Nintendo has communicated quite a lot on its new online service. And the company just shared the last missing piece of information — the service will launch on September 18th.
For the first time, Nintendo will launch a subscription service to access online services. It’ll cost $20 per year, $3.99 per month or $7.99 for three months.
Subscribers will be able to play multiplayer online games, such as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Splatoon 2 and Arms. If you were already playing those games over the internet, you’ll have to start paying.
In order to sweeten the deal, the company is adding new services for subscribers. Your save data will finally be synchronized with Nintendo’s servers. If you break or lose your Switch, you’ll be able to restore your user profiles. Unfortunately, it won’t work with Splatoon 2, Dead Cells, Dark Souls Remastered, Fifa 19, NBA 2K19 and Pokémon Let’s Go.
Subscribers will also be able to play NES games for free. Around 20 games will be part of the library. If you plan on subscribing, Nintendo will offer a 7-day free trial on September 18th.
You don’t have to search too hard to find Xanax and Fentanyl dealers posting their phone numbers all over Instagram, but at least it’s starting to push people towards addiction recovery resources.
Backlash led Instagram to perform a cursory blocking of exact drug name hashtag searches in April did little to solve the problem, as sellers just moved to unblocked hashtags like “#XanaxLife” and “Oxycontins”. Facebook and Instagram could share some of the blame for 2017’s massive spike in synthetic opioid deaths that skyrocketed from 10,000 to 30,000 according to The Center For Disease Control.
So last month, Facebook began redirecting users searching to buy drugs towards a “Can we help?” box explaining that “If you or someone you know struggles with opioid misuse, we would like to help you find ways to get free and confidential treatment referrals, as well as information about substance use, prevention and recovery.” The box displayed a “Get support” button that opens The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s website. But I criticized the company for allowing accounts like “Fentanyl Kingpin Kilo” to keep operating, even after it removed posts of some Pages and profiles for violating its drug rules.
But the problem is that some people searching for drugs on Instagram are actually seeking help. “Blocking hashtags has its drawbacks. In some cases, we are removing the communities of support that help people struggling with opioid or substance misuse” Instagram tells me.
Now Instagram will start pointing users searching for words like “opioids” or “uppers” towards treatment options too. The most abused and previously blocked hashtags will remain unsearchable, but new ones like phrases and synonyms of drug names will still be available with this dismissible interstitial. An Instagram spokesperson tells me “As part of Instagram’s commitment to be the kindest, safest social network, we’re launching a new pop-up within the app that offers to connect people with information about free and confidential treatment options, as well as information about substance use, prevention and recovery.”
However, users can opt to “see posts anyway” which makes the interstitial little more than a speed bump for those adamant about finding drugs. At least Instagram tells me it’s testing type-ahead blocking so users won’t be able to easily discover drug synonyms and phrases that would surface dealers.
These pop-ups will appear when users search for opioids, prescription drugs, or illegal drug hashtags, and the company will add more hashtags to the list over time. They’ll show up today in the US before rolling out globally in the coming weeks. Info will also be available to assist concerned friends and family of victims. “We worked in close partnership with Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the NCADD, and the Partnership for Drug Free Kids to offer these resources” Instagram explained.
Instagram will have to be vigilant or dealers may win this cat-and-mouse game by constantly switching to new hashtags using drug name variants, misspellings, and synonyms, as well as by restarting terminated accounts. While it’s admirable that it’s trying to avoid shutting victims out of support communities, the relatively hands-off approach might not deter addicts. Instagram should also be flagging users posting drug names and phone numbers as potential dealers. By whitelisting accounts purposefully sharing treatment and support, it could more aggressively chase the pill peddlers.
“Keeping Instagram a safe and open place for people to share their daily lives is hugely important to us. One of the most inspiring things about Instagram is that people can come together to support one another. People from all over the world use hashtags, comments, and more to offer support and find communities who understand the issues they may be struggling with” says Instagram’s Head of Public Policy Karina Newton. “The opioid epidemic is an issue that affects millions of people, and we want to use our platform to offer resources to those who need it – in the places where they are seeking help. This is an important step for us in our ongoing commitment to make Instagram the kindest, safest social network.”
Given Instagram has over 1 billion users, is starting to make some serious ad revenue, and it owned by deep-pocketed Facebook, there’s little excuse for it not applying more content moderation resources to solve this problem already. It’s now late, and some damage has been done, so Instagram can’t play it cautiously anymore. Otherwise the opioid crisis could become the company’s latest scandal.
Google has secured a bit more buy in from Samsung for a next generation text messaging standard it’s long been promoting.
The Android OS maker’s hope for Rich Communication Services (RCS), which upgrades what SMS can offer to support richer comms and content swapping, can provide its fragmented Android ecosystem with a way to offer comparably rich native messaging — a la Apple’s iMessage on iOS.
But it’s a major, major task given how many Android devices are out there. And Google needs the entire industry to step with it to support RCS (not just device makers but carriers too) if it’s going to achieve anything more than fiddling around the edges.
Zooming out for a moment, the even bigger problem is the messaging ship has sailed, with massively popular platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram having already offloaded billions of users into their respective walled gardens, pulling the center of gravity away from SMS.
Not that that has stopped Google trying, though, even as it has been muddled in its strategy too — spreading its messaging efforts around quite a bit (with false starts like Allo).
Google doubled down on RCS in April when it pulled resources from the standalone Allo messaging app to focus on trying to drum up more support for next-gen SMS instead.
It has also managed to build a modicum of momentum behind RCS. At this year’s Mobile World Congress it announced more than 40 carriers now backed RCS — up from ~27 the year before. The most recent support figure put the carrier number at 55.
But, three years on from its acquisition of RCS specialist Jibe Mobile — and ambitious talk of building ‘the future of messaging’ — there’s little sign of that.
An added wrinkle is that carriers also have to have actively rolled out RCS support, not just stated they intend to. And it’s not clear exactly how many have.
Nor is it clear how many users of RCS there are at this stage. (Back in 2016 carriers were merely talking about building “a path” to one billion users — at a time when SMS had several billions of users, suggesting they saw little chance of creating anything near next-gen messaging ubiquity via the standard.)
The latest Google-backed RCS development, announced via press release, is of an “expanded collaboration” between Mountain View and Samsung — saying their respective message clients will “work seamlessly with each company’s RCS technology, including cloud and business messaging platforms”.
The pair have previously added RCS support to “select Samsung devices” but are now saying RCS features will be brought to some existing Samsung smartphones — including (and beginning with) the Galaxy S8 and S8+, as well as the S8 Active, S9, S9+, Note8, Note9, and select A and J series running Android 9.0 or later.
Which sounds like a fair few devices. But it’s also muddier than that — because again support remains subject to carrier and market availability. So won’t be universal across even that subset of Samsung Android handsets.
They also now say that (select) new Samsung Galaxy smartphones will natively support RCS messaging. But, again, that’s only where carriers support the standard.
“This means that consumers and brands will be able to enjoy richer chats with both Android Messages and Samsung Messages users,” they add, after their string of caveats.
Despite the PR ending on an upbeat note — with the two companies talking about bringing an “enhanced messaging experience across the entire Android ecosystem” — there’s clearly zero chance of that. A clear consequence of the rich ‘biodiversity’ of the Android ecosystem is reduced ubiquity for cross-device standardization plays like this.
Still, if Google can cherry pick enough flagship devices and markets to buy in to supporting RCS it might have figured that’s critical messaging mass enough to stack against Apple’s iMessage. So added buy in from Samsung — whose high end devices are most often contending with iPhones for consumers’ cash — is certainly helpful to its strategy.
You should always protect your data by backing it up, but it goes beyond documents and photos. Windows applications and utilities that you use all the time also create data, so we’re going to show you how to back up and restore these without even using backup software.
Applications like Maps and Sticky Notes, along with utilities like the Registry Editor and Printer all contain important settings and customization data. You don’t want to lose this!
If you have your own backup tips to share for Windows tools without additional software, let us know in the comments.
General Backup Advice
Data is the lifeblood of your computer and you should look after it. The methods outlined in this guide are great for quick backups of Windows apps and utilities, but for the ultimate protection you should always backup your entire system regularly and follow these tips:
Have multiple copies of all your data: If you’d be annoyed to lose it, back it up.
Use different storage media: Do not keep your backups on the same drive as the source—if that device fails, you’ve lost everything.
Store one backup offsite: If you keep all your backups physically close, one natural disaster is the end—consider the cloud for easy offsite storage.
On the left pane, right click the DefaultAccount folder and click Export. Navigate to where you want to save it, give the .reg file a name, and click Save. Close the Registry Editor.
Again, press Windows key + R. Input %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Shell and click OK. This will open a folder via File Explorer.
Within this folder is a file called DefaultLayouts.xml. Copy and paste this file into the same place you saved the .reg file.
Restore the Start Menu Layout
To restore from the backup you created previously, press Windows Key + R to open Run, input regedit, and click OK.
On the left pane, right click the DefaultAccount folder and click Delete. Click Yes to confirm. Close the Registry Editor.
Next, navigate to where you saved the .reg file and double click it. The Registry Editor will ask if you’re sure you want to continue. Click Yes and then OK.
Copy your backed up version of DefaultLayouts.xml. Press Windows key + R, input %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Shell, and click OK. Paste the file here. Click Replace the file in the destination.
Sign out and back into your account to complete the process.
This process uses the Printer Migration application, which is only available if you’re running Windows 10 Pro edition.
Backup Printer Settings
Press Windows key + R to open Run. Input PrintBrmUi.exe and press OK. This will open the Printer Migration application.
Select Export printer queues and printer drivers into a file and click Next. Select This print server and click Next twice.
Click Browse… to select where you want to save the .printerExport file to. When ready, click Next, then Finish.
Restore Printer Settings
Press Windows key + R, input PrintBrmUi.exe, and press OK.
Select Import printer queues and printer drivers from a file. Click Next, then click Browse… and locate the backup file you made previously. Click Next.
Review the list of items to be imported and click Next. Select This print server and click Next.
Use the Import mode dropdown to choose between Keep existing printers or Overwrite existing printers. The latter is probably the choice you want, but read the descriptions for each.
Click Next, then Finish, and you’re done.
4. Windows Registry
The Registry is a database of settings for Windows, its hardware, applications, users, and more. It can be a powerful tool for configuring your computer, but it’s also important not to screw anything up in the Registry. To keep yourself safe, ensure you backup your Registry, not least before making any changes in it.
To begin, press Windows key + R to open Run. Input regedit and click OK. This will open the Registry Editor.
Back Up Your Windows Registry
To back up the entire Registry, right-click on Computer in the left-hand pane and click Export. Navigate to where you want to keep your backup, input a File name and click Save.
You can also backup specific folders of the Registry rather than the entire thing. To do so, use the instructions above, but replace Computer with whatever the folder is.
Restore Your Printer Settings
To restore, open the Registry Editor and go to File > Import… Navigate to where the backup is and double click it to wind back time.
Keep Backing Up Your Data
Whether you use third-party software to backup or use our handy tips above, the important thing is that you actually are backing up. Don’t delay: save yourself a headache in the future and get on it now.
You shouldn’t back up only your Windows apps. You should take steps to back up your Outlook emails on a regular schedule too.
Google has secured a bit more buy in from Samsung for a next generation text messaging standard it’s long been promoting.
The Android OS maker’s hope for Rich Communication Services (RCS), which upgrades what SMS can offer to support richer comms and content swapping, can provide its fragmented Android ecosystem with a way to offer comparably rich native messaging — a la Apple’s iMessage on iOS.
But it’s a major, major task given how many Android devices are out there. And Google needs the entire industry to step with it to support RCS (not just device makers but carriers too) if it’s going to achieve anything more than fiddling around the edges.
Zooming out for a moment, the even bigger problem is the messaging ship has sailed, with massively popular platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram having already offloaded billions of users into their respective walled gardens, pulling the center of gravity away from SMS.
Not that that has stopped Google trying, though, even as it has been muddled in its strategy too — spreading its messaging efforts around quite a bit (with false starts like Allo).
Google doubled down on RCS in April when it pulled resources from the standalone Allo messaging app to focus on trying to drum up more support for next-gen SMS instead.
It has also managed to build a modicum of momentum behind RCS. At this year’s Mobile World Congress it announced more than 40 carriers now backed RCS — up from ~27 the year before. The most recent support figure put the carrier number at 55.
But, three years on from its acquisition of RCS specialist Jibe Mobile — and ambitious talk of building ‘the future of messaging’ — there’s little sign of that.
An added wrinkle is that carriers also have to have actively rolled out RCS support, not just stated they intend to. And it’s not clear exactly how many have.
Nor is it clear how many users of RCS there are at this stage. (Back in 2016 carriers were merely talking about building “a path” to one billion users — at a time when SMS had several billions of users, suggesting they saw little chance of creating anything near next-gen messaging ubiquity via the standard.)
The latest Google-backed RCS development, announced via press release, is of an “expanded collaboration” between Mountain View and Samsung — saying their respective message clients will “work seamlessly with each company’s RCS technology, including cloud and business messaging platforms”.
The pair have previously added RCS support to “select Samsung devices” but are now saying RCS features will be brought to some existing Samsung smartphones — including (and beginning with) the Galaxy S8 and S8+, as well as the S8 Active, S9, S9+, Note8, Note9, and select A and J series running Android 9.0 or later.
Which sounds like a fair few devices. But it’s also muddier than that — because again support remains subject to carrier and market availability. So won’t be universal across even that subset of Samsung Android handsets.
They also now say that (select) new Samsung Galaxy smartphones will natively support RCS messaging. But, again, that’s only where carriers support the standard.
“This means that consumers and brands will be able to enjoy richer chats with both Android Messages and Samsung Messages users,” they add, after their string of caveats.
Despite the PR ending on an upbeat note — with the two companies talking about bringing an “enhanced messaging experience across the entire Android ecosystem” — there’s clearly zero chance of that. A clear consequence of the rich ‘biodiversity’ of the Android ecosystem is reduced ubiquity for cross-device standardization plays like this.
Still, if Google can cherry pick enough flagship devices and markets to buy in to supporting RCS it might have figured that’s critical messaging mass enough to stack against Apple’s iMessage. So added buy in from Samsung — whose high end devices are most often contending with iPhones for consumers’ cash — is certainly helpful to its strategy.
If you weren’t done watching tech giants get grilled by lawmakers, mark your calendar for September 26 in what’s expected to be another riveting round of questioning.
Policy chiefs from AT&T and Charter, along with senior executives at Apple, Amazon, Google and Twitter will face questions from the Senate Commerce Committee later this month about how each company approaches safeguards to consumer privacy. The tech and telco companies will be asked to “discuss possible approaches to safeguarding privacy more effectively,” among other things.
Noticeably absent is Facebook; though the committee says the witness list is subject to change.
Committee chairman Sen. John Thune ssaid the hearing will allow the companies to “explain their approaches to privacy, how they plan to address new requirements from the European Union and California, and what Congress can do to promote clear privacy expectations without hurting innovation.”
Beyond that, it’s not clear exactly what the point of the hearing is.
A congressional source told TechCrunch to expect each company to explain for one what they could do to protect privacy outside of the law, and what role Congress can play in creating a single set of privacy requirements.
This will be the latest in a string of hearings in recent months following the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which embroiled Facebook in an exposure of millions of users’ data.
This will be the second Senate Commerce Committee hearing this year focused on the issue. Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg was called to testify in April and later the Senate Intelligence Committee has held several hearings to discuss election security and disinformation campaigns around the 2018 midterm elections.
Gooooood morning, Cupertino. Today’s the big event at Apple HQ. 2018’s been a slow year for Apple hardware (including a complete no-show at WWDC a few months back). As ever, we’ll be on-hand to help make sense of all of the news as it breaks, and you can follow along with our handy liveblog below. For those who want it straight from the source, you can follow Apple’s live stream or over on Twitter.
As far as what to expect, but all accounts, there’s going to be A LOT. New iPhones are basically a given. Likely there will be a sequel to the iPhone X, along with a cheaper version that keeps the design in tact, while swapping the OLED for something a bit cheaper. A new version of the Apple Watch also seems like all but a given at this point. Here’s a rundown of the most likely announcements for today’s big show to help you brace for the news.
Gooooood morning, Cupertino. Today’s the big event at Apple HQ. 2018’s been a slow year for Apple hardware (including a complete no-show at WWDC a few months back). As ever, we’ll be on-hand to help make sense of all of the news as it breaks, and you can follow along with our handy liveblog below. For those who want it straight from the source, you can follow Apple’s live stream or over on Twitter.
As far as what to expect, but all accounts, there’s going to be A LOT. New iPhones are basically a given. Likely there will be a sequel to the iPhone X, along with a cheaper version that keeps the design in tact, while swapping the OLED for something a bit cheaper. A new version of the Apple Watch also seems like all but a given at this point. Here’s a rundown of the most likely announcements for today’s big show to help you brace for the news.
How do you pick the best free Udemy classes when there are more than 80,000 online courses to choose from? Well, here are a few steps if you are only interested in the free courses:
Decide your topic.
Use the Udemy menu to drill down to the Categories.
Search for course with the right keyword in the Search Bar.
Click the All Filters button on the search result page.
Apply the Free filter.
Then it’s just a few minutes of diligent sifting to find the course with the best ratings and a good number of enrollments. Use the video preview to check if the instructor’s rhythm agrees with you. The comments can also be a good pointer to the quality of any course.
I put these steps to the test in order to find the best free Udemy classes. Many of the top courses are around technology topics. And as you know, we really like to talk about tech. So here we are…
I am assuming you are a beginner. You have decided to test the logical side of your brain. So let’s start with the basic tools of the trade. This course does not teach you any programming languages, but instead offers a gentle introduction to the journey ahead. Like everything else, a coder sticks to some basic principles which you should always remember.
Machine learning is hot. But you can’t use machine learning unless you know how to program. Help yourself to the basics with this free guide. Python is among the world’s most popular programming languages, ranked at the top by IEEE Spectrum in 2017.
It is also flexible, as you can use Python for building desktop and web apps if you don’t want to go into machine learning. The Introduction to Python Programming covers the basics and does not ask for any prior programming experience.
As mentioned, machine learning is already shaping our lives. So grab the basics of machine learning before you dive into deep learning and AI. All three are interrelated and involve the specific set of techniques that enable machines to learn from data and make predictions.
Udemy has a big roster of excellent machine learning courses. But The Top 5 Machine Learning Libraries in Python course is a gentler introduction and comes at the unbelievable price of free. For instance, there are six lectures devoted to Scikit-Learn, which is the gold standard Python library for general-purpose machine learning and covers many common algorithms used in projects.
Data science uses statistical tools to extract patterns in big sets of data. It overlaps with artificial intelligence and machine learning, as intelligent algorithms are designed to learn more about the world around us. If you want to become a data scientist, your skillsets will include Python, R, Hadoop, and SQL. Start with this primer course (the first of a series) that will stoke your interest.
5. Get Introduced to Cloud Computing: AWS Concepts
If cloud services are the present and the future, then Amazon Web Services is at the vanguard. Amazon offers a training and certification path for learning practical skills to help manage the cloud for large enterprises. There are several in-demand niche areas like cloud architecture, container and docker technology, and even cloud backup and disaster recovery.
But this free Udemy course from Linux Academy can be the first step to gather the basic concepts. To make it easier, there are no technical explanations or definitions to memorize. It is visual and conceptual.
I read somewhere that a data analyst who doesn’t know SQL won’t get far. But you don’t need to look that far; just see how databases are at the core of any business today. The Structured Query Language (SQL) is how you speak to databases. With SQL you can track your own data and make your own reports instead of relying on the tech department. You can even use SQL with Microsoft Excel.
This is an introductory course on Databases and SQL Querying. It is a simple walkthrough of SQL queries and how you can extract data from a database. It is just the right introduction for someone who does not have any knowledge of SQL.
Want to be comfortable in a foreign land? Learn the native language. Want to be a good developer on the web? Learn JavaScript. It is like a “default” language (along with Java and C++) if you want to go anywhere. TechRepublic cites research from the Cloud Foundry Foundation that says:
“According to the research, Java is used in 58% of the organizations represented by the 601 respondents, and JavaScript is used in 57%.”
Last year’s StackOverflow Developer Survey also put JavaScript at the top, as do many other surveys. So just take their word for it and take this basic course that will not only show you how JavaScript works, but also teach you with a mini-project.
Unity is a complete software application for game development. An integrated development environment (IDE) like Unity is the less difficult way to design your own game. The harder way is to learn the black arts of programming languages like C++ and Java from scratch. Unity gives you many of the assets for game development along with a code editor. So the workflow is much easier.
This free Udemy course will show you that workflow, from the installation to the process of controlling game objects with code. Some experience with coding will help, but it is not essential. Also, this course is updated for 2018 with a bonus section at the end.
Take any industry, and we’ll bet that while this single skill may look good on your resume, its benefits will jump beyond that paper. If you are good at project management, you will also learn to be adept at managing risk, change, and people. Those are invaluable soft skills for today’s competitive landscape.
More than 100,000 students are enrolled in this course. You may not want to become a project manager just yet, but take this course anyway. It might give you a few insights into your own productivity.
Hard skills are the bricks. But soft skills are the mortar. You can flounder in your career if you do not develop soft skills like critical thinking and problem-solving. Today, a technology career also needs creativity and design thinking. Maybe some of these soft skills will help us save our jobs from the robots.
As the world changes every day, this course gives you a few hyperthinking tools that can help you frame a situation and think about it in a new way. With these critical thinking tools, you can take on challenges with more confidence.
Select Your Udemy Course and Dive In
These aren’t the only best free Udemy classes, of course. There are many more that are well-rated. The word “best” is relative and you will find your own picks once you work through the course roster. Free Udemy courses are a no-risk introduction to the subjects you are interested in; the only investment is time.
Do remember that learning online on your own needs a lot of self-discipline. So keep these tips in mind as you start your class.
Researchers at the University of Maryland are adapting the techniques used by birds and bugs to teach drones how to fly through small holes at high speeds. The drone requires only a few sensing shots to define the opening and lets a larger drone fly through an irregularly shaped hole with no training.
Nitin J. Sanket, Chahat Deep Singh, Kanishka Ganguly, Cornelia Fermüller, and Yiannis Aloimonos created the project, called GapFlyt, to teach drones using only simple, insect-like eyes.
The technique they used, called optical flow, creates a 3D model using a very simple, monocular camera. By marking features in each subsequent picture, the drone can tell the shape and depth of holes based on what changed in each photo. Things closer to the drone move more than things further away, allowing the drone to see the foreground vs. the background.
As you can see in the video below, the researchers have created a very messy environment in which to test their system. The Bebop 2 drone with an NVIDIA Jetson TX2 GPU on board flits around the hole like a bee and then buzzes right through at 2 meters per second, a solid speed. Further, the researchers confused the environment by making the far wall similar to the closer wall, proving that the technique can work in novel and messy situations.
The team at the University of Maryland’s Perception and Robotics Group reported that the drone was 85 percent accurate as it flew through various openings. It’s not quite as fast as Luke skirting Beggar’s Canyon back on Tatooine, but it’s an impressive start.
Grammarly now supports Google Docs. Over the course of the last few years, Grammarly has made a name for itself as one of the better grammar and spelling checkers on the market. As a Chrome extension, it neatly integrates with virtually every major online tool and social media site, but until now, Google Docs remained a blind spot.
Because of its real-time collaboration features, the Google Docs editor isn’t just a straight-up text field, after all, so the Grammarly team had to do a bit of extra work to make its service work there. Once you have installed the extension, though, it’ll now work just like in any other web app.
The feature has actually been available as a beta to paying premium users for a little while, but now everybody can give it a try.
It’s interesting to see Grammarly come to Google Docs now. In July, after all, Google announced that it was bringing its own grammar checker to Google Docs, too. Google’s twist here is that it is basically using the same kind of machine learning techniques that power its translation software to check for errors in your documents. My sense is that Grammarly actually offers a more comprehensive set of tools for keeping you from embarrassing yourself with bad grammar (including help with punctuation, for example), but Google’s tool remains in private beta, so I haven’t been able to give it a try yet.
Grammarly’s paid plans start at $29.95 per month, but you get a discount if you pre-pay for three months or a full year (and the company also regularly offers discounts to its free subscribers). There also is a team plan for businesses that starts at $10/month/members (with a minimum of three subscribers).
If you’re having trouble finding the right match for you, why not turn to online dating? Any stigma online dating had in the past is gone, with dozens of apps to choose from and thousands of couples crediting their love to these apps.
In this article we’ll show you the best free dating apps for young adults (anyone 18 to 25), along with some advice for using them. If you’re older, check out our list of dating sites for mature singles instead.
A Warning on Age Restrictions
Before we continue, it’s important to note that due to laws in the U.S. and elsewhere, there are legal issues with under-18s using dating apps. Therefore, none of the apps below allow users under 18 years old to join, but of course, these measures aren’t foolproof.
While using any dating apps, we advise you to take caution with regards to age. Don’t take anyone’s age at face value, and be careful of predators looking to take advantage of apps aimed at younger people. We’ll share some safety tips after we discuss the apps.
To be clear: We don’t condone anyone under 18 using these apps.
1. OKCupid
For an all-around free dating app, OKCupid is the gold standard. The site uses powerful algorithms to find you the right matches.
OKCupid asks you to answer a large amount of personality questions when you sign up. As you do, you also select the answers you’d find acceptable in a partner. These questions range from the serious, like the importance of religion in your life, to the silly, like what crime you’d most likely be thrown in jail for.
By browsing others’ public answers, you can get a good idea of whether they’re a good fit for you. Messaging on OKCupid is free for everyone. This is great because you don’t have to pay to talk to someone you like, but it opens the door for unsolicited creepy messages.
The DoubleTake features offers a Tinder-like swiping interface for easy match evaluation, while Discovery highlights matches from variety of criteria. You can upgrade to the paid A-List plan to see who liked you, add more search filters, and more.
Overall, OKCupid is a good fit for people who want to try standard online dating without paying. It’s also less focused on hookups than some other options. Check out how OKCupid compares to some other dating apps if you’re interested.
Download: OKCupid for Android | iOS (Free, subscription available)
2. Tinder
You can’t have a discussion about dating apps for young adults with talking about Tinder. The app arguably popularized the dating app scene (succeeding past website-only dating services) and is still going strong.
Its interface is simple: swipe right if you like someone, and swipe left if you’re not interested. If two people swipe right on each other, they have the opportunity to exchange messages. But you can’t send messages to anyone without matching first—we’ve covered what to do after you match on Tinder previously.
That’s really all there is to it. The vast majority of Tinder users are under 35, so it’s a great choice for younger people. However, Tinder is heavily geared towards hookup culture. While it’s not impossible to find a long-term partner on Tinder, those looking for a serious relationship should keep that in mind.
Since Tinder matches you locally, there’s less chance that you’ll get matched with people hundreds of miles away like in other apps. The free version of Tinder limits the number of right swipes you get; upgrade to Tinder Plus or Tinder Gold to unlock more features.
Download: Tinder for Android | iOS (Free, subscription available)
3. PlentyOfFish
PlentyOfFish (POF) is another well-known free dating site. Its sheer size makes it a good option for finding a match, though sorting through all the noise can be a bit tough.
POF offers several ways to connect. Like OKCupid, it’s free to message anyone. You can also use the Nearby tab to look through other mobile users who are near you.
Of course, the service also brings you matches based on a chemistry test. Meanwhile, the Meet Me section brings the familiar Tinder-like interface of swiping on profiles.
An upgraded POF membership offers extended profiles, priority in Meet Me, username search, and more. A minor drawback is that PlentyOfFish’s interface is pretty dated and a bit cluttered, especially on the web. But it’s certainly worth a try.
Download: PlentyofFish for Android | iOS (Free, subscription available)
4. Bumble
If you like the idea of Tinder but want to shake it up a bit, Bumble is for you. This app uses the same swiping gestures and simple profiles as Tinder, but with one crucial difference: women always make the first move.
Once two people swipe-right on each other, the woman can choose whether or not to start a conversation. If she doesn’t do so within 24 hours, the match disappears. In a same-sex match, either person can initiate the conversation.
To help combat abuse, Bumble has a photo verification feature. This asks you to upload a selfie in a specific pose, which a real person reviews. Doing so adds a check mark to your account, letting others know you’re a legitimate profile.
Bumble offers a paid Bumble Boost service, which adds additional features.
Download: Bumble for Android | iOS (Free, subscription available)
5. Coffee Meets Bagel
If you find the onslaught of matches in other apps overwhelming, Coffee Meets Bagel (CMB) is for you. The app takes a curated approach: at noon each day, the app sends you a handful of matches (“bagels”). Thus, instead of swiping through tons of people’s profiles, you can check out a few and see if you’re interested in them.
Men receive pre-selected matches, while women only receive bagels that have expressed interest. Once you match, you’ll be able to start a conversation. CMB even provides some starter questions to ease you in.
Upgrading to CMB’s premium plan adds information about how often your matches respond to chats, read receipts, plus more features.
After you connect and chat in an app for a while, you’ll eventually want to meet your potential match in person. This is great, but it’s important to take care when doing so.
You should always meet in a public place, like a restaurant or coffee shop. Having lots of other people around reduces the chance of your date threatening you or something similar.
It’s also wise to drive yourself to the date (don’t let them pick you up). Let some friends or family know where you’re going and how long you expect to be, just in case something happens. You should also avoid drinking alcohol the first few times you meet to avoid that layer of complication.
Avoid Common Scams
Unfortunately, the free nature of many dating apps opens them widely to scams. Always be on the lookout for signs that a profile is looking to rip you off:
Their photos are edited or stolen
They jump all over the place in conversation
They ask you to chat on another app or via email right away
Aside from avoiding scams, you should also take steps to protect your privacy while using dating apps. Don’t use the same profile picture you have set everywhere, which makes it easy to find you online. Avoid linking to your social media accounts, and be careful what photos you include.
Will Online Dating Find Your Match?
Online dating sounds like a magic bullet, but it’s not easy. It’s a tough balance of expressing yourself, chatting with matches, and avoiding the potential dangers that come along with dating apps. Don’t be afraid to block people if they get creepy, and remember that building connections takes time.
We’re just hours away from Apple’s big iPhone event and it looks like the company may have leaked its own news. AllThings.how spotted the names of future Apple products on Apple’s own website.
According to AllThings.how, Apple updated the product sidemap file minutes before taking the Apple Store down to add the new product pages. And this sitemap pointed to pages of unreleased products.
In particular, you could see links to products pages for the iPhone Xs, the iPhone Xs Max and the iPhone Xr. It lines up with previous rumors.
According to previous rumors, Apple is going to update the iPhone X with better components. In addition to this rumored iPhone Xs, there will be a bigger version of this device — a gigantic 6.5-inch iPhone Xs Max. Finally, Apple is going to replace the iPhone 8 with the iPhone Xr, a 6.1-inch device with an LCD display and a design inspired by the iPhone X.
Based on this sitemap file, the iPhone Xs and Xs Max should come in space gray, silver or gold. You’ll get to choose between 64GB, 256GB and 512GB. The iPhone Xr should be available in black, white, red, yellow, coral or blue. Storage starts at 64GB as well, and you can pay a bit more to get 128GB or 256GB of storage.
In addition to iPhone names, the updated XML file contains interesting information about the new Apple Watch. A previous leaked image obtained by 9to5Mac showed a new edge-to-edge display.
And it looks like the Apple Watch display will be slightly larger indeed. According to today’s leak, the small Apple Watch will feature a 40mm display (instead of 38mm). The bigger version will sports a 44mm display (instead of 42mm). It doesn’t sound like a huge increase, but you should also see an improved screen resolution.
Finally, the sitemap doesn’t indicate any change in the iPad and Mac lineups. Maybe Apple won’t mention those products at all. The company might also talk about updates that will be available later this year. Or Apple could unveil updated devices in the coming months.
Again, this is just a sidemap and it doesn’t necessarily reflect the final names of those products. But given the timing of this leak, it sounds more than plausible.
Instagram will have to be vigilant or dealers may win this cat-and-mouse game by constantly switching to new hashtags using drug name variants, misspellings, and synonyms, as well as by restarting terminated accounts. While it’s admirable that it’s trying to avoid shutting victims out of support communities, the relatively hands-off approach might not deter addicts. Instagram should also be flagging users posting drug names and phone numbers as potential dealers. By whitelisting accounts purposefully sharing treatment and support, it could more aggressively chase the pill peddlers.
