Master Press/Getty Images Smart View is a feature in Samsung Galaxy devices running Android 4.3 or later that mirrors your phone or tablet’s display on your smart TV. This allows you to view media on the big screen while controlling it with the device in your hands. Other manufacturers include similar wireless streaming features in their phones and tablets, and all are a smart way to use streaming devices and smart TVs, although Smart View has its own nice features. But what is the real point of Smart View? If…
Author: Alexander Price
Tero Vesalainen/Getty Images If you have a device with Android 15 or higher, you probably have a hidden digital compartment that works like a phone within a phone. This is part of an incredibly useful security feature that for some reason isn’t enabled by default and isn’t really discussed. It’s also one of the many privacy features available only on Android phones. Called Private Space on Pixel and other select devices, or Secure Folder on Samsung, think of it as creating another partition or instance of your phone’s main system.…
Dmitri T/Shutterstock Buying a new Android phone and choosing the brand that best suits your needs is a constant conundrum that many experienced tech consumers try to solve. Simply put, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Although the ecosystem of different Android devices is tightly integrated, the software, hardware, and even the core experience can vary widely. Look at Google’s Pixel UI versus Samsung’s One UI skin, for example. Both offer exceptionally powerful experiences, but one is closer to stock Android (Google), while the other is far from it (Samsung). While…
Mamun_Sheikh/Shutterstock Google Messages is arguably the most popular messaging app on Android. While there are alternatives to text messaging apps, RCS’s built-in support and its availability by default on the vast majority of devices gives Google Messages a huge advantage. However, its near-monopoly isn’t the only reason people use it. The app has several positive aspects and the company is continually improving it with new features, such as real-time location sharing and fixing some of its more frustrating issues. Along the same lines, Google Messages has now received a nifty…
Ruslan Lytvyn/Shutterstock When you buy a new phone, it’s always fun to poke around and test out the different settings, features, and apps to see what cool things you can do. This is especially true for Samsung’s Galaxy series and the brand’s collection of devices, which tend to receive new updates and software upgrades with each iteration – they are usually also offered to older generations, such as older Samsung phones receiving the new One UI 8.5 update. But even if you’ve had your phone for years, you may not…
Various photographs/Shutterstock If you were around for previous versions of Android software, you remember how much smoother they once were. After the pre-release alpha and beta releases, each major Android release was named after a dessert, in alphabetical order. Android 1.5 was called Cupcake, then 1.6 was Donut and 2.0 was Eclair. These versions were followed by Froyo (2.2), Gingerbread (2.3), Honeycomb (3.0), Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0), Jelly Bean (4.1), KitKat (4.4), Lollipop (5.0), Marshmallow (6.0), Nougat (7.0) and Oreo (8.0). But after the launch of Android 9.0 in 2018,…
Karlis Dambrans/Shutterstock Google really wants Android users to know about its artificial intelligence (AI). Alongside the rollout of Android 17 to Pixel and other Android phones, Google also released its June Pixel Drop, both of which contain a barrage of goodies for users to take advantage of. While Google adds a lot to the Android experience, the focus on new elements like video editing with Gemini Omni, as well as other AI features, means many may have overlooked something quite interesting for older Pixel devices. Pixel 9a and Pixel 8a…
fadfebrian/Shutterstock With the arrival of Android 17 on Pixel devices, many users now have access to even more features on their smartphones. Bubbles bring more multitasking to the device you carry in your pocket, and foldable smartphones have also adopted a new gaming feature. However, it’s not all celebration and cheers, as it seems some Pixel users have encountered a few annoying issues along the way, including a new bug that prevents some apps from recognizing Wi-Fi connections (via Android Authority), forcing users to rely on their mobile data to…
FAMILY STOCK/Shutterstock It’s not uncommon to install an app on your Android phone and then go through the setup process without thinking much about the details. You simply tap Allow, Enable, or Yes on each pop-up that appears so you can quickly access the app itself. But this habit actually puts your privacy at risk. During setup, most mobile apps request access to certain features such as your location, microphone, camera, or contacts. While some apps require these permissions to function properly, others may request access to features they don’t…
Framesira/Shutterstock We may receive a commission on purchases made from links. In the early days of Android, we saw original designs, from trackballs to sliding keyboards. These days, foldable phones are the latest trend that pushes the boundaries of the boring old rectangle we’re used to, and they’ve boosted the popularity of a long-forgotten smartphone accessory: the stylus. With the prevalence of capacitive touchscreens, styluses weren’t really necessary anymore, at least not on devices smaller than 7 inches. But with foldable phones, a stylus can come in handy for handling…