25 June 2018

CBS to stream NFL games on mobile


CBS today announced an expanded agreement with the NFL which will allow it to stream NFL ON CBS games through its over-the-top service, CBS All Access, through 2022. The deal includes, for the first time, rights to stream the games on mobile devices. The changes will begin this season, and will additionally include the ability for TV Everywhere subscribers (those who have an existing pay TV subscription) to stream the games on mobile, too.

According to the network, the entire 2018 NFL ON CBS season, including Super Bowl LIII, will stream live on CBS All Access across all platforms. This includes not only mobile devices and the web, but also on media streaming devices like Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast, Android TV, Fire TV, and game consoles like Xbox One and Playstation, plus Samsung Smart TVs.

The games will also be available to those who chose to subscribe to CBS All Access through Amazon’s a la carte TV service, Amazon Channels.

CBS already had streaming rights to NFL games, starting in the 2016 season. But Verizon [disclosure: TC parent by way of Oath] held exclusive mobile streaming rights to games until their deal expired with the 2017 season. That change has broadened access to NFL games on mobile.

For example, Fox’s multi-year deal for Thursday Night Football also included mobile rights, Variety reported. Verizon is now streaming games through Yahoo, Go90 and other properties on mobile. And NBCU and ESPN have Sunday and Monday Night Football deals that involve mobile streaming, the site also noted.

For the NFL, it needs to broaden access to games on mobile devices to address issues with lower ratings that’s, in part, attributed to cord cutting.

And for CBS, access to the games on mobile could give its streaming service a boost in the wake of what may be slowing growth, and the mistake of putting too much pressure on the “Star Trek” prequel to deliver subscribers. “Star Trek: Discovery” has underwhelmed some fans, leaving it with a 4.7 out 10 user score on Metacritic, and a lot of negative reviews on IMDb.

In other words, CBS can’t count on those core Trek fans to subscribe to All Access just to watch the new show, as it may have hoped.

Bringing in NFL fans could help with sign-ups – as will being available on Amazon Channels, which accounts for some 55% of direct-to-consumer subscriptions, according to reports.

“We are excited to extend our partnership with CBS as it aligns perfectly with our goal of providing NFL fans with greater opportunities to watch NFL games across digital devices,” said Hans Schroeder, Chief Operating Officer of NFL Media and Business, in a statement about the CBS deal. “The 2018 season will mark a new era for NFL fans with unprecedented access to NFL games across digital platforms.”


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QLED vs. OLED vs. MicroLED: Which TV Display Tech Is the Best?


qled-oled-tv

The battle of LEDs and LCDs is over. The new TV format war is between three new technologies: QLED, OLED, and MicroLED. It’s a confusing naming scheme, but the difference is actually easy to understand.

Here’s what you need to know first:

  • Samsung is the force behind QLED, which stands for Quantum Dot LED.
  • LG created OLED, which stands for Organic LED.
  • Samsung is also the force behind MicroLED.

As always, LED stands for light-emitting diode. In case there are any other terms you need to familiarize yourself with, we have a TV terms jargon buster guide.

It’s About Backlighting vs. Self-Lighting

Until now, LED TVs and LCD TVs were marketing jargon for different types of LCD. In an LCD TV, a single “pixel” cannot light itself. It requires backlighting by a panel of LEDs.

The crucial difference between QLED, OLED, and MicroLED is this backlighting:

  • Samsung’s QLED does not have pixels that can light themselves, so it is an extension of current LCD TV technology.
  • LG’s OLED has pixels that illuminate themselves, so it’s a new type of technology.
  • Samsung’s MicroLED also has pixels that illuminate themselves, so it’s a new type of technology, but slightly different from LG’s OLED.

Samsung QLED: LCD-LED in a New Avatar

Samsung QLED Graph

For years, regular LCD and LED TVs have used a series of thin layers from the backlight to the polarizer. Samsung has introduced a new layer in this series, which is the Quantum Dot filter.

This filter is unsurprisingly made of quantum dots, which are basically particles that take the incoming light from the backlight and turn it into simple RGB colors. After this, the colors travel further and interact with other layers to create the images that you see on screen.

But by simplifying to these basic colors, the color accuracy of those images is far better. Specifically:

  • The added quantum dot filter improves color accuracy by up to 90 percent from today’s LED TVs.
  • It also allows for up to 2,000 nits of brightness, which means you get better HDR performance.
  • Without each pixel being able to turn on and off, the black levels and contrast ratio remains the same as the best-quality LED-LCD TVs today.
  • Viewing angles are what you’d get on current TVs; they’re not as wide as OLED or MicroLED.

Note: Samsung and its quantum dot supplier Nanosys said they are working on QLED that emits its own light, removing the need for backlighting. This technology is expected sometime between 2021 and 2023.

LG OLED: The Best TV Display Tech Today

While Samsung focuses on QLED for now, LG has championed OLED technology. OLED displays are fairly common on smartphones, but it’s difficult to make them at the large size that a TV requires.

Samsung continues to make OLEDs for phones, but couldn’t manage to scale them up for TVs. LG used a different manufacturing method and achieved TV-sized OLED screens.

Now, LG’s OLED TVs are the gold standard. Yes, they are really expensive. But if you want the best TV today, that’s going to be an LG OLED unit. This is because:

  • Each pixel of an OLED TV can glow or dim on its own, resulting in much better black levels and improved contrast ratio.
  • OLED TVs have excellent viewing angles and color quality. While they can’t get as bright as 2,000 nits, the HDR quality is fantastic nonetheless.
  • OLEDs have consistently topped the review ratings of CNET, which has the best TV-testing facilities and staff among all media organizations.
  • Much like plasma TVs in the past, OLED TVs can be suspect to screen burn-in.
  • OLED TVs consume more power than QLED or LED-LCD TVs.

Sony OLED: Building on LG’s Success

After being on the fence for some time, Sony has thrown its weight behind OLED technology. Sure, LG manufactures the base OLED panel required for such TVs, but a lot more goes into making a good TV.

Once Sony gets the OLED panel from LG, it’s Sony’s job to fine-tune the other components that will ensure the OLED panel performs at its finest. Sony was renowned for picture quality from its famed BRAVIA engine on LED-LCDs. For OLEDs, Sony is launching a new processor, the X1 Ultimate. It hasn’t become available in any TV so far, and if I were you, I’d wait till it was.

Right now, Sony has only one new-generation OLED TV, the Sony A8F, which uses the previous-generation X1 Extreme processor. From demos at CES 2018, the X1 Ultimate is expected to deliver much better images, especially for HDR performance.

In summary:

  • Hold off on a Sony purchase for now. Wait for its new line of OLED TVs to hit the market.
  • The current OLED model, the Sony A8F, has got good reviews. If you’re a Sony fan and can’t wait for a new TV, go for it.
  • If the Sony brand loyalty isn’t important to you, LG has better OLED TVs at the moment.

Samsung MicroLED: The Future of TV Displays

The other big news from CES 2018 was Samsung’s new technology, MicroLED. And it made a bang with a gargantuan 146-inch TV that Samsung simply calls “The Wall”. MicroLED combines the best of QLED and OLED, while adding even more.

Like OLEDs, MicroLEDs have pixels that emit their own light. Each pixel is a combination of quantum dot red, green, and blue LEDs that can turn off or on individually. The end result is black levels, contrast ratio, and viewing angles of OLED, along with the color accuracy and brightness of QLED.

Samsung also says MicroLED TVs are modular, in that you can change the TV’s size. For example, “The Wall” is made up of 4-inch panels stuck together. You could potentially buy more 4-inch MicroLED panels from Samsung and increase the size of your TV, instead of buying a whole new TV.

But all these possibilities are way in the future. Right now, Samsung has not yet figured out how to decrease the size of these panels for a mass-market TV of popular 55-inch or 65-inch sizes. They only plan to release “The Wall” in 2018, and at an exorbitant price. It will take another 3-5 years, or maybe more, for MicroLED TVs for regular consumers.

Which Type of TV Should You Buy Now?

For anyone looking for a new TV right now, OLED might be a bit of a stretch. The cheapest OLED and QLED TVs cost upwards of $1,500, and between those, I’d go with an OLED right now. For an average TV, stick with the LED-LCDs.

To make your decision easier, we’ve put together a guide for the best affordable 4K HDR TVs.

Read the full article: QLED vs. OLED vs. MicroLED: Which TV Display Tech Is the Best?


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Teachers can put Chromebooks on lockdown when giving Classroom quizzes


Technology’s heavy hitters are in Chicago this week, showing off their latest ed-tech offerings at International Society for Technology in Education conference. For Google, that means some key updates to Classrooms, the free, browser-based educational software that’s currently used by “over 30 million students” globally, by its count.

The app is getting a number of tweaks, including, most notably, more control over quizzes. The Google Forms Quiz now features a “locked mode,” which prohibits students from surfing the web or opening apps until the answers are submitted — in other words, it stops them from cheating on the machine, while taking a test.

Interestingly, this is the first feature added to the app that’s exclusive to managed Chromebooks — i.e. those devices that are sold with the sole purpose of being used in the classroom. That marks a change for the app, which is otherwise open and platform agnostic, for any machine that can access the web. The reason here seems pretty straight-forward, of course — locking users out of other apps requires a lot more system control than more standardized features.

Also new is a Classwork page, which is designed to be a sort of go-to destination for both teachers and students, organizing questions and assignments in a single destination. Among other things, that information can now be organized by topic or unit, whereas everything was previously just categorized by date. The new People page, meanwhile. lets teachers add and remove fellow teachers, students and guardians, while other tweaks have been made to the Stream and system settings pages.

Microsoft also used the occasion to announce new lesson plans from partners like the BBC and an Aquatic DLC for Minecraft: Education Edition.


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Google Earth now lets you measure distances and areas


Only a few years ago, Google Earth was the only practical way to see all of Google’s satellite and 3D imagery. These days, Google Maps pretty much offers all of the mapping features that casual users need, but Google continues to quietly develop Earth and today, the company announced that it is adding a measurement tool to the service on the web (today), Android (later this week) and iOS (‘coming soon’).

Now that’s obviously not an earth-shattering new feature, especially given that you have long been able to measure distance with a virtual ruler in Google Maps, too. But the addition of an additional feature for measuring area seems useful, especially for students.

As is so often the case, more than anything, the launch of this new feature is a reminder of how much overlap there often is between Google products — and not just in the chat app category. Indeed, seeing this announcement was the first time I thought about Google Earth in years, I think. And while Google Earth has a few features that Maps doesn’t currently offer, including tours, for the most part, there doesn’t really seem to be a need for the web and mobile versions of Earth these days. And why is Google adding an area measurement tool to Earth, but not to Maps?


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5 Reasons Why Snapchat Is the New Facebook


snapchat-new-facebook

You might have noticed that Snapchat is gaining ground on Facebook. While Facebook remains the most popular mainstream social network in the world, Snapchat is still growing at an alarming rate and now boasts over 158 million daily users. Twitter is terrified of Snapchat, and Facebook should be too.

Remember MySpace? Facebook obliterated it. Could Snapchat dethrone the technological giant that has dominated the media landscape for the better part of a decade? It looks likely, and here are a few reasons why.

1. Snapchat Boasts a Younger Demographic

Everyone likes a bandwagon. If you see something becoming popular, you’re naturally intrigued about it and why all of these people seem to love it. A lot of people like to be early adopters, as if downloading the app before others is a badge of honor.

Others just see it for its convenience in keeping up with mates. After hearing the question, “Are you on Snapchat?” numerous times, you’ll probably cave in (unless you’re a hipster who doesn’t like to conform). It’s the snowball effect.

Snapchat claims to reach over 40 percent of Americans aged between 18 and 34 every day. In fact, Snapchat is the favorite social platform of teenagers. With such an incredible market share, it’s seen by many as the next evolutionary step for social networking.

Facebook risks becoming seen as stuffy, and frequented by older generations. It’s only natural: each age group adopts media in new ways. Close Encounters of the Third Kind was 2001: A Space Odyssey for youngsters in the 1970s and 1980s. Harry Potter was the new Adventures of Narnia. It’s feasible that Snapchat is Facebook for a new generation.

2. Snapchat Is Less Time-Consuming

The average amount of time spent each day on social platforms continues to increase year-on-year. In 2017, the average adult in the USA spent a whopping 41 minutes on Facebook. Compare that to 26 minutes on Snapchat. These figures, from eMarketer, are projected to increase a minute each year in 2018 and 2019.

It’s easy to argue that there’s more on Facebook to attract our attention. However, Snapchat’s userbase is more actively engaged; eMarketer notes that time spent with a network includes multi-tasking. In effect, this means that users might have Facebook open, but are actually looking at something else.

This could be true of Snapchat, of course, but as snaps only appear for a maximum of 10 seconds, it’s unlikely. The Chat function, too, encourages engagement (especially compared to the number of people on Facebook using it merely to pass the time).

In our battle against social media’s dominance over our lives, a less time-consuming alternative should be applauded.

3. Snapchat Is More Video-Oriented

Here’s an area in which Snapchat is doing better already. In 2016, 10 billion videos were watched via Snapchat daily, compared to Facebook’s 8 billion. This is an astonishing statistic considering Snapchat doesn’t yet boast even half the number of users as Facebook.

What accounts for this? It’s probably the Stories feature, which lets friends view videos and images for 24 hours after they were uploaded.

The above stats don’t include the length of videos watched. The limit used to be 10 seconds. In 2017, that increased to 60 seconds; it’s played in 10-second steps, which skews any recent figures. You can edit these segments, so if you did something embarrassing in the middle, you can delete that part.

Nonetheless, this ably demonstrates the immediacy of Snapchat—and its capacity to spread messages. Consumers retain around 95 percent of messages conveyed by video, in comparison to just 10 percent when it comes to text. Snapchat has fewer users, but they appear to engage more with content.

By 2019, it’s projected that video traffic will account for 80 percent of all consumer traffic online. As a growing market, Snapchat knows how to target the right audience and update its functionality accordingly.

4. Login With Snapchat vs. Login With Facebook

All of this evidence might make you think that Snapchat operates in a different arena to Facebook. The latter is a primarily text-based feed; the former is largely about images and videos, and caters for a younger demographic.

However, Snapchat’s latest move puts it square up against Facebook. You can use the app to easily log into other services.

This is something you’ve been able to do in the past through Google accounts and (you guessed it) Facebook. The move means convenience for Snapchat users, and direct competition for other social networks.

You can use your Bitmoji and stickers across different platforms, meaning greater exposure for Snapchat. One of the feature’s launch partners is Tinder, the app which helps users find dates (but is rubbish at finding friends). It’s a canny idea, uniting brands with similar aesthetics. The language of Snapchat will permeate to other mediums too, as Stories can be embedded into websites.

What’s more, if you compare the policies of Facebook and Snapchat, even just on this issue alone, Snapchat comes out on top. Why? Because Snapchat limits the amount of personal data available to third parties.

5. People No Longer Trust Facebook

We can argue about whether any social media works to protect your personal data from slipping into the wrong hands. But right now, the spotlight is definitely on Facebook.

Its privacy policies are being called into question with alarming frequency. It turns out that Facebook’s privacy scandals can be a good thing, as they result in a lot of people re-evaluating what they put online.

That means some users inevitably look elsewhere, preferably for a platform that’s more transparent with personal details. Snapchat, then, is a major contender here.

The network is famous for not targeting its users with personalized ads. In fact, in 2015, Evan Spiegel, Snapshot’s founder, stated how such things concern him, saying:

“I got an ad this morning for something I was thinking about buying yesterday, and it’s really annoying. We care about not being creepy.”

This naturally bodes well for consumers’ rights. Things could change in the future, of course, but an app that has solid privacy policies built into its foundations is surely a good sign.

The Future of Social Media Is Snapchat

Despite the evidence perhaps you’re not sold on the idea of Snapchat being the new Facebook just yet. After all, Facebook has been around for a long time, and over 2 billion people worldwide remain loyal to the social network.

Nonetheless, Snapchat is easy to get into, and growing as a result. And if you need a hand getting to grips with it, here is our complete guide to Snapchat, which is suitable for both beginners and veterans.

Read the full article: 5 Reasons Why Snapchat Is the New Facebook


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Anker Mars II projector promises solid summer fun


Anker, a popular if battery and cable company, recently announced the Mars II projector under its Nebula brand. The company, which primarily sells via Amazon, is expanding out of batteries and cables and is now creating audio and other portable AV gear. This compact, battery-powered DLP projector is their latest creation and it has found a place of honor at our family barbecues.

The projector is actually an Android 7.1 device stuffed into a case about as big as a Bluetooth speaker. A physical lens cap slides down and turns on the system and you control everything from he included remote or the buttons on the top of the device. You can also download an app that mimics a mouse and keyboard for choosing videos and information entry. It projects at a maximum of 300 lumens and projects at 720p. You can also connect an HDMI device like a game console or stick in a USB drive full of videos to view on the fly.

Again, the real benefit here is the ability to stream from various apps. I have YouTube, Netflix, Plex, and other apps installed and you can install almost any other Android app you can imagine. It has speakers built in and you can cast to it via Miracast but you cannot insert a Chromecast.

If all you want to do is throw up a little Santa Clarita Diet or Ice Age on a sheet in the back yard, this thing is perfect. Because the brightness is fairly low you need solid twilight or a partially dark room to get a good picture. However, the picture is good enough and it would also make a great presentation device for a closed, dark conference room. Because of its small size and battery life – four hours on a charge – it makes for a great alternative to a full-sized projector or even a standard TV.

At $539 the Mars II is priced on par with other 720p projectors. The primary use case – connecting a computer or console via HDMI – works quite well but streaming user experience is a bit of a mixed bag. Because Anker didn’t modify the Android installation much further than adding a few default apps, some apps require a mouse to use and others can be controlled via the arrow keys on the remote or body of the device. This means that some apps – like Plex, for example – let you pick a video via the arrow keys but require you to press the “mouse” button to begin simulating a mouse cursor on the screen. It’s a bit frustrating, especially in poor lighting conditions.

One of the interesting features is the automatic focus system. Instead of fiddling with a knob or slider, you simply point this at a surface and the system projects a bullseye focus ring until the picture is in focus. The focus changes any time you move the device and sometimes it gets caught up if the screen or projector are moving. However in most cases it works perfectly fine.

Like most portable projectors you aren’t buying the Mars II to watch 4K video in 5.1 surround sound. You buy it to offer an alternative to sitting on the couch and watching a movie. That means this is great for on-the-road business presentations, campouts, outdoor movie viewing, and sleepovers. It is cheap and portable enough to be almost disposable and it’s not as heavy and hot as other, larger devices. In short, it can go anywhere, show anything, and works really well. Anker also makes the Mars, a more expensive 1080p device, but this one works just fine for about $400 less – a big drop in just about a year of brisk sales. It’s nice to see a good, low-cost manufacturer dabble in the world of complex consumer electronics and come up with a product that is truly useful and fun.

[gallery ids="1662668,1662666,1662665,1662662,1662661"]

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7 Ways to Silence a Loud and Noisy Gaming Computer

Winnie raises $4 million to make parents’ lives easier


An app that has the needs of modern-day parents in mind, Winnie, has now raised $4 million in additional seed funding in a round led by Reach Capital. Other investors in the new round include Rethink Impact, Homebrew, Ludlow Ventures, Afore Capital, and BBG Ventures, among others. With the new funds, Winnie has raised $6.5 million to date.

The San Francisco-based startup, which begun its life as a directory of kid-friendly places largely serving the needs of newer parents, has since expanded to become a larger platform for parents.

Winnie was founded by Bay Area technologists, Sara Mauskopf, who spent time at Postmates, Twitter, YouTube and Google, and Anne Halsall, also from Postmates and Google, as well as Quora and Inkling.

As new parents themselves, they built Winnie out a personal need to find the sort of information parents crave – details you can’t easily dig up in Google Maps or Yelp.

For example, you can use Winnie to find nearby kid-friendly destinations like museums or parks, as well as those that welcome children with features like changing tables in restrooms, wide aisles in stores for stroller access, areas for nursing, and other things.

Winnie serves as a good example of what investing in women can achieve. Somehow, the young, 20-something men that receive the lion’s share of VC funding had never thought up the idea of app that helps new parents navigate the world. (I know, shocking, right?) And yet, the kind of questions that Winnie tries to answer are those that all parents, at some point, are curious about.

The data on Winnie is crowd-sourced, with details, ratings and reviews coming from other real parents. Listings in San Francisco may be more fleshed out than elsewhere, as that’s where Winnie got its start. However, the app is now available in 10,000 cities across the U.S., and has just surpassed over a million users.

In more recent months, Winnie has been working to expand beyond being a sort of “Yelp for parents,” and now features an online community where parents can ask questions and participate in discussions.

“The crowdsourced directory of family-friendly businesses is still a huge component of what we do…and this has grown to over 2 million places across the United States,” notes Winnie co-founder and CEO Sara Mauskopf. “But we also have these real-time answers to any parenting question from this authentic, supportive community,” she says, referring to Winnie’s online discussions.

The idea is that parents will be searching the web for answers to questions about toddler sleep issues or good local preschools or breastfeeding help, and Winnie’s answers will come up in search results, similar to other Q&A sites like Quora or Yahoo Answers.

“A lot of younger millennial parents are turning to Google to find answers to these questions,” adds Winnie co-founder and CPO Anne Halsall. “So we want to have the answer to these questions at the ready, and we want to have the best page. That’s an example of something that’s yield a lot of traffic for us, just because no one else had that data before Winnie,” she says.

Related to this expansion, Winnie is also serving this data across platforms, including – obviously – the web, in addition to its native app on iOS and Android. The hope is that, with the growth, business owners will come in to claim their pages on Winnie.com, too, and update their information.

 

In the near-term, the founders say they’ll put the funding to use building out more personalization features.

“As a technology company, we have a unique opportunity to give you this really tailored experience that grows with your family over time – so as your children are getting older, and you’re entering new phases of development, our product’s adapting and putting relevant information in front of you,” Halsall says. 

Data on businesses serving the needs of parents with older kids – like summer camps or driver’s ed classes, for example – are the kind of things Winnie will focus on as it grows to include information for more parents, instead of just those with younger children and babies.

Winnie will also use the funds to hire additional engineers to help it scale its platform.

Esteban Sosnik from Reach Capital joined Hunter Walk from Homebrew on Winnie’s board as a result of the funding.

The app is a free download for iOS and Android, and is available on the web at Winnie.com.


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Winnie raises $4 million to make parents’ lives easier


An app that has the needs of modern-day parents in mind, Winnie, has now raised $4 million in additional seed funding in a round led by Reach Capital. Other investors in the new round include Rethink Impact, Homebrew, Ludlow Ventures, Afore Capital, and BBG Ventures, among others. With the new funds, Winnie has raised $6.5 million to date.

The San Francisco-based startup, which begun its life as a directory of kid-friendly places largely serving the needs of newer parents, has since expanded to become a larger platform for parents.

Winnie was founded by Bay Area technologists, Sara Mauskopf, who spent time at Postmates, Twitter, YouTube and Google, and Anne Halsall, also from Postmates and Google, as well as Quora and Inkling.

As new parents themselves, they built Winnie out a personal need to find the sort of information parents crave – details you can’t easily dig up in Google Maps or Yelp.

For example, you can use Winnie to find nearby kid-friendly destinations like museums or parks, as well as those that welcome children with features like changing tables in restrooms, wide aisles in stores for stroller access, areas for nursing, and other things.

Winnie serves as a good example of what investing in women can achieve. Somehow, the young, 20-something men that receive the lion’s share of VC funding had never thought up the idea of app that helps new parents navigate the world. (I know, shocking, right?) And yet, the kind of questions that Winnie tries to answer are those that all parents, at some point, are curious about.

The data on Winnie is crowd-sourced, with details, ratings and reviews coming from other real parents. Listings in San Francisco may be more fleshed out than elsewhere, as that’s where Winnie got its start. However, the app is now available in 10,000 cities across the U.S., and has just surpassed over a million users.

In more recent months, Winnie has been working to expand beyond being a sort of “Yelp for parents,” and now features an online community where parents can ask questions and participate in discussions.

“The crowdsourced directory of family-friendly businesses is still a huge component of what we do…and this has grown to over 2 million places across the United States,” notes Winnie co-founder and CEO Sara Mauskopf. “But we also have these real-time answers to any parenting question from this authentic, supportive community,” she says, referring to Winnie’s online discussions.

The idea is that parents will be searching the web for answers to questions about toddler sleep issues or good local preschools or breastfeeding help, and Winnie’s answers will come up in search results, similar to other Q&A sites like Quora or Yahoo Answers.

“A lot of younger millennial parents are turning to Google to find answers to these questions,” adds Winnie co-founder and CPO Anne Halsall. “So we want to have the answer to these questions at the ready, and we want to have the best page. That’s an example of something that’s yield a lot of traffic for us, just because no one else had that data before Winnie,” she says.

Related to this expansion, Winnie is also serving this data across platforms, including – obviously – the web, in addition to its native app on iOS and Android. The hope is that, with the growth, business owners will come in to claim their pages on Winnie.com, too, and update their information.

 

In the near-term, the founders say they’ll put the funding to use building out more personalization features.

“As a technology company, we have a unique opportunity to give you this really tailored experience that grows with your family over time – so as your children are getting older, and you’re entering new phases of development, our product’s adapting and putting relevant information in front of you,” Halsall says. 

Data on businesses serving the needs of parents with older kids – like summer camps or driver’s ed classes, for example – are the kind of things Winnie will focus on as it grows to include information for more parents, instead of just those with younger children and babies.

Winnie will also use the funds to hire additional engineers to help it scale its platform.

Esteban Sosnik from Reach Capital joined Hunter Walk from Homebrew on Winnie’s board as a result of the funding.

The app is a free download for iOS and Android, and is available on the web at Winnie.com.


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Folding Phones Are Coming: Surface Phone, Samsung Galaxy X, and More


foldable-phones

Samsung and Microsoft are seemingly in a race to launch the first truly usable foldable phone.

Apple might release a foldable iPhone by 2020. Lenovo-Motorola has already shown off one working concept. And one of the biggest Chinese brands, ZTE, has amazed the world with the first dual-screen phone available for sale right now.

This trend could be the biggest smartphone innovation in years, finally adding a “Wow!” factor that has been missing in mobiles since the first iPhone in 2007. Think about it: Imagine an iPhone that stretches out into an iPad!

So how long will it take for this to happen? How far are the companies from actually bringing this technology to the market? Let’s take a look at the upcoming world of folding phones, and the one handset that is already available.

The Two Types of Folding Phones

To understand foldable phones, you need to understand the technology behind them. Largely speaking, there are two approaches to make a phone that folds:

  1. Use a bendable screen and flexible circuit boards that fold or stretch as required.
  2. Use two or more screens connected at the seams, like a multi-monitor setup.

Right now, the two-screen model is already available in a phone made by ZTE. It uses traditional smartphone components, while adding a second screen that extends the primary screen.

Meanwhile, manufacturers have figured out how to make bendable displays and even demonstrated them. But to turn this into a phone that regular people can use is still a work in progress.

As for flexible circuit boards, those are much more realistic today. You can easily pick up a flexible PCB for your own projects.

Samsung Galaxy X: The Best Foldable Phone Design

Samsung Galaxy X Prototype

Right now, the rumored Samsung Galaxy X has the best chance of being the first truly usable foldable phone. Samsung is currently the world’s largest manufacturer of OLED displays. Plus, it has already made and demonstrated flexible OLED screens at trade expos.

It’s not surprising that Samsung is at the forefront of foldable phones. After all, it’s created four generations of Galaxy Edge phones since the first Galaxy S6 Edge. These devices pioneered the bending screen, and a foldable display is a natural extension of the technology.

It is as tricky to make the foldable display into a touchscreen display, but Samsung showed it has mastered this in demonstrations at CES and Mobile World Congress. The largest size screen demonstrated was 4.5 inches.

Samsung Foldable Screen Prototype

So far, Samsung’s patents suggest a phone that folds in on itself rather than expanding the screen size. But these are only the patents that have surfaced so far; the company is likely to work on a handset that increases the screen estate.

The head of Samsung’s mobile business, DJ Koh, has confirmed the company is making a bendable phone. Multiple news reports have suggested that Koh and his team want to fine-tune the user experience before releasing it.

Thus there are few details available about the Samsung Galaxy X, with new reports suggesting it will cost upwards of $1,800. Importantly, even the release date isn’t confirmed. The most trusted rumor so far is that Samsung will unveil the Galaxy X at Mobile World Congress 2019.

But take these rumors with a pinch of salt; they are rumors after all.

Surface Phone “Andromeda”: Microsoft’s Comeback?

Surface Phone Prototype

The other rumor going around is that Microsoft is launching its own foldable phone. It goes by two code names: the Surface Phone or Surface Andromeda. According to Thurrott, the device is scheduled for release in 2018.

That said, I wouldn’t put too much stock in these rumors. Companies file patents all the time, and only a fraction of them end up becoming real. The Surface Phone would be great, but remember, Microsoft has killed Windows Phone. So if a Surface Phone launches, it would presumably run Android.

ZTE Axon M: A Foldable Phone You Can Buy Now

A few nondescript companies have shown off foldable phones for some time, but the dream became real with the ZTE Axon M. ZTE is a giant in China, and has been expanding to other markets in recent years.

The Axon M is a functional phone that you can actually buy today. Its second screen sits on the back, and flips out to connect to your main screen with a satisfying click. With that, you get a dual-monitor setup on your phone.

You can use the two screens in tandem, so the image extends across both. Otherwise, you can use separate apps on each screen. As the above video shows, certain apps make smart use of the dual screen, such as watching a YouTube video on one while reading the comments on the other. Both screens can show the same video too, so you and a person sitting across from you can watch the same movie.

With the Axon M, ZTE is innovating on the software front rather than hardware. You will see a small bezel between both screens, so it’s not a seamless display. But with software that makes two screens truly useful on a phone, the Axon M is a winner.

The ZTE Axon M is only available from AT&T in the US, and costs $725 from AT&T or Best Buy. You can also purchase it between $666 and $866 on AliExpress. We recommend familiarizing yourself with AliExpress and reviewing our tips for safe shopping there before making any purchase on AliExpress, though.

Lenovo CPlus: The Phone You Wear as a Watch

The other handset demonstrated so far comes from Lenovo, which showed off a flexible phone at CES 2016 called the CPlus. The cool part? It bends to wrap around your wrist like a watch.

The most impressive part about the CPlus is that the whole phone bends, not just one part of it. This means Lenovo has figured out ways to make a functional phone that bends, while still using rigid parts like batteries.

But the CPlus remains a concept, as Lenovo hasn’t uttered another peep about it. Don’t expect this to come to stores before the Samsung Galaxy X.

What About a Foldable iPhone-iPad?

And finally, the big question. Will we see a foldable iPhone? If you believe Bank of America Merrill Lynch, then you’ll see one by 2020.

“Our checks also suggest that Apple is working with suppliers on a foldable phone (that potentially could double up as a tablet) for launch in 2020,” the bank told its clients, according to CNBC.

This seems to indicate that it would be an iPhone that folds out into an iPad, which could actually make the tablet useful again.

While You Wait for a Foldable Phone…

Right now, you can get the foldable screen experience with the ZTE Axon M. But true bendable, folding phones seem to be at least a year away, and probably won’t hit the mainstream for two more years.

So while you wait, your best option is an edge-to-edge display phone like the iPhone X or its alternatives.

Read the full article: Folding Phones Are Coming: Surface Phone, Samsung Galaxy X, and More


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Apple reportedly working on next-gen, water-resistant AirPods


Apple is reportedly working on a new, likely more expensive, set of AirPods with noise-cancellation, according to Bloomberg.

The report cites people familiar with the matter, who said that Apple is exploring making the AirPods water resistant. That said, you still don’t want to go swimming with these things, as the rumored water resistant AirPods would be more likely to only stand up against perspiration and rain rather than being submerged.

Bloomberg said that one source suggested Apple could add biometric sensors to the next-gen AirPods, furthering the company’s health tracking efforts. Sources also say that the updated AirPods would come with a new case that is compatible with the Apple’s new wireless charging pad.

As it stands now, AirPods cost $159 in the U.S. The new, rumored pair of in-ear wireless headphones will likely cost more, allowing Apple to price AirPods the same way it prices iPhones, offering a more expensive high-end model and a low-end model like the iPhone SE.

This news comes in the middle of a big year for Apple’s auditory efforts.

On the one hand, Apple’s Amazon Echo competitor, the HomePod, was delayed quite a bit following its announcement. Bloomberg says Cupertino is already hard at work developing a new model.

Apple is also reportedly working on over-the-ear headphones. The headphones would be Apple-branded, and would be on the higher-end of the spectrum with Boze and Sennheiser. The company already sells over-the-ear headphones via Beats, which Apple acquired in 2014 for $3 billion.


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3 Useful Tools to Improve Google Drive’s Security and Privacy


improve-google-drive-security-privacy

Google dominates many aspects of our digital lives: emails, internet search, navigation, cloud storage, and so much more. That domination demands trust.

Can you trust Google with your documents, pictures, and memories? How do they keep your private files secure when you pass the baton of trust and upload your files to Google Drive?

Well, Google encrypts your files when your data is resting (as well as in transit too). Is Google Drive’s integrated encryption enough to keep your private files safe from harm? Let’s find out.

How Does Google Drive Encryption Work?

Google Drive uses AES-256 to protect file transfers, and AES-128 to encrypt your files at rest. AES is a very secure encryption algorithm without any currently feasible attacks, and is the current US Government encryption standard.

Your Google Drive account, then, keeps your files extremely secure when the upload completes and when your files are at rest.

How Google Drive Encryption Keeps You Safe

Incoming data is split into chunks, then Google Drive encrypts each chunk with a unique data key. The data key is then further encrypted with a specific key encryption key (wrapping the data encryption key) and stored by Google.

In addition to the double set of encryption keys, you can also protect your Google Drive with two-factor authentication (2FA), and you can use that 2FA with a secure password manager to add another layer of security.

In truth, there is no easy way to show you how Google Drive encryption works or what it looks like in a folder. Google purposefully doesn’t provide forward-facing information for Google Drive customers within the Google Drive environment. Like many things “Google,” it just works.

The system does have a few minor flaws, though.

Google Drive’s Biggest Issue: Privacy

Google Drive’s encryption has two main issues:

  1. During the upload process, your file has TLS protection. TLS stands for Transport Layer Security and is designed to protect data in transit. However, when your data arrives at the gates of your Google Drive, it is momentarily decrypted before being encrypted again. Why? Google rapidly scans and analyzes the file before encrypting it. There is very little chance of leakage, but it is still a slight flaw.
  2. You are never in control of the encryption keys, meaning you never have 100 percent control over your Google Drive data. Of course, you have 100 percent control in decision making—if you don’t like losing control of your encryption keys, read on for some solutions.

Yes, your files are secure with Google Drive. Yes, Google encrypts them internally. But no, that doesn’t mean Google isn’t using you for advertising (it is their business model, after all). The bottom line is that if you’re using a free Google product, then you have no true expectation of complete privacy.

The big question is: “Does it matter to you?”

I use Google Drive all the time. It’s a great and easy to use bridge between my desktop and laptop. However, I don’t use it for sensitive files, and realistically, nor should you. Other, more secure options are available.

Alternatively, there are tools you can use to increase your Google Drive privacy and security further.

Tools for Google Drive Security and Privacy

You can bulk out your Google Drive encryption using a client-side encryption tool. What does that mean?

Well, instead of sending your files as-is to Google, you encrypt them on your own system first, then send them to your Google Drive. Check out these useful encryption tools to use with Google Drive.

1. Cryptomator

Cryptomator tops this list. It is free, open source, has no backdoors, and requires no user registration. Better still, it is easy to set up and works on Windows, macOS, various Linux distributions, iOS, and Android (the Android and iOS apps aren’t free, however).

Cryptomator uses transparent encryption to make it feel like nothing extra is happening to your files, keeping your productivity at the same level. The major difference is the addition of a Cryptomator vault. The vault resides on your Google Drive, but you have a virtual hard drive to access and modify your files. Cryptomator encrypts each file you add to the virtual hard disk individually. Meaning if you only edit a Word document, only the Word document changes. The rest of your files remain encrypted at all times.

Cryptomator is a free, open source project—but it is donationware. Small donations keep amazing projects like Cryptomator ticking over, so do consider supporting if possible.

Download: Cryptomator for Windows | Mac | Linux (Free)
Download: Cryptomator for Android ($4.99)
Download: Cryptomator for iOS ($3.99)

2. Boxcryptor

Next up, Boxcryptor. Boxcryptor is a free product, but with limitations. For instance, the Boxcryptor free subscription grants users access to the basic Boxcryptor version, a single cloud provider, and only two devices.

Furthermore, Boxcryptor is proprietary software (closed-source, in other words). The lack of access to the Boxcryptor source code for analysis of weaknesses and backdoors is a major issue for some. However, there are as yet no indications as to any issues.

Boxcryptor creates a virtual drive on your system, then automatically adds any cloud providers to the drive. The Boxcryptor drive acts like an extra layer on top of your existing files, letting you view, edit, and save your encrypted files on-the-fly. Boxcryptor automatically encrypts any cloud files or folders within the drive, as well as those added in the future.

As for security, Boxcryptor uses AES-256 with RSA-4096 to encrypt your files. They are phenomenally secure.

Download: Boxcryptor for Windows | Mac | Android | iOS (Free with premium plans)

3. Rclone with Crypt

Rclone is a command line program to sync files and directories from Google Drive (and a long list of other services, too). Rclone is open source and offers a huge range of control and customization in their cloud service sync process.

In that, the crypt function allows you to encrypt your Google Drive files on your system before syncing. The video below is a thorough walk-through of how to do this.

Rclone with Crypt is an advanced tool. It takes a bit of setting up but once done grants you extensive control.

Download: Rclone for Windows (64-bit) | Windows (32-bit) | Linux (64-bit) | Linux (32-bit) (Free)

Google Drive Is Secure, But Not Entirely Private

You now understand a little more about how Google encrypts its cloud services. Your documents are secure, albeit lacking privacy. There are a few options available to expand your security and privacy.

Your Google Drive always has one weak-link: you. Users like you and me are always the potential weak link, and that is something only improved with better security education.

Read the full article: 3 Useful Tools to Improve Google Drive’s Security and Privacy


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How to Listen to WhatsApp Audio Messages in Secret (No Headphones Required)

How to Never Accidentally Quit Apps on Mac Again


list-apps-mac

As any serious Mac user should know, you can press Cmd + Q to quit an app that’s running. It’s one of the most useful Mac shortcuts and is used every day by millions of people.

But there’s a problem: We all make mistakes. Come on, admit it, you probably mis-type a letter every third word, especially if you’re typing quickly. I know I do. Okay, but what does that have to do with quitting apps?

Well, another heavily-used keyboard shortcut is Cmd + W. In case you’re not aware, in web browsers it will close the current tab you’re on, in word processors it will close the currently open document, and so on with many other kinds of apps.

Now look down at your keyboard. Where are Q and W? Yep, right next to each other (unless you’re using an alternative keyboard layout). We dread to think how many people lose work because they accidentally hit W instead of Q.

The Solution? Start Using SlowQuitApps

What’s the solution to this little conundrum? You could try using a free piece of software called SlowQuitApps.

As the name suggests, it prolongs the amount of time between you pressing the Cmd + Q shortcut and the app quitting. Once you set a length of time, the app closure only happens when you keep the key combination pressed down for that duration.

A little countdown timer pops up on the screen while you’re holding the keys. If you release the keys before the timer is finished, the app will not quit.

SlowQuitApps has a couple of settings you can tweak. In addition to the length of time, you can also whitelist apps so they will quit instantly. If you’d like to discover more cool software, check out our list of the best Mac apps you can find.

Read the full article: How to Never Accidentally Quit Apps on Mac Again


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Newton's Trajectories


Newton's Trajectories

How to Download Google Translate Languages for Offline Use

The iCloud Photos Master Guide: Everything You Need to Know for Photo Management


icloud-photos-manage

Apple’s cloud-synced photo management system for your Mac and iPhone, iCloud Photo Library, provides powerful tools for your pictures. We’ve already outlined a few important traits of iCloud Photo Library. Now it’s time to dig deeper into that system.

This guide is available to download as a free PDF. Download The iCloud Photos Master Guide: Everything You Need to Know for Photo Management now. Feel free to copy and share this with your friends and family.

Let’s take a closer look at the key routines you need to manage your photos and videos with iCloud. Mainly, we’ll cover how to:

  • Upload photos to iCloud
  • Access photos
  • Share photos
  • Download photos
  • Delete photos

Before we get started, ensure that you have your photos backed up and ready to restore in case something goes wrong.

How to Upload Photos to iCloud

enable-icloud-photo-library

To back up photos to iCloud, you have to enable the cloud sync feature for the Photos app first. You can do this by turning on iCloud Photo Library on each of your Apple devices:

  • On a Mac: You can set up cloud sync from the Photos app. Once you have the app open, head to Photos > Preferences > iCloud. There, select the checkbox for iCloud Photo Library. You’ll also find this setting under System Preferences > iCloud > Photos > Options.
  • On an iPhone/iPad: Open Settings and tap on your name at the top, below the search box. From the next screen, go to iCloud > Photos to access the iCloud Photo Library option. Tap the toggle switch to enable the setting. You can also enable it from Settings > Photos.

iCloud Photo Library uses your iCloud storage for backing up photos, which means you have a limit of 5GB unless you upgrade to a higher storage plan.

To check if the free plan is enough for your current photo management needs, you need to know the size of your photo library. You can find it at/Home/Pictures. Right-click on the Photos Library icon and choose Get Info in the context menu to see how much storage space your photos and videos take up.

In any case, it’s best to de-clutter your albums before you upload photos to iCloud. Then you can use the spare iCloud storage for other purposes.

High Resolution vs. Low Resolution Photos

highres-vs-lowres-photos-icloud-mac

While you’re enabling cloud sync as described above, you can choose between two options:

Of course, you don’t have to pick the same option on all devices. You can keep originals on your Mac and use low-resolution versions on your iPhone, for instance.

On a Mac, you’ll find the Optimize option not only in the settings of the Photos app, but also under About This Mac > Storage > Manage > Photos. It shows up as Optimize Photo Library.

Keep in mind that you can also upload photos to iCloud directly on the web at iCloud’s Photos page. Click on the Upload photos button in the toolbar to select media for uploading. Drag and drop also works. Photos you upload in this fashion won’t show up on devices where you have turned off iCloud Photo Library.

upload-photos-to-icloud-web

What Happens After You Enable iCloud Photo Library

Once you turn on iCloud Photo Library, every photo and video from your Photos library gets backed up to iCloud at full resolution. Yes, that includes everything from JPG, PNG, and GIF images to 4K videos and Live Photos. There’s no option for selective syncing.

The actual sync process takes quite a bit of time, depending on the size of your photo library and your internet speed.

On your Mac, you can upload more photos to iCloud by dragging and dropping them onto the app. This works only if you have enabled the following setting: Photos > Preferences > General > Importing > Copy items to the Photos library.

If you haven’t, the app treats the photos you dropped into it as referenced files. In other words, Photos catalogs the images, but doesn’t add them to your Photos Library. As a result, it doesn’t upload them to iCloud either. You can copy referenced files to your library with the menu option File > Consolidate.

consolidate-photos-mac

On your iPhone, all photos and videos you capture or import to your Camera Roll sync to iCloud automatically. Screenshots also count.

The best part about iCloud sync is that your iCloud Photo Library backs up your picture edits to the cloud! You can edit photos as well as restore their original versions from any device, anytime.

If you have used iTunes on your Mac to sync photos to your iPhone, you’ll lose them from your phone when you enable iCloud Photo Library on it. But they’ll stay put on your Mac. Once you enable cloud sync on your Mac, the photos will back up to iCloud and reappear on your phone.

An Alternative to iCloud Photos

my-photo-stream-mac

Let’s say your photo library is tiny or you don’t want to back up your photos to iCloud. In that case you might want to pick the My Photo Stream option instead of iCloud Photo Library.

This feature syncs 1,000 of your most recent photos (or 30 days’ worth) across your Apple devices wirelessly. It doesn’t work with videos. And photos uploaded to My Photo Stream don’t count toward your iCloud storage.

If you have enabled iCloud Photo Library, the status of My Photo Stream is irrelevant.

How to Access iCloud Photos

photos-on-icloud

You can view all your iCloud photos and videos in the Photos app on all your Apple devices. What’s more, you can also access them on the web at icloud.com. To do so, you’ll need to log in with your Apple ID and open the Photos app on the page.

What about non-Apple devices—can you access your iCloud photos on them? It depends.

If you’re a Windows user, you can install iCloud for Windows to access iCloud photos on PC. With the app installed, you can also upload photos from your Windows picture library to iCloud. Apple has the requisite setup instructions for using iCloud Photo Library on your Windows PC.

On a Linux machine, you’ll have to fall back on iCloud’s web interface to view your photos. To access iCloud photos on Android, the web version of iCloud in Chrome is your best bet. But it’s far from perfect.

How to Share Photos on iCloud

icloud-photo-sharing-mac

Before you can start sharing photos and videos with others, you’ll need to enable the iCloud Photo Sharing feature. Let’s see how to do that:

  • On a Mac: From the Photos app, visit Photos > Preferences > iCloud and enable the checkbox for iCloud Photo Sharing.
  • On an iPhone/iPad: You’ll find the toggle switch for iCloud Photo Sharing under Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Photos.

At this point the Photos app (on both macOS and iOS devices) gets a new section: Shared. In this section, you’ll find a Start Sharing button to help you create your first shared album. (Going forward, you’ll need to use the Plus button in the shared albums section to create more of them.)

Once the new album is in place, you’ll see it listed under Shared > Shared Albums on Mac. On your iPhone/iPad, you’ll find it under Shared.

To add photos or videos to the shared album, when you have the album open:

  • On a Mac: Click on the Add photos and videos link.
  • On an iPhone/iPad: Tap the Plus button in the Photos tab.

That’s not the only way to add media to a shared album. Here’s the alternative method for Mac:

  1. In the Photos app, select the photos that you would like to add to a shared album.
  2. Click on the Share selected photos button in the toolbar and then on the iCloud Photo Sharing option in the menu that pops up.
  3. In the popout box that appears, select the shared album to which you would like to add the photos. You can also choose the New Shared Album option instead, if you would like to set up a new album on the fly.

This iOS version of this method is almost identical.

The Ins and Outs of Shared Albums

shared-album-options-mac

Album invitees can download shared videos and photos to their own library. You can invite people to a shared album using iCloud contact information, like an iMessage phone number or iCloud email address. Of course, you don’t have to type in this information, because the Photos app allows you to pick contacts directly from the Contacts app.

Can you share albums with non-iCloud users? Yes, but only if you turn the album into a “public website” accessible on icloud.com. That’s easy to do!

On your Mac, from the sidebar in Photos, select the shared album you would like to allow anyone to view. Next, click on the People button in the toolbar and then check the box for Public Website in the fly-out options box that shows up.

On iOS devices, you’ll find the Public Website option under the album’s People tab.

By default, album subscribers can add photos and videos to the shared album. Also, you’ll receive notifications when there’s any activity on one of your shared albums. You can tweak these settings from the same location where you enable the Public Website setting.

If you have set up Family Sharing, look for the Family album in the Shared section. That’s where you can share and view photos limited to your Family Sharing circle of members.

Can’t see your shared albums listed on iCloud.com? Don’t worry; that’s how it’s supposed to work. Shared albums are viewable via their unique web addresses, but not from your iCloud account itself.

How to Download Photos from iCloud

Let’s say you want to save your photos and videos from iCloud to an external hard drive. Or you might be thinking of using Google Photos or another backup service. In such cases you’ll need to know how to get your hands on your iCloud photos first.

On a Mac

macOS stores your Photos in a low-key Finder folder, which means you can copy them directly from this location. They’re sorted into date-based folders and subfolders, which may not be ideal for backups.

A better way to download photos on Mac is via the Photos app. Open it, select the photos you want to save, and drag them out to a Finder folder of your choice.

You can also use the menu option File > Export > Export [X] Photos. This allows you to choose a file format for download. If you’re happy to download them as is, click on File > Export > Export Unmodified Original for [X] Photos.

To select a bunch of photos at once, select the first one in the set and Shift-click on the last one in the set. You can Cmd-click on stray photos to grab them one at a time. If you would like to select all the photos in an album, hit Cmd + A.

From iCloud.com

choose-photo-download-size-icloud-web

Select a bunch of photos and click on the Download selected items toolbar button. Want to download optimized images (including edits) instead of the unmodified originals? Hover over the toolbar button instead of clicking on it. Then, click on the tiny down arrow that appears and select the Most Compatible option before you download.

Unfortunately, the shortcuts Shift-click and Cmd + A won’t work on iCloud.com. Only Cmd-clicking works for multiple selections, which is why the iCloud method becomes tedious when you have many photos to download.

Here’s a somewhat quirky workaround for this problem. Click on Photos in the sidebar to sort photos by date. Hover on a photo in any set and click on the Plus button that shows up on the far right. Doing so selects all photos in that set. Of course, this alternative is still cumbersome, if only less so.

select-multiple-photos-icloud-web

On an iPhone/iPad

Select Download and Keep Originals under Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Photos. Eventually your photo library will get the full-resolution versions of all photos. You can copy them to your Mac using iTunes or straightaway to an external hard drive using the Image Capture app on macOS.

If you always want to transfer originals, you’ll need to make a small tweak first. Visit Settings > Photos > Transfer to Mac or PC on your iPhone and switch from Automatic to Keep Originals.

You can also save photos to the Files app on your phone. To do that, first select the photos you want to save and tap the Share button in the toolbar. Then swipe through the bottom row of icons and choose Save to Files within it.

On a Windows PC

The method to download photos from iCloud to your Windows PC is similar to that for Mac. But here, you’ll have to Ctrl-click instead of Cmd-click to select multiple photos.

Of course, if you have the iCloud app for Windows installed, you can download all photos and videos at once. To get started, navigate to iCloud Photos in File Explorer and click on Download photos and videos. You’ll also find an Upload photos and videos link there if you want to move photos to the cloud.

How to Delete Photos from iCloud

delete-from-icloud-photo-library

Deleting your iCloud photos is pretty straightforward if you’re viewing them on your Mac. Select the whole bunch and from the context menu or right-click menu, select Delete [X] Photos.

On your iPhone/iPad, select the photos and tap on the trash can icon in the bottom bar. You can tap and drag across a bunch of photos to select them all. Start by selecting the photo at the top-left. You also have a Select All option within albums to delete photos in bulk.

To delete a photo on iCloud.com, select it and hit the Delete toolbar button. Again, it’s annoying that there’s no easy way to select multiple photos. Cmd-clicking is fine if you have only a few photos to select. But if you have pages and pages of photos to get through, this will take too long. Deleting photos on your desktop is the easier solution.

delete-photos-icloud-web

In all three instances above, you should see some variant of this message before you confirm deletion:

This photo will be deleted from your iCloud Photo Library on all your devices.

That’s a surefire way to tell that the photos are gone from your iCloud-connected devices and your iCloud account. (Of course, copies of photos you want deleted might still be floating around if you have sent them to someone via chat, email, etc.)

Deleted photos end up in the Recently Deleted folder. You can recover them from this location within 30 days of deletion.

If you don’t want to wait that long, you can manually delete them for good with the Delete All option in the Recently Deleted folder. You also have a Recover option in this section, just in case you change your mind and want any or all photos back within the recovery period.

recently-deleted-folder-photos-mac

Turn Off iCloud Photo Library

Want to delete photos from your phone without deleting them from iCloud? You can do that only if you turn off iCloud Photo Library.

If you go down that route, you can pick the Remove from iPhone option before you confirm that you want to turn off the feature. Choose Download Photos & Videos if you want a copy of your library on your iPhone.

Remember, turning off iCloud Photo Library is not the proper way to delete photos from iCloud. It’s ineffective, because disabling cloud sync on a device takes the photos off that device only. We have covered the correct way to take photos off iCloud above.

Take Your Photos to the Cloud

While Apple Photos works from the get-go, it can take a while to understand the intricacies of iCloud Photo Library. iCloud sync issues can trip you up, and you should know how to fix common iCloud problems. Make sure to read Apple’s detailed prompts every step of the way to understand what’s going on and avoid media mishaps.

Read the full article: The iCloud Photos Master Guide: Everything You Need to Know for Photo Management


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