Better Than Dropbox: The 6 Quickest Ways to Share Any File With Anyone

Want to share files with someone who doesn’t use Dropbox or isn’t tech savvy enough to set it up? Wouldn’t you rather share a link to the file and be done with it? That’s possible, because there are simpler ways to share files than Dropbox. We’ll explore six of them below.

With these services, there are no mandatory accounts, no clients to install (unless you want to), and no interfaces to learn. All you have to do is upload your file, get a unique link to it, and share the link. That’s as easy as it gets!

1. WeTransfer

WeTransfer lets you send files of up to 2GB at a time. You won’t find any limits on the number of times you use the service, so that’s a big plus.

You can send the files in an email message—that’s the default workflow—or grab the links of uploaded files to share them via chat or elsewhere. WeTransfer lets you include a custom message with the shared files.

If you want to protect the uploaded files with a password or if you want control over when they get deleted, you’ll need to pay for a subscription. That gives you file encryption and the option to store files for longer than the default duration of seven days.

Visit: WeTransfer (Free, premium subscription available)

2. SendTransfer

SendTransfer lets you share files in seconds via email, and is completely free of charge. To get started, drag your file into the file uploader box provided. You can also click on the Add Files to Transfer button to browse through your files and add them.

Next, type in email addresses of the people you want to send the file to, a message (if you wish to add one), and your own email address of course. Now, hit the Send button to send the uploaded file on its way.

With SendTransfer, you can send files up to 10GB, and there are no bandwidth restrictions on either side. While uploading files, you can also set the duration for which you want the files to be store on SendTranfer’s servers—the default is seven days.

Visit: SendTransfer (Free)

3. Snaggy

If all you want to do is share screenshots once in a while, Snaggy is the perfect solution. Grab the screen or a part of it with the default shortcuts assigned by your operating system to copy screenshots to the clipboard.

From there, uploading to Snaggy is one keyboard shortcut away. Visit the Snaggy home page to paste the screenshot from the clipboard. To do this, on Windows, you can use the shortcut Ctrl + V.

On macOS, since the default paste shortcut (Command + V) works with the Paste and Match Style command and not the Paste command, you can either:

• Click on Edit > Paste, or
• Configure a custom shortcut for the Paste command (from Settings > Keyboard > Shortcuts) and use that.

Once you paste, the image gets uploaded to Snaggy’s servers and you receive a unique link you can share.

Snaggy also works with marquee selections in image editing and other screenshot apps. It even lets you edit your picture before sharing it—you can crop, rotate, write or draw on your image.

Keep in mind that Snaggy only works with one image at a time. Also, it doesn’t seem to work in Safari.

Visit: Snaggy (Free)

4. Droplr

Droplr is popular is as screenshot sharing and collaboration service, but you can use it to send all types of files. For easy file sharing, open the lite version of the app. This brings up the file uploader, where you can drag and drop a file from your computer to receive a shareable link to it. Any files you share are automatically previewable across all platforms and apps.

The service also offers macOS, Windows, and iPhone apps as well as a Chrome extension. These clients make it easy to grab bits and pieces of the web for quick and painless sharing from your desktop and mobile.

Plus, since Droplr integrates with popular services like Gmail, Slack, and Trello, file sharing within these services is a snap.

If you like what Droplr does, consider getting a free account with the service. It gives you 4GB worth of cloud storage and file uploads of up to 2GB. For password protection, custom file validity options, and so on, you’ll need one of Droplr’s premium subscriptions.

Visit: Droplr (Free, premium subscription available)

5. Ge.tt

Ge.tt is another simple uploader service that has been around for quite some time. It’s an excellent way to share photo albums in an instant.

To use Ge.tt, drag and drop one or more files into the uploader box to get a shareable link. You’ll also find options to share your files directly to an email address, Facebook, or Twitter.

If you want to use Ge.tt without registration, you’ll have to work with a storage limit of 250MB and your files will get deleted after 30 days. If you create a free account, you get a storage upgrade to 2GB and can keep the uploaded files much longer. Both anonymous and free users can send files of sizes up to 250MB only.

Visit: Ge.tt (Free, premium subscription available)

6. Smash

With file previews, zero file size limits, link customization, and password protection, the free version of Smash sounds too good to be true. The service is easy to use and its interface is pretty much like that of the other uploaders on this list. It sends files via email and Slack and also as a link.

Among other features, you get a file storage time of 14 days and options to customize the look of your download page. (You can also hide file previews if you want to.) To top it all, Smash has chosen to replace ads with fun creative projects to view while waiting for files to download.

Smash is quite generous with the features in the free version. But, if you want even more options, you can get them with a well-priced premium subscription.

Visit: Smash (Free, premium subscription available)

Get a No-Signup File Transfer Tool for Everyday Use

Dropbox and similar services have made sharing big files and multiple files as easy as saving them on your own computer. But they usually need you to sign up for an account.

If you’d rather not do that or if you prefer a quicker solution to share one-off files, the apps we have listed above are just what you need. And there are more where those came from! Take a peek at the best ways to share files with anyone over the web anonymously.

Read the full article: Better Than Dropbox: The 6 Quickest Ways to Share Any File With Anyone

Read Full Article

The 6 Best Tools to Analyze Laptop Battery Health

The laptop battery is an essential piece of hardware, yet we’re often less informed about its health. Your Windows laptop will not give you enough information either. On the surface, it displays just a tiny battery indicator with the remaining time and percentage.

Over time, you’ll notice a few battery errors creep in. The battery stops holding its charge. The charge level indicator shows fluctuating readings. A flawed discharge estimation is also common. But there are workarounds and solutions.

Let’s guide you through some third-party battery diagnostic tools that allow you to check battery health in Windows.

Why You Should Monitor Battery Health

A battery is a portable chemical device with limited resources. Because of its nature, it has a complicated voltage response to the load, temperature, and its own age. The health of the battery affects both device performance and run time. You should monitor the battery health for these reasons:

• Get a starting point for a power management workflow under different workloads and environment.
• The maximum capacity of a battery changes over time. As a result, the charging indicator might show you inconsistent readings. When this happens, you’ll know when to calibrate the battery.
• Incorrect use of the battery can cut short its lifespan. Monitoring battery health enables you to take corrective steps to increase longevity.

1. Powercfg Battery Report

The powercfg command is a hidden tool on Windows. You can use it to generate a precise report of your battery history.

It includes information about your battery performance and lets you observe the decline in battery capacity that inevitably occurs over time.

To generate a battery report, open Command Prompt and type in powercfg /batteryreport. This command saves a battery report in HTML format to

C:\Users\Your_Username\battery-report.html

Double-click the file to open it in your browser. Check out the following details:

• The difference between Design Capacity and Full Charge Capacity. You’ll expect a reduced full charge capacity. As batteries wear over time, the full charge capacity will be less than the design capacity.
• See how much battery capacity has drained over the last few days in different power states. Also, check out the battery usage graph.
• Observe how Full Charge Capacity gradually decreases in comparison with Design Capacity. Notice any discrepancies.
• Compare the battery life at Full Charge versus Design Capacity from the time when you purchased the laptop.
• Check the battery’s usage and duration. And the time your computer ran on battery or plugged into the power outlet.

With this kind of laptop battery life test, you can identify problems that affect your battery life. If the report shows drastic differences, you may want to get a new battery.

2. BatteryInfoView

BatteryInfoView is a free app that is filled with information about your laptop’s battery. The tool has two primary components.

The first screen gives you complete battery information on Designed Capacity, Full Charged Capacity, Battery Health, Number of charge/discharge cycles, and more.

The second screen provides you with detailed log analysis of power state, event time, charge/discharge values, and more. A new log line gets added whenever you suspend or resume the computer.

In this way, you can find out the rate at which the battery gets discharged. You can also export the battery information to a TXT or CSV file for reference.

Pros

• View detailed battery information in a single place.
• You can check the log to observe changes in the battery capacity.
• It lets you put the window on top over other apps to monitor the battery.

Cons

• It cannot filter the battery log with a date range.
• It does not show you any graph to predict the battery wear level over time.

Download: BatteryInfoView (Free)

3. BatteryMon

BatteryMon is an easy to use app that monitor’s laptop battery charge level by presenting a graph of its findings in real time.

The vertical Y-axis displays the percentage charge level (0-100%) and sampling time on the horizontal X-axis. You can change the sampling time interval in the configuration screen.

The black line shows the current charge level. The blue line shows the trend line based on the extrapolated samples of data.

And the red line shows you a comparison against its life span. For a short duration comparison, the red line will deviate more than the normal. You also get minute details on the discharging rate.

As you keep using the app, the discharge rate will become more accurate, and you’ll understand how battery health is deteriorating with different workloads.

Pros

• It analyzes the battery health with a real-time graph.
• You can set notifications for battery level, voltage, and temperature.
• Data on charging/discharging rate, time remaining on the battery, total time, and more.
• Log the battery’s performance for later reference.
• Compare and measure the current capacity with data collected in the past.

Cons

• The app is complicated for newbies.
• The graph can be overwhelming (Tweak the sample time in the configuration screen to make it simpler).

Download: BatteryMon (Free)

4. BatteryCat

BatteryCat is a simple utility to check battery charge, capacity, and charge cycles. The main window has three sections—the present charge state in relation to the current capacity, information about the power state, charge cycles, and full charge capacity versus the original design capacity.

When you click on the File menu, the History window opens next to the main window. You can save the recent capacity values along with the date. The history data lives in

C:\User\Your_Username\batterycat\batterycat.csv

With this log of data, copy the data to a spreadsheet app and monitor the battery’s health. By default, BatteryCat reads data from battery every 10 seconds. You can change this interval in the Options screen.

Pros

• The app gives you all battery information in a single place.
• It’s simple to use and extrapolates data without any knowledge.

Cons

• There is no filter option to segregate data in different time range or workloads.
• The app uses GTK runtime on Windows. As a result, you might experience tiny and blurry fonts.

Download: BatteryCat (Free)

5. Smarter Battery

Smarter Battery is the only app that offers you a complete suite of tools to monitor battery health, perform calibration operations, and save the battery performance data for reference.

It shows you the history of battery capacity during the charge/discharge cycles, computes wear level and discharge cycle count.

The Battery Information page gives you the information on Full Battery Capacity vis-a-vis the Design Capacity, discharging time, cycle count, wear level, and power state during battery or AC power mode.

The Capacity page helps you understand the evolution of battery capacity. The Y-axis displays the capacity percentage and X-axis shows the data drawn at that time interval.

The Calibration page displays the complete picture of your battery life such as wear level, usage time, discharge cycles and more.

The app also offers you to save the battery data depending on the page you’ve opened. You can save battery information, capacity, calibration data, and more.

Pros

• At a time, you can monitor up to four batteries including battery packs.
• You can zoom in/out to modify the time interval and use arrow buttons to move forth/back in time.
• It can simulate the discharge mechanism to speed up the calibration process.
• There’s a green mode function to save battery power when in need.
• You can set alarms for low/critical battery and force standby/hibernate when battery power gets low.

Cons

• It has too many options scattered everywhere on the page.
• Can get confusing at times and can clash with the built-in power management settings.

Download: Smarter Battery (Free trial, $14)

6. BatteryCare

BatteryCare is a simple tool to optimize the performance and usage of your laptop battery. With its built-in algorithm, you can track the charge/discharge cycles.

When your battery completes a definite number of discharge cycles, it recommends you calibrate the battery.

And when you complete the process, it remembers the last calibration date, number of calibration operations you did, and more.

The main window of the app shows all the detailed battery information like Designed Capacity, Full Charge Capacity, Tension, Wear Level, and Total Discharge Cycles.

It also monitors your CPU, hard drive temperature, and alerts you when it reaches a specific temperature.

Pros

• Low and Critical battery notification.
• It can switch to a power plan depending upon the state of your power.
• The power plan perfectly synchronizes with the power events of Windows.

Cons

• It only shows a summary of battery information and optimizes the usage of your battery.
• There is no other information—event data, logs, a record of charge/discharge cycles, and more.
• The installer is bundled with junk apps.

Download: BatteryCare (Free)

How to Prolong Your Battery’s Lifespan

Monitoring the battery health of your device is not a simple task. There are too many variables and factors to consider. With these tools, you can at least monitor its health and take corrective measures to prolong battery life.

At the same time, you must also expand your knowledge by understanding the technology that goes into a battery. To know more, read this piece on how the battery works and steps you can take to prolong their lifespan.

Read the full article: The 6 Best Tools to Analyze Laptop Battery Health

Read Full Article

The 10 Most Common Audio Formats: Which One Should You Use?

Audio files come in all types and sizes. And while we may all be familiar with MP3, what about AAC, FLAC, OGG, or WMA? Why do so many audio standards exist? Which ones are important and which ones can you ignore?

It’s actually quite simple once you realize that all audio formats fall into three major categories. Once you know what the categories mean, you can just pick a format within the category that best suits your needs.

Uncompressed Audio Formats

Uncompressed audio consists of real sound waves that have been captured and converted to digital format without any further processing. As a result, uncompressed audio files tend to be the most accurate but take up a LOT of disk space—about 34 MB per minute for 24-bit 96KHz stereo.

Audio File Format: PCM

PCM stands for Pulse-Code Modulation, a digital representation of raw analog audio signals. Analog sounds exist as waveforms, and in order to convert a waveform into digital bits, the sound must be sampled and recorded at certain intervals (or pulses).

This digital audio format has a “sampling rate” (how often a sample is made) and a “bit depth” (how many bits are used to represent each sample). There is no compression involved. The digital recording is a close-to-exact representation of analog sound.

PCM is the most common audio format used in CDs and DVDs. There is a subtype of PCM called Linear Pulse-Code Modulation, where samples are taken at linear intervals. LPCM is the most common form of PCM, which is why the two terms are almost interchangeable at this point.

Audio File Format: WAV

WAV stands for Waveform Audio File Format (also called Audio for Windows at some point but not anymore). It’s a standard that was developed by Microsoft and IBM back in 1991.

A lot of people assume that all WAV files are uncompressed audio files, but that’s not exactly true. WAV is actually a Windows container for different audio formats. This means that a WAV file could potentially contain compressed audio, but it’s rarely used for that.

Most WAV files contain uncompressed audio in PCM format. The WAV file is just a wrapper for the PCM encoding, making it more suitable for use on Windows systems. However, Mac systems can usually open WAV files without any issues.

Audio File Format: AIFF

AIFF stands for Audio Interchange File Format. Similar to how Microsoft and IBM developed WAV for Windows, AIFF is a format that was developed by Apple for Mac systems back in 1988.

Also similar to WAV files, AIFF files can contain multiple kinds of audio formats. For example, there is a compressed version called AIFF-C and another version called Apple Loops which is used by GarageBand and Logic Audio. They both use the same AIFF extension.

Most AIFF files contain uncompressed audio in PCM format. The AIFF file is just a wrapper for the PCM encoding, making it more suitable for use on Mac systems. However, Windows systems can usually open AIFF files without any issues.

Audio Formats With Lossy Compression

Lossy compression is when some data is lost during the compression process—and compression is important because uncompressed audio takes up lots of disk space.

In other words, lossy compression means sacrificing sound quality and audio fidelity for smaller file sizes. When it’s done poorly, you’ll hear artifacts and other weirdnesses in the audio. But when it’s done well, you won’t be able to hear the difference.

Audio File Format: MP3

MP3 stands for MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3. It was released back in 1993 and exploded in popularity, eventually becoming the most popular audio format in the world for music files. There’s a reason why we had “MP3 players” but not “OGG players”!

The main goal of MP3 is three-fold: 1) to drop all the sound data that exists beyond the hearing range of normal people, and 2) to reduce the quality of sounds that aren’t easy to hear, then 3) to compress all other audio data as efficiently as possible.

Nearly every digital device in the world with audio playback can read and play MP3 files, whether we’re talking PCs, Macs, Androids, iPhones, Smart TVs, or whatever else. When you need universal, MP3 will never let you down.

Note: MP3 is not the same as MP4!

Audio File Format: AAC

AAC stands for Advanced Audio Coding. It was developed in 1997 as the successor to MP3, and while it did catch on as a popular format to use, it never really overtook MP3 as the most popular.

The compression algorithm used by AAC is much more advanced and technical than MP3, so when you compare the same recording in MP3 and AAC formats at the same bitrates, the AAC one will generally have better sound quality.

Even though MP3 is more of a household format, AAC is still widely used today. In fact, it’s the standard audio compression method used by YouTube, Android, iOS, iTunes, later Nintendo portables, and later PlayStations.

Audio File Format: OGG (Vorbis)

OGG doesn’t stand for anything. Actually, it’s not even a compression format. OGG is a multimedia container that can hold all kinds of compression formats, but is most commonly used to hold Vorbis files—hence why these audio files are called Ogg Vorbis files.

Vorbis was first released in 2000 and grew in popularity due to two reasons: 1) it adheres to the principles of open source software, and 2) it performs significantly better than most other lossy compression formats (meaning it produces a smaller file size for equivalent audio quality).

MP3 and AAC have such strong footholds that OGG has had a hard time breaking into the spotlight—not many devices support it natively—but it’s getting better with time. For now, it’s mostly used by hardcore proponents of open-source software.

Audio File Format: WMA (Lossy)

WMA stands for Windows Media Audio. It was first released in 1999 and has gone through several evolutions since then, all while keeping the same WMA name and extension. It’s a proprietary format created by Microsoft.

Not unlike AAC and OGG, WMA was meant to address some of the flaws in the MP3 compression method—and it turns out that WMA’s approach to compression is pretty similar to AAC and OGG. Yes, in terms of objective compression quality, WMA is actually better than MP3.

But since WMA is proprietary, not many devices and platforms support it. It also doesn’t offer any real benefits over AAC or OGG, so when MP3 isn’t good enough, it’s simply more practical to go with one of those two instead of WMA.

Audio Formats With Lossless Compression

Opposite lossy compression is lossless compression, which is a method that reduces an audio file’s size without ANY loss of data between the source audio file and the compressed audio file.

The downside is that lossless compressed audio files are bigger than lossy compressed audio files—up to 2x to 5x larger for the same source file.

Audio File Format: FLAC

FLAC stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec. A bit on the nose maybe, but it has quickly become one of the most popular lossless formats available since its introduction in 2001.

What’s nice is that FLAC can compress an original source file by up to 60 percent without losing a single bit of data. What’s even nicer is that FLAC is an open-source and royalty-free audio file format, so it doesn’t impose any intellectual property constraints.

FLAC is supported by most major programs and devices and is the main alternative to MP3 for music. With it, you basically get the full quality of raw uncompressed audio at half the file size. That’s why many see FLAC as the best audio format.

Audio File Format: ALAC

ALAC stands for Apple Lossless Audio Codec. It was developed and launched in 2004 as a proprietary format but eventually became open-source and royalty-free in 2011. ALAC is sometimes referred to as Apple Lossless.

While ALAC is good, it’s slightly less efficient than FLAC when it comes to compression. However, Apple users don’t really have a choice between the two because iTunes and iOS both provide native support for ALAC and no support at all for FLAC.

Audio File Format: WMA (Lossless)

WMA stands for Windows Media Audio. We covered this above in the lossy compression section, but we mention it here because there’s a lossless alternative called WMA Lossless that uses the same extension. Confusing, I know.

Compared to FLAC and ALAC, WMA Lossless is the worst in terms of compression efficiency—but not by much. It’s a proprietary format so it’s no good for fans of open-source software, but it’s supported natively on both Windows and Mac systems.

The biggest issue with WMA Lossless is the limited hardware support. If you want to play lossless compressed audio across multiple devices and platforms, you should stick with FLAC.

Which Audio File Format Is Right for You?

For most people, the decision is pretty easy:

• If you’re capturing and editing raw audio, use an uncompressed format. This way you’re working with the truest quality of audio possible. When you’re done, you can export to a compressed format.
• If you’re listening to music and want faithful audio representation, use lossless audio compression. This is why audiophiles always scramble for FLAC albums over MP3 albums. Note that you’ll need a lot of storage space for these.
• If you’re okay with “good enough” music quality, if your audio file doesn’t have any music, or if you need to conserve disk space, use lossy audio compression. Most people actually can’t hear the difference between lossy and lossless compression.

For those who want utmost quality in their music playback, note that high-quality audio files won’t matter if your playback device can’t faithfully recreate those sounds. Meaning, you need to have good quality headphones or good quality speakers!

Image Credits: gonin/Shutterstock

Read the full article: The 10 Most Common Audio Formats: Which One Should You Use?

Read Full Article

7 Scary Internet of Things Hacks and Exploits That Really Happened

The Internet of Things (IoT for short) offers up an interconnected world of wireless devices. Manufacturers and retailers are quick to tout the convenience of controlling your home, your car, medical devices, and toys from a smartphone or computer.

But they’re less keen on disclosing the side effects. Here’s a rundown of several frightening incidents that were made possible by internet-connected devices.

1. Camera Delivers False Nuclear Missile Alert

One minute you’re watching football. The next, an emergency broadcast warns of intercontinental ballistics missiles heading to three different parts of the country. The TV never stops showing the game, and according to the news, nothing is going on. Your kid hides under the rug, terrified, while you and your spouse try to figure out what’s going on.

This happened to a family living in Orinda, California. The culprit? The Nest security camera sitting above their TV. Someone gained access to the device’s login credentials and decided to play a prank. Laura Lyons described the incident as “five minutes of sheer terror” to the Mercury News.

Reported incidents of such pranks have grown as people purchase Wi-Fi-enabled cameras from Nest and other companies. A Houston couple reportedly heard a voice in their infant’s room threaten to kidnap their child.

2. IoT-Powered Botnet Takes Down the Web

Sometimes when you can’t access a website, it’s because someone screwed up somewhere. Other times, it’s because the site is suffering from a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. A powerful device, or a network of devices, is hitting the site with more traffic than it can handle.

Toward the end of 2016, a massive DDoS attack targeted systems operated by the Domain Network System provider Dyn. Dyn’s job was to connect the web address you enter into your web browser with the IP address that points to a website.

With DNS functionality blocked, users couldn’t access dozens of high profile sites such as Amazon, GitHub, Netflix, Twitter, and Zillow. Wanted to know what was going on? You couldn’t visit the BBC, CNN, or Fox News sites either.

At the time, this was the largest DDoS on record. The culprit was a giant botnet of IoT devices that were infected with the Mirai malware. That’s right, you don’t have to own a single IoT device for their poor security to cause you problems.

3. Light Bulb Shares Your Wi-Fi Password

IoT devices seem simple. That’s part of their selling point: simplify your life by purchasing a product that’s easier to manage. But in order to connect to the internet, these products must have all the necessary code, just like a regular computer.

The thing is, while your laptop operating system goes through some effort to protect your data, the code on most IoT devices does not.

As Limited Results discovered, a white LIFX Mini light bulb doesn’t make any effort to shield the Wi-Fi network and password you provided during setup. Instead, it saves the data in plaintext (the format a text editor uses, such as Microsoft Notepad).

Anyone who finds the bulb in the trash or steals one from an outdoor light fixture can gain access to your home network.

4. Thermometer Shares Casino’s Customer Data

When you run a business, you not only have to protect your own data, you have to safeguard your customers’ data as well.

In 2018, a casino suffered a database breach from an unexpected location. According to a Business Insider report,  hackers managed to gain access to the casino’s network via a smart thermometer that monitored the water of an aquarium in the lobby.

Once the hackers gained access to the network, they found the high-roller database and uploaded the data back out via the thermometer’s cloud connection. This database showed who were the biggest spenders and other private details.

5. Smart Speaker Records Private Conversation

A few years ago, smart speakers were a novel concept. Now Amazon Echo, Google Home, and Apple HomePod devices sit on shelves in homes all over the world.

These devices provide similar functionality. They give owners the ability to get weather reports, seek out factual information, play music, and control parts of their home. You interact with these gadgets using your voice.

To detect your voice, these devices have to listen constantly. Companies promise privacy, but there have been multiple instances of speakers recording and uploading private conversations.

In one such instance, a Seattle-area news station covered a woman in Portland who received a phone call from a random phone contact who was being sent a recording from her Amazon Echo.

6. Implanted Cardiac Devices Could Have Been Hacked

This one is frightening not for what happened, but what could have happened. In 2017 the FDA confirmed that St. Jude’s implantable cardiac devices had vulnerabilities that could have been hacked. As CNN reported, the problem resided in the transmitter that remotely shared the device’s data with physicians.

If a hacker exploited the vulnerability and gained access to the device, they could deplete the battery, change the pacing, or administer shocks. Devices intended to prevent heart attacks could make matters worse.

Fortunately St. Jude released a patch. Still, as long as devices remain connected to a network, the risk exists. When it comes to heart-related devices, the stakes are particularly high.

7. Hackers Take Control of a Jeep

When you buy a new car, internet connectivity is often one of the touted features. Your car can download maps, stream music, or serve as a hotspot for the other devices in your vehicle.

Unfortunately, car companies either don’t know how to secure their vehicles or or don’t care enough to invest the necessary funds. Either way, your life is left at risk.

Hackers showed a Wired reporter how it was possible to take control of parts of a Jeep remotely. They weren’t limited to the obvious internet-related functionality, either. From the comfort of their computers, they could disable the vehicle’s brakes.

This is just one case—here are some more terrifying dangers of self-driving cars.

More IoT Hacks Are Likely in the Future

In the coming years, the number of internet connected devices is expected to grow by the billions. As more devices with poor security enter the wild, you can expect more people to take advantage of them.

The situation has gotten so bad that the Japanese government is willing to hack its own citizens to alert them to the gravity of the situation. In February 2019, the country began probing 200 million IP addresses in search for devices in the country with little to no security.

Topics like the Internet of Things can be tough to wrap your head around. The easiest way to stay safe is to avoid gadgets that call themselves “smart” and learn more about what the Internet of Things actually is.

Read the full article: 7 Scary Internet of Things Hacks and Exploits That Really Happened

Read Full Article

AmpliFi Instant: The Best Mesh Wi-Fi on a Budget

7 Essential Android TV Apps Only Available via Sideloading

Although we firmly believe that Android TV is the best operating system for your smart TV or streaming box, it isn’t perfect.

One of its downsides is the reduced size of the Google Play Store. If you access the Play Store through your Android TV, you’ll find less apps that you will on your smartphone.

Thankfully, you can sideload Android apps onto the operating system. Here are some of the essential Android TV apps you should sideload today.

Android TV App Compatibility

Any Android app will run on the Android TV operating system. You might, however, find that navigation is tricky; the apps are not necessarily compatible with the input buttons on your TV remote.

For those hard-to-navigate apps, you have three options available to you:

• Use a gaming controller: Gaming controllers have more input buttons and are thus more likely to work.
• Use a smartphone app: Some Android TV devices—such as the Nvidia Shield—have a smartphone app that you can download and use.
• Use a keyboard and mouse: If your Android TV device has a USB port or supports Bluetooth, you can use a keyboard and mouse.

Some Android TV devices ship with their own gaming remote. Xbox and PlayStation controllers may also work.

1. Google Chrome

How to Install Chrome on #Android TV https://t.co/YI8p7qygRc

— MakeUseOf (@MakeUseOf) December 23, 2017

Chrome doesn’t come preinstalled as a native app on Android TV devices; there is no browser on the operating system.

A couple of browsers are available through the Android TV Play Store, but if you’re already a Chrome user, it makes sense to sideload its APK. Depending on your Android TV device, you may also be able to install it from the Play Store on a desktop computer.

You can import all the usual stuff into Chrome on Android TV, including your bookmarks and browsing history.

Unfortunately, Google Chrome is one of the apps that you’ll struggle to operate without one of the previously-discussed alternative navigation systems.

Download: Chrome (Free)

2. Aptoide

Aptoide is one of the best Google Play alternatives. There are some significant differences between Google Play and Aptoide. For example, each user hosts their own store on Aptoide, and the Aptoide app is open source.

One of the other best Android app stores—F-Droid—is a fork of Aptoide.

There are many different versions of the Aptoide app, so make sure you grab the Android TV APK when you are downloading it from the company’s website.

Download: Aptoide (Free)

3. Minecraft

Minecraft is available for Android in the smartphone version of the Google Play Store, but you won’t find it on the Android TV version. If you try to install it from a desktop browser, you will see that your Android TV device is grayed out.

However, fans of the game will be thankful to learn that the smartphone version of the Minecraft transitions seamlessly to Android TV.

If you want to play Minecraft on Android TV, you just need to grab the APK file directly from the game’s website. Remember, you need a license to play.

Download: Minecraft (Free)

4. Hearthstone

Another Android game that’s worth sideloading is Hearthstone. Hearthstone is a fantasy card collecting game. The game offers both online head-to-heads battles and single-player missions.

Anyone who is familiar with the World of Warcraft universe will love it; Hearthstone includes characters from the Lich King, Illidan, Thrall, and more.

If you enjoy playing card games, you should also check out our article on collectible card games for iOS.

Download: Hearthstone (Free)

5. TubeMate

You won’t find any apps to download YouTube videos in the Google Play Store, so you’re forced to use sideloaded alternatives instead.

If you want to save YouTube videos onto Android TV, we recommend checking out TubeMate. It can download from all the major sites, including Vimeo and DailyMotion.

Remember, don’t download someone else’s video and claim credit for it as your own. It could potentially land you in trouble with the authorities.

Download: TubeMate (Free)

6. APK Mirror

APK Mirror is one of the best places to find an app’s APK file. The site often has the file available soon after the app goes live in the Google Play Store.

Unlike some other APK sites, which have been known to insert malware and other unwanted code into their APKs, APK Mirror has developed a reputation for trustworthiness and integrity.

There is no official APK Mirror Android app. This unofficial version was created by Vojtech Horanek of XDA Labs.

Download: APK Mirror (Free)

7. Amazon Appstore

Our final recommendation, the Amazon Appstore, is another alternative marketplace for apps.

You don’t need an Amazon device—such as a Kindle, Fire TV Stick, or Fire Tablet—to access Amazon’s store; just sideload the APK.

The Amazon Appstore has some benefits over the Google Play Store and Aptoide. Most notably, Amazon gives away lots of free content. It’s often content you need to pay for in rival stores.

At the time of writing, there is more than $20,000 of free apps and DLC to get stuck into.

Download: Amazon Appstore (Free)

Where to Find APKs for Android TV

There are a few different places to find APK files. Some of the best sites for downloading APK files include the aforementioned APK Mirror, AppBrain, and APKPure.

You can download the files onto your desktop using any browser in the Android TV Play Store. Run them using an Android file explorer app. Again, you can find one in Google Play.

Remember, you also need to know how to access sideloaded apps on Android TV. They do not show up in your regular list of apps, but there are some slick workarounds.

More Android TV Apps Worth Installing

The apps we’ve looked at in this article are all worth installing. But don’t let us put you off exploring further; there are lots of great apps in the Android TV Play Store as well.

If you would like to learn more, check out our articles on the essential Android TV apps and the best Android TV games.

Read the full article: 7 Essential Android TV Apps Only Available via Sideloading

Read Full Article

12 TickTick Tips for Every Kind of Task You Can Think Of

Can’t Empty the Trash on Your Mac? Here’s How to Fix It

Normally, emptying the Trash folder on your Mac is a quick and easy process. You open the folder and click the Empty button in the top-right corner. That’s all it takes before you get on with your life.

However, there are cases when Trash doesn’t let you permanently delete certain files. This can happen for a variety of reasons.

This guide covers how to deal with such cases. It shows how to check whether files are in use or locked. We’ll also review how to perform disk repairs in cases where a disk problem is stopping you from emptying Trash. And for advanced use, we’ll look at how to use Terminal to force the Trash to empty.

How to Empty the Trash on Mac When Files Are in Use

Often, your Mac’s Trash won’t empty because certain files inside are still in use.

Another app, or some kind of background operational process, might be using them. Either way, you’ll know this is the case because a popup will tell you something like The operation can’t be completed because the item is in use.

This means you’ll have to close the file before you can delete it permanently. For example, if the item is a Word document, you’ll have to close it in Word. If it’s an application, you’ll have to quit out of that app. And so on.

Sometimes you might not be able to identify exactly where the file is open. In these cases, perhaps a background process is using it. To test whether this is so, restart your Mac and try deleting the file again. If a background process was using it, you’ll be able to delete from the Trash this time.

Advanced File Usage Troubleshooting

Alternatively, a startup or login item might be using the file in question. You can get around this by starting up your Mac in Safe Mode. This stops some software from booting up automatically.

To boot your Mac in Safe Mode and empty the Trash:

1. Shut down your Mac.
2. Turn on your Mac and immediately hold Shift.
3. Once you’ve booted up in Safe Mode, open the Trash.
4. Click the Empty button (in the top-right corner).

This will delete the file if a startup app was using it. If not, one other option is to use Terminal to check which app has the file locked. Here’s how you do that:

1. Open Trash.
2. Press Cmd + Space to launch Spotlight.
3. Type Terminal and press Return.
4. Type lsof and press Space. This command means list open files and displays a list of files in use with the processes that opened them.
5. Go back to Trash and drag the file you want to delete to the Terminal.
6. Press Return to run the command.

This will bring up a list of the apps using the file.

Close all of them, although bear in mind that Terminal might not give the full names of apps. For example, in the screenshot above, it lists Microsoft Word as Microsoft 1839. You may thus have to try closing a number of different apps.

If this was your first taste of the Terminal, check out our Terminal beginner’s guide for more tips.

How to Empty the Trash When Files Are Locked

In another case, the files you’re trying to delete may be locked. You can easily correct this by going to Trash and unlocking them. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Open the Trash.
2. Right-click the file you want to delete.
3. Click Get Info.
4. Click the Locked checkbox.

This will unlock the file and let you delete it. Once again, you can do this by clicking the Empty button. Alternatively, you can right-click the file and click Delete Immediately.

How to Empty Trash When Your Disk Needs Repairing

It’s possible for a hard disk issue to prevent your Trash from emptying. You can run a test for this by launching Disk Utility and using the First Aid function.

Follow these instructions to complete the process:

1. Press Cmd + Space to launch Spotlight.
2. Type Disk Utility and press Return.
3. Select your hard disk’s name. Make sure it’s the one containing the file you want to delete.
4. Click First Aid, then choose Run.

The First Aid function will let you know if it finds any errors, but it can’t fix problems on your main drive while it’s running. You’ll need to reboot your Mac in Recovery Mode to fix disk issues on your startup drive.

Repairing your Mac’s disk is a good option when you have a problem and other steps haven’t worked. In most cases, a disk repair should let you permanently delete items in the Trash.

However, if it isn’t a disk issue at the root of your problems, you may need to force the Trash to empty.

How to Force the Trash to Empty

 

There are several ways to force-empty the Trash. If a file is locked and you can’t unlock it, you can try deleting it while holding the Option key. Trying holding Option while you click the Empty button.

By holding Option, your Mac will bypass any locks on files. This is quite useful if your Mac won’t let you unlock any file.

One final option is to use a Terminal command to force the Trash to empty. This overrides any locks on your files and deletes files that are still in use. It also gets around any other errors that prevent the Trash from emptying.

As such, it’s an effective way of permanently deleting files. However, it might be that macOS is preventing you from deleting files for a good reason. You may have accidentally sent something to the Trash that’s important for a certain app to operate.

You should therefore proceed with caution when using the nuclear method described below:

1. Press Cmd + Space to open Spotlight.
2. Type Terminal and press Return to launch it.
3. Type sudo rm -R and press the Space. This is the command to force-delete files.
4. Go back to the Trash and drag the files you want to delete to the Terminal window.
5. Press Return.
6. Enter your Mac’s administrator password to authorize the command. This won’t show as you type it, which is a security feature.
7. Press Return to confirm and run the command.

This will immediately delete the files you dragged to the Terminal window. You can finally rest assured that your Mac is a bit cleaner.

Back to a Neat and Tidy Mac

Emptying your Trash is a good way of keeping your Mac clean and uncluttered. It saves disk space, helping your Mac to run more smoothly.

And there are other ways to spring clean your Mac. We’ve looked at how to clean your Mac desktop and how to make your old Mac feel like new if you have an older machine. So if you want to give your computer a boost, give those a look.

Read the full article: Can’t Empty the Trash on Your Mac? Here’s How to Fix It

Read Full Article

Facebook wants up to 30% of fan subscriptions vs Patreon’s 5%

Facebook will drive a hard bargain with influencers and artists judging by the terms of service for the social network’s Patreon-like Fan Subscriptions feature that lets people pay a monthly fee for access to a creator’s exclusive content. The policy document attained by TechCrunch shows Facebook plans to take up to a 30 percent cut of subscription revenue minus fees, compared to 5 percent by Patreon, 30 percent by YouTube which covers fees, and 50 percent by Twitch.

Facebook also reserves the right to offer free trials to subscriptions that won’t compensate creators. And Facebook demands a “non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use” creators’ content and “This license survives even if you stop using Fan Subscriptions.”

Distrust of Facebook could scare creators away from the platform when combined with its significant revenue share and ability to give away or repurpose creators’ content. Facebook has consistently shown that it puts what it thinks users want and its own interests above those of partners. It cut off game developers from viral channels, inadequately warned Page owners their reach with drop over time, decimated referral traffic to news publishers, and most recently banished video makers from the feed. If Facebook wants to win creators’ trust and the engagement of their biggest fans, it may need a more competitive offering with larger limits on its power.

“Facebook reached out to offer Hard Drive early access to a “fan subscription” product” tweeted Matt Saincome, who also runs satirical news site Hard Times. “I asked my editors about it and the complete distrust amongst our team was kinda funny. We read through the terms and found a couple things that were hilarious when compared to Patreon’s 5% . . . Up to 30% and the rights to all our stuff? From the people who let us build an audience on their platform before pulling it out from under our feet? Hilarious. Here’s a crazy alternative: let people who signed up to see our content see it and then we can monetize that hahah.”

Instagram is refocusing on creators too. Instagram’s Android app reveals the prototype of a feature that lets users switch their profile into a Creator Account, similar to the Business Profiles it launched in 2016. Instagram first told The Hollywood Reporter about Creator Accounts in December but now it’s showing up in the code. Reverse engineering specialist Jane Manchun Wong generated this screenshot showing the option for Creator Accounts to hide their contact info or profile category. Fellow code digger Ishan Agrawal gave TechCrunch an exclusive look at the Instagram code that shows the Creator Accounts are “Best for public figures, content producers, artists, and influencers”. Creator Accounts give users “more advanced insights and reach more people with promotions”, “more growth tools” and “a new inbox that makes it easier to manage message requests and connect with fans.”.

Trading Control For Subscribers

Facebook began testing Fan Subscriptions a year to give creators a financial alternative to maximizing ad views after watching the rise of Patreon which now has 3 million patrons who’ll pay 100,000 artists, comedians, models, and makers over $500 million this year. This month Facebook expanded the test to the UK, Spain, Germany, and Portugal to allow users to pay $4.99 per month to a creator for exclusive content, live videos, and a profile badge that highlights them as a subscriber. While Twitch owns gamers, YouTube rules amongst videographers, and Patreon is a favorite with odd-ball creators, Facebook may see an opportunity to popularize Fan Subscriptions internationally and turn mainstream consumers into paid supporters.

The terms for Fan Subscriptions are not publicly available, and only visible on Facebook’s site to Pages it’s invited to test the feature. But TechCrunch has published the full policy document below.

Thankfully, Facebook isn’t taking a cut of Fan Subscription revenue during the test phase, and creators get to keep 100 percent of the money paid by any patrons it signs up before the official launch. Facebook tells me that it hasn’t finalized its percentage cut, though the terms permit it to take as much as 30 percent. That would qualify given Facebook tells me its rake will be in line with industry standards and creators will retain the majority of their earnings.

But whatever cut it takes will be after processing fees and the 15 to 30 percent tax Apple and Google levy on iOS and Android in-app purchases. We’ll see if Facebook tries a workaround that pushes users to their mobile browser where it can take their subscription money tax-free. And if Facebook decides it want to give users a free one-month trial or discount to any creator, they can’t stop it even if that lets people download all their exclusive content and then cancel without ever paying.

But what’s sure to raise the most hairs is the clause about “Supplemental Data” that gives Facebook a license to display a creator’s content as they might expect, but also a royalty-free license to use it however they want, even after a creator abandons Facebook Fan Subscriptions. A Facebook spokesperson confirmed that Supplemental Data does in fact cover all content provided by the creator. They claim it’s so if a creator made a custom fan sticker, a subscriber could use it in their own Facebook post, but the rule gives Facebook vast power beyond that. Patreon has a similar clause, but gets the benefit of the doubt in a way Facebook doesn’t after so many scandals.

Facebook’s spokesperson claimed that the Supplemental Data terms were similar to Facebook’s standard terms, but the normal Facebook terms say “You can end this license any time by deleting your content or account.” Not so with Fan Subscriptions. I don’t expect Facebook is going to try to outright steal and resell creators’ content, but it will have jurisdiction to use their art however it wants to fuel its war with Patreon, Twitch, and YouTube.

Creators will have to decide whether access to Facebook’s 2.3 billion users is worth the platform risk of building a following somewhere they don’t control and that has other business priorities. If Facebook’s strategy suddenly veers away from Fan Subscriptions, it could be hard for creators to score new signups or retain their old ones. At least with a dedicated site like Patreon, creators know the platform can’t abuse them without the threaten of ruin.

Here’s the full Terms Of Service for Facebook’s Patreon competitor Fan Subscriptions:

Fan Subscriptions Creator Terms

The fan funding feature (“Fan Subscriptions”) allows Facebook users to support their favorite pages, creators, group administrators, gamers, or others (“Pages”) through a monthly subscription with Facebook (“Subscription”) that gives those people (“fans”) access to digital content offered by Pages, such as exclusive digital content, fan recognition, and merchandise discounts. These Terms (“Terms”) govern how Pages use Fan Subscriptions.

With regard to your use of Fan Subscriptions, you agree to the following:

1. Your use of the Platform with respect to Fan Subscriptions is subject to, and you agree to comply with, the Platform Policy currently available at https://developers.facebook.com/policy/.
2. Your use of Fan Subscriptions to offer digital content and/or services to Facebook fans is subject to, and you agree to comply with the (a) Monetization Eligibility Standards currently available at https://www.facebook.com/help/publisher/169845596919485, and (b) Content Guidelines for Monetization currently available at https://www.facebook.com/facebookmedia/get-started/monetization_contentguidelines. You agree to follow any additional instructions and/or technical documentation we provide to you for Fan Subscriptions.
3. You will provide accurate information to fans in connection with your use of Fan Subscriptions, including but not limited as part of any digital content or services you choose to offer to them. You must clearly and conspicuously disclose all material terms regarding your offer and the nature of content or services you will provide to fans once they choose to subscribe. You agree to comply with all laws applicable to your use of Fan Subscriptions.
4. You confirm that the content you offer via Subscription does not infringe upon the intellectual property rights of any third party and that you have secured all rights necessary to distribute, copy, display, publicly perform, or otherwise use the content.
5. You will not use, incorporate, or provide any music or physical goods in connection with your use of Fan Subscriptions without FB’s prior written approval (email is sufficient).
6. You will not offer discounts on physical goods that exceed 80 percent of the offered goods’ retail value.
7. Your fans’ Subscriptions may be processed as payments to Facebook via Apple’s In-App Purchase or Google’s In-App Billing services, which are subject to Apple’s and Google’s separate payment terms and conditions. Apple and Google may charge Facebook a revenue share and/or other fees for such payment services according to their respective terms and conditions. FB will pay you a revenue share calculated as a percentage (“Your Share”) of what’s left after deduction of those fees/charges and of any other fees or taxes incurred by Facebook. As a the date of these Terms, Your Share of that net revenue is 100%. However, Facebook may in the future change these Terms such that Facebook keeps a revenue share of up to 30%. We will give 30 days’ notice of any such change.
8. Facebook reserves the right to offer discounted and free trials for fans from time to time in our discretion, whether to incentivize Subscription sign-ups or otherwise. Where we do so in relation to your Fan Subscriptions, your revenue share will be reduced accordingly: we only pay you a revenue share based on the amounts fans actually pay (less fees and taxes we incur).
9. If you have accurately completed and timely provided to FB any forms or documentation that FB reasonably determines are required to set up payment to you, and subject to and only in the event that you are in compliance in all respects with these Terms, payment of any net amounts FB receives from Apple and Google for Subscriptions made by your fans during your use of Fan Subscriptions will be on a monthly basis, within approximately 60 days after the end of the applicable month. Facebook will not be responsible for any subsequent fees applied by your financial institution to complete payment of the Monthly Fee to you. Furthermore, in the event the payment due to you would be less than One Hundred U.S. Dollars ($100.00), Facebook reserves the right to roll such payment over month to month until such payment threshold is met, at which time Facebook will make the applicable payment to you. Facebook also reserves the right to set off and/or withhold any amounts that Facebook reasonably considers are or are likely to be payable by you to Facebook under these Terms (including under any indemnities).
10. If you are providing (or allowing us to access) any data, content, or other information in connection with your use of Fan Subscriptions (collectively, “Supplemental Data”), then you grant us (and our affiliates) a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use such Supplemental Data. This license survives even if you stop using Fan Subscriptions. You are responsible for obtaining the necessary rights from all applicable rights holders to grant this license.
11. You are responsible for paying any applicable taxes owed with respect to any amounts you receive through your use of Fan Subscriptions. Facebook will charge you taxes with respect to such amounts if it is required to do so under applicable law.
12. Facebook can terminate or suspend your use of Fan Subscriptions at any time in our sole discretion, and we may change or stop offering Fan Subscriptions at any time in our sole discretion. In no event will we be liable in any way for terminating or suspending your use of Fan Subscriptions, for the discontinuation of Fan Subscriptions, for the removal of or disabling of access to content, or for the withdrawal of the content or Fan Subscriptions.
13. If you change what’s included in a Subscription in a way that could be considered material, you must give fans reasonable prior notice such that they have a reasonable opportunity to cancel their Subscriptions if they so choose, with the change only taking effect after their next Subscription fee payment.
14. If you are using Fan Subscription on behalf of a third party (including, but not limited to, as an agent or representative of a Creator), you represent and warrant that you have the authority as agent of such party to use such features on their behalf, agree to these Terms, and hereby bind such party to these Terms. You agree to indemnify and hold Facebook harmless from any claims, suits, losses, liabilities, damages, costs, and expenses resulting from your breach of the Terms. If you are accepting these Terms as admin of Facebook Business Manager for your business, these Terms shall apply to Content on all Facebook Pages and profiles owned or operated by your business at the time of acceptance and thereafter.
15. By using the Fan Subscriptions feature, you agree that we may communicate with you electronically any important information regarding your use of Fan Subscriptions, including without limitation as to Your Share and any payments. We may also provide notices to you by posting them on our website, or by sending them to an email address or street address that you previously provided to us. Website and email notices shall be considered received by you within 24 hours of the time posted or sent; notices by postal mail shall be considered received within three (3) business days of the time sent.
16. Facebook reserves the right to update these Terms from time to time. If any change to these Terms will materially disadvantage you, or materially affect the availability of the Subscription, we will provide you with notice before the changes become effective and you can choose to cancel your Subscription. Your continued use of this feature constitutes acceptance of those changes.
17. Fan Subscriptions is part of the “Facebook Products” under Facebook’s Terms of Service(“Facebook Terms”), and your use of Fan Subscriptions is deemed part of your use of Facebook Products. In the event of any express conflict between these Terms and the Facebook Terms, these Terms will govern solely with respect to your use of Fan Subscriptions and solely to the extent of the conflict. These Terms do not alter in any way the terms or conditions of any other agreement you may have with Facebook. Facebook reserves the right to monitor or audit your compliance with these Terms and to update these terms from time to time, and your continued use of Fan Subscriptions constitutes acceptance of those changes.

Read Full Article

Energizer’s P18K Pop is basically a giant battery with a smartphone built into it

This is the future you asked for.

When people read smartphone reviews, one of the first things they want to know is whether the battery life is going to be sufficient for their use cases. Well, what if the battery life was the only stat that mattered?

At MWC in Barcelona, phone maker Avenir Telecom is turning heads with an Energizer-branded behemoth that packs a punch.

The P18K Pop has a truly massive 18,000 MAh battery built-in, the manufacturer says that you could play videos for two straight days without depleting the battery. By comparison, the phone in your pocket probably has a battery in the 2,500-3,500 MAh so this things would likely be able to keep you going for several days with regular usage.

for some how this thing is called a smartphone
and i thought the #SamsungFold was THICK#energizer Power Max P18K Pop with 18000 mAh
3 to 4 cm sickness!! pic.twitter.com/tc24X3MOVz

— ahtk (@AHTK250) February 26, 2019

Consumers haven’t always been psyched about about manufacturer’s never-ending desire to trim thickness from their phones, that’s not an issue with the P18K Pop which is 18mm thick at its thinnest point. Hilariously the thing is thick as hell but manages to not have a headphone jack.

It is abundantly unclear how big the market is for this chunkster but Paris-based Avenir Telecom says they will start shipping them to customers sometime this summer.

Read Full Article

Virtual phone number apps are gaming the App Store with duplicates

If you’ve searched the App Store for an app to get a second phone number, chances are you found dozens of apps with very little differences. A handful of companies are spamming the App Store with duplicated apps. This strategy is against Apple’s rules.

The App Store Review Guidelines are detailed rules that define what you can and cannot do on the App Store. As soon as you sign up for a developer account and submit an app to the App Store review team, you agree to comply with those rules. It’s a long document, but the rule 4.3 titled “Spam” is straightforward:

Don’t create multiple Bundle IDs of the same app. If your app has different versions for specific locations, sports teams, universities, etc., consider submitting a single app and provide the variations using in-app purchase. Also avoid piling on to a category that is already saturated; the App Store has enough fart, burp, flashlight, and Kama Sutra apps already. Spamming the store may lead to your removal from the Developer Program.

A tipster looked at a specific category in the App Store — VoIP apps that let you get a second phone number, send and receive calls and texts from that new number. I looked at that category myself and here are the results of my investigation.

Companies don’t even try to hide the fact that have submitted multiple versions of the same app with different names and icons. But core features remain the same. Apple hasn’t enforced its own guideline properly and developers took advantage of that grey area.

Example 1: TextMe

As you can see on the company’s website, TextMe currently operates three apps and is open about it — TextMe Up, TextMe and FreeTone. These three apps all have an average of 4.7 stars in the App Store with hundreds of thousands of reviews in total.

The wording is slightly different for each app. TextMe Up lets you “call & text anyone in the world from your mobile, tablet, and computer”, while TextMe lets you “get a new phone number and start texting and making calls for free” and FreeTone is all about “[enjoying] free calls & texts to the phone numbers in the US and Canada”.

But if you look at the App Store screenshots, the company doesn’t even bother changing the screenshots or marketing copy.

“Our apps have a different marketing target,” TextMe, Inc. co-founder and co-CEO Patrice Giami told me in a phone interview. “They share the same code base, but we can activate or deactivate some features in order to differentiate the apps. We manage that depending on the competitive environment and if we need to optimize distribution.”

Giami also believes that his company complies with the App Store guidelines. “Apple is doing a very systematic review — we’re constantly scrutinized because we release a lot of app updates. We’ve never been flagged or contacted by Apple — they’ve never said that we’re releasing complete clones of the same app,” he said.

TextMe uses the same developer account for its three apps, Text Me, Inc. Apple could easily compare those apps if it wanted to.

Example 2: BinaryPattern and Flexible Numbers LLC

This case is a bit more sophisticated. The company behind those apps has two different developer accounts and tried to differentiate its App Store listings a bit. Similarly, buttons and colors slightly vary from app to another, but it’s the same feature set.

Here are a few screenshots I took:

Texting/Calling Phone Burner

Smiley Private Texting SMS

Texting Shield – Phone Number

Burner Phone Numbers SMS/Calls

Business Line Phone Number

I’ve reached out to BinaryPattern/Flexible Numbers and haven’t heard back.

Example 3: Appsverse Inc.

This time, Phoner, Second Line and Text Burner all share the same developer account. Even though these apps let you do the same thing, Appsverse has released its app in three different App Store categories — utilities, productivity and social networking.

By doing that, the company’s apps appear in multiple categories. Text Burner is #88 in social networking, Second Line is #74 in productivity and Phoner is #106 in utilities.

It seems a bit counterintuitive as Appsverse splits their downloads between multiple apps. But I believe the main reason the company is releasing multiple apps is for keyword optimization and App Store search results. It then picks a different category for each app, but it’s a side effect.

Appsverse has sent me the following statement:

“The guideline promotes a healthy App Store ecosystem that is good for both developers and users. It prevents proliferation of similar apps that does not have a differentiation in business model, features, use cases and demographic appeal.”

Example 4: Telos Mobile and Dingtone Inc.

On paper, Dingtone and Telos look like two different apps from two different companies. I downloaded the Dingtone app and signed up with my email address. I then downloaded the Telos app and signed up with the same email address. Here’s the message I got:

I’ve reached out to Telos/Dingtone and haven’t heard back.

A level playing field

Those companies haven’t done anything illegal. They took advantage of Apple’s lack of oversight on an App Store rule. Releasing multiple versions of the same app is a great App Store optimization strategy. This way, you can pick a different name, different keywords and different categories. Chances are potential customers are going to see your app in their App Store search results.

While Apple is usually quite strict when it comes to App Store guidelines, it hasn’t enforced some of them. And this is unfair for app developers who play by the rules. They can’t compete as effectively with companies that know that they can ignore some rules.

Read Full Article