Public transit is intimidating. Working out the schedules, stops, and the rest can feel like a big job, especially if you’re new to a city or just visiting for a week. But catching a ride doesn’t have to be complicated. With the right apps, you can look up directions, work out connections, and know when the next bus is coming, all at a glance. When it comes to catching a ride, anywhere, the first app you need is Google Maps....
While many users can live their entire smartphone lives without ever needing to touch their phones file system, there are times when more advanced measures are needed. When you need to sideload an app or move a downloaded file, for example, you’re going to need a file manager. Here are our picks for the best that Android has to offer. RELATED: How to Manage Files and Use the File System on Android...
iTunes on Windows is terrible. Launch it, and everything comes to a screeching halt as iTunes consumes all your resources to do the most basic of things: play some music. Not only that, but year after year, it seems iTunes’ interface gets worse and worse, confusing even the savviest of computer users. Whatever your reasons for hating Apple’s music player, you’re in luck. Windows has more great music programs than you can shake a stick at, many of which are more powerful than iTunes anyway....
The materials used in constructing a chair can also be important when it comes to quality, comfort, and durability. Steel frame chairs tend to have the most durability and load capacity but are more expensive and heavy, for example. The materials used for the cushions are also a big part of how good a chair feels to use. Mesh-back chairs have become popular thanks to how breathable they are, but if you tend to lean back in your chair, then you may prefer leather, faux leather, or a breathable textile....
Macs are supposed to be intuitive, but a few things are downright hidden from users. For example: in the menu bar, the keyboard shortcuts for various actions are laid out using somewhat confusing symbols. What the Arrow, Squiggly, and Other Symbols Mean You might know that “⌘” corresponds to the Command key, since it actually appears on the keyboard key. But what’s the difference between “⌃” and “⇧,” both basically up arrows?...
Many people have the attitude that it doesn’t matter if their router is older because their phone, laptop, or other wireless gear isn’t cutting edge anyways. Even if you don’t have brand new tech toys you still benefit from upgrading a dated router. Why Would I Want to Do This? Routers are the oft-ignored work horses of the home network. Most people hardly pay any attention to them unless there is a big malfunction, and people may not consider upgrading them any more than they consider upgrading their washing machine....
When you double-click a ZIP file on your Mac, the files are automatically uncompressed and the ZIP itself is sent to the Trash. What if that’s not what you want? A hidden System Preferences pane lets you configure how archives work on your Mac. You can stop ZIP files from going to the Trash after you unarchive them, or you can have newly created archives spawn in a particular folder....
Got a new MacBook Pro but you’re worried about filling up the drive? Apple’s notebooks are notoriously difficult to upgrade, but there are other ways of increasing your available space at the cost of speed. Option 1: Transcend’s JetDrive Lite The JetDrive Lite 330 is the latest version of Transcend‘s MacBook storage expansion. The company has previously manufactured similar products for earlier models like the Retina MacBook Pro, but Apple’s decision to remove the SD card slot saw the JetDrive disappear for a while....
What’s New in November’s 21H2 Update? We know the Update is coming in November because the latest Windows Insider release called it the “November Update” instead of just using the 21H2 name. To say this is an underwhelming update would be an understatement. It’s not going to change the way you use your computer completely. In fact, you’ll barely notice that the Update was even installed. 21H2 is using the Vibranium platform release that Microsoft used for several recent updates....
Google Chrome primarily focuses on a solid web browsing experience, but occasionally, Google adds a feature not strictly related to browsing. The ability to track prices for an item is now rolling out, following months of testing. Google confirmed in a blog post today that the ability to track a product prices is now rolling out on Chrome for desktop, after it appeared in the Android browser last year. You’ll see a “Track price” button in the address bar on some store listings, and if you click it, you’ll receive notifications when the price drops....
How Long It Takes to Charge an EV Electric cars are becoming gaining popularity, but many people still want to know how long it actually takes to charge one in the real world before they actually switch over from gas. It’s a fair question and one that requires a different perspective on refueling than the one we’re used to from years of driving gasoline vehicles. The main factors that influence EV charging time are:...
Private Browsing, InPrivate Browsing, Incognito Mode – it has a lot of names, but it’s the same basic feature in every browser. Private browsing offers some improved privacy, but it’s not a silver bullet that makes you completely anonymous online. Private Browsing mode changes the way your browser behaves, whether you’re using Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Apple Safari, Opera or any other browser – but it doesn’t change the way anything else behaves....
Messages got a lot of love in iOS 10, but not so much in macOS Sierra. They did get some attention, though, including a few of iOS 10’s features, like tapback comments. Tapbacks are exactly what they sound like: they let someone reply to a message by simply “tapping back” one of six predefined responses. These responses are intended to save you time and effort, though to be honest, if you’re using Messages on a Mac, you have the convenience of a full-size keyboard at your disposal....
If Windows 8 taught us (and Microsoft) anything, it’s that users really love the Start menu. If you’re switching to the Mac, you might wonder why macOS doesn’t offer one, or really anything quite like one. Sure, there’s the Applications folder in the Finder, and there’s the full-screen Launchpad, but neither of those quite feel right, do they? (After all, if Windows 8 taught us anything else, it’s that people hate full-screen Start menu alternatives....
By default, the numbers on numbered lists are left-aligned in the space allotted for the numbering. However, aligning them to the center or the right (pictured on the right above) is easy, and we’ll show you how. When the numbers are left-aligned, the decimal points are not aligned and any items with two or more digits are closer to the text of the items than the one-digit numbers, as shown on the left in the above image....
Android TV is Google’s attempt at taking over the living room, and with some units being available for under $99, it’s not unheard of for users to have more than one box. The problem is, when multiple devices identify themselves identically on the network, how are you supposed to know which is which? Changing the device name is super simple, and something that you’ll definitely want to do if you have more than one identical Android TV box in your house....
Curious about when you installed Windows and how long you’ve been chugging along without a system refresh? Read on as we show you a simple way to see how long-in-the-tooth your Windows installation is. Although you only intended to ask one question, you actually asked two. Your direct question is an easy one to answer (how to check the Windows installation date). The indirect question is, however, a little trickier (if you need to reinstall Windows to get a performance boost)....
Bing stores and uses your search history to personalize your results. And clearing the history in your web browser doesn’t touch the history stored on Bing itself, which likely comes from multiple devices you use. You can clear that history, though. Before we get too far into it, you should know that most major search engines and social sites store results like this—it’s not just a Bing thing. Google stores your results, and so does Facebook....
You know that thing where you copy something important, forget to paste it anywhere, then copy something else? It sucks, because the important thing you copied first is gone. Unless, of course, you have a clipboard manager. We’ve talked about Windows clipboard managers, and even how to sync your clipboard between iOS and macOS, but somehow we never got around to any clipboard management tools for macOS. There are plenty of options out there for Mac clipboard managers, but ClipMenu is our go-to tool....
A Linux live USB drive is normally a blank slate each time you boot it. You can boot it up, install programs, save files, and change settings. But, as soon as you reboot, all your changes are wiped away and you’re back to a fresh system. This can be useful, but if you want a system that picks up where you left off, you can create a live USB with persistent storage....
