My Galaxy Fold display is damaged after a day

Samsung’s new rebooted Galaxy arrives this week with one job: it just needs to not break. I’d already spent thousands of words breaking down the ins and outs of the product the first time around. This round, on the other hand, was more about making sure everything worked.

Back in April, I was among the reviewers whose device worked perfectly well. I toted the original Fold around the Bay Area without a problem, much to the amusement of curious co-workers. Samsung collected the devices soon after, as it went back to the drawing board due to issues with other units, but mine remained fully in tact.

This time out, however, I wasn’t so lucky. I pulled the Fold from my pocket while standing in line at CVS after work the other day. I opened it up and spotted something new nestled between the lock screen’s flapping butterfly wings. There was a brightly colored, amorphous blob. You can see it there in the photo at the top of the story (as well as a zoomed-in version below). It’s not huge. It’s maybe just under a centimeter across — and it’s a bit tricky to photograph.

In the grand scheme of first-gen foldable display problems, this isn’t a huge one, judging by photos from those who’ve had issues with the first model. In that case, devices were sent back with an entire side blacked out (in many cases the result of peeling back a laminate that resembled the protective layer devices ship with). Still, it’s not a great look after about 27 hours with the device, considering that it wasn’t dropped on concrete, dunked in water or stepped on. And the placement smack dab in the center dampens the effect of a 7.3-inch screen.

If I had to guess, I’d say it was pressing the display to close the device that did it. Samsung has since collected the device and will be taking it apart (likely in Korea) to find out what went wrong. We’ll update accordingly.

We can’t say the company didn’t warn us. As I noted the other day, Samsung issued a video prior to launch, advising users to “Just use a light touch,” B/W the footnote, “Do not apply excessive pressure to it.” The Fold itself came with ample paperwork warning against:

• Excessive pressure
• Placing objects like keys on the screen before folding
• Exposing the Fold to water or dust
• Adding your own screen protector to the existing screen protector
• Keeping the device next to easily deactivated objects like credit cards and implanted medical devices

There was nothing inside the device while folded. I didn’t get it wet or feed it after midnight, and there’s no visible damage to the laminate layer, so I can’t really say definitively what happened here. And while the screen is certainly still usable, I think I’d probably be…irked if I had just paid $2,000 for a handset and had to deal with a large, rainbow colored blob in the exact center of the screen.

Part of the white-glove service Samsung is rolling out here is a $149 screen replacement. We got a comment from Samsung on the matter, and it sounds like this particular issue might fall within normal use that wouldn’t require an additional fee. Here’s what the company has to say on the matter:

We have seen an enthusiastic response to the launch of the Galaxy Fold in several markets over the past few weeks, with thousands of consumers enjoying the unique experience it offers.

The Galaxy Fold is a first-of-its-kind device, made with new materials and technologies that allow it to open and close just like a book.

We encourage Galaxy Fold owners to read the care instructions included in the box and in the product manual available online. Products used within these guidelines are covered under warranty. If they have any questions, Galaxy Fold owners can consult with Samsung product specialists through the Galaxy Fold Premier Service any time, any day.

The “products used within these guidelines are covered under warranty” appears to be the pertinent bit here.

It’s hard to say how widespread these issues are. When the device officially goes on sale in North America on Friday, there will be significantly more of these in the wild, at which point we’ll know more definitively whether this was a very specific anomaly.

Anyone who reviews products for a living knows that these things can happen. I’ve had review headphones that sounded like electrified tin cans, only to swap them with the company for the real deal. Manufacturing defects can occur with review units and commercial products, alike. Generally, such things aren’t cause for concern (and manufacturing issues are usually covered by warranties), but in this case it’s certainly worth highlighting, given the first-gen product’s history with display issues.

We’ll certainly let you know how this shakes out and whether whatever conclusion Samsung ultimately reaches would fall under the warranty of the Fold’s fine print or whether users might want to budget an additional $149, just in case.

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App Annie acquires analytics firm Libring, bringing ad tech-related insights to its platform

App Annie, a go-to source for mobile app market data and analytics, is expanding its platform with the acquisition of mobile analytics provider Libring. The deal will allow App Annie to present its mobile app market data side by side with advertising analytics data, in order to paint a more complete picture of an app’s performance and revenue.

Already, App Annie customers leverage its platform to track key metrics related to their app’s growth and usage, like downloads, active users, retention numbers, demographics, rankings, reviews, competitive analysis, and more. But the company said it heard from publishers and brands how it’s still difficult to analyze their user acquisition efforts, including their ad spend and related costs.

With the addition of Libring, App Annie is integrating ad tech insights into its platform.

This includes the ability to combine the ad spend and monetization insights from over 325 data sources including Supply Side Platforms (SSPs), Demand Side Platforms (DSPs), app stores, and analytics platforms.

This data is then presented in a single dashboard so it’s easier to understand critical metrics — like the customer acquisition cost, the lifetime value, the return on ad spend, and the return on investment.

It’s ideal for larger organizations who have outgrown the spreadsheet, as it’s been sort of the App Annie of revenue aggregation, so to speak.

“The most successful companies find a way to capitalize on mobile, yet they have been struggling to maximize its value to their business,” explained App Annie CEO Ted Krantz, in a statement about the acquisition. “Today, this requires custom work to stitch together multiple point solutions, spreadsheets, business intelligence teams, agencies, and consultants. We are committed to solving this by applying data science and machine learning to automate these composite metrics for brands and publishers,” he said.

The deal comes at a time when mobile ad spend is continuing to grow rapidly — it’s expected to double to $375 billion globally by 2022, the company noted. It’s now a massive part of the overall app industry, at triple the amount of consumer spending on the app stores.

As a result of the deal, Libring’s 30-plus employees are joining App Annie.

In the near-term, Libring’s current customers will continue to use its product as they do today.

But App Annie tells us there’s only some overlap between the two companies’ respective customer bases. For now, App Annie will work with its customers who want to purchase the new analytics service and find out what sort of enhancements they are looking for in an analytics solution. Libring’s customers can also choose to buy App Annie’s analytics, if they choose.

Later, App Annie will migrate the Libring backend to the same infrastructure provider the rest of App Annie uses, and will then integrate the front-end so customers can log in and visualize the new analytics and other market data together. More information about how this will all work will be shared when those tools are closer to being available, which is still several months from now.

Going forward, App Annie says its data science team will also offer predictive and prescriptive insights based on the new data.

According to Libring’s website, its customers included SEGA, Slickdeals, Reddit, Jam City, Wooga, EA, Zynga, Next Games, Meet Me, GameInsight, Deviant Art, Webedia, Ubisoft, theChive, saambaa, badoo, textnow, and others.

App Annie declined to disclose the deal terms.

Related to the changes and expansion, App Annie also today introduced a new brand which features a gem logomark. The gem is meant to be a tribute to mobile gaming and the idea of “leveling up” while also a reflection of the value of actionable data, the company says.

The acquisition comes on the heels of several notable milestones for App Annie, including the launch of a product development testing ground, App Annie Labs; plus the addition of mobile web analytics in March — the same time when App Annie passed $100 million in annual recurring revenue.

The company is soliciting feedback about its plans for Libring and will post updates about the project on App Annie Labs, it says.

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The time is right for Apple to buy Sonos

It’s been a busy couple of months for smart speakers – Amazon released a bunch just this week, including updated versions of its existing Echo hardware and a new Echo Studio with premium sound. Sonos also introduced its first portable speaker with Bluetooth support, the Sonos Move, and in August launched its collaboration collection with Ikea. Meanwhile, Apple didn’t say anything about the HomePod at its latest big product event – an omission that makes it all the more obvious the smart move would be for Apple to acquire someone who knows what they’re doing in this category: Sonos.

Highly aligned

From an outsider perspective, it’s hard to find two companies who seem more philosophically aligned than Sonos and Apple when it comes to product design and business model. Both are clearly focused on delivering premium hardware (at a price point that’s generally at the higher end of the mass market) and both use services to augment and complement the appeal of their hardware, even if Apple’s been shifting that mix a bit with a fast-growing services business.

Sonos, like Apple, clearly has a strong focus and deep investment in industrial design, and puts a lot of effort into truly distinctive product look and feel that stands out from the crowd and is instantly identifiable once you know what to look for. Even the company’s preference for a mostly black and white palette feels distinctly Apple – at least Apple leading up to the prior renaissance of multicolour palettes for some of its more popular devices, including the iPhone.

Then from a technical perspective, Apple and Sonos seem keen to work together – and the results of their collaboration has been great for consumers who use both ecosystems. AirPlay 2 support is effectively standard on all modern Sonos hardware, and really Sonos is essentially the default choice already for anyone looking to do AirPlay 2-based multiform audio, thanks to the wide range of options available in different form factors and at different price points. Sonos and Apple also offer an Apple Music integration for Sonos’ controller app, and now you can use voice control via Alexa to play Apple Music, too.

Competitive moves

The main issue that an Apple-owned Sonos hasn’t made much sense before now, at least from Sonos’ perspective, is that the speaker maker has reaped the benefits of being a platform that plays nice with all the major streaming service providers and virtual assistants. Recent Sonos speakers offer both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant support, for instance, and Sonos’ software has connections with virtually every major music and audio streaming service available.

What’s changed, especially in light of Amazon’s slew of announcements this week, is that competitors like Amazon are looking more like they want to own more of the business that currently falls within Sonos’ domain. Amazon’s Echo Studio is a new premium speaker that directly competes with Sonos in a way that previous Echos really haven’t, and the company has consistently been releasing better-sounding versions of its other, more affordable Echos. It’s also been rolling out more feature-rich multi-room audio features, including wireless surround support for home theater use – all things squarely in the Sonos wheelhouse.

For now, Sonos and Amazon seem to be comfortably in ‘frenemy’ territory, but increasingly, it doesn’t seem like Amazon is content to leave them their higher-end market segment when it comes to the speaker hardware category. Amazon still probably will do whatever it can to maximize use of Alexa, on both its own and third-party devices, but it also seems to be intent on strengthening and expanding its own first-party device lineup, with speakers as low-hanging fruit.

Other competitors, including Google and Apple, don’t seem to have had as much success with their products that line up as direct competitors to Sonos, but the speaker-maker also faces perennial challenges from hi-fi and audio industry stalwarts, and also seems likely to go up against newer device makers with audio ambitions and clear cost advantages like Anker, too.

Missing ingredients/work to be done

Of course, there are some big challenges and potential red flags that stand in the way of Apple ever buying Sonos, or of that resulting union working out well for consumers. Sonos works so well because it’s service-agnostic, for instance, and they key to its success with recent products seems to also be integration with the smart home assistants that people seem to actually want to use most – namely Alexa and Google Assistant.

Under Apple ownership, it’s highly possible that Apple Music would at least get preferential treatment, if not become the lone streaming service on offer. It’s probable that Siri would replace Alexa and Assistant as the only virtual voice service available, and almost unthinkable that Apple would continue to support competing services if it did make this buy.

That said, there’s probably significant overlap between Apple and Sonos customers already, and as long as there was some service flexibility (in the same way there is for streaming competitors on iOS devices, including Spotify) then being locked into Siri probably wouldn’t sting as much. And it would serve to give Siri the foothold at home that the HomePod hasn’t managed to provide. Apple would also be better incentivized to work on improving Siri’s performance as a general home-based assistant, which would ultimately be good for Apple ecosystem customers.

Another smart adjacency

Apple’s bigger acquisitions are few and for between, but the ones it does make are typically obviously adjacent to its core business. A Sonos acquisition has a pretty strong precedent in the Beats purchase Apple made in 2014, albeit without the strong motivator of providing the underlying product and relationship basis for launching a streaming service.

What Sonos is, however, is an inversion of the historical Apple model of using great services to sell hardware. The Sonos ecosystem is a great, easy to use, premium-feel means of making the most of Apple’s music and video streaming services (and brand new games subscription offering), all of which are more important than ever to the company as it diversifies from its monolithic iPhone business.

I’m hardly the first to suggest an Apple-Sonos deal makes sense: J.P. Morgan analyst Samik Chatterjee suggested it earlier this year, in fact. From my perspective, however, the timing has never been better for this acquisition to take place, and the motivations never stronger for either party involved.

Disclosure: I worked briefly for Apple in its communications department in 2015-2016, but the above analysis is based entirely on publicly available information, and I hold no stock in either company.

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The time is right for Apple to buy Sonos

It’s been a busy couple of months for smart speakers – Amazon released a bunch just this week, including updated versions of its existing Echo hardware and a new Echo Studio with premium sound. Sonos also introduced its first portable speaker with Bluetooth support, the Sonos Move, and in August launched its collaboration collection with Ikea. Meanwhile, Apple didn’t say anything about the HomePod at its latest big product event – an omission that makes it all the more obvious the smart move would be for Apple to acquire someone who knows what they’re doing in this category: Sonos.

Highly aligned

From an outsider perspective, it’s hard to find two companies who seem more philosophically aligned than Sonos and Apple when it comes to product design and business model. Both are clearly focused on delivering premium hardware (at a price point that’s generally at the higher end of the mass market) and both use services to augment and complement the appeal of their hardware, even if Apple’s been shifting that mix a bit with a fast-growing services business.

Sonos, like Apple, clearly has a strong focus and deep investment in industrial design, and puts a lot of effort into truly distinctive product look and feel that stands out from the crowd and is instantly identifiable once you know what to look for. Even the company’s preference for a mostly black and white palette feels distinctly Apple – at least Apple leading up to the prior renaissance of multicolour palettes for some of its more popular devices, including the iPhone.

Then from a technical perspective, Apple and Sonos seem keen to work together – and the results of their collaboration has been great for consumers who use both ecosystems. AirPlay 2 support is effectively standard on all modern Sonos hardware, and really Sonos is essentially the default choice already for anyone looking to do AirPlay 2-based multiform audio, thanks to the wide range of options available in different form factors and at different price points. Sonos and Apple also offer an Apple Music integration for Sonos’ controller app, and now you can use voice control via Alexa to play Apple Music, too.

Competitive moves

The main issue that an Apple-owned Sonos hasn’t made much sense before now, at least from Sonos’ perspective, is that the speaker maker has reaped the benefits of being a platform that plays nice with all the major streaming service providers and virtual assistants. Recent Sonos speakers offer both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant support, for instance, and Sonos’ software has connections with virtually every major music and audio streaming service available.

What’s changed, especially in light of Amazon’s slew of announcements this week, is that competitors like Amazon are looking more like they want to own more of the business that currently falls within Sonos’ domain. Amazon’s Echo Studio is a new premium speaker that directly competes with Sonos in a way that previous Echos really haven’t, and the company has consistently been releasing better-sounding versions of its other, more affordable Echos. It’s also been rolling out more feature-rich multi-room audio features, including wireless surround support for home theater use – all things squarely in the Sonos wheelhouse.

For now, Sonos and Amazon seem to be comfortably in ‘frenemy’ territory, but increasingly, it doesn’t seem like Amazon is content to leave them their higher-end market segment when it comes to the speaker hardware category. Amazon still probably will do whatever it can to maximize use of Alexa, on both its own and third-party devices, but it also seems to be intent on strengthening and expanding its own first-party device lineup, with speakers as low-hanging fruit.

Other competitors, including Google and Apple, don’t seem to have had as much success with their products that line up as direct competitors to Sonos, but the speaker-maker also faces perennial challenges from hi-fi and audio industry stalwarts, and also seems likely to go up against newer device makers with audio ambitions and clear cost advantages like Anker, too.

Missing ingredients/work to be done

Of course, there are some big challenges and potential red flags that stand in the way of Apple ever buying Sonos, or of that resulting union working out well for consumers. Sonos works so well because it’s service-agnostic, for instance, and they key to its success with recent products seems to also be integration with the smart home assistants that people seem to actually want to use most – namely Alexa and Google Assistant.

Under Apple ownership, it’s highly possible that Apple Music would at least get preferential treatment, if not become the lone streaming service on offer. It’s probable that Siri would replace Alexa and Assistant as the only virtual voice service available, and almost unthinkable that Apple would continue to support competing services if it did make this buy.

That said, there’s probably significant overlap between Apple and Sonos customers already, and as long as there was some service flexibility (in the same way there is for streaming competitors on iOS devices, including Spotify) then being locked into Siri probably wouldn’t sting as much. And it would serve to give Siri the foothold at home that the HomePod hasn’t managed to provide. Apple would also be better incentivized to work on improving Siri’s performance as a general home-based assistant, which would ultimately be good for Apple ecosystem customers.

Another smart adjacency

Apple’s bigger acquisitions are few and for between, but the ones it does make are typically obviously adjacent to its core business. A Sonos acquisition has a pretty strong precedent in the Beats purchase Apple made in 2014, albeit without the strong motivator of providing the underlying product and relationship basis for launching a streaming service.

What Sonos is, however, is an inversion of the historical Apple model of using great services to sell hardware. The Sonos ecosystem is a great, easy to use, premium-feel means of making the most of Apple’s music and video streaming services (and brand new games subscription offering), all of which are more important than ever to the company as it diversifies from its monolithic iPhone business.

I’m hardly the first to suggest an Apple-Sonos deal makes sense: J.P. Morgan analyst Samik Chatterjee suggested it earlier this year, in fact. From my perspective, however, the timing has never been better for this acquisition to take place, and the motivations never stronger for either party involved.

Disclosure: I worked briefly for Apple in its communications department in 2015-2016, but the above analysis is based entirely on publicly available information, and I hold no stock in either company.

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The Google Assistant can now control your Xbox One

It wasn’t so long ago that Microsoft was betting heavily on its Cortana digital assistant. That’s a bet that didn’t pay off. But since this is the new Microsoft, the company is instead betting on integrating its products with those services that its users do actually use and today, the company announced that you will now be able to control your Xbox One from the Google Assistant. For now, this feature is in beta, but you can expect a full launch later this fall.

To be clear, this doesn’t mean the Google Assistant is now available on your Xbox One and you can’t ask it for the weather. What it does mean is that you’ll be able to ask the Assistant to launch games on the Xbox, pause them, turn up the volume, etc. (“Hey Google, turn off Xbox.”).

You can find a full list of supported commands here.

This will work with virtually every Assistant-enabled device, including your iOS and Android phones. To get started, you set up the Xbox like any other third-party Assistant device in the Google Home app on Android or iOS — and that’s essentially what the Xbox One then becomes in the Assistant ecosystem: just another device you can control with it.

It’s worth noting that Microsoft, which has basically given up on Cortana for the consumer market, is also working with Amazon to bring Alexa to your PC. Microsoft doesn’t really care what you use to control your Microsoft devices, as long as you use a Microsoft or Windows 10 device. Now it’s probably just a matter of time before you can control your PC with the Assistant — or even get full Assistant support in Windows 10.

Everything Amazon announced at its Alexa event

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Learn how to help build a sustainable gig economy at Disrupt SF

A handful of years ago, the on-demand or ‘gig’ economy was seen as an innovative system of modern work that provided workers and consumers alike with flexibility, independence, and convenience. It seems like every week, a new on-demand or labor marketplace startup would stroll through Sand Hill Road with a slick logo and a new way to flip the nature of work on its head and would walk out with seven-figure checks.  

However, the gig economy ballooned — now permeating nearly every major industry — and its negative externalities have become inescapably evident. In the past year alone, whether it was new headline-grabbing regulations or new disclosures from the high-profile IPOs of Uber and Lyft, the issue of inequitable labor treatment for gig workers has risen to the forefront of public debate. Now, more activists, founders and companies are dedicated to figuring out how to create a more just and sustainable economic system for gig workers.

This year at TechCrunch Disrupt SF, we’ll be joined on the Extra Crunch stage by a panel of gig-focused civic leaders and founders to break down how one can best be a positive force in the modern gig economy.

From the activist side, we have Derecka Mehrens, an Executive Director at Working Partnerships USA and co-founder of Silicon Valley Rising – an advocacy campaign focused on fighting for tech worker rights and creating an inclusive tech economy. Though Silicon Valley Rising, Derecka has worked with some of the Valley’s largest and most influential tech giants (including Google and Apple) to invest in and improve labor and renter housing protections for local workers. With roughly two decades in civic advocacy, Derecka has helped and continues to help Bay Area workers organize, play more active roles in local policy, and reach milestone victories in wage improvement.

We’ll also dive into the founder’s perspective with Amanda de Cadenet, founder of Girlgaze, a platform that connects advertisers with a network of 200,000 female-identifying and non-binary creatives. Prior to founding Girlgaze, Amanda founded the website, online community and interview series known as “The Conversation”, which focuses on female empowerment and bringing to light key social issues that plague the female-identifying population. As a former photographer, author and TV host herself, Amanda continues to build companies determined to shift the lack of diverse and equal gender representation in media and creative industries. 

We’ll be diving deep into all the roles to be played by the public sector, startups and the private sector, gig workers themselves and the broader community in ensuring we have an equitable future of work landscape. We couldn’t be more excited to tackle all these topics and we hope to see you there! Buy tickets to Disrupt SF here at an early-bird rate!

Did you know Extra Crunch annual members get 20% off all TechCrunch event tickets? Head over here to get your annual pass, and then email extracrunch@techcrunch.com to get your 20% discount. Please note that it can take up to 24 hours to issue the discount code.

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The 10 Best Free VPNs for Google Chrome

Are you thinking about using a free VPN for Chrome? Frustratingly, there are many Chrome VPN extensions to choose from—you need to be sure you’ve picked the best plugin for your needs.

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So, if you want to learn about the best free VPN for Chrome, keep reading. Note: Remember, all the free VPNs for Chrome can double as a free VPNs for Chromebooks!

Best VPN for Chrome: Free vs. Premium

With all VPNs, you get what you pay for. Free VPNs are not comparable to a premium VPN service in terms of quality, speed, or security.

For example, many free VPN services only offer the PPTP protocol. PPTP is not as robust as other VPN protocols such as L2TP/IPSEC, OpenVPN, SSTP, or SSH—most of which are offered by the leading paid services.

You also need to consider browsing speed. VPN servers are expensive to run and manage. If you’re on a free service, it’s likely to be overloaded with other users. Premium providers reinvest a lot of their income on servers and bandwidth.

There are also other things to think about. Can you expect reliable support from a free provider? Is the uptime close to 100 percent? And most importantly, why is the service free?

Remember, the following VPNs are for Chrome. If you want a full VPN subscription for any device, check our guide to the best VPN services.

Free VPNs for Chrome

Once you understand the risks, you can make a more informed choice about which Chrome VPN to use.

Here’s our pick of the 10 best VPN Chrome extensions.

1. Browsec VPN

The big selling point of Browsec VPN is the connection speed. It offers up to 100 Mbits/sec, which is far in excess of many other Chrome Store VPNs.

On the downside, Browsec is based in Russia. It’s a country that’s not known for its tolerant attitude to VPNs. Some users might be uncomfortable with the situation. The service also only offers four locations—Netherlands, Singapore, the US, and the UK.

In addition to the Browsec for Chrome extension, you can also use the VPN on Android and iOS.

Download: Browsec for Chrome (Free)

2. DotVPN

DotVPN is another powerful Chrome VPN. Some of its best features include:

• Unlimited bandwidth.
• 30 virtual locations.
• Unlimited switches between locations.

DotVPN uses 4096-bit key encryption— that’s two times greater than modern banking standards. It can also instantly detect the least busy server in your preferred virtual location for increased speeds.

Download: DotVPN for Chrome (Free)

3. ZenMate for Chrome

There are two versions of ZenMate for Chrome—ZenMate Free and ZenMate Premium.

ZenMate Free will encrypt all your browser’s traffic and allows you to spoof a virtual location. The free VPN offers 30 server locations. They include the US, several European countries, Brazil, Singapore, and more.

Free users also get access to the VPN “Smart Price” feature. It provides shopping recommendations based on the lowest prices for items you want.

ZenMate also has full-featured apps for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS.

Download: ZenMate for Chrome (Free)

4. Betternet Chrome

Betternet Chrome does not keep logs and—unlike many free Chrome VPNs—it is not ad-supported. But don’t worry; you are not the product. Betternet makes its money by showing videos.

We think Betternet Chrome is a great option for people with little experience of using VPNs. The Chrome extension’s interface is a straightforward on/off toggle.

Download: Betternet Chrome (Free)

5 Hola VPN

Hola VPN on Chrome has a shocking reputation and rightly so. It was caught using its customer’s VPN connections in a botnet.

Today, the situation is not a great deal better. The Chrome VPN plugin does not have encryption; it uses proxy tunneling and is thus nothing more than a Chrome proxy extension. The free VPN also logs all your information and is based in Israel. Israel is a known collaborator with the Five Eyes, Nine Eyes, and 14 Eyes groups.

So, why do we include it? Simply, speed. Independent research places it among the top 20 percent of fastest VPNs, both free and paid.

Download: Hola (Free)

6. Hotspot Shield Chrome

Hotspot Shield Chrome is another of the best free VPNs for Chrome. Like DotVPN, the VPN addon offers unlimited bandwidth.

A recent upgrade has seen several new features introduced. They include ad blocking, tracker blocking, cookie blocking, and anti-malware protection. It has servers in 70 countries.

Download: Hotspot Shield Chrome (Free)

7. TunnelBear VPN

TunnelBear’s Google Chrome VPN extension provides users with an encrypted proxy (remember, Hola’s is unencrypted.)

Keep in mind, however, that TunnelBear’s free VPN for Chrome will only encrypt your browsing traffic. It does not encrypt other traffic on your machine. For that, you need to upgrade to the paid version of the VPN.

TunnelBear supports 22 countries. They include the UK, US, Canada, Germany, Japan, Spanish, Hong Kong, and India.

Download: TunnelBear VPN (Free)

8. Gom VPN

Gom’s free VPN for Chrome specializes in letting you access geo-blocked content. The app offers users 1000Mbit servers and proxies, one-tap activation, and an easy-to-configure user interface.

The VPN is also secure. Whenever you’re using Gom, all your traffic is encrypted using HTTP2 SSL, and the company does not keep logs.

Download: Gom VPN (Free)

9. SetupVPN

The next VPN on Google Chrome worth considering is SetupVPN. You can enjoy unlimited bandwidth and a solid selection of servers. More than 100 are available around the world.

SetupVPN for Chrome will encrypt all your browser’s traffic with 4096-bit military-grade security.

Download: SetupVPN (Free)

10. Windscribe

Windscribe has built its reputation as a fast, secure, and reliable paid VPN provider, but the company also offers one of the best VPN extensions for Chrome.

It will block ads and trackers and let you access blocked content. It also offers some additional privacy features like WebRTC blocking, API spoofing, time zone spoofing, and notification blocking.

Free VPN servers are available in more than 30 countries.

Download: Windscribe (Free)

The Best Free Proxy?

The services in this article are all among the best free VPN extensions for Chrome. Just heed the advice from the start of the article and remember that free VPNs are not as secure as paid ones. You should never use them for browsing sensitive content.

If you like to learn about changing your location while you are browsing the web, check out our articles on the best free proxy servers and the best unlimited free VPN providers.

Read the full article: The 10 Best Free VPNs for Google Chrome

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Can You Fix a Scratched CD With Toothpaste? Here’s How!

Your compact disc (CD) is scratched and won’t play. Perhaps it is an album of music, maybe you have photos on the disc. Or perhaps it’s a DVD that is scratched, with your favorite movie on it, or even a game disc.

Want to get that scratched disc working again? Amazingly, you can! Here’s how to fix a scratched CD or DVD, make it playable on any device, and what to do next.

Want Data Off That CD? You’ll Need to Fix It First

Image credit: Fred/Flickr

If your CD or DVD is scratched and won’t play, it must be repaired before it will work again. Repairing any type of optical disc isn’t as difficult as it might sound.

In most cases, a scratch in the disc is only at the surface level. The actual data on the disc is stored on a material sandwiched between two layers of polycarbonate. That’s the transparent plastic of the disc, the surface prone to scratching.

Taking care of your discs is clearly a good idea, so you should always put them back in the case when done. Also take the time to ensure the inside of the case is clean, too. Bits of grit can scratch the disc when it is apparently safely put away. Also, you should take care removing a disc that gets stuck in the DVD drive. This is another occasion when optical discs can be scratched or otherwise damaged.

However, if blemishes playback, there’s a good chance you can fix the scratched DVD or CD and make it playable again.

Several methods have been found to work. None of them require any special materials or skills, and all can be done with household items.

5 Ways to Repair a CD or DVD

If the disc has scratches preventing successful reading, you can try to repair them to make the disc playable again.

Here are five ways you might (temporarily) repair a CD, DVD, or even Blu-ray disc.

1. Fix Your Optical Disc by Cleaning It

Much of the time, discs we think are scratched—and therefore unreadable—aren’t all that bad.

Often, the scratches are merely surface scuffs. Rather than deep gashes that divert the laser in the disc reader away from the encoded data on the metal layer, some scratches might simply be dirt.

The check this, clean the surface of the disc with a soft lint-free cloth. You can use a gentle detergent (or rubbing alcohol) if there are grease spots. Make sure there are no fingerprints or dust particles. Don’t scrub too hard as you may do more harm than good this way.

Where children, pets, and/or fast food is regularly found, look out also for food and liquid debris.

With any luck, your disc will work once cleaned.

2. Repair Scratches on Damaged CDs with Toothpaste

Incredibly, this is possible using a whitening toothpaste or some polish (especially those used by opticians) although Brasso also works.

But how does toothpaste fix scratches on your CDs? The principle here is simple: the toothpaste fills the gap caused by the scratch. The laser is then correctly focused to accurately read the data on the disc. Follow these steps:

1. Clean the disc as described above.
2. Deposit a small amount of toothpaste (or your chosen filler) onto a plate. With a wooden toothpick, apply a little filler along the scratch.
3. Rub gently with a suitable cloth, from the center of the scratch outwards.

After a few moments you will see the scratch diminishing. It might even disappear.

While the cosmetic results might be satisfactory, the practical impact can be hit and miss.

3. Can a Light Bulb Fix a Scratched DVD?

Another DIY scratch fixing technique is to employ a lamp with an incandescent 60W light bulb.

With the optical disc threaded onto your index finger, shiny side up, hold the disc around 10cm from the lamp. Rotate the disc for a maximum of 20 seconds, then remove. Note that too much exposure to the heat can damage the disc.

Play the disc while it is still warm, immediately copying the data to your computer.

If you’re not getting any joy so far, this might be worth a go.

4. Fix a Scratched Disc With Wax

Incredibly, scratches in the surface of a CD or DVD can be fixed with softened wax!

As with the toothpaste fix, you can use shoe polish, lip balm, furniture wax, or even petroleum jelly. Again, rub it into the surface of the disc to fill the scratch. With a lint-free cloth, wipe of the excess wax, with a radial action.

Once you’re done, try and play the disc. If it works, copy the data to your PC.

5. Fix Holes in the Disc With Scotch Tape

Not all disc issues are limited to the plastic layer. In some cases, holes can appear in the aluminum layer. As this is where the data is stored, it can prove devastating.

If a hole is found by the laser, it will simply stop reading.

The answer is to cover the holes, thereby prompting the laser to keep reading. Hold the disc shiny side up and find the holes. Then flip it over and mark the gaps with a permanent marker. Finish by placing two small strips of tape over each whole you find.

With this done, the disc will play, allowing you to recover most of the data. Of course, any data stored where the holes appeared will be lost.

What to Do Next With Your Scratched CD

So, what have we learned? Well, you don’t need to bin those scratched CDs and DVDs right away. Instead of using them as coasters or windchimes, use one of these methods to overcome the scratches and retrieve data.

To recap, you can fix a scratched CD using the following techniques:

1. Clean the disc with a soft cloth, warm water, and soap
2. Use toothpaste to fill the scratches
3. Soften the polycarbonate later with a hot lamp
4. Fill the scratches with wax
5. Find and cover any holes in the data layer with a Sharpie and tape

With the disc spinning and the player reading it, you can be reasonably happy. The disc is repaired, albeit temporarily. It’s time to take the time to get the data off it.

Whether you’re trying to rescue audio, data, or video discs, don’t rest on your laurels. Instead, copy the data to another disc, your hard disk drive, or whatever your preferred storage solution is.

Not sure how to do this? Find out how to recover data from a scratched CD or DVD.

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The 5 Best MoviePass Alternatives for Film Fans

In September 2019, MoviePass shut down for all customers. The company had been on life-support since 2018 due to financial problems, so the end had been nigh for a while.

The company’s demise means lots of film fans are on the hunt for MoviePass alternatives. Sure, the MoviePass offer of unlimited films for just $10/month is hard to match, but there are some solid alternatives out there which let you visit the cinema for a monthly fee.

In this article we take a look at the best MoviePass alternatives you can subscribe to today.

1. AMC Stubs A-List

As you’ll soon see, all of the MoviePass alternatives are in-house projects run by individual theater chains. Indeed, one of MoviePass’ most significant issues was that the theaters were never entirely comfortable with the service.

AMC Stubs A-List was one of the first competitors to announce its launch. Ironically, the service went live in mid-2018, just as MoviePass’ problems were starting to become apparent.

The new venture built on the existing AMC Stubs brand by offering features that were never available to MoviePass users. Those features include being able to book tickets weeks in advance, a way to choose your seat, and access to premium formats like 4K, 3D, and IMAX—all of which were excluded from MoviePass plans.

Furthermore, there are no restrictions on when you attend. MoviePass users would often find blackouts on opening nights and busy holiday days. Other perks include discounted food and drink, free upgrades on popcorn, and priority queuing.

The AMC Stubs A-List isn’t a free-for-all, however. It does have some restrictions. Most notably, you can only watch three movies a week. Your allowance resets every Friday. There’s also no way to buy extra tickets for family and friends.

AMC Stubs A-List doesn’t require you to sign up for a long contract; you can cancel at any time. The service does not have a fixed price. It can vary from $20-$23/month, depending on which state you live in.

2. Regal Unlimited

Regal Cinemas unveiled its movie subscription plan—Regal Unlimited—in July 2019.

Whereas the AMC plan aims to enhance the movie-going experience with added perks and benefits that weren’t available to MoviePass subscribers, the Regal Unlimited plan tries to replicate the originally MoviePass product more closely.

If you subscribe, you can watch an unlimited number of movies in Regal theaters. There are no restrictions on days or times, or on how often you can watch the same film. Sadly, you cannot buy tickets for other people.

Like AMC, the Regal Unlimited plan lets you book tickets in advance, choose your seats, and get a 10 percent discount on all food and drink.

There are three versions of the plan. The basic package costs $18/month, but only 200 Regal locations support the scheme (make sure you check with your local theater before you sign up). Regal Unlimited Plus covers 400 theaters; Regal Unlimited All Access covers every Regal Cinema across the US (more than 500).

The minimum contract term is one year. You cannot cancel during the period. And if you buy tickets for ScreenX, 4DX, IMAX, RPX, 3D, or VIP screens, you will have to pay an additional surcharge at the time of purchase.

3. Cinemark Movie Club

Cinemark Movie Club lags behind AMC Stubs A-List and Regal Unlimited with regard to the benefits. However, it’s also cheaper, so you’ll need to decide what is more important to you.

For $10/month, you get one free cinema ticket per month. If you don’t use the ticket, it rolls over into the following month. You can watch a maximum of three free movies per day.

The Cinemark Movie Club plan does not impose blackouts on popular or busy days.

You’ll also get 20 percent off food and drink. And, importantly for many people, a Cinemark Movie Club plan entitles you to buy two additional tickets at the member price. If you always go to the movies with friends, you might find this perk appealing.

Having a Cinemark Movie Club subscription also automatically enrolls you into the company’s points scheme. You can exchange points for tickets, merchandise, food, digital downloads, and more.

4. ArcLight Membership

The three plans we’ve looked at so far are all designed to appeal to more hardcore movie lovers (people who go to the theater several times per month). Without that kind of frequency, the plans make little financial sense for users.

The ArcLight Membership plan positions itself slightly differently. If you live in the Los Angeles, San Diego, Boston, Washington DC, or Chicago areas, you can sign up to the plan for just $15/year.

For that price, you get $1 off every cinema ticket that you buy online. You’ll also get one free ticket for your birthday, free popcorn upgrades, 10 percent off drinks, and—if you visit more than 12 times in a year—10 percent off gift shop items. The impressive perks and low price mean you don’t need to go to the theater more than a few times a year to get your money’s worth.

5. Alamo Season Pass

The Alamo Season Pass is still in beta. At the moment, it is only available in Denver, Kansas, New York, Austin, San Antonio, and a few smaller towns. A national rollout is due in early- to mid-2020.

In many ways, the service will offer the best of all the movie subscription plans we’ve covered. For example, you will be able to watch one movie per day, buy tickets up to seven days in advance, and purchase additional companion tickets for a discounted rate.

All regularly priced 2D and 3D movies are part of the program, though an additional $1.99 charge will be applied for 3D showings. The Season Pass will not cover you for special events or other premium tickets.

Because the plan is still in beta, Alamo has not confirmed the price. At the moment, the company is trialing different prices in different areas. The cheapest plans are $20/month; the most expensive plans are $30/month.

Other Ways to Watch Movies

Some people have questioned whether movie theaters can continue to survive. As streaming services gather pace and new plans like Disney+ come into existence, more people are saving money by watching at home instead.

If you’re not bothered about the movie theater experience and just want to watch films from the comfort of your sofa instead, be sure to read our articles on the best Kodi add-ons for free movies and the best free apps for watching movies online.

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5 Websites That Teach You How to Hack Legally

If you’re an ethical hacker, it can be hard to put your skills to the test without harming anyone. Fortunately, there are resources that give you a sandbox to hack in, giving you a place to learn while also keeping it legal.

Here are some websites to test your mettle against without getting into trouble.

1. Google Gruyere

Google Gruyere is the web giant’s entry into the hacking world. The website is full of holes and uses “cheesy” code, hence its cheese-related name. Even the website is cheese-themed!

Once you’re ready to start, Google Gruyere will give you a few challenges to perform. Google Gruyere features deliberately weak and vulnerable code for you to exploit. The problems highlight these weak areas and give you a task to perform. For example, one challenge has you inject HTML alert boxes into the website’s snippets feature, which fire when the user loads the page.

If you get stuck on how to complete a challenge, don’t worry. Each mission comes with some hints to help prod you in the right direction. If these don’t help, you can view the solution and implement it yourself to get a feel of how the exploit works.

2. HackThis

Not many websites actively invite you to hack them in their title, but HackThis is one exception. Of course, you’re not hacking the actual website, but it does give you challenges to try.

HackThis has a wide variety of challenges in different categories, so you’re bound to find something to test you. There are fundamental challenges and difficult challenges to try depending on your skill level. If you want to try busting simple CAPTCHA codes, there’s an entire segment for that.

There’s even a “Real” category which includes fun fictional scenarios where you hack a website for a client.

The best part about HackThis are the hints. Each puzzle has a dedicated hints page where you can talk to members of the forum and discuss where you’re going wrong. The members will never give you the solution so that you can figure it out yourself without spoilers.

3. bWAPP

While hacking websites are useful, there are some bugs and exploits that they can’t cover. For example, these websites can’t host challenges that involve taking down a website; if they did, nobody else would get a turn afterward!

As such, you’re best off performing more devastating attacks on a self-hosted server, so you don’t damage other people’s websites. If you’re interested in this area of hacking, try the buggy web app (bWAPP).

The main strength of bWAPP is its sheer number of bugs. It has over 100 of them, ranging from Direct Denial of Service (DDoS) weaknesses to Heartbleed vulnerabilities to HTML5 ClickJacking. If you want to learn about a specific vulnerability, there’s a good chance bWAPP has it implemented.

When you want to give it a shot, download it and run it on your target system. Once it’s running, you can launch attacks at it without worrying about annoying a webmaster.

Download: bWAPP (Free)

4. OverTheWire

OverTheWire features wargames and warzones for more advanced hacking sessions. Wargames are unique hacking scenarios, usually with a little bit of story to spice things up. Wargames can be a competitive event between hackers, either as a race or by attacking each other’s servers.

While this may sound complicated and scary, don’t worry. The website still features lessons ranging from the basics to more advanced tricks. It does require a Secure Shell (SSH) connection to use, so be sure to learn SSH if you want to try OverTheWire. Thankfully, there are easy ways to set up SSH in Windows, so it shouldn’t be too big a hurdle.

OverTheWire has three primary uses. First, you can play through small games with increasing difficulty to learn how to hack. Once you’ve gained some skill, you can download wargames with unique backstories for a more immersive experience.

There’s also the warzone, which is an exclusive network designed to work just like an IPV4 internet. People can put vulnerable, hackable devices onto this network, and others can use them to practice their hacking skills.

At the time of writing, there is an exercise that replicates when Kevin Mitnick hacked computer expert Tsutomu Shimomura in 1995. Now you can put yourself in Mitnik’s shoes and see if you can crack the security yourself!

5. Hack This Site

Another website that’s cordially inviting you to hack it, Hack This Site is a fantastic learning resource. It stretches from beginner-oriented lessons to hosting a dedicated phone line for phone phreak attacks.

Some of the missions have a little story to keep you engaged with the lessons. For example, people on the Basic course will go toe-to-toe with Network Security Sam. Sam is a forgetful man who’s adamant on storing his password on the website, so he never forgets it. Every time you crack his security and discover his password, he adds more security to his website.

The “realistic” exercises are also enjoyable. These are fake websites set up for you to hack with a specific goal in mind. You may be rigging a voting system to get a band to the top spot, or undoing the work of spiteful people who hacked into a peace poem site.

Each puzzle comes with a dedicated thread on the forums where you can get help. The problems and discussions have been around for a long time, and users have posted lots of helpful resources. Again, nobody will outright tell you the solution to each challenge, so you don’t have to worry about spoilers. If you’re willing to do some research, however, you’ll find their hints and tips more than enough to solve your puzzle.

Do These Websites Promote Illegal Hacking?

As you browse these websites, you may realize that malicious people can use these same skills for evil. Some of the “realistic” missions have you breaking into a library system or a band rating website, for example. It’s easy to assume these websites are training people to be evil agents.

The truth is, if these websites didn’t exist, nefarious hackers would still get their resources on the dark web. Meanwhile, website developers—the people who need to learn hacking techniques the most—wouldn’t have anywhere legal to learn and test these hacking techniques.

Developers would make the same errors over and over, while hackers would take advantage of them using the dark web to spread resources and tutorials.

As such, by making this information public, it gives web developers the practice they need to secure their websites. In an ideal world, all web designers will learn how to protect their websites this way, thus preventing malicious agents from using this knowledge for evil.

Learning How to Hack

If you want to learn how to hack, there’s no better way than to do some hacking yourself. Fortunately, you don’t need to target your local hairdresser’s website; give these legal hacking websites a try instead.

If you want to take your skills further, why not try an ethical hacking online class?

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What Is an eSIM and How Is It Better Than a Standard SIM Card?

If you’re eyeing a new iPhone 11, or hoping to pick up a Pixel 4, you might find they have a feature you don’t know much about: the eSIM.

An eSIM is a smaller, built-in version of the traditional SIM card, and it’s coming to a phone or other smart device near you soon. But how does it work and is it worth having? Let’s take a look.

What Is an eSIM?

An eSIM is an embedded SIM card. It’s a replacement for the physical SIM card that currently connects phones to a mobile network, but the eSIM is a lot smaller.

Unlike a SIM card, the eSIM is fixed onto the phone’s (or other device’s) motherboard. You don’t need to insert it, and you can’t remove it. That doesn’t mean you can’t switch numbers or change carriers, though, since the information on the eSIM is rewritable.

In fact, switching or setting it up might even be easier. You don’t have to wait for a new SIM to be delivered to your house; it could all happen instantly with just a quick phone call.

eSIM cards use the same tech, and run on the same GSM networks that normal SIMs use. Take a look at our article What is a SIM Card? for more on this.

To use an eSIM you’ll need to be with a carrier that offers it, and have a compatible phone. Carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile in the US, or EE in the UK, along with over 85 more worldwide offer eSIM support.

eSIM cards are currently used to bring dual SIM capability to smartphones including the iPhone 11 range, and the Pixel 3, as well as in smaller devices like the Apple Watch.

In time it’s likely that all phones and tablets will switch to using eSIM. Its much smaller size means that it could also become a common feature in internet-of-Things devices, although there’s an even newer and vastly smaller tech called iSIM just around the corner.

How to Set Up an eSIM Card

You connect most phones to a network by inserting the SIM card into the tray. But if it doesn’t use cards, how do you connect an eSIM phone?

It depends what device you’ve got, and whether you bought it with a cellular plan or added your plan separately. Buy the plan separately and you’ll get an eSIM activation card that includes a QR code that you need to scan on your phone.

• On iPhone go to Settings > Cellular (or Mobile Data) > Add Cellular Plan then scan the code when prompted.
• On Android you can set up your eSIM at Settings > Network & internet > Add. Follow the onscreen instructions and choose Use 2 Numbers when prompted. This may of course differ depending on which Android version and phone you’ve got.

Buy a Pixel on Google Fi and your eSIM details will be automatically tied to your account.

Your Apple Watch will come with the eSIM preconfigured when you buy it with a plan, or you can add the details through the Apple Watch app if you don’t. On a Samsung Galaxy Watch you must complete the setup through a mobile app on your phone.

Dual SIM devices need to support DSDS (Dual SIM, Dual Standby) in order to offer full functionality. This is available on the iPhone, and in Android 10. DSDS enables both SIMs to connect to a network at the same time. When you set it up, you’ll need to choose which line to use as your default line.

What Are the Benefits of eSIM?

The main benefit to the eSIM is that it’s really small. Nano SIMs already seem pretty small, but with a surface area of 108.24mm² (4.2 inches) they’re actually more than three times larger than an eSIM, which measures just 30mm² (1.18 inches).

That’s before we even factor in the additional size of the SIM tray, and the card reader inside the device. These are no longer needed with the embedded technology.

The eSIM, marked in yellow, is much smaller than a nano SIM. Image Credit: iFixit

This not only allows extra room for other components, or perhaps a larger battery, it also enables manufacturers to rejig the internal layout of their devices. An eSIM doesn’t need to be near the edge of the phone and could make waterproofing devices even easier.

There are also benefits for us users. No fiddly cards to work with, and no need to find a paperclip if you ever need to extract the SIM tray.

As we’ve seen, eSIMs enable devices to easily offer dual SIM capabilities. This is ideal if you want to keep separate personal and work numbers, or if you’re travelling overseas.

Dual SIM phones make it much easier to hop onto a local network and avoid the expensive roaming fees you’d expect to pay on your usual plan.

What Are the Downsides?

The main downside to an eSIM is that it’s less convenient when you’re switching phones. You can’t simply remove the SIM card from one device and pop it into another.

It also makes it more difficult to test for problems with your device. At the moment, when you have connection or signal problems an easy test is to stick your SIM into a different phone to check if the problem is with your network or your device. You wouldn’t be able to do that with an eSIM.

And then there’s the fact that new technologies take a while to become mainstream. In 2019 the support and availability is still very limited.

What Devices Use eSIM?

The iPhone 11 series, plus the older iPhone XS and XR devices use an eSIM alongside a nano SIM. Pixel phones since the Pixel 2 have the same setup, although is not supported everywhere—it’s best if you use Google Fi.

Other than that there are a limited number of phones with eSIM support. Even a company like Samsung, usually so eager to embrace new technologies, is yet to offer one.

Image Credit: Apple

As for other devices, the cellular versions of the Apple Watch, Samsung Watch, and Huawei Watch 2 are among those that use eSIM. There’s eSIM support in Windows 10 as well, so always-connected laptops may well become a more common sight in future.

Do More With Your SIM Card

The eSIM is very much the future for smartphones and smart devices. Even if you don’t have it now, it’s likely that your next phone—or certainly the one after—will make use of it.

In the meantime, why not make sure you’re getting the most from the SIM you have got. First, learn how to beef up your phone’s security by setting up a SIM card lock. Then take a look at our guide to the best apps to manage your SIM card on Android.

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OnePlus 7T arrives with Android 10 in October for $599

For the past few years, OnePlus has happily pushed into a six-month product refresh cycle. It’s a model that’s worked well for the plucky smartphone maker, and another way it’s managed to buck some of the prevailing industry trends as competitors struggle to maintain sales amid a global slowdown.

As tends to be the case, the year’s second flagship seems to mostly be about refining its predecessor — and keeping the company competitive. The OnePlus 7T adopts the 90Hz AMOLED screen offered on the 7 Pro, coupled with a three-camera set up on the rear.

That last bit keeps with the company’s solid design language, with a large, circular configuration that’s an aesthetic improvement over Apple’s square situation. The lenses are a 48 megapixel main, 2x telephoto and ultra-wide-angle with a 117-degree field of view.

The speakers have been upgraded to include Dolby Atmos and fast charging has been amped up, promising a full charge in an hour. That’s nearly 25% faster than OnePlus’s previous version of Warp Charge.

Perhaps most interesting is that the company gets the jump on the competition by being the first to ship with Android 10 preloaded. How far the company has come from the CyanogenMod days. Of course, it continues to offer a customized experience through the “bespoke” OxygenOS.

I’m usually resistant to Android add-ons, but OnePlus has generally done a good job augmenting and, in some cases, improving the stock Android experience. In addition to design choices, the company says the latest version of the software includes “370 rigorous optimizations.”

The best bit continues to be the pricing. The OnePlus 7T will run $599 when it starts shipping on October 18. It’s a nice price for a solid piece of hardware in an era when flagships routinely run in excess of $1,000.

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Alexa developers can now personalize their skills by recognizing the user’s voice

Amazon Alexa is already capable of identifying different voices to give personalized responses to different users in the household, thanks to the added support for voice profiles two years ago. Now, those same personalization capabilities will be offered to Alexa Skill developers, Amazon has announced.

Alongside Amazon’s big rollout of new consumer devices on Wednesday, the company also introduced a new “skill personalization” feature for the Alexa Skills Kit, that lets developers tap into the voice profiles that customers create through the Alexa companion app or from their device.

This expanded capability lets developers make skills that are able to remember a user’s custom settings, address their preferences when using the skill, and just generally recognize the different household members who are speaking at the time, among other things.

To work, Alexa will send a directed identifier — a generated string of characters and numbers — to the skill in question, if the customer has a voice profile set up. Every time the customer returns to that skill, the same identifier is share. This identifier doesn’t include any personally identifiable information, Amazon says, and is different for each voice profile for each skill the customer users.

Skill developers can then leverage this information to generate personalized greetings or responses based on the customers’ likes, dislikes, and interests.

If the customer doesn’t want to use skill personalization even though they configured a voice profile, they can opt out of the feature in the Alexa app.

Personalization could be a particular advantage to Alexa skills like games, where users may want to save their progress, or to music or podcasts/audio programming skills, where taste preferences come into play.

However, Alexa’s process for establishing voice profiles still requires manual input on users’ parts — people have to configure the option in the Alexa companion app’s settings, or say to Alexa, “learn my voice.” Many consumers may not know it’s even an option — which means developers interested in the feature may have to educate users by way of informational tips in their own apps, at first.

The feature is launching into preview, which means Amazon is just now opening up the ability to select developers. Those interested in putting the option to use will have to apply for access and wait to hear back.

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