Both Google and Apple have started the long tease ahead of new software updates in Spring, with Android P and iOS 12 now available to users who are brave enough to take the plunge (and have a developer account, in Apple's case). So which beta software looks most promising and gets us most excited? Here's how they stack up.

I got my nails done a few weeks ago, and it felt great, but I highly recommend trying Wanna Nails (iOS, Android) before you head into the salon so you aren't fumbling around with colour choices. And if you're more a DIY person for nail maintenance, you can avoid purchasing a colour you end up hating. Let the powers of augmented reality help you preview different colours on your nails with the tap of a finger.

Android/iOS: What's on your network? You can always pull up your router's web interface to get a sense of which devices are connected, but you're probably just going to get a list of MAC addresses and assigned IPs - not very helpful. The app Fing - Network Scanner is a great, free way to get a better idea of all the devices your router has to deal with.

Android: This week Google rolled out a new version of Gmail for Android, and along with it a new feature that allows you to customise what happens when you swipe right or left on a message from your inbox.

Android: Pretty much every new Android device comes with Google Assistant baked in as your default AI butler, but what if you prefer Amazon's Alexa? It's easy to change which robotic assistant will respond when you ask for help.

iOS/Android: Philips has released a major update to its Hue app that actually makes it worth using. And I'm not being over the top when I say that; prior to this update, the Hue app was a mess. It felt like it took forever to load; the user interface was challenging, to put it nicely; and it made me set off on a hunt for the best third-party apps I could use to control my fancy Hue lights without the headache and stress of the official Hue app.

Droid: It's not just a robot from a galaxy far, far away. It's also a good option for anyone who wants a mobile device unshackled by the closed operating systems used by certain other smartphone manufacturers.

A court in the Netherlands has made an interesting ruling that pontentially affects all smartphone users. Consumer rights group Consumentenbond said Samsung was creating a security problem for users by not promising to release patches for handsets beyond the two years the company already commits to. The group says this leaves users exposed to previously unknown vulnerabilities.

With its peerless camera, instant OS updates and sleek design, the Pixel 2 is arguably the best Android smartphone on the market. Today, the internet caught its first glimpse of the Pixel 3 - and it's looking quite different to its predecessor. It appears that an iPhone X-esque notch is coming to the Pixel family.

I've always been a fan of Valve's Steam streaming, because it means you don't have to lug your desktop PC around your house or apartment whenever you feel like gaming somewhere else. Though your laptop might not be able to run The Witcher 3 natively - or at least, not very well - it's a lot easier to let your gaming desktop do all the heavy lifting and stream its output to another device, such as the three-year-old laptop you're using from your backyard hammock.

We could all use a little more time in the day, and your smartphone apps are here to help you. Plenty of the apps you use every day include handy timesavers that you might not have noticed yet, but fear not — we're here to point them out for you. Use these tricks to claw back some minutes or even some hours out of every day, time you can use for something more productive or enjoyable.

Nobody likes a boring home screen. And while you get a number of default options within Android to pretty up your device, you can get a lot more creative if you build your own live wallpaper. KLWP Live Wallpaper Maker is the perfect "the sky is the limit" app, for its usefulness is directly correlated to how much time you're willing to spend in it, making the live wallpaper of your dreams.

Earlier this year, Snapchat rolled out a drastic redesign meant to make the confusing social network a little easier for newcomers to understand. But the new layout flopped and now Snapchat is admitting defeat with a second redesign that undoes almost all of those changes.

More and more phones are adding wireless charging capabilities, but if you're using an older handset or one that still needs a cable to juice up — hello, Google Pixel 2 — you don't have to be left out of the party. Here's a straightforward guide to the kit you need to charge up any phone by just placing it down on a surface.

We're all probably a little more addicted to our phones than we'd like to be. I know that I instinctively pull mine out whenever there's a break in the action of the day be that when I'm on the train, between meetings, or even waiting on food at a restaurant. It's easy to take your phone out and get absorbed in what's happening on Facebook or Instagram.

In a perfect world, we would all ignore our phones while behind the wheel, but the sad truth is that some people just can't resist the dopamine boost of a new text message or Facebook notification.

Android P is here, for those who want it, with a compatible device and the patience to put up with a few extra bugs and crashes. We've been playing around with the beta OS on a Pixel 2, and these are the most promising features we've come across so far - including a few hidden goodies Google hasn't mentioned yet.

Now that I've spent some time getting to know the preview build of Android P (version 9.0 has not yet received its dessert-themed nickname), here are five notable changes in what might be the most ambitious leap for the system in a very long time.

Computer, tablet, or phone not starting, or seemingly frozen in time? Before you take it down to the local repair shop, or send it off to the professionals, here are the cheat codes to use to try and get your device back on its feet — it might be you can save yourself a hefty repair bill by fixing the issue yourself.