Brandon Miniman-Contributor

Brandon Miniman

Contributor

November, 2025
Android Tips, Google Pixel, Android Apps
  • 106
    articles
  • 74
    Features
  • 27
    Lists
  • 4
    Guides
  • 1
    Reviews

About Brandon Miniman

Brandon has been involved in tech journalism since the year 2000 and was part of the OG team of XDA and Pocketnow. He's currently a staff writer for MakeUseOf, covering mobile and consumer tech. Brandon likes to help people take full advantage of their technology. 

He lives outside of Philadelphia, PA, with his wife and three kids. When he's not writing, Brandon plays drums and enjoys listening to music. 

He's a graduate of the Villanova School of Business where he got a bachelors degree in finance.

Latest

windows 11 window tile
Windows 11's Snap Layouts will ruin you for every other OS

Snap layouts is incredibly powerful if you know how to use it right.

1
swiping away notifications
Stop swiping away Android notifications — there's a smarter way to deal with them

Android has powerful tools to manage notifications; here's how to use them.

3
Lenovo Yoga 7 Slim Ultra in-hand
I reviewed the Lenovo Yoga 7 Slim Ultra and it almost made me enjoy Windows again

This is one of the lightest notebook ever to exist, but it's flawed.

landscape homescreen on galaxy
Your Samsung phone has a hidden tablet mode — here's how to unlock it

Make your Samsung feel like a mini tablet with these quick changes.

Pixel 10 Pro rear
Most Pixel owners are ignoring one of the phone’s strangest built-in sensors

That mysterious extra sensor below the flash is pretty useful.

5
chrome on Android
Stop accepting Chrome's defaults: 3 Android settings that actually improve your workflow

Don't accept default settings in Chrome.

microscope camera
This phone's microscope camera reveals detail you've never seen before

Look at these incredibly-detailed shots from the Oppo Find X3 Pro's microscope camera.

pink macbook neo in hand
I had low expectations for Apple's $499 laptop, then I ran the benchmarks

This laptop shouldn't be this good.

works with alexa
"Works with Alexa" doesn't mean what you think it means

Not everything works with Alexa, here's how to find the truth.

firefox on homescreen
Firefox does one thing Chrome simply won't on Android

Chrome on Android still can't run extensions, but Firefox can.

2
samsung galaxy charging
Your Samsung phone can optimize itself overnight — here's how to set it up

Make these changes for a faster phone each day.

3
boox air 4c tablet
A color e-ink tablet sounded like a dream come true until I actually used one

Color e-ink technology is still too new and you should avoid it for now.

2
google pixel recents view
Your phone can do this with voice, and you probably never knew

Start using these simple voice commands on Android and iPhone and save time.

An iPhone showing the Claude app
I moved my entire ChatGPT context to Claude and it finally felt like home

Here is the best path to go from ChatGPT to Claude.

3
samsung vivid color mode
I switched my phone to natural colors and can't unsee how fake vivid mode looks

Boosted color mode is fake, distracting and distasteful and you should turn it off.

1
pixel brightness slider
I changed these 3 Android defaults and my phone immediately felt less chaotic

Make these changes and your Android will work the way you do.

amazon echo studio first generation
I turned on spatial audio in my Echo Studio and the difference was shocking

Get big, room-filling sound by enabling this feature on Amazon Echo.

aod on samsung, pixel and iphone
I keep this setting off for all of my phones to avoid battery drain, and you should too

AOD is pointless and you should just turn it off.

android apps overview
Android's best-kept gestures are hiding in plain sight — here's what you're missing

Don't ignore these powerful gestures in Android.

samsung high display density
I changed 3 hidden Android settings and my phone suddenly had more battery life

These settings will instantly make your phone feel faster plus noticeably improve battery life.

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