MakeUseOf

Winamp survived long enough to become something nobody asked for

Tashreef Shareef — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 12:00:13 GMT

Winamp is not a music player anymore. It is a creator platform for artists and fans, and the thing I wanted a small fast program that plays files off my hard drive, is a legacy download three clicks deep.

You're barely using half of what Chrome on Android can do

Pankil Shah — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 11:00:13 GMT

Chrome on Android sports a minimal interface, but don’t let that fool you. It’s packed with tricks and features that are easy to miss but can change the way you browse forever. And no, I'm not talking about the usual stuff like locking incognito windows, moving the address bar to the bottom, or enabling parallel downloading. You probably already know all that. I'm talking about hidden, overlooked features that you should absolutely try at least once.

Google Messages delete button now does what people always assumed it did

Brady Snyder — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 10:00:12 GMT

Before the widespread adoption of Rich Communication Services (RCS) messaging, the Google Messages app lacked modern features. Snapchat popularized disappearing messages a decade earlier, and Google Messages still couldn't remotely delete messages as of last year. Back in 2024, the RCS Universal Profile v2.7 debuted with the handy ability to edit, recall, and delete sent messages for both the sender and recipient.

Firefox and Chrome are both slower than this Android browser at real-world tasks

Abhijith N Arjunan — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 23:00:12 GMT

I have relied on both Google Chrome and Firefox on my Android for a while now. However, even when I acknowledge how powerful and versatile they are, they have felt a little slower for everyday tasks. I've felt this more often when handling a couple of dozen tabs and tab groups, or when loading a resource-heavy webpage.

Your phone can text without a cell tower, and you may already have the feature

Christine Persaud — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 22:00:12 GMT

You'd be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn't own a cell phone nowadays. Even if they don't use it as most of society does for social media, as cameras, gaming devices, and basically everything but voice communications, a phone is one of your most essential communications tools. To communicate through calls and text messages outside of instant messaging and Wi-Fi calling apps like FaceTime and WhatsApp, you need a cellular connection. Or do you?

Your expensive GPU is probably sagging right now — here's why it matters

Shaheer Khan — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 21:00:12 GMT

It doesn't take much to destroy your gaming PC, and the GPU is usually the first casualty. There are several mistakes you might be making that are shortening your GPU’s lifespan, like running it on a cheap power supply, poor thermals, and more.

This is the video editor I use when I don’t actually want to edit

Oluwademilade Afolabi — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 20:00:19 GMT

I recently finished editing a massive four-gigabyte recording of a bass cover that ran for exactly three minutes and thirty-one seconds. I used CapCut to add the visual effects, transitions, and color grading I wanted. Unfortunately, the finished export somehow contained five seconds of dead, black footage right in the middle of the performance.

I tested 5 phones for on-device AI and only 2 actually worked without Wi-Fi

Rob LeFebvre — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 19:30:12 GMT

Every device I own claims to have AI features built in now. I wanted to know how many of them actually process anything without an internet connection, though, so I pulled up airplane mode on each and ran the same test on five phones and tablets sitting around my house.

The 4 boring prints that paid for my 3D printer

Yadullah Abidi — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 19:00:12 GMT

3D printers are fascinating devices that you can make just about anything with. But when you buy one, nobody warns you that the most useful thing your 3D printer will ever make is a box, or a hook that sits just right on a specific ledge. When I bought my printer, I imagined custom enclosures, fittings, and cool cosplay helmets. What I actually print, week after week, is unglamorous storage and mounting hardware.

HP once updated millions of printers to reject ink they already owned, and it worked

Rob LeFebvre — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 18:30:12 GMT

I've been reading a lot of my colleagues' printer coverage lately, from the letters buried on every ink box to Bambu Lab borrowing HP's old playbook for 3D printing. So I went back and read the actual court documents behind the story everyone references, but few people explain: HP's decade-long habit of pushing firmware updates that made printers refuse ink they'd already been happily printing with. The legal fees the company paid pale in comparison to the earnings it got from its shenanigans, making it work for the shareholders, at least.