05 October 2018

The 8 Best Free Online Word Processors


The web is overflowing with writing apps of all shapes and sizes. To find one that’s perfect for you, you have to start with a list of your writing needs and app preferences.

Do you want a vanilla text editor? Feature-rich software for writing novels? A good old word processor?

If it’s the last one you’re looking for, you’ll appreciate our following roundup of the best web-based online word processors currently available. The apps are all free of cost!

1. Microsoft Word Online

word-online-document-view

Word processing has been synonymous with Microsoft Word forever. Naturally, the first app on our list is Microsoft’s online version of Word.

To use Word Online, all you need is a free Microsoft account. You’ll find the app interface familiar if you have used the desktop version of Word. Going online with Word makes document sharing and working on the go easier. Like the desktop app, the online app also supports real-time collaboration among other features.

Word Online is a lighter version of the desktop client, so you might have to do without a few features such as split views and style creation. Also, you can save files only to the default MS Office file format, DOCX. But you can still view and edit documents in other Office file formats.

Visit: Microsoft Word Online

2. Google Docs

google-docs-document-layout

Google Docs works anywhere and for everyone. Apart from the expected basic tools you need for creating and editing stylish documents, Google Docs gives you many more.

You can start off with beautiful templates, get back to older file versions, and share documents easily. The collaboration tools bring in comments and real-time editing options. And thanks to autosaving, you don’t have to worry about saving your writing manually.

Plus, with Google Docs add-ons, you can sign documents, create charts and mind maps, insert text snippets, and so on.

Google Docs has an edge over Word Online thanks to its cleaner interface, better collaboration tools, and free voice typing.

Visit: Google Docs

3. Zoho Writer

zoho-writer-document-view-compose-tab

Zoho Writer is sturdy enough to compete with Word Online and Google Docs. When we compared the three apps, Zoho Writer came out on top.

Besides the usual document editing and collaboration tools, the app has separate views for each stage of the writing process. This makes for a minimalist interface, because the tools you need at each stage are the only tools you’ll see.

Zoho lets you save your documents to other cloud services like Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive. But by default, it saves your documents to its own cloud storage, Zoho Docs.

Visit: Zoho Writer

4. Pages for iCloud

pages-for-icloud-document-layout

If you’re a Mac user, Pages for iCloud is the perfect solution for word processing. It’s the cloud-synced version of Pages, which is part of iWork, Apple’s native office suite.

The good news is that you don’t need a Mac to use Pages for iCloud. If you sign up for an iCloud account, you can use Pages anytime, anywhere.

The app has a clean and easy-to-use setup, so you should have no trouble using it from the get-go. It also supports real-time collaboration, but there’s a catch. The people you’re collaborating with need to have an iCloud account or create one to view and edit documents. If you don’t consider this a dealbreaker, go ahead and get yourself Pages for iCloud.

Visit: Pages for iCloud

5. Quip

quip-document-view

With Quip’s structure and functionality, you might find yourself in unfamiliar territory. But the minimalist interface will help you orient yourself quickly.

Start off with one of the in-built templates to save time. If you begin with a blank document, you can still insert useful elements like a checklist, calendar, a Kanban board, and a project tracker. Formatting options show up in place when you select text.

Keep in mind that Quip is free only for personal use (and comes with unlimited documents). For collaboration with a group or a company, you’ll have to pay up.

Visit: Quip

6. Dropbox Paper

dropbox-document-view

You’ll find many compelling reasons to try Dropbox Paper, but the strongest one is probably its tight integration with Dropbox. The beauty of it is that Paper documents don’t count toward your Dropbox storage.

Paper wins another point for Markdown support. Markdown, after all, is now the fastest way to write for the web. Unlimited documents and versions, rich media support, and collaboration tools make Paper even more attractive.

Visit: Dropbox Paper

7. OnlyOffice Document Editor

onlyoffice-document-view

OnlyOffice is open source, which is not the same as free. It’s one of the lesser-known online word processors, but it’s no less capable than the other apps on our list. Actually, in terms of layout and features, it’s reminiscent of Microsoft Word.

You can upload documents from your computer or bring them in from other cloud storage services like Google Drive and Dropbox. It’s quite handy that you can collaborate in real time with anyone and not just OnlyOffice users.

Visit: Only Office

8. Writer

writer-document-view

Word processors typically give you rich text formatting options. That makes Writer, plain-text writing software, a misfit on our list. But it’s too good an online word editor to pass over.

Writer gives you a distraction-free setup, which means no toolbars and icons in sight unless you want them. Throw in autosaving, offline support, unlimited documents, a word counter, and you have a reliable place to store your words.

No rich text support here, but keeping up with the times you have Markdown formatting and preview options. And you can not only download your documents to TXT, PDF, and HTML formats, but also publish them directly to platforms like WordPress and Tumblr.

Feel free to change the look and feel of the editor to suit your tastes.

Visit: Writer

The Best Online Word Processors to Use Anywhere

A free online word processor may not come with the advanced options built into desktop word processing apps. But it can still work out well for you.

Finding a satisfying solution depends on the feature complexity you need. And now you have several great online options to choose from. While you’re exploring them all, you might also want to take a look at a few other browser-based tools for writing and related activities.

Read the full article: The 8 Best Free Online Word Processors


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20 Unofficial Plex Channels You Should Install Right Now


plex-channels

Whether you’re a cord-cutter, a home theater lover, or merely looking for an easy way to manage all of your personal media, Plex is an ideal piece of software.

The app presents your videos, music, and pictures in beautiful libraries, all of which you can then stream to your various devices.

However, one of the app’s best features is Plex Channels. Some channels are official and available via the Plex Channel Directory. Others are unofficial, and only available through the Unsupported AppStore.

Here are the best unofficial Plex channels you should check out.

How to Install the Unsupported Plex AppStore

Before you can watch the channels we’re about to recommend, you need to install the Unsupported Plex AppStore.

First, download the WebTools plugin from GitHub. Once the download is complete, extract the file, and ensure the new directory is called WebTools.bundle.

Next, move the folder into your Plex plugin folder. You will find it at %LOCALAPPDATA%\Plex Media Server\ on Windows and ~/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/ on a Mac. The Unsupported AppStore is part of the WebTools plugin.

plex unsupported appstore module in webtools

To access the store, open a browser and enter your Plex Media Server’s IP address followed by :33400. Log in using your Plex credentials and click on UAS in the left-hand panel to launch it.

Warning: The following channels are unsupported by Plex. As such, they may be unfinished, become buggy, or even stop working altogether.

1. C More Sport

Never let anyone tell you that cutting the cord means you’re going to miss out on live news and sport; it’s just not true. It’s easy to watch live news on Plex, and C More provides a way to watch live sport.

C More Sport is a Scandinavian broadcaster that shows live soccer, ATP tour events, European ice hockey, NBA, UFC, and more.

2. FilmOn

FilmOn used to be a great way to legally watch U.K. TV networks from anywhere in the world for free. Today, the channels are behind a paywall.

Nevertheless, the app still boasts more than 600 channels that aren’t behind a paywall, so there’s plenty to watch.

3. Full Movies on Reddit

Reddit is a treasure trove of movie content. This add-on pulls data from seven subreddits: /r/FullMoviesDailyMotion, /r/FullMoviesOnGoogle, /r/FullMoviesOnline, /r/FullMoviesOnVimeo, /r/FullMoviesOnYouTube, /r/FullTVShowsOnVimeo, and /r/FullTVShowsOnYouTube.

Make sure you have the legal permission to watch the content before hitting Play.

4. Democracy Now

democracy now interview with bernie sanders

Democracy Now is a well-established name in the world of American political broadcasting. The content typically leans towards investigative journalism, though there’s a healthy dose of regular news as well.

The show has won countless journalism awards during its 22-year existence.

5. The Internet Archive

The Internet Archive is a vast repository of old music videos, movies, and TV shows. You can find content such as The Adventures of Robin Hood, the 1955 version of The Fast and The Furious, and the House on Haunted Hill.

6. The ITV Player

If you live in the UK, you can use the unofficial version of the ITV Player to access all of the network’s most recent shows on demand.

Non-residents will need to use a VPN like ExpressVPN (save up to 49% off using this link) or CyberGhost (get 6 months for free using this link).

7. LiveLeak

LiveLeak is a British video sharing site. It’s less strict than YouTube about what it allows users to upload, often leading to some rather edgy content.

8. MTV Networks

If you like the type of shows churned out by the former music-only channels, you need to install this plugin.

You can grab old episodes from channels like MTV, VH1, CMT, and LogoTV.

9. NBC Sports

nbcsports video section on website

In case you’re not aware, NBC Sports publishes lots of video clips on its official website. There are Premier League highlights, and the latest from the NHL, the NFL, NASCAR, and more.

The plugin pulls all the videos off the website and makes them available in the Plex app.

10. Old Movie Time

Old Movie Time is an online repo of classic movies from the 1920s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s.

We listed the same channel when we discussed the best private Roku channels in an article elsewhere on the site.

11. CW Seed

CW Seed is an online-only offshoot of the CW Television Network. It features content that was specifically made for the web, with a particular focus on animation, game shows, and comedy.

Some of its most well-known web series include How to Be a Vampire, Freedom Fighters: The Ray, and Constantine: City of Demons.

12. USTVnow

USTVnow is another name that’ll be familiar to many cord cutters.

The service is aimed at U.S. expats and military personnel. The free package includes The CW, ABC, PBS, and CBS. For $19/month, you also get FOX, AMC, Bravo, Nickelodeon, and more.

USTVnow also offers some TV shows and movies available on demand.

13. Webisodes

Webisodes can pull videos from shows on YouTube, Daily Motion, and Vimeo, then display them in your Plex library for easy viewing.

It also offers an RSS feed. Whenever one of your favorite shows pops up on it, Webisodes will make the video available.

14. Spotify

There is no official Spotify plugin for Plex. However, if you have a premium Spotify account, you can use this unofficial channel to listen to your music.

As is the case with so many third-party Spotify services, this channel requires a premium subscription. It’s just one of the many reasons it’s worth paying for Spotify.

15. TuneIn

Similarly, there is no official TuneIn radio plugin. But once again, the Plex community has stepped up to provide a solution.

The TuneIn channel boasts many of the same features as the regular app. You can even sign into your account for a customized listening experience.

16. IMDb Trailers

imdb list of trailers on website

If you want to stay abreast of the latest upcoming movies, install IMDb Trailers. It lets you play thousands of movie trailers directly from the IMDb website.

17. Link TV

Link TV is an ad-free U.S. network that relies exclusively on contributions from viewers and other foundations for its funding.

It offers news, documentaries, music, and citizen-focused content. France24 provides the news programming. Additionally, you will often see English-language content from Deutsche Welle and NHK.

18. XKCD

Webcomic XKCD has earned itself cult status since launching in 2005. The comic strips usually feature one of either mathematics, programming, or science. These days, it’s become essential reading for anyone who either works or has an interest in such fields.

The strip has won countless web-based awards.

19. Facebook

If you’re a Facebook user, you might be interested in the unofficial Facebook channel. It can show your newsfeed and photo library via the Plex interface.

20. Library Updater

We end the list with a practical channel.

From time to time, the developers of these channels will release updates. Ordinarily, you’d have to re-enter the App Store and update each one manually. Library Updater removes that hassle. Just click the icon, and it will install any available updates for your channels.

Keep Digging for More Plex Gems

There are more than 170 channels in the Unsupported AppStore. In addition to video, music, and photos, they cover everything from subtitles to metadata. If these handpicked channels aren’t enough to satisfy you, have a dig and see what else you can find.

And when you’re finally happy, make sure you grab the best Plex plugins to supercharge your Plex experience.

Read the full article: 20 Unofficial Plex Channels You Should Install Right Now


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You Can Now Book a Ride Using Google Assistant


Ridesharing services are a growing market. The days of hailing a cab seem to be coming to an end, with people preferring to book a ride through their smartphone instead. And seeing the way the wind is blowing, Google is making it easier to book a ride.

In January 2017, Google added the ability to book a ridesharing service on Google Maps. By using the dedicated tab, you can see a range of options, possible pickup points, and estimated prices. And now Google Assistant has learned a similar skillset.

Let Google Assistant Book Your Ride

Imagine you and your friends are preparing for a night out together. You’ve had a couple of pre-game drinks, and now you just need to get to where you’re going. But wait, who’s going to order the ride into town? Now, Google Assistant can do it for you.

As explained on The Keyword, all you need to do is say, “Hey Google, book me a rider to [your destination]” or “Hey Google, get me a taxi to [your destination]”. Assistant will then provide a list of options, including Uber, Lyft, Ola, Grab, and GO-JEK.

Alongside the list of popular ridesharing services you’ll see essential information such as wait times and estimated pricing. You can also single out a specific ridesharing service by saying, “Hey Google, get me a [name of service] to [your destination]”.

Either way, once you have decided, just grab your phone and tap on your chosen ride. The relevant app will open, and you can confirm your booking. This feature is rolling out now to any country where Google’s supported ridesharing partners operate.

Making a Simple Task Even Easier

This is another example of Google using Assistant to make a simple task even easier. Sure, you still have to open the ridesharing app to confirm your booking, but getting to that point is now as simple as asking Assistant for, well, assistance.

However you book a ride and whatever service you use we’re here to help. So why not look at our comparison between Uber and Lyft, take a look at Uber’s different ride types, or discover how to find out your Uber and Lyft passenger ratings.

Image Credit: E Chu/Flickr

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50 Funny Wi-Fi Names for Your Router’s Network SSID


funny-wifi-names

If you’ve just bought a brand new router, there are a handful of first steps that you should handle—such as picking a good name for the network SSID (service set identifier). Or if your network has had a generic name for some time, you should also consider changing it up to something more interesting.

A good SSID not only makes it easier to identify your network when connecting new devices (which “LINKSYS” is yours?), it can serve as a conversation starter when friends come over. It can also provide amusement for strangers when they browse for nearby networks and see yours in the list.

Here are some of the best Wi-Fi names you can use for your router. Leave a comment and tell us which ones you like best!

50 Funny Wi-Fi Names for Network SSIDs

“Funny” is subjective, so we’ll try to cover as wide a variety of ideas as we can. Hopefully you’ll find at least one or two that really stick out as awesome for you:

  1. Mom Use This One
  2. Abraham Linksys
  3. Benjamin FrankLAN
  4. Martin Router King
  5. John Wilkes Bluetooth
  6. Pretty Fly for a Wi-Fi
  7. Bill Wi the Science Fi
  8. I Believe Wi Can Fi
  9. Tell My Wi-Fi Love Her
  10. No More Mister Wi-Fi
  11. LAN Solo
  12. The LAN Before Time
  13. Silence of the LANs
  14. House LANister
  15. Winternet Is Coming
  16. Ping’s Landing
  17. The Ping in the North
  18. This LAN Is My LAN
  19. Get Off My LAN
  20. The Promised LAN
  21. The LAN Down Under
  22. FBI Surveillance Van 4
  23. Area 51 Test Site
  24. Drive-By Wi-Fi (for automobile hotspot)
  25. Planet Express (for automobile hotspot)
  26. Wu Tang LAN
  27. Darude LANstorm
  28. Never Gonna Give You Up
  29. Hide Yo Kids, Hide Yo Wi-Fi
  30. Loading…
  31. Searching…
  32. VIRUS.EXE
  33. Virus-Infected Wi-Fi
  34. Starbucks Wi-Fi
  35. Text ###-#### for Password
  36. Yell ____ for Password
  37. The Password Is 1234
  38. Free Public Wi-Fi
  39. No Free Wi-Fi Here
  40. Get Your Own Damn Wi-Fi
  41. It Hurts When IP
  42. Dora the Internet Explorer
  43. 404 Wi-Fi Unavailable
  44. Porque-Fi
  45. Titanic Syncing
  46. Test Wi-Fi Please Ignore
  47. Drop It Like It’s Hotspot
  48. Life in the Fast LAN
  49. The Creep Next Door
  50. Ye Olde Internet

Tips for Choosing a Clever Wi-Fi Name

Whether you decide to go with one of the SSIDs above or something else of your own creation, there are a few important guidelines that you should consider:

  • Aim for unique but memorable.
  • Never include personal information like your real name, address, apartment number, birthdate, etc.
  • Never make the SSID related to the network password.
  • Avoid provocative SSIDs that might make your network a prime target for hackers.

As long as you take those tips to heart, there aren’t many network security risks to worry about. And if you’re thinking about hiding your SSID to keep hackers away, don’t bother—even if the SSID isn’t being broadcast, others can still find it using packet sniffers and probe requests.

How to Change Your Wi-Fi Name (Network SSID)

Once you’ve picked a name for your network, you actually have to change a setting on your router to make that name come to life. This may not be as easy as snapping your fingers, but the process is rather straightforward—just follow the directions below closely and you’ll be fine, even if you’ve never done it before.

1. Log Into Your Router as Admin

Every router manufacturer provides its own unique admin panel software, and sometimes it can even differ from model to model, but the overall login procedure is pretty much the same for all of them. For what it’s worth, I’m on Windows 10 and have a TP-Link router, so that’s what you’ll see in the screenshots below.

Open up Command Prompt (search “Command Prompt” in the Start Menu) and type in the ipconfig command:

windows-10-command-prompt-ipconfig

In the results that show up, find Wireless LAN adapter Wi-Fi: and look under it for the item labeled Default Gateway. This is the IP address of your router. If you type it into the address bar of a web browser, you should see your router’s admin login page:

windows-10-router-config-admin-login

Most of the time, 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1 should work. If it doesn’t, you’ll need to look up the instructions in your router’s manual to see if there are any special steps. For example, sometimes the login address is an actual URL like routerlogin.com.

As for admin login credentials, you can find the defaults for your router in the manual as well. However, admin / admin is a popular combo used by many manufacturers, followed by admin / password and admin / 1234. If those don’t work, check out RouterPasswords.com to see credentials for your specific model.

2. Change the Router’s SSID

Once you’ve logged in, look for the navigation bar. For me, all of the options are along the left in a sidebar. For you, it might be sprawled across the top or bottom of the page, or it might be in a dropdown menu that’s tucked away into a corner.

windows-10-router-config-sidebar-navigation

Look for a section called Wireless, Wireless Networks, Wi-Fi, Wireless Settings, or anything along those lines. Click it and you should be brought to a page that lets you edit the router’s SSID, though it might have a more user-friendly label, like Wireless Network Name in my case.

windows-10-router-wireless-network-ssid

Type in the new SSID, click Save, and you’re done. Note that this will disconnect ALL devices, forcing them to reconnect to the newly named network (because in the eyes of a device, the old network no longer exists and the different name indicates a new network).

3. Tweak Other Router Settings (Optional)

Since you’re already logged into your router, we recommend tweaking a few other settings in order to optimize your internet performance and increase the security of your connections.

You definitely should change both the admin login password and the public-facing password that people use to connect to your network. The former should be under System Tools (or something similar), while the latter should be under Wireless Security (or something similar). In either case, make sure the password is a strong one.

Other settings to change include turning off Wi-Fi Protected Setup, using WPA2 instead of WPA or WEP, and enabling the built-in firewall if it exists. You should also get acquainted with the page that shows all devices that are connected to the router. This can be an effective first step if you ever think there are suspicious devices on your network.

Lastly, you’ll want to go over our list of the most important router features to use—like port forwarding, quality of service, guest access, and parental controls—and make sure they’re all configured properly on your network.

What Are the Most Creative Wi-Fi Names You’ve Seen?

Note that your Wi-Fi network SSID has nothing to do with its public hotspot functionality, assuming your router can be a public hotspot in the first place. The hotspot network is separate from your home network and usually has a designated name like xfinitywifi or Verizon Wi-Fi. Have fun!

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Bluetooth


Bluetooth

Most iOS devices now run iOS 12 according to Mixpanel’s data


Analytics company Mixpanel is currently tracking the install base of iOS 12. And the latest version of iOS is quite popular as it’s already installed on roughly 47.6 percent of all iOS devices. 45.6 percent of devices still run iOS 11, and 6.9 percent of iOS users run an older version.

Adoption rate is an important metric for app developers. With major iOS releases, Apple also releases new frameworks. But developers still need to support old versions of iOS for a little bit before moving entirely to newer frameworks and drop support for old iOS versions.

But it’s interesting to see that you can already drop support for iOS 10 without losing too many customers. Chances are that users who don’t update their version of iOS don’t really care about having the latest version of your app anyway.

With iOS 11, it took much longer to reach that level. Last year, Apple announced on November 6th that iOS 11 was more popular than iOS 10. Sure, Mixpanel and Apple don’t have the exact same numbers, but you can already see that the trend is different this year.

iOS 12 focuses on performance. Apple has optimized this major release for older devices, such as the iPhone 6. All devices that run iOS 11 can update to iOS 12 as well. Basically, if you want a faster phone, you should update to iOS 12.

This is a bit counterintuitive as previous iOS releases had rendered older devices much slower. But it sounds like iOS users got the message based on the adoption rate.


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Amazon’s revamped Alexa app makes it easier to manage your smart home


Amazon’s Alexa app has just been given a major visual overhaul, largely focused on helping users set up and control their smart home. From the app’s new devices tab, users can view all their different Alexa-enabled devices and groups on one screen, as opposed to switching between tabs like before. And the app is much more colorful, too. Instead of a set white icons on a dark background, Alexa’s device groups – like Living Room, Kitchen, Bedroom, etc. – now feature colorful backgrounds, so you can find the one you need with just a glance.

An overhaul of the devices section was needed, not only for aesthetic reasons, but because Alexa owners are stocking their house with more than one smart device.

According to a Nielsen report on smart speaker adoption released earlier this month, 4 out of 10 U.S. smart speaker owners today have more than one device, for example. Smart home device sales are also expected to reach nearly $96 billion in 2018 and grow to $155 billion by 2023, another report estimates.

Amazon itself sells a variety of smart devices, like Cloud Cam, Ring doorbells and Ring cameras. And it just introduced a whole mess of new Alexa-enabled devices at an event in Seattle last month, including everything from wall clocks to subwoofers to Alexa-powered microwaves.

It’s clear the retailer expects people to continue to build out their smart home, and its app needed to adapt accordingly.

In the new version of the app, the device types are displayed as icons across the top of the screen – starting with “Echo & Alexa” devices, then “Lights,” “Audio,” “Plugs,” and others. Below this are the colorful groupings of devices by room, each with their own “On/Off” button.

A small “+” button at the top right of the screen allows you to easily add your newest device, too.

Adding Bluetooth speakers to multi-room music groups is also now supported, the app’s update text says.

The redesign also makes it simpler to call, message or “drop in” on your other Alexa devices – the latter being the feature that turns Echo speakers into a voice-controlled intercom system of sorts, triggered by saying “Alexa, drop in on…” followed by the device name. It’s especially handy for larger homes, where there is an upstairs and downstairs, for example, or for reaching family members in another part of the house. You can also Drop In on trusted contacts, like grandma or grandpa.

Now, these communication options each have their own button at the top of the messaging screen in the app so you can just push a button to call, message or drop in, as you prefer.

The new Alexa app is live on the iOS App Store. Amazon hasn’t made a formal announcement about the changes, as they still be rolling out to users following the update.

 


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Windows Group Policy: What Is It and How to Use It


windows-network-guide

If you’ve dug into the more technical corners of Windows or have heard chatter from your IT department, you may have heard of Group Policy. But unless you’ve worked in IT, you’ve probably never used it.

Let’s look at this important component of Windows. We’ll examine what Group Policy is, why it’s important, and how you can give it a look.

What Is Group Policy?

Group Policy is a function of Windows that allows you to control the operations of accounts, apps, and Windows itself. It’s primarily intended for enterprise use but can come in handy for home users too (which we’ll discuss shortly).

On its own, a setup in Group Policy only applies to a single computer. You could set up a whole configuration, but it doesn’t have a ton of use on its own. Thus, Group Policy combines with Active Directory in business settings.

As mentioned before when we explained Windows domains, Active Directory is Microsoft’s user management service that simplifies the administration of large amounts of users. It uses a central server (known as a domain controller) to manage other machines. IT administrators can modify Group Policy settings on the server and they’ll update on all workstation computers shortly.

Because you need a Pro edition of Windows to join a domain, Group Policy is only available on Professional (or above) Windows versions. Home users must try a Group Policy workaround to use it.

What Is GPO?

GPO stands for Group Policy Object. It refers to a collection of Group Policy configurations defined for a specific system.

When someone logs into a domain computer, that machine checks in with the domain controller and grabs any recent Group Policy changes. When it does this, it’s downloading the latest GPO from the server.

A company might set up multiple GPOs for different types of users. The standard group might lock down user accounts and have no access to shared folders on the server. Meanwhile, a group for executives would have a completely different GPO and thus, different Windows behavior.

Access the Local Group Policy Editor

A program included in Windows Pro called Group Policy Editor lets you review and make changes to local Group Policy. To access it, simply type gpedit.msc into the Start Menu or Run dialog.

In the Group Policy Editor, you’ll see the Computer Configuration and User Configuration fields. As you might guess, the former holds settings that apply to the entire machine, while User Configuration is only for the current user.

Windows 10 Group Policy Editor

You can adjust all sorts of options here; we’ll sample a few below.

Examples of Group Policy Uses

Most Group Policy tweaks simply change Registry values. Since Group Policy is much more user-friendly (and less dangerous), there’s not much of a reason to go digging in the Registry for system admins.

Now that you know how to access Group Policy, what might a company use it for?

Folder Redirection

By default, Windows places your standard folders like Documents and Pictures at C:\Users[Username]. While this is fine, some companies might prefer their employees store documents on a server for easier retrieval or so a department can more easily share resources.

In this case, you can use Group Policy to easily redirect these user folders for everyone. When they click the Documents shortcut in the File Explorer, they’ll access a network resource instead of a local folder.

Change Computer Options

Windows lets you change all kinds of settings through both the Settings app and Control Panel. Administrators understandably don’t want users changing all of these as they see fit.

So you can use Group Policy to set these settings and lock users out of changing them. For example, you might set power options to turn off displays after a set amount of time, choose default programs, and lock users out of changing internet connection options.

Security Settings

Group Policy Password Settings

Group Policy allows you to set many criteria for account security. IT staff can set password policies that specify a minimum length, enforce complexity, and force users to change their passwords every so often. You can also use a lockout policy to freeze the user’s account if they enter incorrect credentials too many times.

Map Network Drives and Printers

You’re probably familiar with your local C: drive in the This PC window, but did you know you can add network locations as their own drives too? This makes it easy for users to access folders on a company server, as they don’t have to remember exact locations.

Instead of having to manually add network shares for each new user, Group Policy can simply map them automatically. And if a location ever changes, you can adjust it one time in the GPO instead of dozens or hundreds of times on individual computers.

It’s a similar story with printers. When a company installs a new printer, they can simply add it to Group Policy and install its drivers on all computers.

And Much More

You might be surprised at some of the available options in Group Policy. Some of them seem almost silly, but they really allow for fine-tuned control of Windows for any situation. We’ve covered the best Group Policy to improve your PC.

Some of the deeper examples:

  • Deny read and/or write access to CDs or other removable drives
  • Remove all access to Windows Update
  • Remove all sorts of options from File Explorer
  • Prevent addition or removal of printers
  • Hide the clock and other Taskbar elements

What Is Group Policy Management Console?

The local Group Policy Editor mentioned above, gpedit.msc, only applies to one computer. To manage a domain, you must use the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) installed on a domain controller.

GPMC provides many more options, including importing and exporting, searching for GPOs, and report creation. It’s an enterprise tool designed to apply GPOs across an entire network.

You can add Group Policy Management Console to Windows Pro (or better) if you want to look around at it. First, you’ll need to install Windows Remote Server Administration Tools (Windows 10 | Windows 7).

After that, type windows features into the Start Menu and open Turn Windows features on or off. Expand Remote Server Administration Tools and Feature Administration Tools below it, then make sure you have Group Policy Management Tools checked too.

To launch the tool, type gpmc.msc into the Start Menu or Run dialog. Then you can take a look, but remember that there’s not much point to using this on a non-server machine.

If you’re interested in mastering Group Policy for business use, take a look at Coursera’s System Administration and IT Infrastructure Services course, which includes information on Group Policy.

Now You Understand Windows Group Policy

We’ve taken a look at what Group Policy is, how to access the Group Policy editor, and what its purposes are. If you don’t remember anything else, just know that Group Policy allows system administrators to control all aspects of Windows across computers on a domain from one central location.

For the average home user, Group Policy isn’t something you’ll need to use. But it’s a vital part of Windows, and worth learning a bit about.

Like how Group Policy can tweak the system? Check out Windows 10 features you can safely disable on your own.

Read the full article: Windows Group Policy: What Is It and How to Use It


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What Is a Virtual Mailbox? (And Why You Should Get One)


If you’ve never heard of them, a virtual mailbox is a service that provides you with a physical mailing address anywhere in the United States.

There’s an obvious benefit for international shoppers who want to buy products from businesses that only ship to addresses in the United States. But there are not-so-obvious benefits even if you already have a physical US mailing address.

What Is a Virtual Mailbox?

A virtual mailbox is a service that receives all your physical mail for you.

Here’s a quick rundown of the features you can expect from a virtual mailbox.

  • You can have a single US physical address that never changes no matter where you live
  • When mail arrives, the service scans the outside of envelopes and packages
  • You view the scans of your incoming mail and tell the service whether to shred, hold, or ship the items to you
  • Some services will also open the mail and scan the contents for you
  • You may also be able to ask for incoming checks to be deposited (via mail) to any US bank

These set of features provide unique opportunities for different people, even if you live inside the U.S and have a physical postal address.

How Digital Nomads Use a Virtual Mailbox

Have you ever wondered how traveling journalists or globe-trotting executives manage their mail when they’re away from home for weeks at a time?

With the US postal service, you can put your mail on hold by filling out a form on their website.

Virtual Mailbox Address

This works for 30 days at a time. Beyond that, you need to switch to long-term mail forwarding.

If you’re a digital nomad or an executive who travels frequently, remembering to enable and disable USPS mail forwarding would be a real hassle.

This is when a virtual mailbox would really come in handy. No matter where you are, whether it’s in an airport waiting for a flight, or in an Airbnb rental in Amsterdam, you can “receive” your physical mail.

checking virtual mailbox

This is much more convenient than letting mail pile up in your mailbox or having to remember to enable or disable USPS mail holding.

And if you’re staying in one location for more than a week, you can even ask the virtual mailbox service to ship only important mail to you.

Since virtual mailbox services ship such a high volume of mail, they receive discounted shipping rates. You can also request that they box multiple items up in a single box to save even more on shipping costs.

Hike the Appalachian trail for six months. Hitchhike across Europe. No matter where you travel, you always have access to your incoming mail.

So let’s take a look at three core benefits that can tempt you to sign up for a virtual mailbox service today.

1. Get Rid of Mail Clutter

Even if you live in the US and don’t move frequently, a virtual mailbox is still very useful.

According to NYU School of Law, in the US junk mail makes up 5.6 million tons of paper and plastic that end up in landfills.

“The average American household receives 848 pieces of junk mail per household, equal to 1.5 trees every year—more than 100 million trees for all US households combined.”

You may find that you waste precious minutes every day dealing with that pile of useless mail that arrives in your mailbox.

With a virtual mailbox, you wouldn’t even have to open your mailbox anymore.

All you have to do is take a few minutes during your lunch break to log into your virtual mailbox account. Scan through all of the received items, and just click whether to shred or save each piece.

Many virtual mailbox services will even open individual letters (if you ask them to) and scan the documents.

This provides you with a digital copy of any bills or correspondence, and you don’t have to deal with the leftover waste.

Most of the virtual mailbox services also shred hundreds of thousands of letters every day, so they’ve streamlined the recycling process.

2. Saves Time and Enjoy Security

There are endless opportunities to save time with a virtual mailbox service.

  • Have incoming paper checks forwarded to your bank for deposit (many virtual mailbox services offer this feature)
  • Read your scanned correspondence and respond to it immediately, then have it shredded.
  • You’ll never have to waste time going to the post office or checking your mailbox
  • Have gifts you want to send to someone forwarded directly without having to touch the package yourself
  • Check incoming mail from your office, while commuting, or while you’re on vacation

A virtual mailbox also boosts your personal security.

  • Thieves can’t swipe credit card numbers of statements like they could with ones sent to a physical mailbox
  • Private investigators can’t search through your mailbox looking for information about you
  • There’s no risk of trash thieves recovering sensitive information about you from discarded mail
  • No one you’re living with will see the addresses of your personal correspondence

By having all of your mails shipped to a remote location and handled by trained, professional staff, you can better protect your privacy.

3. Stop Changing Addresses When You Move

If you’ve ever had to deal with changing your physical mailing address through the US Postal Service, then you know what a pain it can be.

Change address when you move?

You can launch the change of address process online through the USPS website, which triggers their mail-forwarding service for 12 months.

This means you have 12 months to ensure every single company you’ve ever dealth with has your new address.

That’s fine if you don’t move too frequently. But if you’re in the military, or you work for a company that moves you around alot, this can become a real hassle.

The best virtual mailbox services out there have locations all across the country.

Virtual Mailbox Locations

You just pick the state that you want to consider your “home state”, receive your physical address, and you never have to change your address again. It doesn’t matter how often you move, or where you move to.

The 5 Best Virtual Mailbox Services

If you’re ready to sign up for a virtual mailbox, there are a few that have been around a while. Any of these would be a good choice.

For any of these services, you’re looking at costs ranging from $10 to $40 depending on whether you also want to include extra services.

1. US Global Mail

US Global Mail

One of the longest-running virtual mailbox services is US Global Mail. It’s especially popular among US expatriots.

Like most virtual mailbox services, it’s also very popular among international shoppers who need a US address to buy products from many US companies.

Services they offer include:

  • A physical address in the US (not a PO box)
  • Scans of every envelope or package that arrives
  • Open-mail scanning available
  • Package forwarding to any address in the world
  • Reduced shipping rates

2. iPostal1

ipostal1 virtual mailbox

iPostal1 offers roughly the same rates as US Global Mail, depending on the volume of items you receive each month.

Services they offer include:

  • Over 500 street addresses available throughout the US.
  • A free mobile app to check your mail, available for iPhone or Android
  • Scanned incoming envelopes and packages with 2 GB free cloud storage
  • Phone or faxing available
  • Check depositing offered if the bank accepts mail-in deposits

3. Anytime Mailbox

Anytime Mailbox

Anytime Mailbox is a virtual mailbox service that lets you choose from any of 410 street addresses around the country.

Rates are some of the lowest in the industry, at roughly half the cost of other services.

Services they offer include:

  • Access to your virtual mailbox via multiple devices
  • Opening and scanning of your mail contents
  • Free cloud storage (no limits)
  • Forwarding of any envelopes or packages
  • Mail-in check depositing to any bank

4. PostScanMail

postscanmail virtual mailbox

PostScanMail offers most of the same services as others listed above. But there are fewer physical street locations to choose from. Most of the addresses are in major cities.

Rates are slightly higher than other services and depend on the number of incoming items every month.

Services they offer include:

  • Access your scanned email from any device
  • Mail opening and scanning available
  • Envelope and package forwarding
  • 30 days free storage of physical items
  • Online mail management filters for organizing your scans

5. Traveling Mailbox

traveling mailbox

Traveling Mailbox is priced on the high end of the other services offered here, but allow for more items received per month than many others.

Also, while other plans limit the basic plan to one user, this one allows up to three. It also features a “junk mail filtering” option where your junk mail isn’t scanned or counted toward your plan.

Services they offer include:

  • Open and scan the contents of mail to PDF format
  • Mail forwarding anywhere in the world
  • Integrated with other services like Evernote and Bill.com
  • Unlimited cloud storage
  • Mobile access via iPhone or Android
  • Deposit check via snail mail

Choosing Your Virtual Mailbox

With affordable pricing, owning a virtual mailbox would be useful for anyone whether or not you travel much.

Snail mail doesn’t appear to be going away any time soon. But by using a virtual mailbox, you can transform your physical mail into a digital format. Not only is it convenient, but it lets you store your correspondence on the web just like all your regular email.

If a virtual mailbox is too expensive for your taste, there are other solutions for international shoppers. We’ve offered a list of online shopping sites that ship internationally for free as a great alternative.

Read the full article: What Is a Virtual Mailbox? (And Why You Should Get One)


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9 highlights from Snapchat CEO’s 6000-word leaked memo on survival


Adults, not teens. Messaging, not Stories. Developing markets, not the US. These are how Snapchat will make a comeback, according to CEO Evan Spiegel. In a 6,000-word internal memo from late September leaked to Cheddar’s Alex Heath, Spiegel attempts to revive employee morale with philosophy, tactics, and contrition as Snap’s share price sinks to an all-time low of around $8 — half its IPO price and a third of its peak.

“The biggest mistake we made with our redesign was compromising our core product value of being the fastest way to communicate” Spiegel stresses throughout the memo regarding ‘Project Cheetah’. It’s the chat that made Snapchat special, and burying it within a combined feed with Stories and failing to build a quick-loading Android app have had disastrous consequences.

Spiegel shows great maturity here, admitting to impatient strategic moves and outlining a cohesive path forward. There’s no talk of Snapchat ruling the social app world here. He seems to understand that’s likely out of reach in the face of Instagram’s competitive onslaught. Instead, Snapchat is satisfied if it can help us express ourselves while finally reaching even meager profitability.

Snapchat may be too perceived as a toy to win enough adults, too late to win back international markets from the Facebook empire, and too copyable by good-enough alternatives to grow truly massive. But if Snap can follow the Spiegel game-plan, it could carve out a sustainable market through a small but loyal audience who want to communicate through imagery.

Here are the most interesting takeaways from the memo and why they’re important:

1. Apologizing For Rushing The Redesign

“There were, of course, some downsides to moving as quickly as a cheetah We rushed our redesign, solving one problem but creating many others . . . Unfortunately, we didn’t give ourselves enough time to continue iterating and testing the redesign with a smaller percentage of our community. As a result, we had to continue our iterations after we launched, causing a lot of frustration for our community.”

Spiegel always went on his gut rather than relying on user data like Facebook. Aging further and further away from his core audience, he misread what teens cared about. The appealing buzz phrase of “separating social from media” also meant merging messaging and Stories into a chaotic list that made both tougher to use. Spiegel seems to have learned a valuable lessen about the importance of A/B testing.

2. Chat Is King

“Our redesigned algorithmic Friend Feed made it harder to find the right people to talk to, and moving too quickly meant that we didn’t have time to optimize the Friend Feed for fast performance. We slowed down our product and eroded our core product value. . . . Regrettably, we didn’t understand at the time that the biggest problem with our redesign wasn’t the frustration from influencers – it was the frustration from members of our community who felt like it was harder to communicate . . . In our excitement to innovate and bring many new products into the world, we have lost the core of what made Snapchat the fastest way to communicate.”

When Snap first revealed the changes, we predicted that “Teen Snap addicts might complain that the redesign is confusing, jumbling all content from friends together.” That made it too annoying to dig out your friends to send them messages, and Snap’s growth rate imploded, with it losing 3 million users last quarter. Expect Snap to optimize its engineering to make messages quicker to send and receive, and it even sacrifice some of its bells and whistles to make chat faster in developing markets.

3. Snapchat Must Beat Facebook At Best Friends

“Your top friend in a given week contributes 25% of Snap send volume. By the time you get to 18 friends, each incremental friend contributes less than 1% of total Snap send volume each. Finding best friends is a different problem than finding more friends, so we need to think about new ways to help people find the friends they care most about.”

Facebook’s biggest structural disadvantage is its broad friend graph that’s bloated to include family, co-workers, bosses, and distant acquaintances.  That might be fine in a feed app, but not for Stories and messaging where you only care about your closest friends. With friend lists and more, Facebook has tried and failed for a decade to find better ways to communicate with your besties. This is the wedge through which Snapchat can attack Facebook. If it develops special features for luring your best friends onto the app and staying in touch with them for better reasons than just maintaining a Snap “Streak”, it could hit Facebook where it can’t defend itself.

4. Discover Soars As Facebook Watch And IGTV Stumble

“Our Shows continue to attract more and more viewers, with over 18 Shows reaching monthly audiences of over 10M unique viewers. 12 of which are Original productions. As a platform overall, we’ve grown the amount of total time spent engaging with our Shows product, almost tripling since the beginning of the year. Our audience for Publisher Stories has increased over 20% YoY, and we believe there is a significant opportunity to continue growing the number of people who engage with Discover content . . .We are also working to identify content that is performing well outside of Snapchat so that we can bring it into Discover. “

Discover remains Snapchat’s biggest differentiator, scoring with premium video content purposefully made for mobile. What it really needs, though, are a few must-see tentpole shows to drag in a wider audience that can get hooked on the reimagined digital magazine experience.

5. But Discover Is A Mess

“Our content team is working hard to experiment with new layouts and content types in the wake of our redesign to drive increased engagement.”

Snapchat Discover is an overcrowded pile of clickbait. News outlets, social media influencers, original video Shows, and aggregated user content collections all battle for attention in a design that feels overwhelming to the point of exhaustion. Thankfully Snapchat seems to recognize that more cohesive sorting with fewer images and headlines bombarding you might make Discover a more pleasant lean-back consumption experience.

6. Aging Up To Earn Money

“Most of the incremental growth in our core markets like the US, UK, and France will have to come from older users who generate higher average revenue per user . . . Growing in older demographics will require us to mature our application . . . Many older users today see Snapchat as frivolous or a waste of time because they think Snapchat is social media rather than a faster way to communicate. Changing the design language of our product and improving our marketing and communications around Snapchat will help users understand our value . . . aging-up our community in core markets will also help the media, advertisers, and Wall Street understand Snapchat.”

Snapchat can’t just be for cool kids anymore. Their lower buying power and lifestage make them less appealing to brands. The problem is that Snapchat risks turning off younger users by courting their older siblings or adults. If, like Facebook, users start to feel like Snapchat is a place for parents, they may defect in search of the next purposefully built to confuse adults to stay hip.

7. Finally Prioritizing Developing Markets

“We already have many projects underway to unlock our core product value in new markets. Mushroom allows our community to use Snapchat on lower-end devices. Arroyo, our new gateway architecture, will speed up messaging and many other services . . . It might require us to change our products for different markets where some of our value-add features detract from our core product value”

Sources tell me Snapchat’s future depends on the engineering overhaul of its Android app, a project codenamed ‘Mushroom’. Slow video load times and bugs have made Snapchat practically unusable on low-bandwidth connections and old Android phones in the developing world. The company concentrated on the US and other first-world markets, leaving the door open for copycats of Stories built by Instagram (400 million daily users) and WhatsApp (450 million daily users) to invade the developing world and dwarf Snap’s 188 million total daily users. In hopes of a smooth rollout, Snapchat is already testing Mushroom, but it will have to do a ton of marketing outreach to convince frustrated users who ditched the app to give it another try.

8. Fresh Ideas, Separate Apps

“We’re currently building software that takes the millions of Snaps submitted to Our Story and reconstructs parts of the world in 3D. We can then build augmented reality experiences on top of those models and distribute them as Lenses . . . If our innovation compromises our core product of being the fastest way to communicate, we should consider create [sic] separate applications or other ways of delivering our innovation.”

Snapchat has big plans for augmented reality. It doesn’t just want to stick animations over the top of anywhere, or create AR art installations in a few big cities. It wants to build site-specific AR experiences across the globe. And while everything the company has built to date has lived inside of Snapchat, it’s willing to spawn standalone apps if necessary so that it doesn’t bog down its messaging service. That could give Snapchat a lot more leeway to experiment.

9. The Freedom Of Profitability

“Our 2019 stretch output goal will be an acceleration in revenue growth and full year free cash flow and profitability. With profitability comes increased autonomy and freedom to operate our business in the long term best interest of our community without the pressure of needing to raise additional capital.”

Snapchat is still bleeding money, losing $353 million last quarter. Snapchat ended up selling 2.3 percent of its equity to a Saudi Arabian prince in exchange for $250 million to lengthen its rapidly shortening runway. And last year it took $2 billion from Chinese gaming giant Tencent. Deals like that could threaten Snapchat’s ability to prioritize its goals alone, not the moral imperatives or developer platforms that would benefit its benefactors. Once profitable, Snapchat won’t have to worry so much about struggling with short-term user growth and can instead focus on retention, societal impact, and its true purpose — creativity.


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9 highlights from Snapchat CEO’s 6000-word leaked memo on survival


Adults, not teens. Messaging, not Stories. Developing markets, not the US. These are how Snapchat will make a comeback, according to CEO Evan Spiegel. In a 6,000-word internal memo from late September leaked to Cheddar’s Alex Heath, Spiegel attempts to revive employee morale with philosophy, tactics, and contrition as Snap’s share price sinks to an all-time low of around $8 — half its IPO price and a third of its peak.

“The biggest mistake we made with our redesign was compromising our core product value of being the fastest way to communicate” Spiegel stresses throughout the memo regarding ‘Project Cheetah’. It’s the chat that made Snapchat special, and burying it within a combined feed with Stories and failing to build a quick-loading Android app have had disastrous consequences.

Spiegel shows great maturity here, admitting to impatient strategic moves and outlining a cohesive path forward. There’s no talk of Snapchat ruling the social app world here. He seems to understand that’s likely out of reach in the face of Instagram’s competitive onslaught. Instead, Snapchat is satisfied if it can help us express ourselves while finally reaching even meager profitability.

Snapchat may be too perceived as a toy to win enough adults, too late to win back international markets from the Facebook empire, and too copyable by good-enough alternatives to grow truly massive. But if Snap can follow the Spiegel game-plan, it could carve out a sustainable market through a small but loyal audience who want to communicate through imagery.

Here are the most interesting takeaways from the memo and why they’re important:

1. Apologizing For Rushing The Redesign

“There were, of course, some downsides to moving as quickly as a cheetah We rushed our redesign, solving one problem but creating many others . . . Unfortunately, we didn’t give ourselves enough time to continue iterating and testing the redesign with a smaller percentage of our community. As a result, we had to continue our iterations after we launched, causing a lot of frustration for our community.”

Spiegel always went on his gut rather than relying on user data like Facebook. Aging further and further away from his core audience, he misread what teens cared about. The appealing buzz phrase of “separating social from media” also meant merging messaging and Stories into a chaotic list that made both tougher to use. Spiegel seems to have learned a valuable lessen about the importance of A/B testing.

2. Chat Is King

“Our redesigned algorithmic Friend Feed made it harder to find the right people to talk to, and moving too quickly meant that we didn’t have time to optimize the Friend Feed for fast performance. We slowed down our product and eroded our core product value. . . . Regrettably, we didn’t understand at the time that the biggest problem with our redesign wasn’t the frustration from influencers – it was the frustration from members of our community who felt like it was harder to communicate . . . In our excitement to innovate and bring many new products into the world, we have lost the core of what made Snapchat the fastest way to communicate.”

When Snap first revealed the changes, we predicted that “Teen Snap addicts might complain that the redesign is confusing, jumbling all content from friends together.” That made it too annoying to dig out your friends to send them messages, and Snap’s growth rate imploded, with it losing 3 million users last quarter. Expect Snap to optimize its engineering to make messages quicker to send and receive, and it even sacrifice some of its bells and whistles to make chat faster in developing markets.

3. Snapchat Must Beat Facebook At Best Friends

“Your top friend in a given week contributes 25% of Snap send volume. By the time you get to 18 friends, each incremental friend contributes less than 1% of total Snap send volume each. Finding best friends is a different problem than finding more friends, so we need to think about new ways to help people find the friends they care most about.”

Facebook’s biggest structural disadvantage is its broad friend graph that’s bloated to include family, co-workers, bosses, and distant acquaintances.  That might be fine in a feed app, but not for Stories and messaging where you only care about your closest friends. With friend lists and more, Facebook has tried and failed for a decade to find better ways to communicate with your besties. This is the wedge through which Snapchat can attack Facebook. If it develops special features for luring your best friends onto the app and staying in touch with them for better reasons than just maintaining a Snap “Streak”, it could hit Facebook where it can’t defend itself.

4. Discover Soars As Facebook Watch And IGTV Stumble

“Our Shows continue to attract more and more viewers, with over 18 Shows reaching monthly audiences of over 10M unique viewers. 12 of which are Original productions. As a platform overall, we’ve grown the amount of total time spent engaging with our Shows product, almost tripling since the beginning of the year. Our audience for Publisher Stories has increased over 20% YoY, and we believe there is a significant opportunity to continue growing the number of people who engage with Discover content . . .We are also working to identify content that is performing well outside of Snapchat so that we can bring it into Discover. “

Discover remains Snapchat’s biggest differentiator, scoring with premium video content purposefully made for mobile. What it really needs, though, are a few must-see tentpole shows to drag in a wider audience that can get hooked on the reimagined digital magazine experience.

5. But Discover Is A Mess

“Our content team is working hard to experiment with new layouts and content types in the wake of our redesign to drive increased engagement.”

Snapchat Discover is an overcrowded pile of clickbait. News outlets, social media influencers, original video Shows, and aggregated user content collections all battle for attention in a design that feels overwhelming to the point of exhaustion. Thankfully Snapchat seems to recognize that more cohesive sorting with fewer images and headlines bombarding you might make Discover a more pleasant lean-back consumption experience.

6. Aging Up To Earn Money

“Most of the incremental growth in our core markets like the US, UK, and France will have to come from older users who generate higher average revenue per user . . . Growing in older demographics will require us to mature our application . . . Many older users today see Snapchat as frivolous or a waste of time because they think Snapchat is social media rather than a faster way to communicate. Changing the design language of our product and improving our marketing and communications around Snapchat will help users understand our value . . . aging-up our community in core markets will also help the media, advertisers, and Wall Street understand Snapchat.”

Snapchat can’t just be for cool kids anymore. Their lower buying power and lifestage make them less appealing to brands. The problem is that Snapchat risks turning off younger users by courting their older siblings or adults. If, like Facebook, users start to feel like Snapchat is a place for parents, they may defect in search of the next purposefully built to confuse adults to stay hip.

7. Finally Prioritizing Developing Markets

“We already have many projects underway to unlock our core product value in new markets. Mushroom allows our community to use Snapchat on lower-end devices. Arroyo, our new gateway architecture, will speed up messaging and many other services . . . It might require us to change our products for different markets where some of our value-add features detract from our core product value”

Sources tell me Snapchat’s future depends on the engineering overhaul of its Android app, a project codenamed ‘Mushroom’. Slow video load times and bugs have made Snapchat practically unusable on low-bandwidth connections and old Android phones in the developing world. The company concentrated on the US and other first-world markets, leaving the door open for copycats of Stories built by Instagram (400 million daily users) and WhatsApp (450 million daily users) to invade the developing world and dwarf Snap’s 188 million total daily users. In hopes of a smooth rollout, Snapchat is already testing Mushroom, but it will have to do a ton of marketing outreach to convince frustrated users who ditched the app to give it another try.

8. Fresh Ideas, Separate Apps

“We’re currently building software that takes the millions of Snaps submitted to Our Story and reconstructs parts of the world in 3D. We can then build augmented reality experiences on top of those models and distribute them as Lenses . . . If our innovation compromises our core product of being the fastest way to communicate, we should consider create [sic] separate applications or other ways of delivering our innovation.”

Snapchat has big plans for augmented reality. It doesn’t just want to stick animations over the top of anywhere, or create AR art installations in a few big cities. It wants to build site-specific AR experiences across the globe. And while everything the company has built to date has lived inside of Snapchat, it’s willing to spawn standalone apps if necessary so that it doesn’t bog down its messaging service. That could give Snapchat a lot more leeway to experiment.

9. The Freedom Of Profitability

“Our 2019 stretch output goal will be an acceleration in revenue growth and full year free cash flow and profitability. With profitability comes increased autonomy and freedom to operate our business in the long term best interest of our community without the pressure of needing to raise additional capital.”

Snapchat is still bleeding money, losing $353 million last quarter. Snapchat ended up selling 2.3 percent of its equity to a Saudi Arabian prince in exchange for $250 million to lengthen its rapidly shortening runway. And last year it took $2 billion from Chinese gaming giant Tencent. Deals like that could threaten Snapchat’s ability to prioritize its goals alone, not the moral imperatives or developer platforms that would benefit its benefactors. Once profitable, Snapchat won’t have to worry so much about struggling with short-term user growth and can instead focus on retention, societal impact, and its true purpose — creativity.


Read Full Article