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Samsung reclaims crown as top smartphone seller, but how long until Apple retaliates?
The smartphone wars haven't been this exciting since the mid-2010s
The smartphone wars haven't been this exciting since the mid-2010s. That was when the iPhone 6 squared off against the formidable Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and the HTC One M8. Now in 2024, Samsung, after losing to Apple in 2023, has roared back in the first quarter of this year. Sales figures show Samsung surged to the top of the global market share and also hit a record performance in the US market. The Galaxy S24 series is the driving force behind this success.
These are the major US retailers that accept Apple Pay
Apple Pay is more secure than your debit card. Here's who accepts it and who does not
Apple Pay is everywhere. Restaurants, stores, and gas stations have the Apple logo next to their payment terminals, inviting iPhone users to tap their devices and be on with their day. Google Pay is less ubiquitous in the United States, but NFC technology means even the cheapest Android phones can use Apple Pay terminals. So how does it work, and who accepts Apple Pay in the United States?
How to cast to your Fire TV stick from your iPhone
Your iPhone can't cast on Fire TV Sticks natively, but there's a workaround
Did you buy an Amazon Fire TV Stick or want to cast content from your iPhone to a friend's TV? AirPlay is the default screencasting protocol on iOS devices, allowing you to connect with Roku devices. It doesn't work with Fire TV Sticks because their OS doesn't support it. The Fire TV app only lets you use your phone as a remote control, not as a casting device.
US sues Apple for iPhone monopoly, points to iMessage and Apple Watch dominance, among other tactics
Antitrust suit raises similar concerns to the EU's recent DMA mandate
The US is one of the few countries where most people still text from their telephone number instead of using a secure messaging app like WhatsApp. This is partly due to carriers offering free SMS messaging with their plans in the early days of smartphones, but most of us following the mobile industry blame it on one thing: the dominance of iMessage in America. This and other aspects of Apple's walled garden, like its reluctance to fully support non-Apple Watch wearables, are being called into question in a new antitrust case filed by the US Justice Department today.
Sharing your Wi-Fi password is a vital part of welcoming a guest, but don't direct them to the back of your router. There are easier ways to share your Wi-Fi password, even between iPhone and Android. Wi-Fi sharing between the two device families isn't as straightforward as sharing within their ecosystems, so we’ve created a step-by-step tutorial to make things a little easier.
Even Korea is starting to prefer the iPhone over Samsung's Galaxy phones
The iPhone is gaining popularity in Samsung's domestic market as Samsung also loses significant ground across the globe
For years, Samsung smartphones have been the best-selling devices in South Korea, where the company has been based since 1938. However, the iPhone continues to surge in popularity, showing Samsung that its top spot in its home country may not be as solid as you might think.
Samsung is making up for its low shipment numbers with booming flagship sales
AI features seem to be driving Galaxy S24 series sales
Samsung has faced its fair share of competition in the phone market, primarily from the Silicon Valley giant, Apple. While the South Korean-based device manufacturer has made headway internationally with its phones, Apple is proving tough to overcome — particularly because of the iPhone, which is growing in popularity outside of the US. Recent data indicates that, in 2023, seven of Apple’s iPhone models took top spots on the list of best-selling phones around the globe. Samsung managed to make the top 10, but not until it snagged the eighth spot with its Galaxy A14 5G. Despite these disappointing numbers, more in-depth statistics suggest that the company can still take solace in its flagship sales.
Should you care if your phone is made of titanium?
What perceivable benefit is there when using expensive titanium instead of cheaper aluminum?
Strong, fancy, and oh-so-shiny -- titanium is the newest fad in the world of smartphones. It's up there with "AI" when it comes to marketing. It promises to be tougher than a Nokia 3310 and lighter than a battery pack, but do those things really matter?
How to pair and use an Apple Watch with an Android phone
The Apple Watch is designed to work exclusively with iPhone, but with a few life hacks, you can use it with Android
Apple Watch remains the default smartwatch choice for iPhone users. The Apple Watch has undergone generational changes and frequent yearly watchOS updates since its introduction in 2015 to achieve a polished design and seamless connectivity in the Apple ecosystem. Android manufacturers with their top smartwatches aren't far behind and now give the Apple Watch a run for its money. You can use your Apple Watch with an Android phone with a few caveats and limitations.
How to use your iPhone's secret trackpad
The trackpad is just one of many little known iPhone features
Although iPhone owners got a nice keyboard update with the release of iOS 17, it still lags Gboard. And if you're the proud new owner of a Samsung Galaxy S24, you're lucky enough to have all the sweet new AI features on the Samsung keyboard. That said, the iOS keyboard has several tricks up its sleeve to fix typos on the go. You may sometimes run into typos when you write business emails or X threads on your iPhone.
Android users switched less frequently to iPhones in 2023, report shows
This is good news for Android fans, but we've seen this story before
Apple is the king of smartphone sales in the United States. That’s where it has headed for over a decade now, and you can chalk that up to the mostly brilliant marketing and synergy that permeates throughout iPhones and Apple’s branding. Research showed that Apple first took over Android with the number of iPhone users in the US back in 2022, but 2023 showed that smartphone sales dropped across the board. Perhaps a more important metric to read the pulse of smartphone buyers in the US is to see the percentage of users that switched from one operating system to another. In 2023, fewer new iPhone owners jumped ship to iOS from Android than in 2022.
How to make Google Maps the default navigation app on your iPhone
Getting lost with Apple Maps? You can set Google Maps as the default on your iPhone in seconds
For a long time, most Google apps on Android phones have been available on iOS, but not vice versa. A few years ago, with the release of iOS 14, Apple opened its walled garden slightly, allowing iPhone users to switch from Safari to Google Chrome and the the horribly-dated iOSMail app for Gmail. And while you can install the Google Maps app from the App Store, you can't make it the default navigation app.
When Apple released the first iPhone in 2007, it popularized a new way of interacting with handsets: a capacitive touchscreen. Today, about 17 years later, most mobile phones, including affordable smartphones, use the same touchscreen technology, allowing for modern user interfaces and customizable options for applications and other devices.
9 common iPhone voicemail problems and how to solve them
From glitches to full inboxes, get your iPhone's visual voicemail up and running again
The iPhone's visual voicemail has been a standard feature on iOS since it first launched and has since been extended to include helpful features like Live Voicemail. Seeing a list of messages allows you to check your voicemail without wasting time by deleting some you know are spam and seeing transcripts of others from friends, family, or work colleagues. But what do you do when your iPhone voicemail isn't working?
There's finally an iPhone accessory that doesn't make us jealous
The Clicks keyboard attachment turns an iPhone into... a Palm Pre?
The younger generation often gapes in disbelief when hearing that people used to have smartphones featuring actual buttons. As they evolved, manufacturers developed keyboards to cater to the emergence of text messaging. Much has changed since the early days of texting, thanks to the arrival of touchscreen smartphones — such as the iPhone — which eliminated the need for keyboards. This doesn’t mean that some don’t occasionally miss the physical sensation of typing with buttons, however, and Clicks is here to satisfy that desire, in its own awkward way.
The best camera phones, like the iPhone 15 Pro Max, make capturing stunning moments effortless. You'll likely need several shots unless you're a pro, leading to unnecessary copies. Even if you only save the pictures you want, you might end up with extra copies from backing them up to the cloud. There are several ways to manage these storage-consuming duplicates, and we cover them below.
How to set up Personal Voice in iOS 17
Learn how to use iPhone's new Personal Voice feature to create an AI voice based on your speech, so you can type to speak in a more natural voice
Apple gave your iPhone a new feature called Personal Voice with the release of iOS 17. It uses machine learning to analyze your speech and create an AI-generated version that sounds similar to the way you speak. This takes speech synthesis to a new level.
How to connect to an Emergency SOS satellite on your iPhone
The Emergency SOS via satellite is a nifty iOS feature that you'll hopefully never have to use
Emergency SOS via satellite is a new feature that allows you to connect your iPhone to a satellite and text emergency services, share your location, or contact roadside assistance. While you may hopefully never have to use it, this can be a great way to establish contact if you're stranded in a remote location without access to Wi-Fi or cellular networks.
How to turn off SMS voicemail transcriptions on your iPhone
Getting annoying texts from your voicemails? Here's how to turn that feature off
Some phone service providers, notably T-Mobile and Verizon, offer a service that sends voicemails as texts. You may get a message that says a voicemail was deposited as a text and then a text message with the voicemail transcription. This transcription is handy when your visual voicemail doesn't work or if you don't have this service.
How to turn off SharePlay on your iPhone
SharePlay is enabled for FaceTime, but that's making some Apple users unhappy: Here's how to turn it off
If you've been diligent in updating iOS this year, you may have noticed that your iPhone activated a feature called SharePlay for its media services when you use FaceTime. There are ways to get rid of ShareTime if you don't want to use it. We go over the most effective steps, if any of these affect your Android phone, and what else you should know.