MakeUseOf

This new Apple TV deal will fix the worst thing about fantasy shows

Dan Selcke — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 23:00:17 GMT

Between A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, an Eragon series at Disney+, a Fourth Wing adaptation at Prime Video, and more, we're on the cusp of an expensive new generation of fantasy shows. And when they all start airing, studios will have to deal with something that didn't used to be a factor: the authors who wrote the books that these shows are based on are far more willing than they used to be to call the series out when they start deviating from the source material.

There's a Linux command that shows you exactly what any running process is doing

Afam Onyimadu — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 22:00:16 GMT

I have noticed from experience that when my Linux programs fail, it's often a subtle event that can leave you confused or unsure of what actually went wrong. When I have fallen back to top, htop, or even the more preferred iotop, the best I get is data relating to CPU and memory usage, with no real insight into what the failing process is actually doing.

OLED banding is worse than burn-in, and most TV shoppers have no idea it exists

Dave Meikleham — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 21:00:18 GMT

I worry way too much about display defects on modern TVs. Up until recently, I was terrified of OLED burn-in until I found these 3 settings. Y’know what has troubled me even more since I picked up my first “Organic Light Emitting Diode” screen back in 2015? OLED banding.

I got all the benefits of a tiling WM without ever leaving GNOME

Dipan Saha — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 19:30:17 GMT

Using a tiling window manager is a lot like rewiring your brain. You learn shortcuts, ascertain your workflow and finally combine it all into an often cool-looking but insanely complicated setup. Tilting window managers can often be a bit intimidating. Not to mention, if you’re already invested in a desktop environment, it might be hard to learn from scratch.

Your PC might have 16GB of RAM but run like it has 8 — this one setting is why

Digvijay Kumar — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 19:00:17 GMT

A few years back, I upgraded my PC to 16GB of RAM. Chrome had been choking around twenty tabs, and launching a game on top of that would make the whole thing stutter. The extra memory was supposed to fix that. Months later, nothing had changed. I blamed Windows, then figured the PC was just too old to keep up. Turns out neither was the issue.

I kept deleting files but my phone storage kept filling up — here's what was actually eating it

Kanika Gogia — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 18:30:17 GMT

Every time my phone showed a low storage warning, I would follow my usual routine. First, I’d open up my gallery and delete a few photos and videos. Then, I’d try to uninstall a few apps that I haven’t used in a while. And this would work for some time. My phone would get a little breathing room, stop showing low storage alerts, and I would move on. Unfortunately, this would come back every few days. No matter how many photos and files I deleted, something was filling up that space.

Windows File Explorer got so much better after I removed these extra sections completely

Rob LeFebvre — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 18:00:17 GMT

Windows 11 has a bad habit of filling File Explorer's navigation pane with things I didn't ask for. Home, Gallery, and OneDrive now sit at the top of the standard pane by default, and they're just there taking up space every time I open a folder. I went looking for ways to remove them.

I found out I'd been listening to fake Dolby Atmos for a year — the fix was a different HDMI port

Jack Mitchell — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 17:30:17 GMT

I remember buying my first Dolby Atmos TV and soundbar combo, and the excitement I felt unboxing it, as if it were yesterday. Everything was all set—the logos appeared on my TV, my soundbar proudly supported it, and everything seemed to be working as advertised.

The 7 best Pixel features that Samsung users don't get

Kanika Gogia — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 17:00:18 GMT

On paper, Pixel and Samsung phones might look almost similar. Samsung unusually wins on hardware and features, while Google stands out when it comes to software and AI. When you start using a Pixel phone, you’ll definitely start noticing something different. It can help you do certain things that other Android phones just can’t. No, there aren’t any flashy specs-sheet features. They are the kind of stuff that can help you save time, reduce friction, and make your phone way smarter. Once you start using them, going back to the regular Android experience might feel like a step backwards. Let’s take a look at the seven best Pixel features that Samsung users don’t get, or at least not in the same seamless way.

I replaced my smart speaker with an old Android phone and it does so much more

Jack Mitchell — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 16:30:17 GMT

I received a Google Nest Hub as part of a promotion with a Google One subscription, and for years, it was the organizational center of my smart home setup. It handled timers and alarms, answered quick questions, streamed news, music, and podcasts, and reminded me of calendar appointments and events when I woke. What it lacked, however, was flexibility — it did what it was designed to do, but that was about it.