This AmazonBasics 50-mile indoor HDTV antenna is only $21

Cut the cord and save even more.

This AmazonBasics 50-mile indoor HDTV antenna is down to its lowest price ever. It regularly sells for $28 and has only dropped from that price once before, but even that previous drop didn’t go as low as this one. This price drop makes it only $1 more than the 35-mile version.

The 50-mile range is helpful particularly for people who don’t live in urban centers. You want to make sure your antenna can reach the signals coming from the nearest broadcast tower. This antenna lets you pick up channels like ABC, NBC, PBS, Fox, and more. It has black and white sides, and it can be painted over if you would like it to be a different color. The coaxial cable is 16 feet long. Use this map of DTV signals from the FCC to make sure this antenna works for you.

If you want to go all-in on cutting the cord, you can get a month of DIRECTV NOW and a Roku Streaming Stick for just $35 or your first 3 months of service for $30 if you’re a new customer.

See at Amazon

Android P’s gestures are a jagged pill you should learn to swallow

The new gestures in Android P aren’t great, but they’re a good start.

Imagine if, in June of last year, Apple had released the first iOS 11 beta with the option to swipe up on the bottom of the iPhone 7 series to go home. Continue engaging your imagination to consider that Apple’s iPhone X, once it shipped, opened the iOS multitasking menu with a default swipe up, requiring a second shorter swipe to finally land on the home screen.

People would have lost their minds.

That’s because iOS has held a core belief that the home button, or now the home gesture, should do exactly that: it should go home. The button and subsequent gesture inform Apple’s prime directive around the iPhone: that its users should always be able to reset the interaction and return home. Of course, throughout the years Apple has expanded and complicated that core belief — double-tapping the home button opened the multitasking window, and when 3D Touch was introduced in 2016, larger iPhone models could hard-press on the edge of the screen to quickly switch between apps. Complication begets confusion, so Apple, with the iPhone X, decided to reset everything all over again.

The iPhone X’s gestures are certainly not free of complication — swiping down from the right side of the notch to access quick settings is incredibly inconvenient — but they achieve the recreation of Apple’s prime user experience directive: the easiest gesture returns home.

I bring this up because when Google introduced its new pill-shaped gesture area on Android P’s first public beta, it was immediately apparent that Google was not aiming to recreate the simplicity, or even the convenience, of its decade-old three-button navigation scheme. Swiping up does not, in fact, go to the home screen but to the multitasking menu. Swiping up again, and only from that in-between state, reaches the app drawer. Indeed, reaching the home screen requires tapping the pill, something that’s not at all obvious from its shape, or from precedent set by Apple and the rest of the industry.

Google doesn’t need to copy Apple’s gestures, or parrot webOS or BlackBerry 10, to be considered successful at this.

Now, I’m not suggesting that Google reproduce Apple’s gestures — it would be impossible to limit Android’s navigation scheme to Apple’s limited set of gestures because Android has been saddled (or, more accurately, saddled itself) with a back button, that legacy bit of code that spared app developers from having to build a consistent method for returning to the previous screen. But Google took the opportunity, in switching to a gesture-based navigation modality, to empower its users to quickly switch between apps as quickly as possible.

For frenetic phone users (like me), this is a clear benefit, since there are two ways to access the multitasking menu and instantly cycle between apps. But such a dichotomy — tapping on the pill to go home and either swiping up or to the right to multitask — adds a layer of cognitive dissonance that won’t disappear (though it will abate) with frequent use.

I am keenly aware that our first interaction with Google’s redesigned navigation scheme comes as an opt-in toggle inside a developer beta, and that this is all subject to change — significantly. Indeed, Dave Burke, the head of Android’s vast engineering team, admitted that he’s already using a version of Android P with numerous usability upgrades over what was rolled out to developers and early adopters this week.

The change is all about simplification, but in the short-term, there will be growing pains.

Things will improve, and likely for the better, based both on user feedback and Google’s own internal guiding light, but it’s clear that a line has been drawn, and the company intends to pursue gestures to eventually replace navigation on all Android devices, not just its Pixels. And that’s a good thing.

In an article with CNET, Burke said the move to gestures was actually about simplifying the current scheme, mainly because the multitasking button — that bland-looking square to the right of the home key — continues to confuse many Android users. (It doesn’t help that Android’s biggest mover, Samsung, designs its own navigation keys, and they’re… not great.) “Android have those three buttons at the bottom: Home, back and something else. And it’s a little too much, a little too complicated. I think of it as like walking into a room with three doors and it’s like, ‘which door do I go in?’” he told CNET’s Jessica Dolcourt.

And then there’s the back button, which will always be there in some form, Burke admits. Whether it will always dangle to the left of the pill like a sore remains to be seen — some have suggested Google replace the back button with a unique gesture — but Android’s app legacy will require its existence in some form for years to come.

A few other tenets of the gesture-based navigation feel incomplete right now, such as the three-step process to launch multi-window mode, and the tuning of the snap gesture to switch between open windows. But I have faith those, along with the fundamentals of this design, will be fixed by the time Android P is released publicly later this summer.

What I’m less sure about is whether this combination of taps and swipes is the right move for Android in the long run, especially since it will take years, and plenty of insufferable experimentation by Google’s Android partners, to once again establish what resembles a consistent navigation standard.

Even today, we have companies like OnePlus, Huawei, and Motorola telling customers that to reclaim essential screen space they can master an esoteric set of finger wags that encourage platform lock-in and undermine Google’s own carefully-considered approach to Android design. But if Google can’t get it right, how can we expect the same of its less-capable counterparts?

Either way, gestures aren’t going anywhere, so if you’re raging against this virtual machine, try to get used to it. It only gets better from here.

Android P

• Android P: Everything you need to know
• Android P Beta hands-on: The best and worst features
• All the big Android announcements from Google I/O 2018
• Will my phone get Android P?
• How to manually update your Pixel to Android P
• Join the Discussion

Google Drive: How to upload, download, view, and share files and documents

How do I use Google Drive on Android?

Google Drive is one of the handiest cloud storage services around, giving you 15GB of free space, which you can access from just about any device with an internet connection. The age of USB thumb drives is over.

When you set up your Android phone, you would have been prompted to add your Google account, which is all you need to use Google Drive. Here’s how to set up your personal Google Drive and use some of its main functions.

• How to add an account to your Google Drive on Android
• How to upload files to your Google Drive on Android
• How to view files in your Google Drive on Android
• How to share files from your Google Drive on Android
• How to view files that were shared with you via Google Drive on Android
• How to download a file from Google Drive
• How to check your storage in Google Drive on Android
• How to delete files from your Google Drive on Android
• How to upload files from your home computer to Google Drive

How to add an account to your Google Drive on Android

If you’ve already set up your Gmail account on your phone, then you’ll just have to launch Google Drive and perform steps 1-3 below. If you’d like to add another account, like a work email address, continue on after step 3.

Launch Google Drive from your home screen or from the app drawer.
Tap the next arrow in the bottom right corner through the start screens.
Tap Done in the bottom right corner of your screen.

Tap the menu button in the top left corner of your screen. It looks like ☰.

Tap the dropdown arrow next to the current account that’s associated with your Google Drive.
Tap Add account.

Tap the type of account you’d like to use. You can even use Twitter!

Enter your security measure if you have a pattern lock or PIN lock on your phone.
Enter your email address or login credentials, depending on what type of account you chose to add.
Tap Next.

Type in your Password and tap Next in the bottom right corner.

Tap Accept.
Tap the circle next to a payment option.

Tap Continue.

The account will now be added to your phone and can be used with other Google apps, like Gmail, Docs, Sheets, and more!

How to upload files to your Google Drive on Android

You can upload Microsoft Word documents, Google Docs, photos from your Gallery, and tons more!

Find the document on your phone that you’d like to upload to Google Drive. In this example, we’re using a photo from the Gallery.
Tap the share button. It’ll usually look like a left-pointing triangle, with a dot at each point.

Tap Save to Drive.

Tap Allow if prompted to allow Google Drive access to your files.

Add a title to the document if you’d like and tap Save in the bottom right corner of your screen.

Your file will now be uploaded to your Google Drive where you can view it from any device on which you can access Google.

How to view files in your Google Drive on Android

Viewing your files in Google Drive on Android is as easy as launching the app from your home screen or app drawer. That’s it! When you launch the app, you’ll be brought to your Drive with all of your files right there for you to scroll through and view. Just tap a file to open it.

You can search for files by name by tapping the search icon (usually looks like a magnifying glass) and typing the name of the file you’d like to view.

How to share files from your Google Drive on Android

You can share any file from your Google Drive, either by sending the physical file or by sharing a link that will allow someone to view the file in your Google Drive (they won’t be able to see anything else).

Launch Google Drive from your home screen or from the app drawer.
Tap the more button on the file you want share. It looks like three vertical dots.
You have two ways to share your file:

• Tap Share link to send someone a link to this file in your Google Drive.
• Tap Send file to send someone the physical file.

Tap a sharing method. You can share files via email, Facebook, messaging, and much more!

Now you can just share the file or the link via the method you’ve chosen normally. If you’re sending it as a message, just tap the send button like you would for a text message. If you’re sharing it via email, you can add a message and add multiple recipients, just like normal!

How to view files that were shared with you via Google Drive on Android

If you have notifications for Google Drive turned on (which they usually are by default), you can just tap the notification and it’ll open right to the file that’s been shared with you. If you dismissed the notification by mistake or just didn’t get one, here’s how to view files that have been shared with you!

Launch Google Drive from your home screen or from the app drawer.
Tap the menu button on the top left of your screen. It looks like ☰.
Tap Shared with me.

Tap the file you’d like to view.

How to download a file from Google Drive

If you’re transferring files via Google Drive and want to save a hard copy to your phone, you just have to download the file.

Launch Google Drive from your home screen or from the app drawer.
Tap the more button on the bottom right of the file thumbnail. It’s the three vertical dots.

Tap Download.

The file will now be downloaded to your phone. You’ll receive a notification when it’s downloaded, and you can tap that to view it or look in your file storage.

How to check your storage in Google Drive on Android

Google Drive starts you off with 15GB for free, and if you find you’re saving a lot to your Google Drive, it’s probably best to keep an eye on your storage.

Launch Google Drive from your home screen or the app drawer.
Tap the menu button on the top left of your screen. It looks like ☰.

Tap Settings.

The first item in the Settings list is Storage and beneath it, it’ll tell you how much of your 15GB you have used. If you’re just using your Drive to save Google Docs, it’s going to take you a very long time to fill it up.

How to delete files from your Google Drive on Android

If you do find your Google Drive is getting a bit full because you’ve been using it to save photos, videos, music, and a ton of other stuff, you can choose to pay to upgrade your storage or take the frugal route and delete some stuff!

Launch Google Drive from your home screen or the app drawer.
Tap the more button on the file you’d like to delete. It’s the three vertical dots in the bottom right corner of the thumbnail.

Tap Remove, which is at the bottom of the options.

The file will now be removed from your Google Drive, but you can always re-upload it if you need to.

How to upload files from your home computer to Google Drive

Google Drive is also a great place to store documents and other files that you created on your desktop computer. You can either do a one-time backup, or set your folders to synchronize to Google Drive.

Open the Google Drive web site.
Click on New.
Click on File upload or Folder upload, whichever is appropriate.
Select the file or folder you’d like to upload, then click open.
When the files or folders are down uploading, there will be a notification in the lower right corner of the screen.

This was a one-time upload, but setting up the synchronization is also easy!

Download Google Drive Backup and Sync from this website.
Click on the installation file. You will need administrator rights for your computer to install the software.

Once the installation is finished, click on the cloud icon in the lower-right corner of your screen.

Sign in with your email address, password and two-factor authentication method.

Select the libraries and folders you would like to synchronize to Google Drive.

Select the Google Drive folders you would like to synchronize to your computer.

That’s it! Now your computer files will automatically backup to the cloud, where they’ll be safe and sound.

This article was updated in May 2018 with information about uploading files from your home computer to Google Drive.

Google’s now forcing OEMs to update devices with ‘regular’ security patches

Good move, Google.

Google I/O is always home to a lot of announcements, and while the biggest ones usually come from the opening keynote, there are little nuggets to be found throughout the smaller breakout sessions over the week.

As spotted by XDA Developers, there was one particularly interesting statement that came out of Google’s “What’s new in Android security” talk.

During it, David Kleidermacher, Android’s head of security, said the following:

We’ve also worked on building security patching into our OEM agreement. Now this will really lead to a massive increase in the number of devices, and users, receiving regular security patches.

Some OEMs such as Essential and Sony have shown a good track record for updating their phones with security patches on a timely basis, but other brands have a tendency to keep users waiting and waiting.

Kleidermacher didn’t explain what exactly “regular” updates mean, but by requiring OEMs follow through with this, we should hopefully see many more smartphones running the latest patches compared to what we’ve got right now.

Google I/O 2018: All the big announcements!

Best Bands for the Samsung Gear Fit 2 in 2018

Update the look of your Gear Fit 2 with these stylish band options!

The Samsung Gear Fit 2 is a pretty good fitness band that includes a feature typically found on smartwatches: the ability to swap out the 22mm bands for other colors or styles.

If you prefer to wear yours 24/7, having a couple extra bands can help you accessorize your Gear Fit 2, whether you’re attending a formal affair or just like to spice things up with a fresh splash of color. There’s a number of great, affordable options out there, so let’s dive in!

• MoKo Soft Silicone Replacement Sport Bands
• Moretek Fit 2 Wrist Straps
• V-Moro Metal Replacement bands
• Maxjoy Metal Replacement Straps
• MDW Security Clasps

MoKo Soft Silicone Replacement Sports Bands

MoKo offers a wide range of color options for their silicone straps for the Gear Fit 2. Each strap is adjustable to fit small or large wrists (4.96″ – 8.38″) via the same style of metal plug used on the strap that came with the Gear Fit 2. Bands can be swapped in and out quickly with the one-button quick release for locking the watch band, making it convenient to have a fresh strap to swap out after a sweaty workout.

With a price of only $11 compared to Samsung’s stock replacement for the black, you can economically afford to get a couple of these in your favorite colors, then keep them in a bit of a rotation so your wrist always feeling fresh and looking fine.

See styles at Amazon

Moretek Fit 2 Wrist Straps

Moretek offers two different styles of wristbands for the Gear Fit 2: a more traditional strap available in 12 different color and pattern options and a rugged strap (pictured) that offers impact protection for your tracker’s watch face. Everything is made of a skin-friendly silicone material and held on your wrist with a traditional watch strap buckle. The rugged bands are definitely going to add some bulk to your wrist, but whether you’re playing a high-impact sport or simply prone to banging it against doorways, that extra protection might save you from incidental damage.

Pricing starts around $12.

See at Amazon

V-Moro Metal Replacement bands

If you’re after a metal strap option for a more stylish look, V-Moro has you covered with two distinct styles — a classic metal link band and a Milanese loop band featuring a magnetic clasp. Both styles are available in silver or black, with the Milanese band (pictured) sold in small and large sizes, so choose accordingly.

The metal band includes a tool for adding and removing links for adjusting sizes. Both are great for incorporating your Gear Fit 2 as an accessory in a professional wardrobe. V-Moro also offers a medium-sized silicone strap on the same Amazon listing. In stark contrast to the stylish metal offerings, these are extremely utilitarian and offer that “classic” fitness tracker look, with five color options to choose from. Get yours starting at $20.

See styles at Amazon

Maxjoy Metal Replacement Straps

Not everyone digs the rubber strap look. While it might be ideal for getting sweaty in the gym, if you’re planning to wear your Gear Fit 2 out on the town you might be after a bit more of a classy look.

Maxjoy has a line of stylish metal replacement straps for your Gear Fit 2 that included Milanese loop bands as well as metal link bands made of high-quality stainless steel. The Milanese bands are available in black, silver, and rose gold for just $17, or choose between a black or silver metal link band for just $20. All bands are backed by a 100% satisfaction guarantee and a 12-month warranty which means you can buy with confidence.

See at Amazon

MDW Security Clasps

Not digging the band recommendations above? We get it. Frankly, it’s quite alright to love the band that came with your Gear Fit 2. However, there have been reports of bands coming unclasped or otherwise falling off people’s wrists. Maybe this has happened to you.

Allow us to share this recommendation from the comments. You can get a 7-pack of these colorful security clasps for just $6 that fit over the band and ensures your band never pops off. They should offer the extra protection from your Fit 2 falling off your wrist while also letting you add a splash of color.

See at Amazon

How do you accessorize your Gear Fit 2?

Are you a band swapper? What’s your favorite style for your Gear Fit 2? Let us know in the comments!

Updated May 2018: Updated pricing and buy links for our selections. These are still your best options for accessorizing your Gear Fit 2!

Where to buy the Moto E5 series in the U.S. and Canada

Your ultimate guide for buying the Moto E5 in North America.

Motorola first introduced its Moto E series in 2013 as an even cheaper alternative to the already affordable Moto G line. Moto E phones aren’t the most powerful or flashy around, but Motorola’s used this product line year after year to offer quality phones at wickedly low prices.

This year’s Moto E5 series is no different, with Motorola offering three different options in the forms of the Moto E5, E5 Play, and E5 Plus. The regular E5 isn’t being sold anywhere in North America, but there are plenty of carriers offering the E5 Play and E5 Plus throughout the United States and Canada.

United States

Boost Mobile

If you rely on Sprint’s network but want to get cheaper monthly rates, Boost is the way to go. Motorola says that Boost will carry both the Moto E5 Play and Moto E5 Plus.

Pricing for the two phones have yet to be announced, but the larger E5 Plus is guaranteed to be more expensive than the E5 Play.

See at Boost Mobile

Cricket Wireless

Alternatively, Cricket Wireless is one of the go-to pre-paid carriers in the States if you prefer AT&T’s network without the company’s high monthly rates.

Similar to Boost Mobile, Cricket Wireless will offer the E5 Plus and E5 Play. However, Cricket will alter the naming so that the E5 Plus is the E5 Supra and the E5 Play is the E5 Cruise. Despite the different names, these are still the same versions of the phones everyone else has.

See at Cricket Wireless

Sprint

Pre-paid networks are great for some customers, but for others, traditional post-paid plans still reign supreme.

Sprint is the only U.S. carrier selling the Moto E5 series through post-paid options, and it’ll carry the E5 Plus and E5 Play.

See at Sprint

Verizon

Verizon’s own pre-paid service has seen some solid upgrades over the past few months, and it’s definitely one of your best bets for getting Verizon service with affordable month-to-month rates.

Unlike all of the carriers we’ve talked about so far, Verizon will only sell the Moto E5 Play. If you’re searching for the E5 Plus, you won’t find it here.

See at Verizon

Virgin Mobile

Similar to Verizon, Virgin Mobile will only sell the Moto E5 Play on its network.

See at Virgin Mobile

Xfinity Mobile

Xfinity is one of the newest brands to enter the wireless space, and just like Verizon and Virgin, will only sell the cheaper Moto E5 Play. Xfinity Mobile uses Verizon’s towers for its service and is a pretty compelling deal for folks that already get their internet and TV through the Xfinity.

See at Xfinity Mobile

Canada

Moving over to our friends in the Great White North, you’ll only find the Moto E5 Play in these neck of the woods.

The Moto E5 and E5 Plus won’t be coming to the country at all, and while that’s a bummer, the E5 Play will be available at a variety of carriers in the area.

According to Motorola, you’ll be able to pick up the E5 Play at Bell Canada, Chatr Mobile, Fido, Lucky Mobile, Rogers, SaskTel, and Virgin Mobile through pre-paid plans. Additionally, Videotron will sell the phone post-paid and Freedom Mobile will offer the option of getting the E5 Play pre or post-paid.

Moto E5, E5 Plus and E5 Play: Everything you need to know!

How to turn on YouTube’s reminders to stop watching videos

Seriously, just go outside or something.

Of all the apps on my phone, one of my most used ones is easily YouTube. Whether I’m catching up on Good Mythical Morning with my cereal before work or taking a break to see what’s going on with 368, I often find myself glued to my phone going through everything new in my subscription feed.

I try to be as conscious as possible of my smartphone usage, and while I like to think I’ve got a good “digital wellbeing” as Google puts it, a helping hand here and there is always appreciated.

YouTube has a new feature in its Android app that gives you subtle reminders to take a break from watching videos if you’re wasting the day away on the app, and this is how you can turn it on.

Open YouTube
Tap your profile icon at the top right
From the Account page, tap Settings
Tap General at the very top of the list

Tap on Remind me to take a break

From here, you can choose to get a reminder every 15, 30, 60, 90, or 180 minutes you’re watching videos consecutively. Once you’ve reached the limit you set, you’ll see a pop-up suggesting you take a break. On the pop-up, you’ll have options for dismissing it or diving into your settings to adjust the frequency the reminders come up.

What’s new in YouTube at Google I/O 2018

Let me talk to your Mom [#acpodcast]

Let those in glass boxes cast the hottest of takes! Daniel Bader, Andrew Martonik, Alex Dobie, and Russell Holly are joined by special guest Igor Bonifacic of MobileSyrup.com. No stone or announcement from Google I/O 2018 goes unturned in this analysis of Google Duplex, Android P, and everything else in between. Second Burger King to the right, and straight on ’til morning!

Listen now

• Subscribe in iTunes: Audio
• Subscribe in RSS: Audio
• Download directly: Audio

Show Notes and Links:

• MobileSyrup
• Google I/O 2018
• Google I/O 2018: All the big announcements!

Sponsors:

• Thrifter.com: All the best deals from Amazon, Best Buy, and more, fussily curated and constantly updated.
• GameStash: Hundreds of awesome games on your Android phone. Try it free for 14 days!

BlackBerry teases KEY2 announcement for June 7

An event will be held in New York to unveil the phone.

There’s been talk over the past few weeks about a possible successor to last year’s BlackBerry KEYone, and thanks to an announcement from BlackBerry itself, we now know exactly when it’s coming.

On May 11, BlackBerry’s official Twitter account shared the following image —

🔑2⃣ 👀 pic.twitter.com/t4ZF9yGfhH

— BlackBerry Mobile (@BBMobile) May 11, 2018

Along with the 🔑2⃣ emojis, a proper BlackBerry KEY2 logo can be seen underneath the “An Icon Reborn” tag.

Hands-on images of the KEY2 popped up earlier this month showing a pretty familiar design compared to the KEYone. There are subtle differences with the physical keyboard, but for the most part, this looks a lot like last year’s phone. Considering just how well-built the KEYone was, however, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Combine that same design with updated specs for 2018, and I expect we’ll have a lot of happy campers.

BlackBerry will announce the KEY2 on June 7 in New York and we’ll be sure to share more information as soon as we get it.

Why I’m still using a BlackBerry KEYone in Spring 2018

How to use God of War’s new photo mode

Tap into your creative side and capture the epic musings of Kratos and Atreus.

Want to take a break from killing draugrs to capture some moments with Kratos and the boy? God of War’s new photo mode – here as part of patch 1.20 – offers a comprehensive set of tools to let you compose the best scene and take the best shot.

Here, we’ll show you everything that the game’s photo mode allows you to do, and how you can use those tools to get the most out of each photo.

See at Amazon

How to get to Photo Mode in God of War

First things first, you’ll need to actually launch the mode before you can use it. You’ll have to do a bit of legwork to set the scene up by actually playing the game. Whether you want to take a snapshot during a fight or if you just want to have Kratos looking over a cliffside into the sunset, you have to get him there.

Once you do, it’s just a matter of opening the options menu. You can do this by tapping either the TouchPad or the Options button anytime during gameplay. Once there, press the Triangle button. Scroll down to “Enter Photo Mode” and press the X button.

Get your composition

Upon entering Photo Mode, the first thing you’ll want to do is find out how you want the scene to be shot. You can easily manipulate the scene by using the analog sticks to pan the camera and change the camera angle, while the R2 and L2 buttons let you pan vertically. If you need to reset the scene, just press the Square button.

It’s important to remember that there’s no right or wrong way to do this. It’s your shot, so get the subjects and backgrounds in there however you like and go for it.

Fine tune your scene

Next, you’ll adjust the scene using a bundle of effects, filters, and settings found within five different tabs which you can cycle through using the L1 and R1 buttons.

Camera

The camera tab has options for changing the field of view, focal length, and camera roll. These three will help you tighten up your shot’s composition.

For all intents and purposes, you can consider field of view and focal length to be the same options, the former being a term that gamers may be more familiar with and measured in degrees, with the latter being the photography equivalent measured in millimeters. No matter which you choose to adjust, they’re essentially just allowing you to zoom in and out in any given shot.

The camera roll is a bit different. It offers the ability to tilt the angle either left or right.

Aperture

This is where you make those adjustments that’ll make your photos dreamy. The aperture menu houses controls for adjusting depth-of-field, focus distance, and F-Stop. Together, they all help to deliver effects like a blurred background (or what’s known as bokeh in the field of photography).

The reverse is also true: you can adjust the depth of field and F-Stop in such a way that ensures everything in the scene is sharp and in focus. It’s up to you to decide how you want your scene to appear, so be sure to play around with it.

Beginners can use presets that’ll adjust the depth of field to ensure a specific character, such as Kratos or Arteus, remains in focus. If you want more control, you can use focus distance and f-stop. The rule of thumb here is that the lower the number on F-Stop, the more blurred your background will be. Want everything sharper? Increase the F-Stop.

Filters

It’s time to get your Instagram on. This is the post-processing part of photography that adds effects through filters. You can add film grain if you want to add to the cinematic feel of it all.

Other filter options include black-and-white, sepia, vibrant, and more. Kratos and Atreus even have their own respective filters. You’ll get a more warm-looking tone for Kratos, while Atreus’ will bring out a lot of cool blue.

A filter intensity option allows you to adjust how powerful the effect is, so whether you prefer a more subtle approach or something louder than life, you’re covered.

The filter menu also allows you to change the exposure. If you need the scene to be that much brighter or darker, this is what you’ll use to make it so.

Borders

You can add a vignette and a number of borders to your photos. While there is only one standard type of vignette you can use, you do get controls for adjusting the intensity and fall off of it. You’ll see the most difference with intensity, while falloff offers more subtle finetuning over how far into the photo the shadows will seep.

For borders, there are standard letterboxing options to help give it that cinematic feel or to help you achieve different perspectives and compositions, such as portrait vs landscape, cinematic 16:9 or 21:9 aspect ratios, or perfect squares if you’re looking to throw these up on Instagram. You’ll find more flashy borders with a Norse flair beyond that. This is also where you can use the God of War logo if you so wish.

Pro Tip: Use the centered God of War logo as a guide to help you find the center of the image. Feel free to disable the logo once you’re finished.

Characters

This is where things get really cool with features that you don’t see in many other games – you can manipulate the characters in the scene. If you don’t want Kratos, Atreus, or neither of them to show up, you can toggle their visibility on an individual basis.

And if that wasn’t enough, you can even change their facial expressions. A mean Kratos makes any scene look epic, but it can be nice to bring out his human side every now and then to make him look like the loving father he actually is.

It’s downright hilarious to see him cheesing as he’s getting ready to cut down a hellacious monster. I also relish the opportunity to make Atreus look like he’ll do anything other than bawl his eyes out in any given scene.

Saving your photos

Once it’s all said and done, you can hide the Photo Mode UI by pressing the X button and share it however you like. While it’s all good and well to stay on your PS4’s hard drive, the PS4’s built-in share functionality makes it easy to post it on social media or send it to anyone on your friends list. Just tap that trusty Share button on your PS4 controller to share it with the world.

There are limitations

While God of War’s photo mode is chock full of control, you will run into some limitations. The first thing to know is that you won’t be able to get super in-depth with composition during cutscenes as the game restricts camera and focus manipulation.

We should also note that the game is pretty stringent in how far it’ll let you move the camera. You can zoom too far out, nor can you take it very far out of the scene. You may also run into issues when trying to maneuver the camera around bigger characters.

These issues shouldn’t sour your fun so much that you’ll never want to use photo mode, but don’t be surprised when you’re eventually denied the perfect shot.

Share your memories

You’re armed with some pretty powerful tools to capture and share photos of your time in the world of God of War, and now you have the knowledge to use them to their fullest potential. Put them to good use if you want to keep lasting memories of this beautiful game.

PlayStation 4

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