Did you know there’s a hack to find free Wi-Fi, fake a computer update at work, grow an extra ear on your phone and even get you out of danger? Things are about to get crazy with 15 of my most hidden tech hacks that are so useful you’d wish you knew them sooner!
1. Turn Your Old Phone into a Security Camera
You can do it with any old phone you might have lying around somewhere, whether it’s an Android or an iPhone.
How to Set Up Alfred App
On that old phone, all you got to do is head to the Play Store or the App Store and download an app called Alfred Home Security Camera. Once you’ve opened it up, just log in using your Gmail.
Switching the Phone to Camera Mode
Then over here in the top left corner change it from viewer to camera.
It’ll prompt you to use this old device as a camera. You just click okay.
Viewing the Camera Feed
Then go and get your current phone you’re using and make sure you also have the Alfred app on here too. Log in using the same Gmail account and as soon as you’ve done that you’ll see your old phone’s camera feed on your current phone.
Keep Your Old Phone Charged
Now you’ve just turned your old phone into a security camera. I mean that is so cool and all you got to do is plug that phone into permanently charge so that you can keep your eye on every single thing going on around you.
2. Grow an Extra Ear on Your Phone
Now for this next tech hack you can do this again on either an iPhone or Samsung and it’s going to get really sneaky.
Samsung: Amplify Ambient Sound
So let’s start off with the Samsung where all you got to do is connect a pair of buds to it
once you’ve done that then go into settings all the way down to accessibility.
In here under hearing enhancement
you’ll see amplify Ambient sound
if you toggle this on
then swipe down on the notification panel and press this play button. What this will do is whatever your phone’s microphones pick up you’ll hear through your earphones.
iPhone: Live Listen Feature
Then before I show you why that’s so cool for the iPhone also just connect a pair of AirPods to it then once they’re connected head into the control center tap on this little ear icon and toggle on live listen which will do the exact same thing as the Samsung and let you listen in on whatever your iPhone is hearing but through your AirPods.
Why This Hack is Sneaky
Now this is where it gets sneaky because basically wherever you leave your phone you’ll hear what it hears through your buds. So like let’s just say uh whoops you left your phone by a friend that was on a phone call or in the lounge by your parents you can now use your buds kind of like a third ear to listen in on everything being said which is very very sneaky maybe a little too sneaky but it is good to know because if someone leaves their phone by you and has their earphones in they might be a little bit suspish so just keep that in mind.
3. Instantly Share Your Wi-Fi with a QR Code
Okay now everyone needs to know this next hack because it’ll make life so much easier and it’s actually got to do with Wi-Fi because I bet you didn’t know that you can log into any Wi-Fi in a couple of seconds no matter how long the password is.
How to Generate a QR Code on Android
It’s actually very simple. All you got to do is on your phone head into your main Wi-Fi settings then under the Wi-Fi you connected to you’ll see you can generate a QR code for it.
How to Generate a QR Code on iPhone
You can also do this with an iPhone by going into the new passwords application then tap on Wi-Fi and select the Wi-Fi you’re connected to and right over here show QR code.
How to Use the QR Code
Now all you’re going to do is take a screenshot of that QR code quickly print it out and stick it up near your front door or main entrance and now whenever you have guests or someone that needs to use your Wi-Fi just tell them to scan that QR code and for bam they will instantly log in no password needed just simple and easy.
Why This Hack is Useful
I personally think that hotels and coffee shops need to start doing this because I don’t know about you guys but they have like the longest passwords anyway.
4.Download Da Vinci iArt Projector
For this hack all you got to do is download an app called Da Vinci iart projector.
Once you open it up you tap this draw icon
and choose the image you want to actually draw
then select AR mode and it’ll prompt you to make an anchor.
What is an Anchor?
Now this is where it might seem super random but your anchor is actually an 8×4 CM piece of paper with a giant scribble on it there is literally no rhyme or reason you just got a scribble then you’ll have to take a picture crop it out
and pop in your dimensions.
Projecting and Tracing the Image
Now stick with me here because this is where the real fun begins. All you got to do is place your phone on a stand or it could even be a glass jar like this then put your anchor down on a piece of paper and voila your image is perfectly projected as you move the paper around or maybe zoom in the image stays precisely in place
thanks to that anchor you made then you can just take your time and trace that image and even put Leonardo da Vinci to shame and bam you can create anything I mean this app is draw dropping.
5. Fake Update Screen to Get a Coffee Break
I’m pretty sure all of us need this hack for a Monday morning and to do it you’ll have to go to a website called whitescreen.online
Using the Website
Straight off the bat it doesn’t look like much but here’s the trick as you scroll down you’ll find these prank screens but if you scroll down some more you’ll find these update screens.
Choosing Your Update Screen
There’s a few different Windows update screens and even a Mac one but basically you just pick an update screen based on your computer version then over here you can set how long it needs to update for like 12 minutes enough time for a good coffee break and over here you can set the start percentage.
Activating the Fake Update
Now just expand it to fill the screen and there you have it a perfect excuse to pump the brakes while your PC installs its very important fake update.
6. Color Code Your Earbuds and Cables
This hack is going to surprise you because it is so simple.
How to Color Code Earbuds
We’ve all been there before where we mix up the left or right earbud of our earphones and the simple hack to fix that is to just change the color of the ear tip. So I like to color code them the R in right stands for red and the L in blue stands for left that way I can quick and easily see exactly which is which.
Other Uses of Color Coding
I got these from Amazon but you could actually swap out a tip with a friend who has a different color just pop that on yours and now you know which one’s right and which one’s left just make sure you clean it first.
The cool thing about this color coding hack is you can basically do it with anything like USB A type cables that always go in the wrong way just put a colored sticker or mark on the same two sides that connect and now you can quick and easily plug it into your charger wall adapter heck
even your TV without painstakingly trying to constantly put it in the right way I mean that’s just such an easy hack.
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7. Find Free Wi-Fi Spots Nearby
Earlier I showed you how you can instantly connect to Wi-Fi but what if I told you there’s free Wi-Fi all around you so yeah I’m actually not joking because if you download this app called Wi-Fi Map on your phone as soon as you open it up you’ll see this map with every single location that has free Wi-Fi around you it’s absolutely nuts.
How the Wi-Fi Map Works
So if you’re in a pinch and about to run out of data just tap on one of these Wi-Fi spots
it’ll give you the location’s name and you’ll see right over here that
it has free public Wi-Fi you even get this option walk to connect that’ll open up your preferred Maps app and direct you right to it.
Worldwide Coverage
What is so cool is you can do this literally anywhere in the world so let’s say you were going on a holiday to Paris just type it in search near where you’re staying or locations you want to visit and right over here you’ll see the Wi-Fi as well as the password and you can even do this on a laptop you just do it through the Wi-Fi Maps website nice
Download
8. Use Your Phone Speaker to Scare Away Danger
Speaking of laptops sending files from your phone to your laptop has always been a pain in the neck but not if you know this next.
Playing Police Radio Sound Effects
Now listen up because here’s a hack where your phone’s speaker could actually save your life. Not a lot of people actually think of this but if you’re out at night or walking alone or in your home alone and hear a scary noise outside then Fe knuts all you got to do is whip out your phone and open YouTube then search for police radio sound effects then right over here this first option select it
and turn your volume up as loud as possible because this is actually a real Le radio recording and let me tell you it’ll scare away any unwanted attention.
Making the Sound Louder
You can also connect your phone to like a portable speaker then play the sound through there to make it even louder and more realistic or you could actually play this out a party and prank your friends.
9. Check How Long It Takes to Read a Book
You’re probably going to want to try this hack before you start reading your next book.
Using HowLongToRead.com
If you open up Chrome and go to a website called howlongtoread.com
and in the title bar type in what book you’re about to read like a chunky Harry Potter book then click search and just select the book it is you’re about to read.
Testing Your Reading Speed
Because in here if you scroll down you’ll see this option to test reading speed and if you click on start timer
it’ll give you this paragraph to read out and the website will then actually time you on how long it takes to read that paragraph and what’s so cool is that this paragraph you’re reading is at the same level of English as the book you just searched for in order to give you a good estimate then once you’re done just stop the timer and your estimate will pop up.
Getting Your Reading Time
So now I know it’s going to take me precisely 22 hours and 16 minutes to read this entire book but now on to the next chapter.
10. Insert Table Data Into Excel Using Your Phone Camera
I bet you guys didn’t know this but your phone can scan all this data and put it into your computer it is such a hidden hack and it’s found inside the Excel app.
How to Insert Data from Picture
To do it you’ll just need to create a new blank workbook
then right at the bottom if you tap this little page icon and expand the window under this Home tab if you select insert you’ll see the option for data from picture just select it
then take a photo of the table you want to insert into Excel
and bam just like that all that data has been inserted.
Editing and Saving the Data
It’s not always 100% accurate but once it’s in the doc you can then easily go ahead and edit it after that you can save the workbook and open it up on your computer in Excel or Google Sheets and just keep on editing it pretty crazy what you can do with your phone’s camera.
11. Search Google Within a Specific Website
Now let me show you how you can kind of hack Google now this is something a lot of people have no idea you can do.
Searching a Website Only
If you’re on Google searching for something like iPhone manual right usually you’ll get a ton of different results
with some junk on the side and just a lot you got to search through but did you know that if you type in the website before your search like site:apple.com and then click search
again Google will actually show you everything on that website containing that search phrase so it basically only searches through that entire website and gives you results based on your search.
Excluding Words From Search
Or another thing you can do is let’s say you’re searching for colorful hoodies if you add a negative keyword like – Teemu
for example and search again voila it’ll remove all the results for that search so no more Teemu and that’s really handy specifically if you don’t want to see something.
Searching Specific File Types
Another quick Google Hack is if you type in your search followed by file type and PDF for example and click search boom just like that you can grab a specific file type right from Google like an entire book maybe a manual or you could even search a gif file type I’m just saying.
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12. Listen to Radio Stations from Around the World
Okay so what if I told you you could use your phone to tune into any radio station in the world this is just such a cool tech hack that you can do on Android or iPhone and you got to download an app called Radio Garden.
How Radio Garden Works
Now check this out every single one of these green dots on the globe here is actually a different radio station that you can just tap on and instantly listen to like you could even listen to a radio station from Down Under if you wanted to.
Variety of Stations
It’s very different when you see him do an hour you’ll still so if you wanted to you can listen to radio stations from New York people to London heavy thunder showers to Tokyo and one of the most isolated radio stations in the world in the middle of the Pacific good morning you are listening to this honestly turns your phone into like the ultimate radio station and you can find some pretty wild radio stations out there.
Want some mind-blowing phone tricks? Check out these 10 crazy useful tech hacks you’ll wish you knew earlier.
13. Use Google Drive as a Wireless Drive
A lot of people don’t know that you can actually connect all your tech to the same wireless drive it’s a really simple hack all you got to do is download Google Drive
once you’ve done that make sure you do it on your other devices too like your tablet laptop heck you can even do this on any other phone now you’ve basically created a wireless drive so you can put any file type in here and as soon as you put it in all the other devices will instantly get it you got to admit that is just so useful.
14. Detect Hidden Cameras With Your Phone
Now for my top tech hack now this one is really going to shock you guys but your phone can actually detect hidden cameras basically how it works is first you got to turn off all the lights wherever you are like in an Airbnb for example now if you open the camera app on any phone then start searching around if you see anything that
looks like this then it’s most probably a hidden camera that’s probably spying on you how this actually works is if the hidden camera has night vision its infrared light will switch on which a human can’t see but your phone can and by using it you can find any infrared cameras that’s invisible to your eye and find hidden cameras
so the next time you’re at a hotel or Airbnb switch off all the lights whip out your phone’s camera do a quick scan around the room and make sure it’s all good this is definitely a tech hack that I think everyone should know.
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