Gmail on mobile gets a fresh coat of Material Design paint

Gmail on mobile will soon get a new look. Google today announced that its mobile email apps for iOS and Android are getting a redesign that is in line with the company’s recent Material Design updates to Gmail, Drive, Calendar and Docs and Site. Indeed, the new UI will look familiar to anybody who has ever used the Gmail web app, including that versions ability to select three different density styles. You’ll also see some new fonts and other visual tweaks. In terms of functionality, the mobile app is also getting a few new features that put it on par with the web version.

Like on the desktop, you can now choose between the default view, as well as a comfortable and compact style.  The default view features a generous amount of white space and the same attachment chips underneath the email preview as the web version. The comfortable view does away with those chips and the compact view removes a lot of the space between messages to show you more emails at a glance.

I’ve been testing the new app for a bit and quickly settled on the comfortable view since I never found the attachment chips all that useful in day-to-day use.

In line with Google’s Material Design guidelines, all the styles feature relatively subtle but welcome animations that don’t take a lot of time but give you a couple of extra visual cues about what’s going on as you work your way to Inbox Zero.

Google also notes that the new design makes it a bit easier to switch between accounts. I’m not sure I agree (I definitely find the implementation of this in Inbox, which is sadly going away soon, easier to use), but if you regularly use this feature, it’s still easy enough to use. The switcher is now part of the search bar, though, which is a bit confusing and took me a moment to find.

One nice addition to the mobile app is that the large red phishing and scam warning box from the web version now also appears in the mobile app.

Say goodbye to Inbox by Gmail

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Gmail on mobile gets a fresh coat of Material Design paint

Gmail on mobile will soon get a new look. Google today announced that its mobile email apps for iOS and Android are getting a redesign that is in line with the company’s recent Material Design updates to Gmail, Drive, Calendar and Docs and Site. Indeed, the new UI will look familiar to anybody who has ever used the Gmail web app, including that versions ability to select three different density styles. You’ll also see some new fonts and other visual tweaks. In terms of functionality, the mobile app is also getting a few new features that put it on par with the web version.

Like on the desktop, you can now choose between the default view, as well as a comfortable and compact style.  The default view features a generous amount of white space and the same attachment chips underneath the email preview as the web version. The comfortable view does away with those chips and the compact view removes a lot of the space between messages to show you more emails at a glance.

I’ve been testing the new app for a bit and quickly settled on the comfortable view since I never found the attachment chips all that useful in day-to-day use.

In line with Google’s Material Design guidelines, all the styles feature relatively subtle but welcome animations that don’t take a lot of time but give you a couple of extra visual cues about what’s going on as you work your way to Inbox Zero.

Google also notes that the new design makes it a bit easier to switch between accounts. I’m not sure I agree (I definitely find the implementation of this in Inbox, which is sadly going away soon, easier to use), but if you regularly use this feature, it’s still easy enough to use. The switcher is now part of the search bar, though, which is a bit confusing and took me a moment to find.

One nice addition to the mobile app is that the large red phishing and scam warning box from the web version now also appears in the mobile app.

Say goodbye to Inbox by Gmail

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Nasty FaceTime bug could allow others to eavesdrop on your microphone or camera

Update: Apple has disabled the group calling feature.

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You might want to turn off FaceTime for a few days.

A newly discovered bug in iOS allows FaceTime callers to listen in before you accept the call.

Word of the bug started spreading this morning after Chicago artist Benji Mobb demonstrated it in a tweet, later being spotted by 9to5Mac.

The bug relies on what appears to be a nasty logic screwup in FaceTime’s group call system. While we’re opting to not outline the steps here, the bug seems to trick the recipient’s phone into thinking a group call is already ongoing. A few quick taps, and FaceTime immediately trips over itself and inexplicably fires up the recipient’s microphone without them actually accepting the call.

Weirder yet: If the recipient presses the volume down button or the power button to try to silence or dismiss the call, their camera turns on as well. Though the recipient’s phone display continues showing the incoming call screen, their microphone/camera are streaming.

TechCrunch has verified this bug on multiple iPhones running iOS 12.1.2. We reached out to Apple for insight on the issue, and a spokesperson for the company responded:

We’re aware of this issue and we have identified a fix that will be released in a software update later this week.

So they know, and are working on it — but in the meantime, the quickest fix might be to disable FaceTime (Settings > FaceTime).

This is a pretty awful bug for Apple, which has been highlighting its privacy practices as a key differentiator. Just weeks ago, they flew this banner on a building directly across from the CES convention center:

Photo credit: David Becker/ Stringer (Getty)

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Huawei ‘disappointed,’ denies charges

The long-simmering battle between the U.S. government and Huawei heated up last night when the U.S. DOJ announced that it is pursuing criminal charges against the Chinese hardware maker.

Huawei has, unsurprisingly, denied all wrongdoing, issuing a statement to the press that wonders aloud why it wasn’t given the opportunity to help clear itself of charges following the arrest of its CFO in Vancouver.

The company writes,

Huawei is disappointed to learn of the charges brought against the company today. company  After Ms. Meng’s arrest, the Company sought an opportunity to discuss the Eastern District of New York investigation with the Justice Department, but the request was rejected without explanation. The allegations in the Western District of Washington trade secret indictment were already the subject of a civil suit that was settled by the parties after a Seattle jury found neither damages nor willful and malicious conduct on the trade secret claim. The Company denies that it or its subsidiary or affiliate have committed any of the asserted violations of U.S. law set forth in each of the indictments, is not aware of any wrongdoing by Ms. Meng, and believes the U.S. courts will ultimately reach the same conclusion.

The Chinese government has also been quick to come to the embattled tech giant’s defense.

“For some time now, the United States has deployed its state power to smear and crack down on targeted Chinese companies in an attempt to kill their normal and legal business operations,” Geng Shuang, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, said in a statement. “We strongly urge the US to stop its unreasonable crackdown on Chinese companies, including Huawei, and treat Chinese companies objectively and fairly.”

Huawei (and to a lesser extent ZTE) has long been targeted by the U.S. over its alleged ties to the Chinese government. Tensions have made it all but impossible for the rapidly growing company to conquer the North American market.

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Starting with data centers, Carbon Relay is slashing energy costs and emissions using AI

Taiwanese technology giant Foxconn International is backing Carbon Relay, a Boston-based startup emerging from stealth today, that’s harnessing the algorithms used by companies like Facebook and Google for artificial intelligence to curb greenhouse gas emissions in the technology industry’s own backyard — the datacenter.

Already, the computing demands of the technology industry are responsible for 3% of total energy consumption — and the addition of new technologies like Bitcoin to the mix could add another half a percent to that figure within the next few years, according to Carbon Relay’s chief executive, Matt Provo.

That’s $25 billion in spending on energy per year across the industry, Provo says.

A former Apple employee, Provo went to Harvard Business School because he knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur and start his own business — and he wanted that business to solve a meaningful problem, he said.

Variability and dynamic nature of the data center relating to thermodynamics and the makeup of  a facility or building is interesting for AI because humans can’t keep up..

“We knew what we wanted to focus on,” said Provo of himself and his two co-founders. “All three of us have an environmental sciences background as well… We were fired up about building something that was true AI that has positive value… the risk associated [with climate change] is going to hit in our lifetime we were very inspired to build a company whose technology would have an impact on that.”

Carbon Relay’s mission and founding team including Thibaut Perol and John Platt (two Harvard graduates with doctorates in applied mathematics) was able to attract some big backers.

The company has raised $6 million from industry giants like Foxconn and Boston-based angel investors including Dr. James Cash — a director on the boards of Walmart, Microsoft, GE, and State Street; Black Duck Software founder, Douglas Levin; Karim Lakhani, a director on the Mozilla Corporation board; and Paul Deninger, a director on the board of the building operations management company, Resideo (formerly Honeywell).

Provo and his team didn’t just raise the money to tackle data centers — and Foxconn’s involvement hints at the company’s broader goals. “My vision is that commercial HVAC systems or any machinery that operates in a business would not ship without our intelligence inside of it,” says Provo.

What’s more compelling is that the company’s technology works without exposing the underlying business to significant security risks, Provo says.

“In the end all we’re doing are sending these floats… these values. These values are mathematical directions for the actions that need to be taken,” he says. 

Carbon Relay is already profitable, generating $4 million in revenue last year and on track for another year of steady growth, according to Provo.

Carbon Relay offers two products: Optimize and Predict, that gather information from existing HVAC devices and then control those systems continuously and automatically with continuous decision making.

“Each data center is unique and enormously complex, requiring its own approach to managing energy use over time,” said Cash, who’s serving as the company’s chairman. “The Carbon Relay team is comprised of people who are passionate about creating a solution that will adapt to the needs of every large data center, creating a tangible and rapid impact on the way these organizations do business.”

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Casper announces the Glow — a portable, sleep-friendly light

Over the past few years, mattress company Casper has expanded its product lineup to include everything from dog beds to nap pillows. (It’s also opened its own nap store.) The latest addition: the Glow, an $89 light.

While the company has never made this kind of Internet-connected hardware before, Chief Strategy Officer Neil Parikh pitched the Glow as part of Casper’s mission to improve sleep. And although there’s already a whole category of light bulbs designed for the same purpose, the Glow has a couple of smart touches that could make it particularly appealing.

The basic use of the Glow is pretty straightforward. You turn it on by flipping it over, and it fills your room with warm LED light. The light then dims to darkness over a 45-minute period — as Chief Experience Officer Jeff Chapin put it, it’s “mimicking the setting of the sun and it helps you get sleepier as it dims into lower and lower amplitudes.”

You can control and customize the Glow with a smartphone app, but Chapin said, “There are some people who are never going to download the app and that’s fine.” That’s because the Glow can also be controlled by gesture — flipping it to turn it on and off again, twisting it (when it’s set on a flat surface) to adjust the brightness and wiggling it to get a low light.

The Glow is also portable, so if you wake up in the middle of the night and need to get a glass of water or use the restroom, you can just pick it up and carry it with you, rather than turning on a bright kitchen light. You can also set a wakeup time so that the Glow gradually lights up again.

“We’ve leveraged the good and the bad of light so that it would help you fall asleep, stay asleep and go back to sleep into the night,” Chapin said.

In fact, if you’re a frequent traveler who struggles with jet lag, you can even “freeze” the settings, pack the Glow in your suitcase and take it with you to your destination, though Chapin admitted, “We don’t know how many people are going to do that.”

In addition to buying a single Glow for $89, you can also get a two-pack for $169. The light comes with a small base for wireless charging.

The Casper team sent me a couple of Glows to try out for myself. I wasn’t able to download the app, but the Glow was indeed largely controllable by gesture. (My only real complaint is that the wiggle-for-dim-light only worked sporadically for me.)

Keep in mind that I didn’t have a particularly sophisticated or sleep-friendly lighting setup before this, and that it’s hard to know how I would have slept on any given night without the Glow. Still, I can say that I found myself getting sleepier as the light dimmed, and I seemed to pass out more quickly and reliably than normal. And since the Glow is pretty small (five inches tall and three inches wide), it was easy to find room for it in my cluttered bedroom, and to carry it around when necessary.

It sounds like Casper has plans more products that go beyond bedding, addressing broader environmental factors that affect sleep.

“You can expect a lot more from us in the same vein, trying to help people [sleep] across the board, in a multivariate way,” Parikh said. “It’s a very complicated problem.”

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The Best Instagram Caption Apps for Android and iOS

5 Awesome Reddit Apps and Extensions You Aren’t Using

Reddit has so much going on that even if you’re an expert, you might not know just how awesome it can be. These apps and extensions promise a better Reddit experience than ever before.

Reddit is the internet’s unofficial discussion forum for pretty much any topic you want to talk about. The tools in this article are more useful for regular Reddit users. But if you haven’t already been to the site, or if you find it a little overwhelming, try these other sites and apps for Reddit beginners and casual users.

SubSrv (Web): Browse Multiple Subreddits At Once

SubSrv is a simple dashboard that puts multiple subreddits next to each other. This way, you can look at the latest trending posts in all of your favorite subreddits, at the same time. And you can discover new subreddits too.

You don’t need to be a Reddit member, nor do you have to sign up at SubSrv. Simply type the name of the subreddit in the box, and it will instantly create a new column that fetches the latest 3-100 posts (customizable) from that community. Add as many as you want to create a “subpack”. Each subpack has its own unique URL, so you can bookmark it and revisit it whenever you want to get a new list of posts on the dashboard.

SubSrv also offers recommendations for popular subpacks, like “history geek” and “awkward cringe”. This is a neat way to discover new subreddits that you might not have otherwise visited.

RemindMeBot (Chrome, Firefox): Reminders to Check a Thread Later

Reddit is often most useful only when a thread has plenty of comments. If you stumble upon a thread or comment early and think it will be worth reading after it has got more comments, you should check it out later. RemindMeBot is the simple way to set a reminder for that.

Reddit’s famous u/RemindMeBot lets you reply to any comment or post to create a custom reminder with the words “!RemindMe 5 days” (without the quotes). Obviously, you can change the days to weeks, months, or years, and the number to whatever you see fit.

The extension, available for both Chrome and Firefox, makes it simpler for anyone to set a reminder. The RemindMe button now appears on every post title as well as comment, and a single click will let you quickly set when you want the alert. No typing needed.

A calendar widget lets you quickly choose a date too. And you can also check out all the reminders you have set. This is the kind of excellent Reddit extension that makes a better browsing experience.

Download: RemindMeBot for Chrome | Firefox (Free)

Readr for Reddit (Chrome, Firefox): Clean, Better Reading Page

Reddit has some amazing written content on it. From those who write fascinating fiction in r/WritingPrompts to subreddits for true stories from real people, you’ll want to read it all. But the default web interface makes for an uncomfortable reading experience.

Readr for Reddit is a free browser extension that beautifies and declutters the mess. In each post’s options, next to the permalink button, you’ll find a “read” button. Click it to turn the post into a clean reading interface.

Readr uses a better font in a larger size, and puts it on a distraction-free background. It looks and feels a little like reading Reddit on a Medium post. You also get a dark mode or a light mode, and the ability to adjust basic readability settings.

Download: Readr for Reddit for Chrome (Free)

Note: The official Readr website says that there is also a Firefox Add-on, but at the time of writing, it has been removed from the Firefox Add-ons marketplace. If you’re a Firefox user, please try the link from the official Readr page.

Removeddit (Web): See Removed Posts on Reddit

Often while browsing Reddit, you’ll see a sign on a post that says [removed]. This means the moderators or administrators have deemed that comment or post to not fit the rules and deleted it. But you can still see the post in its entirety with Removeddit.

Removeddit is one of a few sites that are fighting Reddit’s censorship to let you read deleted comments on Reddit. So the next time you see such a sign on a thread, change the URL from “reddit.com” to “removeddit.com” while keeping everything else the same. You’ll be transported to the Removeddit site, where it shows all deleted posts and comments in that thread.

Removeddit also has a handy bookmark that you can click instead of changing the title. And if you go to the website’s homepage, you’ll find a list of the latest threads that have been removed or deleted by moderators.

Minimalism for Reddit (Web): Fastest, Barebones Reddit Browsing

The Reddit website, especially after the new redesign, has become slower and heavier, not to mention more cluttered. If your internet connection isn’t fast, you might want to try this alternative Minimalism for Reddit website.

It doesn’t load any sidebars or other junk. It removes usernames to replace them with emojis. You won’t get options on the post either. It’s as minimalistic and clutter-free as Reddit can get. And all of that also makes it much faster than any other extension or web app.

Plus, the whole page doesn’t look like Reddit, so you can also use it to browse Reddit at the office, since no one will suspect you’re wasting time.

Do You Know Reddit’s Worst?

It’s easy to find the most popular or the best posts in any subreddit by choosing the “Top” “Of All Time” filters. But what about the worst posts on Reddit? Here’s your quick guide to the most downvoted Reddit comments of all time.

Read the full article: 5 Awesome Reddit Apps and Extensions You Aren’t Using

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Southeast Asia’s Grab is adding Netflix-like video streaming to its ride-hailing app

Grab is Southeast Asia’s top ride-hailing firm thanks to its acquisition of Uber’s local business last year. Its biggest competitor gone, the company is on a push to go beyond transport and become an everyday ‘super app’ and that strategy just embraced video streaming today.

That’s because Grab is integrating video-on-demand service HOOQ — a local equivalent to Netflix — into its core ride-hailing app. The company, which is valued at $11 billion and raising a $5 billion round, already offers a range of services including food deliveries, payments, grocery delivery, travel deals and more. But, beyond utility, the focus is now shifting to entertainment, a category where Grab’s app currently sports only basic games.

Grab’s focus on these additional non-transportation services is designed to retain the attention of users and keep them engaged with its app even when they don’t need a ride. In that spirit, Grab announced a partnership platform last summer that’s aimed at helping companies in adjacent industries where it sees a fit to be integrated into its app. The benefit is potential access to Grab’s 130 million registered users which, aside from Western services like Facebook and Google, represents one of the largest digital platforms in Southeast Asia, where Grab is present in eight countries.

The rollout of HOOQ began earlier this month with Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy and the world’s fourth most populous country, the key focus initially.

The HOOQ ‘mini app’ doesn’t require a log-in, but existing HOOQ users can sign-in.

The companies didn’t disclose financial details, but HOOQ CEO Peter Bithos suggested Grab would receive a cut of revenue generated by subscription sign-ups generated by its app.

Leaning on Grab’s presence is certainly the appeal for HOOQ, which was started in 2015 by Singapore telco Singtel, Sony Pictures and Warner Brothers. Initially, a play to out-localize Netflix in Southeast Asia, HOOQ has recast its position somewhat in recent times — that’s included a free, advertising-supported tier launched last year and content deals with other on-demand services, including Hotstar in India.

Bithos, the HOOQ CEO, told TechCrunch that he believes Grab can support its growth and pivot from a cheaper but all-subscriber Netflix challenger to a freemium service that requires scale.

“Our strategy is around finding digital partners where we are complementary,” he explained in an interview. “We are building our tech and partnerships so that customers can easily bump into us without having to download an app or sign up to a different service.”

The HOOQ presence in Grab will include its full content library, Bithos confirmed.

“The deal is part of a much broader strategy for us,” he added. “We’re inverting the customer experience and putting HOOQ into other people’s products.”

Video in ride-hailing apps may sound unique but Go-Jek, Grab’s arch-rival headquartered in Indonesia, last year waded into video content, both through partnerships and its own productions. Even Uber has flirted with “in-ride content” to engage users, but it hasn’t delved into video yet.

With Go-Jek making the leap, it figures that Grab has followed with its own solution. Bithos said he is confident that the HOOQ-Grab tie-in is superior.

“Go-Jek hasn’t been able to get to anything like the scale or reach that we’ve got,” he said.

He suggested that the partnership allows Grab to focus on what it does best — rides — rather than other areas; that’s a concern that some sections of Grab’s user base have raised with its foray into other services.

“They don’t have to build video tech or focus on it,” he explained.

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Facebook Is Killing the Moments App No One Uses

Facebook is shutting down Moments due to a total lack of interest. In fact, it appears most people didn’t even know it existed. With so few people were using the Moments app, Facebook has chosen to kill it rather than spend any more time or resources developing it.

The Short Life of Facebook Moments

In 2015, Facebook launched a new app called Moments. It was developed as “a private way to give photos to friends and get the photos you didn’t take”. Essentially, it provided an easy way for friends to share photos with each other outside of Facebook.

Moments employed Facebook’s facial recognition technology to help you sort your photos. If it identified anyone it would suggest sharing those photos with that person. Unfortunately, too few people installed Moments to make it worth Facebook’s efforts.

Facebook Pulls the Plug on Moments

Facebook is pulling the plug on Moments on February 25, 2019. After that the app will no longer be available. According to CNET, this is simply because not many people are using it, although Facebook declined to share any actual numbers.

If you’re one of the few people that have used Moments you’ll need to export your photos and videos from the app. Fortunately, you have until May 2019 to do so, and Facebook has endeavored to make the process as easy as possible.

All you’ll need to do is visit this website and follow the instructions. You’ll be able to sort through your photos and export any that you want to keep. And you can do this either by creating private albums on Facebook or downloading them to a device.

Facebook Continues Killing Apps

Facebook has a habit of killing apps it has either developed or acquired. Which is unfortunate for the handful of people using them, but of little interest to the rest of us. And so Moments is joining Hello, Moves, and tbh in Facebook’s graveyard of failed apps.

Image Credit: Friends Taking Photo via Shutterstock

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Facebook Plans to Merge Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram

Facebook is planning to merge Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram. All three platforms are owned by Facebook, but currently operate in their own space. Merging Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram would allow them to operate in the same space together.

A Brief History of Facebook’s Messaging Apps

Facebook built Messenger from scratch, making it the social network’s only homegrown messaging app. However, Facebook has since acquired Instagram (in 2012) and WhatsApp (in 2014). So all three operate independently of one another. At least for now.

If this plan, reportedly cooked up by Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, comes to fruition, all three apps would share the same underlying technology. This would allow users of any one of the three apps communicate with users of the other two apps.

Mark Zuckerberg Merges Messaging Apps

The New York Times claims Mark Zuckerberg is orchestrating plans to merge Facebook’s messaging apps. All three will continue to operate as standalone apps, but by unifying the “underlying technical infrastructure” the platforms will play nicely together.

In a statement the social network said it’s “working on making more of our messaging products end-to-end encrypted and considering ways to make it easier to reach friends and family across networks.” Which neither confirms or denies the story.

However, Facebook then added that it wants to “build the best messaging experiences we can; and people want messaging to be fast, simple, reliable and private.” And how better to achieve those goals than by merging Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram?

The plans are said to be “in the early stages,” with an ambitious target to wrap things up either by “the end of this year or early 2020”. Either way, reconfiguring Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram in this way is going to require thousands of employees.

It All Comes Down to Making Money

It makes a lot of sense for Facebook to merge its three apps. By allowing Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram to work seamlessly together, people are more likely to remain engaged within Facebook’s ecosystem. And that will help Facebook make more money.

Read the full article: Facebook Plans to Merge Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram

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Apple May Be Making a New iPod Touch and New iPad Models

In the upcoming iOS 12.2 update, a developer named Steven Troughton-Smith has found references to four new iPad models, and more interestingly, a reference to a new iPod, which would presumably be a new iPod touch.

It’s been quite a while since Apple has released a new iPod touch, with the 6th generation models having released all the way back on July 15, 2015.

What We Know About the New iPad and iPod Touch

Unfortunately, there isn’t too much information known about the new devices, other than that Apple appears to be prepping iOS to handle them.

For the iPads, the speculation from Troughton-Smith is that they’ll be new iPad Mini models based on the fact that they don’t have Face ID. Because the Mini is more of a budget model, it makes sense that Apple would leave off what is generally seen as more of a premium feature. There have been long-standing rumors that an iPad Mini 5 was in the works, and this definitely seems to back that up.

In theory, iOS 12.2 references four new iPads in WiFi & Cellular variants (perhaps mini, and 9.7"?), all without Face ID, and a (seventh-gen?) iPod touch with no Touch ID nor Face ID pic.twitter.com/xiJN6kmmTe

— Steve Troughton-Smith (@stroughtonsmith) January 25, 2019

Additionally, of the four models, the data seems to indicate that there will two models with only Wi-Fi and two with support for cellular data, which falls in line with the way Apple releases iPad devices.

This isn’t the first we’ve heard of new iPads on the horizon. Apparently, earlier this week Apple registered seven iPads with the Eurasian Economic Commission, so there could be three other models floating around out there. Plenty of rumors have circulated about an updated 9.7-inch iPad, and those remaining models could be different versions of that.

iOS 12.2 also references a device called “iPod 9,1”. That doesn’t match up with any previous iPod models. According to MacRumors, the current iPod touch models are called “iPod 7,1” in the system.

According to the report, the iPod touch would also lack Face ID, which would help keep the cost down to a more budget-friendly level. Unfortunately, not much else is known about the new iPod touch at this time, but we’ll keep you posted.

When Will We Hear More?

It’s hard to say exactly when Apple will announce the new devices officially. Apple usually holds an event in March, so it would make sense for the company to announce its new devices then. From there, the release will probably happen shortly after.

Can’t wait for an iPad? Check out our review of the iPad Pro and see if it’s the device for you.

Read the full article: Apple May Be Making a New iPod Touch and New iPad Models

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The Best Microsoft Store Apps for Windows 10

The selection of universal apps in the Microsoft Store is better than ever. Their design and usability have dramatically improved, and Microsoft has largely got the problem of fake and imposter apps under control.

We’ve rounded up some of the best Microsoft Store apps. Make sure you let us know what we missed in the comments at the end.

Jump Ahead: Cloud Storage | Food and Drink | Image and Photo Editors | Music Players | News and Sport | Productivity | Reading | Shopping | Social Networking and Communication | Utilities | Video Players

Cloud Storage

Dropbox and OneDrive have official apps for Windows 10, and there’s also an unofficial Google Drive client you should check out.

Dropbox

The Dropbox app lets you access your photos, documents, and videos from any device. It also supports file sharing, collaboration, and automatic syncing of Microsoft Office files.

OneDrive

OneDrive is Microsoft’s flagship cloud storage service. For people who don’t want to deal with the somewhat fiddly desktop folder, the app is a great alternative.

G Drive

Google has not made an official app for its Drive service. Instead, you’ll have to use a third-party app. We like G Drive; it provides most of the functionality of the official web app.

Food and Drink

Cooking isn’t for everyone, but if you have an interest in getting to grips with one of life’s most vital skills, having a computer on hand is particularly useful. Touchscreen devices like Windows tablets are of considerable use in the kitchen, along with these apps.

Recipe+ Nutrition Profiler ($8)

Designed to display nutrition information for existing recipes or ones you create. It works offline and features a database of over 12,000 food types. It is a great way to find out just what foods in your diet are healthy and where you can make improvements.

Recipe Keeper

Recipe Keeper is a recipe organizer, shopping list manager, and meal planner. You can add and organize your own creations and import recipes from external sites. You can also add ingredients to a shopping list directly from your recipes with a single click.

Image and Photo Editors

Whether you’re editing photos or creating a work of digital art from scratch, Windows 10 has on offer several great tools, free and paid, to help you achieve your finished piece.

Fotor

Fotor is an all-in-one photo editor. It’s a worthy replacement if you don’t like Adobe Photoshop.

Alongside basic editing tools, it also offers visual effects, quick enhance, RAW file conversion, and even a collage creator. Furthermore, it’s recently been upgraded has now has improved support for EXIF data.

Adobe Photoshop Express

Not everyone needs the expensive full-featured version of Photoshop, but there are lots of times you’ll need something more powerful than MS Paint.

A great option is Adobe Photoshop Express. It’s designed to be an on-the-go photo editor. Features include basic alternations like crop, straighten, rotate, and flip, one-touch adjustments for brightness, exposure, and shadows, and slider controls for exposure, contrast, clarity, and vibrancy.

If you have an Adobe ID, you can download additional plugins.

Fhotoroom

Fhotoroom is an excellent photo app that was migrated from Windows Phone. It has a collection of basic editing tools and over 70 styles, frames, filters, and light leaks.

Fresh Paint

Fresh Paint is an easy to use painting/art Windows 10 app with an simple learning curve. As such it’s ideal for kids and adults, all you need is a desire to paint!

If you’re using a tablet with a stylus, such as on the Surface Pro, this app suddenly becomes all the more powerful.

Gallery HD

This apps lets you find photos and videos on your computer, network, or external storage and enjoy them in stunning slideshows with fade and zoom effects.

Music Players

Rock out with your Windows 10 computer thanks to this collection of MP3 players and audio streaming apps.

TuneIn Radio

Does it get better than free internet radio? The popular mobile radio streaming app is available as a Windows app. You can listen to almost any channel in the world, saving you the hassle of finding the right stream in your browser.

VEVO

This app provides access to the amazing free VEVO service, where videos, live concerts, and new artists await. You might need to pay for some popular live events.

The app has a continuous play mode for when you need some permanent background music.

Musixmatch

First and foremost, Musixmatch is a leading music recognition app. Like Soundhound and Shaazam, you let the app listen to a snippet of a track on the TV or radio and it will search its huge database for a match.

It also doubles as a music player; import your library and Musixmatch can add lyrics, album artwork, and other important metadata.

News and Sport

With so much going on in the world, it’s vital to stay abreast of current events. And if the daily news ever becomes too much to handle, at least you check the latest happenings at your favorite sports team!

News 360

News 360 is one of the best news aggregators. It pulls stories from multiple sources to give you a live feed of things you’re interested in.

The more you use the app, the better it gets. It will learn which subjects and topics you like the most and tailor your feed accordingly. If you give it permission, it can even use data from your Facebook and Twitter account to help it improve.

Google News Viewer

Google News Viewer is not an official Google product, but don’t let that put you off. It looks beautiful and makes reading your news a breeze.

Newsstand

Newsstand is the third news aggregator on the list but it offers a couple of features that warrant its inclusion.

Firstly, you can add any site to the app using the Additions form. Secondly, you can create a Favorites list of your preferred sources, and finally, it has a built-in list of the most popular sites for easy navigation.

Newsflow

Newsflow is an RSS reader which is designed with the news in mind. Its key features are breaking news notifications, pinnable live titles for specific topics or sources, and searchable keywords.

It can also play YouTube videos and GIFs in-app, thus making it a one-stop shop for all your news needs.

MSN Sports

MSN Sports is the default Microsoft sports app. It comes pre-installed on your system, but if you deleted it years ago then forgot all about it, you should give it a second chance.

You can add teams and leagues, read the latest stories across hundreds of sports from countless services, and even enable notifications for live scores and breaking news. If you’re especially interested in sports from a certain country, you can change the region within the app.

Eurosport

Eurosport publishes more than 150 articles a day on a wide variety of sports. Whether you want news or long-form featured content, you will find it in this app.

There’s also a huge amount of video content, so if you prefer to watch rather than read, this is a must-have.

Productivity

Like any computer platform, Windows 10 is designed for productivity as well as entertainment. Here are some of the best apps for using while you’re working.

Copy Space

Copying and pasting are incredibly useful and simple. If you have to move a lot of content, however, constantly bouncing back and forth between apps can quickly become frustrating.

Try using Copy Space instead. It’s a universal clipboard that can store several items at once. All your copies are sorted into categories, and it can sync between all your devices.

Drawboard PDF ($8)

One of the PDF’s biggest annoyances is the lack of editing options. Although Drawboard PDF doesn’t let you edit text, you can draw all over PDF files to annotate them. The aim is to reduce the number of times you will need to print a sheet to make notes on it.

It also includes some other useful tools, including the ability to merge and reorder documents, measure lengths and angles, and overlay grids and other templates.

Xodo PDF Reader and Editor

The free Xodo PDF Reader and Editor is an impressively full-featured PDF app. You can write on documents, annotate in real-time with other users, and make notes on blank documents so you can print them later. There is even a night mode so you can work at night without straining your eyes.

Bing Translator

Google Translate isn’t the only show in town. There are lots of great translation apps out there. One of the best is Microsoft’s product.

The translation quality of Microsoft’s tool is just as good as Google Translate, it works offline, and it’ll sit happily in your taskbar for easy access.

OneNote

Microsoft no longer releases the OneNote app as a standalone desktop app; you will need to install the Microsoft Store version.

Luckily, it’s just as full-featured as its predecessor—long-time OneNote users shouldn’t notice much difference.

Money Lover—Money Manager

There are lots of family budgeting desktop apps trying to grab your attention. If you’re feeling adventurous, you could even try making your own budgeting spreadsheet in Excel.

Or, you could consider Money Lover—Money Manager.

You can track your money across long time periods, it comes with a financial calendar that’ll send you alerts and notifications, it includes lots of useful (and free) graphs and charts, and it works in multiple currencies.

Code Writer

Are you looking for easy-to-use code editor apps? Code Writer has you covered.

It’s been around since the early days of Windows 8 and has built a loyal following of fans. It comes with active syntax highlighting, supports more than 20 file types, and has a live tile that displays both the names and save states of your open documents.

Interestingly, it also supports several cloud storage services, so you can take your project with you wherever you go.

Reading

Whether you’re using a tablet computer, a desktop, laptop, or hybrid, reading apps are vital to digesting information from the latest bestsellers to reports in PDF format.

Overdrive

Overdrive has a global network of more than 34,000 libraries which you can use to borrow eBooks, audiobooks, and videos.

Anything you borrow will automatically sync across all your devices and the library is open 24/7. The app also doubles as an eReader, so you can do your borrowing and reading through the same interface.

Best of all titles are automatically returned at the end of their loan period—you’ll never have to pay a late fee again!

(Note: You need to be a member of your local library to access the app)

Book Bazaar Reader

Why do you need to pay for eBooks when apps like Book Bazaar Reader are out there? It scrapes lots of sources of free publications (including Guttenberg, Flibusta, FeedBooks, FreeBooks, and ManyBooks), then presents all the results to you in one easy-to-use interface.

The app supports EPUB, MOBI, FB2, PDF, and TXT formats, and has cool additional features like annotating and highlighting.

Freda

If you don’t like the interface of Bazar Book Reader, check out Freda. The principle of the app is the same; it gives you 50,000 free titles you can download and read. It supports EPUB, FB2, HTML, and TXT files and you can even import your own DRM-free books to use in the eReader.

Kindle

This app gives you access to over one million books on the Kindle Store. All the titles can sync across all your devices. What are you waiting for? Get reading!

Audible

Who’s got time to read books these days? Between commuting to work, updating Facebook statuses, and feeding the dog, most of us don’t have a spare minute in our days.

That’s why audiobooks have grown in popularity over the last few years. They let you drive, update Facebook, and feed the dog at the same time, all while still managing to give your brain a fix of quality literature.

The Audible app has all the features you’d expect. They also recently added streaming, so you don’t need to download a book to listen to it.

News Live Tiles

The Microsoft News app is a nice idea. The app is constantly being improved; if you haven’t used it for a while, you should give it another chance.

Unfortunately, the live tile isn’t so useful; it cannot display all the information you care about. The reality is, it’s impossible for the app to display all those headlines in such a small box.

The solution is to download News Live Tiles. It’s a glorified RSS reader that allows you to create feeds for any site you want. The headlines from those sites are then displayed in the live titles. You can have as many tiles as you want.

Nextgen Reader ($6)

Originally designed as a Google Reader Windows 10 app, this tool now offers support for many other RSS feed reading services and has grown beyond its initial purpose into an extremely usable reader, complete with sharing options.

Shopping

Your Windows 10 computer is a hub for the online marketplace. You can connect to the likes of Amazon or eBay and make your purchases, directly from within a dedicated app. Who needs a browser?

Newegg

Are you looking for cheap deals and bargain prices on electronics and tech? You need Newegg. The online-only retailer has 10.5 million products and will deliver to your door.

Amazon

Using this Amazon Windows 10 app is faster than using the website. Search is fast and processing purchases is efficient—try it!

CPlus for Craigslist

Whether you’re looking for something for sale, somewhere to live, or even somewhere to work, this remarkable Windows 10 app lets you win at using Craigslist. Previously known as Craigslist+.

Social Networking and Communication

Do you chat online? Enjoy Facebook and Twitter? Perhaps you socialize on Reddit? Check out these awesome options.

Facebook

This app offers a superior Facebook experience that arguably exceeds the web version of the popular social networking site.

Messenger

Ever since Microsoft made changes to universal apps and allowed them to be operated from the taskbar, they’ve become a lot more useful. Even then, however, some apps just don’t work very well as universal apps. One exception is Facebook Messenger.

If you’re the type of person who’s always using the service to chat with friends, having a dedicated taskbar icon can be really handy. Unlike the universal Skype app, which is shockingly stripped of features, the Messenger app retains the functionality you’re used to from its website counterpart.

Baconit

Baconit is the highest rated Reddit app in the store. It offers everything you’d expect from a Reddit app, including comment flairs, support for multiple user accounts, and extensive search parameters.

Twitter

Though the app is a touch limited compared to some of the alternatives, the offocial Twitter client nevertheless offers everything you would expect as well as the Discover tool to find trends and follow suggestions.

Tweeten

Twitter power users will be well aware of TweetDeck. It’s the only reliable web app for managing multiple Twitter accounts from one place.

In terms of functionality, Tweeten is almost identical—but it’s designed specifically for Windows 10. It supports lists, notifications, direct messages, and the Activity Feed. There’s even a way to search for and save GIFs.

Utilities

Windows 10 is a virtual toolbox. It can be your search tool, your calculator, and even your digital nightstand.

Network Speed Test

We’ve all lived in a place with a dodgy internet connection at some point in our lives. Perhaps the speed fluctuates wildly or your connection is prone to dropping out. Sadly, internet service providers rarely have much inclination to do anything about it—they’re getting your money and they’re happy.

It’s frustrating to try and build up a body of evidence to present to them. Speed test websites are full of adverts and they don’t log your historical results.

Network Speed Test rectifies the problem. It’s got a clean interface, it’s lightning fast, and it logs past network performance history in easy-to-understand charts.

Speed Test by Ookla

If you’re looking for a simpler version of Network Speed Test, check out Speed Test by Ookla. The company’s website is one of the best ways to find out the speed of your internet connection, and the web app is no different.

The app will test your ping, upload, and download speeds, and display all the data in beautifully presented real-time graphs. It’ll even keep a log of previous tests so you can track how your speed varies over time.

Advanced Password Generator

By now, everyone should know about the importance of using strong passwords. As password hacks become more common, failure to do so have genuinely catastrophic real-world consequences.

But making strong passwords isn’t always easy; there are so many facets of password creation you need to remember. Instead, why not let the Advanced Password Generator do it for you?

It can use a combination of uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and punctuation to make your password as secure as possible.

Video Players

Do you like watching TV and movies? How about streaming content from popular subscription services? You need these apps.

Plex

Plex and Kodi are the two biggest names in the home theater world. Kodi doesn’t have a Windows Store app, but Plex does.

It will let you access any videos, photos, and music that you have on your server via your Windows PC. To supercharge your experience, you should install some of the best unofficial Plex channels.

Netflix

Enjoy TV episodes, movies, and original content from the world’s leading streaming subscription service. This Netflix app is comparable with the browser interface, and in some ways better. You can watch in 4K if you have a suitable monitor.

Hulu

Hulu offers a mix of on-demand series and movies and live TV. If you want live TV, your subscription will cost you more money.

VLC

The Swiss army knife of media players has been a long-time favorite of users. Unfortunately, it can be a bit aggressive on your battery life.

The Windows Store app is lighter and less resource-heavy. It supports video, audio, MKV, and FLAC playback, and lets you manage your media library.

Tubecast for YouTube

As more and more people cut the cord, YouTube has emerged as a popular way for users to get their entertainment fix.

Sadly, you won’t find an official YouTube app in the Windows Store, but Tubecast is the next best thing. It acts as a YouTube client and can stream content to smart TVs, Chromecasts, Amazon Fire TVs, Rokus, PlayStations, Xboxes, and any DLNA-enabled gadget.

What Are Your Favorite Microsoft Store Apps?

Have you found an app that you’d like to recommend to your fellow readers? Have we missed your favorite app off the list? Or do all the offerings still leave you unconvinced? Let us know your thoughts, opinions, and recommendations in the comments below.

And if you’d like to learn more about Windows 10 apps, read our list of neglected software that you should check out.

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