News that Geeks Care About

Want Better Smarthome Voice Control? Use Groups

If your Google Home or Amazon Echo has trouble controlling multiple lights or devices in a room, you probably haven’t set up groups correctly. Giving each item a unique name and then grouping those items makes your Voice As...

Josh Hendrickson Feb 8th

Are Apps Really Recording Your iPhone’s Screen?

TechCrunch claims many iPhone apps “secretly record your screen.” Is that true? Well, yes, kind of—but their recording abilities are limited. Apple is now cracking down on these apps and requiring more trans...

Chris Hoffman Feb 8th

HP’s Ink Subscription Has DRM That Disables Your Printer Cartridges

Printer ink is expensive. HP promises to help with a subscription service for ink, complete with cartridges that stop working when you cancel your subscription. But HP makes you count pages, and I’d rather print as much...

Google Created Faster Encryption for Low-End Android Phones and IoT Devices

Low-resource Android phones and IoT devices don’t have the processing power to use modern encryption services, which makes them vulnerable to hacking. That’s why Google is introducing Adiantum, a super-fast encryp...

Andrew Heinzman Feb 7th

How to Block Specific Artists on Spotify

Spotify is beta testing a feature that will you block music from an artist you don’t like. The option will likely come to everyone eventually but remains in testing for now. The good news is that it’s pretty easy to u...

Josh Hendrickson Feb 7th

Update Now to Fix Group FaceTime on Your iPhone, iPad, and Mac

Apple just released iOS 12.1.4 and a macOS 10.14.3 patch. These updates fix the huge group FaceTime flaw that could let anyone call your iPhone, iPad, or Mac and hear audio or see video—even if you don’t accept t...

Chris Hoffman Feb 7th

PSA: Watch out for This New Google Translate Phishing Attack

You know, the thing with scammers is that they’re always going to find new ways to scam. It’s what they do. And this new Google Translate phishing attempt is simple, yet brilliant. It’s one you’ll have...

Cameron Summerson Feb 7th

How to Use Skype’s New Blur Background Feature

When you make a video call over Skype, you’re inviting people to look in your home. Letting mom see your disgusting kitchen isn’t a big deal, but what happens when a co-worker or a potential employer sees your sur...

Andrew Heinzman Feb 7th

Why Wi-Fi Channels 12, 13, and 14 Are Illegal in the USA

Wireless routers have fourteen different channels they can use for 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi, but three of them are off limits. Channels 12 and 13 are allowed in low-power mode, while channel 14 is banned—and only allowed in Japan....

RIP “Do Not Track,” the Privacy Standard Everyone Ignored

As we pointed out back in 2012, the “Do Not Track” option doesn’t stop you from being tracked. It just sends a special piece of information whenever you connect to a website, asking that website not to track...

Chris Hoffman Feb 7th

This Sweet Philips Hue Plugin Brings Your Minecraft Lighting to Life

PC gamers drop big bucks to feel immersed in their games. But some new smarthome tech is enabling amazingly immersive effects with just a few lights. Take this Philips Hue plugin for Minecraft as an example....

Michael Crider Feb 6th

Game Streaming Services Will Face The Same Problems As Streaming TV

The future of game streaming is an open road. But we already have some markets we can use to draw a map: online video streaming services. If we’re not careful, game streaming will hit the same speed bumps....

Michael Crider Feb 6th

What Happens to Your Digital Property When a Company Goes Out of Business?

A handful of digital services will be terminated this year, and you’ve probably bought digital copies of games or movies from them. You’ve purchased this digital property, but there’s a chance that you won&#...

How to Beef Up WhatsApp Security on iPhone with Biometric Options and Encryption

WhatsApp made a name for itself as a secure messaging platform with its use of end-to-end encryption. Despite being owned by Facebook, it just released an update that furthers that pursuit of security, bringing support for To...

Oliver Haslam Feb 5th

Here’s How to Unsend Messages on Facebook Messenger

Last year, it was revealed that Mark Zuckerberg had an option to “unsend” messages that were sent on Facebook Messenger. Once that info came out, everyone who uses Messenger wanted in on the functionality too&#821...

Cameron Summerson Feb 5th

Google’s New Chrome Extension Alerts You If Your Passwords Have Been Leaked

We’ve reached a point where new data breaches are announced on what seems like a weekly basis. It’s almost impossible to keep up with all the breaches and your password situation, but a new Chrome extension from G...

Cameron Summerson Feb 5th

iMessage Features to Avoid with Your Green Bubble Android Buddies

There are a lot of cool things you can do in iMessage other than just sending text messages to your friends and family, but for your compatriots that use Android, you’ll want to skip these specific iMessage features, si...

Craig Lloyd Feb 5th

Your Smarthome Setup Might Break, and There’s Nothing You Can Do About It

Your smarthome devices might be running smoothly now, but at any time, a forced update or a change by the manufacturer could potentially break your device, either temporarily or permanently. And there’s nothing you can ...

Google May Make Chrome Faster with New Resource-Blocking Mode

Look, Chrome can get bogged down sometimes and be pretty slow. That sucks, so Google is working on a new mode called “Never-Slow” that should help keep Chrome snappy by blocking the biggest website resources....

Cameron Summerson Feb 4th

How to Disable Recommended Extensions in Firefox

Firefox 65 now displays extension recommendations for users in the US. When you visit websites like Facebook or YouTube, you may see an extension “recommendation” in Firefox’s address bar. Here’s how t...

Chris Hoffman Feb 4th

How to Watch the 2019 Super Bowl Without Cable

The New England Patriots are set to face off against the LA Rams, and it’s sure to be an entertaining game. If you’ve cut the cord, don’t fret! You can still tune in and watch the Super Bowl....

Easily Borrow eBooks From Your Library on Your Phone or Tablet

Your local library probably offers eBooks and audiobooks via Overdrive. OverDrive can be a bit complicated, but the free Libby app for iPhone, iPad, and Android makes it as slick and easy to use as shopping on Amazon....

Chris Hoffman Feb 2nd

Did Apple Really Ban Facebook and Google’s Apps? Why?

Facebook and Google have been violating Apple’s policies, distributing apps that tracked user behavior outside Apple’s App Store, as TechCrunch reported. Apple temporarily banned Facebook and Google from running i...

Windows 10 Will Let You Run Desktop Apps on VR Headsets

Microsoft is still polishing up Windows 10’s April 2019 Update, also known as 19H1. In the latest development build, you can now launch desktop (Win32) applications in a Mixed Reality headset’s virtual environment...

Chris Hoffman Feb 1st