How to stop Android apps starting automatically: Why stop them? Everything that runs on your device has some kind of impact on the resources available for memory, CPU, and battery power. For the most part this isn’t an issue as Android is actually designed to fill up its RAM with apps so that users have a fast experience. If performance starts to dip the system will begin closing down the least used ones in order to claim back speed....

When Microsoft launched Windows 11, one app seemed to get special treatment. You might have heard of it before: Microsoft Teams. Teams was first released back in 2017, but the arrival of Windows 11 saw it take centre stage. As well as being pre-installed and opening every time you boot up your computer, a dedicated chat window is now built into the taskbar. If Teams is your go-to app for staying in touch, that might be fine....

Hiring the right people for your business is one of the most important functions of any organisation but when it comes to startups, hiring is the most important function of all. In the early stages of your company, each employee plays a crucial role in shaping the culture, direction and ultimate success of your business. Search the UK’s top tech jobs now From hiring friends and family, to being unclear about your mission or accruing diversity debt , there are many potential pitfalls founders need to avoid....

Having been first released six years ago, you could be forgiven for thinking that Windows 10 is now out out date. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Microsoft rolls out monthly security patches and feature updates twice a year for its desktop operating system, while bug fixes are released as soon as they’re available. That’s great news for the 1 billion+ Windows 10 users, but what if your PC won’t let you install the update?...

Only a few years ago, voice assistants felt like just a fad, with limited features and questionable reliability. However, they’ve since become a staple of the modern smart home, whether you use Siri, Google Assistant or Alexa. They can help simplify your everyday life, answer questions and play a variety of different kinds of audio. But with Cortana on Windows 11 no longer a thing, you’ll need an alternative. Alexa is the obvious choice, given it’s officially supported by Microsoft and works across a range of devices....

Miracast is a way of wirelessly beaming the contents of your phone, tablet or PC to a TV or other screen. It’s a relatively old technology which hasn’t had any development for a long while and which has been superseded by other wireless technologies including AirPlay and Google Cast. Put simply, if you want to beam your Android or iPhone screen to a TV, then a Chromecast or Apple TV is, respectively, the best way to do it....

Note-taking is one of the most important ways to store and retain information that you might need. Whether it’s for school, work or simply to remember something important, notes help you focus on the key details and ignore irrelevant information. However, taking notes the old way – with pen and paper – isn’t always a great solution. You want to access your notes across all your devices, or simply write faster using a keyboard....

If you rely on Windows 10 to stay productive, it’s highly likely you’ll be handling multiple tabs, windows and even desktops at the same time. It can be difficult to keep track of everything, particularly if you want to multitask effectively. Although task management has existed in some form on Windows since 1990, it wasn’t until the release of Windows 10 in 2015 that it evolved into a genuine management tool....

You may have seen lots of photos from Lensa flood your social media recently. Lensa is an AI image generator app that can create what it calls ‘magic avatars’. These are artistic renders of photos that are created from 10-20 selfies that you upload. The app processes your images to create a series of avatars that look as if they have been hand-drawn by a real-life artist (at least, in theory)....

Windows 10 is the most popular operating system in the world and for good reason. If you’re buying a new laptop or PC it will almost certainly come installed, but luckily it’s nice and intuitive. Those upgrading from Windows 7 should feel quite at home as not a great deal has changed in the way everything works. The Start menu is bit different , Cortana is likely bugging you to try her out and there are a few new apps which effectively replace old one (but those are – on the whole – still there if you look for them)....

AMD has been on a roll in recent years. Since the launch of the first Ryzen processors in 2017, the company has emerged as Intel’s main rival in the CPU world. It’s a similar story when it comes to GPUs, with the Radeon RX graphics cards going toe-to-toe with Nvidia’s GeForce RTX range. With that in mind, it should come as no surprise to learn that AMD has already been very active in 2022....

If you’re looking to start a watch party on Disney Plus, the streaming service has a GroupWatch feature available in select markets across the world. This allows friends and family to watch streams simultaneously, and control playback by pausing, re-winding and fast-forwarding the stream for the whole group. If you’re looking to do it yourself, we have a step-by-step guide below. In addition, if the service isn’t yet available in your market, we have instructions on how to use GroupWatch on Disney+ from abroad....

The Gfinity Elite Series Finals are set to take place today and tomorrow from the Gfinity eSports Arena in Fulham Broadway, London. eSports professionals and newcomers alike have gone head to head over the past eight weeks, competing for a £250,000 prize. Featuring FIFA 18, Street Fighter V and Rocket League, the finals are set to be exciting. Here’s all you need to know about the Gfinity Elite Series Finals, including timings, location and how you can watch the action live....

At a Glance Expert’s Rating Our Verdict Full marks to HP for attempting to do something different with the new Envy 17. However, gesture-recognition is still in its infancy and there are few apps that currently use that technology in a way that grabs the imagination. The Envy 17 Leap Motion SE might appeal to a few niche markets at the moment, but at well over £1000 it will probably seem like an expensive luxury for ordinary home and business users....

At a Glance Our Verdict We can’t offer our final verdict on the HP SlateBook until we’ve fully tested it, but our first impressions are mixed. We love the look of the SlateBook, but the idea of running Android on our laptop is not something that really appeals to us. However, we’re sure that there are some Consumers out there who’ve been hoping for just that – the familiar operating system and Google Play Store that they have on their tablet or smartphone right there on their laptop....

At a Glance Expert’s Rating Our Verdict Hewlett Packard has done well to build a lighter weight 15-inch mobile workstation laptop with much of the strength and integrity of its traditional models that are far less mobile in real terms. Sacrifices have been made to the main CPU by fitting dual-core rather than quad-core, and the AMD GPU is a middleweight part rather than fire-breathing FirePro. But importantly the 15u runs cool and quiet enough not make itself a nuisance, even under load....

At a Glance Expert’s Rating Our Verdict Overall, the HTC U11 Life is a solid mid-range phone. Design and specs are largely decent for the price – especially getting 64GB of storage and 4GB of RAM as standard. Meanwhile Android One keeps software clean and simple if that’s what you’re after. This, and Edge Sense, are the main reasons to buy this phone over rivals but there’s strong competition. At the same price, the Moto X4 has better cameras and a bigger battery if those things are important....

At a Glance Our Verdict An excellent phone that gives you most of the Mate 30 Pro experience in a more affordable package, but whose success outside of China hangs in the balance. If the US government’s ban against Huawei isn’t lifted, the Mate 30’s lack of Google Play Services will be a black mark against its appeal on store shelves, when compared to the scores of rival high-end Android devices that do offer a more tailored Google-laden experience....

At a Glance Expert’s Rating Our Verdict The MateBook X Pro for 2019 might look the same as its predecessor but there are a number of upgrades here including better performance and battery life. There are also some new software features all made possible thanks to a handy NFC tag. The X Pro is almost perfect. Best Prices Today: Huawei MateBook X Pro (2019) As per last year, Huawei has announced a new new laptop at MWC....

Huawei launched the P50 and P50 Pro back in July, but only in China. It then posted a teaser for a ‘new product launch event’ in Vienna in October, which everyone expected to be the P50’s Western launch. But no, the P50 series won’t launch until ‘early 2022’ . Instead, the company announced the Nova 9 for Europe. This phone was unveiled in China only a month or so ago, so it is new....