Dialogue Boost enhances the volume of speech compared to other background music and effects. It is, of course, designed for people with hearing loss but it’s also a useful tool for anyone who enables subtitles because of the seeming rise of indistinct speech in modern shows. The feature uses AI to analyse dialogue and identifies where speech is hard to hear over other sound effects. It then amplifies it to make it clearer....

Dusty shelves packed with DVDs, Blu-rays, or HD-DVDs (remember those?) can seem something of an anachronism in our streaming, always-online world. But, having a physical copy of your favourite movies might not be a bad idea, especially in light of a recent Apple customer’s experience where films he’d bought on iTunes were unavailable after he moved from Australia to Canada. So, should you buy digital copies of movies, or are there other ways to build a collection you can watch on your devices?...

Peacock offers both free and premium tiers, with the latter giving access to more exclusive originals and next-day NBC catch-up content. However, Peacock Premium will also set you back either $4.99 per month for ad-supported viewing, and $9.99 for ad-free streaming. If you want to switch back to the free tier – or need to cancel before your free trial ends – then here’s everything you need to know. We also have guides to watching Peacock in the UK , sharing an account as well as workarounds for streaming it on your TV if you’re a Roku customer ....

Cancel your membership To do so, log in to Audible . Then, click on the ‘Hi + name’ button, on the top-right corner of the page, to make several options appear. Select ‘Account Details’. The first section will show you the exact date of your next bill, as well as which plan you are currently on and what’s included in that plan. You’ll be able to see how many credits you have – you’ll get one as part of your free trial....

Apple’s AirPods changed the game when they were introduced back in 2016; while the AirPods weren’t necessarily the first true wireless earbuds to hit the market, Apple’s buds were noticeably better than just about anything else you could buy. Four years later and the earbuds have gone from strength to strength with the introduction of features like Hey Siri and even active noise cancellation on the high-end AirPods Pro, making them the ideal accessory for your iPhone....

Twitter has been an amazing social network, but the recent acquisition by Elon Musk has thrown the platform into chaos. Mass lay-offs, voluntary redundancies and other internal issues spell trouble, with many predicting it could fail in the near future. If you’re thinking it may be time to pull anchor and set sail for other shores – maybe Mastodon – then you should know that you can take a record of your tweets with you....

Each year Google releases a major update to its Android operating system. In August 2016 it was the turn of Android 7 , also known as Nougat, and Android 8 is expected to appear in the winter of 2017 bearing a suitably food-related nickname beginning with the letter O. Maybe Oreo? These new versions come with advanced features, such as those we’ll see in Android 8, but there’s no guarantee that the latest version will be automatically arrive on your device....

All PC and laptop issues are frustrating, but that’s especially true when it feels like there’s nothing you can do to rectify it. If your device freezes in the middle of an update, you can feel powerless to do anything about it. Depending on which stage of the update you’re stuck on, the classic turning off and on again might not work as intended. However, all hope is not lost. There are still a few things you can try to potentially get your update completed....

New versions of Windows bring a wide range of features, improvements and performance enhancements across the board. They have, however, also been know to cause more than a few problems along the way too. We’re going to show you how to fix some of those pesky problems that have come with the Windows 10 April 2018 update. It can be very frustrating when a new update that is supposed to make your life easier causes something that was working perfectly to suddenly break....

If Windows Update doesn’t run properly and the latest patches are not installed on your system, you could manually install one of the many update packs available online that combine the latest updates in a single installer file. But this won’t solve your problem unless you want to manually install updates every time they are released. We’ll explain how you can use Microsoft’s own tools to fix any Windows Update problems you may be experiencing, and what to do if these don’t work....

Since it’s free, plenty of people will be upgrading to Windows 10 as soon as it’s released. But we’ve been asked by many about drivers: they’re worried that upgrading will mean their hardware won’t work properly. Here’s what you need to know about getting drivers for Windows 10. A new operating system is always going to have teething troubles, and it will be no different with Windows 10. There’s a vast range of hardware out there, spanning almost a decade (in some cases even older)....

Houseparty has become one of the most popular video chat apps of the times, no doubt thanks, in part, to the societal effects of the global pandemic. Being cut-off from friends and family, unable to meet up and spend time with them in-person has driven the need for other means of connection and all-manner of video apps and services have gained sudden attention and popularity to meet this demand. As such, being confined does not mean we can’t still be social and Houseparty has risen from obscurity to quickly become one of the social video apps of choice right now....

The capacity of solid state disks (SSDs) is growing and the price is falling, but there is still a wide gap between SSDs and traditional internal hard disks (HDDs). The problem is that games and other software takes up a lot of space, and you may not have room on your C: drive for everything. Here we’ll explain how to install software on a second hard drive, and even how to move your whole Program Files folder to another drive....

Clean install? There are a couple of ways to get Windows 10. One is to upgrade from Windows 7 or 8.1. We’ve put together a guide specifically for those wanting the simplest way to upgrade and keep all their files and apps intact. Here, though, we’ll explain how to install Windows 10 from scratch, without upgrading. This is the best option if you want to wipe your hard drive and start afresh, or you’ve bought a new SSD and want to put Windows 10 on it....

Need to install Windows from USB? Here’s how to do that, find your Windows product key and how to download Windows ISO files… legally. So if you’ve lost your Windows DVD, or you never had one, you can still reinstall Windows without it. But you’re here to learn how to put Windows on a USB drive, so here are the basic steps Download the MIcrosoft Media Creation Tool Run it and choose which version of Windows you need Windows will be downloaded Plug in a USB drive A bootable drive with Windows will be created How do I put Windows on a USB drive?...

Although some of those – notably Spotify – had a free tier, that wasn’t supported on smart speakers. Beyond streaming services there are other options for listening to music, such as radio stations and podcasts. Here’s what you need to know about getting Alexa to play music for free, and the limitations you can expect to face. How to link a music service with Alexa It’s the same basic process to use any of the services mentioned here....

Using a VPN is the best way to be anonymous online. Consumer VPN apps are designed to be very easy to use, usually cost less than a pint of beer per month, and ensure that no-one can see what you do online, nor who you are. While many VPNs shout about their amazing security features, a surprising amount of the time they are not enabled by default, or are only present in, say, the Windows version of the app and not the Android or iOS apps....

If you’ve instantly regretted deleting a file or realised much later that the file you’re looking for is gone, the feeling is the same. You might have deleted it by accident, were sure you never needed it again, or felt certain you had a copy saved somewhere else. One option is to check in Windows’ Recycle Bin to see if the files are still sitting there. But if you – like many power users – use the Shift+Delete combo to avoid the “Are you sure?...

TikTok’s repost function enables users to distribute content among their followers. However, you might be unaware that it can also enhance engagement and expand your audience. TikTok hosts an array of clips, varying from mere seconds to a maximum of 10 minutes. All these clips have the potential to go viral due to the platform’s algorithm, which contributes to many videos regularly amassing millions of likes and views. In 2022, the app introduced a “repost” button, allowing users to share their favourite videos with their follower base....

WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app globally, and it’s known for both ease of use and privacy features. However, sometimes you may want to read a message without the sender knowing. Maybe you’re not ready to reply, don’t have the time, or never plan on getting back to them. Technically, there’s no way to guarantee this happens. All WhatsApp messages show as two ticks when they’ve been delivered to someone else’s phone....