No matter your operating system, Mozilla Firefox makes a great default browser. The free program is quick, intuitive, and packed with features. And you can customize it in all kinds of ways, from tweaking the look of the software to changing the appearances of individual websites.

Once you dig past the surface-level options, you’ll find you can do even more with this privacy-focused browser. These features include app troubleshooting, expert tab management, and entirely new ways of surfing the web. Check out the tips below to ensure you’re taking advantage of all Firefox has to offer.

1. See tabs on your other devices

If you’re using Firefox on multiple devices—maybe a laptop, a desktop, and a phone—and you’re signed into the same Firefox account on all of them, you can see open tabs across all of them through a feature called Firefox View.

First, click the three horizontal lines (top right), then Settings and Sync to make sure you’re signed in. As long as you’re signed in on at least one other device, you can click the Firefox icon on the far left end of the tab bar to see the tabs you’ve got open elsewhere.

2. Customize your address bar

You can turn the Firefox navigation bar into a search powerhouse. That way, when you type keywords (rather than URLs) into the address bar, you’ll be searching for those terms across the web. First, choose the search engine you prefer, whether that’s Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, or something else. Then set it as Firefox’s default, so search terms in the navigation bar will yield results from that search engine. To do so, open the application menu (click the three horizontal lines on the top right of the page), then choose Settings and Search to set the default.

The address bar can act as more than a standard search engine, too. By typing in special keywords, you can launch custom searches within pretty much any site you like, including Wikipedia, IMDb, Amazon, and more. To set this up, navigate to the site you want to search and find its search box. Right-click inside the box and choose Add a Keyword for this Search. A dialog box will pop up. Next, type something short but unusual in the keyword box. This is the term that will trigger your site-specific search when you type it in the Firefox address bar, so you don’t want it to resemble any normal keywords you might search for on a regular basis. For example, you might choose to trigger an IMDb search with the term “imdb”, because you’re not likely to run a general search for that word.

Click Save, and you can then search within that site by entering your keyword, followed by your search terms, in the address bar at the top of the browser. To stick with our previous example, type “imdb Tom Cruise” into the navigation bar to search the IMDb website for Tom Cruise.

3. Watch videos in picture-in-picture mode

When you’re watching a video in Firefox, you’ll see a small overlay button that looks like two rectangles with an arrow pointing from one to the other. Click on this, and your video will pop out of Firefox. Then, you can carry on browsing while the video continues to play.

Click and drag the pop-up window to move it, and drag in (or out) from its edges to resize it. Click the X to close the picture-in-picture video, or the back to tab button (an arrow pointing to a box) to continue playback inside Firefox again.

4. Delete browsing data when Firefox is closed

Keeping on top of cookies and other browsing data saved by the sites you visit in Firefox can be tricky. This data saves information such as your location and your settings for particular sites, and while it can streamline your browsing experience, you may not feel comfortable with websites knowing this much about you.

If you’d like to stay a little more private, click the three horizontal lines (top right) in Firefox, then choose Settings and Privacy & Security. There, you can check the box labeled Delete cookies and site data when Firefox is closed. Every time you shut down the browser, these files will be automatically wiped, so you won’t need to worry about them.

5. Turn on mouse gestures

Clicking and scrolling is fine, but Firefox lets you supercharge your online navigation with mouse gestures that allow you to trigger specific actions by moving your mouse a certain way. Give it a trial run, with the help of the Gesturefy add-on, and there’s a good chance you’ll never look back.

First, install the extension inside Firefox and restart your browser. To explore the available gestures, open the main menu (the three horizontal lines in the top right) and choose Add-ons and themes. Find Gesturefy, click the three dots next to it, then Options, and you’ll find the configuration panel.

Under the Settings tab, you can set the trigger button, which is a button you need to hold down while making a mouse gesture. Gesturefy’s default trigger is the right mouse button, but you can change it if you’d like. Switch to the Gestures tab to see some of the gestures already in place. For example, dragging the mouse quickly to the right, then the left (with the right mouse button held down) closes the current tab. You can add more gestures to the extension’s repertoire here, too.

It may take you some time to get the hang of these gestures, but once you do, you may find that a quick hand movement feels much more intuitive than fishing around for toolbar buttons or scrolling through menus.

6. Manage your tabs

Tabs make up the core of your browsing experience—but you don’t have to settle for the default options Firefox gives you. Check out the Tree Style Tab extension, for example, which introduces a new tab panel on the left and lets you organize your open tabs into hierarchies, almost like a family tree.

Then there’s Tab Stash: This extension lets you save batches of tabs together as bookmarks inside Firefox. If you’re researching a particular topic, for example, and want to come back to it later, you can quickly save all your open tabs as a group that you can open up again later.

You should also check out Simple Tab Groups. This extension does exactly what its name suggests, enabling you to organize open Firefox tabs into color-coded groups in—you could have one group for work stuff and another for personal stuff, or whatever you like.

7. Take screenshots of webpages

There are all kinds of reasons you might want to take screenshots—for posterity, or maybe to refer to in a separate document—and this is really easy to do in Firefox. Just right-click on a blank part of a page, then choose Take Screenshot. You can either click on an element (like an image) to grab it, click and drag across a region to capture, click Save full page to screenshot the entire page, or click Save visible to just capture what you can currently see on screen.

8. Snooze tabs for later

You might be familiar with snoozing your alarm—hitting a button to postpone your wakeup call and sleep for a few extra minutes. Now you can do the same with Firefox tabs, thanks to a third-party extension called Snooze Tabs.

The extension is pretty simple to use: Click the extension button on the toolbar (it looks like a jigsaw piece), then pick Snooze Tabs. You can send the tab you’re currently viewing, or all your Firefox tabs away until a later time and date—choose a preset option like Tomorrow morning or specify your own with Custom time.

9. Search through your tabs

Browser tabs seem to multiply like magic, and you likely have dozens of them open at any one time. That can make navigation tricky, but there is a tab search trick that can help: Click inside the address bar at the top of the Firefox interface, then type the percentage symbol (%)and a space. You’ll then be able to search through the titles of the tabs that you currently have open.

10. Refresh Firefox

If you find your software bogged down with a bunch of extensions, or behaving sluggishly for no specific reason, most programs require that you uninstall and reinstall them to restore their factory settings. Firefox offers a built-in refresh feature that easily resets the browser back to its factory settings and gets it running as good as new. As Mozilla explains, a refresh will return most Firefox settings back to their default state, but it won’t affect your saved bookmarks, stored passwords, browsing history, or even open windows. What it does scrub are third-party extensions, website permissions, modified user preferences, and any customizations you’ve made to the Firefox toolbar.

To access the refresh feature, type “about:support” into the address bar and hit Enter. This takes you to the master troubleshooting page. Click the Refresh Firefox button on the right, and instructions will guide you through the short process.

If you’re really having problems with Firefox, you may not be able to start it at all, which will prevent you from performing a refresh. So try running it in Troubleshoot Mode, which disables everything except the core Firefox program. To open the browser in Troubleshoot Mode, hold down the Shift button (Windows) or the Option button (macOS) while clicking or double-clicking the program icon. As Firefox starts, you’ll see the Troubleshoot Mode window appear. You can continue to browse in Troubleshoot Mode, or go ahead and run that refresh right away.

11. Switch to dark mode

Firefox comes with its own dark mode, which you may prefer. Click the three horizontal lines in the top right, then pick Settings. Open the General tab, and you’ll find Dark under the Web site appearance heading. This will be applied to Firefox’s own settings and new tab screens, but will only darken a website if the site has been coded to respond to a dark mode request from the browser.

This story has been updated. It was originally published on September 11, 2017.

The post 11 hot Firefox tips and tricks that might finally convince you to switch browsers appeared first on Popular Science.

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When a friend asks you to share your WiFi password, how long is your explanation? Saying “Oh, it’s a mess of letters and numbers taped to the router behind the refrigerator in the rental unit upstairs” doesn’t make things easy for them. 

There are better ways to share your WiFi. And sure, each of these tips requires some minimal hoop-jumping, but it’s a heck of a lot easier than trying to dictate a password like “dD^#i16HJ9vD” to someone while they fumble with the password field.

It’s also worth noting that if you often find yourself needing to share your WiFi password, you should set up a guest network to allow people to access your internet while keeping other devices in your home safe. We’ll explain how below, but for now let’s satisfy your immediate needs.

How to share your WiFi password on Android

Google’s operating system allows you to share WiFi passwords via scannable QR codes, so you won’t have to watch your friends hunt and peck on their phone keyboards. 

1. Unlock your phone and open the Quick Settings menu—swipe down with two fingers from the top of the screen.
2. Long-press Internet to open the menu, and then tap the cog icon next to the WiFi network you’re connected to.
3. Tap Share.
4. Your phone will ask you to verify your identity with a biometric or a passcode. Once you provide it, it’ll generate a QR code with your home network’s info.

How to share your WiFi password on iOS, MacOS, and iPadOS

Sharing a WiFi password between Apple devices is even easier—at least if you’ve done some work beforehand. Specifically, both people need to have the email address associated with their Apple ID saved in the other person’s contacts, and you need to be signed into iCloud. For WiFi sharing to work, both devices also need to have WiFi and Bluetooth on, and personal hotspot off.

Unlock the device sharing the password. Have your friend tap the network on their device. A prompt should appear on the one that’s already connected—tap Share Password, then Done.

You’ll need to be somewhat near their device, and in my experience, the process can be a little finicky, but it’s something to consider. If the prompt doesn’t come up, you can always create a dedicated WiFi QR code.

If all else fails, generate your own network QR code

If you find the options above are not working or you have a lot of people coming over and don’t want to share your password with each one, you can print (or cross-stitch, if you’re ambitious) a QR code they can scan. There are plenty of tools out there that will help with this task, but I like QiFi.org. It’s incredibly straightforward: 

[Related: Device won’t connect to WiFi? Here’s what to do first.]

1. Head to your router’s administrator page by typing 192.168.1.1 into your address bar. This is a private IP address some internet service providers use as a gateway to access their routers’ settings. If that one doesn’t work for you, there are other numbers you can try. You can also check the sticker on the bottom of your router or find its user manual. 

2. Look for an option in the settings called Guest Network and set it up with a WPA2 password, if you can. 

The post The easiest ways to share your WiFi password appeared first on Popular Science.

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In ancient times (i.e. the early 2000s) scammy websites would automatically open multiple windows with ads, which you then had to close one by one. It was obnoxious, which is why now every major browser stops sites from opening new windows by default. But websites found a workaround to show you ads or get you to sign to their newsletter: the overlay.

You’ve surely seen them, even if you never had a word for it before. Overlays cover up what you’re trying to read, watch, or access, generally asking you for an email address or some other piece of personal information. Most times their purpose is relatively harmless, but sometimes these boxes have dark patterns: deliberately confusing design that manipulates users to collect their personal information.

Fortunately, you can remove overlays by editing the HTML code of a webpage. You can do this manually in your browser if you want, but it’s a lot easier to use an extension especially designed for the job.

If you prefer, you can also use the app’s keyboard shortcut to trigger the extension: Ctrl + Shift + X on Windows, or Cmd + Shift + X on MacOS. If you’re a Chrome user, you can ditch the default key combo and set up your own. Head over to the extension settings page by clicking on the puzzle piece icon in the top right corner of the interface and choosing Manage extensions, or by typing Chrome://Extensions into the address bar. Click the three-line menu in the top-left corner of the screen and in the emerging sidebar, choose Keyboard shortcuts. Find the BehindTheOverlay extension and click the pen icon under it to edit the shortcut. 

This is a minimalistic tool but this level of simplicity has its downsides. There’s no way to automatically remove overlays, and if the extension doesn’t work on a particular site there’s not a lot you can do. Still, BehindTheOverlay works in most cases, which is why it’s worth trying out first.

The Aggressive mode will remove basically anything that follows you as you scroll. In some cases, this could even remove page elements such as headers, which is why there’s also a Moderate option. This is the extension’s default and tries to only remove the annoying layovers. Finally, there’s Dormant mode, which does nothing and it’s useful when the extension seems to be breaking the website you’re looking at.

PopUpOff is certainly the kind of tool you’ll need to spend some time tweaking, but once you’re done overlays will be a thing of the past and you won’t even think about them anymore.

Google, an advertising company, does not offer a reader mode in Chrome—at least, not without doing some digging through hidden settings. If you use the Big G’s browser, the Postlight Reader extension can add a reader mode to Chrome and even allow you to configure the font and text size of the article you’re reading.

The post How to get rid of the giant ads blocking your favorite websites appeared first on Popular Science.

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THE INTERNET is vast, and we all have our own ideas about how we want to interact with it: Some livestream their every move, while others keep their daily activities to themselves. This would be perfectly fine if we all lived on our own isolated virtual islands, but we most definitely don’t.

When we share something about ourselves online, we’re also revealing details about those around us—just ask the victims of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, or the incredibly private people who’ve had their real identities revealed by TikTok sleuths. It’s beyond time we started looking at online privacy not as a personal decision, but as a collective issue.

To keep this conversation going, the Opt Out has created a code of conduct everyone could abide by. Of course, we can’t actually control what you do online, but we can help you understand that your actions on the internet have offline consequences, often for people other than you. 

So read these rules, take what applies to your life, and share it with your friends. The more people think about how everyone’s data and personal information is connected via the web, the more attainable privacy will be for all of us. 

1. Consent is king 

Consent is crucial to respecting people’s boundaries. Before you share a photo, a video, a personal story, or anything that depicts or describes someone else, ask them if they’re comfortable with you posting it. 

This includes images in which they’re featured prominently, as well as those where they’re visible only in the background, so be careful when you pan your camera—you might be unwittingly outing a secret relationship people have been speculating about for months. But it’s not only about images: You should also ask for permission when sharing written posts that include a person’s name or details that might identify them. You’ll want to be especially careful with information people might use to contact the person mentioned in your post, like their email address, phone number, location, and place of employment. You don’t want to inadvertently help stalkers get closer to their victims.  

[Related on PopSci+: When you should and shouldn’t accept a website’s cookies]

Content involving children is particularly sensitive. If you’re not the parent or guardian, make sure you ask the person who is before you hit publish. Even if they agree, consider hiding the kids’ faces as much as possible. 

Finally, just don’t post about someone who’s intoxicated, asleep, unconscious, or unable to provide clear consent. In fact, don’t take any pictures or videos of them at all—that’s just creepy.

2. Think carefully about filming or recording random people on the street

Listen, we agree with you: It’s not OK to be mean to people. And as much as you might enjoy the occasional Karen video, you should know that filming people like that is also not OK.

There can be truly good intentions behind such footage, and videos of rude people have probably made some viewers reconsider how they treat others. But once a video is online, you lose control over it. TikTok users have built followings by finding anyone they believe deserves comeuppance and calling their employer to get them fired or reprimanded. Others go even further and dox them, resulting in disproportionate consequences for them and their loved ones, including stalking, harassment, and even assault. Social media rarely makes the distinction between a truly awful person and someone who’s just making a huge mistake. 

That said, there are exceptions. Sometimes whipping out your phone and hitting record could help bring justice to a victim of assault, a hit-and-run, or even murder. Use your judgment to gauge whether you’re in an extreme situation like that and stop to think about the best way you can help—it may be filming at your own personal risk, but it may also be calling 911 or attracting the attention of other bystanders. 

And if you choose to hit that red square on your screen, you’ll have to figure out what to do with the video once you have it. In the great majority of cases, you shouldn’t publish it to social media. The harm you cause when the video leaves your control may be magnitudes greater than whatever clout, following, or emotional boost you gained by posting it. The rare exceptions include when you want to help someone but can’t contact them because they were arrested or removed in an ambulance. Even then, you may want to take some time to see if you can track them down and hand the material over personally.

Keep in mind that even in a court of law, your footage will take on a life of its own once it leaves your hands. Despite your best intentions, your video may not have the effect or result you intended it to.  

3. Don’t share one-to-one messages

As a general rule, treat all texts, photos, and videos you get through one-on-one chats and private message groups with the same care an international spy treats confidential orders from their handler. The people sending those messages meant for you alone to see them, so you shouldn’t send or show them to anybody else. The best example of this is nudes: If you get one, you can save or delete it, but that’s all.

4. Share contact information only when it’s consensual or public

A lot of people have their contact information on websites or their social media accounts. For example, you can email a PopSci writer by clicking the letter icon in their bio at the bottom of a story. This allows readers to send us comments and questions.

But that doesn’t mean other contact information is also public. If you need to disclose someone’s contact information, share only what’s publicly available on their official channels. If they have none listed, always ask them before you share their contact information: Tell them what you plan on sharing and with whom, and proceed only once they say they’re OK with it.  

5. Avoid revealing more information than you need to 

Sometimes we share more information than we think we’re sharing. Without realizing it, your long-awaited unboxing might have given all your followers your home address, and an innocent photo with your colleagues taken during lunch might have revealed your place of employment just because one person forgot to take off their badge.  

This is bad enough when it comes to your own information, let alone when it involves others. So be careful with what you share and look out for details about yourself and the people around you that reveal more than you’d like. 

Be careful with pictures featuring packing labels, official documents, license plates, and boarding passes—if you must share them, blur or cover sensitive information. Don’t forget the background—you’d be amazed at how much you can learn about someone by pausing a video and peeking at their corkboard. You should also take a good look at screenshots before posting, as they may include location data or even a rogue notification you didn’t notice popped up at just the wrong time. When taking photos near windows or outside, pay attention to landmarks, street signs, and anything else that might make your location evident. If you want to go the extra mile, consider erasing the metadata from image files before posting or sharing them online.

Finally, mind the words you use and avoid those that describe a direct affiliation with someone. Going back to that lunch with your colleagues, a sweet post about how much you like them might reveal a lot more than your appreciation for them. Just calling them colleagues reveals everyone’s place of employment (remember that one who didn’t take off their badge?) and if you mention how happy they’ve all made you for the past three years, viewers now have an approximate period of employment. It might not be a lot of information, but it accumulates with every post. 

6. It’s OK not to share your passwords with your partner. It’s also OK if you do. 

You have the right to privacy, and you don’t owe your partner unlimited access to your accounts. Lots of couples share their credentials for the sake of transparency and practicality, but that’s not necessarily a sign of a good and healthy relationship.

[Related on PopSci+: Stop choosing bad passwords, already]

Whether you share your passwords and passcodes with your significant other is your decision and yours alone. If you feel comfortable doing it and think it might make the relationship better, go for it. Just know that you should be able to keep your own space and say no if your partner asks you to open that door.

7. You’re the only one responsible for setting your boundaries

You may have someone in your life who’s very much online—the one who takes a picture of everything and posts multiple updates on social media throughout the day. So the next time you go out with this person and they whip out their phone to take a group picture, don’t just hide from the lens—take some time to have a conversation about what you’re OK with when it comes to being featured in someone else’s online posts. 

They may not understand or agree with your stance at first, and you might have to have the same conversation more than once. But you cannot expect to be comfortable going out with them if they don’t know what you want. Setting boundaries will make it easier for your friend to respect your needs and for you to enforce them. 

8.  Post about what you’re doing but not whom you’re with 

We understand if you don’t feel like having a conversation about online privacy as your food is making its way to your table. It’s a bit boring and certainly not the reason you and your friends got together. So if you haven’t had a conversation about expectations and boundaries when it comes to social presence, you should feel free to post about whatever you’re doing—just as long as you don’t disclose whom you are with.  

The idea is to include only you, the one person definitely providing consent to appear on social media. If someone else also consents, you may include them as well, but be mindful of those who opt out—don’t include them in group photos, and don’t tag or mention them. Be careful to leave out any identifying details, such as tattoos, cars, or anything that might hint at whom you’re out and about with.

9. No consent, no tag

Some people may be comfortable with appearing in your posts but not with you including a link to their social media account or accounts. Again, just ask them what they feel comfortable with. 

This rule also applies to other situations like contests, promotions, friends’ posts, and even using hashtags. Most social media platforms group hashtags and generally make identically tagged content easily accessible to people who may or may not be directly connected to us. For someone who wants to keep to themselves, this can be an unwanted reservoir of information about them.

10. Consent can be given and consent can be taken away

Your friend’s priorities regarding privacy may have changed since the last time you saw them. Even if they frequently post to Instagram and you think they’ll have no problem with you sharing a photo, don’t assume, and always ask them before you post. 

[Related: Everything you need to cure your smartphone addiction]

Tell them what you plan to write as a caption, if you’re planning to mention them, and make them feel comfortable by showing them the picture or post before hitting publish. Give them veto power and options.

And if you’re going to make assumptions about how someone feels about popping up on your timeline, it’s always a good idea to err on the side of caution. Assume the person beside you is private and doesn’t want anything about them online, until you learn otherwise. 

Read more PopSci+ stories.

The post The Opt Out: 10 rules for better internet etiquette appeared first on Popular Science.

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AI chatbots such as ChatGPT and Google Bard have now reached a level where they can write emails, essays, and entire books. There’s an ongoing debate on how good that content actually is, but these platforms can certainly give a passable impression of a human being when it comes to creating copy.

That’s a problem when it comes to proving you wrote a particular document, whether you’re submitting a college essay or entering a short story competition. Right now, we don’t have a reliable way of detecting AI-generated text (ChatGPT can’t tell if ChatGPT has written something), but there are some options you can explore.

One is to track the changes to your document as you create it in your program of choice. It’s not a foolproof option, as you could still manually type out any output from ChatGPT or Bard, but it does at least show whoever’s reading your document how it came together, if they ever want to check.

When it comes to passing on your work to someone else, you need to use the built-in Google Docs sharing feature: Click Share on the right to grant access or to get a link you can copy and paste into an email or chat box. If you save your work as a Word document or a PDF, the version history won’t be transferred over to the file.

Note that whoever you’re sharing your document with will have to log into a Google account to access it, and you’ll have to give them Editor permissions too. If the other person opens the document anonymously via a link, or only has Viewer or Commenter permissions, then won’t have access to the version history, and won’t be able to see that the document is all your own work.

By default, the software will underline new text and color it red, but you can change this by clicking All Markup on the Review tab: Choose Simple Markup to have edits highlighted in the margin rather than in the body of the text, or No Markup to turn off highlighting altogether. Whether the highlights are visible or not, you can click Reviewing Pane (or Reviewing on macOS) on the Review tab to see all the document revisions. The person reading your work will be able to see all of the edits you made to the document in the same way, demonstrating it’s your own work.

The second option is to save your Word file to your OneDrive account and share it via a link, which is the more modern, Google Docs-style approach. While the Track Changes option is still available, you can also click the name of the document at the top of the window, then Version History, to view (and revert to) previous versions of the document.

Go to File, then Share, and you can generate a link for the file to pass on: Make sure the recipient has editing privileges and can sign in with their own Microsoft account. They’ll then be able to access the version history of a document by clicking on its title, whether they open it on the web or in Word for desktop. As long as the file is in your OneDrive account, version history will be available.

If you’re using Pages on a Mac, open the File menu then Revert To and Browse All Versions to see previous versions of the document (and revert back to them if needed). If you’re using Pages on iCloud on the web, click the three dots (top right) and then Browse All Versions. Anyone you’re sharing the document with has the same options available to them, as long as you’ve granted them editing privileges.

The post Prove your writing is not AI-generated by tracking changes in your docs appeared first on Popular Science.

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Software updates are crucial to the health of your various gadgets and it’s generally in your best interest to install them as soon as they’re available. Apple knows this so they introduced a different type of software update called Rapid Security Response. These patches run separately from the usual iOS or macOS updates and work in a slightly different way.

If you see a Rapid Security Response notification on one of your Apple devices, don’t panic—it’s there to keep your device safe and secure.

Behind the more showy, user-facing upgrades, these updates also do a lot of important work under the hood in improving security and stability. The problem is that sometimes significant security issues come to light and need to be addressed immediately rather than in a few weeks or months.

That’s where Rapid Security Responses come in. Apple can send out these patches whenever they need to so that security vulnerabilities don’t stay vulnerable for long. The company says these responses could help “mitigate some security issues more quickly,” particularly those that pose a current risk. The company is now sending these updates to iPhones, iPads, and Macs running iOS 16.4.1, iPadOS 16.4.1, or macOS 13.3.1 or later. If you haven’t already, make sure to update your operating system to receive them.

For the good health of your Apple gadget, we strongly recommend you authorize these automatic updates, but if you feel strongly about preventing software from installing without your consent, you can stop Rapid Security Responses. To go about it, open the Settings on your iPhone or iPad and choose General, Software Update, and Automatic Updates. Once there, toggle off the Security Responses & System Files option. On a Mac computer, open the Apple menu, then select System Settings, General, and Software Update. Click the info button next to Automatic updates to find the Install Security Responses and system files option and toggle it off.

When your Apple device installs a Rapid Security Response, the iOS, iPadOS, or macOS version number will have a lowercase letter after it—so “macOS Ventura Version 13.3.1 (a)” for example. To check this, go to Settings on an iPhone or iPad, or to System Settings on a Mac, and choose General, and then About. You’ll notice that, unlike normal software updates, these special security patches don’t come with any details about what they’ve fixed, presumably in the interests of speed and security.

[Related: Smart ways to manage software updates on Windows and macOS]

If you’ve disabled these automatic updates, you can still manually check for Rapid Security Responses in the same way as you would for any other update: Just go to General and Software Update in the settings on your Apple device. Any Rapid Security Responses your device doesn’t apply immediately will be rolled into the next standard software update, but we strongly advise you to protect your device by installing them as soon as they appear.

The post What to know about Apple’s new Rapid Security Response updates appeared first on Popular Science.

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Disaster has struck—a nasty piece of malware has taken root on your computer, and you need to remove it. Viruses can cause serious damage, but you might be able to get your computer back on its feet without too much difficulty, thanks to an array of helpful tools.

We’re using the term malware to refer to all kinds of malicious programs, whether they’re viruses, ransomware, adware, or something else. Each of these threats has its own definition, but the terms are often used interchangeably and can mean different things to different people. So for simplicity’s sake, when we say malware, we mean everything you don’t want on your computer, from a virus that tries to delete your files to an adware program that’s tracking your web browsing.

With so many types of malware and so many different system setups out there, we can’t cover every scenario. Still, we can give you some general malware removal pointers that should help you get the assistance you need.

First, identify the problem

When malware hits, you sometimes get a threatening error message—but sometimes you don’t. So keep an eye out for red flags, such as an uncharacteristically slow computer, a web browser inundated by endless pop-ups, and applications that just keep crashing.

Most machines have some kind of antivirus security protection, even if it’s just the Windows Defender tool built into Windows 10 or 11. Extra security software isn’t as essential on macOS—its integrated defenses are very effective—but that doesn’t mean a clever bit of malware can’t get access.

If you do have a security tool installed, make sure you keep it up to date. Then, when you suspect you’ve been hit, run a thorough system scan—the app itself should have instructions for how to do so. This is always the first step in weeding out unwanted programs.

[Related: How to make sure no one is spying on your computer]

You might find that your installed security software spots the problem and effectively removes the malware it on its own. In that case, you can get on with watching Netflix or checking your email without further interference. Unfortunately, if your antivirus software of choice doesn’t see anything wrong or can’t deal with what it’s found, you have more work to do.

Deal with specific threats

If your computer is displaying specific symptoms—such as a message with a particular error code or a threatening ransomware alert—run a web search to get more information. And if you suspect your main machine is infected and potentially causing problems with your web browser, you should search for answers on your phone or another computer.

Telling you to search online for help may seem like we’re trying to pass the buck, but this is often the best way to deal with the biggest and newest threats. To remove malware that has overwhelmed your computer’s built-in virus protections, you’ll probably need to follow specific instructions. Otherwise, you could inadvertently make the situation worse.

As soon as new threats are identified, security firms are quick to publish fixes and tools. This means it’s important to stay in touch with the latest tech news as it happens. If your existing antivirus program is coming up blank, check online to see if companies have released bespoke repair tools that you can use to deal with whatever problem you’re having.

Finally, based on what your research and antivirus scans tell you, consider disconnecting your computer from the internet to stop any bugs from spreading, or shutting down your machine completely to protect against file damage.

Tools such as Microsoft Safety Scanner, Spybot Search and Destroy, Bitdefender Virus Scanner (also for macOS), Kaspersky Security Scan, Avira PC Cleaner, Malwarebytes, and others can parachute onto your system for extra support. There, they’ll troubleshoot problems and give your existing security tools a helping hand.

All of the apps listed above will do a thorough job of scanning your computer and removing any malware they find. To make extra sure, you can always run scans from a couple of different tools. If your computer has been infected, these apps will most likely be able to spot the problem and deal with it, or at least give you further instructions.

Once your existing security tools and an on-demand scanner or two have given your system a clean bill of health, you’re probably (though not definitely) in the clear. That means that any continued errors or crashes could be due to other factors—anything from a badly installed update to a failing hard drive.

A more drastic—but extremely effective—course of action is to wipe your computer, reinstall your operating system, and start again from scratch. Although this will delete all your personal files, it should hopefully remove malware and other unwanted programs at the same time. Before you take this step, make sure all your important files and folders are backed up somewhere else, and ensure that you’ll be able to download all your applications again.

Reinstalling the operating system and getting your computer back to its factory condition is actually much easier than it used to be. We have our own guide for resetting Windows 10 and 11, and Apple has instructions for macOS. If you need more pointers, you can find plenty of extra information online.

That’s it! Through a combination of bespoke removal methods, existing security software, on-demand scanners, and (if necessary) a system wipe, you should now have effectively removed whatever malware had taken root on your system. At this point, if you’re still struggling, it’s time to call in the experts. IT repair specialists in your area may be able to lend a hand.

Next, install a solid security tool you can trust. For Windows 10 and 11, the built-in Windows Defender program is a competent antivirus tool even if you don’t add anything else. That said, you can opt to bolster your machine’s defenses by paying for extra software from the likes of Norton, Avast, and many others. While the number of shady programs targeting Apple computers is on the rise, they’re still more secure than Windows machines. The general consensus is that macOS is mostly safe from harm, provided you only install programs through the App Store and apply plenty of common sense. That means you should avoid following shady links or plugging in strange USB drives you’ve found lying in the street.

Finally, make sure your software is always patched and up to date. Most browsers and operating systems will update automatically in the background, but you can check for pending patches on Windows 10 by opening Settings and clicking Update & security (on Windows 11 it’s Settings > Windows Update). If you have a macOS computer, just open up the App Store and switch to the Updates tab to see if anything is available that you haven’t downloaded.

The post How to remove malware from your suffering computer appeared first on Popular Science.

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You’ve been developing your Minecraft world for a while. You have a full set of diamond armor, a field rife with pumpkins and melons next to your lakefront mansion, and you just defeated the Ender dragon. But reaching the End doesn’t need to be the end. If you want to spice up your crafting and maximize your gameplay experience, you can easily add a few, or a few dozen, modifications.

Veterans of the game might recall how hard it was to add mods to Minecraft in the early days. The process was manual and time-consuming. I, for one, lost days, if not weeks, of my teen years seeking out the latest versions of obscure mods online, waiting for downloads, and rooting around in config folders. Today, thanks to modern modding platforms, everything is automated.

Whether you’re trying to figure out how to install Minecraft mods for the first time or just need a refresher, this guide will help you snag the best user-created additions or alterations for this beloved sandbox game. If you encounter a warden in the deep dark, though, you’re on your own.

Install CurseForge

There are many modding platforms out there, such as Technic Launcher and Feed The Beast, but I prefer CurseForge. It’s one of the easiest to use, and features a diverse array of mods and modpacks suited to your wildest gameplay dreams. CurseForge is free for Windows, Mac, and Linux, and you can install it directly from your browser.

Once installed, CurseForge will prompt you to choose a game for modding and add-ons. Right now you want Minecraft, but the platform includes modding options for other popular games such as The Sims 4, World of Warcraft, and Elder Scrolls. 

To make your own modpack with a unique combination of mods, hit Create Custom Profile in the top right of the CurseForge window. The Profile Name is the name of your modpack. Once you set that, you will need to select the game version. Keep in mind that user-developed mods take a while to catch up with the latest Minecraft version. As of writing, most mods are updated to at least version 1.12.2. If you have a specific mod or mods in mind, you can look up its latest version online or in the CurseForge desktop app and choose the Minecraft version that suits your needs.

After you’ve created your modpack, it’s time to add some mods. Click the three vertical dots next to the orange Play button and select the puzzle piece labeled Add More Content in the dropdown menu. The puzzle piece icon to the right will take you to the same page. Here, you’ll be able to search for mods by name, and sort by update version and category. When you find one you want to add, click the Install button. Keep installing mods until you’re happy with the lineup.

Be careful not to add more than your computer can handle. A computer designed for gaming might be able to handle hundreds, but an older or lighter laptop might only be able to run 15 to 20 at a time without crashing. 

You can also add resource and texture packs in the Add More Content panel under Resource Packs. These alter the game’s graphics, including lighting and the appearance of blocks, items, and mobs. This is where you’ll find color-blind-friendly resource packs, and ones that make the game more realistic with alterations such as rounded logs, shadows, and clear windows.

When you’re finished adding mods and are ready to play, exit the Add More Content window and hit the orange Play button. This should open the Minecraft launcher. Make sure you’re on Java Edition. In the lower left corner where the Minecraft version is, you should see your modpack name. Hit the green Play button like usual. You should get a warning message saying that the mods may not support the latest safety features (such as parental controls, community guidelines, and chat moderation). If this isn’t a concern, go ahead and click Play. 

That’s it—you just made and launched your first modpack. Enjoy your game! If you want to play with friends, keep reading. 

To export your modpack, click the three vertical dots next to the orange Play button in CurseForge, then select Export Profile.

You’ll end up in an export window where you can change the name of the file, name the version (optional) and select which files to include (the preset should work fine). Then, click the orange Export button and it will save to whichever file location you choose.

Your modpack will save as a ZIP file, which you can send to friends over email, as a link to a cloud drive, in an iMessage if you both have macOS, or via any other file-sharing method.  

If your modpack.zip is an exceptionally large file, or if you have a slow internet connection, it might be most efficient to stash it, old-school, on a USB stick, or recreate it on your friend’s CurseForge account by repeating the steps in the previous section.

Just know that if you’re playing multiplayer, all players must have the same mods running. If one player adds or removes mods from their pack, the game will prevent players from joining the server due to incompatibility. You don’t want to miss out on traversing new dimensions with your friends because one of you is missing a mod.

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The era of recording mixtapes and burning CDs for friends and family has passed by, so you’ll have to get creative if you want to share the latest track or artist you’re excited about.

One of your options is social media. You can share music on Instagram or have your pick from the TikTok music selection with only a few taps.

When you select a song, Instagram will add it to your story as a sticker, and down at the bottom of the screen, you’ll be able to scroll through the track to pick a snippet of up to 15 seconds. You can also tap on the song’s icon to get more options: select a different sticker style, remove it completely, or use the album art instead. Tap Done to post the story.

If you want to add music to an Instagram post on your main feed, you can do so by tapping Add music on the final screen before publishing. You get a similar option when making a reel—just tap Audio on the left before or after you record your clip. 

Yet another way to share music on Instagram is by posting a link to Spotify or YouTube, for example. In a Story, choose your image or video, tap the sticker icon, and choose Link. You can also just paste a URL in a direct message conversation if you want to go for something more private.

The app will then take you to the music selection screen: Browse through the Recommended tab to find popular TikTok music suggested by the algorithm, or Favorites, where you’ll find the sounds you’ve tried in the past. Finally, if you want something completely new, you can tap the magnifying glass icon on the right and use the search box. When you tap on a track you’ll get a preview—if you’re OK with it, confirm your choice by tapping on the pink checkmark button, but if you want to make some edits, you can always hit the scissors icon.

Snapchat

Snapchat offers almost as many ways as Instagram for sharing music with friends and family. Let’s start with Snapchat stories. Tap the camera icon at the bottom of your screen to go into recording mode, and either before or after capturing an image or clip, tap the musical note symbol on the right.

You can browse through the music that Snapchat suggests (trending tracks and songs based on mood), as well as search for specific tunes via the box at the top. Tap on the small play button to preview a track, or on its title to add it to your story.

You can then drag across the song’s sound wave to pick a 10-second snippet to use. With that done, tap Next to post the image or video as a story or as a snap directly to one or more of your contacts.

Tap your profile picture (top right), select the three dots, and go to Audio to connect your account to your favorite music service. If something is playing on Spotify or Apple Music when you capture a BeReal photo, you’ll see an icon down in the lower right corner of the image. Tap it and pick Shared so your friends can see the track and artist, or Private so only you can see what was playing when you took that picture.

In both cases, you can search for specific tracks or pick one of the Facebook suggestions. After you add a song, tap on its icon on the right to pick which part of it to embed into your story, and change how the track details and lyrics display in your post.

Stories aren’t your only option. To add music to a Facebook post, for example, tap Music from the list of options that pop up underneath as you’re creating it. You can also link your Spotify and Facebook profiles so people can click through on: From the mobile app, tap your avatar on the left, then go to Edit profile, and next to Links choose Add. Continue by tapping  Add Social Link and then Spotify.

The best way to share music on Twitter is to just paste in a link from somewhere else, whether you’re internally sending a message to one person or broadcasting a tweet to the world. If you’re sharing from Spotify, tap the three dots next to a song while on the app, then choose Share and Copy link.

The post Social media posts are better with music. Here’s how to add your favorite tunes. appeared first on Popular Science.

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When you get used to multiple monitors it feels impossible to work without them. But these devices are not as portable as your trusty MacBook, so you should probably learn how to use your iPad as a second screen.

Thanks to a feature called Sidecar, iPads can mirror your laptop’s screen or act as an extension of it. And even if they’re not as big as your desktop monitor, Apple’s tablets are a lot easier to pack, so you can seamlessly take your work wherever you go.

First, make sure both devices are signed into the same iCloud account. Then, open the System Settings app on your Mac, which you can find by clicking the Apple logo in the top-left corner of your screen and then clicking System Settings. On the sidebar on the left, head to Displays, and if your iPad is nearby and turned on, it should show up here automatically. If it doesn’t, click the + (plus) button to the right of the display icons.

On the drop-down menu, under Mirror or extend to, choose your iPad’s name and then Extended display. This will effectively turn your tablet into an extension of your Mac’s screen, meaning you can just drag your windows on your computer over to your iPad.

Physically position your iPad where it’s most comfortable for you and click the Arrange button in the settings menu to make sure your virtual space reflects the device’s physical location in relation to your computer. Drag and drop the icons representing your devices into position if you need to make changes.

By default there will be a bar on the side and at the bottom of your iPad screen. The bar on the left that make it easier to control Mac apps using the touchscreen, while the bar at the bottom is a recreation of the interactive touch bar as seen on the MacBook Pro. If you prefer, you can turn both off by disabling the Show sidebar and Show Touch Bar options—you’ll get fewer on-screen functionalities, but gain more workspace, which is what it’s all about.

Among the free ones, our favorite is Splashtop Wired XDisplay, but as you’d imagine, setting things up is not as simple as on a Mac computer. First, download the app both on your iPad and your Windows device and open them. Continue by plugging your iPad into your computer and on your iPad, tap Trust to tell your tablet it’s OK to let Windows access your data.

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Adobe has been building artificial intelligence into applications like Photoshop for several years now. But Lightroom Classic, another of the company’s image editing programs, also features AI tools to quickly improve the look of your photos.

Underpinning it all is Adobe’s mighty AI muscle, trained on huge libraries of stock and publicly available images to generate new pictures. This means Lightroom Classic knows what a sky or a person looks like in a photo, and can make changes accordingly.

You can now use AI to pick out backgrounds, subjects, skies, and objects: Just click the Masking icon on the right (it looks like a circle inside a dash-lined square) and pick Subject, Sky, Background, or Objects. You’ll also be able to choose Brush for more precise control over where your selection goes.

The program will shade the new masked selection in red and you’ll be able to manipulate it as needed. For example, if you selected the sky, you’ll be able to tweak the brightness and contrast to make your photo appear sunnier. The Masks window, which will pop up on the right of your screen when you select something,  is where you can switch between your masks, create new ones, and delete them. Just click the three dots next to each item to see a full set of options.

Use the sliders that pop up underneath the tool when you click it to change the size and opacity of the brush, and paint over the object you’d like to remove. Once you finish your selection, the program will get to work. Lightroom Classic automatically chooses which parts of the background to sample to replace the deleted object, but you can use Ctrl+click (Windows) or Cmd+click (macOS) to specify a particular area, such as a blue sky.

This works just like the Tone Curve tool, but it only applies to the area of the picture under the mask. Along the top of the panel you’ll see selectors for the red, green, and blue channels—use them for more precise adjustments.

Choose Photo,  Enhance, and then check the Denoise option so that the AI can work its magic. The slider underneath the tool’s icon lets you control how aggressive it is—you can check the preview panel on the left to see the difference before you commit any changes. When you’re happy with the level of denoising, click Enhance to confirm your choice.

To find them, go to the Presets dialog box on the left and click on the small arrows right next to it to see the full list of Adaptive Presets. For example, you can select Storm Clouds to add a bit of drama to the sky or Enhance Eyes to highlight the peers in a portrait.

Open up the Masks window via Tools and Masking to see the mask that Lightroom Classic’s AI created to apply the effect. You can edit this mask as any other, allowing you to use the brush tool to change the outline of the selection the program has come up with, for example.

The post 5 AI tools in Adobe Lightroom Classic to boost your photo editing appeared first on Popular Science.

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It’s easy to run a full factory reset on a Windows 10 or 11 computer, but the risk of losing all your files is viscerally real. To avoid devastating data loss, you’ll need to prepare ahead of time and choose the right options before you give your device a fresh start.

The two best reasons to completely reset a laptop or desktop are to fix catastrophic performance issues or wipe it as clean as possible before selling, donating, or otherwise disposing of the device. If you’re considering a factory reset as a method of repair, make sure you’ve exhausted your troubleshooting options, especially if there are no other problems with your computer other than it being slow and/or hot.

It’s also worth noting that while a factory reset is the most dramatic version of a reset you can do, you’re not required to go that far. When you reset a computer to its factory settings, you’re essentially installing a clean version of the operating system—everything will disappear except for the files and apps your PC’s manufacturer preinstalled on the device. Windows, however, offers a number of options that allow you to keep personal data, settings, and apps intact throughout the reset. It’s a custom process, so make sure you use the settings that best suit your needs.

First, back up your files

Although a reset won’t necessarily clear everything off your laptop or desktop, it’s best to back up everything you want to keep before you proceed. Everyone has their own preferred file storage methods, but if you’re looking for tips, you can start with our basic backup guide.

One important piece of advice: If you know or suspect your computer has been infected with malware, be very careful about what you back up. Don’t just snag all the folders you can see—take some time to ensure you actually recognize the files. You wouldn’t want to back up a virus and reinfect your newly reset device.

Finally, make sure your computer is plugged in—Windows won’t reset if it’s running on battery power.

1. Open the reset options. The easiest way to find these is to click the Windows 10 Start menu, go to Settings (the cog icon), and select Update & Security followed by Recovery. Once you’re there, find Reset this PC and hit Get Started.

• On Windows 11, the steps are slightly different: Start menu > Settings (cog icon) > System > Recovery > Reset this PC > Reset PC.
• On versions of Windows 10 prior to version 2004 (released in 2020), you’ll need to follow these steps: Start > Settings > Update & security > Windows Defender > Device performance & health > Fresh Start > Additional info > Get Started.

If for some reason you can’t access your computer settings, you can also reset a laptop or desktop from its sign-in screen. To force your Windows 10 or 11 computer to display the login screen, press Win+L to lock your computer. Then click the power button icon in the bottom right corner of the screen (not your computer’s physical power button), hold Shift, and click Restart on the emerging menu. This will open the Windows Recovery Environment. From the Choose an option screen, pick Troubleshoot and Reset this PC.

[Related: When to repair your computer and when to replace it]

2. Decide how much you want to keep or remove. The next screen will offer you two options: to keep or remove your files, apps, and settings. No matter which one you pick, you may also need to choose whether Windows reinstalls from the cloud (Cloud download) or your device (Local reinstall).

• Keep my files. If Windows asks, choose whether you want your files to be saved in the cloud or on your local drive. By default, this option will restore all apps and settings that came with the PC when it was brand new—a complete factory reset. To avoid that and keep only what you had most recently, hit Change settings and turn the toggle switch under Restore preinstalled apps? to No, then hit Confirm. If you don’t see those additional options, your computer didn’t have any preinstalled apps.
• Remove everything. As you may have guessed, this will reinstall Windows 10 or 11 and remove your personal files, apps you and your PC manufacturer installed, and reset any changes you made to your computer’s settings.
  • Once you select this, you can also hit the Change settings link to decide exactly how clean you want your device to be (there’s a Yes/No toggle switch under a Clean data? heading—choose one and hit Confirm to lock it in). Cleaning the drive could take a couple hours but Microsoft recommends it if you plan to get rid of your PC—doing so will make it harder for people to recover anything. Otherwise, you can opt not to clean your data, which will be faster but less secure. The company also notes that this type of data erasure is aimed at consumers and doesn’t meet government or industry standards, so someone with enough expertise and resources might still be able to restore some of your data.

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Knowing how to find your IP address is a useful skill, even if you don’t know exactly what an IP address is or what it’s for. Whether you want to set up a new 3D printer or don’t want to sound ignorant while on the phone with your internet service provider, there are a couple of ways to easily get this information.

Get to know these methods in case you ever need them, and while you’re at it, maybe learn what this string of numbers is and why it’s important.

There’s a reason why Windows computers and some other devices have two IP addresses. Internet protocol version 4, also known as IPv4, is the original system invented back in 1980 to identify computers and other devices. But IPv4 only has 32 bits, which means there are only so many addresses available and not nearly enough for the hyperconnected future we live in today. Enter IPv6—the 64-bit solution that provides many more addresses to make space for all the new devices hitting the market every day. The problem is that the rollout of this 1998 protocol took a long time, and some older servers and programs are not compatible with it. This is why some devices use a workaround and have two IP addresses to bridge that gap and avoid any service interruptions. 

In general, an IP address is a unique series of numbers that identifies a device with the ability to connect to the internet. Every gadget has a private or internal IP address assigned by its manufacturer. If the internet were a town, this would be your home address. When you watch a movie on a streaming service, your device sends a request to whatever platform you’re using, which in turn knows where to send the reply (i.e. the movie) thanks to your IP address. This specific piece of data is very useful, which makes it very valuable. Treat it as your social security number and don’t disclose it.  

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The swift rise of generative platforms such as ChatGPT and Dall-E mini has brought artificial intelligence to everyone’s attention in recent months. But programs such as Photoshop have been offering AI assistance of their own for quite some time now.

When it comes to Adobe’s image editing software, these capabilities are there to help select the outline of an object, fill in a picture’s background, or change the expression on someone’s face. Your AI-enhanced edits can be subtle or quite dramatic, and there’s plenty of room to experiment.

All of this machine-powered magic works in a similar way, no matter what Photoshop tool you’re using: developers have used vast amounts of stock and copyright-free images to train the program to be able to decide where a pixel should or shouldn’t go, or what color it should be.

To use them, go to Filter in the main navigation bar and then click on Neural Filters. You’ll be able to choose from a wide range of actions, such as adding depth to your images and smoothing the skin on people’s faces. Each filter comes with its own set of options, so you can tweak them to make them more or less aggressive, depending on what you want your final photo to look like. You may notice some of the filters are still in beta. This means they’re works in progress, so keep that in mind if you use them, as the results might be less than perfect.

For example, click Smart Portrait and you’ll be able to use simple sliders to make people in the photo look happier, younger, or older, and even change the direction they’re looking in.

Switch to Object Aware mode on the right menu to get Photoshop’s help in picking out edges, then use the Refine Edge Brush Tool to make cuts—select it by clicking the second icon from the top down in the left sidebar, or hitting the R key on your keyboard. It’s particularly good when you’re trying to trace around very faint edges, like someone’s hair.

Open an image, go to Edit, and then Sky Replacement to make alterations. You can drop in one of the program’s presets or load your own, as well as tweak the sky’s temperature and brightness, and make adjustments to the foreground to help it match the lighting.

Select an object in your photo, go to Edit, and choose Content-Aware Fill. You’ll be able to refine your selection further and see a preview of how the fill is going to work. You can specify areas of the image Photoshop should use to fill in the background once it removes the object.

To do this even quicker trusting in Photoshop’s process and without any refinement options, select an object and press Shift+Backspace. Just make sure the Content-Aware option is selected in the dialog box that pops up, and click OK to apply the changes.

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We’ve all got messy, unlabeled music files cluttering up our collections. You might have gotten them from questionable sources in the early 2000s, ripped them yourself but were too lazy to tag them, or just didn’t care for a neat library at the time. 

This gives MusicBrainz Picard a vast pool of information to draw from, but also some limitations, as its database mostly only includes music that’s seen a wide commercial release. As a result, the software won’t be able to properly identify a recording of your high school band performing songs from Les Misérables, or a CD of your mom singing reggae versions of Bob Dylan songs (but please send me that CD, it sounds amazing).

Your tracks will automatically show up in the left panel. Click the Scan button at the top of the interface and Picard will attempt to identify your music and download the appropriate metadata for it. After a few seconds, your files will appear on the right panel with the right labels indicating the track’s name and number, and the name of the album they belong to.

By default, this feature will replace file names with the track number of each song followed by its title, but you can customize this setting by choosing a different File naming script in the menu. This will allow you to include details such as the artist’s name and album if you like. If none of the scripts work quite the way you like, you can always write your own—just click Open file naming script editor.

The post Use MusicBrainz Picard to organize your sloppy music collection appeared first on Popular Science.

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It might be hard to believe, but the Apple TV box—not the Apple TV app—has been with us since 2007. In that time, it’s gotten both smaller and smarter, and it has a few tricks up its sleeve that you might not know about.

While the Apple TV is designed to make it easy for you to sit back, relax, and get to your entertainment as quickly as possible, you can improve your viewing experience by digging into some of the settings and hardware features. Note that these tips work with all generations of the Apple TV 4K, whether you have the latest version and its Siri Remote (with a circular clickpad), or the older model and its Touch Remote.

To delete an app from the home screen entirely, tap and hold on it, press Play/Pause, and select Delete to remove it. As on iOS, you can create folders too: press Play/Pause and choose New Folder to create one, and you’ll be able to drag app icons into it. To remove them, drag them out of the folder.

There are more options for changing your home screen’s appearance on the General menu within Settings, including switching between a light and a dark interface mode and choosing from a list of available screensavers.

2. Tame your notifications

If you install apps that support notifications—like the Apple TV app, which will alert you to new shows—you’ll see badges on the app icons when there’s a new alert. If you’d rather not have the extra clutter, go to Settings and open up Notifications, where you can turn these badges on or off for each app.

You can double-tap the Home button (which looks like a big TV display) to show all of your recent apps. Within an app, if you slide a finger left or right on the touch-sensitive top half of the Touch Remote or tap the left or right side of the clickpad ring on the Siri Remote, you’ll go backward or forward in videos and audio tracks.

A downward swipe (Touch Remote) or a tap on the bottom part of the clickpad ring (Siri Remote) brings up more options while you’re watching something. The options vary by app, but in the Netflix app, for example, it will bring up the subtitle and audio options.

If you find your remote too sensitive, or not sensitive enough, head to the Settings app, then choose Remotes and Devices to adjust it. You can check on the remote’s battery level at the same time.

4. Control the Apple TV 4K with your iPhone

You can use your iPhone to control your Apple TV 4K, and you may find that easier than the device’s remote. Setting this up is as simple as opening the Control Center (swipe down from the top right corner of your phone’s screen), then tapping on the remote button (which looks like your Apple TV 4K remote). If you can’t see the button, open iOS Settings and choose Control Center to add and position it.

[Related: All the ways to customize your iPhone lock screen]

5. Get info on your screensavers

The Apple TV 4K has some of the most gorgeous screensavers in the business. If you find yourself particularly taken with a scene and want to know where in the world it is, lightly touch the top half of the Touch Remote or the clickpad on the Siri Remote (without actually clicking) to see the location.

6. Add more users

You don’t necessarily want family members or housemates ruining your Disney Plus recommendations list or checking out your photos and videos, which is why the Apple TV 4K supports multiple user accounts. From Settings, pick Users and Accounts, then Add New User. This new user will need their own Apple ID, which grants them access to all their apps and services. You can swap between users from the same screen, or by pressing and holding the Home button (with the TV display icon on it).

7. Check how much space apps are using

You get a certain amount of on-board storage with the Apple TV 4K, but all those high-resolution movies can quickly eat up precious space, and you don’t want to run out of room. If you need to free up some storage, you can see which installed apps are the biggest data hogs by going to Settings and choosing General, followed by Manage Storage.

The next screen will show all the apps on your Apple TV 4K, with the bulkiest (perhaps a game of some sort) at the top. Handily enough, there’s a trash can right by each entry on the list—tap this icon once to delete the app and free up some space. The Apple TV 4K remembers your app purchases, so you can always download them again.

8. Do more with Bluetooth devices

Your Apple TV 4K has Bluetooth, so make the most of it. You might already know you can boost the audio capabilities of your box with Bluetooth speakers or your own headphones, but you can connect other devices as well. Up to two Bluetooth devices can be connected to your Apple TV 4K at any one time.

For example, tvOS now supports Bluetooth keyboards, which means you can save yourself the hassle of typing out movie titles and search requests—just swap the Touch Remote or Siri Remote for a keyboard.

Or, add an MFi Bluetooth game controller to give yourself more intuitive control over your big-screen games. From the Settings app, head to Remotes and Devices, then choose Bluetooth to pair devices or to remove one device and make room for another.

9. Make your Apple TV kid-friendly

The Apple TV can entertain kids of all ages, but you don’t necessarily want your youngsters to access all available material or start spending your money on in-app purchases.

On top of that, you can disable multiplayer gaming, screen recording, and even explicit language in Siri’s responses. All of these blocks and limits are protected by a PIN code, which must be entered to turn them off again.

Just install Plex on your computer and install the Plex app on your Apple TV to get started. If you need a little more help, Plex has more information about setting up the app. VLC Media Player is also worth a mention here, as it’s one of the most versatile media players for computers and phones. On the Apple TV, it provides support for streaming almost anything from your local network.

12. Calibrate your TV picture

The Apple TV 4K offers a rather smart color calibration feature, which you can use if you also have an iPhone. From Settings, choose Video and Audio, then Color Balance, and follow the instructions on screen. Note that you’ll need to turn your iPhone toward your TV to monitor and adjust the balance of colors. When the calibration is done, which only takes a few seconds, you’ll have the option to accept the new settings or go back to the original calibration.

13. Get help from Siri

Siri is available on the Apple TV, so make use of the voice-controlled assistant by pressing and holding on the Siri (microphone) button on the remote—it’s on the front on the Touch Remote and on the side on the Siri Remote.

Try asking, “What’s the weather forecast?” or saying, “Show me comedy movies from the 90s” (or whatever genre you’d prefer). The best part is, Siri’s results pop up at the bottom of the screen most of the time, so they won’t interrupt what you’re doing.

When watching movies and shows, you can say, “Forward 10 minutes” to jump around, or ask, “Who stars in this?” to get a list of cast members to appear on screen. Another good vocal trick is asking, “What did he (or she, or they) just say?” This prompts Siri to rewind whatever you’re watching by 15 seconds and temporarily turn subtitles on. Meanwhile, saying, “Reduce loud sounds” can make it easier to hear dialogue.

14. Use picture-in-picture

The post 14 crisp tips for your Apple TV box appeared first on Popular Science.

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Quick Response (QR) codes were popular before the COVID-19 pandemic, but now they’re everywhere, from restaurant menus to billboards. These square codes are quick and easy to use, and anyone can scan them on their mobile device using its built-in camera, no special app or update necessary. 

If you’ve ever wondered how to make a QR code, know that it doesn’t require any great degree of technical know-how or a huge amount of time. You just need the right app and the content you want to encode.

[Related: QR codes are everywhere now. Here’s how to use them.]

On mobile, the process is similar:

Chrome’s QR code generator is free and easy to use, but gives you little in terms of customization. If you create the code on an Android device or a computer, it will always have the Chrome dinosaur in the middle, but you can avoid that by using an Apple mobile device instead.

You can also try The QR Code Generator, which has nearly the same name as the one we just mentioned. You can easily access this free platform from your browser, and you can start creating QR codes from the get-go. To enjoy features like the ability to add logos, make simpler patterns, or generate dynamic QR codes, you’ll have to create an account. But if you have basic needs, this site is intuitive and provides everything you’ll need.  

What you can do with QR codes

QR codes can store around 4,000 characters of text, which can be a plain message, a link to a website, a file to download, or pretty much any other information you can think of. You’re probably most familiar with their ability to store website URLs, whether that’s a portal to a company website on an advertisement or a shortcut to a bar’s drinks list.

The post How to make a QR code and share digital data with anyone, anywhere appeared first on Popular Science.

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It’s a sign of the times that most new technology brings with it new privacy and security issues, and OpenAI’s ChatGPT is no exception. The text generator is truly impressive (at least to some), but it also raises questions about how it collects and processes our data.

ChatGPT’s developers trained the large language model on vast amounts of publicly available text on the web. But the chatbot also uses your conversations with it to learn, so if you want to protect your privacy, you’ll need to know what your options are. 

From that point on, every time you close the browser tab, your conversation log with ChatGPT will disappear from your account. But that doesn’t mean it’s entirely gone—behind the scenes OpenAI hangs on to your chat history for 30 days to “monitor for abuse” before permanently deleting it.

Back on the Data Controls menu, there’s an Export data option. This won’t affect how OpenAI uses your information or delete what it has already collected, but it gives you a better idea of what OpenAI has on you. It might include chats you haven’t erased and the feedback you’ve given to ChatGPT’s responses. 

If there’s anything in there you’re not comfortable with, you can manually wipe your chat history. Back on the ChatGPT interface, click your username and then Clear conversations to get rid of your entire log all at once, or click the trash can icon next to any specific chat to wipe it out. ChatGPT won’t be able to use deleted conversations for training, but depending on how long your chat history has been there, the chatbot might have gotten to it before you did. To prevent that from happening in the future, or just in case someone gets access to your computer and wants to take a peek at your conversations, it’s a good idea to tidy your chat log up every now and again.

Finally, if you no longer want to talk to ChatGPT, you always have the option to delete your account, which you can do from the Data Controls panel.

The chatbot’s privacy policy says OpenAI logs data such as your conversations and the features you engage with, and may share “aggregated information” such as user statistics with third parties. As a response to legal requests from law enforcement, for example, the company may also share users’ personal information, such as email addresses and location data, with “affiliates.” But the document is vague and doesn’t specify who these affiliates might be exactly. 

It’s a standard privacy policy, but the rule is clearly the same as with most platforms online: the less you’re sharing about yourself, the better. That won’t only protect you from questionable privacy practices OpenAI might have in the future, but also from bugs and hacks. For example, a recent ChatGPT outage resulted in people seeing titles from other active user’s chat history. 

If there’s public information about you on the internet, ChatGPT might be able to tell other users about you—and if that’s not scary enough, think about what could happen if it gets things wrong. If you want to correct inaccuracies or just stop ChatGPT from learning about you, you can fill out this form or get in touch with OpenAI via dsar@openai.com. You can learn more about the data ChatGPT is trained on in the platform’s support page.

When it comes to using an app or browser extension built on top of ChatGPT, you’ll need to apply the same caution you would with any other third party tool: check the permissions it requires, read through the privacy policy and terms and conditions, and find out about any associated costs, whether it’s subscription fees or in-app payments. 

As soon as something becomes as popular as ChatGPT, scammers and hackers also want in on it, so we’d also recommend researching the background of the developer behind any ChatGPT tool you use. 

The most trustworthy apps will have privacy and security settings of their own you can configure. When it comes to the ChatGPT-powered Bing AI chatbot run by Microsoft, for example, click the three horizontal lines in the top right corner of the Bing interface, then choose Search history to see the chats that you’ve had with the AI and to clear these results if needed.

The post 3 ways to prevent ChatGPT from using you as training data appeared first on Popular Science.

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How to set up a passkey for your Google account

Remember that at the moment, passkeys are only available for individual users, so you won’t find them on any Google Workspace account. To see what all the fuss is about, go to your Google Account page, look to the left-hand sidebar, and go to Security.

Under How to sign in to Google, click on Passkeys, and provide your password before you make any changes—this may be the last time you use it. On the next screen, you’ll notice a blue button that says Start with passkeys. Click on it and you’re done: Google will create the necessary passkeys and automatically save your private one to your device. The next time you log in, you’ll need to provide one of the authentication methods you’ve already set up for your computer or phone: your face, your fingerprint, or a personal identification number (PIN). 

[Related: How to secure your Google account]

If you have Android devices signed into your account, you’ll see them listed on the passkey menu as well. Google will automatically create those passkeys for you, so you’ll be able to seamlessly access your information on those devices. 

You can also use passkeys as backups to authenticate a login on another computer or smartphone. If you’re signing into your account on a borrowed laptop, for example, you can validate that new session by choosing your phone from the list that pops up when you choose passkeys as your authentication method. Then just follow the prompts on your phone, and you’ll be good to go. 

Now, a word of caution

Apple-exclusive environments have it easy. The Cupertino company syncs users’ passkeys using the iCloud keychain, so your private keys will all live simultaneously on your MacBook, iPhone, and iPad, as long as you’re signed into the same iCloud account. Add a Windows computer or an Android phone to the mix and things start to get messy—you may need to use a second device to verify your identity. This is when the backup devices mentioned above may come in handy. 

The post Ditch your Google password and set up a passkey instead appeared first on Popular Science.

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Android users are proud of our devices’ versatility, but many of us have been low-key jealous of Apple’s AirDrop, which allows iPhones, iPads, and Mac computers to seamlessly swap files within a certain physical distance. Google, naturally, came up with its own version of the feature—Nearby Share—but until recently it was only available on the company’s operating system.

Thanks to a new beta app, anyone with an Android device can now also share photos and documents with Windows 10 and 11 computers. Consider this your sign to get your PC and your Google-powered phone closer than ever.  

You will, however, need to have the right app on your PC. You can download it by going to Android’s official website and clicking on Get started with Beta. As you might have noticed from the site, the Nearby Share link between Android and Windows is only a beta program at the moment. This means you might find some bugs, and things might change a bit between now and the moment the feature officially launches. Don’t be scared though, as beta programs are common and the fact they’re open to the public means you shouldn’t run into too many serious problems.

[Related: 5 security questions to ask before installing any app]

Once the app is installed, it will prompt you to sign into your Google account. If you have multiple, using a different account from the one on your phone won’t prevent you from sharing files, but it will add a few steps. When you’re using the same account on your phone and PC, Nearby Share will assume you’re sending files to yourself so the process will happen automatically. 

Keep in mind that this name will appear on the devices of the people you’re sharing files with, so if your personal computer is named something like “HELL_RAISER_PC,” you might want to opt for a neutral one if you plan to share stuff with professional contacts. 

Next, you’ll be able to set the visibility of your device by clicking the Receive from drop-down menu. It’ll be set by default to your contacts, meaning only people you’ve saved to your phone will be able to send you things. You can also opt to receive files from everyone, which will allow you to connect with all non-Apple phones and computers around you, or from your devices, which will make your PC visible only to gadgets signed into your Google account. Your last option is the more secure Device is hidden, which means you’ll have to manually change this setting every time you want to share anything through Nearby Share. 

Click the cog icon on the top right of the app’s interface to find more options. Under Save received files to you’ll be able to change the folder where Nearby Share items go—it’ll be set to your Downloads folder by default. Lastly, if you want to keep some privacy, toggle off the switch next to Send usage & diagnostics data, which will prevent Google from getting information on how you use this feature. 

From your PC, just drop a document into the open app or click on the Select files or Select folder links at the bottom of the interface. Once you do that, Nearby Share will list all eligible devices around you—pick the one you want to start the connection. If you’re sending and receiving from the same Google account, the process will be automatic, and you’ll get a notification on your phone to open the file either in Google Photos (if it’s an image) or in your phone’s Downloads folder. If the accounts don’t match, the same notification will prompt you to accept or reject the document.

[Related: Wireless sharing with Apple, Android, and Windows devices made easy]

Sending files from your phone to your PC is equally easy. Open a file in any app on your handheld device, tap Share or the share icon (a less-than symbol with circles on all points), and select Nearby. As long as your PC is unlocked, you’ll see its name on the screen—tap it and the transfer will begin either automatically or after you accept the emerging prompt on your computer screen. 

The post You can now use Android’s Nearby Share on PC appeared first on Popular Science.

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Banish the bloatware

Your shiny new laptop might already be weighed down by unnecessary applications. These are called bloatware, and to expand on the brief definition we offered above, they’re basically the laptop manufacturer’s attempts to push its own services. Some can be useful, but you don’t have to keep them around if you don’t want to.

You could open up the Applications folder in Finder, and then drag the app icon down to Trash to remove it from your system. Alternatively, open Launchpad from the Dock or the Applications folder, click and hold on an app icon until it starts shaking, then tap the little X icon that appears on it.

Be careful with installers

Plenty of programs will attempt to install extra software while you’re working your way through the initial setup process. Not only will this add extra clutter to your system, it can also be risky from a security perspective—you’re granting access to apps you haven’t fully vetted.

The only way to really guard against this is to pay attention as you install new software, and don’t zone out while clicking the “next” buttons until you’ve reached the end. Watch out for boxes that are checked by default and effectively give permission for the program to install extra software.

[Related: Questions to ask when you’re trying to decide on a new app or service]

You should also be careful about the software developers you trust to install applications on your laptop. There are many honest and reputable smaller developers out there, but always do diligent research before downloading and installing something new: check the history of the developer, and read reviews of the app from existing users.

To be on the safe side, limit yourself to installing apps from the official Microsoft and Apple stores whenever possible—these programs have been vetted, and shouldn’t attempt to install anything extra. On Windows, choose Microsoft Store from the Start menu; on macOS, click the App Store icon in the Dock.

Lock down your browser

Your browser is your laptop’s window to the web, so you’ll want to make sure it’s shored up against apps and extensions that surreptitiously install themselves. Keeping your browser updated is the first step, but thankfully modern browsers take care of that automatically (so long as you close all your tabs and restart the browser every once in a while).

Avoid agreeing to install any add-ons or plug-ins you don’t immediately recognize as programs you opted to download. If you’re in any doubt, navigate away from the page you’re on or close the tab.

Watch out for extra toolbars appearing in your browser, or browser settings (like the default search engine) changing without warning—you can always head to the extensions settings page in your browser to remove add-ons you’re not sure about.

When you install a new extension in your browser, you’ll get a pop-up explaining the permissions it has—the data it can see, and the changes it can make to your system. Don’t install any extras on top of your browser without double-checking the developers behind them and reading reviews left by current users.

Practice good security

To maximize your protection against applications that would install themselves without your permission, we recommend installing an antivirus package whether you’re on Windows or macOS—you can find a variety of independent reports online to point you towards the best choices. These packages typically include dedicated tools that watch for unexpected software installations.

If you’re on Windows, you can make use of the built-in Windows Defender software that comes with the operating system and specifically checks for the installation of authorized apps. On Windows 11, open Settings, click Privacy & security, then Windows Security, Open Windows Security, and App & browser control to make sure the feature is enabled. If you’re still using Windows 10, open Settings, then click Update & Security, Windows Security, and App & browser control.

[Related: How to make sure no one is spying on your computer]

The post Make sure your computer isn’t downloading stuff you don’t want appeared first on Popular Science.

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When it comes to lock screen notifications, iPhone users generally belong in one of three camps: those who must see every alert at all times, those who would rather die than glimpse a single notification, and those who like to adjust the iOS settings to find a happy medium.

Coincidentally or not, Apple also offers three different ways to display notifications on an iPhone, and you may find you prefer one over your current settings. The feature was introduced with iOS 16, the same update that moved alerts to the bottom of the display due to increased lock screen customization options that prioritize space for widgets.

How to adjust the way notifications look on your lock screen

To set your preferred notification format, open your phone’s Settings app and tap Notifications. At the top of this page, you’ll see the Display As heading, with three images that depict where your alerts will appear if you pick Count, Stack, or List.

[Related: Hidden iPhone tricks that will change the way you use iOS]

Stack

Stack appears to be the default if you’ve never touched these settings, and it simply piles all your notifications on top of each other near the bottom of your screen. They don’t shrink into a single line of text, but they’re densely packed, and you can tap them or swipe up to see more details.

List

Definitely the most chaotic choice, the List display will display your notifications as individual alert bubbles, most recent at the top. Get enough of them, and they’ll start to overlap a bit, but this option will take up the most space on your screen.

The post 3 ways to change how iPhone notifications appear appeared first on Popular Science.

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Best overall		Mount-It! (MI-1772) Dual Monitor Arm		SEE IT	Full articulation and ease of use are what make this dual monitor arm stand out—especially if you don’t have a lot of desk space.
Best wall-mounted		Mountup Dual Monitor Wall Mount		SEE IT	The Mountup Dual Monitor Wall Mount conveys is a more affordable choice if you’re okay installing a more permanent dual monitor setup.
Best budget		VIVO Dual Monitor Desk Mount		SEE IT	VIVO’s Dual Monitor Desk Mount has more features than its modest price suggests.

With so many people working from home, many of us are furnishing our offices on our own dime or with a small work budget rather than requesting equipment at the office—and that can mean some real makeshift monitor stands, etc. Ergonomics, however, is just as important at home as in a cubicle. Using a dual-monitor stand, whether it’s something you put on your desk, a mounted monitor arm, or a bracket you mount on your wall, gives you the freedom to place your screens as you please for both maximum comfort and efficiency. There are many ways to optimize your two-monitor setup: The best dual-monitor stands ensure maximum flexibility, regardless of your approach.

• Best overall: Mount-It! (MI-1772) Dual Monitor Arm
• Best desk-mounted: Ergotron LX Dual Monitor Arm
• Best wall-mounted: Mountup Dual Monitor Wall Mount
• Best freestanding: ErGear Dual Monitor Stand
• Best vertical: Hemudu HT05B-002 Dual Monitor Stand
• Best premium: Ergotron HX Desk Dual Monitor Arm
• Best budget: VIVO Dual Monitor Desk Mount

How we chose the best dual-monitor stands

To make our selections, I paired my own personal testing and experience with professional reviews and consumer feedback on Amazon. Our favorite monitor arms and monitor stands for dual-display setups provide a wide range of use cases, installation types, and prices. We also kept brand credibility in mind: Among monitor arm manufacturers, there are a handful of respected companies, and a very large number of lesser-known brands that often offer cheap prices but without the reputation or warranty to back them up.

Best dual-monitor stands: Reviews & Recommendations

So you have two monitors, and you want to put them up on a single adjustable stand. Now that you know the basics of what to look for, we have a few recommendations for the best dual-monitor stands, including desk-mounted, wall-mounted, and freestanding options. No matter your home office or PC gaming setup, there should be a decent option for you among these picks.

Best overall: Mount-It! (MI-1772) Dual Monitor Arm

Mount-It!

SEE IT

Buy it used or refurbished: eBay

Why it made the cut: Mount-It’s monitor arm makes it very easy to maneuver two big displays without any friction.

Specs

• Mount type: Desk
• Compatible VESA mount sizes: 75mm x 75mm, 100mm x 100mm
• Adjustment mechanism: Gas-spring mount/free moving
• Weight range: 20lb per arm
• Display size range: 19-32 inches
• Available colors: Black, Silver

Pros

• Requires very little desk space
• Offers fine-grain control over the monitors
• Easy-to-move displays

Cons

• Price

We’ve had great success in our tests of Mount-It!’s single monitor arms, and feel very comfortable recommending this dual-display version to anyone who needs a lot of extra digital real estate to work. The arms can hold large, heavy displays, and each one can be twisted, tilted, and turned in several directions. This level of control can accommodate many work styles: video editors who want to see how their color grading tweaks are affecting the look of footage in real time, office workers who want to dedicate a vertically oriented monitor to their e-mail or messaging client, or gamers who want to monitor their Twitch chat.

Two features have impressed us with Mount-It!’s other monitor stands that apply to this one: The ease at which they allow you to control your monitor and how well their clamping mechanism keeps it firmly attached to your desk. We’ve had no issues moving a 27-inch monitor with one hand, and the ability to move your displays closer and further from your face comes in handy more frequently than you’d expect. If you don’t have a lot of physical desk space, this monitor’s clamp will be incredibly helpful. A monitor stand’s feet can take up a lot more room than you think, and having more area back for your go-to tech accessories is very useful.

Best desk-mounted: Ergotron LX Dual Monitor Arm

Ergotron

SEE IT

Why it made the cut: The Ergotron LX Dual Monitor Arm is a slick desk mount that balances great build quality and the price that comes with it.

Specs

• Mount type: Desk
• Compatible VESA mount sizes: 75mm x 75mm, 100mm x 100mm
• Adjustment mechanism: Gas-spring mount/free moving
• Weight range: 7-20 lbs
• Display size range: 27 inches
• Available colors: Black/white/silver

Pros

• Superior build quality
• Plenty of ergonomic options
• Easy to install
• Lots of color options

Cons

• Expensive

When you think of monitor mounts, free-moving gas-spring arms typically come to mind. They offer smooth action that allows you to move your screens with precision easily. Though it costs more than many other brands, Ergotron’s LX Dual Monitor Arm dual-monitor arm has a higher quality that justifies the price. Plus, it comes with a 10-year warranty, so you know the company stands behind its product. The Ergotron LX Dual Monitor Arm doesn’t do anything flashy. It just does the basics very well.

Best wall-mounted: Mountup Dual Monitor Wall Mount

MOUNTUP

SEE IT

Buy it used or refurbished: eBay

Why it made the cut: The Mountup Dual Monitor Wall Mount looks sharp, and strikes a balance between price and features.

Specs

• Mount type: Wall mount
• Compatible VESA mount sizes: 75mm x 75mm, 100mm x 100mm
• Adjustment mechanism: Gas-spring arms/free moving
• Weight range: 3.3 – 17.6 lbs
• Display size range: Up to 32-inch
• Available colors: Chrome/Black

Pros

• Great price
• Very adjustable
• Detachable VESA plates

Cons

• Requires tools to install
• Requires brick, concrete, or wood anchor

If you’re ready to commit to a specific home, spot, and desk setup, you can save a lot of money on a really great dual-monitor arm with the Mountup Dual Monitor Wall Mount. It looks sharp, carries a lot of weight, and costs less than half as much as our desk-mounted pick. That said, this is a heavy dual-monitor arm. Not only do you need to attach it to the wall, the manufacturer specifically calls for you to anchor it on a brick, concrete, or wooden stud. Drywall alone may not hold it up. That’s a huge limitation, but if you have the right setup, this is arguably the most stable way to mount your monitors.

Best freestanding: ErGear Dual Monitor Stand

ErGear

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Buy it used or refurbished: eBay

Why it made the cut: If you don’t want to mount your monitors on arms, ErGear makes a more conventional dual-monitor stand that’s sturdy and offers strong adjustability.

Specs

• Mount type: Desktop stand
• Compatible VESA mount sizes: 75mm x 75mm, 100mm x 100mm
• Adjustment mechanism: Pole-adjusted height/static arm
• Weight range: Up to 26.4 lbs
• Display size range: 17-32 inches
• Available colors: Black

Pros

• Inexpensive
• Works on glass and executive-style desks
• Zero “install”
• High weight limit

Cons

• Fewer placement/ergonomic options
• Still takes up space on your desk

We often recommend desk-clamping or wall-mounted monitor arms for their great adjustability and their ability to free up desk space. However, not all of us can use those options: We can’t all drill holes in our walls, and some desks aren’t clamp-friendly. Whether your options are limited, or you simply don’t want to install anything, a desktop or “freestanding” monitor stand is the way to go.

ErGear’s Dual Monitor Stand features a static base column with adjustable spokes for both monitors. It is as adjustable as a dual-monitor arm, but you can still adjust height, tilt, swivel, and rotation to get very good, ergonomically mind positioning. It’s all held down by a large, sturdy black glass base that has enough room under it to route some cables. While it doesn’t free up as much space as a desk-mounted stand, putting both of your monitors on a single stand still opens up your workstation quite a bit.

Best vertical: Hemudu HT05B-002 Dual Monitor Stand

Hemudu

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Buy it used or refurbished: eBay

Why it made the cut: The Hemudu HT05B-002 allows you to set up a vertical stacking configuration without sacrificing stability.

Specs

• Mount type: Desktop stand
• Compatible VESA mount sizes: 50mm x 50mm, 75mm x 75mm, 100mm x 100mm
• Adjustment mechanism: Static mount
• Weight range: 44 lbs per arm
• Display size range: 13-34 inches
• Available colors: Black

Pros

• Can handle very large and heavy displays
• Has plenty of ergonomic options
• Easy to move

Cons

• Fewer adjustment options compared to free-moving arms
• Still takes up desk space

Ergonomics are, ultimately, the core advantage of using a dual-monitor arm. Putting your displays on a single, adjustable mount allows you to position your displays to reduce the number of neck movements you have to do in your daily work. No matter what you do, though, putting two widescreen displays right next to each other ensures that you will need to turn your head to focus on one screen or the other. Suppose you are the kind of person who uses one display most of the time and only occasionally glances at screen number two. In that case, a stacking monitor stand, which mounts the two monitors in a single column, might be useful. Craning your neck to look up isn’t great, ergonomically speaking, but if you only look at that second monitor every once in a while, it may lead to a net reduction in strain.

If you want to set up a vertical stack, we recommend a desktop mount like the Hemudu HT05B-002, rather than a desk-mounted one. With a vertical setup, you’re putting a lot more stress on the stand arm, and a flat stand handles that extra weight better. The HT05B-002 can handle two 34-inch, 44-lb. screens. It features removable VESA plates for easy installation as well. A wide base limits your desk real estate gains, but you can rest easy knowing that the stand will support your monitors’ weight(s). It’s a small consolation, but the feet under the base raise up enough to fit some of your other cabling underneath.

Best premium: Ergotron HX Desk Dual Monitor Arm

Ergotron

SEE IT

Buy it used or refurbished: eBay

Why it made the cut: If you’re willing to pay a premium for a reliable brand, the Ergotron HX is as sturdy as they come.

Specs

• Mount type: Desk-mounted
• Compatible VESA mount sizes: 75mm x 75mm, 100mm x 100mm (More available with optional bracket adapter kit)
• Adjustment mechanism: Gas-spring arms/free moving
• Weight range: 35 lbs per arm
• Display size range: Up to 32-inch
• Available colors: White, Silver, Black

Pros

• Killer looks
• 15-year warranty
• A trusted name in ergonomics

Cons

• Very expensive

It’s easy to find a monitor arm for under $100, but they’re almost always a gamble. You’re buying a relatively untested design from a brand with little to no reputation, which can be a risky proposition with a dual-monitor stand that holds and protects two pieces of equipment that cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars. If you have a pair of very expensive displays, you may want to consider spending a similarly luxurious amount on your stand. 

Ergotron is one of the oldest and most reliable names in the monitor stand game, and its HX dual-monitor arm is a deluxe desk-mounted stand. It has some of the flourishes from our other top picks, including a 15-year warranty and detachable VESA mounts for easy mounting. It also features a unique handlebar beneath the screens that allows you to adjust both displays at once. Those things are all just gravy, though. In this case, you’re spending a lot of extra money on the peace of mind that comes with buying a trusted luxury brand.

Best budget: VIVO Dual Monitor Desk Mount

VIVO

SEE IT

Buy it used or refurbished: eBay

Why it made the cut: VIVO managed to make its dual-monitor stand comparable to more expensive models without many compromises.

Specs

• Mount type: Desk
• Compatible VESA mount sizes: Gas-spring arms/free moving
• Adjustment mechanism: 75mm x 75mm, 100mm x 100mm
• Weight range: up to 22lb per arm
• Display size range: 13-30 inches
• Available colors: Black, White

Pros

• Gives you a fair amount of control over your monitors
• Won’t take up a lot of room on your desk
• Price

Cons

• No automatic height adjustment

If you’ve invested most of your home office improvement budget on your new displays, it makes sense to save a little bit on a dual-monitor stand. This model from VIVO has most of the features found in our best overall pick, but at a quarter of the price. Each monitor can be tilted and twisted individually, but you can only adjust their height by loosening and tightening a screw on the back. Both monitors have to be set at the same height, which may matter depending on the type of work you do. This stand works with monitors up to 30-inches wide, but VIVO offers a model that can handle displays up to 32 inches if necessary.

We like monitor arms that can be clamped onto a desk rather than sit on top of it because of the space savings, which is why VIVO’s is especially appealing to us. We’re also impressed that it can control monitors up to 22 pounds, which means the arms on this stand are stronger than the ones on our best overall pick. If the lack of height adjustability isn’t a dealbreaker, there’s no reason to spend more money on a dual-monitor stand.

Things to consider before buying one of the best dual-monitor stands

Even if you know exactly which dual-monitor stand or arm to buy, it helps to know a bit about the basic mechanics involved. Different stands require varying amounts of installation at setup, and not every monitor can be mounted on a third-party stand. Understanding these basics will help you pick the right stand for your displays, and ensure you’re ready to install your stand (or call someone who can.)

Why should I use a dual-monitor stand?

There are many reasons to mount your monitors, ranging from purely cosmetic to enabling better ergonomics. The stands with PC monitors vary widely in construction quality, appearance, and features. Some stands take up tons of desk space without offering any additional utility. Others may not allow you to adjust them properly, forcing you to twist or crane your neck to look at them, which could lead to long-term strain. And some of them may just look ugly. When you buy a monitor for its great specs, which you should, it potentially opens the door for you to end up with a huge, ugly stand that gives you a sore neck. Luckily, most monitors allow you to remove the actual display from its stand and mount them on a third-party stand. 

A monitor stand, whether it sits on your desk, clamps on at edge of it, or bolts onto the wall behind it, can solve all of these issues at once, giving you the ability to place your monitor exactly where you want it, reclaiming your desk space for more useful tools, and swapping out what may be garish design for something more subtle and clean.

Stand, clamp, or wall mount?

When moving to a dual-monitor stand, you must choose between a conventional desktop form factor, a clamping desk-mounted design, or a wall-mounted one. Often, picking one versus another comes down to what kind of desk you have, how important it is to reclaim desk space, and the likelihood that you’ll need to move your setup.

If you have a flat desk with an edge or lip, we like clamping monitor stands that clamp to the rear edge of your desk. They’re sturdy, highly adjustable, and easy to install or remove without damaging the desk. (Some offer an option to drill a hole into your desk as an anchor, but it isn’t necessarily mandatory.)

That said, if you have a glass desk, an executive-style desk, or something with lots of cable guides built into the back, a clamp might not be a good fit. In most cases, there’s just no spot to install the clamp. With glass, it could literally shatter the desk. In those cases, a desktop stand makes more sense. Though you won’t get as much space back, a desktop with a dual-monitor stand still consolidates two screens onto a single stand, reclaiming some desk real estate. Also, desktop stands are very sturdy, so it makes sense to use them for larger, heavier screens.

Finally, there’s the wall mount. Whether you use a set of monitor arms or a bracket similar to what you’d use when mounting a TV, the wall mount is an extremely sturdy choice but requires serious installation. To install it, you’ll need to find a stud, drill some holes, and bolt your monitor stand to your wall. Once you install it, your monitor stand isn’t going anywhere, which means your desk setup isn’t going anywhere, either. That lack of flexibility makes it a very niche choice. You don’t want to have to spackle and repaint your walls every time you think your desk would look better over by the window.

Before you buy: Make sure all your monitors have VESA mounts

If you peek around the back of most computer monitors, you’ll notice that the stand for your display probably attaches via four screws in a square configuration. This is a standard configuration maintained by the Video Electronics Standards Association, commonly known as VESA, meant to make stands as close to universal as possible so users can buy new stands easily. 

VESA mounts can come in many sizes, but most PC monitors fall into one of two options, 75mm x 75mm or 100mm x 100 mm. That makes everyone’s life easier: All of our picks support both sizes, as should most third-party monitor stands of any shape and size. That said, you should still double-check your monitors’ specs to see VESA mount sizes you’ll need before buying a dual-monitor stand, if only to make sure that your monitor can be mounted at all. Some very cheap monitors (and a few very expensive ones) build their monitors permanently attached to their stands.

Double-check the weight of both of your displays

Monitors are heavy and expensive. Before mounting them, you should ensure your stand can support their weight. Make sure that your monitors are within the stands’ specified weight limit–don’t risk going above or below whatever limits the manufacturer sets. Most monitor manufacturers include the weight of the displays both with and without stands on their product pages. You have a little wiggle room on the size of the monitor, but consider the weight tolerances to be inviolable laws of nature in this case, or risk breaking hundreds or even thousands of dollars worth of monitors.

FAQs

Final thoughts on the best dual-monitor stands

• Best overall: Mount-It! (MI-1772) Dual Monitor Arm
• Best desk-mounted: Ergotron LX Dual Monitor Arm
• Best wall-mounted: Mountup Dual Monitor Wall Mount
• Best freestanding: ErGear Dual Monitor Stand
• Best vertical: Hemudu HT05B-002 Dual Monitor Stand
• Best premium: Ergotron HX Desk Dual Monitor Arm
• Best budget: VIVO Dual Monitor Desk Mount

With so many options for mounting your monitors and such a wide range of prices, the best dual-monitor stands are a very affordable and useful upgrade for anyone using two monitors. Whether you’re rocking one display in landscape mode and one in portrait mode, pairing an ultrawide monitor with a standard one, mounting to a desk or a wall, there are dynamic stands for every type of home setup.

Why trust us

Popular Science started writing about technology more than 150 years ago. There was no such thing as “gadget writing” when we published our first issue in 1872, but if there was, our mission to demystify the world of innovation for everyday readers means we would have been all over it. Here in the present, PopSci is fully committed to helping readers navigate the increasingly intimidating array of devices on the market right now.

Our writers and editors have combined decades of experience covering and reviewing consumer electronics. We each have our own obsessive specialties—from high-end audio to video games to cameras and beyond—but when we’re reviewing devices outside of our immediate wheelhouses, we do our best to seek out trustworthy voices and opinions to help guide people to the very best recommendations. We know we don’t know everything, but we’re excited to live through the analysis paralysis that internet shopping can spur so readers don’t have to.

The post The best dual-monitor stands of 2023 appeared first on Popular Science.

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There’s a wealth of software available for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS—but not all of it has been developed with the best intentions. There are apps out there that have been built to steal your data, corrupt your files, spy on your digital activities, and surreptitiously squeeze money out of you.

The good news is that a few smart questions can steer you away from the shady stuff and toward apps you can trust and rely on. If you’re not sure about a particular piece of software for your phone or computer, running through this simple checklist should help you spot the biggest red flags.

Old software that hasn’t been updated in the last year or so isn’t necessarily bad, but be wary of it: It’s less likely to work with the latest version of whatever operating system you’re on, and it’s more likely to have security vulnerabilities that can be exploited by bad actors (because it’s hasn’t been patched against the latest threats).

Don’t automatically trust brand new software either. An app may have been rushed out to cash in on a trend (whether it’s Wordle clones or ChatGPT extensions), and these types of apps are built to make money rather than offer a good user experience or respect your privacy. It may be worth just waiting until you’ve seen some reviews of the app in question.

2. What are other people saying?

That brings us neatly to user reviews, which can be a handy way of gauging an app’s quality. It’s easy to use the dedicated reviews sections in official app stores to see what other people think of the software, but in other scenarios (like downloading a Windows program from the web) you can do a quick web search for the name of the app.

Be sure to check several reviews rather than just relying on one or two, and look for running themes over isolated incidents (the customer isn’t necessarily always right). See what users are saying about bugs and crashes, for example, and how any requests for support have been handled.

[Related: What to do when your apps keep crashing]

Reviews can be faked of course, even in large numbers. Don’t be too trusting of very short and very positive reviews, or reviews left by people with usernames that are generic or look like they might have been created by a bot. Place most faith in longer, more detailed reviews that sound like they’ve been written by someone who’s actually used the software in question.

If you’re on Android or iOS, you can tap the developer name on an app listing to see other apps from the same developer. If they’ve made several apps that all have high ratings, that’s positive. Developer responses to user reviews are a good sign as well, showing that whoever is behind the software is invested in it.

Checking up on the developer of an app that you’re downloading from the wilds of the web isn’t quite as straightforward, but a quick web search for their name should give you some pointers. Developers without any online or social media presence, for instance, should be treated with caution.

4. How much does it cost?

Pay particular attention to how much an app costs, both in terms of up-front fees and ongoing payments: These details are listed on app pages on Android and iOS, and should be fairly straightforward to find on other platforms too. You don’t want an app that’s going to extort money out of you, but you also need to figure out how the costs of development are being supported.

Like the other questions here, there are no hard and fast rules, but if an app is completely free it’s most likely supported through data collection and advertising—this is true from the biggest names in tech, like Facebook and Google, to the smallest independent developers. Freemium models are common too, where some features might be locked behind a paywall.

[Related on PopSci+: You have the power to protect your data. Own it.]

If you get as far as installing an app, go through the opening splash screens very carefully, and pay attention to the terms and conditions. Watch out for any free trials you might be signing up for,that could be charging your credit card unexpectedly in a month’s time (even if you’ve uninstalled the app).

Ideally, apps should explain to you why they need the permissions they do. Access to your contacts, for example, can be used to easily share files with friends and family, rather than to pull any personal data from them. It’s not an exact science, but it’s another way of assessing whether or not you want to install a particular program.

You can change app permissions after they’ve been installed, too, and you should check in on these every once in a while because settings may change as developers update their app. We’ve written guides to the process for Windows and macOS, and for Android and iOS. If you do think that a piece of software is reaching further than it should do in terms of permissions, you can block off its access to them rather than removing it.

The post Stop and ask these 5 security questions before installing any app appeared first on Popular Science.

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Some corners of the internet act as bastions of healthy discussion, but out there on the Wild Web, discourse appears worse than ever before. If you’re tired of feeling your blood boil every time you get to the bottom of an article or open up your social media app of choice, it’s time to clean up your internet conversations.

Block comments on news sites and blogs

Some sites are doing away with comments altogether, but there are plenty that have stuck by their discussion section—even if it’s littered with spam and hateful garbage. You can’t stop commenters from spewing their filth, but you can banish them from your view. Shut Up is a simple open-source tool that will automatically block most comment sections across the web. It’s available as an extension for Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple’s Safari, Microsoft Edge, and Opera. Just install it on your desktop or mobile platform of choice, and comment sections will disappear as if they were never there.

If there’s a site that you actually like to read comments on—yes, there are a few decent ones out there—you can click the Shut Up button in your toolbar or press Ctrl+Shift+X to whitelist that site. It will remember your preferences, so your favorite comment sections will stay visible no matter how many times you leave and return. Sadly, there’s no way to mute certain comments based on keywords.

Note that due to the way Chrome’s annoyingly broad permission system works, this extension will request access to read and edit data on all sites you visit, but you can read the developer’s privacy policy to ensure you agree with it. Afterward, if you’re still uneasy, you can always inspect and inject the Shut Up CSS code yourself, if you have a stylesheet extension you like.

Mute words on Twitter, Instagram, and other social networks

Website and blog comments are just a small fraction of toxic internet conversation—most of it happens on social media. Shut Up will block comment sections on some networks, like Facebook and Reddit, but that defeats the purpose of using those platforms at all. Thankfully some services, like Twitter and Instagram, have caught on and built “mute” functions that let you hide comments that contain certain keywords, for more control over what you see.

On Twitter, you can mute tweets with certain words or phrases by heading to the Twitter website and clicking More on the sidebar to the left. Next, go to Settings and Support > Settings and privacy > Privacy and safety > Mute and block > Muted words. Finally, click the plus icon in the top right to add words to your list. In the mobile app, the steps are nearly identical, but you start by tapping your avatar in the upper left-hand corner of your screen and build a list of muted words by using the Add button at the bottom right.

When you add the words you want to avoid, you can also select how long you want to mute it—which is useful if you’re just trying to avoid spoilers for a few days.

If you want to do a little less work, you can also turn on the switches under the Offensive words and phrases heading at the top of the page to hide comments or message requests containing any words Instagram thinks you won’t want to see.

Other social networks, like Reddit, don’t have a mute feature built-in. However, browser extensions like the ever-popular Reddit Enhancement Suite will allow you to mute comments with certain words just the same. Install the extension and open the RES Settings Console. Navigate to Subreddits > filteReddit, and create filters to your heart’s content. You can hide posts with specific terms in the title, or block posts that come from chosen websites. You can also build filters for comments, provided you know how regular expressions work—there’s a small tutorial available if you need it.

Finally, Facebook is in a weird spot when it comes to muting or filtering comments. Back in June of 2018, Facebook began testing a feature called Keyword Snooze that would allow you to hide any comment containing words you specified. It wasn’t available to everyone and that test ended in January 2021. Now, your best bet is to hit the three dots in the top right corner of any post on your News Feed and choose Hide post to see fewer posts like it. From the same menu, you can snooze and unfollow the person or page that posted it.

The post How to block toxic comments everywhere appeared first on Popular Science.

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Google has become so synonymous with search that the company’s name has found its way into the dictionary as a verb—and that means your Google search history can reveal a lot about your life. If someone manages to gain access to that treasure trove of information, they could learn about everything from the medical conditions you’ve been worried about to where you’ve been on your vacations.

With so much sensitive data involved, you should make sure that your search history is safe from prying eyes. There are ways to make extra-sure that no outsiders can get a glimpse at what you’ve been looking for, and to block Google itself from knowing anything about your online queries.

Put a password on your Google search history

Your Google account is protected by both a password and two-factor authentication if you’ve switched that on (we recommend you do). That should minimize the risk of anyone else being able to log in and take a peek at what you’ve been searching for, but you can do more.

If you’re on a computer where you’re regularly logged into Google, your browser has your password saved, and other people (maybe housemates or colleagues) are likely to be wandering past, you might feel like an additional layer of security is required. Or maybe you’re just very private and security-conscious.

For these situations, Google has created an extra password step just for your search history. Even if someone makes it to your Google account page, they’ll need your password to enter the search history section.

You can enable this by going to your Google account page, and choosing Data & privacy from the options on the left. Scroll down to the History settings box, click Web & App Activity, and then hit Manage all Web & App Activity at the bottom of the page. Finally, click Manage My Activity verification, fill in the bubble next to Require extra verification, and hit Save.

Automatically delete your Google searches

Google will automatically clean up your search history, if you want it to. Go to your Google account page, click Data & privacy, find the History settings heading, and click Web & App Activity to open the Activity Controls page. There, find the Auto-delete section and click the time period underneath to open a dialog box full of customization options. Use the dropdown menu to tell Google to automatically delete search history data older than three, 18, or 36 months.

Back on the Activity Controls page, if you choose Manage all Web & App Activity instead of opening the auto-delete options, you can manually wipe everything you’ve ever searched for, or just some of it. Use the search and filter options to look for something specific, and either the Delete box directly under the search bar or the X buttons next to individual entries to get rid of what you want to erase.

[Related: How to purge all of your search histories]

You can also use the Activity Controls page to just tell Google to stop tracking your activity altogether. To do so, find the Web & App Activity heading and click Turn off. Then hit Pause, followed by Got it to confirm that this is actually what you want to do. This will remain off until you decide to turn it back on. For a clean slate, click Manage all Web & App Activity at the bottom of the page to see your activity, then hit Delete and All time to erase everything, or use whatever other options suit you.

Avoid Google entirely

Another way to keep your Google search history private is not to allow Google to track it in the first place. If you open an incognito or private window in your browser of choice before visiting Google and running your search, it won’t be recorded. As soon as you close the window, the browser (and Google) will forget the query ever happened.

In Google Chrome, for example, click the three dots in the top right-hand corner of the browser interface and choose New Incognito Window from the menu that appears. In Microsoft Edge, click the three dots (top right) then New InPrivate window; in Firefox, click the three lines (top right), then New private window; and in Safari you can click File and New Private Window.

When you start off in an incognito or private browser window, you won’t be signed into any of your accounts, including your Google one. Make sure you don’t sign into Google during the browsing session though—otherwise Google will log your search requests as normal, even if you’re using a private browsing mode.

You also have the option to run your web searches elsewhere: You can pick from Microsoft’s Bing or the privacy-focused DuckDuckGo, for instance. The developers behind the browser Brave have also launched a search engine you can try, and it won’t track you or anything you’re searching for.

Manage your browsing history and syncing

If you use Chrome while signed into your Google account, everything you search for on Google will be saved to the browser and your Google account. If you’ve turned off tracking in your Google account, your search history will still appear in Chrome. These lists of queries are one and the same, though the information might be presented slightly differently. You can see your history in Chrome by clicking the three dots (top right), choosing History, then History again.

This setup also means you can delete your history from your browser as well as your Google account page. From the History screen, you can select individual entries and then choose Delete, or click Clear browsing data on the left for some more comprehensive options. Select Browsing history and the time period you want to cover, then select Clear data.

[Related: How to clear your web history in any browser]

The post 4 ways to protect your Google search history appeared first on Popular Science.

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There’s a lot to like about going on trips as a group—the shared experiences, the socializing, the deepening of friendships, the support and help when you need it. But it’s not without its problems either.

At the planning stage, trying to make sure everyone’s voice is heard and everyone’s ideas are accommodated can be tricky. But as with so many modern-day challenges, technology can help and group trip planner apps can help your journey go brilliantly.

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WITH A FEW infamous exceptions, it’s safe to say most of the content we see about children on social media has a positive spirit behind it. Your friend’s photo of their first sonogram and your cousin’s lengthy ramble about their toddler’s temper tantrums each come from a good place: the desire to mark a milestone, seek support, share happiness, or build community. But shifting the focus from the people who make the posts to the kids portrayed in them reveals a problem. 

The emotional, psychological, and developmental consequences of having one’s childhood—and all its growing pains—shared online are still unknown, as the first generation of kids conceived in the era of social media is only now coming of age. But studies and specialists are already warning that oversharing information about the kids in our lives might be fraught—both from an ethical and an online privacy point of view. 

“All of that seems innocuous, so you must be talking about influencers and mommy bloggers posting photos and videos of their children 24/7,” I hear you saying. Nope. Sharenting goes beyond the people making a profit off the content they share—the possibility of exploitation and what some may consider digital child labor is only a fraction of the problem. 

Think of it this way: A lot of the time, the kids in social media posts haven’t consented to having their picture or video taken and seen by people they know, let alone millions of others around the world. And even if they say it’s OK, they’re children. We cannot expect them to fully grasp the consequences of having their likeness and sensitive information posted online. Even educated adults have a hard time figuring out what terms and conditions and privacy policies mean, or gauging the social and psychological effects of broadcasting their lives. 

The obvious negative consequences of sharenting are the criminal and illegal activities it can lead to. Consider a post made by a new parent that includes a photo of their newborn, the kid’s full name and date of birth, and the name of the hospital. All that information will probably still be there when that infant becomes an adult, readily available for anyone who wants to bypass the security questions for one of their online accounts. And problems won’t wait for adulthood: A 2011 Carnegie Mellon CyLab study found that child identity theft was 51 times more common than adult identity theft. This is likely because a child’s identity is a clean slate with no credit history, Harvard Law School faculty member Leah Plunkett says in her book Sharenthood. 

Then there’s the possibility that the pictures you took of your child’s bath or your niece’s gymnastics tournament will end up on the wrong side of the internet. In 2015, an investigation by Australia’s children e-safety commissioner found that one image-sharing website for pedophiles contained at least 45 million files and “about half the material appeared to be sourced directly from social media.” 

Beyond these clear risks, the effects of sharenting on the psychosocial development of children are unclear. Data is scarce as we wait for the first children raised on social media to become adults, says Stacey Steinberg, a professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law and author of Growing Up Shared. “Research, for the most part, is anecdotal—it is desperately needed,” she says. In her book, Plunkett theorizes that sharenting may thwart a child’s essential ability to explore, and that long-lasting posts may alter their personal narrative and sense of self, as many people they meet will go online and learn about them.

“Most parents do not overshare because they are trying to be malicious,” Steinberg says. “Most just have not yet considered the importance of their child’s digital footprint.” On the contrary, adults generally sharent with good intentions. Studies show sharenting is a way for parents to find validation and social support, and to help each other in an increasingly isolating landscape for child rearing. So instead of stopping everything and eliminating even the benefits of sharenting, Plunkett suggests four ways to post about the kids in your life in a more responsible way.

This is why getting kids involved in the decision-making process before you post something online can be formative in their digital education. Steinberg advocates giving children veto power over what you post about them online. Meanwhile, Plunkett says doing research with them and explaining—in a developmentally appropriate way—how social media works “models and supports practical and ethical digital citizenship.” This could also help them grow into adults who know the consequences of oversharing and have healthier relationships with online platforms. But whatever approach you take, keep in mind that as the only grown-up in this situation, you’re the one making the call to share or not to share. Kids are minors, and by definition, they cannot grant informed consent. 

It helps to think about children not as a source of entertainment or an opportunity to harvest likes, but as individuals who will one day face the consequences of our decisions to share moments of their lives. You might think you shared something silly or cute, like a video of them falling asleep on the toilet when they were three, but for them it may turn into a social debacle in the school cafeteria. Or maybe you run into an issue with something else—something you can’t even think of right now—that prevents them from getting into the college of their dreams. That’s the scary part: the not knowing. 

Read more PopSci+ stories.

The post The Opt Out: Read this before sharing another photo of a kid online appeared first on Popular Science.

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If nothing else, take some time to save any home videos you only have on Blu-ray or DVD—a wedding recording, say, or anything else you wouldn’t be able to replace. But even things you can replace, like movies, are frustrating to buy again just because a disk got scratched. This is why I like to back up my discs to a computer hard drive—so I have a redundant copy.

How to rip Blu-ray to video files

The simplest tool for copying Blu-rays is MakeMKV, which is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. It’s relatively simple to use, and it’s free. OK, it’s only free while it’s in beta, but it’s been in beta for over a decade and there’s no reason to think that’s going to change anytime soon. The company posts working license keys on the forum every month. Just copy this code, click Help, hit Register, and paste the code to register the application. Keep that link handy: the beta codes expire every couple of months.

With MakeMKV open, insert your DVD or Blu-ray and click the big button that looks like a disc drive. The program will scan the disc and give you a list of video files. Check the boxes next to the videos you want to rip. You sadly can’t preview the files, but you can see how long they are—this should help you determine which video is which. For a movie, the longest video will generally be the feature presentation, while shorter ones tend to be special features. For discs containing TV shows, the episodes will generally be in order. This can all vary, though, so be sure to check your videos afterward just to make sure.

[Related: How to back up and protect all your precious data]

Note that you can select which audio tracks you want to rip—commentary tracks, for example, or dubbed audio for other languages. By default, the program grabs all of them, but you can uncheck any track you don’t want.

Finally, pick a folder where you’d like your ripped files to end up. After everything looks right, click the large MakeMKV button. Note that, in some cases, a disc that plays fine may fail to rip—this is fairly standard. A Blu-ray or DVD player simply skips over dirt or scratches; ripping software can’t do that for various reasons. If this happens, clean the disc with a microfiber cloth and try again—in most cases that should work.

A note on UHD (4K) Blu-rays

For DVDs and most Blu-rays, the above is all you need to know. For newer, ultra-HD Blu-rays, however, things get more complicated because of the copy protection. To oversimplify, only certain drives will work for actually ripping the files, and you may need to install custom firmware. You can find a list of supported drives on the MakeMKV forum. The post also includes instructions for flashing your drive (replacing its firmware), if necessary.

How to play MKV files

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If you own an Apple MacBook, then the built-in trackpad might be your way of doing just about everything except typing. It’s an essential input device for your laptop, so you’ll need to know how to make the best of it.

Not only are there a ton of configuration options to personalize the gestures you use with your MacBook trackpad, but there are also third-party apps to help you do more clicking, selecting, zooming, and scrolling.

Next is Secondary click, also known as right-click: You can turn this off completely or choose to enable it with a two-finger click, or a click on one of the bottom corners of the trackpad. The final option on this screen, Tap to click, means you can register a click with a light tap on the trackpad rather than a full press.

Switch to the Scroll & Zoom tab and you can set which direction the screen scrolls when you move two fingers up or down the trackpad (Natural scrolling), enable a pinch with two fingers to make things on screen appear larger (Zoom in or out), enable a two-finger double-tap for a quick zoom in or out (Smart Zoom), and enable the ability to rotate objects with two fingers (Rotate). Hover over any option to see a preview of how it works at the top of the dialog box.

Lastly, there’s the More Gestures tab, which offers a total of seven different gestures you can enable. Some of these just have a simple switch you can toggle to turn them on and off, with the gesture action explained underneath, while others have a drop-down menu where you can pick the gesture you want to trigger the action.

For example, turn on the Notification Center toggle switch and you’ll be able to swipe left from the right edge of the screen with two fingers. Meanwhile, for the Swipe between full-screen applications gesture, you can choose to do this by swiping left or right with either three fingers or four fingers on the trackpad. Or you can turn the gesture off completely.

One such app is BetterTouchTool, which will set you back $10 with two years worth of updates, or $22 with updates for life. There’s also a 45-day free trial you can use to see if you like the software before you part with your money.

First, click the + (plus) icon underneath Groups & Top Level Triggers, and pick your gesture—you can do something like 3 Finger Double-Tap or whatever else you want to do with your fingers to trigger the action. You can also combine a keyboard shortcut if you want, and choose whether macOS acknowledges the trigger with a visual alert. 

Then, click the + (plus) icon underneath Actions Assigned to Selected Trigger. This determines what happens next: you can choose from a long list of supported actions, including app navigation, window resizing, and system actions such as powering down the Mac. Once you pick the one you want, your gesture will be ready to use. 

Another trackpad app worth checking out is Swish which you can test for free for 14 days before having to pay $16 to keep using it. Unfortunately, this app doesn’t allow you to create your own gestures but comes with a list of custom ones that expands on the built-in trackpad functionality in lots of new and useful ways. You’ll be able to maximize and minimize windows, snap them to a grid on screen, move open windows between different monitors, or quickly view the desktop by minimizing every currently open window.

You can see the various supported gestures by going down the navigation pane on the left of the app interface: General, Windows, Snapping, Apps, Menubar, and Advanced. Swish also has a few other interesting settings you might want to turn on, like setting up a modifier key on your keyboard to enable gestures.

The post Your Mac’s trackpad doesn’t have to be basic. Here’s how to customize it. appeared first on Popular Science.

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FROM ANCIENT treadwheel cranes to modern guitar effects pedals, the creative energy of our feet has come a long way. Roman aqueducts, medieval castles, and Gothic cathedrals were raised, mega-stone by mega-stone, by machines powered by human-size hamster wheels. Treadles, or foot levers, made their debut in the Middle Ages to power looms and spinning wheels. The stair climber got its start in 1818 as a prison treadmill—not to intentionally torment England’s inmates (as sometimes alleged), but to put their feet to work, turning gears to pump water and grind corn. In the late 19th century, pedal power took a fresh turn as artisans used the wheels of stationary bikes to spin up their wood lathes, bandsaws, drill presses, and knife grinders. By the early 20th century, even percussionists were getting in on foot action, adding pedals to drum sets and possibly taking pedal-effects cues from the centuries-old piano.

By 1967, when Popular Science electronics editor Ronald M. Benrey offered instructions for building a footswitch to control handheld electric tools, pedal power looked altogether different. When electricity and combustion engines had rolled out half a century earlier, our feet could suddenly spin up powerful cranes or propel cars at dizzying speeds with little more than a tap. No more sweating, huffing, and puffing. But even in 1967, using footswitches in home workshops was something of a novelty, especially the speed-control variety. Of course, some stationary home tools, like sewing machines, had standardized footswitches decades earlier.

In fact, Benrey wasn’t the first Popular Science editor to offer pedal-power DIY instructions. In December 1943, longtime contributor Walter E. Burton explained how to motorize a treadle sewing machine. His instructions include an electric motor controlled by a mechanical footswitch that worked like a clutch, engaging and disengaging the motor from the sewing machine’s flywheel. Burton’s design might have been inspired by a Popular Science contributor who, nearly a decade earlier (October 1935), had shared how he’d used a fan motor to automate his sewing machine, connecting it to the treadle. Perhaps the most innovative use of pedal power comes from a December 1880 Popular Science story that describes the use of wind- and water-powered motors (electricity was not readily available then) controlled by foot pedals to drive a variety of home workshop tools, including sewing machines. (Alternative energy DIYers might be inspired by 1880 domestic motor designs.)

What makes Benrey’s 1967 foot pedal unique is its speed-control feature. In addition to a simple on-off switch (referred to as “full” power), Benrey describes how to add a variable setting. When the switch is flipped to “variable,” the speed of the tool, such as the electric drill featured in the story, can be controlled with your foot. The catch is that in variable mode, the foot pedal delivers only about three-quarters of the electric current required to run the tool at full speed—a limitation of the added electronics. For full power, Benrey’s added switch must be flipped from variable to full. 

Today, footswitches, including the variable-speed variety, like Benrey’s, can be purchased, ready to use, for under $20. Of course, DIY enthusiasts can build one using any number of instructional videos. And throwback DIYers nostalgic for 1960s-style ingenuity could even build Benrey’s model. When looking for a silicon-controlled rectifier (SCR), which varies the tool’s speed by translating foot pressure to a corresponding amount of electric current, today there are a variety of thyristors that will do the trick. Plus, being handy with a soldering iron and comfortable with wiring diagrams is really a prerequisite. Whether you choose to build your own switch or not, if you’re the creative type who regularly works with power tools, you might want to add pedal power to your arsenal—you’ll probably wonder why it took you so long to unleash the power in your feet. 

Read more PopSci+ stories.

The post A 1967 foot-powered tool you could build today—if you wanted to appeared first on Popular Science.

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Disk space is always at a premium, so you should take every opportunity to free up as much of it as you can. One of the best ways to do this is to back up a bunch of files to the cloud, then remove them from your computer entirely.

Stashing your data in the cloud will allow you to access your files while still having hard drive space on your computer. The process is relatively easy, but don’t let this be your only form of backup: keep your files on another cloud service or an external hard drive (or two) in case something catastrophic happens.

Cloud storage and syncing apps can help you manually choose which files live locally on your computer, but they can also do the job automatically. In some cases, you can keep a folder online-only, but still have placeholders for its contents on your hard drive. As soon as you try to access them, they’ll download from the cloud and open as normal.

All these services also have web interfaces, which allow you to log in and view your files on any computer with a web browser and an internet connection. In some cases, web access might be all you need.

When deciding what kind of files to store where, think of the cloud as your basement—a place where you store things you don’t want to throw away, but wouldn’t keep in the middle of your living room. As such, it’s best to make older files and folders online-only—those you want to keep backed up but don’t need to access regularly, such as vacation photos and videos. You should locally store any files you constantly need access to, especially if you can’t rely on internet connectivity.

To make some files online-only, right-click on the OneDrive icon (a cloud) in the Windows taskbar notification area, then choose Help & Settings and open up the Settings tab. Go to Sync and backup, then open the Advanced settings. Finally, locate Files On-Demand and select Download files as you use them.

You’ll find there are three types of files in OneDrive. First, there are online-only documents, which you’ll recognize by the blue cloud badge that sits on top of the file icon in File Explorer. These live in the cloud, but open normally as long as you have an internet connection. The second type are locally available files, which have a green check mark on them and live both on your device and in the cloud. Finally, there are locally stored files. These are marked by a white check mark in a green circle and they stay on your computer no matter what.

The last two types are practically the same, and you’ll be able to open and edit them normally, even if you’re offline. The only difference is that locally available files will automatically become online-only after a set period of time if you enable a Windows 10 and 11 feature called Storage sense, which uploads files to the cloud when you’re running out of space on your computer.

OneDrive will handle some of this automatically (by downloading files when you open them, for example), but you can also manually set up what the platform does with specific files and folders by right-clicking on them in File Explorer.

How to save space with iCloud

Apple has two different storage systems: iCloud and iCloud Drive. The first one syncs information on your Mac devices, including music and videos purchased through the iTunes Store, plus contacts, calendars, and pictures. The second, iCloud Drive, is Apple’s version of OneDrive or Dropbox. You can install it on Apple and non-Apple tech, use it to store any file or folder, sync that data across devices, and share your files with anyone.

To see how much of your iCloud storage you’re using on your Mac, open the Apple menu, choose About This Mac, click More info, and scroll down to click Storage Settings. Under Recommendations, you’ll see a Store in iCloud button. Click it, and you’ll have the option to save all the files and documents from your Desktop and Documents folders in the cloud so you can access them from any Apple device where you’re signed in with your Apple ID. You can also move all your messages to the cloud rather than storing them locally.

Under Optimize Storage, click Optimize to remove any local iTunes movies and TV shows you’ve got on your Mac that are marked as watched—you can always download them again if you need to. 

Finally, open System Settings, go to the Apple ID tab, and choose iCloud. If you toggle the switch next to Optimize Mac Storage, macOS will start to clear your hard drive of older files you haven’t opened in a while, whenever you start to run out of space. These files won’t disappear from iCloud and you can always redownload them.

This feature will let you uncheck some or all of the folders in your Dropbox to prevent the platform from downloading and syncing them to your computer. If you uncheck a folder, it will disappear from that device, but will remain in the cloud and on any other computers you’re using Dropbox with. You can follow the same path and undo this preference if you want to restore access and syncing capabilities to certain folders. 

Then there’s the feature formerly known as Smart Sync, which is only available to paying Dropbox customers. It works like Selective Sync but it’s more automatic: it lets you move files to the cloud, making them online-only, but the platform will put placeholders for them in the Dropbox folder on your computer. You can easily view online-only documents when you’re offline, but if you need to edit them, you’ll need an internet connection to download them. Changes will sync to the cloud, but if you want to keep the file online-only after that, you’ll need to manually enable the feature again.

[Related: 6 essential Dropbox tools you might be missing]

To make a file or folder online-only, go to your Dropbox folder, right-click on the file or folder you want to only store in the cloud and choose Make online-only. You can also make all new files online-only by default: go to Dropbox Preferences, click Sync, open the dropdown menu next to New files default, and select Online-only.

The post Free up space on your laptop by moving all your files to the cloud appeared first on Popular Science.

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There have always been applications like this, but Little Snitch Mini is different because of how comprehensible it is. The interface is entirely free of jargon and technical terms, meaning anyone can use it and learn about what their computer is doing.

Snitches get detailed information

When you open Little Snitch Mini, you’ll see a panel on the left-hand side of the window with the list of programs running on your Mac. Beside each app is a bar graph highlighting recent network activity. The taller the bar, the more bandwidth the app is currently using. Click any app, and the map to the right of the panel will show you where, on Earth, the services that app is connecting to are physically located.

How many locations an application connects to can vary wildly, and can give you a good idea of how companies end up with your data. Your web browser, for example, is probably connected to not only the websites you’re looking at, but also to the companies serving ads on those websites, a few tracking services, and possibly more. If you have multiple tabs open, there’s probably going to be ongoing connections related to each of those tabs.

[Related: Small, game-changing utilities for macOS and Windows]

For single-purpose applications, though, what you see should be a lot more straightforward. Dropbox, for example, only connects to Dropbox.com and Dropboxapi.com on my device, as well as to a few devices on my network. This makes sense. Plexamp, my music player, mostly just connects to my Plex server with occasional callbacks to the Plex service.

Little Snitch Mini also offers a menu bar icon, which will show you your device’s network usage in real time. Click this icon (it’s a row of seven bars) to see current network usage along with a list of any apps that have recently used your network.

You don’t need to check it obsessively, but it’s a nice way to passively monitor which apps are using your network.

Block apps from connecting with Premium

The post How to use Little Snitch Mini to see which Mac apps are connected to the internet appeared first on Popular Science.

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For a lot of us, checking our Gmail inbox is a daily ritual, and Google’s email client comes packed with labels, filters, stars, and other features meant to help you sort and manage your messages as quickly as possible. But those are just surface-level—you can go deeper.

Experimenting with Gmail’s layout is a powerful, but often overlooked way to boost your email productivity. It can surface the most important messages first, help you avoid inbox clutter, and give you a different perspective on your mountain of emails.

After Gmail creates this divide, click the three dots in the top right corner of your inbox to choose how many unread emails appear on screen at once (up to 50). From the same menu, you can also select Hide section when empty to have it disappear when all your emails are read.

You can also type “is:unread” into the search box at the top of the page to sort by unread Gmail messages. This will display everything from your inbox and archive that you haven’t opened yet, in reverse chronological order, while hiding all your other emails from view. It also won’t change the layout of your main inbox, so it’s a good option if you just want to have a quick look instead of making a lasting change.

2. Show important emails first

If simply sorting by unread isn’t enough, you can choose to have Gmail bring the most important emails to the top of your inbox. Importance is judged by Google’s artificial intelligence algorithms, and those algorithms are based on indicators such as who you email most frequently and the keywords inside your messages. Emails that Gmail thinks are important have a small yellow arrow next to their subject headers.

Click the cog icon (top right) in the main Gmail interface, scroll down to Inbox type, and choose Important first. Emails deemed to be important will appear in the top section, in reverse chronological order, and everything else will show up below. Click the three dots (top right) to choose how many important emails appear on screen at once, and whether or not the section should be hidden when it’s empty.

Irrespective of your inbox layout, you can run an “is:important” search to see all the important emails in your Gmail account, in reverse chronological order, without changing how everything looks. You can also click the arrow markers to the left of email subject headers to mark the messages as important or unimportant.

3. Display starred emails first

You might not have realized how comprehensive the stars system in Gmail is: Click the cog icon (top right), See all settings, and make sure you’re in the General tab. Scroll down to find Stars, and you’ll see there are 12 types to choose from (you don’t have to use them all).

Make your choices and click Save Changes to lock them in. Back in your Gmail inbox, click the cog icon again, find Inbox type, and select Starred first. All the messages you’ve put a star next to will go right to the top of your inbox. They will appear in reverse chronological order by date, with each star type from a given date grouped together. Click the three dots (top right) to set how many starred messages appear on screen at once.

[Related: 4 tips to bring your Gmail inbox to zero]

You can search for starred emails too, which won’t change the layout of your Gmail inbox. Run a query for “is:starred” to see everything with a star next to it, or use a search like “has:orange-star” to find specific star types (hover over the stars in the General tab of Gmail’s settings to see what their individual labels are).

To do so, click the cog icon on the main Gmail interface (top right), go to Inbox type, and select Priority inbox. Click Customize just underneath, and you can decide how many sections show up on screen, as well as what gets put in them.

One of the most useful sections is Important and unread, which shifts every, well, important and unread email up to the top of the conversation list (click the three dots in the top right to choose how many emails are shown in each section). Any label you’ve set up in Gmail can be used to fill out one of your sections.

5. Tweak the default setting

You can make adjustments to the default Gmail layout too, which uses tabs at the top of the inbox to split your emails into categories. If you’ve never explored these options, they’re worth experimenting with to see which setup suits you best.

Click the cog icon (top right) from the main Gmail interface, find the Inbox type heading, locate Default, and choose Customize. From there, you can pick which tabs show up on screen—from Primary, Social, Promotions, Updates, and Forums—and Gmail will try to sort your messages into these tabs as they come in.

[Related: Dig up any old email in your inbox, even if it’s in the trash]

Based on our experience, this sorting works pretty well, but Gmail can occasionally get a category wrong. You can always drag emails between tabs to tell Google where a certain type of email should go, and this should improve its future classification decisions.

The post 6 Gmail sorting tips for a more efficient and less chaotic inbox appeared first on Popular Science.

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Whatever familiarity you think you have with Windows keyboard shortcuts, think again. The nearly 40-year-old operating system has so many hotkeys that it can be easy to miss some surprisingly useful ones, and if you recently switched from Windows 10 to Windows 11, some shortcuts have changed.

No matter how often you’re using these efficient key combinations in your day-to-day work, it’s in your in interest to learn as many as possible. A single shortcut will shave a mere moment off a task, but you’ll save a substantial chunk of time over weeks, months, and years. To get you started, we’ve gathered 20 of the most indispensable keyboard commands for the latest Microsoft Windows computers.

• No matter what program you’re running, Ctrl+Z will roll back your last action. Whether you’ve just overwritten an entire paragraph in Microsoft Word or deleted a file you didn’t mean to, this one is an absolute lifesaver.

Ctrl+W: Close

• Another shortcut that works just about everywhere, Ctrl+W will close down whatever you’re viewing. Shut that File Explorer window, eliminate that browser tab, or shelve that image file without bothering to hone in on the close button.

Ctrl+A: Select all

• This command lets you highlight all the text in a document or select all the files in a folder. Hitting Ctrl+A can save you time you’d otherwise spend clicking and dragging your mouse.

Alt+Tab: Switch apps

• This baby is one of the classic Windows keyboard shortcuts, and it can be hugely useful when you’re running multiple applications. Just press Alt+Tab and you’ll be able to quickly flick through all your open windows.

Alt+F4: Close apps

• Another old-school shortcut, Alt+F4 shuts down whatever app you’re using so you can skip the process of hunting down its on-screen menu. Don’t worry about losing unsaved work with this command—it will prompt you to save your documents before closing them.

Windows navigation shortcuts

Win+D: Show or hide the desktop

• This keyboard combo minimizes all your open windows, bringing your home screen into view. If you store rows and rows of files and shortcuts on your desktop, Win+D will let you access them in moments.

Win+left arrow or Win+right arrow: Snap windows

• Snapping a window simply keeps it open on one side of the screen (left or right, depending on which arrow you hit). This allows you to compare two windows side-by-side and keeps your workspace organized.

Win+Tab: Open the Task view

• Like Alt+Tab, this shortcut lets you switch apps, but it does so by opening an updated Windows application switcher. The latest version shows thumbnails of all your open programs on the screen.

[Related: The fastest way to install Windows software]

Tab and Shift+Tab: Move backward and forward through options

• When you open a dialog box, these commands will move you forward (Tab) or backward (Shift+Tab) through the available options, saving you a click. If you’re dealing with a dialog box that has multiple tabs, hit Ctrl+Tab or Ctrl+Shift+Tab to navigate through them.

Ctrl+Esc: Open the Start menu

• If you’re using a keyboard that doesn’t have a Windows key, this shortcut will open the Start menu. Otherwise, a quick tap of the Windows key will do the same thing. From there, you can stay on the keyboard and navigate the Start menu with the cursor keys, Tab, and Shift+Tab.

Advanced Windows shortcut tricks

F2: Rename

• Simply highlight a file and hit F2 to give it a new name. This command also lets you edit text in other programs—tap F2 in Microsoft Excel, for example, and you’ll be able to edit the contents of the cell you’re in.

F5: Refresh

• While you’re exploring the function key row, take a look at F5. This key will refresh a page—a good trick when you’re using File Explorer or your web browser. After the refresh, you’ll see the latest version of the page you’re viewing.

Win+L: Lock your computer

• Keep your computer safe from any prying eyes by using this keyboard combo right before you step away. Win+L locks the machine and returns you to the login screen, so any snoops will need your user account password to regain access.

Win+I: Open Settings

• Any time you want to configure the way Windows works, hit this keyboard shortcut to bring up the Settings screen. Alternatively, use Win+A on Windows 11 to open the Quick Settings panel. On Windows, 10, Win+A brings up the Action Center panel, which shows notifications and provides quick access to certain settings.

[Related: How to use File Explorer tabs on Windows 11]

Win+S: Search Windows

• The Windows taskbar has a handy search box that lets you quiz Cortana or sift through your applications and saved files. Jump straight to it with this keyboard shortcut, then type in your search terms.

Win+PrtScn: Save a screenshot

• No need to open a dedicated screenshot tool: Win+PrtScn grabs the whole screen and saves it as a PNG file in a Screenshots folder inside your Pictures folder. At the same time, Windows will also copy the image to the clipboard. If you don’t want to snap the whole screen, the Alt+PrtScn combination will take a screenshot of just the active window. Just know that this command will only copy the image to your clipboard, so you won’t get a saved file.

Ctrl+Shift+Esc: Open the Task Manager

• The Task Manager is your portal to everything running on your Windows system, from open programs to background processes. This shortcut will call up the Task Manager, no matter what application you’re using.

Win+C: Open Microsoft Teams chat (Windows 11); start talking to Cortana (Windows 10)

• This shortcut has changed a bit since Microsoft deemphasized its virtual assistant, Cortana. On Windows 11, Win+C opens Microsoft Teams chat. But if you have a Windows 10 computer, this puts Cortana in listening mode as long as you’ve activated this ability. To do so, open Cortana from the taskbar search box, click the cog icon, and turn on the keyboard shortcut. Once you’ve enabled the shortcut, hit Win+C whenever you want to talk to the digital assistant. You can do this instead of, or in addition to, saying, “Hey Cortana.”

Win+Ctrl+D: Add a new virtual desktop

• Virtual desktops create secondary screens where you can stash some of your open applications and windows, giving you extra workspace. This shortcut lets you create one. Once you have, click the Task View button to the right of the taskbar search box to switch from one desktop to another. Or stick with shortcuts: Win+Ctrl+arrow will cycle through your open desktops, and Win+Ctrl+F4 will close whichever one you’re currently viewing and shift your open windows and apps to the next available virtual desktop.

Win+X: Open a hidden menu

• Windows has a hidden Start menu, called the Quick Link menu, that allows you to access all the key areas of the system. From here, you can jump straight to Device Manager to review and configure any hardware, such as printers or keyboards, that are currently attached to the system. Or you can quickly bring up the PowerShell command prompt window to access advanced Windows commands.

This story has been updated. It was originally published on September 30, 2017.

The post 20 essential Windows keyboard shortcuts that will make you forget your mouse appeared first on Popular Science.

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If you have movies, TV shows, and music stored on your computer that you want to stream to other devices inside and outside of your home, there aren’t too many options purpose-built for the job. You’ve probably heard of Plex, but there’s another option: the open-source Jellyfin.

How to set up Jellyfin

Whether you have a bunch of home movies, burned CDs from your teenage years, or recordings you just can’t get anywhere else anymore, Jullyfin supports all of the most common formats. These include H.264 for video and MP3 for audio, and there is a format compatibility list you can check. If a file type is supported, you can stream it straight from your Windows or macOS computer.

When setting up Jellyfin, you’ll first need to make sure all your locally stored content is indexed and available. Click Download Now from the Jellyfin homepage and pick the software that matches the desktop operating system you’re using—just make sure Server is selected at the top, as this is the program that will get your files ready to stream. Here we’re looking at the Windows server tool, but it’s similar on other platforms.

[Related: How to stream your personal video collection to any device]

Run the Jellyfin Server tool after installation and its interface will pop up in your default web browser. Most of Jellyfin’s setup steps are quite straightforward, and you’ll quickly come to an Add Media Library button: Click this, and you can point the program toward the media storage folders on your computer by using the plus icon next to Folders. Check the Enable real time monitoring box, and whenever you add new files to your selected folders, Jellyfin will automatically put them in your media library.

After a few seconds (or minutes, depending on how many files you’ve got), your library should be scanned and ready to access—you can access it from the Libraries option on the left of the main Jellyfin interface. The same screen lets you add more folders to your library: Just click on one of the existing collections, like Shows, Movies, or Music. Further options on the same screen let you choose whether or not Jellyfin automatically pulls imagery like album art from the web.

That’s all that’s really required to set up a Jellyfin library. There are a range of other options available in the various screens within the Jellyfin Server tool, but you can leave most of them in the default configuration until you get more familiar with the software. However, if you want to stream files outside of your local network, you’ll need go to the Networking page and enable Allow remote connections to this server.

Tips for using Jellyfin

On the computer where your media files are stored, you can use any media player you like to watch or listen to them. The Jellyfin Server program can do the job as well, if needed. To use it, open the app in your web browser, and you’ll see your media library on the first screen. Click on anything you see to browse the folder or play the file.

Your watching and listening history will sync across devices—so you can, for example, start watching a film on your laptop and finish it on your phone. If anything is labeled incorrectly, click the three dots next to the file and choose Edit metadata. For TV shows, for example, that would be the episode title and the year of release. If you add a link to the relevant listing on the IMDb website, some of this information will be filled out automatically.

[Related: 6 streaming tools to help you watch TV better]

For other computers, you can use the same Jellyfin Server tool to watch content over the web: Just skip the adding a library part of the setup process. As long as you log in using your Jellyfin username and password, you’ll see the files you added on the other computer. Bear in mind that the original computer—the one acting as the media server—has to be switched on if you want to do any streaming.

Head back to the Jellyfin downloads page, and you’ll see there are apps available for Roku, Android TV, and the WebOS software that runs on LG TVs. It’s not quite as comprehensive a selection as you get with Plex, but Jellyfin is getting there. There are also official apps available for Android and iOS, for getting your content on phones and tablets, and you can also use these apps to make playlists with your files.

There’s lots more to dig into with Jellyfin, and we’d recommend checking out the official documentation and the Jellyfin subreddit for more information. You should find everything you need there for going beyond the basics with the software, whether that’s accessing your content remotely over the web or filtering through your library (by genre, for example) as it starts to grow in size.

The post How to use Jellyfin to stream movies, music, and more right from your hard drive appeared first on Popular Science.

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The bundled gamepad isn’t the only way to control your PlayStation. Not only can you use a mouse and keyboard, but you can also use voice commands like you would with a smart speaker. Simply say your instructions out loud and your console will obey.

Voice control is a quick and convenient way of performing functions like turning off your PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 5, and launching games. And there are plenty more voice commands to explore.

Before you start talking to your console, you need to say “Playstation” and wait for the microphone icon to appear on screen. You can also press and hold L2 on the DualShock controller to get the console to start listening, but this only works on the home screen. When the mic shows up you can start talking and say multiple instructions in a row.

There are some basic commands that are going to work just about everywhere, including “yes” to agree to a confirmation prompt, “cancel” to reject a confirmation prompt, and “back” to return to a previous screen. You’ll also be able to say the name of any game or app on your console to launch it, but this will only work from the PS4 home screen.

To turn your console off with your voice, open the power options by saying “start power” and then either use the “enter rest mode” command (to put the PS4 into rest mode) or say “turn off PS4” (to turn the console off completely). Unfortunately, no matter whether the console is in rest mode or fully switched off, there’s no way to turn on the PlayStation 4 using your voice as there is on the Xbox.

You can also get around the various different screens in the console interface with your voice—just say “start…” followed by the name of the screen you want to jump to. Available options here include the PlayStation Store, settings, notifications, friends, messages, party, profile, and trophies. You can manage gameplay captures with voice commands as well: say “take screenshot” to do just that, or “start video clip” to begin recording gameplay.

At the time of writing, Sony doesn’t have an official full list of all the PS4 voice commands you can use, but you can see them all through the Voice Operating Settings page under System in Settings: Just choose Commands for Voice Operation. Alternatively, use the voice command “all commands” to see the list.

For the PlayStation 5, you can use the PlayStation Camera (PS5 edition) as a mic, or any connected headset with a mic. As the bundled DualSense controllers also have a mic on them, you can just talk into that as well. Just make sure the microphone is turned on, which you can do by pressing the small button between the joysticks, right under the PS button—it lights up orange when enabled.

The “Hey PlayStation” command will get your console listening, and then you’ve got lots of options. For a start you can say “open…” followed by the name of any app or game you’ve got installed—it’s a quick and convenient way of launching something, especially if it’s got a short name that’s simple to say. You can also use “find…” followed by a game or app title if you’re looking for something in the PlayStation Store.

You’ll also be able to control media playback on any app playing movies or music through your console: For example, commands such as “pause”, “resume” and “fast forward” will do exactly what you’d expect. If you want to make a gameplay video, “capture that” will record the last few minutes of action. You can be more specific by adding a time period to the command (just say “capture the last five minutes”), but if you don’t, the PS5 will use the default duration of 30 seconds instead.

As with the PS4, there’s no official list on the web of all the voice commands supported by the PS5 at the time of writing, but a quick search will reveal plenty of unofficial ones. You can also choose Voice Command (Preview) and then Learn More from Settings on the console itself to see a list of some of the supported commands.

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We all deal with a daily deluge of email, which means we jump at anything that can improve the efficiency of our inboxes. In that spirit, consider creating at least one email alias, and you should find that your organization and, in some cases, privacy, improve immediately.

Aliases are useful features found in popular services such as Gmail, Microsoft Outlook, and Apple Mail that serve as alternative addresses for when you don’t want to give out your main one. They still direct messages to your original inbox, so you essentially get a new address without having to go through the hassle of setting up a new account with its own login credentials.

What is an email alias?

In general, email aliases act as “fronts” to your main email address, although the exact details vary from service to service. Anything sent to these variations will arrive at the same inbox as messages meant for your main address, while keeping your original moniker hidden from view. That said, the real application here is not anonymity, but easy filtering.

For example, if you sign up for a lot of email newsletters, consider doing so with an alias. That way, you can quickly filter the incoming messages sent to that alias—these are probably low-priority, so you can have your provider automatically apply specific labels, mark them as read, or delete them immediately. Alternatively, a filter might prioritize messages sent to the alias you give out to friends and family, or those sent to the alias you use for work emails. This approach gives you a lot of flexibility for managing your inbox.

Bear in mind that recipients can usually look at one of your aliases and use it to figure out your main email address. So in situations where anonymity is critical, you might need to start fresh with a new address. Still, if hiding your identity doesn’t matter as much, aliases are much easier to configure than whole new accounts.

How to create a Gmail alias

You don’t need to jump through any hoops to set up a Gmail alias. Just add some periods and plus symbols to the addresses you give out. When you tack on a plus sign followed by a word, the Google service will ignore the added text, and it overlooks periods altogether. For example, let’s say your email is “johnsmith@gmail.com.” Messages addressed to “john.smith@gmail.com,” “j.o.h.nsmith@gmail.com,” “johnsmith+hello@gmail.com,” and “johnsmith+message@gmail.com” will all show up in your usual Gmail account.

Although the end result is the same, this gives you a quick and effective way of filtering messages. Going back to the John Smith example, you might always do your online shopping through the “john.smith@gmail.com” alias. When these messages arrive, Gmail might automatically label them “shopping” or “receipts.” You could sign up for email newsletters with the moniker “johnsmith+news@gmail.com,” and a filter might mark them read and send them straight into the Updates tab.

[Related: 4 tips to bring your Gmail inbox to zero]

How to create an email alias in Outlook

Outlook aliases are similar to the ones you can build in Gmail. You can also create completely new “@outlook.com” addresses within your primary account, which gives you more options if you want to use aliases to maintain anonymity.

With Microsoft’s free webmail service, you can still make up variations on your full address using plus symbols, but periods won’t work the way they do in Gmail. For example, you can use aliases such as “johnsmith+news@outlook.com” and “johnsmith+work@outlook.com,” but you can’t rely on “john.smith.” Again, you don’t have to specifically create these aliases—just hand them out, and they’ll work automatically.

To set up a filter for your tweaked email addresses, click the cog icon in the top right, hit View all Outlook settings, make sure you’re in the Mail tab, select Rules, and choose Add new rule. Name your rule whatever you want, go to the dropdown menu under Add a condition, and pick To from the list of options. Another text box will appear to the right—enter your email alias there. Finally, use the Add an action dropdown menu to decide on an action to take. For instance, you might tell Outlook to immediately delete alias-addressed messages, move or copy them to certain folders, mark them as read, label them as spam, categorize them, forward them to another email address, and so on. Click Add another action to process the incoming message in multiple ways, or Add an exception to exclude certain messages from the filter. When you’re happy with the actions an alias-addressed email will receive, click Save.

[Related: How to secure your Microsoft account]

Unlike with Gmail, you won’t be able to send messages from these variations on your original email address. However, Outlook does let you add a completely new @outlook.com address inside your primary account. If your requested address is available, you’ll get to manage both “johnsmith@outlook.com” and “johnsmithalias@outlook.com” from the same account—messages addressed to both will arrive at the same inbox, and you can send messages from both as well. So if you want to use aliases to achieve anonymity, Microsoft’s email service has an edge over Gmail in this department.

To add this kind of alias, you’ll need to visit a specific web page within your Microsoft account (account.live.com/AddAssocId/). Look under the Create a new email address and add it as an alias heading and enter your new address there. You can choose pretty much any alias you want, as long as you pick addresses that nobody else has claimed first. Once you’ve established an email alias or two (or more), they will work in the desktop version of Outlook, as well as the Mail application that comes with Windows. To create new ones though, you’ll need to follow these steps in your web browser, not the desktop app.

You can filter incoming messages sent to these aliases the same way you filter those sent to DIY aliases made with plus signs. To actually send emails from your added addresses, just click From when you’re composing a message and select whichever moniker you prefer.

How to create an iCloud email alias for Apple Mail

The Apple Mail alias system works very much like the Outlook one. Without changing any settings, you can toss pluses into your address, and messages sent to “johnsmith+work@icloud.com” will still end up in the “johnsmith@icloud.com” inbox. However, you can’t send emails from these aliases. To get that ability, you can create up to three completely new @icloud.com email addresses that funnel messages into your original inbox.

Let’s start with those plus-sign aliases. To filter messages sent to those addresses, head to iCloud Mail’s web portal, click the cog icon, and choose Preferences. Select Rules, then Add rule. Enter your alias in the top field, change the label to is address to via the dropdown menu, and decide what you want to do with the message: You can send it to a folder, forward it, mark it as read, and more.

Those DIY aliases are easy to set up, but you can’t send messages from them. For that, you can create a brand-new alias—a different email address managed from your original account—and send messages from it. First, click the cog icon, followed by Preferences. From the Accounts tab, choose Add an alias, and enter your chosen address. If it’s available, it’s yours. Finally, you can tell Mail to apply a label to any messages that arrive at this address.

The post Use email aliases to organize your inbox—and stay private appeared first on Popular Science.

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The sheer number of streaming services available today means more content to watch, more places to watch it, and a growing number of tools and add-ons that can improve your viewing experience beyond what’s built into the likes of Netflix, Disney Plus, and Apple TV Plus.

From working out how long a binge-watching session is going to take, to randomly choosing what to watch, these out-of-the-box features can augment your favorite streaming apps in a variety of useful ways.

[Related: 9 ways to get the most out of Prime Video]

Can I Binge?

Before you sit down to start streaming a new show, it’s useful to know how long it will take you to cruise from start to finish—you might be after something you can wrap up in a week, or an epic tale that takes months to watch in full. Can I Binge? is perfect for this: Type in a show and how much time you can commit to it, and it will tell you how many episodes you’ll have to watch each day, week, or month, so you can pace your bingeing accordingly. For example, if you want to get through the entirety of Twin Peaks in a month, you’ll need to settle in for two episodes a day.

Teleparty

You can’t always be in the same physical space as other people when you want to watch something on a streaming app together, and that’s where Teleparty comes in. Formerly known as Netflix Party, this browser extension for Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Opera can set up virtual watch parties in minutes and sync content across services including Netflix, Disney Plus, Hulu, and HBO Max. It also includes a chat box so you can discuss what’s happening with your friends or family members. The core features are free, but throw the developers $5 a month and you’ll unlock the ability to use emojis in the chat box and participate in real-time voice chat for an even more intimate feel.

[Related: Hack Netflix with these add-ons and tricks]

Reelgood

Reelgood acts as a command center for all the streaming services that you’re signed up to. Covering platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and HBO Max, it lets you keep track of what’s available on each service—including what’s just arrived and what’s about to leave. You can use Reelgood to discover new movies and shows to watch, and to keep track of everything you’ve seen to date as well. We particularly like the Reelgood Roulette feature, which picks a movie or show for you to watch based on filters such as genre and viewer rating—perfect for those times when you’re looking for something new.

Netflix Codes

The post Hidden Netflix codes and 5 other streaming tools to make TV simpler, smarter, and more fun appeared first on Popular Science.

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You can go the traditional way of controlling your Xbox by using a gamepad or a mouse and keyboard. But you can also use your voice—just speak out the correct commands to easily open up menus and launch apps.

Voice control is managed through either Amazon’s Alexa (available for Android and iOS) or the Google Assistant (available for Android and iOS), so you’ll need to pick one and get the appropriate app installed on your phone.

From the front page of the Xbox interface, pick Settings, go to Devices & connections, and then Digital assistants. Check the box marked Enable digital assistants and you’ll be ready to turn your attention to the Alexa or Google Home apps. Keep in mind that if you regularly use both platforms, there’s no need for you to pick only one, as you can use them in tandem if you want to.

[Related: Xbox Series X vs. PS5: How to pick between the two biggest new game consoles]

If you’re using Alexa, open the app and choose More and Skills & Games. Search for the Xbox skill and when you find it pick Enable to use. Amazon’s assistant will ask you to log into your Microsoft account to give it permission to interact with your console.

If you’re using the Google Assistant through the Google Home app, tap the + (plus) button in the top left corner, then choose Set up device and Works with Google. Search for and select the Xbox option, then link your Microsoft account.

Bear in mind that you won’t be directing your voice commands to your Xbox: You’ll be speaking to Alexa or the Google Assistant, and they will control the console based on your instructions. You can use your phone for this or, if you have one, you can also use another connected device like a smart speaker, as long as it’s connected to the same Amazon or Google account as the app on your phone.

There’s a nice bonus if you use the Google Assistant: Open the Google Home app, pick Xbox from the front page, and you’ll get an Xbox remote control on screen. You can use it to navigate around menus, adjust the volume, and turn the console on and off.

The simplest commands you can use are “turn Xbox on” or “turn Xbox off”. The only caveat is that for the former to work, your console needs to be in Sleep rather than Shutdown mode—you can set this up by going to General and Power options in Settings.

You can save yourself some time by using voice commands to launch games and apps as well. Just say “open [app or game] on Xbox” to have it come up on screen. Games with longer titles can be a bit of a mouthful, but Alexa and the Google Assistant are usually pretty good at understanding what you mean.

[Related: The best Xbox One controllers of 2023]

Another area where voice control can be really useful is in taking screenshots and capturing videos of gameplay. Just say “tell Xbox to take a screenshot” or “tell Xbox to record that” to launch the capturing features. You can also start and stop a live stream using your voice by saying “tell Xbox to start broadcasting” or “tell Xbox to stop broadcasting”.

When you’re not gaming, you can also use Alexa and the Google Assistant to control media playback. Say “pause Xbox” or “play Xbox” while watching movies or videos on streaming apps such as Netflix or YouTube. You can also control the volume with the commands “volume up on Xbox” or “volume down on Xbox”.

It’s also possible to see which of your friends are online, send messages, and set your online status. The only problem here is that the supported commands aren’t all the same on Alexa and the Google Assistant. For a full list of everything you can do on an Xbox with both digital assistants, check out Microsoft’s official command list.

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If you’ve upgraded your Apple devices to iOS 16, iPadOS 16, or macOS Ventura 13, you may have seen a new app floating around. It’s the collaborative Freeform, and it’s essentially a blank canvas. You just have to know how to make it come alive. 

The tool was announced at the 2022 Worldwide Developers Conference and hit iPhones, iPads, and Macs six months later. You can use it for brainstorming, journaling, stylized note-keeping, or just plain old doodling. Freeform, as its name suggests, lets you do pretty much whatever you want, but if you get a bit overwhelmed, we’ve chosen five ways to start exploring the app. 

1. Create customized shapes

Just like Google Slides and Microsoft PowerPoint before it, Apple’s Freeform has a wide range of shape presets you can use as if they were digital stamps. You can browse the available options by tapping the shapes icon at the top of the screen—it looks like a square in front of a circle. Choose a category by sliding their names to the left or right along the top of the window, select the shape you want, and move it around the canvas as you see fit. You’ll be able to easily resize it and change its color by tapping on it and tweaking the options on the emerging menu. 

Out of all the available categories, Basic (which you’ll find all the way to the left) has the fewest shapes to pick from, but it offers many more customization options. For example, choose a star and notice that, when you select it on the canvas, two green dots appear on top of it. The one closest to the center of the shape will allow you to edit its radius—slide it all the way inward to get a small star with very long points; slide it all the way out outward to get a decagon. 

[Related: Right on cue, Apple Music Classical is here to liven up your music library]

You can use the other green dot as a dial to edit the number of points on your star—slide it clockwise to get up to 20 points, and counterclockwise to go as low as three. Using these two functions, you’ll be able to create a wide range of stars and sparks to customize your canvas. 

All shapes in the Basic category will have one or more green dots: the ones on dialogue bubbles allow you to round up corners and play around with the shape and width of its point, while the one on arrows will let you adjust the thickness of the shaft. 

2. Add descriptions for a more accessible Freeform file

To make your Freeform canvas more accessible, you can write descriptions for each item you add to it. This allows Apple’s VoiceOver to help people with visual impairments navigate Freeform documents by using Siri to describe what’s on the screen.  

To create a description, tap on any element on your canvas. From the emerging menu, tap the three dots on the right to see more options. Pick Description, and a text box will emerge where you can add details about the selected element. You can do this at any time and can always go back to edit your description as necessary. 

3. Break shapes apart

While the elements in the Basic category are the most customizable, the “break apart” function will let you play around with shapes in other categories as well. 

As you might imagine, this option lets you treat each piece of a shape independently, so you can color, resize, reshape, and relocate them around your canvas. This feature is not available for all shapes though—you’ll only find it associated with objects made from multiple, smaller pieces. 

To use it, pick a breakable shape. The Geometry category, for example, has a bunch of fun ones you can choose from. Insert the element into your canvas, tap it, go to the three-dot menu, and choose Break Apart. Immediately, Freeform will give each piece of the shape its own customizable features. Notice that once you tap the option, all the pieces will be selected, so trying to move one will move all of them. Deselect everything by tapping on blank space, then tap a piece individually to work on it. As with any shape, you can tug the corners of the selected piece to resize it and tap on it to summon a menu that will let you add an outline, change its color, and even add text on top of it. 

4. Use Freeform in Split View

Apple introduced Split View for iPadOS in 2015, and four years later expanded support for it to macOS. The feature allows you to use two apps at once, and if both are native to the company’s ecosystem, you can seamlessly drag elements from one to the other. 

Using Freeform in tandem with Apple’s Photo app, for example, allows you to insert images and videos from your local storage. To open Split View on an iPad, open Freeform and tap the three dots at the very top of the screen and choose Split View from the emerging menu. On a Mac computer, open Freeform and hover over the green button in the top left corner of the window. Then, from the emerging menu, choose either Tile window to the left of screen or Tile window to the right of screen, depending on what you want. On both operating systems, your screen will unsurprisingly split in two, and on the second half you’ll see your desktop (macOS) or your home screen (iPadOS), where you’ll be able to choose the Photos app. 

From there, you can use the grid view on Photos to choose whatever item you want to use in Freeform and just drag it into place. As you’d expect, you’ll be able to reposition and resize it however you want. Opening other native Apple programs will give you similar options. For example, open Notes and you’ll be able to select text or images and drag them into Freeform.

5. Select multiple elements at once

Your Freeform canvas will likely get pretty busy pretty quickly. With all the shapes and color options you get, plus anything you scribble on your iPad with the Apple Pencil, being able to edit elements in bulk can make your work a lot easier. 

[Related: Which iPhone 14 should you pick for your next upgrade?]

To do this, tap and hold on an item, then use your free hand to select other elements. Once you’re done, let go of your selection and tap it again to see what you can do with it. Tap the three-dot menu and go to Select Objects to add more elements to the group—this comes in handy if you realize you forgot something and you’ve already let go of your selection. Just tap on anything you want to add and finish by touching Done.

The post 5 ways to get started with Freeform, Apple’s app for creative thinkers appeared first on Popular Science.

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The new Apple Music Classical is an extension of Apple’s existing music platform and offers more than 5 million pieces of music. If you’re a fan of Beethoven, Mozart, or any other composers, take a few minutes to learn how the app works.

Navigating Apple Music Classical

Fire up the Apple Music Classical app for iOS and it’s clear why a separate app was necessary: classical music compositions are generally longer and feature multiple movements, and that requires a different approach to search and organization.

Tap the Browse icon to see what we mean: You can navigate the catalog by composer, time period, genre, conductor, orchestra, soloist, and even the type of instrument featured most prominently. Follow any of these links to see new releases and popular picks, and in some cases curated Editor’s Choices.

With a track playing, pull up the “now playing” card from the bottom of the screen, then tap the small info button (or “i”) for further details. From this screen you’re able to navigate to pieces from the same composer, conductor, or orchestra, or from the same overall work. Apple Music Classical will also show you related works (linked by similar composers or orchestras, for example).

Also on the now playing screen, you’ll see a Dolby Atmos label if a piece is available in Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos—the surround sound technology that’s designed to create a more immersive experience. Enabling this depends on your device, but on iPhones and iPads you can go to Music, Audio, and Dolby Atmos inside the Settings app to turn it on or off.

Open the Search tab in the Apple Music Classical app and your options are wide open. You can search based on any of the criteria we’ve already mentioned, or even look for the nickname of a particular piece—try searching for “emperor” to get to Beethoven’s Concerto No. 5 if you want to test it out. You can look for the name of a recording, its composer, or someone involved in its production.

As in the main Apple Music app, you can listen to tracks without adding them to your library so you can easily get back to them later on. If you do want to add something to your library, tap the plus icon that appears on search results and individual listing pages. You can also create playlists by tapping the three dots next to pieces or on listing pages and choosing Add to a Playlist.

Using both apps together

Apple Music can be confusing at the best of times—not least as it boldly tries to mix locally stored tracks with a cloud streaming service—and there are a few extra complications that Apple Music Classical brings along with it. Most of these involve your saved music library and the different places you can access it from.

[Related: Why and how to set up a second Apple Music library]

Tap Library in the Apple Music Classical app and you’ll only see classical music. However, tap Library in the original Apple Music app and you’ll see everything from your regular music library and your classical music library—this applies to everywhere Apple Music is available, including on Android, the web, and macOS.

One of the reasons you would want to access a classical music playlist through the main Apple Music app is that there’s no shuffle feature in the Apple Music Classical app: These compositions don’t really lend themselves to being shuffled anyway, but if you want to shuffle the tracks in a playlist, you’ll need to switch to Apple Music.

The same is true for downloading pieces for offline listening. At the time of writing at least, you can’t do this in the Apple Music Classical app, so again you’ll need to go to the Library tab of the Apple Music app to save classical works to your iPhone or iPad. To do so, open the playlist or album, then tap the download button (the downward arrow in the top right corner) to save the tracks.

You don’t get the same library navigation options in the Apple Music app as you do in the Apple Music Classical app, so you won’t be able to drill down into your saved pieces based on composer, conductor, or orchestra. As your music collection gets bigger, you’ll probably want to stick to the Apple Music Classical app for listening to classical music most of the time.

As in Apple Music, you can choose to add classical works to playlists in Apple Music Classical without adding them to your library (handy if you want to check out some new recordings without cluttering up your library). On an iPhone or an iPad, you can set this up by opening Settings and choosing Music and Add Playlist Songs (the same toggle switch controls the behavior across both apps).

The post Right on cue, Apple Music Classical is here to liven up your music library appeared first on Popular Science.

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Picture this: You’re at your desk working on a project when your phone chimes. A quick glance tells you a friend sent over a video on TikTok. Convinced you’re due for a break, you click the link to find a new dance video from Charli D’Amelio. Fast forward an hour later, and you’re still on your phone, except now you’ve gone from viral dances to animal videos to fitness gurus raving about a weight loss hack. 

If this scenario hits too close to home, you’re not alone. Most people on social media check it daily, and younger people are likelier to return to their favorite platforms multiple times a day. TikTok is especially popular with teenagers: A 2022 survey from the Pew Research Center suggests 67 percent of teens use it, while 16 percent use it almost constantly. 

So why do people spend so much time online? One underlying reason is that platforms like TikTok promote infinite scrolling. You might start off in one video only for the page to continuously load a never-ending stream of content. Absent-mindedly scrolling through content might seem like an innocent activity and a great excuse to waste time. However, research suggests it can negatively influence the brain and mental health.

Anyone can fall prey to mindless scrolling. Younger people are especially vulnerable since the brain is not fully developed until age 25, says Lisa Pion-Berlin, a psychologist and president of Parents Anonymous, a child abuse prevention nonprofit. While limiting access to social media (like this Utah bill requiring parental permission is trying to do) is one option, learning how to be a more active user can help anyone stop infinite scrolling and still enjoy social media.

Why infinite scrolling is bad for you

Social media platforms like TikTok are not comprehensively bad for you. Several studies suggest social media can prompt feelings of connectedness and positive well-being. Further, they allow for personal expression, which fosters positive mental health.

Ultimately, how social media makes people feel depends on how they use it. For example, excess social media use is associated with feeling more anxious, lonely, and generally bad about yourself. 

“The more attached we are to our devices, the more problematic it becomes,” says Lisa Strohman, a psychologist and the founder of Digital Citizen Academy, an education program that teaches children and teens how to have a healthy relationship with technology. 

[Related: Do you never feel FOMO? Time to meet its twin, JOMO.]

Moreover, Strohman says watching pictures and videos of everyone living their best life might make you worried or sad that you’re missing out. Some research suggests that comparing yourself to others on social media can result in aggression and anxiety, while other studies suggest a link between negative comparisons on social media and suicidal ideation.

Meanwhile, mindless scrolling can result in a state of mind similar to being in a trance state, says Pion-Berlin. She’s concerned that “mindless scrolling is a way to tune out” or dissociate from reality. Some research suggests that overuse of social media can result in negative psychological impacts: A 2023 study in the journal JAMA Pediatrics found that middle schoolers who constantly checked their social media feeds showed changes in how their brains responded to feedback and criticism from peers.   

Infinite scrolling can also lead to disrupted sleep patterns in adolescents and adults. The screen’s blue light can make it difficult to fall asleep, and the constant content prevents your brain from shutting down for the night. 

When we sleep, the brain sorts through and categorizes the information from the day and commits the vital stuff into long-term memory, explains Strohman. But mindless social media surfing before bedtime keeps giving it more data for the brain to process throughout the night, “and that’s what tends to lead to that insomnia,” she explains.

How infinite scrolling can hijack the brain

Mindless scrolling helps make social media an addicting habit because it takes advantage of the brain’s reward system, says Strohman.

An enjoyable TikTok, for example, can trigger the brain’s reward pathway. Subsequently, this causes the brain to release a chemical called dopamine, which Strohman describes “as a hit or a high” for the brain. The dopamine surge tells the brain that scrolling through social media is pleasurable and that we should do it again. Because another attention-grabbing Tiktok plays immediately when the first is over, this process starts all over again immediately. 

“The brain is rewarded every time because of how the feeds and algorithms are set up so that anytime we’re not on the app, we think we’re missing something,” explains Strohman. “That makes us want to go back on it again.:

The same process applies to adolescents—possibly to a more significant effect. Pion-Berlin explains that because the prefrontal cortex is one of the last brain areas to mature fully, younger people are more impulsive and have less self-control than adults. With less self-control, it may be easier for teens to fall into this rabbit hole of social media content, she says. In addition, the limbic system—a part of the brain involved in behavioral and emotional responses—is also more sensitive during our teenage years, which makes them likelier to prioritize pleasurable and desirable activities.

What are some ways to stop infinite scrolling?

While infinite scrolling isn’t great, that does not mean you need to quit social media altogether. On the contrary, there are some benefits to staying on the apps, such as building communities among people with a shared hobby or interest, maintaining relationships with family who live miles away, raising awareness for a particular cause, and learning from credible experts.

[Related: All the ways you can reduce screen time across your devices]

To make the most of your time, you’ll want to become an active rather than a passive user. Active users interact with others— in practice, this could look like commenting on posts or creating content. The high engagement gives you a specific purpose for being on the app, allows you to nurture and maintain online friendships, and is associated with improved well-being. 

Meanwhile, infinite scrolling is a passive activity because you’re socially disconnected from others and lurking in the background. Of course, sometimes you just want to take a break from life and watch some mind-numbing videos. In these situations, you’ll want to set a timer to limit the time you spend online and know when it’s time to log off, Strohman says. 

Another suggestion from Strohman is turning off notifications. People often fall into mindless surfing when notified or tagged in something. And while you might start out looking at the relevant post, you can easily find yourself lost in a comment thread or other recommended videos. 

“Have a clear purpose when accessing social media,” Strohman says. If a friend shares a post, tell yourself you will only watch this one video and not spend the next two hours on TikTok. 

“The more you scroll, the less settled you’ll be,” advises Strohman. “Be mindful, recognize your part in it, and try to do what you can to manage yourself in those online worlds.”

The post How to break your toxic infinite scroll habit on TikTok appeared first on Popular Science.

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Maybe you’re used to turning your computer on every day with the power button and off every evening with a few clicks—or perhaps you just leave it running around the clock. Instead, save yourself some time by making your computer turn on and shut down on a schedule.

Not only will you save money on energy bills, but you’ll also have your PC or Mac booted up and waiting for you in the morning when you reach the office (or home office). You can also leave your computer working on a task (like a hefty download or a long video encoding process) knowing that it will switch off when it’s done. Or maybe you just want to fall asleep to some streaming video, without leaving your laptop or desktop running all night—there are lots of ways to use this superpower.

How to automatically turn on a Windows PC

Powering up a PC on a schedule requires a bit of digging around in the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) that launches before Windows does. On computers sold in the last few years, the BIOS has been replaced by the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI), but they do a very similar job.

To get to the BIOS or UEFI, you’ll need to press a specific key while your computer is booting up. Which one varies from device to device, but it’s usually F2, F8, Delete, or Esc. The key you’ll need should be displayed on screen during the startup process, but if you’re really stuck, try looking for documentation for your PC’s make and model on the web.

[Related: Small, game-changing utilities for Windows and macOS]

Different manufacturers configure their BIOS or UEFI differently, so we can’t give you exact instructions for how to find the scheduling feature, but it shouldn’t be too difficult to track down—look for some kind of advanced settings or power management menu after you press the proper key. If you can’t find anything, your PC might not have this feature at all, but you should check the web to make sure.

The Dell desktop we used as a test machine for this guide was running Windows 10, and we pressed F2 to enter the BIOS screen. There, we found an Auto Power On option under the Power menu. This gave us the choice to turn the computer on at a certain time every day or on one particular day, but as we’ve said, your PC may be slightly different.

Alternative ways to enter the Windows BIOS/UEFI

On a Windows 11 Lenovo laptop, we were able to access the BIOS/UEFI mode while the computer was still on by navigating through its settings. You can also use the Windows Terminal app. Just know that these two methods are somewhat more complicated and you’ll want to make sure you save all your work before you proceed. Although you’ll be starting with a device that’s already on, you’ll still have to reboot it in the end.

From the Settings app, choose System on the left, then scroll down to click on Recovery. Under the Recovery options heading, find Advanced startup and hit Restart now. Here, Windows will warn you to save your work, but if you’ve already done so you can click Restart now from the dialog box. On the next screen, go to Troubleshoot, Advanced Options, UEFI Firmware Settings, and hit Restart to enter BIOS/UEFI.

If you’d rather use the Terminal app, search for it via the Start menu. Open it and enter this command (without the period at the end): shutdown /r /o /f /t 00. Hit Enter to restart your computer. From the “Choose an Option” screen that appears, click Troubleshoot, Advanced Options, UEFI Firmware Settings, and then Restart.

How to schedule a shutdown on Windows 10 or 11

Shutting down a Windows computer on a schedule is much more straightforward. Use the taskbar search box or Start menu to look for and launch the Task Scheduler program, then click Create Basic Task and give it any name you like.

Work through the task creation process, using the Next buttons to move through the steps. Along the way, you can pick the days and times you want the scheduled shutdown to occur, and have it repeat automatically or leave it as a one-off action. When you get to the Action screen, choose Start a program and enter shutdown.exe as the program to launch. You’ll see a summary, and can click Finish to confirm the scheduling.

To see all the tasks you’ve set up, go back to the main Task Schedule interface and click Task Scheduler Library. You can edit and delete them from here using the options on the right side of the panel. Note that you can configure multiple tasks for multiple times on multiple days if you need to (so your PC automatically shuts down at a different time on a Sunday than a Monday, for example).

How to automatically turn a Mac on and off

If you’re using a version of macOS that predates Ventura, you’ve got it easy and can skip to the following subsection. But if you’ve upgraded to Apple’s latest operating system, scheduling automatic shutdowns and boots is quite a bit more complicated than it used to be.

You used to be able to tell your Mac to shut down and start up on a schedule by clicking through obvious options in the macOS system settings, but all of those are gone in Ventura. Now, you’ll have to use the Terminal app. To find it, search for it on your computer using Spotlight search or your preferred app-locating method.

Inside this app, you’ll be using a “pmset” command, and there are a few things you’ll need to know before you build one:

• Dates are formatted as MM/DD/YY, so April 10, 2021 would be 04/10/21.
• Time is formatted as HH:MM:SS, so 9 a.m. would be 09:00:00.
• Days of the week are generally formatted using their first letter (Monday is “M”, but there are two exceptions: Thursday is “R” and Sunday is “U”.

Whether you’d like to schedule your Mac to shut down, start up, or reboot, the commands follow a similar pattern. You may also need to enter your password before your computer will complete the task. Use these examples as guides to create your own schedule:

• Automatic startup: To get your device to turn on every weekday at, say, 8:59 a.m. (the minute before you sit down at your desk), enter sudo pmset repeat poweron MTWRF 08:59:00 into the Terminal. If you’re someone who puts your computer to sleep instead, you can replace “poweron” with “wake”.
• Automatic shutdown: If you want your Mac to shut down every Friday at 5 p.m., enter sudo pmset repeat shutdown F 17:00:00 into the Terminal. This may just stop you from working into the weekend.
• Schedule restart: For an automatic macOS restart every other day at 3 a.m., enter sudo pmset repeat restart MWFU 03:00:00 into the Terminal. Maybe now you won’t keep putting off those updates.

How to schedule a Mac shutdown, startup, or reboot in older versions of macOS

Unlike with macOS Ventura, you don’t need to bother with the Terminal app to schedule various tasks in older versions of the OS. Instead, open the Apple menu, then choose System Preferences. To get to the scheduling screen, click Energy Saver and Change Settings (on a desktop Mac), or Battery and Schedule (on a MacBook).

Check the Start up or wake box, and you can set a startup time for every day, only weekdays, just the weekend, or on a single day of your choosing—just use the drop-down lists to set your preference.

[Related: 23 useful Mac settings hiding in plain sight]

The next check box has three options: Sleep, Restart, or Shut Down. Once you’ve made your selection, you’ll get the same choices you do with starting up the Mac. Click Apply to confirm your choices.

A few notes to remember: You can’t have multiple timings for different days, just one startup and one shutdown time for each day you scheduled automation. On a MacBook, startup scheduling will only work if the laptop is plugged in and charging.

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Mac users sometimes need to use Windows software. Windows users might want to see what Linux is like. You might think, in both cases, that the only choice is to buy another computer (expensive) or set up dual-booting (complicated). There’s a third choice: virtual machines.

A virtual machine is exactly what it sounds like: an entire computer running virtually on your laptop or desktop. You can install whatever operating system you want and run it inside its own window, which really comes in handy. For example: my main computer is a Mac, but I have a Windows 11 machine set up on it to test software for reviews and tutorials. Others might use a virtual machine to access older software that can’t otherwise run on modern computers. There are all kinds of uses.

Your computer has several components inside it: the CPU, the motherboard, the memory, the hard drive, and so on. Virtual machine software creates software versions of these, all of which borrow resources from your actual computer. You can configure how much of your device’s resources these virtual computers have access to, like what percentage of your CPU they can use and how much hard drive space they can take up. These programs typically refer to your actual computer as the “host” and any virtual machines as “guests.” You can create as many guests as you want, depending on how much hard drive space you have.

Note that this is not an emulator, like the ones you’d use to load up retro games. Those programs are attempting to reverse-engineer the environment that a particular piece of software would run in. A virtual machine isn’t that—it’s a full system, complete with an operating system.

This can be Windows 11, though you’ll have to pay for a copy of Windows in order to do that. Those start at $139. 

Linux is free to run, and some virtual machine software for Mac systems can also create virtual versions of macOS. Just know that it’s not legal to run a macOS virtual machine on a Windows computer—the macOS software license agreement clearly states the software can only be run on Apple hardware. Some people do it anyway, but it’s not simple.

How to set up a virtual machine

To get a virtual machine on your computer, you’ll need to install virtualization software. VirtualBox, maintained by Oracle, is completely free and open source. You can download this application, install it on your Windows, macOS, or Linux computer, and start creating virtual machines. It helps to be relatively tech savvy—you’ll need to make a few choices, including how much memory and storage to dedicate to the machine—though there’s an in-depth manual available online if you get confused. This is the DIY route.

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Amazon Luna finally came out of beta to be widely available in March 2022, immediately impressing users and reviewers. Like competitors such as Xbox Cloud Gaming and Nvidia GeForce Now, the platform streams games straight to your TV, laptop, or phone—think Netflix, but for video games.

To get access to Amazon Luna, you either need to be a Prime subscriber—which gets you a limited number of free games per month—or sign up for one of the specific Luna subscription plans starting at $10 a month. 

If your TV has a game mode, Amazon recommends turning it on for the best experience. The location of this setting depends on the make and model of your TV, so you’ll have to dig in a bit. If you still can’t find it, we recommend searching for the user manual online.

You’ll also need to connect a compatible controller to enjoy Luna. You can use the official gadget (you can get it bundled up with a Fire TV stick) or one from your Xbox or PlayStation. But those are not your only options.

If you’re seeing buffering and lag, you can scale down the resolution of Luna games to 720p, which uses a more modest 5 Mbps. To do this, on the home page of Luna on the web or in the desktop app, click Settings then Audio & video quality to make the change.

3. You can use your phone as a controller on Amazon Luna

Whichever device you’re using with Amazon’s gaming service, you can control it using the Luna Controller app (available for Android and iOS). Your handheld device will provide you with a full set of virtual controls to work with, including a d-pad and trigger buttons.

As long as you are signed into the same Amazon account on your phone and on whatever device you’re streaming Luna to, the devices should connect automatically, even if you’re not on the same Wi-Fi network.

You can also use the Luna Controller app to have guests join in your gameplay using their own phones—this is extremely useful if you’re playing a multiplayer title. The only drawback is that they’ll need to sign into the app using your Amazon credentials.

The platform will give you a code that you can share with other people. All players need to do is head over to the Luna Couch website and enter that code.

To access this feature, type “chrome://settings/?search=hardware” into the Chrome address bar and hit Enter. The Use hardware acceleration when available toggle switch should be set to on.

For some unspecified reason, having location services enabled on Fire tablets and macOS can cause performance issues on Luna. You can turn this setting off on Fire tablets by picking Location-based Services from the Settings menu. On macOS, go to System Settings and then choose Privacy & Security and Location Services.

You’ll be able to manage your stream from a separate window that will pop up. It includes controls to allow you to share (or not) your audio and webcam feeds, and stop or pause the broadcast at any time.

However, there are reasons to splash $70 on Amazon’s own gamepad: It’s designed specifically for cloud gaming and has its own direct Wi-Fi connection, so you can easily switch between Luna games on multiple devices.

Its Bluetooth and USB support give the Luna controller versatility, and as you’d expect, it also comes with Amazon Alexa on board. If you’re going to get serious about your Luna gaming, then it’s worth picking up.

The post 7 things to know about Amazon’s new gaming service, Luna appeared first on Popular Science.

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After years of Instagram users pining for the return of chronological feeds, the app has finally made a change that lets you put the most recent posts at the top. There is a catch, though: your choice to sort your homepage chronologically is temporary, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

As we mentioned above, this change will not stick. If you close the app and reopen it, you’ll be right back on Instagram’s algorithmic feed. You also won’t be able to see Stories in this view, so it feels very much like a sub-feed. But if you tap any of the icons at the bottom of the screen (search, Reels, shop, and profile), then go back to the homepage, it should still be sorted chronologically. To get back to the standard feed, tap the back arrow in the top left.

This feature isn’t available if you’re using Instagram in a web browser, but if you don’t see these options on your mobile device, try updating your app. The Meta-owned platform launched this feature almost a year ago, so getting the most recent version should give you the ability to make your feed chronological. The pre-update workaround still helps, too: tap View Older Posts wherever you see it to gaze upon posts you may have missed.

How to set up Instagram’s chronological Favorites feed

If you follow a lot of accounts, a chronological Instagram feed can become tedious. When Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced the change in January 2021, he noted that most people don’t get through most of their feeds. You can use the Favorites sorting option to only see the most recent posts from select accounts.

Posts from accounts on your Favorites list will be starred and appear higher up on the standard Instagram feed, Mosseri said in a post on Meta’s official blog.

There are a few ways to manage your Favorites list after you’ve created it. If you’re viewing the Favorites feed, tap the starred list icon in the top right to add or remove accounts. You can also tap the star icon next to a post from a favorited account wherever you see it, then hit Manage favorites to get to the same screen. Or tap the three lines in the top right corner of your profile page, then choose Favorites. It’s a great way to keep only the best posts on your sparkling new chronological Instagram feed.

This story has been updated. It was originally published on March 29, 2022.

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Pictures and videos are likely to be some of your most precious digital possessions. They represent snapshots of loved ones, special places, memorable events, incredible trips, and even some moments that will have you laughing for years to come. We take a lot of these with our smartphone cameras, so we might as well make sure they’re safe and looked after.

Moving your photos and other files to cloud storage is a great idea if you want to protect them, and there are numerous apps and services that will take good care of your images. Even better, if you decide to, say, transfer your Amazon photos to iCloud, it is possible to switch platforms without too much of a hassle.

Get comfortable and open your laptop—phone apps are simply less capable than full-blown computers when it comes to downloading and uploading entire archives of images and videos. And no matter how much you trust your cloud storage provider, always back up your photos and other data somewhere else.

For an even easier way to move your photos to the cloud, download the Google Drive desktop app (free for Windows and macOS). It lets you specify certain folders on your computer that will automatically sync with Google Photos, which means that everything you add to those folders will have a copy in the cloud you can access from anywhere. Just open the app, click the cog icon in the top right and go to Preferences. Click Add folder and choose the location you want synced to the cloud. The app will ask where you want the copies of your pics to live—check the box next to Back up to Google Photos and finish by hitting Done.   

Finally, if you’re moving images from Facebook, iCloud, Pixieset, or Pic-Time, Google Photos has a built-in feature to make the switch seamless. Click Upload and from the emerging menu pick Copy from other services. Choose the platform you want to source your stuff from and Google will redirect you to that platform’s login page, where you’ll have to type in your credentials. What you see on the next page will depend on the service you’re dealing with. For example, if you’re moving content from iCloud, Apple’s platform will show you its “Manage your data” menu, where you’ll have a list of options, not all of them related to what you want to do. To move your photos and videos, select Request to transfer a copy of your data, choose Google Photos as the destination for your files on the next page, and hit Continue. 

Before you seal the deal, make sure you have enough space in your Google Photos account for the incoming files—if you don’t, nothing will transfer and you’ll have to repeat the process all over again. Follow the prompts to give iCloud access to your Google account and hit Confirm transfer to finish. 

This process is not immediate and you may have to wait up to a week for it to complete, depending on the number and heft of the files you’re moving. In the case of iCloud, you’ll receive a confirmation email, but you may have to check your account regularly if you’re using other services. 

If you need to export absolutely everything out of your Google Photos account, head to the Google Takeout service on the web. This tool will help you move all your Google data to another cloud platform, but you can also specify what you want to take with you and what to leave behind. By default, all the boxes on the list of services will be selected, so you’ll want to first make sure Google Photos is the only one—you can do this quickly by hitting Deselect all and checking the box next to Google Photos. Then choose Next step and select Send download link via email from the drop-down menu. If you don’t want to deal with one huge file, you can also choose the frequency of downloads, the maximum heft of each bundle of files, and whether you want to compress your images in a ZIP or TGZ file. Once you’re done customizing, click Create export and wait for the link to that archive (including your selected photos and videos) to appear in your Gmail inbox.

Apple iCloud Photo Library

Contrary to what you might think, Apple does play nice with other cloud services—but only some of them. With the rest, you’ll have to export your photos and videos before you can upload them to other platforms.

Facebook

Technically, Facebook is a social media platform, but if you tweak your privacy settings, you can use it to manage your photos and videos as well.

Amazon Photos

If you have an Amazon Prime account, you have unlimited space to store your photos. Yes, you read that right.

Flickr

Downloading individual photos from Flickr is easy enough. Just hit the download button, select your quality, and you’re done.

The post How to move your photos to and from any cloud service appeared first on Popular Science.

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You’ve probably had to ask  “Can you hear me?” more than once while on a phone call. One of the most vexing frustrations of the modern age is that, despite the rapidly evolving technological landscape, we still have a hard time clearly getting words across during a voice conversation.

Fortunately, your phone is here to help. While your device can’t magically improve your connection, it can help you get more out of it and deploy a few tricks to ensure that you and the person on the other end of the line can hear each other properly.

This feature doesn’t just work in calls made through the Phone app: You can access and apply it in the same way if you’re making voice calls in FaceTime, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, or any other calling app on your device.

[Related: How to make voice calls from any device]

When it comes to properly hearing the person you’re speaking to, there’s a volume slider on the Control Center as well, which you can also access simply by using the buttons on the side of your iPhone. Switching to speakerphone might help: On the call screen, choose Audio then Speaker. If you’ve got other Apple devices like iPads or Macs on the same Wi-Fi network and logged into the same Apple ID, you’ll be able to switch to these too via the Audio option on the call screen—a bigger device might have better mics and speakers than your iPhone.

You can also boost call volume on Android via the buttons on the side of your phone, and switching to speakerphone is as easy as on iOS: just tap Speaker on the call screen. If you’re using a Samsung Galaxy phone, you can also head to Settings, then Sounds and vibration, and Sound quality and effects to access two useful features: Dolby Atmos and Adapt sound. The former optimizes voice audio, while the latter tunes the sounds from the phone to your specific hearing abilities.

Pick the Adapt sound option, then tap Adapt sound for and make sure to select either Media and calls or Only calls to make sure you get the benefit on phone calls. Further down you can pick from one of the presets to better match your phone to your hearing—Under 30 years old, 30 to 60 years old, or Over 60 years old—or you can tap Test my hearing to create a customized profile through a series of tests your device runs through connected headphones.

Android has a similar feature to iOS’s Voice Isolation to reduce background noise on calls, but at the time of writing it’s only available with the latest Android 13 update and on the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro. To access it, head to the Sound & vibration section of Settings, and then tap Clear calling.

Audio quality doesn’t only depend on the settings or hardware on your phone. If cell reception in your area isn’t great, your call won’t sound crisp and could even drop out. If that’s the case, you can make calls over Wi-Fi instead, as long as your carrier supports it (most do). To turn it on on iOS go to Settings, select Phone, and then Wi-Fi Calling.  On Android, go to Settings and tap Network and Internet, Calls and SMS, and then the name of your carrier. Just make sure you’re already logged into whatever Wi-Fi network you want to use before placing the call.

Some apps have audio optimization on by default. For calls made through Zoom, for example, echo cancellation and background noise suppression are the standard: If you think the feature is interfering too much or the app is applying it too aggressively, you can disable it by going to Settings, Meetings, and turning on Use Original Sound.

Messaging apps often have data-saving features that can reduce the bandwidth audio calls use. If you’re in an area with a strong signal, you’ll want to turn off this option to maximize audio fidelity. However, if your phone has a spotty connection, turning these features on can help. They work exactly like lowering the quality of a YouTube video while on a bad Wi-Fi signal—you don’t get an HD image, but at least the footage doesn’t stop to buffer every 3 seconds.  When you turn on data-saving features, your phone will compress and optimize the audio to get it through entirely, albeit in a lower quality. This will allow you to hear more of the conversation instead of having the audio constantly break up, improving the overall quality of the call.

In WhatsApp, for example, tap the three dots (top right) and go to Settings (Android), or tap the Settings button at the bottom right of the screen (iOS). From there, choose Storage and data to find the Use less data for calls toggle switch. Meanwhile, on Signal, tap the three dots (top right) and then go to Settings, Data and storage, and Use less data for calls.

[Related: How to fix spotty cell service in your home]

Signal also has a call relay feature that protects your privacy by rerouting audio calls through Signal’s servers. This makes it harder for someone to tell where you’re calling from, but it also reduces call quality. It’s not on by default, but if you’ve turned it on for any reason, you can disable it by going to the Settings menu and tapping Privacy, and then Advanced.

Microsoft Teams has a noise suppression option that cuts out unwanted background noise from voice calls. Inside the mobile app, tap your avatar (top left), then choose Settings and Calling. You’ll see under the Noise suppression heading there are several options to pick from, depending on how aggressive you want the suppression to be.

As always, keeping your apps and your mobile operating systems up to date is important in terms of making sure you have the latest bug patches and audio optimizations, which often run in the background without you even noticing. To check for Android updates go to System and System update from Settings. Apple users can check for iOS updates by going to General and Software Update from Settings.

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Often, email is a case of can’t live with it, can’t live without it. These messages are an essential part of modern-day communications, but sorting through them takes up an inordinate amount of time—time that could be spent doing something more productive.

Fortunately, if Gmail is your email service of choice, it has a number of features that will help you blast through your incoming messages. On top of that, there are plenty of add-ons that will assist you in getting down to an empty inbox—the coveted “Inbox Zero”—as efficiently as possible.

The key is offloading as much work as possible to automatic filters and other tools that will do some organizing for you, leaving you to deal with what’s really important. When you’re done, you should have a nice, clean Gmail inbox.

1. Get Gmail to prioritize your messages

If you haven’t set up tabs in Gmail, now’s the time to do it. Click the cog icon (top right in the web interface), choose See all settings, select Inbox from the labels at the top of the page, and find the Categories heading. For each box you check next to the options here, Gmail will add a new tab with that title to your inbox and sort all relevant emails into it. Click Save Changes at the bottom of the options screen to lock in your edits. As time goes on, Google will also try to guess which messages are important, and you can help it by clicking the importance marker (a right-pointing arrow) to the left of any truly significant conversation.

What’s more, you can drag emails between tabs to teach Google how to sort your messages in the future based on type or sender. How can this help you reach Inbox Zero in Gmail? Well, you can ignore the less important categories (like Social and Updates) until the end of the day, then spend a few minutes managing and processing these messages in bulk.

[Related: How Google Tasks can help you organize your Gmail inbox]

2. Set up your own filters

Filters are one of the key ways you can automatically organize your incoming messages. Click the filters icon (three sliders) on the right end of the Gmail search box to set up some search terms. Then click Create filter to set it up. You can also create new filters from individual messages by clicking the three vertical dots in an email’s top right corner and choosing Filter messages like this.

If you’ve got multiple email addresses coming into your Gmail account, for example, you can mark messages sent to other addresses as less important. Another option is to immediately archive certain emails and mark them as read—they won’t appear in your inbox, so less work for you, but they will still be available via search if you need them.

How does this bring you and Gmail closer to Inbox Zero? By starring and archiving messages, you can clean out your inbox without losing track of important messages. You can view each star category with a simple search, such as “has:yellow-star” or “has:green-check“. To see the search term associated with each star, hover the mouse over the relevant icon on the Settings screen.

[Related: 29 Gmail keyboard shortcuts to help you power through your inbox]

4. Unsubscribe from everything you can

Gmail has a built-in unsubscribe feature to quickly get yourself off newsletter and notification lists you don’t want to be on. You should see an Unsubscribe link in the header of any compatible message. Essentially, Gmail is scanning messages for “unsubscribe” links and making them easier for you to find right up at the top.

The post 4 tips to help you achieve ‘Inbox Zero’ in Gmail appeared first on Popular Science.

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The latest Android Auto update is one of the biggest yet for Google’s in-car interface, giving users more control than ever over how the software looks on their car dashboard.

If you’re completely new to the Android Auto and Apple CarPlay experience, these are the interfaces that pop up in compatible vehicles when you connect your Android or iPhone device. They’re essentially extensions of your phone, giving you access to select apps including maps, music, and messaging.

The internal Google codename for this latest Android Auto update is Coolwalk, though you won’t see it mentioned anywhere officially. It brings with it a split-screen design, streamlined widgets, and a new app launcher.

The interface will also give whatever media playback app you’re using a second screen typically showing recommendations for what to play next. You can access it by swiping left or right on the corresponding icon. As you drive, if you don’t use any of the map destination shortcuts, the media app widget will expand to fill that space.

Depending on your car’s dashboard screen you’ll also see shortcuts to your most-used apps on the side of the widgets or underneath them. Tap any of these shortcuts to make the selected app fill the screen. You’ll also recognize the colorful microphone icon, which you can tap to give voice commands to the Google Assistant.

In the lower-left corner of the Android Auto screen, you should also see a monochrome icon that will either show nine dots or two squares and a rectangle, depending on what’s on screen. Tap this to cycle between the widget view, the full-screen view, and the app launcher, which shows all of the apps available inside Android Auto.

But maybe you don’t want to see all the Android Auto-supporting apps you have on your phone crowding your car’s dashboard screen. If there are some you know will never use while on the move, you might want to declutter the app launcher by hiding them from view. You’ll need to set this up on your phone, so don’t do this while driving. From Settings, pick Connected devices, Connection preferences, Android Auto, and Customize launcher. From there, uncheck the box next to any app you don’t want to see in the dashboard interface. You’ll notice some tools, like Google Maps, Phone, and Settings, are not optional, so you won’t be able to hide them from the app launcher.

Go back to the Android Auto menu to switch between night and day (dark and light) modes for maps and customize the interface in various other ways. From this menu, you’ll also be able to enable Taskbar widgets, which will display a new bar along the bottom of the interface so your media playback controls are available at all times.

Customize your Android Auto settings

The renewed Android Auto also offers a selection of customizations you can access from the interface itself. Again, toggling them will require some concentration and focus, so make sure not to play around with them while your vehicle is moving. Get to the app launcher by tapping the nine-dot icon (you may have to access it by touching the widget icon first), and pick Settings.

The first selection of settings covers notifications, so you can choose whether or not you get alerts whenever there’s an incoming message on your phone. There’s also the option to show the first line of conversations and to play a chime on these alerts. Turn off the Suggestion cards setting and you won’t see smart prompts like the option to call a contact you communicate with a lot or navigate to a specific home or work address.

[Related: Your Android phone may soon be able to start your car]

Further down you can set whether Android Auto starts up automatically when it connects and whether the audio you were playing most recently starts up automatically. In our experience, not all media apps obey the rules set down by this setting, so you might still find audio playing (or not playing) no matter what this option is set to.

As well as accessing settings you can get on the phone (such as day and night mode for maps), there’s also a Wallpaper option. Tap this and you’ll be able to access a selection of different patterns and photos. Wallpaper doesn’t show up on the widgets view, but you will see it when you’re accessing menus and the app launcher.

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Now that we’re living in a mostly digital world, it’s a lot easier than it used to be to accidentally delete that precious family photo or important bank statement. One slip of the finger and whole folders of files can disappear into the digital ether.

If you’re hit by such a mishap, don’t panic. If you keep calm and act fast, you might be able to get your files back. In fact, you can explore a few different methods in your quest to restore your data. From tools built into your operating system to third-party apps you can download for free, here’s how to rescue those files.

Keep a backup

Nowadays, you really have no excuse for not backing up everything that’s on your computer and phone. The available backup and cloud storage apps are so comprehensive and easy to use that you barely have to do anything to update the spare copies of your data. What’s more, backups are your best protection against any accidental file deletion, not to mention other potential problems like ransomware.

If you don’t already have a backup system in place, it won’t be much help if you’ve arrived here in a panic. But you can at least make sure you set something up to protect your future files. On your computer, look at the options built into Windows (OneDrive) and macOS (iCloud), as well as independent apps such as Dropbox and Google Drive.

All of these services sync your files between computers and the cloud. So when a file disappears from one place, you can restore it from another. For example, in the Dropbox web interface, just click the Deleted files link and then restore whichever file or folder you want back. For even more protection against data loss, consider a service like Crashplan or Backblaze.

Check the Recycle Bin or Trash

Many people will have already thought of this one. But if you’re not aware, both Windows and Apple computers have folders that keep all deleted files for a short while—just in case you want them back.

A Windows machine calls this folder the Recycle Bin. Its icon might already be on your desktop, but if not, simply open File Explorer, click the drop-down menu at the start of the file path field, and choose Recycle Bin. You can click on individual items and restore them one by one, or select Restore all items to undelete them en masse. Files will return to their original location, though you can copy and paste them somewhere else if you prefer.

[Related: The recycle bin settings you didn’t know you needed]

If you’re on a macOS computer, deleted files will end up in the Trash, and this folder appears on the right-hand end of the dock by default. Again, you can drag files out of the Trash folder, or right-click on a file and choose Put Back from the options menu to restore them to their former location.

Both of these options are time-sensitive. On a Mac, files stick around in the Trash for 30 days. But on a Windows machine, they only stay in the Recycle Bin until the folder exceeds a certain size—so the sooner you act, the better.

Use a third-party app

A host of third-party applications promise to at least try to bring back your files from the digital grave—though none are guaranteed to work. These programs scour a specified disk to look for file fragments that haven’t been overwritten yet. Then, they (hopefully) piece those bits back together to make a coherent file again.

Options include EaseUS Data Recovery (for both Windows and macOS), Active@ Undelete (Windows only), Disk Drill (both Windows and macOS), and Recuva (Windows only). You can download and run all of these programs for free, though in some cases, you will have to pay to actually get your data back. Don’t part with any cash until a scan has actually run, and the program has confirmed that it can recover your important files.

All of these choices and most other reputable options are simple to use. And they don’t require much configuration either: Simply choose the drive you’d like to search through and let the app get to work. It’s a good idea to run more than one undelete program on your system, as different apps might be able to detect different sets of files.

How to recover files from phones or tablets

Phones and tablets handle file storage differently than computers, making it harder to recover deleted information. On the other hand, a lot of mobile apps have an undelete feature built right in, so you might well be able to restore that erased file with just a few taps.

The post The easiest ways to recover deleted files appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

IT MAY SEEM as if websites suddenly started displaying banners telling us they were using cookies and asking if we were cool with it. Maybe you didn’t think too much about it—just clicked “accept all” and moved on. And maybe that’s what you’ve been doing ever since.

But you really should stop and think about it. We’ve been dealing with these notifications for almost five years now, and some folks still don’t know what it means to accept or reject all cookies, or even what those yummy-sounding files do. Tech companies don’t make it easy to understand either (perhaps on purpose). But consent isn’t really consent if we don’t know what we’re saying yes to.

Cookies 101

It’s right there in the Cheers theme song: Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name. And if the internet were your friendly neighborhood bar, having folks greet you and hand you your favorite drink before you order would be possible only with cookies.  

These small text files are generated on websites and saved in your browser. When you return to a site, the page will retrieve the relevant cookies from your computer to provide a more seamless experience—your preferences will be the same as the last time you were there, the weather information will match your location, and the shoes you were not so sure about two nights ago will still be waiting in your virtual shopping cart. These cookies, also known as HTTP or first-party cookies, are incredibly convenient, and since they’re typically a data transaction between you and the website you’re visiting, they’re mostly harmless (unless a hacker intercepts them via an unsecured website or public WiFi network, but that’s rare).

Cookies in general get a bad rap because of one type: third-party cookies. These are usually generated not by the website you’re visiting but by the advertising networks and data brokers working within that site. These cookies are designed to gather marketable information about you (what you like, what catches your eye, what ads you click on) that can be used to sell you stuff. This data can also be sold to other actors, potentially with nefarious results. “That’s part of the magic of big data,” says Carissa Véliz, author of the book Privacy is Power. “It draws out inferences that we would’ve never guessed. So it’s very hard to predict what the consequences are for sharing that personal data.”  

What’s worse is that third-party cookies can track you across the internet. Let’s say you are a stylish baseball fan with a weakness for high-quality perfume. So you wake up, and the first thing you do is go to your favorite sports website to check the scores of yesterday’s games. Two hours later, while on a break between meetings, you browse a perfume blog to read a review. What you don’t know is that the ads on the sports website were managed by the same company that showed you ads on the blog, so now the advertising network knows you’re willing to splurge on a nice woody scent and also good seats for the next Mets game. Because advertising networks work with countless websites, those third-party cookies keep adding up, feeding more data to advertisers and their clients.

What European law has to do with everyone’s cookie notifications

When the European Parliament approved the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in 2018, this bill teamed up with previous regulation to, in part, give EU citizens the right to be informed about a website’s use of any unnecessary cookies, consent to the tracking and use of their data, withdraw that consent whenever they want, and access platforms even after rejecting all cookies. What makes the GDPR different from earlier rules is that it protects EU citizens no matter where they are, where tech companies are headquartered, or where data is processed.  

[Related: When it comes to privacy, smart devices are not the smarter choice]

Because there’s no way to determine if a user is an EU citizen, and running two versions of a website is hard and expensive, tech companies avoided million-dollar fines by adopting a “better safe than sorry” approach, which meant they started asking everyone for consent to use cookies on their websites. That resulted in everyone in the world getting a bit more control over their data online. But know this: Unless you’re an EU citizen, or some other privacy regulation applies to you (like the California Privacy Rights Act), you do not have the right to withdraw consent when it comes to tech companies or data brokers collecting and using your data. Jon Callas, director of public interest technology at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, says some companies, like Twitter and Apple, decided to make things easier for everyone by providing GDPR rights to all their users no matter their nationality. But those are the exceptions. In most cases, if you’ve consented to data collection, a company can use whatever it already has on you however it likes—no law allows you to demand the immediate and total deletion of that data just because you want to. 

You can, however, turn off the informational faucet and sever websites’ access to more of your data. 

The best cookies are the ones you choose

Start by clearing the cache on your browser. This will get rid of all the cookies currently stored on your device and will prompt websites to ask you about cookies again, giving you a chance for a semifresh start. The steps will be different depending on your browser, but you can check out our guide to clearing cookies and web history on all the major browsers. 

With a clean slate in your browser, you’ll want to be more selective when it comes to consenting to cookies in the future. When deciding whether to accept cookies, the fastest, easiest, and most secure answer is to always reject them all. Most of the time, you’ll have to dig into the pop-up banner’s options and find your way to the right button, but you can also use your browser’s settings to reject all cookies from all websites all the time.

You’ll notice most browsers will try to warn you against rejecting all cookies. This is not only because doing so will prevent them from serving you personalized ads and will make your online experience a little less streamlined. They warn you because some websites were built with cookies in mind, and rejecting them all may result in glitches or limited functionality. This is where you must gauge your personal situation and decide what level of risk you’re comfortable with. 

After you reject all cookies, most sites will still be fully functional, just slightly harder to use than you’re used to. You may have to set your preferences every time you visit a page, remember your username, and scroll down to the exact point where you left off reading that lengthy article at lunch. Maybe that sounds like a price you’re willing to pay to protect your data from malicious third parties, but it may also sound absolutely unbearable. Neither response is wrong—you just have to do what’s best for you.

If banning all cookies forever seems right for you, follow these steps:

• On Chrome: Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies and other site data > check the box next to Block all cookies.
• On Safari: Settings > Privacy > check the box next to Block all cookies.
• On Firefox: Settings > Privacy & security > find Enhanced tracking protection > choose Custom > find Cookies > open the drop-down menu > All cookies.
• On Microsoft Edge: Settings > Privacy, search, and services, find Tracking prevention > Strict.

Microsoft’s browser is different in that it doesn’t let you block all cookies, only “the majority” of them “from all sites.” This doesn’t give you a lot of control over or transparency about what cookies Edge is actually blocking—but this may just be its way to prevent some sites from breaking without them.

Not willing to live in a cookie-free world but still want to protect your data? You’ll likely need to take time to personalize your privacy settings whenever you visit a new website. There’s no one way to do this, as every website is different. But the main strategy is to reject anything that says “tracker,” “third-party,” “targeting,” or “social media” next to it. 

You’ll also have to beware of dark patterns—weaponized web design elements meant to sway your behavior one way or another, sometimes without you noticing. For example, placing a big, noticeable “accept all” button next to a tiny link in a noncontrasting color that says “reject all” is a dark pattern. These can be even more subtle, like when your only options are “accept all” or “edit preferences.” “It’s not giving you the choice of ‘yes’ versus ‘no’—they’re making you look for ‘no’ so you’re more likely to click ‘yes,’” says Callas. “Close” or “X” buttons may also be considered a dark pattern. Because these notifications act as a final hurdle between you and the content you’re interested in, it’s natural for you to click that “X” as soon as possible to get past the banner. But some sites might consider that consenting by omission. Callas says some websites are explicit about this, but others might not tell you what you’re actually doing when you close the disclosure notice without making a choice. That would not be considered proper consent under GDPR, but Callas says some might be willing to take the risk: “The websites are gaming the rules to get the most information out of you, because information is money.” 

Keep in mind that the GDPR forces companies to provide options only when there are unnecessary cookies involved. So if you stumble upon a page that is not explicitly asking for your consent, that’s because there’s nothing to consent to—only information about the site’s use of HTTP or first-party cookies.

As with most things in life, there’s no right or wrong answer to the cookie dilemma. If you find value in targeted ads and are OK with companies potentially abusing the data they collect, you can accept all cookies forever. But there is certainly a middle ground where it’s possible to enjoy a streamlined experience online and still keep your data out of the reach of bad actors. Tech companies don’t make it easy (privacy policies are somehow both dense and vague, Véliz says), which makes us wonder if the GDPR-given right to consent is real and not an illusion. Whichever the case, one thing is still true: Those cookie notifications can be annoying, but they sure are better than nothing.

Read more PopSci+ stories.

The post The Opt Out: When you should and shouldn’t accept a website’s cookies appeared first on Popular Science.

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If you want to instantly improve your digital life, take a sticky note, write “delete browsing history” on it, and place it near your computer so you never forget it. Web browsers keep track of your past activity because it comes in handy if you want to find a funny article again, return to your favorite photo of the kids, or if you want to restore a tab you accidentally closed.

At the same time, some people find this constant tracking a little on the creepy side. Not to mention that, if you share a computer with others, you might not want them to find out about a gift you secretly bought them, your interest in 1970s folk-rock, or your more private Google searches.

Fortunately, all of today’s web browsers make it easy to erase your web browsing history and wipe away your tracks online.

Browsers also track your download history, which is just a list of files you’ve downloaded. Don’t confuse this history with the actual files themselves, which live somewhere on your computer. It’s simply a list of references to them, which can help when you can’t find a specific document or if you want to download it again.

Next up are cookies: little bits of code websites use to recognize who you are. They come in a variety of forms. For example, if you go to a weather website and it instantly shows you the cities you previously searched forecasts for, that’s a cookie in action. If you return to a shopping site and you find the items you left in the shopping basket are still there, that’s cookies at work again. These files won’t harm your computer, but some users don’t like this kind of tracking and prefer to delete them on a regular basis.

While you’re looking at cookies, you might see that your browser distinguishes standard cookies from those from third parties. Third-party cookies track behavior across multiple sites and they’re usually in the ads rather than in the actual page code of a website. You can blame this type of cookie for personalized ads: If you’ve spent some time searching multiple sites for tents and you start seeing tent ads everywhere, third-party cookies are responsible.

Finally, browsers keep a “cache,” which contains local copies of graphics and other elements these programs use to load pages more quickly. If you head back to a site you’ve just visited, for example, the browser can draw site images from the cache rather than pulling them from the web again. This reduces the amount of data your browser has to download each time and speeds up the whole page-loading process. While it can provide snoops with a few hints about your browsing history, you need a certain amount of technical know-how to understand it properly.

When you decide to clear browsing data, most browsers will list all these types of data separately. You can decide to clear everything out, which lets you start all over again—as if you had a new browser on a new computer—or you might decide to keep certain types of files, like the cookies and cache, to make your browsing life more convenient.

However, this mode won’t erase everything you do. If you log on to a site like Facebook or Amazon in incognito mode, those pages will recognize you and record your browsing activity. In other words, your browser won’t remember what you’ve been up to, but any sites you log into will. This means you might see evidence of your private browsing in ads that appear later. And if you download files, private mode won’t wipe them either, though it will clear out your download history.

Those using Mozilla Firefox you should click the three horizontal lines to the right of the address bar to open the Firefox menu, then pick Settings. Click Privacy & Security and then scroll down to the Cookies and Site Data section. Here, you can clear your data completely or manage your data to have more control over what you delete. You can also check the box that clears your browsing data every time you close Firefox if you don’t want to have to worry about doing it manually.

If you’re using Apple Safari on macOS, you can blitz your browsing history by opening the Safari menu and clicking Clear History. Choose the time period you want to erase from the drop-down menu, then click Clear History to confirm the action. When you clear your history in Safari, you won’t get the option to delete different types of data, so it will wipe your cookies and cached files along with your history.

Windows 11 users who are using Microsoft Edge browser a whirl can also clear their browsing history. Click the three dots to the right of the address bar, then pick Settings from the menu that appears. In the Privacy, search and services tab, find Clear browsing data and click Choose what to clear. Next, make your choices from the list, which includes browsing history and cached data, then click Clear now.

Finally, in the popular third-party browser Opera, click the quick settings icon to the right of the address bar—it looks like a stack of three dials. On the emerging menu, scroll down to Privacy & Security, and next to Browsing data click on Clear. This will open the browser’s full settings page, and you’ll be able to choose your types of data and specify your time period. When you’re done, click Clear data. 

Across the street, Mac users using Safari, can go to Settings, Privacy, and Manage website data. Apple’s browser will provide one long list of all the information it’s gathered. Choose to delete select items or click Remove all to get a clean start.

On Firefox, go to Settings, Privacy & security, and under Cookies and site data, choose Clear data. Continue by picking Cookies and Site Data, plus anything else you want to delete, and hit Clear.

Meanwhile, on Microsoft Edge, go to Settings, then Privacy, search, and services, and under Clear browsing data, choose What to clear. In the next window, choose Cookies and other site data, then click on Clear now.

The post How to clear your web history in any browser appeared first on Popular Science.

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There are more differences among the best email apps than you might think—and just because you’ve used one for years doesn’t mean you should stick to the status quo. You may be able to do better.

Moving from Google to iCloud—from Gmail to Apple Mail, in other words—is one common switch. It’s particularly appealing if you’ve just purchased some new Apple hardware, as Apple’s iCloud services and Mail app work so well on iPhones, iPads, and Macs.

You can make the jump for free, without losing any of your messages. To get started, you’ll need to create an Apple ID, which includes an iCloud email address. You can do this from any Apple device or on the web.

How to add Gmail to Apple Mail and iCloud

First, you’ll need to get your Apple Mail apps scanning your Gmail account. To do this, Gmail needs to be set up to work with other programs. From Gmail on the web, click the cog icon (top right), then See all settings, and Forwarding and POP/IMAP. Make sure Enable IMAP is selected and leave the default settings in place underneath.

Next, you’ll need to get your Google emails inside Apple Mail. In the macOS Mail app, you can do this by choosing Mail and Add Account: Click Google, Continue, and follow the instructions to sign into your Gmail account. On an iPhone or iPad, open Settings, pick Mail, Accounts, Add Account, and Google, and sign in when prompted. This is a device-specific setting, so adding these emails to your Mac’s Mail app won’t add them to the iPhone version, and vice versa.

It will take some time for everything in your Gmail to show up in Apple Mail, especially if you’ve built up a large volume of messages, so be patient. However, the most recent emails should show up fairly quickly. Note that you can’t import these messages into Mail in iCloud on the web at the time of writing.

Copy messages to Apple Mail and iCloud

The steps you take next depend on what you want to do with your Gmail account. One option is to simply leave it in place alongside your iCloud account in Apple Mail. You can manage both mailboxes from the same app, sending and receiving messages using the two separate email addresses.

This process deletes the emails from your Gmail account and moves them to your Mail account—the messages effectively transfer from Google’s servers to Apple’s servers. Unfortunately there’s no quick, automatic way for transferring everything, so you’ll have to be quite picky about which messages you want to bring with you or be prepared to spend a lot of time on the process.

Note that Apple Mail will show the labels you’ve created in Gmail when you import these messages, and will also show the messages that have been tagged as important and starred—see the left-hand navigation pane in Mail on macOS, and the main Mailboxes list in Mail for iOS and iPadOS. This can help you find priority emails that you’d like to transfer over more quickly.

Tidy up your Gmail account

You’ve got a few options when it comes to what you do with your Gmail account. You might want to set up an auto-reply message to tell people you’ve switched, mentioning your new iCloud address. To do this in Gmail on the web, click the cog icon (top right), then See all settings, General, and enable the Out of Office AutoReply on option before composing your message underneath.

The post The easiest way to move your emails from Google to iCloud appeared first on Popular Science.

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Everyone wants the data on their phone to stay private, and Android and iOS come with a variety of security features that will prevent other people from sneaking a peek.

If you suspect someone is snooping on you, there are some simple steps you can follow to secure your information, as well as a few warning signs to look out for to make sure it doesn’t happen in the future.

You can customize lock screen security on Android by going to Settings, Security & privacy, Device lock, and then Screen lock. Meanwhile, from the Settings app on iOS, choose either Touch ID & Passcode or Face ID & Password depending on which biometric security method is built into your iPhone.

[Related: 7 secure messaging apps you should be using]

You should also make sure the screen on your device locks as soon as possible after you’ve stopped using it—otherwise, someone could surreptitiously swipe it while you’re not looking before the locking mechanism kicks in. On Android, open Settings, then go to Display and Screen timeout to set how quickly the screen should turn off—your options go from 15 seconds to 30 minutes. Over in iOS settings, pick Display & Brightness, then Auto-Lock. The shorter the time period you set here, the more secure your data is.

If you need to lend your phone to someone, but still worry about their unfettered access to your handset, know that you can lock people inside one particular app or prevent them from installing anything while you’re not looking. We’ve gone deeper into these features and other similar security options, for both Android and iOS.

Android and iOS don’t allow apps to hide, so even if someone has gained access to your handset to install an app that’s keeping tabs on you, you’ll be able to see it. On Android, go to Settings, Apps, and then See all apps. If you see something you don’t recognize, tap the item on the list and choose Uninstall. Within iOS, just check the main apps list in Settings. As the device’s owner, you can uninstall anything you don’t recognize or trust—you won’t break your phone by removing apps, so don’t hesitate if there’s something you’re unsure about.

If you want to do a bit more detective work, you can check the permissions of any suspicious apps. These will show up when you tap through on the apps list from the screens just mentioned—on Android, tap on an app and go to Permissions; on iOS tap an app name from the main Settings page and check what it’s allowed to access. In terms of notifications, system settings, device monitoring, and other special permissions, Android gives apps slightly more leeway than iOS—you can check up on these by going to Settings and choosing Apps and Special app access.

If you think your phone might have been compromised in some way, make sure you back up all of your data and perform a full reset. This should remove shady apps, block unauthorized access, and put you back in control. From Android’s settings page, choose System, Reset options, and Erase all data (factory reset). On iOS, open Settings, then pick General, Transfer or Reset iPhone, and Reset.

Android handles location sharing with other people through Google Maps. Tap your avatar (top right), then Location sharing to check who can see your location and to stop them, if necessary. You can check your shared photo albums in Google Photos by tapping the Sharing tab at the bottom of the screen, but you’ll need to open up Google Calendar on the web to edit shared calendars. Hover over the name of a calendar on the left sidebar and click the three dots that appear, and on the emerging menu, select Settings and sharing to see who can view your schedule.

Google Families works in a similar way to Apple Family Sharing, with certain notes and calendars marked as accessible by everyone, though no one will be able to see any personal files unless the owner specifically shares them. If you want to leave a family group, open the Play Store app on Android, and tap your avatar (top left). Once you’re there, go to Settings, Family, and Manage family members. Then, in the top right, tap the three dots and Leave family group.

The usual password rules apply: Don’t repeat credentials across multiple accounts and make sure they’re easy for you to remember while remaining impossible for anyone else to guess. This includes even those closest to you, so avoid names, birthdays, and pet names.

Two-step authentication (2FA) is available on most digital accounts, so switch it on wherever you can. For Apple accounts, visit this page and click Account Security; for Google accounts, click your avatar on any of the company’s services, go to Manage account, Security, and click on 2-Step Verification.

It’s a good idea to regularly check how many devices are logging in using your Google or Apple account credentials as well. On Android, open Settings and pick Google, Manage your Google account, and Security. Scroll down and under Your devices you’ll see a list of all the gadgets linked to your Google account. You can remove any of them by tapping on their name, followed by Sign out. On an iPhone, open Settings and tap your name at the top to see devices linked to your account—you can tap on one and then choose Remove from Account to revoke its access to your Apple account.

The post Your checklist for maximum smartphone security appeared first on Popular Science.

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Emergencies are, by definition, unexpected, so it’s critical to know exactly how your phone can help when you need it most. Both iOS and Android have safety features that will almost instantly alert first responders, family, and friends to the fact that you need assistance.

If you fear pocket-dialing the paramedics, you can limit these settings, but you can’t shut them off entirely—federal law requires all phones sold in the US to be able to dial 911, whether or not they have an active SIM card or are linked to the available wireless networks. As long as your device can make some sort of connection, you should be able to call for aid.

By default, an iPhone 8 or later model will call for help if you hold down the side button and either volume button. Do this, and the Emergency SOS slider will appear within seconds. Then, you can drag it to the right to make the call or keep holding to activate a 10-second countdown before the call goes out. You can turn this off by going to the Settings app, then Emergency SOS, and toggling off the switch next to Call with Hold and Release. During the countdown, your phone will vibrate to let you know it’s working. Stop the countdown at any time by releasing the buttons, but know that if you release the buttons after the countdown ends, your phone will call emergency services.

On all iPhone models, you can rapidly press the side or top button five times to do the same thing (except in India, where it’s three times). While this setting is the default on any iPhone 7 or earlier model, you can turn it off on newer devices by opening the Settings app, finding Emergency SOS, and toggling off the Call with Side Button switch. If you do use it, you have to press it quickly or it won’t work. This method starts an eight-second countdown before the call goes out, and will activate a loud alarm even if your phone volume is completely off. The only way to prevent the siren is to toggle on the Call Quietly switch within the Emergency SOS settings. Cancel a call by tapping the Stop button and confirming that you want to Stop Calling.

There used to be an “auto call” toggle switch within the Emergency SOS settings, but this appears to have disappeared in newer versions of iOS. Now that it’s permanently active, your phone will automatically dial the local emergency number once its countdown ends or as otherwise described above. This feature also requires a SIM card and you might still need to specify an emergency service in some areas, Apple says.

[Related: Get to know the safety features on Uber, Tinder, and other popular apps]

You can manage your emergency contacts within the Emergency SOS settings by tapping Edit Emergency Contacts in Health, which will take you to Apple’s built-in Health app. There, hit Edit in the top right and scroll down to add emergency contact. After any emergency call ends, your phone will text these contacts about your situation unless you choose to cancel the message. Your device will also send them your location and update them when your location changes, even if location services are off.

If you’ve set a lock screen on your device, the passcode entry screen will have an emergency call button at the bottom. You or anyone else will be able to dial 911 from this screen, whether it does so automatically or requires you to plug in the number manually.

Your phone will also send your location to first responders during an emergency call or text if you have Android Emergency Location Service on and it’s available in the country you’re in. You can also set this tool up to notify previously selected emergency contacts that you’re in distress. If you do this, your phone will send them text messages with your location and whether or not you’ve been in contact with emergency services. To manage this feature, open Settings and tap Location, followed by Location Services. Go to Emergency Location Service and toggle the switch on the next screen to turn it on or off. 

The safety features on your Android also include Earthquake Alerts, which you’ll be able to turn on from the Emergency Location Service menu. This tool uses information from ShakeAlert in California, Oregon, and Washington, as well as other Android devices across the globe to tell you when the earth is moving under you. Whenever a quake registering 4.5 or above on the Richter scale happens, your device will let you know the approximate intensity, how far you are from the epicenter, and give you tips on what to do to stay safe. 

The post These smartphone settings could save your life appeared first on Popular Science.

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Notifications from apps and operating systems aren’t all you have to deal with these days. Websites are also keen to keep you informed and up to date with their news, adding to the deluge of pop-ups constantly hitting your devices.

Manage the settings for Google Chrome notifications

Any site that wants to send you alerts will prompt you to deny or accept the request right away. But if you change your mind later, you can tweak these settings by clicking the padlock icon to the left of the address bar. Choose Site settings, find Notifications, and select Allow or Block from the adjacent dropdown menu next to decide if the website you’re on can send you alerts via your browser.

Another way to get to these settings is to click the three vertical dots in the top right corner of the Chrome interface, then go to Settings, Privacy and security, Site settings, and Notifications. Here you’ll see a list of all the sites where you’ve previously blocked or allowed notifications, and you can make changes by clicking the three vertical dots next to any site name.

[Related: The best internet browsers you’ve never heard of]

The same methods work in Chrome for Android, too. Tap the padlock icon in the address bar, then go to Permissions to set the notification rules for the open site. You can also tap the three dots in the top right, and go to Settings, Site settings, and Notifications to see a list of all the options you’ve configured so far.

To review all your notification settings, open the Firefox menu via the three horizontal lines in the top right corner, then choose Settings, followed by Privacy & Security. Scroll down to find the Permissions heading, look for Notifications, and click the Settings bubble to its right. You can use the emerging window to change the listed websites’ permissions and even stop the speech bubble from appearing altogether by checking the box next to Block new requests asking to allow notifications.

In Firefox for Android, you’ll see a prompt to allow or block notifications from individual sites. You can also manage alerts for the site you’re on by tapping the three dots in the corner of the Firefox interface, and then going to Settings, Site permissions, and Notifications.

Allow or deny Safari notifications

Websites that want to send you notifications in Apple’s built-in browser will ask for permission to do so when you open them up, or shortly after. If you want to stop these permission prompts from popping up at all, go to Safari, Settings, and Websites. There, choose Notifications from the left-hand sidebar and uncheck the box labeled Allow websites to ask for permission to send notifications.

You can use the same dialog box to change your mind about a website that you’ve blocked or allowed permissions from in the past. Just click the small drop-down box next to the website in question and choose Allow or Deny from the list.

Change the Microsoft Edge notification settings

When a site wants to send you notifications in Microsoft Edge, you’ll first see a small pop-up box that lets you choose whether to allow or block them. You can also change this site-specific setting at any point by clicking the site information icon (a padlock or “i” symbol) on the far left of the address bar, choosing Permissions for this site, finding the Notifications option, and adjusting the options in the dropdown menu to its right.

In Edge for Android, you can tap the padlock or info icon on the left of the address bar, then choose Site settings to modify the permissions of a site, including notifications. You can also tap the three dots at the bottom of the interface and go to Settings, Site permissions, and Notifications to see a list of permissions for all sites.

To see the settings for every site you’ve visited, click the cog icon on the Opera browser’s left-hand sidebar. From there, choose Privacy & security, Site settings, and Notifications. You can adjust the configuration for sites already listed, and add new entries with the Add button.

When it comes to Opera for Android, again you can tap the padlock icon in the address bar, and go to Site settings to control notification permissions. To see the settings for all sites, tap the Opera icon in the lower right corner of the interface and go to Settings, Site settings, and Notifications.

This story has been updated. It was originally published on March 25, 2021.

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If you’re of an age to remember the launch of Windows 95 almost 30 years ago, you may also remember Microsoft PowerToys—add-ons the company built for its operating system and aimed at power users (hence the name). Guess what: they’re still around, and arguably cooler than ever.

After their launch, these utilities gained a cult following among a nerdier, geekier subset of Windows users—those who wanted to tinker and explore beyond the Windows wall. The original PowerToys let you, for example, play CDs from the taskbar, edit right-click context menus, and access the command prompt from anywhere.

The popularity of the add-ons continued with the arrival of Windows XP and a second version of PowerToys in 2001, which included a new set of utilities for creating custom keyboard layouts, and adding different time zones to the system clock. They also expanded the core Windows functionality with extras that were actually useful, such as live previews for switching applications with Alt+Tab, and the option to open a command prompt window from any folder.

With all that history behind them, it’s not surprising that the return of PowerToys caused such excitement—the past few years have been like the revival of a much-loved movie franchise from decades past.

The latest breed of PowerToys for Windows 10 and 11 will also be rolling out as open source projects, so users can pick them up and customize them. Just visit the official download site in your browser, open the ZIP file, and follow the instructions on the screen to add the utilities. Once installed, you’ll see a little PowerToys icon down in the Windows notification area in the lower right-hand corner.

Load up PowerToys with a click on the notification area icon (or via the Start menu). You’ll see all kinds of goodies. Here are a few highlights.

PowerToys Run

Mac users are familiar with Spotlight, a fast search tool that can quickly open any application or file on an Apple computer. PowerToys Run brings this basic idea to Windows. Use the keyboard shortcut Alt+Space to open a search bar (you can customize the keyboard shortcut if you want), then type the name of any application or file on your computer to quickly open it.

It gets better. There’s a built in calculator: type any equation to see the answer and hit Enter to copy it to the clipboard. You can type “shutdown” and hit Enter to turn off your computer; other commands include “restart”, “lock”, “sleep”, and “empty recycle bin”. There’s support for searching your OneNote notebooks, if you use that program, and even for launching Shell commands. You can also launch any website—type the URL and hit Enter—and run web searches—type out your search terms and, you guessed it: hit Enter.

PowerToys Run can really change the way you use your computer: you can do almost anything without touching your mouse. Everything is faster with this tool—don’t overlook it.

Shortcut Guide

Speaking of not touching your mouse, take a look at Shortcut Guide. This is admittedly not a utility that will change your life, but it’s still one you may find useful if you want to learn how to get around Windows faster and boost your productivity along the way.

For example, Win+A opens up the Action Center, while Win+M minimizes all the currently open Windows so you can get a look at the desktop. Over on the left you’ll notice shortcuts for snapping windows to either side of the screen, which can be useful for getting two windows up alongside each other.

If you spend a lot of time in Windows, you may be able to memorize these keyboard shortcuts fairly quickly, but it’s always good to have a cheat sheet so you can see how many options are available. Using the Windows key plus a number key is a useful way to jump  between different applications, for instance.

From the main PowerToys window, you can click Shortcut Guide to configure how long (in milliseconds) you’ll need to hold down the Windows key to get the shortcut overlay up, as well as the opacity of the background of the Shortcut Guide window overlay.

FancyZones

FancyZones was one of the earliest PowerToys available when the tools returned in 2019, and it lets you split your open windows into zones to keep your windows better organized. You can create themed zones for websites, office apps, browsing your computer, and so on.

Hit the Win+~ (tilde key) keyboard shortcut to launch FancyZones, or get the PowerToys Settings panel up on screen, switch to the FancyZones tab, and click Edit zones to customize the layout. A new dialog will appear, letting you choose how many zones you want and how they’re positioned. If you think you can do better than the templates provided, open the Custom tab on the right to make your own, or edit existing layouts by clicking Edit selected layout.

Back in the main tab, you can tweak a few details of the add-on: You can use the Shift key to drag windows into different zones (recommended), override the Windows Snap hotkeys (for fixing windows to the side of the screen), have zones flash when the layout changes (also recommended), and more.

With open windows on screen, hold down Shift, then drag a window into a zone to organize it. If you don’t enable the Shift key shortcut in settings, as described above, the zones will be enabled every time you move a window on screen.

Use the Focus layout, for example, to put together a tiered stack of windows, one on top of the other, all neatly arranged; or use the Priority Grid layout as a way to keep important programs front and center, with other apps down the sides of the screen. Once you get used to how it works, FancyZones can add a real boost to your productivity.

Paste as plain text

Anyone who writes on the internet for a living knows how annoying it is to remove formatting from text you copied. At least, it used to be—Paste as Plain Text seems to have saved the day.

When you copy text from a website—this one, for example—and paste it into another application, all the formatting choices tend to come with. This means that if you’re adding a quote from a website to a Word document, you don’t just paste the quote—you paste the quote in the exact font of the website you copied it from. This gets messy fast, and it happens everywhere: in emails, spreadsheets, and even design projects.

Paste as Plain Text lets you paste any text without the formatting, meaning it will match the formatting of whatever you’re working on. The default keyboard shortcut, Ctrl+Alt+Windows+V, is a little unwieldy, though you can change the keyboard shortcut in the PowerToys launcher, if you prefer. Anything you paste with this shortcut will be completely free of formatting. It’s simple but life-changing: no more spending time adjusting the font and size of text after you drop it into its new home.

More Microsoft PowerToys you should check out

Microsoft brought back PowerToys in 2019 with just a couple of tools. The collection has grown massively since then, and also works on Windows 11, meaning there are a bunch more PowerToys that are extremely useful and worth a quick mention.

• Text Extractor allows you to copy text from any image. Use a keyboard shortcut to select text inside an image, and it’ll be copied to your clipboard.
• Image Resizer can resize any picture in just a couple of clicks—right-click any image file, or multiple image files, in Windows Explorer, then click Resize pictures. You can customize the sizes, if you want, as well as what file format images are resized to.
• Awake can temporarily keep your computer from falling asleep. Just click the handy coffee cup icon in your tray and you can choose whether to keep your computer awake indefinitely or for a set amount of time.
• Screen Ruler allows you to quickly measure how many pixels a given area of the screen takes up.
• Quick Accent makes it easier for Windows users to add accents to any letter, which is great for typing in languages like French and Spanish. Just hold the key you want to add an accent to until you see a popup, then use the arrow keys to choose which accent you want to add to the character.

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The Shortcuts app has long been one of Apple’s lesser-used offerings, and that’s a shame, because it can supercharge your iPhone’s capabilities. With a single tap, you could turn on your smart lights, raise the temperature on your smart thermostat, and start an energetic playlist—and that’s just one example.

Like the macOS version, the mobile Shortcuts app is essentially an automation tool that can combine many tasks into one action that you launch with a tap or a word to Siri. Introduced in 2018 alongside iOS 12, the app is built into the iPhone’s operating system, so you’ll find it on one of your home screens or in the App Library. From the app’s Shortcuts tab, you can start manually building your own shortcut, or install a prebuilt one from the integrated shortcut gallery or the web.

1. Get yourself in the mood to focus

A good way to start using Shortcuts is to install one made by someone else—you can always open the tool up to see how it works and adapt it to your needs if necessary. Go to the Gallery tab in the app, look for a shortcut called Reading Mode, and install it by tapping the plus icon on the shortcut’s thumbnail.

Reading Mode is a great example of how shortcuts combine multiple actions: It turns on Do Not Disturb, switches to dark mode, opens your reading app of choice and even starts the Apple Music playlist you specify. Tap the three dots on the shortcut entry once it’s installed to customize any of these actions.

2. Edit images in batches

As you get more confident with Shortcuts, you can start building your own—it helps to think about tasks and groups of actions you do repeatedly on your phone. To create a shortcut from the Shortcuts tab, tap the plus icon in the top right corner and hit Add Action to get started.

That’s a basic example, but there are lots of other image editing actions available, including the ability to remove backgrounds and rotate images, so you can combine them as you need.

3. Use ChatGPT with Siri

It’s difficult to avoid ChatGPT at the moment, and the AI chatbot can be used in tandem with Siri on your iPhone. First, register a free account with ChatGPT developer OpenAI, then grab an API key from its site. API (application programming interface) keys are simply identification codes that let one program (Shortcuts) work with another (ChatGPT).

With the key in hand, open the SiriGPT shortcut in your iPhone’s web browser and tap Get Shortcut. In the Shortcuts app, select Set Up Shortcut, paste or type in your API key, and choose Add Shortcut.

If you’d like to launch this shortcut using your voice, you’ll probably want to rename it to something simpler—do so by pressing and holding it, then picking Rename. Launch the shortcut with a tap or a voice command, and ChatGPT will be at your disposal.

4. Let someone know when you’ll be home

One of the benefits of running shortcuts on your iPhone rather than your Mac is that it provides a much more precise fix on your location. That can come in handy for all kinds of automations.

Head to the Gallery tab and look for the Home ETA shortcut. When you install and run it, it’ll work out how long it should take you to drive home, and then text your estimated time of arrival to the contact of your choice.

[Related: 14 tricks for getting more out of the underrated Apple Maps app]

Open the shortcut from the Shortcuts tab by tapping on the three dots on its entry, and you’ll be able to easily change the address the shortcut defaults to, as well as the contact(s) who receive the message about your ETA.

5. Look back on your day

If you tap Gallery in the Shortcuts app and use the search function, you should find a shortcut called Reflect on the Day that does exactly what its name suggests. You’ll be asked to answer questions about how your day has been, and you can also set goals for tomorrow.

Your responses will be stored in the Notes app, so you can track your progress over time, and the shortcut will also set reminders for the next day so you don’t forget your goals. To edit the questions the shortcut asks you at the end of each day, open it up by tapping the three dots on its thumbnail.

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For the privacy-savvy email user, Proton Mail has a lot going for it: An intuitive, customizable interface, end-to-end encryption, and easy integration with desktop clients.

Whether you’re thinking about giving Proton Mail a try or you want to get more out of your account, these tips and tricks should give you a good idea of the capabilities of the email service.

You can use Proton Mail for free or pay for premium plans, starting at $5 a month. Ponying up will give you access to other Proton products, including Proton Drive and Proton Calendar. In the case of the email service, a subscription extends the limits of the free plan (which only includes 1GB storage, three labels, and three folders), while giving you extra features such as support for custom domains, and auto-reply messages.

You might have one label set up for work, for example, and one for anything to do with the kids. They’re color coded for ease of reference and you can quickly get to them from the navigation bars inside the Proton Mail app.

To apply a label, select an email and then click or tap the label button on the toolbar at the top (web) or the bottom (mobile) of the screen—the button looks like a small luggage tag.

At the time of writing, you’ve got a choice of seven different color schemes to pick from, and a selection of layouts for the various different views in Proton Mail. Select Compact, for example, to reduce the spacing between messages.

Because the message is protected by a password, the recipient won’t be able to open it up like a regular email. They’ll get a link that will direct them to a secure page on the web and the message will appear only after they enter the password. Your contact will also be able to reply to the email directly, even without a Proton Mail account.

Proton Mail will block these trackers by default. On the web, click the shield icon just above a message to the right to see if the platform has detected and blocked any trackers. If you want to turn the feature off for whatever reason, on the web click the cog icon (top right), then choose Go to settings and Email privacy.

Click Add filter and follow the steps. First, you’ll need to give it a name, set the conditions, and specify the actions that the filter will trigger. For example, you could automatically archive newsletters or automatically star emails from your partner. Finally, you’ll get to test the filter out in preview form before you save it. 

Proton Mail also offers another option, Add sieve filter, which lets you code filters in more detail. You need to do this in the Sieve programming language, which is not difficult to master if you want to try it out.

When you’re composing messages on the web, click the little arrow next to the Send button to find the schedule feature, which iPhone users will find by tapping the clock icon. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, the feature hasn’t yet made its way into the Android app.

If you’re on a free Proton plan, you can choose from the suggested dates and times, but if you’re on a premium plan, you can specify the exact moment you want your messages to leave your inbox. Proton Mail keeps outgoing emails in the Scheduled folder until it’s time to send them, and if you need to, you can edit them from there.

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If you’ve owned a PC, you may think you have no need for Microsoft Word tips. After all, it’s been around for 40 years, surely all of its secrets have long since been laid bare. Boy, do we have news for you.

Whether you use Word all the time or only open it when you need to dust off your resume, you’ll need to wade a little deeper beyond bolding and underlining to truly get the most out of it. Luckily for you, we dipped our pan into the river of options and pulled out some advice that’s pure gold.

If you’re more inclined to design documents rather than write them, or like to procrastinate on drafts by messing around with the page format, you can use lorem ipsum in Word. You don’t even have to open a menu—just type =Lorem() somewhere on the page, hit Enter, and you’re all set. 

By default, the command will create five short paragraphs of text. If that’s not enough for you, you can tell Word how many you want by adding a number inside the parentheses. So, if you want 12 paragraphs, type =Lorem(12), and enjoy your free text.  

You can add a timestamp to a document by going to the Insert tab and clicking the Insert date and time tool—it’s a small icon showing a calendar with a clock on top, to the left of the Equation button. 

In the emerging window, you’ll be able to choose from a long list of time formats, such as the classic two-digit “month/day/year,” or even one that includes the exact second you inserted it into the document. By default, this function will be static unless you check the box right below the list next to Update automatically. Once you’re done, click OK and you’ll be good to go. 

If you collaborate with people in other countries or are working in a language other than your system’s default language, the Insert date and time window will provide a dropdown menu where you’ll be able to change the lingo and the date format options with it. Microsoft will immediately show you the languages you have added to your operating system, so if you need to use one that’s not listed there, you’ll need to add it through Settings, followed by Time & language (Windows), or System Settings > General > Language & Region (macOS).

Go to the Insert tab, click on Shapes, and choose the squiggle under Lines. This will allow you to use your cursor as a pen to draw your signature, which you’ll then be able to move throughout the document and even copy/cut and paste it whenever you want. Of course, drawing your signature with a mouse is not the easiest or most comfortable task, but it’ll get easier with a little bit of practice. 

On the other hand, if you’re signing an important document and cannot bear the sight of your shaky signature sitting there for all of time, there’s another option. If you’re a Office 365 subscriber and have a PC, you can use your trackpad to sign using the Draw feature. 

Go to the Draw tab and turn on the toggle switch above Draw with trackpad. Word will show you a rectangular area on screen—fill it by drawing on your trackpad with your finger. You don’t have to press down or anything, just slide your digit around. Use two fingers to move the area to another place on the screen (useful if you need to check a box) and press any key when you’re done. Your scribbles will then behave like objects you can resize and copy/cut and paste across the document. 

With words already on the page, go to Tools, Spelling and Grammar, and select Editor. A sidebar will appear to the right of your screen showing you an overall score for your writing and three areas where you can improve: Spelling, Grammar, and Conciseness. Click on each one to see Word’s suggestions. Keep in mind that this is only a program, so it’s perfectly possible that some of its recommendations don’t make sense to you at all. If that’s the case, you can choose to ignore them.

At the bottom of the sidebar is where the magic happens: click on Document stats, and after a couple seconds you’ll see a window with details about your document, like the number of words and sentences, and the average characters per word. 

But the really fun part is under Readability. There, Word will show you your text’s score based on the Flesch Reading Ease and the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level indexes. Respectively, these systems aim to determine how easy it is to read a document, and what school grade reading level your audience should have to fully and easily understand it.

In the case of the reading ease score, the higher the number, the easier it is to understand. In general, you want whatever you write to be between 70 and 80, which means it should be fairly easy for the average adult to understand. The Flesch-Kincaid index, meanwhile, uses the US education system’s grade levels as its parameters, and can help you gauge whether your text suits your audience—if you’re speaking at an academic conference, for example, a high score won’t be a problem. 

From the top of the page to the paragraph above, Word says this story has a readability score of 65, which is not ideal, but this is why we still have human editors. (If you were wondering, the score improved after my editor worked on it.)

You probably use shortcuts like Shift + arrow to select text character by character, and Shift + Option + arrow (Mac) or Shift + Control + arrow (Windows) to go at it word by word. If you’re a butcher editor, you might just triple-click on a paragraph to select and kill the whole thing. But Word offers yet another option: selecting a single sentence with one click. The trick is to hold Command (Mac) or Control (Windows) while you do it. 

This is incredibly useful if you’re revising a particularly long document, or are in the last stages of editing, when changes may be scarce and far removed from one another. 

You see, most things in a document have a character, even the space between paragraphs. If you need to see what you’re dealing with, you can ask Microsoft to show you by hitting Command + 8 (Mac) or Ctrl + Shift + 8 (Windows). When you do, you’ll see a bunch of new characters appear in a different color. Some of the most common are a suspended point between words, which stands for a single space, and a left-facing “P”, which means there’s a single paragraph break. 

You probably won’t use this shortcut with simple documents, but if you use a template you found on Word or online, it might help you understand what’s wrong if the file starts misbehaving. 

Depending on the version of Word you have, you may find this option by clicking File, Info, and then Protect document. The following menu will give you a list of things you can do, like restricting editing or only giving certain people access to the file. But if you want to go a more secure route, choose Encrypt with password and follow the instructions. 

But all that freedom sometimes makes it hard to tell if the graphs you’re adding to your yearly report are actually aligned properly. And you’ve spent too many hours working to let an image ruin your day. 

To make sure everything’s where it needs to be, use a grid. Under the Layout tab, click Align, and from the dropdown menu choose View gridlines. This option will immediately overlay a grid on the working area of your page, which you can use as a reference to see exactly where to place objects or make sure they’re all the same size. On the Align menu, you can also click Grid settings to customize options like what area of the page objects will snap to or the size of the grid. When you’re done, click OK to save your settings. 

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The average social media timeline is full of memes, infographics, and screenshots from other platforms. As a result, a lot of the text you read on the web is not actually text, but images.

That’s fine for casually scrolling, but you’ll run into a problem if you want to paste those words into a document, email, or message. But there’s more than one way around it, as every major operating system lets you copy text from images.

Copy text from an image on Windows

Microsoft’s operating system does not offer the ability to copy text from images—at least not by default—but you can add it with Text Extractor. The feature is part of PowerToys, a handy collection of extra tools for Windows that every power user should check out. To get started, all you have to do is download and install PowerToys. 

Copy text from an image on an iPhone or iPad

Apple also offers the same Live Text feature on iPhone and iPad, and it works the same way. Open any image in Safari, Photos, or using the Files app and select the text just as you would in a document or website.

[Related: 5 ways to translate websites on your phone]

You can also do this while using your device’s camera. To start, point the lens to some real-life text and tap the Live Text icon that automatically pops up in the top-right corner of your screen—it looks like three lines of text inside four square corners. This is perfect for copying paragraphs from a book you’re reading or quickly opening the URL on a poster.

Copy text from an image on Android

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The disappointment of watching a great TikTok on your For You page just to accidentally reload everything and lose the clip forever is so common—so visceral—that the experience has become a bit of a meme. The incessant cries of us common folk must have reached the ears of those running the app, because they’ve rolled out several ways to check your watch history and find recently viewed videos.

Unlike the early days on the so-called clock app, it’s now easy to navigate your TikTok watch history. And if you’re a power user, you can use specific search filters and techniques to hunt down previously watched TikToks if scrolling through your archive gets a bit too tedious.

How to find your TikTok watch history on iOS and Android

Although people with iPhones got the ability to see their TikTok history before Android users, the processes have since unified. As it should be.

On iOS, all you need to do is tap Profile in the bottom right, hit the main menu (three lines) in the top right, touch Settings and privacy, find Comment and watch history under the Content & Display heading, and select Watch history. If you never comment, you’ll only see Watch history after you open the settings and privacy menu.

On Android, the steps are similar: Profile > main menu (three lines) > Settings and privacy > Comment and watch history > Watch history. Again, if you never comment, you’ll only see Watch history after Settings and privacy.

No matter which mobile operating system you’re using, you’ll see every video you’ve watched within the past 180 days. If you’re trying to find something older, you’ll have to search for it with the normal TikTok search function (tips below).

You can find a recently watched video by scrolling down this page, but be warned: everything is on there. Whether it’s a video you watched in its entirety or one that happened to briefly load and autoplay as you moved around the app, it’s part of your TikTok watch history. The only videos you won’t find are Lives and Stories.

[Related: 7 tips to make the most of TikTok]

Unless you’re extremely patient, this method isn’t great for digging deep into your archive, because you can’t search the watch history page. If you’re a heavy TikTok user and watched something days or weeks ago, you’ll end up scrolling for a while. You can, however, hit Select in the top right and tap individual videos or touch Select all watch history in the bottom left. Then you can permanently get rid of those clips by tapping the bright red Delete button. At least tidy up a bit while you’re there.

First, tap the search icon (a magnifying glass) in the top right corner of your screen. Then type out the relevant keywords and hit Search. Next, hit the Watched button just above the first row of videos. This will change your search results to show any videos you’ve watched. If you don’t see this option (along with All, Unwatched, and Recently uploaded), make sure you’re in the Top tab—they don’t appear if you’re in any of the others. Otherwise, TikTok may not have registered that you watched a video related to your search terms, or it may have passed before your eyes longer than 180 days ago.

As with your watch history, the Watched search filter will display TikToks that appeared in recent searches and auto-played as thumbnails as you looked through the results, so you may have to dig deeper every time you search.

Other TikTok search tips

The main search results page, whether you filter it or not, is stuffed with content. You can use these tabs and suggestions to further refine your search or just get lost in the TikTok abyss and hope your algorithm doesn’t take a devastating hit. I, for one, will probably spend the next week telling TikTok I’m not interested in those videos where people pour milk all over the counter while “making coffee” because I searched “coffee TikTok” while working on this story. (To do so, long-press on the video when it plays on your FYP and hit Not interested on the menu that appears.)

Across the top of the results page, you’ll see built-in filters that will display only top posts, users, videos, sounds, accounts that are currently live, and hashtags related to your search. Scroll down a little and you may also find suggestions for what other people searched for.

[Related: Why some US lawmakers want to ban TikTok]

The post Where to find your TikTok watch history and other recently viewed videos appeared first on Popular Science.

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Most of us always have our smartphones close at hand, which makes them perfect for taking notes. You can just unlock it, type out what you need from the store, your friend’s new address, the name of a film you want to check out, or anything else, and go on with your day.

There are plenty of excellent apps that can help you take better notes too, going beyond the basics to offer extras like advanced note organization options, the ability to share notes with others, and note reminders.

1. GoodNotes

GoodNotes certainly doesn’t miss a chance for self-promotion with its choice of name, but it really is good—very good, in fact. You can tell a lot of care has gone into the interface, as there are a host of different tools to use across images, drawings, and text. You can even use it to annotate PDFs.

We like the number of features you get inside the app, such as the choice of paper styles, the ability to search through handwritten text, and support for scanned images and audio notes. There’s easy syncing to various cloud services too.

You can work on up to three notebooks for free inside GoodNotes, while a one-off fee of $9 removes this restriction. A beta version of the app for Android has just been launched, but isn’t yet widely available.

GoodNotes is free or $9 for iOS and Android.

2. Agenda

Agenda links your note-taking to your calendar, so you can easily attach dates and reminders to notes where needed. You may be surprised how often this comes in handy, whether you’re planning something big, like a vacation, or handling a smaller task like jotting down the framework of an upcoming work meeting.

The app can work with handwritten scribbles, but it’s geared primarily to handle lots of text across multiple projects and notebooks. You can format text in a variety of ways, attach files to your notes, apply tags for easier organization, and even link between notes. It’s a heavy-duty piece of software.

[Related: Turn your handwritten documents into searchable digital notes]

3. Notion

The main appeal of Notion lies in its flexibility and versatility: It’s basically an open canvas for you to use as you like, whether that’s to detail guidelines for a coding project or prepare a list of household chores to complete before the weekend.

It’s slick, accessible, and a delight to use. You can add text, links, tags, and images to your notes, and simply drag elements around to reposition them. Everything is saved instantly, so there’s no danger of losing your work, and individual notes can reference others. Have a look around the web and you’ll see there are countless ways to use Notion, which is a testament to its quality.

Both free and paid plans are available with Notion. If you pay $5 a month for the premium subscription, you can share notes with more people, access a longer history log for your notes, and upload an unlimited number of files to your account.

Notion is free or $4 a month for Android and iOS.

4. Evernote

Evernote is the venerable old timer of the note-taking app scene, and has been dutifully recording people’s thoughts, plans, to-dos, and agendas since the year 2000. Today, it includes just about every feature you could need in an app like this.

Some of those features include support for text, images, files, audio, and drawings, advanced search and tagging options, the ability to format the information inside your notes in a wide variety of ways, and easy ways to scan in paper documents or link to pages on the web.

[Related: How to export your Evernote content to another app]

5. Squid

Squid has been built specifically for handwritten notes and doodles, so it’s perfect if you want to quickly jot something down. When that’s done, it’s really simple to organize your sketches and get your notes in order, in whichever way you need.

Tasks like copying and erasing are intuitive and straightforward, as is changing the color and line thickness of the on-screen pen. If you’ve got a phone with a stylus or are going to be syncing your notes with other devices that use a stylus, Squid is definitely worth considering—though you can easily use your finger to make notes as well.

You can use Squid for free, but you can also pay $1 a month for a premium package, which includes more tools (such as text boxes you can type into), extra backgrounds, and the ability to import PDFs.

Squid is free or $1 a month for Android.

6. Apple Notes

Don’t neglect the default apps that come with your phone—Apple Notes if you have an iPhone. Apple keeps adding new features to this app, and recently introduced the ability to lock certain notes behind a passcode with iOS 16.

The app makes every part of note taking straightforward, including formatting text, introducing images and checklists, keeping notes organized with tags and pins, importing drawings and scanned documents, and sharing notes with other people (handy for shopping lists and work projects, for example).

[Related: How to undo text in Apple’s Notes app]

7. Google Keep

Google’s note-taking app goes for the colorful virtual Post-it look. It’s simple enough to get started with, but as you dig deeper you’ll find there are plenty of advanced features as well.

For example, you can associate notes with specific dates and times and get reminders about them, and you can share notes with other people if you need to collaborate on something. The app also lets you use tags so you can quickly group different notes together in categories of your choice.

This being a Google product, the search feature is, of course, well done, and if you don’t want to type you can scribble notes or dictate them via voice recordings. It’s one of the best options if you need something simple, but not too simple.

Google Notes is free for Android and iOS.

The post Write these down: the best note-taking apps for your phone appeared first on Popular Science.

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When choosing a messaging app, it’s easy to just fall in line with whatever your friends and family have on their phones. Whether or not the platform is secure isn’t often a major factor in the decision. But maybe it should be, given the sheer amount of sensitive information we share with our contacts every day.

Not all messaging apps are the same, especially when it comes to your privacy and security. If you’re in the market for a more secure messaging app, we can help. The web is wide and diverse, and there are plenty of platforms that will satisfy your texting needs without asking you to disclose everything about yourself. It’s just a matter of looking.

You’ll be on your own when talking everyone else into moving to another platform, but we believe in you.

Signal is free, open-source, and operated by The Signal Foundation—a non-profit with a mission to “develop open source privacy technology.” Brian Acton, one of WhatsApp’s founders, left Facebook (reportedly on bad terms) after the company acquired his platform, and donated $50 million to create the foundation. It’s one of the main reasons users trust the app, as there’s no big tech company behind it.

The platform supports texting, video and voice calls, as well as file-sharing. Privacy-wise, you can set your messages to self-destruct at any time from one second after they’re read to four weeks after you send them. End-to-end (E2E) encryption protects everything you share through Signal by default, and the foundation says it doesn’t store any sensitive information. The US government subpoenaed user data in 2016, but authorities only got their hands on the dates accounts were created, dates of last connections, and phone numbers.

Of course, handing over a phone number to create an account—and automatically sharing it with anybody who might find you through the app—means you won’t be entirely anonymous. Signal’s developers say they’re thinking of a way around it, but as of writing, there’s no date or specific project in the works to resolve this.

WhatsApp also supports group chats with up to 1,024 members. The platform had a higher limit in the past, but that turned into a problem when the app became an effective tool for the propagation of misinformation and other illegal material. As a result, WhatsApp eventually limited the ability to forward messages and the size of group chats.

The app supports texting, voice and video calls, public channels, and file-sharing, with an interface highly similar to WhatsApp’s iOS appearance, so switching over from Meta’s messaging app should be seamless.

The lack of widespread E2E encryption is meant to give users instant access to backups on multiple devices, no matter when they joined a channel or group chat, Telegram says. Pavel Durov, one of the app’s founders, also argues that government agencies might target users using “niche apps” such as Signal, assuming that anyone opting for that high level of privacy has something to hide. Having less-secure encryption as the default, Telegram says, protects users from unwanted surveillance.

As opposed to WhatsApp, which uses third-party servers like iCloud or Google Drive to store backups—giving Apple and Google the ability to manage that information—Telegram’s backups are broken into pieces and live on its own servers around the world. It claims chats, no matter what type, are all secured the same way, but because Telegram technically also has access to the encryption key, they can decrypt your messages… even if they say the key and the data it decrypts are never in the same place. 

Even though Telegram emphasized its commitment to security by updating its privacy policy to protect the identity of Hong Kong protesters in 2019, that commitment should be taken with a grain of salt, according to Gennie Gebhart, acting activism director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

“Telegram doesn’t have a great track record of responding to high-risk users,” she says. “My impression is that a lot of Telegram’s ‘secure’ reputation comes from its association with the Hong Kong protests, but the app was also useful in that environment for a lot of specific reasons, like no phone number requirement or the support for massive groups.”

By default, messages (or “dusts”) disappear from the app’s servers right after you send them, and chat histories are automatically erased from your phone every 24 hours. On top of that, you (or your contacts) can delete messages on both ends of the conversation with just one tap, and you can sign up by using only your phone number.

Just like Telegram, Viber also has public channels called Communities, and these messages are only SSL encrypted. This protects data in transit, but once it’s on the app’s servers, it’s readable by Viber or any other member of the community, allowing new members to access all backlogs.

Because iMessage doesn’t play nice with other messaging apps, it immediately switches to the not-so-good-ol’ SMS message whenever it cannot use Apple’s protocol, turning chat bubbles from blue to green. This type of message is reliable, as it doesn’t require your device to have lots of bars to work, but it’s neither secure nor private—SMS messages can be traced, intercepted, and stored by your service provider, who can gladly hand them over to authorities, if asked politely.

This is also an issue for interactions between Apple users, though. By default, iMessage switches gears also when connectivity is low. The problem is that you won’t actually know if this has happened, as individual bubbles in your chats won’t change color to show how they were delivered.

The post 7 secure messaging apps you should be using appeared first on Popular Science.

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Neither you nor your gadgets can escape the passage of time. A slow computer is generally just a laptop or desktop that’s showing its age. And just as annual checkups can help keep your body healthy, regular maintenance can prevent your device from slowing down too soon.

So the next time you notice your computer running slow, stop what you’re doing and give it a thorough exam. With smart tactics and a little luck, you should be able to bring back at least some of its youthful speed.

Regularly review your list of installed programs, and keep in mind that just because you’ve installed something, it doesn’t need to sit on your hard drive until the end of time. The only apps you should have are those you’re using frequently, so take note of what those are and get rid of the rest. You can always download and reinstall a program if you change your mind.

[Related: When to repair your computer and when to replace it]

On Windows, open Settings via the cog icon on the Start menu, then choose Apps. If you have Windows 11, click Installed apps, and if you have Windows 10, look for Apps & features. You can sort programs by size, name, or when they were installed, so you’ll be able to see tools you may have forgotten about. To remove an app from Windows 11, click the three dots to its right and choose Uninstall. On Windows 10, select the app from the list of apps and hit Uninstall. There are also ways to uninstall a bunch of apps at once if you need the efficiency. 

On macOS, open the Applications tab in Finder, locate the app you want to trash, and then drag it down to the Trash icon in the dock. If you downloaded the program from the Mac App Store, you can also remove it from the Launchpad window—press and hold the Option key until the icons start jiggling, then click the small x button on the top left corner of the application you want to remove. Some apps may leave residual files on your computer, so you may want to make sure you’re completely uninstalling them.

Keep an eye on free storage space

One guaranteed way to slow down your computer is to not give it enough virtual space to work with. Beyond removing apps you don’t use, you should always make sure there’s a good chunk of storage available on the hard drive—around 20 percent at least, if you can manage it.

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to freeing up disk space on your computer. It’s just a question of monitoring what you have on your disk and deleting what you don’t need—from old documents to installation packages. You should also consider moving files you don’t access regularly to the cloud or an external hard drive. Just make sure you always have two copies of your most important files for backup purposes.

To see which apps are overstepping their mark on Windows, right-click on a blank part of the taskbar, choose Task Manager, and scan the Processes tab (it should open by default, but if not, click the icon on the left-hand sidebar that looks like three squares forming a 90-degree angle). On macOS, type Cmd+Space to open Spotlight and search for Activity Monitor. Anything eating up CPU or memory could be the reason why your computer is running so slow.

If there are apps that shouldn’t be on these lists, there are two things you can do. First, check inside the applications themselves to see if there’s a setting you can disable to prevent them from running automatically. If you can’t find any, stop them from starting up with your operating system. On Windows 11, switch to the Startup apps tab in Task Manager (its icon looks like a car’s speedometer), and on Windows 10, switch to the Start-up tab. For macOS go to System Settings, General, and Login Items.

Update your programs to avoid dealing with a slow computer

Keeping your apps up to date will fix bugs and security vulnerabilities, but most importantly it’ll prevent your laptop or desktop from slowing down. Most programs will handle this automatically, but it’s worth double-checking that you haven’t missed any updates.

You should also make sure that your programs aren’t collecting bloatware, including add-ons you may no longer need, older versions of a software still hanging around, and installation packages you haven’t deleted.

[Related: How to boost your WiFi speed]

This is especially important for your web browser. Every once in a while, check in on the extensions you’ve installed, and remove the ones you no longer use, as having too many of these can seriously slow down this type of program. On Chrome and Edge, the instructions are the same: click the puzzle piece icon at the top right corner of the window and go to Manage extensions. On Firefox it’s similar—click the puzzle piece icon to the right of the navigation bar and go to Extensions on the sidebar. On Safari, go to Settings and click the Extensions tab. 

Another way to prevent your computer from slowing down is to reset your device and return it to its factory-fresh state. This process is easy, but it’ll eat up some of your time—it wipes out all but the bare bones of your operating system, so you’ll need to back up all your files beforehand and reinstall all your programs afterward. But a full reset also clears out redundant data, reverts programs back to their original state, and removes all bloat and clutter from your machine. It may sound like an extreme alternative, but it’s often worth an hour or two of inconvenience just to get a clean slate.

On a Windows 11 computer, head to Settings, System and then Recovery. Once you’re there, click Reset this PC. On older versions of Windows, the path is slightly different, but Microsoft has full instructions you can refer to if you get lost along the way. The instructions to reset a Mac computer will differ depending on the processor inside the machine, but Apple has a complete guide to help you through this process.

This story has been updated. It was originally published on March 21, 2021.

The post 5 easy ways to troubleshoot a slow computer appeared first on Popular Science.

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The Elgato Stream Deck is traditionally associated with livestreaming, but its usefulness goes way beyond. If you own one, there are numerous ways to incorporate it into your daily life, and if you don’t have one because you’re not a streamer, you just might want to reconsider.

The Stream Deck itself is a physical panel of hardware shortcut buttons that can be used to switch views, add sounds, drop in overlays, and manage a variety of other enhancements and options super quickly. This means you can use it and its siblings (the Stream Deck Mini, the Stream Deck XL, and the Stream Deck Plus) as a control panel for all kinds of computing tasks.

That means you can manage anything that’s playing with a single tap, should you need to quickly pause your music or pass by a track you really don’t want to hear. The Multimedia actions include system volume controls as well, making it even more useful.

2. Set custom timers

When you want to time a lunch break or a study session, you could use a phone app or simply type “timer” into Google. No matter what your standard method of timekeeping is, there’s a good chance it’s not as simple or convenient as the Stream Deck timer.

In the Stream Deck desktop program, find the Stream Deck heading, add Timer to your list of buttons, then specify how long you want it to run. Once the button has been set up, press it to see the minutes and seconds tick away on the Stream Deck’s LED panel, and you can choose a sound to play when time has run out.

Once it’s installed, you can quickly toggle between available audio devices or set a specific one with a button push. You’ll never again have audio blaring out of your speakers when it should have been sent to your headphones.

4. Run any kind of task

Essentially, you can assign any keyboard shortcut to a button on the Stream Deck, so your options are wide open for any program you use. One way to do this is via the Hotkey action under the System heading: just specify the keyboard shortcut you’d like it to launch.

5. Level up your video meetings

Many of us have had the experience of fumbling around for the right button to press to unmute a microphone or leave a meeting when on a video call, but the MuteDeck plug-in from the Stream Deck store assigns these key features and several more to buttons. You’ll never fumble on a video call again.

The plug-in is compatible with Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and Webex by Cisco. You can also use it to start sharing your screen and to switch between multiple cameras if you have more than one webcam connected—all just a button push away.

6. Open websites and programs

Sure, you can open websites and programs the conventional way, but the Stream Deck offers a Website action (for websites) and an Open action (for applications) under System that make the process very straightforward.

You can then go further and combine that plug-in with the Multi Action action (under Multi Action) that the Stream Deck offers out of the box. When you’re done, you’ll be able to sit down at your computer, press one key on the Stream Deck, and launch all your important applications in specific positions on the display.

The post 7 ways to use the Elgato Stream Deck beyond livestreaming appeared first on Popular Science.

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There are many reasons why users choose to do their messaging on WhatsApp: from encrypted messages, to support for audio and video calls, group chats with up to 1,023 other people, and extras like file and location sharing. 

But Meta’s platform also offers an easy-to-use web interface. You might be perfectly happy using WhatsApp on your phone only, but it’s well worth it to get set up in a desktop web browser as well—if only to prevent you from having to pick up your phone every time someone sends a funny sticker to the group chat.

To get started, visit the WhatsApp Web portal in your browser, which will give you a QR code. In the mobile app, tap the three dots (Android) or cog icon (iOS), then choose Linked Devices and Link a Device to scan the QR code and get connected.

If you prefer, there are also desktop apps available for Windows and macOS that you can install. The features and benefits of these programs match up with the web app, but the latter will give you the freedom to access your messages and chat logs no matter what computer you’re on.

Admittedly, you’re just swapping one screen for another when it comes to WhatsApp, but if your phone is staying in your pocket or your desk drawer (or even the next room) then you can keep an eye on important messages without getting distracted by everything else that might be happening on your mobile.

Add in the time saved unlocking your handset and opening the WhatsApp app, and we’re talking about a substantial productivity boost for those times when you need to focus on your computing, at home, or at work.

Having a mouse also helps, as it lets you easily switch between conversations and scroll back through chats more quickly. On WhatsApp Web, you’ll also be working on a larger screen, which means less scrolling to begin with, and a better overview of both individual chats and your conversation list.

There is a full list of WhatsApp keyboard shortcuts on the platform’s official site, but a few of our favorites include Esc to close a chat, Ctrl+Alt+N (Windows) or Cmd+Alt+N (macOS) to start a new chat, and Ctrl+Alt+Shift+E (Windows) or Cmd+Ctrl+Shift+E (macOS) to archive a chat.

You’ll also be able to use keyboard shortcuts to move around your conversation list. Hit Ctrl+Alt+Tab (Windows) or Cmd+Ctrl+Tab (macOS) to jump to the next chat, or Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Tab (Windows) or Cmd+Ctrl+Shift+Tab (macOS) to go back to the previous one.  Meanwhile, you can open the search panel by tapping Alt+K (Windows) or Cmd+K (macOS).

To create a new sticker, click the paperclip icon down by the text entry box in a conversation, then choose Sticker. WhatsApp will ask you to pick out an image file from your disk, which you can then crop and rotate as needed. You can also drop emojis and text on top of the sticker to make it your own.

WhatsApp will sync your stickers between devices, so you can then use the ones you created on the web on your phone.

The post 4 reasons you should be using WhatsApp Web appeared first on Popular Science.

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Just like you need to dust regularly to keep your house clean, and service your car annually to keep it safe and running, you should do a digital spring cleaning so your computer stays speedy and responsive.

We’re not just talking about wiping down your keyboard and your screen but also clearing up the digital clutter accumulating inside your system, including the apps and files you no longer use. Here’s how to get started.

On Windows computers, you can uninstall programs individually or in bulk. The easiest way is by locating the Control Panel by using the search bar in the Start menu and then clicking Uninstall a program. You can sort apps by name, size, or install date to weed out the ones you don’t need, or filter by the hard drive they’re installed on. Then just click an app and select Uninstall to remove it. 

On macOS, open Launchpad, click and hold on any app, and then click the X on its icon when the programs start to vibrate. Some of them might require you to launch an uninstall utility. To do so, open Finder and search “uninstall” along with the app name. If it doesn’t have one, find the Applications folder in Finder and drag the app’s entry into the Trash. Apple’s operating system doesn’t have a built-in way to delete applications in bulk, but you can try a third party app. These tools will also eliminate any trace of the app on your system (including residual files), but they are powerless against the Mac apps that came with your computer, which you won’t be able to delete that easily. 

Doing your digital spring cleaning also means taking care of the apps you want to keep—make sure to download updates for them so they’re running their latest, most secure versions.

Unless you really know your way around Windows or macOS, it’s a good idea to get assistance from a third-party program for this task. CCleaner (for Windows and macOS) has long been one of the best free options in this department. If you can spare a little money, we also like CleanMyMac X ($35 for a one-year subscription) for macOS, and System Mechanic ($40 for a one-year subscription) for Windows.

If you’d prefer not to rely on these programs, you can probably do some simple cleanup yourself. Sit down and spend an hour or so deleting those photos you’re never really going to look back on or clearing out old documents and spreadsheets that are no longer relevant.

On Chrome, go to Settings and click Security and privacy, followed by Clear browsing data to erase cached files, browsing history, plug-in data, and more. This should make your browser a little lighter on its feet. On Firefox, the option is under Preferences, Security & privacy, and Clear browsing data. On Microsoft Edge, you’ll need to go to Settings, then to Privacy, search and services, and scroll down to Clear browsing data. Finally, in the Safari navigation bar, go to History and choose Clear History.

While you’re slashing and burning, check your downloads folder for files you’ve forgotten about and delete the ones you don’t need to free up more space.

Finally, removing unused browser extensions can have the same benefits as uninstalling unused applications. This will streamline your browser, lowering its demands on your computer’s resources and keeping you safer as well. Open up your browser’s extensions or plug-ins page and see if there are any add-ons you can do without.

Sort your system by using the designated user folders (like Documents) and you’ll notice the benefits the next time you need to open something quickly. In particular, you should try to avoid keeping masses of files and shortcuts on your desktop, as it gives your computer extra work. For the same reason, it’s a good idea to spend a few minutes clearing up the Start menu (Windows) or the Dock (Mac), to make sure only the shortcuts you really need are available.

A whole host of cloud services, including Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, and iCloud, can store your files on the web and allow you to delete local copies. This is a handy way to free up some hard disk space and lighten the load on your operating system at the same time. Just be sure you keep the online versions and don’t delete both the local and cloud-based copies of your files—follow the instructions each service has to do this.