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Hacks & Workarounds

1210 articles

All articles tagged Hacks & Workarounds.

Why Samsung's Missing MagSafe Magnets Force Cases on Users

Samsung's Galaxy S25 Ultra supports Qi2 wireless charging but lacks built-in alignment magnets. This forces users who want MagSafe-style accessories to add cases, even if they prefer going caseless.

Huma Shazia·24 Apr 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·5 min

Why Wi-Fi Is Your Smart Home's Weakest Link

Your router handles streaming, browsing, and work traffic. Adding dozens of smart plugs and bulbs on top can overwhelm it. There's a better approach using dedicated protocols like Zigbee and Thread.

Huma Shazia·24 Apr 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·5 min

GPT-5.5 vs Claude Opus 4.7: OpenAI Reclaims Agentic AI Lead

OpenAI's new GPT-5.5 model scores 82.7% on Terminal-Bench 2.0, outpacing Claude Opus 4.7 by over 13 points. The benchmark measures an AI's ability to execute complex command-line workflows autonomously. This could shift developers back to ChatGPT after months of Claude dominance.

Huma Shazia·24 Apr 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·5 min

RANK vs. RANK.EQ vs. RANK.AVG: Which Excel Function to Use

Excel has three different RANK functions, and most users have no idea why. The answer comes down to how Microsoft chose to handle tied values in 2010, and which function you pick can change your results.

Manaal Khan·24 Apr 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·4 min

How to Enable Tablet Mode on Your Samsung Phone

Samsung phones hide a tablet-like experience behind two settings most users never find. Enabling landscape home screen and adjusting display density transforms how apps display content on larger Galaxy screens.

Manaal Khan·24 Apr 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·4 min

Spotify and Claude AI Link Up for Mood-Based Playlists

Spotify has announced a direct integration with Anthropic's Claude AI. Users can now ask Claude to create playlists, find podcasts, and control playback from within conversation threads. Premium subscribers get an extra perk: mood-based playlist generation.

Manaal Khan·24 Apr 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·5 min

Darktable vs Lightroom: Is $120/Year Worth It?

Adobe Lightroom costs $120 annually and keeps raising prices. Darktable offers professional RAW editing for free. Here's what you gain and lose by making the switch.

Manaal Khan·24 Apr 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·4 min

HWiNFO Catches Thermal Throttling That Task Manager Misses

Windows Task Manager shows CPU and RAM usage but cannot detect thermal throttling, a hardware-level issue that silently slows your PC. The free tool HWiNFO reveals temperature spikes and clock speed drops in real time, exposing problems that built-in Windows tools completely miss.

Manaal Khan·23 Apr 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·4 min

SUVs That Take Regular Gas: 4 Luxury Picks That Skip Premium

Premium fuel requirements add hundreds of dollars yearly to luxury SUV ownership. These four 2026 models from Alfa Romeo, Kia, Toyota, and Audi deliver upscale features while running on regular 87-octane gasoline.

Manaal Khan·23 Apr 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·4 min

4 Tips to Fix Your NBA Playoffs Stream When It Crashes

The NBA's new $77 billion media rights deal has scattered playoff games across five different platforms. When your stream inevitably crashes during a crucial play, these troubleshooting steps can get you back in the game fast.

Manaal Khan·23 Apr 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·5 min

6 CLI Tools That Replace Boring Linux Defaults

The standard Linux terminal utilities are functional but dull. A Linux veteran shares the six command-line replacements he installs on every new system for better readability, faster searches, and syntax highlighting.

Manaal Khan·23 Apr 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·7 min

10 Shows Like You to Watch After the Series Finale

Netflix's You wrapped its five-season run in April 2025, leaving fans hungry for more morally ambiguous protagonists. From Jamie Dornan's Belfast serial killer in The Fall to Andrew Scott's chameleon con artist in Ripley, these 10 series scratch the same itch.

Manaal Khan·23 Apr 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·4 min

9 Excel Shortcuts That Most Cheat Sheets Miss

Standard Excel shortcut lists cover the basics everyone already knows. These nine lesser-known shortcuts handle the tasks that actually eat your time: snapping back to your active cell, accessing named ranges mid-formula, and more.

Huma Shazia·23 Apr 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·5 min

Excel's Hidden Analysis ToolPak Can Replace SPSS for Free

A graduate student discovered that Microsoft Excel includes a statistical analysis add-in that handles most common research tasks. The Analysis ToolPak offers descriptive statistics, regression analysis, and forecasting tools without the cost of dedicated software like SPSS.

Manaal Khan·23 Apr 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·5 min

Why I Switched from Stirling-PDF to an Open Source Rival

Stirling-PDF was the perfect local PDF tool until silent failures started corrupting files. When merging overwrote originals and splitting dropped pages without warning, the trust broke. Here's what happened and what comes next.

Huma Shazia·23 Apr 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·5 min

How OnePlus One Changed Android Phones Forever

Twelve years ago, a startup nobody knew launched a $300 phone that made the entire Android industry rethink pricing. The OnePlus One arrived on April 23, 2014, and its ripple effects still shape how we buy smartphones today.

Manaal Khan·23 Apr 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·4 min

Samsung Finder vs Google Search Bar: A Better Way to Search

The Google search bar comes pre-installed on every Samsung Galaxy phone, but Samsung's own Finder tool offers deeper search capabilities. It can look inside apps, find contacts, locate settings, and surface documents. Here's how to make the switch.

Huma Shazia·23 Apr 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·4 min

Kia Vision Meta Turismo Previews Performance EV Future

Kia has unveiled full details of its Vision Meta Turismo concept car, a sports EV that blends 1960s grand touring aesthetics with gaming-inspired controls and AR entertainment features. The concept showcases the brand's vision for performance electric vehicles that prioritize experience both on the road and while parked.

Manaal Khan·23 Apr 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·5 min

10 Android Auto Hacks to Customize Your Drive

Android Auto has hidden settings that let you reorganize apps, move media controls to the driver's side, and create one-tap shortcuts for common tasks. Lifehacker compiled the best tweaks to reduce distraction and speed up your most frequent actions behind the wheel.

Manaal Khan·23 Apr 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·5 min

5 USB-C Tricks That Go Beyond Charging and File Transfers

USB-C does far more than charge your phone or move files. From reverse charging other devices to wired Ethernet connections, these lesser-known capabilities turn a single port into a surprisingly versatile tool.

Huma Shazia·23 Apr 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·4 min

Google Pixel Battery Drain Fix: 5 Tips That Work Until May Update

A bug in the April 2026 Android update prevents Pixel phones from entering deep sleep, draining batteries even while idle. Google has acknowledged the issue and promised a fix in May. Until then, these workarounds can help you reclaim your battery life.

Manaal Khan·23 Apr 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·5 min

4 Terminal Tools That Make the Command Line Less Scary

The terminal's reputation for being intimidating is deserved, but a handful of modern tools can flatten the learning curve. From AI assistants that translate plain English into shell commands to smarter file managers, these utilities help new users get productive faster without memorizing hundreds of commands.

Manaal Khan·23 Apr 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·4 min

How to Get Google Maps Monthly Travel Recaps

Google Maps offers monthly travel recaps through its Timeline feature, but the experience has changed since 2024. Here's how to enable notifications and what privacy trade-offs you should know about.

Huma Shazia·23 Apr 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·4 min

Your Loud PC Might Be a Setup Problem, Not a Hardware One

A tech journalist spent money on new fans only to discover her PC noise issues stemmed from case placement and airflow mistakes. The fix cost nothing. Here's what she learned about diagnosing noise before buying replacements.

Huma Shazia·23 Apr 2026