#android

Holy moly, I am flying around my phone this week. It’s a wild feeling — especially since Google’s grand I/O gala, which is traditionally the time when shapeshifting new Android additions are supposed to command our attention, isn’t for another couple weeks yet. These days, though, we’ve reached a point where many of the most interesting and non-AI-gobblydegook Android innovations aren’t even coming from Google itself but rather from third-party apps, add-ons, and crafty configuring (a fancy way of saying “good old-fashioned geeky tinkering”). And that’s absolutely the case with this latest superpower I’ve just been granted. It’s an on-demand desktop-style taskbar that makes it delightfully swift ‘n’ simple to switch over to any other app on your favorite Android gadget without first having to head back to your home screen and then poke around to find it. Instead, you just summon that taskbar — or even set it to be always visible, if you’d rather — and, exactly like on a desktop compute

Got extra smartphones sitting around your office? How about tablets? As we move multiple generations into mobile technology, more and more of us are building up collections of old, dated devices from both our work and our personal lives. And more often than not, those devices do little more than take up space and gather dust. Here’s a little secret, though: Your abandoned Android gadgets are actually virtual gold mines. You just have to find the right way to tap into their potential and give them new life. So grab the nearest DustBuster and get ready: Here are 25 ways to make your old phone or tablet useful again. 1. Create a no-cost Wi-Fi extender If you struggle with poor Wi-Fi coverage in particular areas of your home, office, and/or home office (hello, my fellow converted garage dwellers!), a random old Android device can serve as a surprisingly effective extender for your internet signal — in the same way that a dedicated Wi-Fi extender or repeater appliance could. Few folks reali