Articles by Jeramy Johnson

The best for most

Amazon Fire TV Cube (2019)

$120 at Amazon

Pros

Hands-free voice control with Alexa
2-in-1 device; smart speaker and media streamer
Easy, intuitive interface
Privacy-centric mute button

Cons

No Google Assistant support
Most expensive Fire TV streamer
External storage via adapter instead of microSD slot

The Amazon Fire TV Cube is a fantastic value if you like using Alexa and if you want a smart speaker to go along with your media streamer. It also sports all the high-end features you’d expect for the ultimate viewing and listening experience.

The best for Android TV

NVIDIA Shield TV 4K (2019)

$150 at Amazon

Pros

Ergonomic remote
“Dongle” can be hidden
microSD card support
Better gaming device
Can access NBC Peacock and HBO Max services

Cons

Steeper learning curve
Loud fan
Android TV app support not as good as Fire TV

The tube shape may be polarizing, but the capabilities of this device are top-notch. The Shield TV 4K gives you the port…

If you’re in the market for a new Chromebook, one of the specs you should be paying attention to is the amount of local storage on the device. You want to look for something that has at least 32GB of storage, but if you can spring for something with 64GB or 128GB, that will future-proof you better. Of course, many Chromebooks still have a microSD card storage option, which can expand space considerably. We’ll show you where to go in the settings to see how much local storage is available on your Chromebook for downloading documents, movies, videos, or images.

How to see how much storage is available on your Chromebook

The first question you probably have is, “wait, don’t Chromebooks work in the cloud and use Google One or Google Drive space?” That is true, but there will be times when you want to access local media. Perhaps you want to download a few movies for a plane trip or access items when you don’t have a strong Wi-Fi connection. For those times, you’ll want to know how much …

Chromebooks run Chrome OS, which, as you may know, is an enhanced version of the Chrome browser built for added productivity on Chromebooks and Chromeboxes. Like more mature desktop OSs, Chromebooks offer the ability for users to pin shortcuts and apps to what is called the “shelf,” or the area (generally) at the bottom of the screen. I’ll walk you through how to add or removed pinned apps to the shelf on your Chromebook so that you can customize your shortcuts to suit your needs.

How to pin apps and shortcuts to your Chromebook shelf

Click or tap on the Chromebook app launcher (circle icon) in the bottom left corner.

Search through your apps and shortcuts to find the one you want to pin to the shelf.
Right click on the app/shortcut.

Click Pin to shelf. You will then see your app/shortcut pinned to the shelf.

If you want to unpin an app/shortcut from the shelf, right click on the one you wish to remove.
Click on Unpin.
Your app/shortcut will then be removed from the shelf,…

When the original Kindle Fire was released way back in 2011, many thought Amazon was onto something with a low-cost, easy-to-use tablet experience. You know what? They were right! Today there are no fewer than six Fire tablet devices on offer from Amazon if you count the Kids Editions. Out of them all, we think the Fire HD 8 (2020) is the best overall value thanks to its size, improved processor, charging, and storage capabilities, and its ability to still hit an affordable price point.

Best Overall: Fire HD 8 Tablet (2020)

The Fire HD 8 sits in between the Fire 7 and Fire HD 10 in more ways than one. It’s roughly in the middle of the two sizes, of course, but it’s also priced in the middle. Those two data points alone justify the Fire HD 8 as a great choice, but let’s explore a little bit more about what makes this device special.

For starters, it’s the lowest-priced Fire device you can get with a 1280×800 resolution display. The base model comes with 32GB of storage, but you a…

It’s hard to believe that the first Amazon Echo was released over five years ago. Since then, it’s evolved from a standalone smart speaker into an entire ecosystem of radically different products. You’ll find an Echo on just about every website and in every store these days, but with so many different models to choose from, how do you know which one is best for you? Well, we’re experts on Amazon’s Echo lineup, and below you’ll find a detailed guide on buying an Alexa-powered speaker or screen for your smart home. We think the Echo Dot (3rd Gen) is the best choice for most folks, but if that’s not your cup of tea, there are plenty of other options to choose from. Let’s dive in.

Best Overall — Amazon Echo Dot (3rd Gen)

Start simple. If you’re just not sure about this whole Alexa thing and don’t know how much you’ll get out of an Amazon Echo, it’s best not to spend a lot of money. So start with the Echo Dot!

The Echo Dot is insanely affordable, and the 3rd Gen model we have right…

We know basically everything about these new headphones except when to expect them.

What you need to know

Listing and features found on Walmart’s website.
Headphones said to retail for just under $350.
Headphones to include industry-leading noise cancellation and real-time restoration of compressed files.

Intrepid headphone enthusiasts from TheWalkmanBlog discovered a page on Walmart.com that appeared to list the as-yet-unreleased Sony WH1000XM4 headphones, along with all of the device’s new features and price.

TheWalkmanBlog’s post was reported on by XDA-Developers, an incomplete listing for the new Sony headphones was found on Walmart’s website. The update to the popular XM3s is said to come with several improvements and enhancements, including industry-leading digital noise cancellation, ambient sound control, proprietary technology for premium sound, touch controls, hands-free calling, multipoint connection, and adaptive sound control.

In our opinion, though, some of the m…

This new tool fixes the pain of switching all of your photos over.

If you’ve been on Facebook for more than a few years, you probably have loads of photos and videos that only exist there. They likely even predate your Google Photos, Dropbox, or OneDrive accounts. Sure, you could download all of your data, fish through it to find your photos, and start re-uploading them, but what a colossal pain! Thankfully now there is a tool from Facebook to move your pictures to Google Photos that is rolling out to all users. Here’s how to use it.

How to transfer pictures from Facebook to Google Photos

I recommend doing this from a computer rather than a mobile device.

Log in to Facebook.
Click on the drop-down arrow at the top right of the screen.
Click on Settings.

From the left navigation menu, click on Your Facebook Information.

Enter your Facebook password to continue.

Click on Transfer a Copy of Your Photos or Videos (you can only do one at a time).

Choose Google Photos as the d…

There may be a hundred reasons why you don’t want your previously published Tweets visible to the world. Whether you were raging against real-life injustices or spouting off on silly reality TV, you may not want those quips associated with you for the long haul. While you’ve always been able to delete individual Tweets, Twitter itself does not allow you to delete Tweets in bulk. That hasn’t stopped enterprising third-party apps and services from springing up that promise to help you do just that. Here are some that we recommend looking into. Just make sure you are comfortable with how they handle the deletion of your Tweets.

Products used in this guide

Wipe it all out: TweetDelete ($10 at TweetDelete)
Automatic bulk deletion: Jumbo (Free at Google Play)

What are the differences between these apps?

Twitter does not allow users to delete their entire history, nor does it allow them to delete Tweets en masse. There are several apps like Jumbo Privacy that can securely delete and a…

Most people are perfectly fine with the default keyboard that came with their phones and have never felt compelled to change it. Come to think of it, most people probably don’t even realize that you can change from the default keyboard. If this is news to you, and if you’re curious about what other options are out there and how you can change the default keyboard on your OnePlus phone, then read on my good friend!

Products used in this guide

Phone used: OnePlus 8 ($699 at Amazon)
Our favorite keyboard: Google Gboard (Free at Google Play Store)
An outstanding original: Microsoft SwiftKey Keyboard (Free at Google Play Store)
No more typos: Grammarly Keyboard (Free at Google Play Store)

Why should you change your default keyboard?

Great question! Honestly, you may never feel the need to do so, but third-party keyboards bring additional features and capabilities that your stock keyboard may be lacking. The Microsoft SwiftKey Keyboard syncs your typing across devices, and is excell…

I’ve been on many a trip where I didn’t have a good cell signal or Wi-Fi, and really needed to know where I was going. Thank goodness that Google Maps allows you to download maps of broad areas for offline use. You can also have them update with the latest information when you are back online. This little tip is also handy if you’re in an area with congested cell signals, risk of low or no signals, or if you don’t want to be tracked. I’ll show you how it’s done so that you can always be prepared with an exit strategy.

How to download offline Google Maps to your phone

First thing’s first: if you regularly keep on Incognito mode as I do, you’re going to want to disable it (temporarily).

Tap on the hat and glasses icon in the top right corner of the app.
Tap on Offline maps settings.
Tap on Turn off Incognito.

Now you’re ready to download offline maps to your phone. If you don’t use Incognito mode, you can ignore all of that and continue on with the steps below.

From the Googl…