How-To
How-To
10 cool things you can do with Google Home devices
There's more to Google Home than just playing music and Googling trivia with voice queries.
How-To
How to set Alexa and Google Assistant to listen for follow-up questions and commands
Once you enable either Follow-up Mode or Continued Conversations, you won’t need to say “Alexa” or “Hey Google” again to ask more questions.
How-To
How to make Alexa lower her voice to a whisper
Want to chat with Alexa at night without waking everyone up? Give Alexa’s Whisper Mode a try.
Updated
How to protect your Ring account with the new Control Center privacy dashboard
Ring has updated its app with new and improved privacy tools. Here’s how to make the most of them.
How-To
If your Philips Hue lights aren’t responding, maybe it’s time to move your Hue Bridge
Did all the Hue lights in your house just become unresponsive? Wireless interference could be to blame, and moving your Hue Bridge might be the answer.
How-To
How to make Alexa ‘forget’ all your smart devices and scenes
If your list of smart devices and scenes in Alexa is cluttered with old and duplicate entries, here’s an easy—if drastic—way to start fresh.
How-To
How to tweak your Wyze cam settings now that people detection is going away
Now that your Wyze Cam and Wyze Cam Pan are about to lose people detection, you can cut down on the number of false alarms by following these steps.
How-To
How to calibrate your TV to get the best picture possible
A few simple tweaks can wring out the absolute best quality from your TV. We'll show you how.
Cord-Cutter Confidential
Make the most of YouTube TV with these 14 tips
YouTube TV tips: Here's how to get the most out of Google's live TV streaming service.
How-To
Amazon Echo vs. Google Nest: Which of the two big smart platforms is right for you?
The choice between Amazon Alexa-powered Echo devices or Nest gadgets with Google Assistant can be a tough one. We'll help you pick.
How-To
How to create stereo pairs with your Google Home and Google Home Mini smart speakers
Used to be that the Home Max and the Nest Mini were the only Google speakers to support the stereo pairing feature, but no longer.
How-To
How to install a smart switch
Let us show you the easiest way to install a smart switch or dimmer.
How-To
How to keep Amazon, Apple, and Google from listening to your Alexa, Siri, and Assistant recordings
Amazon Echo and Google Home users can shut the door on “human review” of their voice recordings. Also: how to wipe your Siri history off of Apple's servers.
How-To
6 ways to find the perfect TV show or movie on Netflix
Picking just the right Netflix video for a given night isn’t the chillaxing experience it could be. Find out how to take a deep dive into Netflix’s collection of movies and TV episodes, slicing and dicing its categories to pinpoint the perfect video.
How-To
How to use Siri for hands-free Apple TV control
Siri can control your Apple TV with hands-free voice commands. Here's how.
How-To
How to make the most of Roku voice controls
Everything you need to know about controlling Roku with Alexa, Google Assistant, or your voice remote.
How-To
How to rip (copy) Blu-ray and other movies, so you can stream and archive them
As long as movies have been distributed on home media, buyers have wanted to back them up or copy them to media that's more convenient for playback or streaming. We trace the history, how copy protection works, and how to circumvent it for legitimate purposes.
How-To
How to enable HDR in your Ring security camera
Ring is adding an HDR (high dynamic range) feature to its cameras, but it doesn't come switched on by default.
How-To
How to change the Google Assistant voice
At Google's developer conference this year, the company introduced six new voices for Google Assistant. Here's how to select them.
How-To
How to secure your Nest camera from hackers
Enabling two-step authentication can prevent hackers from accessing your Nest cameras and sending you audio messages.
How-To
15 essential Google Assistant commands you’ll find yourself using every day
Make the most of your Google Home, Mini, Max, or Hub with these 15 essential Google Assistant commands.How-To
Google Home Routines: How to put them to use
How to use Google Home Routines for automation and shortcuts.
How-To
How to use Google Assistant and Chromecast to control your TV by voice
With Google's smart speaker and streaming dongle, your voice becomes the remote. Here's how to set it all up.
How-To
How to add Z-Wave sensors to Ring Alarm
Adding a sensor to the Ring Alarm system is easy when you know how, but you should consider if it's really worth it.
How-To
Amazon Echo Show: 10 essential tips
10 Echo Show tips for putting Alexa to work on a touchscreen.
How-To
Smart home systems: DIY vs. hiring a professional
A certain degree of pride comes with building out your own smart home, but there’s no shame in hiring a pro.
How-To
Smart home systems vs. home security systems: How to choose the right DIY platform
What do you value most: Convenience or security? Maybe you can have both.
How-To
Home security systems vs. smart home systems: How to choose the right DIY platform
What’s more important to you, security or convenience? Maybe you can have both.
How-To
How to control your TV with Alexa
The ultimate guide to voice controls using Amazon's Echo and other Alexa devices.
How-To
Tablo DVR users: These tips will help you get the most out of it
Get the most of Tablo's over-the-air DVR with these seven tricks.
How-To
How to check your Google Assistant history
Google lets you see everything Assistant heard and delete your history.
How-To
How to link Nest Secure with Google Assistant
Linking your Nest Secure home security system with Google Assistant is very easy and once done, instantly enables voice control. Here's how to do it.
How-To
How to create private Alexa skills without code
Amazon's Alexa Skills Blueprints let anyone with an Alexa device make household skills.
How-To
How to listen to live baseball games on an Amazon Echo
TuneIn Live and MLB At Bat can stream live baseball on the Amazon Echo and other Alexa devices—but not for free.
Updated
Sick of NBC’s vapid Olympics coverage? Use a VPN and you can watch the BBC’s coverage instead
How to use a VPN to watch the Olympics online via a foreign broadcaster, and avoid the vapid banter of NBC's games coverage.
How-To
How to stop Google Home or Amazon Echo from making unwanted online purchases
Did you hear about the kindergartner who “accidentally” ordered an expensive dollhouse with a voice command? We’ll show you how to lock down your smart speaker so that never happens to you.Updated
Why you should use a VPN any time you hop on the internet
Surfing the web through a virtual private network ensures that your online activities are both private and secure.
How-To
How to manage your digital music library
It doesn’t matter how big your music collection is if you can’t find the tunes you want. This in-depth guide will help.How-To
How to use Google Home to stream video to your TV and music to your speakers
Google's smart oracle is as effective at streaming video and music as it is answering trivia questions.
How-To
How to master your music metadata (Part 2)
In the second part of this how-to, we'll show you how to take advantage of some of the advanced features in MusicBrainz Picard.
How-To
How to master your music metadata (Part 1)
Tired of seeing “unknown track” by “unnamed artist” on your favorite music player? We’ll show you how to automatically identify, tag, and properly rename all your mystery tracks and albums to whip your music library into shape.
How-To
How to ensure your internet connection and home network are primed for cord cutting
Cutting the cable cord can save you a lot of cash. We'll show you how to make sure your infrastructure is ready for it.How-To
Back up all your data—and we mean all of it—to your NAS box without installing any software
NAS boxes can use old-school protocols and their own apps to back up your PCs from far and near, as well as sync with cloud services to keep your mobile data safe.
How-To
How to find, view, and delete everything the Amazon Echo and Google Home know about you
Take charge of your privacy so there are no surprises about how much information your digital assistant is holding onto.Tip
How to get rid of image burn-in on an LCD display
Annoying image burn-in on LCD displays can usually be minimized or eliminated.
Updated
Primed for pigskin: The best ways to watch football this season (with or without cable)
Whether you’re a cord cutter or a pay-TV addict, we’ll show you all the ways you can watch this season’s bone-crunching action on screens of any size.
How-To
How to get the best seats in your house
A simple formula will tell you just how far back you should sit from your big-screen TV to get the absolute best viewing experience.How-To
This trick drastically improves Nvidia Shield Android TV recommendations
How to customize recommendations on the Nvidia Shield Android TV.
How-To
How to find free music online: We reveal our 5 favorite sources for scoring free tunes
It’s becoming harder to find, but we’ll show you where you can get music for free without raising the hackles of the RIAA’s legal beagles.
How-To