t changed any settings on either the laptop or the phone so I don’t know why File Explorer can’t see the photos that are on the phone (there are tons of them).
What am I missing here? [Read more…]
Rick’s Tech Tips Newsletter
By default, when people call you on your smartphone the ringtone will sound the same regardless of who is calling you.
And that can be a problem if your phone starts ringing while it’s sitting on a table on the other side of the room.
The caller could well be someone you really want to talk to, but it could also be a call you’d rather skip for the time being.
Unfortunately, the only way to find out is to stop what you’re doing and go pick up the phone.
Well, there’s an easy fix or this problem… [Read more…]
Does it seem like the battery in your Android phone dies a lot sooner than it should? If so, you’re certainly not alone.
A while back I wrote a post listing 7 tips for extending your Android phone’s battery life, and they all help quite a bit.
Well, here’s a bonus tip that will make your battery last even longer. All you have to do is change your phone’s wallpaper to one that’s solid black!
You’re probably wondering why using a black background can save battery life, and that’s a good question. And the answer is really pretty simple: The brighter the screen, the more current the battery must supply to keep it lit up.
Bottom line: Changing from a light colored background to a solid black one allows your phone to operate with less current being drawn from the battery.
Switching your phone to a solid black wallpaper is easy. Here’s how: [Read more…]