How-To Geek

Whether you’re heading home for the holidays or heading overseas for an epic ski vacation, when getting prepped for travel, you’re usually more concerned with having enough underwear and socks than with what’s on your phone if there’s a delay or cancellation at the airport.

Be honest now: how many random thumb drives do you have lying around the house? What about external SSDs?

Arguably, the biggest hurdle to switching from iPhone to Android is transferring all your stuff. It’s painless moving from iPhone to iPhone, but changing platforms is a different story. Oddly enough, Apple is taking steps to make it easier. You read that correctly.

Google just rolled out CC, a new experimental AI productivity agent powered by Gemini, designed to help you organize your daily life right from your inbox. This new tool comes straight out of Google Labs and should handle tasks and appointments.

Heading into 2026, new-car prices are high enough to make many buyers think twice. While used cars may seem like the safer bet, there are still some surprisingly affordable new options out there.

This season, you can jam to your favorite music with Spotify's holiday offerings, from playlists and festive mixes to features built to help you throw a perfect party. Whether you're collaborating with friends or crafting a curated playlist, Spotify has you covered.

As 2025 comes to a close, there are certain iPhone accessories that I’ve used far more than others. While not all of these came out in 2025, these are my four favorite iPhone accessories.

Once you’ve set up a Home Assistant server, there aren’t a lot of preferences to fiddle with, and you’ll mostly spend your time adding devices and building automations.

Used hybrids don’t always have the best reputation, but some models break that stereotype entirely, and one five-year-old option stands out for delivering reliability that rivals, and often surpasses, many brand-new cars. At a time when buyers worry about expensive battery replacements or complex drivetrains, this hybrid’s track record shows that not all electrified vehicles come with added risk. For value-focused shoppers, that makes it one of the smartest used purchases on the market.

When it comes to charging my devices, I want everything to be the fastest and most convenient possible. At one point, I even 3D printed my own MagSafe mounts to help with charging my iPhone at my desk, but when I got Anker’s new Prime Wireless Charging Station, it solved every power problem I had at my desk.

The Apple TV app on Android now supports Google Cast, meaning it's easier than ever to stream the platform's shows and movies to other devices from your phone or tablet.

The free and open-source media center application Kodi just received another update. Kodi 21.3 is rolling out with some great improvements for Xbox consoles and Linux systems, as well as a pile of bug fixes for other platforms.

Although it feels like forever ago, we actually had a lot of new GPU launches in 2025. Their availability and pricing were both disappointing, but at least the benchmarks were nice to look at.

Jaguar isn’t exactly pumping out cars these days, but the brand still knows how to make headlines. The all-electric Type 00 concept teases where Jaguar wants to go with styling and tech, and yes, it’s divisive.

Jellyfin, the self-hosted media server software, just revamped its official desktop client. The Jellyfin Media Player is now Jellyfin Desktop, with an update to Qt 6, multi-profile support, and other new features.

Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices are some of the most useful things you can buy for your home network, since they can host multiple services, let you cut your cloud subscription costs, and ensure your data is private. But how much computer do you really need for a NAS? I tried creating a low-power NAS using a Raspberry Pi to find out.

Luxury sedans have a way of making even a grocery run feel like an event, with hushed cabins, indulgent touches, and tech that quietly does its thing in the background. In 2025, two names still dominate that conversation: the Lexus LS and the Mercedes-Benz S-Class.

Having tools readily available or in your pocket makes all sorts of little household tasks easier than ever. And while Milwaukee recently announced a neat new multi-function utility knife set to release in 2026, which has fans excited, you can already get nearly the same thing from Gerber. Better yet, the very similar "Prybrid" utility tool is up to 48% off this week on Amazon.

Google is shutting down its dark web report feature, which was intended to scan the dark web for your personal information. The company said it wasn't useful enough, and starting in February 2026, dark web reports will no longer be accessible.

Waze is great for shaving minutes off your commute and avoiding those pesky speed traps, but it’s always been just a few steps behind Google Maps. One small feature that can be surprisingly helpful is traffic light icons along your route. Waze may finally be getting this feature, too.