How Google keeps Android Devices Safe.

Keeping over a billion mobile devices safe is hard work, but then how does Google do it so easily?

Its certainly a busy job for Google to make sure that over a billion devices that run their Android OS are safe as they can be. On Wednesday , at the Structure Security conference in San Fransisco, Adrian Ludwig , Google's lead engineer for Android security , said that one way Google ensures that their OS is safe is by  letting outside coders inspect their code , in a so called open source method.

It's a strategy that is vastly different from the one that Apple has, which is keeping its mobile operating system locked down from other outsiders.  However it is also true that Apple devices are a lot more safer than Android devices from hacking , according to many cyber security reports. 

Ludwig however states that the reason Android has been plagued by more viruses is because users with android devices can download and install apps from many different app stores rather than just the official Google Play Store. If you didn't already know, Google allows you to create Third Party stores in order to give people other ways to distribute their apps if they don't want it to go through the Google Playstore. Therefore when users download apps from these App stores and in the process download an app with malware , Google has to constantly check how the malware is being spread onto other devices. However, there was no mention as to how Google actually monitors this activity.

Ludwig pointed out that because Android is open source many other people can also inspect the code to find some sort of security flaw and this certainly helps. But by having more people, it does not mean that there cannot be a discrepancy in the code. There has to be times when NO ONE notices the flaw in the code like in 2014 when the Heartbleed software bug affected the open source software OpenSSL. 

Therefore Google also needs the support of carriers and hardware manufacturers that actually built the devices. They have to play their part in this by rolling out security updates regularly.Ludwig then mentioned Samsung as a standout company that did this perfectly. 

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How to Take Full Advantage of serious multitasking on Android Nougat

One of major features of your android phone is multitasking which can greatly affect the way that you use your device. For a person who has many tasks to complete but is short on time, Android Nougat has a fix. You may know about the inbuilt feature that is multitasking in Android Nougat.

It is now designed to be better, smarter and has the ability to move you swiftly from one app to another. This feature essentially allows you to display two apps on your screen at the same time for most productivity. Multitasking isn't something new as Samsung and a few other companies like Lg have already implemented this feature on their skin that run on top of Android. However , this is the first time that we are seeing the Multitasking feature in built natively into vanilla android.

To fully take advantage of this feature you must first make sure that the app is supported.  If this is not the case - as in the apps your try to run in multiwindow mode are not supported, then you will get an error message. Obviously the inbuilt apps are supported and can take full advantage of this awesome feature.

The other downside to this feature is that you cannot run the same app in both windows at the same time. This would've allowed you to copy things like text and images from the same app into each other. However now it would be rather clunky as you would have to switch between apps to do this. 

But dont worry, After all this is Android! There is a fix for one of  the above mentioned problems.

1. Install Parallel Windows for Nougat

To get this feature running, first get the app called Parallel windows for Nougat. However note that this will only work if you have a device running android nougat. 

2. Grant Permissions

launch the app and check the box that is next to "I understand".
Then enable "Permit to draw over apps" and then tap toggle switch that is next to "Enable Accessibility service". Click on Parallel windows for Nougat on the list. After you have done this , activate the Accessibility service and then press OK at the popup.   

3. Adjust the trigger Area

After you have granted all required permissions , adjust the trigger area that is denoted by a red rectangle the size of your device's screen.

4. Run Copies of the same App side-by-side

To run two apps at the same time, begin by opening the app you would like to clone and swipe in from the trigger area found on the side of your phone's screen. Then tap on the top most icon.

You will now be able to see the list of all the installed apps on your phone. Choose any app, even the same one you are currently running in one window . This will now open two same apps in two different windows on your screen at the same time.
 

    

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Galaxy Note 7, Still not safe to use? "SAFE" Note 7 explodes.

The Note 7 recall has already taken place and now "New" note 7 handsets are replacing the old defective ones. If someone does not know what the Note 7 recall was, in short, Samsung Note 7's were exploding so Samsung officially stated that it will take back all Note 7's and get them replaced with new units.

However now that the Note 7's have been replaced, a new situation has sprung up. A Note 7, bought in China by a user, burst into flames thus injuring the owner in the process. The Man who bought the Note 7 stated that he had bought the device from an online retailer in China on the weekend. The phone exploded on Monday , causing damage to his MacBook and two of his fingers.

The report says that he bought the phone from an online retailer called JD.com. But just 24 hours after the phone was delivered, it burst into flames. A Samsung representative visited him soon after and offered to take the device away but he declined stating that he does not trust the company to reveal the reason for the fire , and plans to publicize the issue.

whatever the cause of the fire, Samsung is in deep trouble here .However it has still not been determined if  this was one of the "new" units of the Note 7. If it was then Samsung has a whole other set of units to deal with on top of the recall of the first batch of Note 7's.

Samsung was very impressive with its recall program as just over three weeks ago, it announced that it will be taking back all Note 7's which potentially had defected batteries in them and will be replacing them with new units. Arrive at today and Samsung has successfully reached their goal of replacing all Note 7 units that were submitted to them.

However all the record braking stats won't mean a thing if this report turns out to be true. If this Note 7 is actually a New unit then Samsung really has to start figuring stuff out or else they'll have a massive crackdown. Not to mention the userbase would decrease tremendously! Everyone with a Note 7, Be safe!

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iOS 10 more stable than Android Nougat? Nougat crashes way more than iOS 10

Although android Nougat was greatly anticipated and was successfully launched a while back, an issue has been seen lately in the newest version of android.

When compared to iOS 10, Android Nougat crashes more. This might be disanointing news for many Android enthusiasts as Android Nougat had aimed to perfect the Android ecosystem.

According to a new report released by Apteligent on Tuesday, Nougat has 2.5 times more network crashes whe compared to its competitor, iOS 10. A network crash is essentially when an app crashes because of difficulties communicating with the cloud. If we set aside the network crashes, Nougat also has more crashes overall. In general , Nougat Crashes 6.4% of the time while iOS 1 crashes 4.1% of the time.

Nougats stability issue is particularly stark when compared to the previous version of Android, Android marshmallow. Most of the Android users are currently running marshmallow. According to Apteligent , Android marshmallow at the time of release was much more stable than Android Nougat.

 

Currently, the adoption rate of Android Nougat is very low at only 0.2%, meaning only that percentage of android users are currently running android nougat on their devices. Perhaps this is also due to the fact that Nougat hasn't been officially released for many phones by their respective manufacturers. It should also be noted that the crash rate for Android Nougat has decreased greatly since the initial release and it is expected to be more stable over time.  However for now, as far as app stability goes, iOS 10 wins the battle over Android Nougat.

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iOs 10 makes it more easier for Hackers to steal your passwords.

Athough Apple successfully launched it newest version of iOS , the iOS 10, no software comes without flaws at first and the iOS 10 follows that very principle. A security company after researching, stated that iOS 10 had a major security flaw which means that Hackers can now more easily get access to passwords and sensitive information on a device running iOS 10.

The software includes a new way to encrypt iPhone backups that are created through iTunes that give Hackers a far greater chance of obtaining passwords than the previous version of iOS. Hackers could use the brute force method which is essentially a technique that involves automatically trying many different passwords at the same time to crack passwords that users use in their iTunes backups. This would then enable them to steal passwords, credit card data, and other sensitive information stored on your device. 

According to the security company , the cracking software, Phone Breaker , can send 6 million passwords each second to try to unlock the data. This however was not the case with iOS 9 last year as the encryption caused the number of passwords to go out at only 150,000. The difference makes it 2500 times easier for hackers to infiltrate iOs 10.

The flaw relates only to manual iPhone and iPad backups and not Apple's cloud based repository system. Hacking iOS used to be impossible or at least very difficult if you didn't actually know the password itself. This we know by the fact that even the FBI had difficulty of cracking the iPhone after Apple refused to give them the password of Syed Farook's iPhone. However this has changed in this years iteration of iOS as now Hackers can more easily, 2500 times to be exact, access your private and sensitive information.

In a statement about the security flaw, the security company said that it is more easier for hackers to get into iOS 10 if they first get access to the computer where the backups are stored. After they have access to the computer, they can then apply the brute force method mentioned earlier to gain access to the actual iPhone or iPad.

"If you're able to break the password, you'll be able to decrypt the entire content of the backup including the keychain" said Elcomsoft, the security company."

Perhaps at the root of the problem lies Apple. Apple with its iOS decided to change how it encrypts backups made using iTunes. According to some reports the decryption method that Apple deployed with iOS 10 is in fact , older than the method used in iOS 9, which automatically makes it more unsafe than the previous version of iOS. 

Security experts are actually figuring out why Apple this year made this change . Many have also come to the conclusion that this was intentional and that this massive wake of your security and privacy is deliberate. Many others just thought of it as another glitch or a mistake made by Apple's part.

However Apple is aware of the issue and has stated that it will work to solve this issue as quickly as they can.

"We’re aware of an issue that affects the encryption strength for backups of devices on iOS 10 when backing up to iTunes on the Mac or PC,” the spokesman said. “We are addressing this issue in an upcoming security update. This does not affect iCloud backups. We recommend users ensure their Mac or PC are protected with strong passwords and can only be accessed by authorized users. Additional security is also available with FileVault whole disk encryption."

Always use a security software that prevents viruses and hackers to gain access to your precious information and always protect your devices from these malicious attackers. Be safe iOS 10 users!

 

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Samsung Galaxy S8 rumor roundup, What we know so far.

Samsung's next flagship will have to be the best phone that it has ever produced and to further stress things out over at Samsung, they would have to rise from their disappointing Note 7 situation and also compete with the newly released iPhone 7. 

Although it is unlikely that we will be seeing the next Samsung Flagship before March of 2017, rumors have already started to leak online. While Apple this year decided to strip down its phones ad make them more sleek and chic, Samsung , according to the rumours, is going the other route. If the reports are true then Samsung will be throwing the latest and greatest it has to offer in its next Flagship phone, The Galaxy S8.  This is what we know so far about the device itself. 

The galaxy S8 might include the Exynos 8895 processor coupled with a Mali G71 Gpu. If this is true then the Galaxy S8 will be 1.8 times more faster than the current generation of the Galaxy S7 duo. That's pretty impressive judging by the fact that the S7 is already the fastest Android device on the market. Furthermore, The device will feature a 5.2 inch 4k display, Yes 4K! the reason behind this is probably the fact that Samsung really wants to push virtual reality into the next phase and what better way to do this by improving the screen of the device which one carries with them all day.

Release Date

There is still no word on when the device will release but its pretty easy to predict this by judging Samsung's release patterns for their previous gen of Flagship devices. Pretty much since the release of the Galaxy S2 back in 2011, Samsung releases their Flagships on MWC in Barcelona. This means that we'd probably be getting the Galaxy S8 around the end of March or the start of April. 

Pricing

The current gen of Samsung Flagships, The S7 duo, come at $733 for the 32GB model and $828 for the slightly larger edge model. The Galaxy S8 will also feature similar pricing and wont deviate much from these prices. 

what could change is the fact that Samsung could now offer more storage options like Apple did this year with it's iPhone 7's. If that will be the case then expect a price increase as well since more storage = more expensive. Although if Samsung continues the trend of microSD card expansion then there will be no use for you to buy the higher storage option of the S8.


That's it Folks! This is all we know so far about the Galaxy S8. Are you Planning on getting one? If you are, better get saving!

 

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People are Drilling Heapdhone Jacks into the iPhone 7

And they're killing the phone in the process.

This might seem very obvious (to most of you) but drilling anywhere in your phone is a very bad idea and could possibly render your device useless. However this hasn't stopped people from doing it to the newly released iPhone 7, which you guessed it, does not have a headphone jack.

A new video which was recently posted on Youtube by a user named " TechRax" shows how he used his drill to make a hole the size of a headphone jack, approximately 3.5mm. To further humour everyone, he tries to fit his headphone jack in the hole and surprisingly the headphone fit!

Since being posted on Youtube last week, the video has crossed 10 million views. 

Its pretty obvious that the headphone jack doesn't actually work, and TechRax even demonstrates in his video that it doesn't work, However this did not stop several other users to try it out for themselves. This however , is very stupid and we do not advise anyone to drill a hole in their phones, especially a $650 one.

As mentioned before, several users have commented on the video stating that even though their old headphones now fit in the hole they made, the phone has stopped working. Whats even more preposterous is that some people are suggesting charging the phones for a long time to fix the damaged phones. Trust us when we say this , No phone will turn on after a hole has been drilled in it!

Perhaps the at the root of the problem is Apple, who decided to launch the iPhone 7 Duo without the conventional headphone jack. This lead to much controversy and now has led to people making holes in their phones. Apple did however release a fix for this problem but that can be classified as a very cumbersome solution to a very simple problem. They released an adapter with which you can connect your headphones to the lightning port of the iPhone and if you want to charge your phone while listening to music then you have to buy another adapter with which you have the option to connect a lightning cable as well as your headphone adapter together.

Apple also released it's wireless earphones called the "Airpods" for $159. However this has caused much controversy as well as people demand that Apple should at least provide cheap wireless earphones after the omission of the headphone jack. This video was also made on this very fact that people who do not want to buy $159 earphones could drill a hole in their iPhone 7's , but obviously people failed to see the joke in the video that TechRax was trying to convey.

In short, if you own an iPhone 7 and want to use your normal wired earphones with it, refrain from drilling holes in your phone and just use the adapter that Apple offers. You'd be much happier with a working iPhone 7 than with a brick that actually has no use other than essentially being a "brick".

 

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Is your device getting Nougat? List of Sony, Samsung and Motorola Devices getting Android Nougat update.

Android Nougat has officially been released and its been quite some time since the current gen of nexus devices have recieved the update. Since then, only one other phone has come out with Android Nougat, The Lg V20. 

However now we have received a list of phones that are going to get the update to android Nougat 7.0. 

1. Xperia Phones that are getting the update

Its good to know that Sony is still in the game, especially after releasing its X series of smartphones. Sony has released a list of phones that are getting the update. However the company did not mention the exact dates of when the update is going to roll out to consumer devices. 

But According to recent reports the list goes something like this, The Sony Xperia X performance will get the update on October 26th and the Xperia X and X compact will be getting the update in November 2016. The Xperia Z3+ and the Xperia Z4 tablet will receive the update later this year in December. Finally, the Xperia XA and Xperia XZ ultra will get the update in early 2017. 

2. Samsung Devices that are getting the Nougat update

If recent rumors are to be believed then it seems that Samsung is already testing Android Nougat on its Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge.  If we look at last years patterns of Samsung's updates, then the Galaxy S6 duo will also be getting the Nougat update after the Galaxy S7 receives it. However , no exact date has been mentioned and no one knows when the update will be reaching the devices mentioned above.

When it comes to the Galaxy Note 7 , it seems that it would take some time for the device to get a taste of the newest version of Android. This is due to the fact that Samsung has decided to implement some of the native android N features into its custom OS before officially releasing it.

3.Motorola phones that are getting the update

Motorola hasn't officially announced anything on the release of Nougat for its moto line of phones , but recent rumors suggest that the update will happen sometime in October of this year. According to the reports , Motorola's newest line of smartphones, The moto z and the moto z play as well as the z force, will get the update in the above mentioned period. However when it comes to the moto x series , they will get the Android Nougat update sometime in November 2016.  Finally, the moto g line of phones will get the update to Nougat sometime in early 2017. 

Note that this is all based on recent rumors and reports but the time periods mentioned are most likely to be correct as these companies haven't disappointed us in previous years when it comes to sending out new updates so that we can get a taste of the latest version of Android. 

So then? is your device in the above mentioned list? if not, comment down below with your device name and model. 

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5 Awesome features on Android that iOS needs to adopt.

Recently Android users have been very satisfied with their devices as they now have access to pretty much all the features that they had imagined they would have. However i must admit, Android did take some time getting those features as iOS , on the flip side, already had those.

The tables have turned and it seems that now iPhone users have their eye on an exclusive new Android feature , which they have no hope of getting any time soon, unless Apple really decides to take some inspiration form their competitors.

Below are five top features of Android that every iPhone user wished they had on their devices too.

1. Gesture Typing For the Stock Keypad

While it is true that iOS now allows you to install and use third party keyboards which do support features like gesture typing, it should be noted that many of those keyboards, in fact almost all of them, tend to be very sluggish and slow.

And to the disappointment of iPhone users , The stock iOS keyboard does not support this feature. However , Android on the other hand , has had this feature for quite some time and unlike iOS , gesture typing is baked natively into Android itself, so there is no need of any third party , slow keyboard.

2. Number and Symbol Shortcuts Visible on Every Key

Another great feature of Android that involves the native keyboard is the ability to see numbers and symbols and access them right from the qwerty layout.

To enable this feature go to Settings >Language and Input >Virtual keyboard >Google Keyboard > Preferences > Long press for symbols.

once you get used to having numbers and symbols right in front of you every time you open up the keyboard, you will probably not ever again go into the symbols tab separately to access them. This is definitely a very handy feature that saves a lot of time if we actually think about it.

3. Auto Battery Mode

Since the launch of lollipop , Android has a feature in which it can automatically turn on battery saver mode when your battery reaches a specific percentage. For example you can set the battery saver to automatically go on when your battery reaches 20% etc.

This is essentially a very useful feature as you may not know when your phone is about to die , unless you're actually using the phone and get a notification. The battery saver basically turns down the performance of the phone and uses the low power cores instead of the high powered ones (if your phone has this type of configuration) and turns off features like GPS tracking. It also lowers your brightness and turns off haptic feedback (vibration).

4.Install Apps from The Web

 This feature has been a personal favorite of mine as it can be very useful and practical. You can just go to the Google Play website and choose any app you'd like to download onto your phone. Now provided that the same email is logged into your device you can download an app from your pc and it will automatically be installed on your Android phone. 

When downloading through your PC, the Google Play website will show you all the devices that have your email logged in, the email being the same one on your PC browser. You can then choose any device or multiple devices at once, to download the app onto. A pretty neat feature if you ask me!

5.Clear All App Caches

Its amazing how quickly some apps can hog down your memory by storing cookies and cache. The cached data used by your social apps alone can fill up your entire storage and potentially cause you to reset your phone. However theres no need to do that when you can simply clear app caches of every individual app separately.

On any Android device go to Settings > Storage > Cached Data , to clear all your cached data for apps in one go. if you want to clear caches of a single app then go to settings > Apps > A specific app > Clear cache.

This can a be a great way of clearing up storage so that you can utilize that space for other things like photos and videos.

Thats it folks! Do you agree with my list? if not comment down below , and if you have any more suggestions, comment down below again!

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The Samsung Galaxy S8? A Gamers Dream Come True?

According to latest rumors about the upcoming Galaxy s8, The device will be featured as a top tier gaming beast.

A new leak suggests that Samsung will be using ARM's new Mali G71 GPU which would offer a significant boost over the current generation S7. According to Sammobile, this GPU will be built into the Exynos 8895 system (a chip that will reportedly power the next gen of Samsung Flagship phones). However take this news with a pinch of salt as early reports like this one, can sometimes be fake and not reliable.

The Mali-G71 is ARM’s top-end mobile GPU, and is built on the company’s new Bifrost architecture. It’s a 16nm chip clocked at 850MHz and, according to ARM, offers a 40% performance improvement while being 20% more efficient than the Mali-T880 – that’s the Galaxy S7’s GPU.

Here’s what ARM says about its latest GPU:

“The Mali family enables stunning visuals for UHD content and the superior power and scalability of the Mali-G71 makes it the perfect GPU for next generation, high-end use cases like premium gaming and mobile VR.”

It’s also worth noting that the Mali-G71 was developed to meet the needs of Vulkan, which is the powerful, cross-platform API built by Khronos. Samsung already added support for Vulkan in the Galaxy S7, so it’d be surprising if the same wasn’t true for the Galaxy S8.

 Samsung is expected to unveil the Galaxy S8 at a dedicated launch event in the first quarter of 2017. We’ll likely see the reveal coincide with Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress technology tradeshow, although the actual release date may not fall until April. That said, recent reports have suggested that Samsung will try to bring the release of the Galaxy S8 forward, to recoup some of the losses generated by its recent Galaxy Note 7 recall.

 

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Hack Android and you could win $200,000.

There are essentially two types of hackers out there. Those who use their skills for good and those who use them for evil. Google has recently called upon the former group for an extremely important bit of research; to see if there's an exploit that can remotely affect a wide variety of android devices over the globe, with no information about the target devices given except the phone numbers and Gmail addresses.

However Google does not expect from the hackers to give up this information out of the kindness of their hearts. Google is offering $200,000 for the next six months to whoever finds such a flaw , while the second will get $100,000. Google already rewards people who find bugs and exploits in Google's software but this is on another level. Google's Project Zero team , on Google's blog posted about this contest. What makes this contest special is that before this , the most a person could win after finding a bug was $10,000.

Since there is a lot of money involved , google firstly advises researchers to submit each bug as soon as they find it , rather than waiting until several bugs are found and then strung together into an exploit chain. Google will only allow the person who first submitted the bug to use it as a part of their exploit chain later on. 

The exploit must work on Google's current flagships , The nexus 6p and 5, and they must be running any Android  (7.x) build. The contest includes users to begin with nothing but phone number and email addresses and then compromise that phone without having any kind of physical access to it. 

While the first and the second person to submit the complete exploit bug will win $200,000 and $100,000 respectively, there's another $50,000 to be won by people who come up with other clever bugs.

While many researchers will be down with Google's contest , there will also surely be people that realize that these exploits, to the right party, could mean a lot more than $200,000. Google has posted the rules for its contest on this site as well as a short FAQ. The contest will be over in March 2017, Specifically the 14th of March. Well then, get cracking!

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10 hidden features of iOS you probably weren't aware of.

It's only been a couple of days since the release of Apple's iOS 10 but as usual, the new version of the software was a hit. In just around 24 hours , approximately 15% of Apple's enormous user base upgraded to iOS 10  and after 48 hours of its release over 20% of the user base upgraded to the newer version of the OS. There have been many upgrades over the iOS 9 in this newer release but some of these features are hard to find as they may not have been included during the unveiling of the Software.

Here are 10 of them for you to try out:

Turn your phone camera into a virtual magnifying glass

Thanks to a new accessibility feature , iOS 10 users can now use their iPhone cameras to really zoom in on text or an object at a distance. To try out this feature go to Setting > General > Accessibility > Magnifier. Once enabled , you can activate the magnifier by clicking the home button thrice. The zoom feature with the Magnifier on is much more powerful than the normal camera zoom you would normally use in the camera application.

Quickly access your camera from your lock-screen

If you cant get those important shots at a time of need because it simply takes too much time unlocking your phone and then going into the camera app, with iOS 10 you can directly take a picture from the lock-screen. Just swipe up to the right and iOS will open up the camera app.  

Use Siri to find hard to find photos 

This is a really handy feature for those times when you're not in the mood to search your galley for a particular photo. Siri now lets you search a photo based on the time, date and location of the photo. So for example in iOS you can simply open up Siri and say "show me photos from January 6th"  and you will get a list of photos that were taken that day. You could also add a location and Siri would then provide you with all the photos taken in that location. Furthermore you could use all three variables to get a specific photo. This is a feature which is unrivaled through all mobile platforms and a personal favorite of mine.

Quickly Access related photos.

Apple's Photos app in iOS received a major overhaul. One of the features worth mentioning here is that you can swipe up on any particular photo and iOS will give you a list of related photos. This feature is also very useful and cool. 

Find your misplaced Apple watch with ease

If you have an Apple watch running watch OS 3.0 , iOS 10 allows users to find their watches using the Find my phone app. From within the app the user can erase the contents of their apple watch , place it in lost mode, or simply have the device play a sequence of sounds (if the watch is connected to the internet) for easy tracking.

Quickly browse through only your unread emails

From within the mail app if you click on the icon in the lower left hand corner of the screen , Mail will only show you the list of emails that are still unread. hitting the icon again will bring you back to the normal view.

Limit what can be seen on your Lock-Screen

Thanks to the new "Raise to Wake" feature, iOS 10 users can now conveniently pick up their phones to look at important notifications. This can be quite a useful feature but at times when you have to keep your privacy in check , it can be a worrisome feature as well. 
 However dont worry as iOS 10 has got your back. It lets you control what shows up on your lockscreen so that your personal info does not show up whenever someone picks up your phone. Simply go to Settings> Touch ID and Passcode and scroll down until you this screen 

        
Intelligent photo searching

With iOS 10 , searching for photos has become a lot easier as you can now search for photos by specific people (thanks to facial recognition) For example users can now search for photos that have a dog in them and iOS will give you a list of photos that have a dog in them. You can also search by environments. For example if you search for photos that have a beach in them then iOS 10 will give you just that.

Re-Enable touch to unlock

If you're not a fan of physically pressing the home button first and then putting your finger on the fingerprint sensor to unlock your phone, Then iOS 10 has a fix for that too. You can now just rest our finger on the sensor to unlock your phone. Activate this by going into settings > general > accessibility > Home button and then selecting "Rest finger to open"

Send Handwritten notes and doodles in Messages  

If you turn your iPhone into landscape mode you will notice a squigly line in the bottom right had corner of the keyboard. If you tap that you will be able to send handwritten notes and doodles to the other person in the messages app.

  

 Thats it folks! Hope you learned something new by reading this article. Will you try it for yourself now? Let us know by commenting down below. And also Share if you think this article was helpful!
 
  

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The iPhone 7 does not like razor blades.

 As is the case when any new phone from a tech giant is released, Apple's latest iPhone was also put to through the torture test by none other than the famous you-tuber , JerryRigEverything.

In his video he showed us the many ways he beat, cut and scorched Apple's iPhone 7. He bent the phone until it would bend or break , he scratched the fingerprint sensor and the back plate of the phone with a full blown razor blade.

The Youtuber uses special tools to test the durability of the phones. he has accounted varying degrees of sharpness to each tool and he notes that normally phones would start to scratch at level 6 ( on a scale of two to nine in terms of sharpness). This was the case with the iPhone too as we see in the video. When he got to level 6 , the phone began to show noticeable scratches and at level 7 the scratches were even deeper. According to the Youtuber , Coins and keys wont easily scratch the screen on the phone but anything sharper would most definitely would. 

The real fun then began when he took out his keys to use them to scratch the back plate of the iPhone 7. As expected the matte black version of the iPhone 7 held up pretty well but was still no match for the razor blades. Other than the back plate, JerryRigEverything also tested out the lens on the camera. He came out with the same results as he did while testing the screen. The lens had a resistance level of 6 to scratches , again meaning that keys and coins wont easily scratch it.

After testing the back of the phone he moved back to the screen again. However this time he took it to another level. He took a lighter to the screen to see how much could the screen take before buckling up. The iPhone 7's screen took about 10 seconds before the pixels started getting hot and turned black , but soon after the pixels recovered and the screen became "cool to the touch" , he said.

Then to end it all, He grabbed hold of the iPhone 7 by both hands and performed his spine test. Not even the iPhone was able to survive this as not long after he kept bending the device, JerryRigEverything found out that the display would start to detach from the body of the phone itself meaning it isn't that flexible. he also added that bending it in the wrong way could cause the waterproof adhesive to give way , leading to less protection against possible water intrusion. 

To end his review of the durability of the iPhone 7, he stated that he was happy with the build quality that Apple provided with its latest offering.

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Samsung's Galaxy S7 is better than The iPhone 7 in terms of camera optics.

Among the most hyped features of the newly released iPhone 7 is its camera performance. Therefore it only seemed normal to compare it to one of the best camera phones out there. The Galaxy S7. The Galaxy S7 has one of the best camera's in the smartphone industry right now and perhaps many would even say it is "the best".

However when the iPhone was compared to the Galaxy S7 , the S7 came out on top.  Its a surprise and a little disappointing as we know apple as the company that makes world class shooters to tuck into your pocket.

The Apple iPhone 6s was also compared to the S7 back in March but the S7 still blew it out of the park.  Since then no other company could challenge the smartphone camera King, Until, the iPhone 7.  Everyone had high hopes for the iPhone 7 but were once again let down by apple.

However Apple did manage to surprise us with the dual cameras on the iPhone 7 Plus. The two cameras when combined take great shots but the main feature associated with dual cameras is not currently present in the iPhone. This makes it even harder for people looking to buy that perfect camera phone. 

See for your self the difference betwween the pictures taken on both the S7 and the iPhone 7. 

First: Iphone 7
Second: Galaxy S7

  
Another set:

And another:

Dont get me wrong. The camera on the iPhone 7 is excellent. Its greater than most other smartphones currently in the market and is also one of the best Smartphones in terms of camera performance, Its just that the camera on the Samsung Galaxy S7 (Apple's arch rival) is better. 

Which camera performs better in your opinion? let us know in the comments section down below. 

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Still playing pokemon Go? Pokemon Plus accessory now available for $34.99

Even though Pokemon go isn't as popular now as when it was first released , many users still actively play the game. We've got good news for you if you are one of those people. The Pokemon Go Plus accessory is now available for $34.99 . The package includes a wrist band and a poke ball shaped Google maps maker.

When paired with an android phone running 4.4 or above that supports Bluetooth 4.0, you can catch Pokemon without even looking at your phone. Whenever you're near a Pokemon the device will vibrate and flash green .Then all you have to do is press a button to throw a poke ball. If you successfully catch the Pokemon the device will flash and vibrate again.

You're probably wondering if you can interact with Pokestops with the device. Well you can. The device will flash blue and vibrate when you are near a stop. Then by pressing a button you can receive items. Walking with the Plus accessory also counts steps so those can be used in hatching your eggs.

The accessory is currently available at several retailers such as Amazon, GameStop, and the Nintendo UK  online store . The Pokemon go plus requires 0.37 version of the Pokemon or above and this version of the game currently cannot be played on rooted devices.

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Android Nougat 7.0 has 4 hidden treasures.

Excited to download Nougat?Once you get past the core new features , you'll find that theres even more that you can do. There are a series of hidden features that you can explore to tune up your phone. Some of you might already know these features but for those who dont, here are the 4 big hidden features in Android Nougat 7.0.

1.Clear all button for apps

In previous versions of android whenever you pressed the overview button (recents button) , you would get a list of apps that are currently open and you had to swipe one by one to clear every single app. This could be fine at first but over time could get really annoying. However Android Nougat has a fix for that. The "Clear all" button. Although available in custom android roms, stock android never had this feature baked into it.  

2.System UI Tuner

The system Ui Tuner gives you even more power to customize your phone. To enable it, pull down the notifications bar and go tot he quick setting menu. From there press and hold the settings icon until it spins and you'll get a prompt to enable System UI Tuner. From there you can adjust what you want to see in your status bar and in which order should the icons appear. While marshmallow also had the System UI Tuner, android nougat steps it up a bit and lets you rank different types of notifications in order of importance. 

  
3.Emergency info and contacts screen.

Android Nougat comes with a neat new feature which is also very practical in real life situations. It lets you input some information on an emergency screen and then once you save it , anyone can view that info even if the phone is locked.

You access it by clicking on "users" in your main settings menu and then tapping "emergency information"   

Once there you will have two screens, on the first you can input a variety of information for emergency purposes , such as your blood type , medications you take etc. The second screen lets you list your emergency contacts. Apple had made this feature available in 2014 but this is the first time the feature has natively arrived on android.

  
4.Make any app work in split screen mode

A major new feature that android nougat came with was the multi window function. However now all apps were supported to run in this split screen mode, but theres a way you can do that too. 

Just go into your settings , then go to about phone and software info. Then tap the "build no" repeatedly until a popup shows that you are now a developer. You have now successfully enabled the developer options in your settings. Now go back to the main settings page and go to the developer options. 

At the bottom of the page you will see an option to make all activities resizable. Now you can use any app in split screen mode whether or not its supported.

One of the main attractions of Android is that you can customize the user interface according to your liking and these features will further help you do just that.


 

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