Before getting into specific streaming services and apps, it might be best to point out that while most make subtitle customization fairly painless, once you know where to look, the paths to them vary more than they should.

As a general rule, if subtitles are something you know you want to have consistently on across all your streaming apps, all the major devices have system-level subtitle and captioning settings that you can set and that sometimes override in-app defaults across all your streaming apps at once.

With all of them, you can customize things like fonts, font size, font color, background color, opacity, edged style, highlights, and more. You can also create new styles and save them as presets.

For Apple TV: On the Apple TV device, go to Settings > Accessibility > Subtitles and Captioning > Style. Here you’ll be able to adjust all kinds of subtitle formatting options.

For Fire TV: Open the Settings menu and choose Accessibility > Closed Caption, where you’ll find menu items for text, text background, and more.

For Roku: From the Settings menu, select Accessibility > Captions style for a wide range of options.

For Android TV: From the Settings menu, navigate to Device Preferences > Accessibility > Captions.

For Google TV: From the Home Screen, select Settings > Accessibility > Caption preferences > Caption size and style.

Netflix

Profile-based settings that sync across all your devices

As mentioned above, Netflix takes care of its own subtitle preferences, which are tied to your account profile, and can be adjusted differently for each. The best way to make these changes is through a web browser, which will sync across the Netflix apps on all your devices.

1. At Netflix.com, log in to your account and select your profile.
2. From the dropdown menu, select Account > Profiles > and then the profile you want to change.
3. Under Subtitle Appearance, you’ll find a range of great modifications you can make—from text size, font, and text color to adding drop shadowing and background colors to make text stand out over busy images.
4. Make the changes you want, which you’ll be able to preview before hitting save.
5. You can always choose Restore to Default if you want to start again or walk away.
6. The changes will take effect across your profile on all your signed-in devices.

Prime Video

Save presets that you can switch between during playback

Amazon Prime Video offers one of the more flexible subtitle systems, allowing you to save multiple style presets and switch between them during playback, often across several devices. Like Netflix, though, one of the best ways to adjust and personalize them is on the web.

1. In a web browser, while a video is playing, you can click or tap the Subtitles & Audio icon (speech bubble) in the upper-right corner of the player.
2. Select Subtitles Settings from the menu.
3. Here you can adjust font size and choose from four presets.

To build and manage those presets so you can access them on the other devices and apps that allow it, though, the best way to adjust is on the web. Log in to primevideo.com and through your profile, go to Account & Settings > Subtitles, where you can edit up to four saved presets.

HBO Max

Different options depending on how you’re watching

Adjusting subtitle settings on HBO Max (beyond just turning them on and off, etc.) varies depending on how you’re watching.

On the web: At hbomax.com, click your profile, then go to Settings > Subtitle Style to adjust font, color, size, and opacity.

On TV and mobile devices: Select the Audio and Subtitles icon during playback for basic styling. For size controls and more, this is handled at the device level (see the top of this post).

Disney+

Access subtitle options from various points

Disney+ has several different ways to adjust subtitle formatting depending on how you’re watching.

On mobile devices that run iOS and Android, they’re accessed through the system’s Settings > Accessibility menus.

On smart TVs, you can access it while watching a video. Press pause and then select the Audio & Subtitles menu that appears at the top right. Then select the Subtitle Styling option.

Apple TV and Fire TV also use their system-level preferences that can be accessed through their Settings > Accessibility and captioning options.

If you watch Disney+ through a web browser, you can access them by pausing a video and selecting Audio & Subtitles in the top right corner. A Gear icon will appear, which will lead to the Subtitle Styling settings. Make your style adjustments and click the back arrow to continue watching.

data:text/html, <html contenteditable> That’s pretty much it. Now you can use that page as a no-frills word processor. It’s handy to have it when you want to write notes while working, take a phone call, or, in my case, jot down ideas and thoughts while writing.

The best thing about this DIY notepad is that it works in most modern browsers. I’ve tested it in Chrome, Firefox, and Edge, but it should work in pretty much every browser you might be using, no matter how obscure it is. You aren’t limited to desktop browsers either. I tried taking notes in the Android versions of Chrome and DuckDuckGo, and I managed to turn them into notepads just by copying the command into their address bar and opening the page.

So why would anyone use this? Well, as I’ve said, it can be handy to have a barebones note-taking page in your browser for times when you want to quickly jot something down without having to open your preferred note-taking app or click through multiple menus to access an online notepad.

You can bookmark the page and open it in a second when you’re working and want to write down something your coworker or boss said, or jot down a quick note or two during a phone or video call. When you’re in an online meeting and get a great idea but have to wait for your turn to speak, you can immediately write it down instead of opening a separate app.

I occasionally use this browser-based notepad when working on an article or doing research. It’s great for capturing fleeting thoughts I might otherwise forget, jotting down subheading ideas, pasting useful links, or using it as a temporary note-taking space I can simply close and forget about once I’m done.

This browser notepad works great as a dead-simple note-taking app, but the fact that it’s just a tiny code snippet also means you shouldn’t expect a slew of features. You can’t adjust the font size, spacing, margins, or any of that fancy stuff. Your notes also won’t be saved automatically when you close the browser or reload the page. The only way to save them is by saving the entire page using the “Save page as…” option.

You get the default font, can press Enter to insert line breaks, use basic keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl+I, Ctrl+B, Ctrl+U), and copy and paste text—and that’s about it. There’s no support for Markdown or any other advanced feature.

If this hack sounds intriguing but you find the default version too barebones, check out this Medium article and paste the code shared there into your browser’s address bar. You’ll get a nicer-looking yet still dead-simple note-taking space you can customize to your liking. You can adjust margins, change the background, and more by tweaking the code. The downside is that this version won’t save your work either, but at least it looks much better than the original.

If you want an even more powerful browser notepad that automatically saves what you write, head over to this Reddit post and follow the instructions (the code should work fine in most browsers). In a minute or so, you’ll have your own browser notepad you can bookmark and use whenever you want to jot something down, with the added benefit of everything being saved automatically. You can edit the font size and many other elements directly in the code—just open the .htm file you created with Notepad and go wild.

While they’re as simple as possible and will never replace proper, robust note-taking apps, these browser-based notepads are neat to have. Sometimes, we just want to write something down in a hurry, and being able to open one with a single click can be handy.

Also, sometimes I just want to jot something down while working or browsing the web, use that info a few minutes later, and then simply close the page and forget about it. Not every note needs to be formatted or saved.

Use a portable power station

A power station is effectively a giant portable battery that can output enough power to keep anything powered, from your phone and computer to a fridge and freezer. They’re looked upon as the gold standard of home backup power. Most of them have lithium-ion (Li-ion) or lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries inside them, and some can have their capacity expanded with additional battery packs.

These chargers commonly feature both AC and DC plug sockets plus USB power. Their capacity is typically measured in Watt-hours (Wh), where 1000Wh would theoretically keep a 1000W device running for an hour. Of course, your router will use far less power than this, likely falling somewhere in the 30W range.

Power stations are great for emergencies like power outages, as long as you store them in a (somewhat) charged state. Keeping a lithium-ion battery in storage at full charge is not recommended for long-term battery health, so limiting the charge to around 80% or less is recommended.

To use a power station as a backup for your internet connection, you’ll need to ensure that your network equipment can easily be plugged in (including a separate router or network termination device, should you have one). You’ll also need enough power outlets to keep these devices plugged in and to ensure the combined wattage of the devices you want to power doesn’t exceed the capabilities of your power station.

There are more practical things to keep in mind, like the location of your network equipment in relation to other devices you want to keep powered (like your fridge or microwave oven). Power stations are billed as portable devices, which means they often include handles or wheels, but the larger the capacity, the more they weigh. A few long extension cords might be a good idea.

A power station is arguably the most versatile solution for this task, since you can use it to power all manner of items, take it camping, bring it out on the patio to power laptops or stereo systems, or throw it in your car for power on road trips. The most important thing about relying on a power station for emergencies is remembering to charge it!

We’ve covered power stations extensively at How-To Geek, including popular models like the Anker SOLIX C1000 and the Bluetti AC200L. Check out our full list of recommended power stations as well as some things you might want to know before navigating unplanned outages and the benefits of solar power stations for extended downtime.

Get an uninterruptible power supply

Uninterruptible power supplies, or UPS for short, are nothing new. They’ve been around for decades and are frequently relied upon in the tech world to keep computers and network equipment online during power outages. As the name implies, a UPS is designed to keep your devices running even when power is interrupted.

“Interrupted” is the key word here, since there are different types of UPS that you’ll need to choose from depending on your needs and budget. Some are designed with power dips (where power may not be lost completely) and brownouts in mind, offering a very short backup period. Others are designed for use with low-power devices (like routers and network-attached storage). Then there are the large, pricey options that are designed to keep computers running even when power is cut.

Unlike a power station, which works best as an emergency solution that you charge and forget about, a UPS typically sits in between whatever you want to keep powered and the wall. When the power goes down, the UPS takes over. How effective this is depends on what type of UPS you opt for and how much you’re prepared to spend.

Buying the right kind of UPS for your situation is important. Some are designed to give you enough time to safely finish what you’re doing without losing work, so you can shut down your computer safely. Others are designed to keep equipment running for far longer.

Many consumer UPS units use cheaper lead-acid batteries, while also being far more limited in terms of their intended use. On the upside, this makes them cheaper “set and forget” solutions that you don’t need to manage, store, or keep charged.

Smart speakers aren’t the only speakers in your home that you can connect to Home Assistant. You should be able to connect most speakers on your home network, and even dumb speakers can be connected with a little help.

One of the most powerful features of Home Assistant is the huge number of ingrations that allow you to connect a staggering number of devices and services. Many of these integrations have been contributed by the community. There are multiple dedicated integrations that you can use to connect and control speakers.

For example, there are integrations for speakers from Sonos, Denon, Bose, Bang & Olufsen, and more. You can use these integrations to play music on these devices, with some integrations allowing for local control without the need to connect via cloud services.

There are also some more generic integrations that allow you to connect speakers that support different streaming protocols. There’s a Google Cast integration for smart speakers and Chromecast devices, and the SlimProto integration lets you control Squeezebox music players from Home Assistant.

• Use Music Assistant

Connect using a wide range of options

Perhaps the easiest way to add almost any network-connected speaker to Home Assistant is to use the Music Assistant app (the new name for add-ons). This is a powerful music hub application that integrates with Home Assistant and allows you to unify your music streaming services and local audio files into a single music interface. You can play a playlist where one song is from Apple Music, the next from your local audio files, and the next from Spotify as if they were all from the same service.

Music Assistant also allows you to connect speakers using multiple integrations. These are called player providers and offer support for Sonos, AirPlay, Snapcast, Squeezelite, DLNA/UPnP, MusicCast, Bluesound, and more. Using the player providers, you can connect a huge array of different speakers and stream music to them directly from Music Assistant.

If you want the most seamless way to play music to different types of speakers around your home, Music Assistant is probably the best solution. You can even create synced speaker groups for whole-home audio, although the sync works best when all the speakers use the same ecosystem.

• DLNA and AirPlay

Network streaming old and new

Many modern speakers support AirPlay, and the easiest way to add AirPlay speakers is in Music Assistant. Even if you don’t use the Music Assistant app itself for playback, adding an AirPlay speaker exposes that speaker to the rest of Home Assistant, too. There are other options, but they’re often more complicated; you can connect AirPlay speakers via Music Assistant in just a few clicks.

If you have older speakers, AirPlay may not be an option without an additional adapter. In that case, you may be able to fall back on an older network streaming protocol. DLNA/UPnP was a common standard in the early 2000s before proprietary systems such as AirPlay and Google Cast came along.

If your speaker supports DLNA, you should be able to connect it to Home Assistant, meaning you can use older equipment such as Hi-Fi systems and enjoy the high-quality sound that they can provide, rather than relying on small smart speakers. There’s a dedicated DLNA Digital Media Renderer integration you can use, or (are you spotting the pattern yet?) you can add DLNA speakers using Music Assistant, which has a dedicated DLNA/UPnP player provider. I have the old micro Hi-Fi system my dad passed on to me connected via DLNA, and it sounds stunning.

• Connect dumb speakers

A streamer makes a dumb speaker smart

Not every speaker in your house may be able to connect to your home network, especially if you have older speakers. That doesn’t mean you can’t still connect them to Home Assistant, however.

All you need to do is connect a small streaming device to your speakers via the available inputs, such as RCA, AUX, or optical. You can then stream audio to the streaming device, which will play through the connected speakers.

There are plenty of options for streaming devices. You can use a Raspberry Pi with a DAC HAT or buy a dedicated streaming device such as a WiiM Mini. You can build your own ESP32-based streamer, or purchase one ready-made, such as the HiFi-ESP32. You could even use an old Android phone and install a Snapcast or Squeezelite app, and stream directly to the phone.

• To generate the two sample heat maps shown above, we started with this (details of the number of bonuses each employee received each month):
• And this (how many goals were scored from a certain location on a soccer pitch):

• To create the soccer pitch in Excel, I inserted it as a PNG image, meaning the cells underneath the graphic remained visible. You can do the same with any image outline to create a heat map in Excel.

Apply conditional formatting

• The next step is to apply the color scales to your data. First, select all the cells that will form the heat map. In the example below, I’ve selected all the cells on the soccer pitch, so that any data I might add later on will also be picked up by the color rules I set.

• If you are applying the conditional formatting to cells underneath an image, you’ll need to use your arrow keys to navigate to the correct cell, as you can’t select a cell underneath a graphic using your mouse. Then, hold Shift while using your arrow keys to select the relevant cells.

• Next, click “Conditional Formatting” in the Home tab on the ribbon, and hover over “Color Scales.” From there, you can choose the color scale that works best with how you want to display your data.
• In my case, I’ll choose the “Green To Yellow” scale.
• If none of the preset options pique your fancy, click “More Rules” instead. This will launch the New Formatting Rule dialog box, where you can switch to a three-color scale (rather than the default two colors), with more specific rules about how the values affect the colors to be displayed.

• To change or remove the color scale after you have applied it, select the cells again, click “Conditional Formatting,” and select either “Manage Rules” or “Clear Rules.”

Remove visible values and gridlines (Optional)

• The final step in optimizing your heat map involves hiding the figures and removing the gridlines, if doing so will improve your data visualization.
• To hide the figures, select the cells to which you applied the conditional formatting in the previous step. Then, in the Home tab, click the “Number Format” icon in the bottom corner of the Number group.
• Then, click “Custom” in the Category menu, and type ;;; (three semicolons) into the field box.
• When you click “OK,” the numbers will disappear from the cells, though you can still see them in the formula bar when you select the relevant cells.
• Removing the gridlines is much more straightforward. In the View tab on the ribbon, uncheck “Gridlines” in the Show group.

Like most people, I started with BlueStacks, but quickly grew sick of it (like most people). Its UI is tacky, and riddled with ads and sponsored content. The second most popular option is Genymotion, which emulates an entire mobile phone, much like the emulator that ships with Android Studio. However, booting up a virtual phone just to launch a phone is hugely annoying and a waste of time. You can’t even run games on it properly.

The perfect way to run Android apps should be seamless. By ‘seamless,’ I mean that you should be able to launch it directly from the taskbar, and it should open in its own window, just like any other Windows app. Also, I should be able to install apps directly from the Play Store with a single click, just like I can from the Microsoft Store. That’s exactly what Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA) does.

If you’ve heard of Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), it is the same concept at work here. Like WSL, Windows Subsystem for Android is a compatibility layer that allows you to run Android apps ‘natively.’

How to set up WSA on Windows

Before proceeding with WSA, make sure virtualization is enabled on your computer. Check Hyper-V and Virtual Machine Platform features in the Windows Features list.

Start by downloading the Windows Subsystem for Android build from GitHub. The build that reads ‘MindtheGapps’ has both the Play Store and the Amazon Store. If you just want the Play Store, download the build with the flag ‘Removed Amazon’.

Extract the archive and open the extracted folder. Scroll through the files and look for ‘install.ps1.’ Right-click on this file and click ‘Run with PowerShell’.

How to install apps with WSA

On the first launch, two windows should appear: one should be the Settings app for the emulated device and one should be the WSA interface. The WSA interface has tabs for ‘System,’ ‘Apps,’ and ‘Advanced Settings’.

The System tab has a shortcut for launching the file manager, so that’s where you’ll find your documents, downloads, and other files. The Apps section houses all your downloaded apps, as well as the Play Store and the Amazon Appstore. You can tweak performance settings in the Advanced Settings tab. You can also enable Developer Options here.

To install a new app, go to the Apps section and click the three dots next to ‘Play Store’ and click ‘Open.’ You’ll be asked to sign in with your Google account. Once you do that, the Play Store should load normally, and you should be able to install and update apps with one tap.

How to run and manage apps with WSA

Running installed apps is simple. You can either launch it directly from the Play Store page or find it in the Apps section of the WSA interface. They’ll also be available in the Start menu and the Windows app list. Click the three dots and wait for the app to launch in a separate window with its own icon on the taskbar. You can then close or minimize or maximize the app. Or, you can pin it to the taskbar by right-clicking on the icon.

It works just like any regular Windows app. You can use your mouse to point, click, and drag and use your keyboard for input control.

To remove an app, click the three dots next to its name and click ‘App Settings.’ It should open another window where you can change the app’s permissions, manage its storage, or remove it entirely.

Assuming you already have a Home Assistant server humming away quietly, the most important thing you’ll need for this to work is a smart plug that doesn’t rely on Wi-Fi. Because we’re restarting your router, plugs that depend on a wireless network connection won’t be able to receive the trigger to switch back on when your automation runs.

I’ve got a Zigbee network that uses IKEA smart plugs, but you could also use Matter over Thread, Z-Wave, or even a Bluetooth smart plug as long as it’s within range of a nearby adapter. We’ll be using the smart plug to power cycle our network equipment, and any non-Wi-Fi smart plug should work as long as your server remains up and running.

Though it’s not necessary, it’s also handy to have both your router and modem (assuming they’re separate devices) connected to the same smart plug via a power strip. This allows you to power cycle both with a single trigger, and means you only need to sacrifice a single smart plug. Alternatively, you can plug both devices into separate plugs and make sure you target both with your automation.

With your smart plugs paired, correctly labeled, and attached to your network equipment, it’s time to set everything up.

Home Assistant Connect ZBT-2

Detecting when your internet connection goes down

There are a few ways you can detect when your internet connection is not online using Home Assistant. Some prefer to use the Healthchecks.io cron job monitoring service with its associated integration (available via the Home Assistant Community Store). Personally, I keep it a little simpler than that.

If you’re lucky enough to have a router that is detected by Home Assistant, you can use that. My TP-Link Archer AX72 router was automatically detected by the platform’s core UPnP/IGD integration and offers two handy “WAN status” triggers that I can use in automations.

For the purpose of this guide, I ignored that in favor of a simple ping operation that should work with pretty much any router. As long as your Home Assistant server is connected to the internet, you can use this to detect your connection status. To be safe, we’ll use two separate ping requests to different servers to account for any remote outages.

To get started, head to Settings > Devices & services and on the “Integrations” tab, click “+ Add Integration” at the bottom of the screen. Search for the “Ping (ICMP)” integration and add it. When prompted, enter 8.8.8.8 as the host, then finish up.

Finally, head back to the Ping (ICMP) integration and click “Add service,” then enter 1.1.1.1 as the host name, then “Submit” and “Skip and Finish.” We now have Home Assistant sending a ping every 30 seconds to Google and Cloudflare’s DNS servers.

Build your reboot automation

Finally, let’s build our automation. Click on Settings > Automations & scenes, then click “+ Create automation” at the bottom of the screen. Hit “Create new automation” when prompted, then click “+ Add trigger” and select the “Device” trigger.

You can choose to use your router’s WAN connection status here, where available. Otherwise, use the “Select a device” menu to choose one of the two DNS entries we created (let’s say 1.1.1.1). Under the “Trigger” drop-down, choose “1.1.1.1 disconnected” and then under “Duration” add the amount of time you’d like to elapse before everything is rebooted. I chose two minutes to account for any brief drop-outs.

Now, under the “And if” section, click “+ Add condition” and choose “Device” from the list of conditions. Now add the other DNS entry we created (in this instance, that’s 8.8.8.8). Change the condition to “8.8.8.8 is disconnected” and leave the duration blank. The automation now requires that both services be unreachable before anything will happen.

Lastly, it’s time to create a reboot sequence. Under “Then do,” click “+ Add action” and choose “Device” as an action. Now select the smart plug that’s connected to your router and modem (or add both separately, if that’s the route you’re taking) and make sure the “Action” is “Turn off” (for both, if necessary). You’ll need to use the “+ Add action” button again to add a second plug.

Now, click “+ Add action” and search for “delay” and add the “Wait for time to pass” action. Specify how long you’d like your equipment to remain off before the reboot sequence is triggered. I went for 10 seconds, but you might prefer to wait around 30.

Lastly, use the “+ Add action” button to add the same smart plug (or plugs) with a “Turn on” action (for both). This will restart your router.

Avoiding boot loops

A boot loop could occur where your Home Assistant server keeps power cycling for as long as things appear offline. In testing this automation (which depends on the Ping (ICMP) integration), this didn’t happen. My automation required that the servers come back online before it would trigger again.

If you find that you’re getting a boot loop, you could edit your automation and use the “+ Add action” button in the “Then do” section to disable the automation after you send the “Turn on” command at the end. You can then create another automation that turns the reboot automation back on when both ping requests report a “Connected” status.

If your router or modem is routinely causing problems, it’s probably time for a new one. I find that most consumer-grade routers tend to burn themselves out after a few years, especially routers provided by ISPs.