Start here · Essential guide
How Smartphones Work: Chips, Sensors and Operating Systems
A plain tour of what is inside a smartphone: the main chip, memory, radios, sensors and battery, and how the operating system ties the parts together.
Connected Life
What is inside your phone and computer and how to look after it.
Start here · Essential guide
A plain tour of what is inside a smartphone: the main chip, memory, radios, sensors and battery, and how the operating system ties the parts together.
Browser extensions can block ads, fill passwords or tidy pages, but they often read what you view. Learn what access they get and how to judge one.
Choosing between phone ecosystems comes down to openness, update support, privacy and the cost of switching later. Here is how to weigh each factor.
App stores review apps before and after release, yet some harmful ones still get through. Learn how vetting works, what sideloading changes and how to cut risk.
Bluetooth pairing lets two devices find each other, agree on a secret and reconnect later. Learn about discovery, range and why connections often fail.
RAM is short-term working memory and storage is long-term space. Learn what each number on a spec sheet means and what it looks like when either runs out.
When a phone or laptop gets old, you can repair it, sell or give it on, or recycle it. Compare the options, the environmental reasoning and the privacy steps.
Lithium-ion phone batteries wear with use, heat and time. Learn why capacity fades, which charging habits help a little and which popular tips matter less.
A factory reset removes your data, but only if you prepare first. Learn what a reset erases, why encryption helps and which accounts to sign out of before parting.
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