How-To Geek - We Explain Technology

The Smarthome Industry Has Reached a Plateau. Here’s What’s Holding It Back

There’s a problem with the smarthome industry—multiple problems, actually. And after experiencing a huge boom over the last few years, smarthome as a whole has reached a plateau of sorts.

The Best Powerline Network Adapters

If you want high-speed network access throughout your home and Wi-Fi isn’t cutting it, you’ve probably considered running Ethernet cables. But why not take advantage of the power lines you already have going everywhere?

Five Tips and Tricks to Set Up In-Car Entertainment for Your Kids

Are we nearly there yet? How many times do you hear this on a road trip with the kids? Too often, right? In-car entertainment goes a long way to keeping your kids (and you) happy on long journeys, but there’s a lot to take in. We’ve come up with some valuable tips and tricks on exactly how to keep the kids entertained, and your sanity intact, while you travel.

6 Smarthome Safety Features You Should Enable Right Now

Most homeowners deck out their houses with smarthome gear for the convenience and cool features, but what you may not know is that some devices come with features that can prevent problems and even potentially be life saving.

How to Link or Embed an Excel Worksheet in a PowerPoint Presentation

Sometimes, you want to include the data on an Excel spreadsheet in a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation. There are a couple of ways to do this, depending on whether or not you want to maintain a connection with the source Excel sheet. Let’s take a look.

Buying A Kindle? The 3G Models Are The Only Ones Worth Looking At

The Kindle killer feature isn’t the sharp screen on the Oasis or the free books that come with a Prime account. The killer feature is the 3G wireless connectivity that taps you into your synchronized library wherever you are.

What is a 400 Bad Request Error (and How Can I Fix It)?

A 400 Bad Request Error occurs when a request sent to the website server is incorrect or corrupt, and the server receiving the request can’t understand it. Occasionally, the problem is on the website itself, and there’s not much you can do about that. But most of the time, the problem is one you might be able to solve—maybe you typed the address wrong, or maybe your browser cache is causing problems. Here are some solutions you can try.

The Best Video Editors for Android

There’s no need to break out a computer for a quick edit on a video you just shot—with the proper tools, you can do a lot right from your phone. Here are the best video editors for Android.

The Best Dog Dishes For Healthy Eating And Digestion

A good dog dish can help dogs big and small eat healthier—whether that means slowing down or aligning their bodies for better digestion. Here are our top picks across the board.

When and How to Rent Photography Gear

Photography and videography gear is expensive. Professional equipment starts at a few hundred dollars and goes up to hundreds of thousands. You might dream of shooting with a RED EPIC camera, but you probably don’t want to pony up the $19,000+ to own one. The thing is, there’s another option: rental.

What Data Can a Thief Get from a Stolen Phone or Laptop?

Losing your hardware is bad enough, but what happens to your personal data? Could a thief with your phone, tablet, or laptop access your apps and files? It depends on the device you lost—unfortunately, most Windows PCs aren’t encrypted.

Save Time With Custom Search Folders in Microsoft Outlook

Searching in Outlook is pretty easy, but why bother typing out the same searches over and over if you perform them regularly? Custom Search Folders let you save those custom searches so you can get back to them with just a click or two.

Anker Soundcore Flare Review: Stylish, Rugged, and Customizable

Bluetooth speakers are a pretty great concept but you have to pay a lot for the best sound experience, right? Well, not exactly. Anker has swooped in with its Soundcore Flare demonstrating that a mid-range speaker can meet your needs without hurting your wallet.

The Best Cell Phone Plans for Families

Finding the right cell plan for you and your family can be a challenge. While many plans are simpler than ever before, the difference between carriers is still vast. Here are the plans that deserve a closer look.

What is “Lost Mode” on the iPhone, iPad, or Mac?

If you ever lose your iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch, you should put it in “Lost Mode.” Lost Mode locks your device to protect your personal information, tracks its location, and places a customizable message on its lock screen.

Why Do iPhones Generally Have Better Sound Quality Than Android?

If you’ve ever used both platforms—especially listening to audio through headphones—you probably noticed that iPhones generally have better sound and more volume than Android. But why is that?

The Best Qi Wireless Charging Pads

Now that Apple has joined the wireless charging party, a lot more smartphone owners can take advantage of wireless charging pads. Here are the best choices on the market.

How to Get Started With Audible and Audiobooks

Audiobooks—or books on tape—have been around for decades but they’re booming in popularity now that they no longer take up a dozen CDs and the cost has plummeted. Let’s look at how to get started.

How to Use a Windows Laptop as a Wireless Monitor (for Another PC)

You’d like a secondary screen to increase your productivity in Windows 10, but you don’t have another monitor handy. If you have a recent Windows laptop or tablet, though, you can use it as a wireless monitor.

How to Link or Embed an Excel Worksheet in a Word Document

Sometimes, you want to include the data on an Excel spreadsheet in your Microsoft Word document. There are a couple of ways to do this, depending on whether or not you want to maintain a connection with the source Excel sheet. Let’s take a look.

The Best Premium Laptop Bags For Every Need

Your laptop works hard for you. Doesn’t it deserve a fancy place to rest in between your destinations? And more pertinently, don’t you deserve a fancy bag to show it off? Here’s our top picks.

How to Set Up and Configure Your Amazon Echo

So you just got an Amazon Echo, either from the recent sales or the holidays. Let’s take a look at how to set it up and some useful things you can task your Echo with.

The Kindle Oasis: Two Years Later, Still The Best E-Reader Around

The Kindle Oasis is Amazon’s premium Kindle device. It’s—supposedly—the best e-reader Amazon can make but is it worth the ridiculous price? Read on to find out.

What Are Woofers, Mid-Range Speakers, and Tweeters?

Woofers, mid-range speakers, and tweeters are all types of loudspeakers. Most often, all three types of speakers are mounted in a single enclosure, but you can also find each in discrete enclosures. Let’s take a closer look at how they work.

How to Enable (or Disable) Automatic Updates on Your iPhone or iPad

Apple’s iOS 12 operating system will bring automatic operating system updates to iPhone and iPad. The App Store can automatically update your installed apps, too. Here’s how to enable these updates, or disable them if you’d rather update manually.

The Best Mesh Wi-Fi Routers For Every Need

When a single Wi-Fi router won’t do, a mesh Wi-Fi system lets you get strong coverage everywhere in your house without tearing your walls apart. These are our favorites.

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How to Stop People from Following You on Instagram

Instagram continues to add deeper account management tools, and starting today you’ll be able to manually remove followers. This feature has been available for users with private accounts for a while, but now it’s available for everyone. Read More »

Is Google Replacing Android with Fuchsia? Maybe, But Not for a Long Time

Today Bloomberg is reporting that Google’s new Project Fuchsia operating system might actually be a successor to Android. Since this will likely fuel speculation, we thought we’d weigh in with our completely uninformed educated guesses as well. Read More »

Google’s Bringing Back Google Now (Sort of) Inside Assistant

That little icon in Google Assistant may not look like much, but it heralds a return to form for Google. Now, when you tap this new button, you’ll find something like the extremely useful Google Now. Read More »

Google Hid An Awesome Per-App Auto Rotate Feature in Android P

Historically, when you turn your phone on its side, the screen rotates. To keep this from happening, you can lock the orientation. But with Android P, Google included a way to have to the best of both worlds. Read More »

The Best Prime Day Deals Are 50% Off Amazon Devices (Echo, Cameras, Fire, Kindle)

Amazon’s Prime Day officially starts at 3PM EST today, but as always, the real deals are deeply discounted Amazon products, and this year that includes smarthome devices like Ring, cloud camera, and security systems. Read More »

Google Chrome Will Start Using 10% More RAM Now, Thanks to Spectre

Soon Google Chrome is going to use even more of your RAM, assuming that it’s even possible to use more than it already does. This is because of Chrome 67’s new Site Isolation feature to protect against Spectre. Read More »

How to Use YouTube’s New Incognito Mode to Hide Your Watch History

It only takes watching one random off-topic video to make YouTube’s algorithms start showing you a bazillion weird videos that you don’t really want to see. Luckily they just added Incognito mode to YouTube, which works just like Chrome Incognito mode does. Here’s how to enable it on Android. Read More »

Firefox Launches a Password Manager for iPhone and Notes for Android

Firefox Test Pilot is where Mozilla tests experimental features that might eventually become part of Firefox. Today they launched a password manager for your iPhone, and Notes for Android phones, which use Firefox Sync to access passwords and notes saved in your browser. Read More »

How to Enable USB Restricted Mode on Your iPhone or iPad, Available in iOS 11.4.1

Apple’s iPhones are extremely secure once you’ve used TouchID or FaceID and a passcode to lock them down, but there was a loophole with specialized USB tools plugging into the lightning port. Here’s how to enable USB Restricted Mode to secure against it. Read More »

Reminder: Your Smart TV is Almost Certainly Spying on You

You’re not just paranoid: your smart TV really is tracking what you watch. And yes: other devices in your house are showing relevant ads based on what you watch. Read More »

This AI-Powered Polaroid Spits Out Childish Drawings Instead of Photos

Here’s a useless project for you: a Polaroid-style camera that prints out childish drawings of whatever you take a picture of. Read More »

Look Out: Browser Crashing Tech Support Pop-ups Are Back

Those pop-ups that slow down PCs and tell you to call “Microsoft” at a sketchy 1-800 number are back, thanks to an newly exploited browser bug. Read More »

Researchers Find Apps Aren’t Recording Your Conversations (But Some Are Grabbing Screenshots)

Facebook isn’t spying on everything you say. Your data plan would be higher, and your battery life worse, if that were the case. Read More »

Facebook Bug Gave Blocked Users Access to Your Posts and Photos

A Facebook bug temporarily unblocked people for 800,000 Facebook users, briefly giving blocked individuals access to posts and photos. Read More »

Browser Extension Stylish Knows What Porn You Watch (And All of Your Web History)

Stylish, a browser extension with two million users, has been monitoring your browsing history for over a year. Read More »