MakeUseOf

Phone makers gave up on speakers — these are the 5 that still slap

Gavin Phillips — Sat, 15 Aug 2026 17:01:12 GMT

Every smartphone promises a better camera, faster chip, and these days, an even slimmer body. One piece of tech has fallen by the wayside for most smartphones: speakers.

My ISP trapped me behind CGNAT — these 4 workarounds got me back in

Gregory Gibson — Sat, 15 Aug 2026 16:30:12 GMT

Carrier-Grade Network Address Translation, or CGNAT for short, is a well-known pain for anyone who self-hosts. I ran into it yet again when I needed to access a self-hosted IP camera monitoring my backyard via a 4G/5G modem. The connection handled browsing and streaming just fine, but inbound access stopped at my provider’s network.

4 Android home screen widgets that actually show you useful information

Shimul Sood — Sat, 15 Aug 2026 16:00:12 GMT

There’s something about a good home screen widget that makes your phone feel instantly more put together. It adds personality to your setup, but more importantly, it puts the information you actually care about right in front of you.

Netflix viewers can’t stop watching The Last House, but this sci-fi thriller is even more twisted

Dan Selcke — Sat, 15 Aug 2026 15:31:12 GMT

The Last House is a new sci-fi movie that has dominated the Netflix charts ever since it dropped on August 7, 2026. But while the movie has proven enduringly popular, it's gotten bad marks from both critics and audiences.

I tested 20MHz versus 80MHz on my router, and one was clearly wrong for my neighborhood

Gavin Phillips — Sat, 15 Aug 2026 15:00:12 GMT

I can't count how many times I've heard "Widen your Wi-Fi channel and get free extra speed." It's one of those router tweaks that sounds too good to be true. One toggle, no new hardware, and supposedly more throughput on the other end.

This free tool made every scanned PDF searchable without uploading a page

Tashreef Shareef — Sat, 15 Aug 2026 14:30:12 GMT

Recently I had to go through a bunch of digitized documents in PDF format. These were two-decade-old documents that were uploaded as a scanned image in PDF format, so combing through all the black-and-white text was a pain. PDFGear wasn't of help, as the PDF wasn't real text, and its OCR capabilities are limited to a handful of international languages, so it wasn't of great help.

Google Messages has one advantage no rival can easily copy

Brady Snyder — Sat, 15 Aug 2026 14:00:12 GMT

Android messaging needed an overhaul, and the Rich Communication Services (RCS) standard delivered it. It's an open standard developed by the GSMA, which provides the RCS Universal Profile updates that affect the RCS messaging experience on popular messaging apps. Despite the RCS Universal Profile technically being an open standard, third-party implementations have been few and far between. This is because RCS messaging requires carrier activation and access to a centralized RCS hub server for full functionality.

I use this ridiculously simple trick to change my IP without a VPN

Tashreef Shareef — Sat, 15 Aug 2026 13:31:12 GMT

Getting blocked online can be frustrating, whether it's a forum lockout, a game ban, or a temporary IP restriction. The good news is that you don't always need a VPN to bypass these restrictions: your phone's hotspot can give you a new IP instantly.

I'm saving $120 a year with this Amazon Prime benefit most people ignore

Brandon Miniman — Sat, 15 Aug 2026 13:00:12 GMT

I've been a happy Amazon Prime customer for years, like many. The fast, free shipping it offered always seemed like a great value and I was happy to pay the Prime subscription fee which used to be $79 per year but is now $139 per year.

I've just seen Samsung’s new One UI 9.5 feature, and I might skip this update

Sara Heritage — Sat, 15 Aug 2026 12:07:27 GMT

Samsung is still releasing beta updates for One UI 9, but we’re already seeing early details about the next big release. Industry leaker Fahad Ali Javed shared some new screenshots from an internal build running on a Samsung Galaxy S26, giving us a first look at One UI 9.5. Reactions so far are pretty… Mixed, to say the least.