WonderHowTo

How To: Use Gmail's New Confidential Mode to Send Private, Self-Destructing Emails from Your Phone

Back in July, Google rolled out a new design for the web version of Gmail. The rollout included new features alongside the visual changes, one of which being Confidential Mode. This new privacy-centric feature has now finally arrived on the mobile app version of the service, and here's what you need to know.

Hands-On: Magic Leap's Create App Is a Powerful Way to Invent Your Own Reality Nearly Anywhere

Since getting our hands on the Magic Leap One last week, we've been methodically delving into each feature and reporting our findings step-by-step. Earlier this week, we took a look at the Screens app (a video viewer) and the Helio app (an AR web browser). This time around, we'll be digging into the Create app, the experience that allows you to fill the real world with objects that transform the nature of your local reality.

News: 6 Reasons Why iPhone Notifications Are Finally Up to Snuff in iOS 12

While iOS 11 was famous for its instability, performance issues weren't the only factor holding it back. The OS overhauled the notification system on iPhone, but not necessarily for the better. iOS 12, however, improves upon these changes, bringing critical features that make viewing and interacting with notifications on your iPhone on par with Android.

How To: The 4 Best Android Apps to Share Files Between Phones, Tablets & PCs

Think back to when you last wanted to transfer some music or videos to your friend's smartphone and how difficult and slow it was. As powerful as our phones are, the default file sharing options are limited. There are, fortunately, some better options which make moving files easy, secure, and painless.

How To: The 5 Best Apps for Transcribing Lectures & Converting Speech to Text on Your iPhone

The transcribing app can be an invaluable tool, especially if you're a student or are in a profession that relies on audio journals or interviews. These apps can convert important recordings like lectures and meetings into text for you to carefully read through to better comprehend.

News: The Top 10 New Features in iOS 12's Messages App for iPhone

Sometimes incorrectly referred to as "iMessage," the Messages app is where iPhone owners go to chat with iOS users across the world. Apple has made some significant improvements to the messaging app with its forthcoming iOS 12 update. If you're interested to see how your Messages experience is about to change come September, check out the features below.

How To: Buying a Used or Refurbished Phone? Here's Everything You Need to Know

You can feel it in your bones. You may die if you don't get this phone. There's just one problem — the price. Suddenly, you come across what seems like manna from heaven. That very device, at a deeply discounted rate, can be yours.

News: Kickstarter Game System Uses iOS & Android Devices to Merge Tabletop Gaming with Augmented Reality

The fortunes of ARKit and ARCore are still in the hands of developers, who have been increasing the number of mobile augmented reality apps on the market, but perhaps not as fast as companies like Apple might have expected. But one new product is looking to literally kickstart mobile AR gaming by introducing a few key components that harness the traditional board game model.

News: Epson's New Moverio Smartglasses Can Tether to Drones, PCs, & Mobile Devices Over HDMI or USB-C

The latest version in Epson's Moverio line of smartglasses looks to offer a headworn window into the world that prioritizes versatility as well as mobility.

How To: Easily Change Your Play Store Country to Download Region-Locked Apps & Games

What you see when you open the Play Store is completely dependent on your country settings. Search results and top charts are specific to each region and there are lots of popular apps and games that simply won't show up unless your Play Store country matches up.

How To: Get Your Regular Dock Icons Back on Android Pie's Multitasking Screen

With Android Pie, Google added a genuinely useful feature for Pixels called App Suggestions, which uses AI to predict the apps you might want to use next. These show up at the top of your app drawer and in the new dock in the revamped multitasking UI for quick access. But here's the trouble: Muscle memory is a thing.

News: World of Warcraft Lens on Snapchat Lets You Transform into Orc or Elf & Do Battle in Augmented Reality

To promote Battle of Azeroth, the latest expansion for the World of Warcraft franchise, Blizzard Entertainment has conjured a Shoppable AR Lens that is now available in Snapchat's app carousel.

News: iOS 12 Public Beta 6 Released to Apple Software Testers

Crisis averted — Apple released iOS 12 public beta 6 — not public beta 7 — to software testers Wednesday, August 15. The update comes hours after the release of dev beta 8, which replaced the short-lived seventh developer beta. Apple released dev beta 7 Monday, August 13, but quickly pulled the update due to instability and poor performance.

News: Augmented Reality Pedals Its Way into Tour de France TV Coverage

The Super Bowl of bicycle racing, the Tour de France, added augmented reality to its TV broadcast this year.

News: iOS 12 Beta 8 Released to Apple Developers

Apple developers, check your iPhones — Apple released the eighth developer beta for iOS 12 Wednesday, August 15. This update arrives just two days after the release of dev beta 7, which Apple quickly pulled after complaints of unusual performance and stability issues.

How To: Make the Volume Buttons Control Ringtones & Notifications Again in Android Pie

As a longtime Android user, one of the changes I was most excited about with Android Pie was the fact that the volume rocker finally controls media volume by default. However, the new way isn't ideal for everyone, but thankfully, there's an app that can change it back.

News: Apple Augmented Reality Smartglasses Coming in 2020, New Report Says

As we predicted earlier this week, the focus has already begun to move from Magic Leap back onto Apple's rumored augmented reality smartglasses. The latest credible whispers come from none other than longtime Apple-focused analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

News: Get Ready to Start Paying More for Your iPhone Apps

Look, we all like getting things for free. That's why we can stomach things like advertisements and optional purchases in freemium apps and games — we're willing to pay for our mobile experiences in every way but currency. Although freemium seems to be the model for the future of iPhone entertainment, it looks like a different scheme might win out in the end.

How To: Get Android Pie's Quick Settings & Notification Shade on Any Phone — No Root Needed

With all Android updates, there's a considerable wait before most phones get the new version, and Android Pie is no different. Until then, most of us are stuck just looking at videos of the newest update. Well thanks to developer Trey Dev, we can enjoy the new notification shade and Quick Settings menu while we wait.

Hands-On: Magic Leap's Helio App Is the Best Window into the Web Available in Augmented Reality

Yesterday, I talked about what I think is the most immediately mainstream-friendly app on the Magic Leap One is (Screens), and now we'll touch upon the runner-up: Helio.

News: Google-Backed Ubiquity6 Raises $27 Million for AR Cloud Platform & Spatial Browser

Less than a week after debuting its AR Cloud platform in public with a multi-user installation of more than 100 participants, Ubiquity6 announced on Tuesday that it has closed a Series B round of funding totaling $27 million.

News: Microsoft Launches Its First Mixed Reality Capture Studio in Hollywood

Microsoft is adding another important piece to its growing immersive computing arsenal by putting its newest Mixed Reality Capture Studio in the center of the movie business: Hollywood.

How To: Boost Fortnite Performance on Android by Changing These Settings

Fortnite's long awaited arrival on Android has ramped up excitement among gamers who are installing the beta version in astounding numbers. With so many midrange and budget devices running Android, however, it's important to stay on top of your device's performance to ensure smooth and uninterrupted gameplay.

Hands-On: Magic Leap's Screens App Is the Closest Thing to a Killer App for the Magic Leap One, For Now

By now, you already know that the Magic Leap One ships with an array of apps to immediately get you accustomed to operating in your new spatial computing reality. The first one we're going to focus on is Screens, an app we told you about previously, but only now have managed to try for ourselves.

News: UK's Largest Children's Hospital Is Adopting HoloLens to Assist Surgeons

In recent years, medical professionals have demonstrated how the HoloLens can assist in surgeries, ranging from collarbone repairs to spinal surgeries to cosmetic procedures. Now, the largest children's hospital in the United Kingdom is also ready to deploy the technology.

News: Group FaceTime Isn't Coming with iOS 12 After All

One of iOS 12's biggest draws is group FaceTime — video chatting with up to 32 people was quite the pitch, and one that many iOS users are excited to see in action. Unfortunately, Apple has confirmed group FaceTime won't be included with iOS 12 when it launches, leaving users to chat one-on-one a little longer.

News: iOS 12 Developer Beta 7 Released, Then Quickly Pulled After Reports of Bugs

We're nearly there — Apple released the seventh iOS 12 beta to developers Monday, August 13. While not totally unexpected, beta testers understand the struggle of predicting the next update, as Apple has switched haphazardly between two-week, one-week, and irregular release schedules for both the developer and public betas.

News: Magic Leap's Good News — the Haters Are Wrong, Bad News — Now Everyone Will Focus on Apple Glasses

I've had a few days to live with the Magic Leap One, and it's time to finally weigh in with some thoughts as someone who has been tracking this company from the beginning, for almost five years now.

News: The Ultimate Magic Leap One Unboxing, Every Part, Every Logo, & One Very Special Surprise Treat

We've seen all the Magic Leap One glamour shots, and we've even shown you a bit of what it looks like to view augmented reality on the device. But there's something else us super geeks appreciate more than anyone else: the grand unboxing!

How To: 5 Legitimately Hidden Features in Android Pie

With every new Android update, hidden features are lurking under the surface. Google hides these options to prevent unnecessary tinkering by average users, leaving them in place for power users to discover. These secrets range from silly to really useful, with the latter opening up new ways to manage your phone.

News: Snapchat Strikes Familiar Chord with Shoppable AR Lens for Nicki Minaj's New Album

On Friday, the release date for her new album, Queen, Nicki Minaj is already grabbing headlines for the track "Barbie Dreams," where she disses Drake and a host of other rappers.

News: Go Big & Go Broke! Fall's New Phones Are Huge & Expensive

It was only a few years ago when the idea of a 5+ inch display on a smartphone was unreal. With most hovering around four inches at the time, a phone that big seemed impossible to hold. We've come a long way since then, but it appears another wave of large displays will soon hit us, and they are all at least six inches.

Market Reality: Magic Leap Launches, L'Oréal Friends Facebook, & Nickelodeon Takes TV to AR

The long, long, loooong wait finally ended this week for the augmented reality community as the Magic Leap One was finally released. The Florida-based company has loomed over the industry for years promising something big, and now the AR cat is finally out of the bag. Now we get to see if it will live up to expectations, but early reviews are a bit skeptical.

How To: Use Canva's Mobile App to Create Professional-Looking Graphic Designs Fast

You can never replace the skills and expertise of a professional graphic designer ... but Canva comes pretty damn close. It's a ridiculously easy to use drag-and-drop design tool for both professionals and people like me who don't have the need (or knowledge required) to use more advanced graphic design software.

News: New Video Shows How Precise HoloLens 2.0 Depth Sensing Will Be

While the next-generation HoloLens does not have a launch date yet, we now have a better idea of how big a leap the device will take in terms of depth sensor performance.

News: L'Oréal Brings Its Modiface AR Makeup Platform to Facebook Camera

Already one of the leaders in augmented reality for cosmetics, L'Oréal is extending the reach of its ModiFace virtual try-on platform through a partnership with Facebook.

News: Through the Magic Leap Looking Glass, First Look at What AR Looks Like on the Magic Leap One

We've spent years waiting to see what all the secretive fuss was about, and now that the device is in our hands, we can finally begin showing you images of what the Magic Leap One experience looks like.

How To: The Best HDMI Adapters to Turn Your Galaxy Note 9 into a DeX Desktop

Samsung emphasized its goal of a streamlined user experience with the unveiling of the Galaxy Note 9, highlighting the flagship's capabilities of seamlessly connecting with other devices. The Note 9's new and improved DeX mode makes it easier than ever to interface with a slew of devices like the Galaxy Tab S4 and a wide array of displays and monitors.

News: Blippar Brings Its AR Navigation Capabilities Indoors

Computer vision company Blippar has already dabbled with outdoor AR navigation, but now it wants to make it easier for people to make their way through indoor spaces with augmented reality.

Gallery: A Close-Up Look at the Magic Leap One's Optics

For the curious, here are a number of close-up shots of the Magic Leap One's optics and the magnetic attachment that can be swapped out for a version with lenses matching your glasses prescription in the near future.