If you’re experiencing issues with the Xbox network’s online services, chances are that the service is down. Here’s how to check if the Xbox network (previously known as Xbox Live) is down. Microsoft (the maker of the Xbox) has put up a website telling users the status of various online Xbox services. With this site, you can quickly check whether a particular Xbox service is experiencing issues on the Microsoft end....

The Mac App Store is the default way to upgrade or install macOS, but it doesn’t work for everyone. Maybe you’ve got multiple Macs and a limited amount of bandwidth, and don’t want to download the entire operating system for every system. Or maybe you’re looking to install the operating system from scratch. Whatever your reason, installing macOS from a USB drive isn’t hard. You just need a few things:...

Search histories can be somewhat incriminating, and there’s often very little reason to keep them around. Your Instagram search history is no exception. Here’s how to clear it. RELATED: How to Clear Your History in Any Browser Deleting your history is a great way to help ensure a little privacy, and to help keep things running smoothly. We’ve always recommended clearing your web browser’s history once in a while, and you can apply that same advice to the various apps and services you use....

The more software you install on your computer, the longer it may seem to take to start up Windows. Many programs add themselves to the list of programs started when you boot your computer, and that list can get long. Here’s how you can disable startup programs in Windows. How to Disable Startup Programs on Windows 11 There are two convenient ways to stop an application from running on startup on Windows 11: the Task Manager and the Startup Apps page of the Settings app....

VPNs on an iPhone or iPad still have a big problem. You can’t easily enable an “Always-on VPN” mode that forces your applications to connect only through a VPN. With iOS 8, Apple added this feature — although it’s hidden and hard to access. “Always-on VPN” is designed for businesses and other organizations, so it must be enabled with a configuration profile or a mobile device management server. After enabling it, the VPN will always be activated....

How Snapchat’s Private Story Works In a Snapchat Private Story, only you can add Snaps. Also, only the friends you select can view these Stories. Your non-selected friends won’t even know you have created a Private Story. Your friends will see your Private Stories mixed in with your My Stories. However, on an Android device, Private Stories and My Stories may appear separately. RELATED: How to Allow Only Friends to Contact You in Snapchat...

Minecraft’s native LAN support is great for running games on the fly, but if you want a dedicated, customized server, Spigot is the way to go. Spigot is built on a plugin API called Bukkit, which makes customizing your gameplay easy, and since the Bukkit project has been around since the dawn of Minecraft multiplayer, many developers have released their own plugins and modifications. What is Spigot? Spigot is a modified fork of the Bukkit API, which is itself a modified fork of the official Minecraft server released by Mojang....

An easy way to do this is by telling Alexa something like, “Wake me up every weekday at 7:30am” on the Echo that you want the alarm to go off from. You can also make changes to an alarm that you set up in the past. To do this, open up the Alexa app on your phone and tap on the menu button in the top-left corner of the screen....

Android Oreo is here, but it’s rolling out to Pixel and Nexus devices slowly. If you still haven’t gotten the upgrade notification, here’s a little trick to upgrade sooner. RELATED: The Best New Features in Android 8.0 Oreo, Available Now My Pixel hadn’t gotten the update notification today, but after performing these simple steps, I’m up and running Android 8.0 with no hassle. You don’t even need an unlocked bootloader....

Recently, the IMDB app started sending out notifications for “Featured Trailers”. As near as I can guess, this is where the production company pays IMDB to push a link to the trailer to a load of people in an effort to promote it. If IMDB isn’t being paid, they’re just annoying their fans for no reason. Whatever their reason, here’s how to turn these notifications off. Open the IMDB app and go to Menu > Notifications....

When taking screenshots on a Mac, the Mac screenshot tool usually hides the mouse pointer so it won’t get in the way. But sometimes, you need to capture the pointer to illustrate something properly. Luckily, it’s easy to turn on with a simple option. Here’s how. RELATED: How to Screenshot on a Mac To capture the mouse cursor in screenshots, we’ll need to change an option in macOS’s built-in Screenshot app....

Mac webcams include a light that turns on when your webcam is in use. With the right command, you can check which application is actually using your webcam. Webcam spying is not some niche issue—-it’s very real. If you’re concerned about someone spying on you via your webcam, you may want to disable your webcam altogether to prevent any risk of spying. You can also install the Oversight app to get notifications whenever an app starts using your Mac’s webcam....

Do you want to bring a hidden post back to your timeline so everyone can see it? If so, Facebook makes it easy to unhide your hidden posts. We’ll show you how to do that on both desktop and mobile. When you unhide a post, the post becomes available on your timeline. Later, if you change your mind, you can re-hide the post and make it hidden again. RELATED: How to Show or Hide Facebook Posts for Certain People...

Fade, dissolve, slide, cube, or flip. Spice up your presentations with transitions between slides and add visual effects to animate text, images, and other objects in Google Slides. Here’s how to use transitions and animations in slides. Fire up your browser, head to Google Slides, open a presentation, or upload an existing PowerPoint presentation. RELATED: How to Import a PowerPoint Presentation into Google Slides Select a slide and, from the menu bar, click Slide > Change Transition....

The only thing standing between you and remote access smart bulbs is a little bit of money, a little configuration, and a little stroll through our review to see if it’s worth it. Read on as we put the Belkin WeMo Smart LED Bulbs through the paces and highlight the good and bad that comes with adding networked light bulbs to your home. What Are WeMo Smart LED Bulbs? In 2012 Belkin launched their WeMo home automation line which now includes networked wall switches, power outlets, security cameras, motion sensors, and even networked crock pots, humidifiers, and other home appliances....

You Can Charge a New Phone with an Old Charger The sales guy at the phone store might insist you need the newest and greatest charger for your new smartphone, or some fate might befall your pricey new purchase, but that’s not the case. You can charge your brand new iPhone with the dusty old basic Apple 5W USB-A power adapter that came with your old iPhone 6. It’ll deliver a simple and slow charge that will get the job done....

For years, Android enthusiasts have been rooting their devices to do things that Android doesn’t allow by default. But Google has added many features to Android that once required root, eliminating the need for many people. And with every major release of Android, the list of reasons to root a device is getting shorter and shorter—what used to be a requisite reasons for rooting is often an included feature at this point....

Air Video is available for your Apple Device as a Free or Full version. The Free version limits the number of displayed folders, while the Full version doesn’t. The full version is only $2.99 which is a steal for all it can do. You will also need to download and install the free Air Video Server on your Windows or Mac OS X computer. It will let you stream video over a Wi-Fi network or Internet (including 3G) via Remote Access – this feature is still in Beta....

If you’re looking for a good way to speed up your phone or cut down on your data usage, there are a lot of official “lite” versions of popular apps like Facebook or YouTube. These are generally less feature-rich than their full-powered counterparts, but they’re often a great middle ground between features and function. What Are “Lite” Apps? RELATED: How to Monitor (and Reduce) Your Data Usage on Android...

iTunes is hot mess. Bloated and ponderous, iTunes continues Apple’s ongoing trend of having lost its design mojo. But fear not: there are some pretty good iTunes alternatives for macOS Sierra. RELATED: The Biggest Design Mistakes Apple Has Made in the Past Two Years Our requirements for replacing iTunes are fairly simple: a replacement needs to be easy to use and painlessly play our music, and it should include a media library for organizing everything....