Ara Wagoner is a Writer at Android Central. She themes phones and pokes Google Play Music with a stick. When she's not writing help and how-to's, she's off dreaming about Disney and singing show tunes. If you see her without headphones, RUN. You can follow her on Twitter at @arawagco.
Big tablet on a small budget With the Nexus 7 on its way out and the new Nexus 9 sporting a higher price-tag and size than many users are willing to put up with, folks are now looking for tablet options that fit into their lives and their budgets a little better. Acer aims to check all the boxes and then some with the $199 Acer Iconia Tab 8 — which can be found for almost half that...
Bookmarks are something that we somewhat take for granted. We click, click, click away on them like there's not tomorrow. I think I used 20 bookmarks today, and that's not counting personal browsing. They're not exactly classy, but they're there for us when we need them. Heck, they even follow us from device to device with browsers like Chrome. Well, Google's looking to finally breathe...
Everyone approaches their home screen differently. Some like to set it and forget it, sometime not even deviating from the default layout that their phone came with. Some are constantly redoing their entire layout, belonging to theming communities where custom skins and elements are shared frequently and freely. Others have a basic layout that they'll tweak occasionally with new widgets...
It seems fairly straightforward. You're not using your Wifi, you should just turn it off to save battery. However, this question isn't as straightforward as it might've been in years past, and while part of that has to do with software advancements, it still has a lot do with the the hardware of your phone and more importantly the trade-off between which radios you keep running. Most...
This mount stays where you put it I haven't used a window mount for my phone before. Mainly because the ones for my GPS units over the years have fallen down - a lot. But when the iBolt miniPro Dash Kit came up for review, I knew I should finally get over my fear of falling and try it. I've got a coverage plan for my phone for a reason, after all. That said, my fears seem to be...
Your Google Account is important. "One login, all of Google" also means one login will not only get you into all of your services and data, it potentially could let someone else in, too. And that's why, as we've told you over and over again, you need to use two-step authentication. That way, even if your password is cracked or — god forbid — stolen, any would-be trespassers have to...
There's room to improve with Play Music on Wear, but at least it's finally here One of the primary reasons for me to get a smartwatch was for music. Not to listen from it, per se, but to control music from it. Being able to leave the phone inside while I walk my laps is still a somewhat tantalizing idea, and sometimes necessary, as workout clothes (or any other kind of clothes for that...
Ingress, the experimental GPS-based game from Google's Niantic Labs that has spawned book series, support sites, and massive multi-city and even international events, is turning two years old. Time flies in an open beta, huh? Anyway, the good folks at Niantic have some impressive numbers to show us about all the things we've accomplished in that time trying to see who will control the...
One complaint many a faithful Disney fan (or their DVD-buying parents) have had with buying Disney DVD combo packs is that the digital copies that came with those DVDs for a long, long time were iTunes-only. In February, Disney Movies Anywhere brought those digital copies out of your iTunes library and into their app ... which was an iOS exclusive. So, when you bought Frozen and your...
Using your phone in the car in most cases is bad. Sometimes, however, it's just unavoidable. For our part, we should try to reduce distractions while driving, which is why the first part of my own driving mode includes turning off Auto-Sync, so I don't get distracted by notifications I should answer at 75 mph (god bless Texas freeways). When you get a text or call, though, it's a little...
Auto Awesome photos and videos are somewhat enigmatic to many, due in large part to the usually random way that they're picked and gussied up by Google. There's animated (Motion) Auto Awesomes, there's collage (Mix) Auto Awesomes, and then there are Movie Auto Awesomes. And while they'll show up on any device on their own, only the lucky users on Android can make them on command. Let's...
any.do is a task-oriented note-taking and to-do list app with quite the following - over 11 million to date - and today, those users are being treated to the biggest update the service has ever rolled out. This update is not just boosting productivity for you, but for your family and your co-workers, too. Most importantly, the service and its apps have been streamlined in order to help...
Tasker does a lot. And it does even more with plugins, of which the unofficial king is AutoVoice. AutoVoice brings new worlds of functionality to Tasker and whatever device it runs on. On newer phones, AutoVoice can add to the hands-free functions of Google Now with little effort. On older phones, AutoVoice can replicate much of Google Now and its hands-free functions. And while I've...
Data-enabled tablets can run you a pretty penny, but MetroPCS is looking to get you connected on the go without emptying your wallet with this, the Alcatel OneTouch Pop 7. Beginning today, MetroPCS will not only be carrying the affordable tablet, which will only run you for $149, but will be offering new data plans to supply them. These will be starting at $10 a month for unlimited data...
The Big Android BBQ is something of a unique Android event most years in that it's usually a few weeks before the next version of Android is released. This means that while project teams for things like CyanogenMod can still discuss a good many things, most are still waiting on the new version of Android in order to announce when and what features will be coming to their products and...
The Galaxy Note series has always been about productivity, creativity, and functionality. It's about getting things done, about having the power to do so. So the Note line has always tried to maintain top-of-the-line guts to keep up with all of the things it knows you want to do with it. This week, we're getting a few new editions to the Note family. But how well has that legacy held up...
A just-decent-enough $250 smartphone strapped onto a monster battery The ZTE ZMax is the type of phone that you get for a very specific reason: you want to play lots of videos and games but you don't have a lot of money to blow on a pricier phablet like the Galaxy Note 4 or the impending Nexus 6/X/whatever. The ZMax is $252 outright on T-Mobile, and for that money, it performs better...
All the news that's fit to render News in the digital age has gotten faster, so it's no surprise that more and more users are getting their news on their phones rather than on their TVs. And while news aggregators like Press and Newsstand have their place, today we're going to look at getting our news straight from the source. These are the best apps from professional news...
Google Wallet can be as secure as a physical card at your favorite retailers - or even more secure, considering tokenization makes cards stolen in recent hacks such as the Target and Home Depot breaches useless. But how do you keep someone else from stealing your phone to pay for stuff? How do you keep the other side of your digital wallet secure? Well, it's quite simple, and coming...
Tasker is a mighty powerful app in its own right, but I'll confess, one of its best features is the plugins that help it do even more than it could on its own. (The best feature is — and always will be — the wonderful support community that gathers around this app.) Plugins come in many sizes and shapes, but a few stand head and shoulders above the rest. We've covered some of these...