Too often I find myself taking way too much time to figure out easier ways to control my smarthome devices, but I think many of us (including myself) forget that there’s a better way: not having to control them at all. RELATED: How to Put Together Your First Smarthome (Without Getting Overwhelmed) There are definitely a lot of ways you can control smarthome devices quickly and easily, but voice commands have arguably become one of the easiest and quickest—especially with Alexa and Google Assistant both constantly adding support for more and more smarthome products....

Why Would You Want to Do This? You may already be using Find My as a convenient way to track friends or family. For this to work, the other party must explicitly share their location with you. Once you’ve done this, notifications can be used to detect when they’re near a particular location (like home) or when they leave somewhere (like work). For example, you might want notifications that let you know that your partner has left work and is on the way home, so you can start cooking....

When it comes to mobile VR there are two major competitors: Google Daydream View and Samsung Gear VR. If you have a Galaxy phone, you can use either. So which one is better? Turns out, it depends on what you’re after. The Basics: Price and Phone Compatibility Price is probably the first thing you’ll want to look at when trying to figure out which headset to pick up. In fact, let’s just get that out of the way right now....

How to Add a Signature to Outlook for Windows You can start the Outlook signature setup on Windows from two different spots: In the new email window, select Signature > Signatures in the ribbon. In the main Outlook window, select File > Options. Choose “Mail” on the left and “Signatures” on the right. Once you land in the Signatures and Stationery window, go to the Email Signature tab. In the drop-down box at the top, pick the email account you want to use if you have more than one....

In the past, if you wanted to tell Alexa to turn the lights on or off in a room, you had to be specific as to which room. But now, with the new way Alexa handles groups, you can associate certain lights with a specific Echo device. RELATED: How to Make Alexa Understand You Better For example, you can now walk into your bedroom and tell Alexa to “turn the lights on”....

So you’ve carefully picked out some parts and built a computer, but it doesn’t really do anything…yet. Before we hop into installing your operating system, we need to take a quick look at the BIOS and prepare it for our operating system. BIOS stands for “Basic Input-Output System.” It’s a tiny program that’s stored on a small memory chip in your motherboard, and it runs on your computer before the operating system does, setting everything up and allowing you to change basic settings....

The new Siri Remote that comes with the Apple TV 4 is definitely a step up from the previous generation, complete with a trackpad and motion tracking. The remote also comes with dedicated volume buttons that allow you to control your TV, soundbar, or audio receiver’s volume–no need for a second remote. RELATED: How to Set Up and Configure Your Apple TV These dedicated volume buttons don’t just work automatically, though....

When you rename your hotspot, you can choose any name you want. Keep in mind, though, that any devices that have saved your network’s password will have to re-enter the password. That’s because those devices consider your renamed hotspot a new wireless network. RELATED: The Best Funny Wi-Fi Names for Your New Router Modify the Hotspot Name on an iPhone To change your iPhone’s hotspot name, you’ll have to change your phone’s name....

Turn Off Your Phone One simple trick that you may have never thought about is to simply turn off your phone while it’s charging. By reducing the number of tasks that your phone is doing at the same time, you’ll allow the charging to go faster. Pulling a wagon full of bricks up a hill would slow you down a lot. The more bricks you take out, the faster you can move....

Apple’s iCloud service is a great way to store documents and backups in the cloud, but the space isn’t unlimited. Here’s how to check how much free space you have left in your iCloud account on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac. How to Check iCloud Storage Space on iPhone or iPad Checking your available iCloud storage space is easy on an iPhone or iPad. First, open the Settings app. In Settings, tap your Apple account avatar or name....

What’s The Problem? GitLab CI pipelines support a cache to accelerate future runs. Caches are stored locally on each runner instance by default. You can use an object storage provider instead to enable “shared” cache mode. Shared caching ensures multiple jobs can access the cache simultaneously. Concurrent access isn’t supported when you’re using local caching with the Docker pipeline executor. This can cause reduced pipeline performance due to missed cache hits....

If you’ve got an Office 365 subscription, then there might be times you need help from Microsoft. Here’s how to log a ticket from a client app, from a web app, or through your Office 365 account. All of these methods will create a ticket that goes to Microsoft support, but whichever way you log a ticket, you’ll need to be online. Note: At the moment the Office 365 mobile apps will take you to the help and support pages, but there’s no direct method to create a support ticket....

You might be wondering how Reels is any different from Instagram Stories. While Stories is more about your daily life, Reels is all about creativity and entertainment. There are a few new editing tools to help you make something fun and shareable. RELATED: What Is Instagram Reels, and Is It a TikTok Clone? Instagram Reels is similar to TikTok, but the main difference is it’s a feature inside a larger ecosystem....

With the customizable share sheet, your iPhone adds a row of Siri Suggestions right above the apps bar. This is what you see when you hit the Share button in apps like Safari or Photos. Here, you would see AirDrop devices, shortcuts for iMessage conversations, and shortcuts for other supported apps. If you’re running iOS 14, iPadOS 14, and above, removing this feature is just a matter of flicking a switch....

Windows 10 can automatically rotate your display if you have a convertible PC or tablet—just like your smartphone. You can lock your screen rotation in place, if you like. Automatic screen rotation is only available on devices with a built-in accelerometer. Windows uses this hardware component to determine the screen’s current physical orientation. How to Toggle Rotation On or Off The Action Center has a quick action tile that toggles auto-rotation on or off....

The WannaCry and Petya ransomware epidemics both spread using flaws in the ancient SMBv1 protocol, which Windows still enables by default (for some ridiculous reason). Whether you’re using Windows 10, 8, or 7, you should ensure SMBv1 is disabled on your PC. What Is SMBv1, and Why Is It Enabled By Default? SMBv1 is an old version of the Server Message Block protocol Windows uses for file sharing on a local network....

Windows 10’s antivirus does a good job overall, but it lets crapware through. A hidden setting intended for organizations will boost Windows Defender’s security, making it block adware, potentially unwanted programs, PUPs, or whatever you want to call this junk. Update: Windows Defender gets out of the way and stops running when you install a third-party antivirus, so this command won’t work if you’ve installed another antivirus. Your primary antivirus is responsible for blocking crapware and other bad things....

The bitrate of a video governs how much detail a video can display. Even a high resolution video with a low bitrate will look blocky and distorted. Fortunately, it’s easy to find out the bitrate of any video on Windows or macOS. All other things being equal, a higher bitrate in a video results in more detailed picture quality. You can find out the bitrate of any video with tools that come built-in with both Windows and macOS....

Apple has a “Find My AirPods” tool that lets you view their location on a map. You can even make your AirPods play a surprisingly loud beeping sound if they’re powered on. This feature is part of Apple’s “Find My iPhone” tool, which also allows you to find lost iPads and Macs. You can access it in two ways: by using the Find My iPhone app on an iPhone or iPad, or by signing into the iCloud....

When working with a large spreadsheet, it can be difficult to see the specific data you need without constant scrolling. In Google Sheets, you can group rows and columns and then collapse and expand them as needed. Group Rows or Columns in Google Sheets Select the rows or columns that you want to group. You can do this easily by dragging through them. Then, right-click and choose the Group option for the rows or columns you selected....