Tausi Insider

Screenshot : Jake Peterson I’m not trying to bullshit you. If you have a Samsung Galaxy — virtually any one of them — then you have a hidden chihuahua on your phone. You would never stumble upon it, which is why you’ve likely never seen nor known about it, but it’s there, lurking, ready to greet you at a moment’ s notice. The chihuahua is a picture, but it isn’t your Galaxy’s Gallery app—i t’s in a hidden menu called “diagnostic mode.” These diagnostics are n’ t advertised by Samsung in any way and you won’t find them by digging through the Settings app (or even entering developer mode ). How to launch diagnostic mode on your Samsung Galaxy To launch diagnostic mode on any Samsung Galaxy device, open the Phone app, then dial *#0*#. No matter what Galaxy you have, you’ll see a simple menu appear with a series of options that allow you to test different functions of your phone . For example, you’ll likely see “RED,” “GREEN,” or “BLUE” at the top of the grid, which test the scr...

Photo : Jake Peterson It’s true iOS isn’t as customizable as Android, but the gap is much narrower than it used to be. These days, your can personalize your iPhone’s Lock Screen , change your app icons to anything you like , and even add a digital pet to the Dynamic Island . If you’re in the market for yet another iPhone customization hack, here’s an odd one: You can add an emoji to your iPhone’s menu bar, right next to the clock. For this trick, we’re going to exploit a loophole in Apple’s “Focus” feature, as illustrated here by TikTok creator techhackguy . As you may already know, Focus allows you to create custom “Do Not Disturb” modes that block specific apps and notifications at different points in your day. For example, you can make a Work Focus that blocks incoming notifications from non-work apps or contacts and removes Home Screen pages containing any app you won’t need during business hours. One fun feature is the ability to assign an emoji to each Focus. You can use a b...

Photo : Proxima Studio ( Shutterstock ) It’s unfortunate how often we hear about apps containing malware on Google’s platform ( not that they’re alone with a malware problem ). Each time we learn about new trojans, it’s a reminder to stay diligent when downloading new apps. This time, the newly-discovered apps have over two million downloads combined, meaning a lot of devices have been compromised. Cybersecurity Doctor Web discovered a trojan on the Play Store by the name of “Fast Cleaner & Cooling Master.” This app purported to be for OS optimization, claiming to improve the performance of Android on your smartphone. Instead, the app secretly communicates with developers through Firebase Cloud Messaging or AppMetrica Push SDK, display ads on victims’ smartphones, or use those devices as proxy servers. If you had the app installed on your Android, for example, third parties could route their traffic through your device. This app had less than 1,000 downloads, which, while n...

Image : Apple We all have the songs we have to sing along to— w hether they pop up on the radio, a streaming playlist , or the Sonos speaker in the office bathroom , when that track hits your ears, you’re grabbing the imaginary mic . And now, if you have Apple Music, you actually have a free karaoke machine in your pocket at all times , thanks to Apple Music Sing . Apple Music Sing is a new, free feature for Apple Music that works on iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV 4K. With it, you can turn any compatible song into a karaoke moment. It builds off the popularity of the services’ real-time lyrics feature ( which competing platforms like Spotify have also taken on), and makes Apple Music feel like a sing-a-long app for you and your friends. Apple Music Sing turns your iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV into a karaoke machine First, Apple has updated real-time lyrics to “dance to the rhythm of the vocals,” which is a fancy way of saying the app dynamically highlights each word as it’s sung....

Photo : Tomas Picka ( Shutterstock ) Long- exposure photography lets you take some truly stunning shots i f you want to capture light trails, a starry sky, or exaggerated motion in your pictures . While your iPhone won’t give you the same long- exposure tools a DSLR would, there are multiple ways to take a long- exposure shot with either the Camera app or using a third-party option. Use the stock Camera app for long- exposure shots The default Camera app on your iPhone has a few tricks up its sleeve, and long- exposure photography is among them. For daytime shots, iOS has a long- exposure effect , which, while not being true a long- exposure image, does work well (think Portrait mode versus an actual camera bokeh). To use the long- exposure effect , you need to enable Live Photo in the camera app. To do this, open the Camera app and tap the circles icon in the top-right corner. Live Photo is enabled if the icon is yellow. Now, take a photo, then open it in the Photos app. Tap the...

Photo : Vall Rade ( Shutterstock ) When you get a new iPhone, it’s always a good idea to get a case to go with it: A ccidents happen, and you don’t want a crack on the expensive new phone you just bought. And i f you’re buying your phone from an Apple store or Apple.com, the company will promote its cases while you’re checking out. But you’re better off ignoring them for a good third-party case. Apple’s iPhone cases are not worth the money When your iPhone costs over $1, 000, a $59 case seems like a small additional expense— but it’s actually a lot of money for a case. Apple has three types of cases for its iPhones: clear, silicone, and leather, and n one of them are worth the asking price. When you pay $49 to $59 for a case, you should get a high-quality one that will last a long time , and that’s not the case with most of these products. According to user reports we’ve seen , the clear case tends to crack at the edges , the silicone case breaks too easily , and the...

Photo : Kicking Studio ( Shutterstock ) Has this happened to you? You turn on your iPhone’s camera to take a photo, only to see something strange: Your p hone seems to be switching between camera lenses on its own, throwing off your ability to take your picture. After all, how can you properly frame a shot when the lens keeps changing? One reason this happens is because of your lighting conditions. If you try to use your zoom lens when there’s not enough light, your iPhone will instead switch to the main (also known as wide) camera and digitally zoom in. If you swap between lightning conditions, you can see this in action. It’s a weird quirk of iOS, but it doesn’t explain why the camera lens shifts when you use the wide camera, not the zoom lens. Some iPhones don’t even have a zoom lens, only a wide and an ultra-wide. Macro Mode switches your iPhone cameras automatically The issue stems from the iPhone’s Macro Mode, which is included in the iPhone 13 Pro, 13 Pro Max, 14 Pro, and ...