All posts tagged: default

I found gigabytes of invisible junk on my Android that the default manager never shows

I found gigabytes of invisible junk on my Android that the default manager never shows

Published by skeptic

Most Android users know when their storage is filling up. What you might not know is that the numbers your phone shows you are largely made up. The built-in storage manager groups everything into tidy categories that hide the underlying file system, and the default file manager won’t show you certain files. Luckily, there is a tool made just for cleaning your Android phone. Related I found Android’s hidden resource monitor and stopped installing cleanup apps Time to open Developer Options on your phone Android has storage blind spots The default view hides most of the mess Digvijay Kumar / MakeUseOf Android’s built-in storage manager doesn’t actually show you what’s on your device. It sorts everything into broad categories like Apps, System, and Media, which tells you almost nothing about where the real bloat is hiding. Manufacturer file managers make this even worse by applying custom filters that hide core directories altogether. So the heavy stuff sits buried in nested folders with no obvious way to find it. You’re left guessing which apps are hoarding …

The Windows feature that could save your life’s work is off by default

The Windows feature that could save your life’s work is off by default

Published by skeptic

We’ve all been there: losing work to an accidental overwrite. A novel chapter gone because you hit save at the wrong moment. A thesis section, hours of work, now missing. Windows has a tool, though, that can save us in this sort of situation, but it’s just not turned on by default. The tool is called File History, and it’s been part of Microsoft’s OS since Windows 8. It keeps rolling timestamped copies of your files on an external drive so you can roll back to earlier versions if something goes sideways. Similar to Apple’s Time Machine, it just keeps you backed up and ready to restore without any input on your end. The catch is that it ships off by default, and Microsoft has put it inot the legacy section of Windows 11, so most of us don’t even think to look for it. What File History actually does It keeps versions, not just backups There’s a big difference between a backup and a version history. A backup will save a snapshot of your …

If you’re still using Android’s default keyboard, you’re missing out on a genuinely better alternative

If you’re still using Android’s default keyboard, you’re missing out on a genuinely better alternative

Published by skeptic

Most people are conscious of the apps they install on their Android smartphones, owing to privacy concerns. However, there are also apps we don’t consider apps per se; the keyboard app on your smartphone is the best example. Because you tend to use the keyboard interface from the moment you set up your smartphone, it is often seen as an integral part of your device. Therefore, most people don’t even bother switching from the default keyboard app. As it happens, though, you may be losing on both privacy and productivity fronts by sticking to the default keyboard app on your device! Related This brilliant new Android keyboard makes typing effortless I speak and this keyboard types, and it’s damn brilliant. The moment I stopped trusting my keyboard Turns out the thing I typed everything into had opinions about my data Yadullah Abidi / MakeUseOf Depending on the default keyboard — Gboard or something else —, you may be exposing yourself to several issues while also limiting the options you have. You should also understand how …

I paid for fast RAM and it was throttled by default for months — one BIOS setting fixed it

I paid for fast RAM and it was throttled by default for months — one BIOS setting fixed it

Published by skeptic

Most PC components today are plug-and-play. You install new components, and they simply work as they should at the specified speeds. It’s a little complicated with RAM: I realized my 3200 MHz DIMMs were operating at 2133 MHz only a few months later. The thing is, you can’t really “feel” slow RAM frequencies during normal usage like you would for, say, SSDs. Luckily, it took just one setting to unlock my RAM’s actual potential. And no, it wasn’t a defect I only realized something was off when I got back to playing Counter Strike 2, a CPU-intensive game where RAM speeds make a measurable difference: the 1% lows were worse than before, and there was increased stutter. I checked Task Manager, which confirmed that my RAM was running at a lower frequency than its rated speed. No matter what the box says, your RAM will boot to an industry-wide baseline by default. These standards are set by JEDEC (Joint Electron Device Engineering Council) and define the memory speed, voltage, and timing for RAM. This is …

This free Windows app made Task Manager look like a toy — I don’t use the default anymore

This free Windows app made Task Manager look like a toy — I don’t use the default anymore

Published by skeptic

The Task Manager is one of Windows’ most useful tools. It’s the first thing I open when my PC freezes or when I want to see which background processes are using the most resources. The only catch is that while it gives you a real-time picture of what’s going on, there’s no way to track resource usage over time. Additionally, you need to be somewhat technically proficient to understand exactly what is going on: which background processes are normal and which are red flags. Fortunately, there’s a free alternative to Task Manager, AppControl, that doesn’t have the same shortcomings as Task Manager. It shows your performance history, provides more granular control over what’s happening, and offers a superior user experience compared to Task Manager. I was also impressed by its AI features, which don’t feel forced, unlike most other apps nowadays. See which apps consistently use the most resources AppControl tracks performance history for the last 3 days Real-time information isn’t really helpful when you want to identify patterns. Since AppControl tracks resource usage over …

Android apps track you by default — this free app tells you how bad it really is

Android apps track you by default — this free app tells you how bad it really is

Published by skeptic

I know that the apps on my smartphone are full of trackers. It’s an unfortunate part of modern life that most of what we do online or otherwise feeds straight into data collection for big business. Then I found a free Android app that lays it all out and explains exactly what all the apps on your Android device are tracking. Exodus Privacy is free, incredibly simple to use, and for me, was a timely reminder that I’ve got unused apps going back years lurking — and potentially getting away with more than I realize. Related This hidden Android setting blocks ads across every single app without a VPN Ad-free internet is no-longer a subscription you have to pay for. Every Android app comes with baggage But did you really agree to it? I’ve worked in tech for years and covered the security and privacy beat for long enough that, deep down, I know the majority of Android apps are tracking you in some way. It’s an unfortunate side-effect of receiving most apps for free; …

I turned off a few default Spotify settings and my battery life noticeably improved

I turned off a few default Spotify settings and my battery life noticeably improved

Published by skeptic

Spotify is my favorite music player for listening on the go. For anyone who remembers going off to college with a bag full of CDs and a clunky Discman, having 110 million songs in your pocket at all times is nothing short of a miracle. However, one common problem remains today: conserving battery life. After noticing my phone was draining faster than usual during long listening sessions, I realized that some of Spotify’s default settings prioritize convenience, visuals, and continuous connectivity over battery efficiency. Turning off a handful of these features made a noticeable difference to my battery life, and the best part is that it didn’t negatively affect my listening experience in the slightest. Related Spotify’s latest updates are actually useful for once Back to basics — in a good way Turn off Canvas The looping animations look nice, but they drain resources Spotify’s Canvas feature displays short looping videos behind many tracks while they’re playing. The effect might look great, especially when discovering new music, but it also requires your phone’s display and …

Linux Mint was throttling my modern hardware by default — 3 changes fixed it completely

Linux Mint was throttling my modern hardware by default — 3 changes fixed it completely

Published by skeptic

On a modern PC, you expect your high-end NVMe drive and multicore processor to give the best performance. That’s why I couldn’t accept that my hardware was the problem after noticing micro-stutters while heavy multitasking on my fresh Linux Mint install. My curiosity led me to investigate, and I realized that the problem was Linux Mint itself. By default, it uses conservative kernel defaults for broad compatibility, which can unnecessarily limit performance on modern systems. Altering these three system configurations unlocks the device’s true speed. Lower Linux Mint’s swappiness My RAM stopped fighting me Afam Onyimadu / MUO When you switch back to a tab it often has to reload, and minimized apps can take a moment to wake up. You would observe this even if your system monitor shows gigabytes of free RAM. So even though memory is available, it feels like the operating system isn’t using it. The reason is tied to a kernel setting called swappiness. This is a number from 0 to 100 that controls how aggressively the device inactivates processes …

I turned off 5 default Windows 11 features and freed up nearly 1GB of RAM immediately

I turned off 5 default Windows 11 features and freed up nearly 1GB of RAM immediately

Published by skeptic

The gap between how fast your Windows 11 PC or laptop should be and how fast it actually is can be quite frustrating. The problem is neither the computer’s processor, the SSD, nor some other hardware component. This is mainly tied to Windows 11 defaults, which are relentlessly and quietly designed to feed Microsoft’s ecosystem. I decided to strip away corporate bloat, especially the ones tied to built-in telemetry. My available idle RAM, which stood at around 510MB, jumped to one.6GB. This gave me back much-needed memory on my laptop with just 8GB of RAM, turning it from background-heavy into a leaner setup. Hiding the button didn’t stop the background activity Most people remove widgets from the taskbar and assume that keeps them muted. At least that was what I had initially done. I didn’t use the feed, didn’t care about weather cards, and had no use for MSN headlines. So, as far as I was concerned, I had gotten rid of widgets, but it really wasn’t. Whenever I checked Task Manager, I noticed Microsoft …

Burnout Is Now The Default For The Majority Of Mums. WTF Can We Do?

Burnout Is Now The Default For The Majority Of Mums. WTF Can We Do?

Published by Sam Flores

!function(n){if(!window.cnx){window.cnx={},window.cnx.cmd=[];var t=n.createElement(‘iframe’);t.display=’none’,t.onload=function(){var n=t.contentWindow.document,c=n.createElement(‘script’);c.src=”//cd.connatix.com/connatix.player.js”,c.setAttribute(‘async’,’1′),c.setAttribute(‘type’,’text/javascript’),n.body.appendChild(c)},n.head.appendChild(t)}}(document);(new Image()).src=”https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=8b034f64-513c-4987-b16f-42d6008f7feb”;cnx.cmd.push(function(){cnx({“playerId”:”8b034f64-513c-4987-b16f-42d6008f7feb”,”mediaId”:”eba97976-f596-4dee-924c-0d7195ccf52b”}).render(“6a1ed776e4b0ba3173036069”);}); If you’re a mother who isn’t running on fumes thanks to a prolonged state of burnout, you are doing pretty well.  Burnout is a state of physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion, according to Mental Health UK. It can occur after periods of long-term stress and constant pressure. New polling of 4,000 mums has revealed burnout is very much the new normal: nine in 10 mums (93%) have experienced burnout and almost six in 10 (58%) say they feel burnt out “often” or “almost always”. (A previous survey found 81% of mums had experienced it, so the issue is clearly on the rise.) It’s got to the point where some medical professionals are using the term ‘depleted motherhood syndrome’ to refer to the deep, chronic burnout many mothers are quietly living with. Many of us are working, parenting, caring for ageing parents, and trying to manage a household, on repeat, with little respite and support. The latest survey, from Peanut and baby brand Nuna, found seven in 10 mums are doing more childcare or domestic labour than their partner. …