Jurang Tayo

Jumat, 27 Desember 2019

The 10 best apps for your new Windows PC - The Verge

Anyone who has used Windows through more than one version knows that, no matter how many utilities Microsoft adds to its operating system, there are always apps and utilities that will enhance your use. We listed several good ones in last year’s edition; this year, we have a few new ones to add to the mix. If you have a brand new system, consider installing some (or all) of these.

We’ve rounded up our favorite and most-used games, apps, and entertainment. Check out our app picks for iPhones, Android phones, PCs, Macs and TVs; our favorite mobile games from Apple Arcade and Google Play Pass; and our top choices for the PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. We’ve also listed our favorite streaming shows on Disney+, Hulu and Netflix, some great sci-fi books, and exciting new podcasts. (Note: pricing was accurate at the time of publishing, but may change.)

Affinity Photo

You’ll probably want an image manipulation app for your new PC, and while Adobe Photoshop remains the king in terms of functionality, getting it means that you’ll be stuck paying Adobe on a subscription basis. That’s fine for some, but Affinity Photo is easier to recommend if you want a lean, capable photo app that is also affordable (it’s a $49 one-time purchase) and can be installed on as many machines as you’d like. The interface is similar to Photoshop, so veterans shouldn’t feel too lost, and Affinity Photo’s creators are adding new functionality on a regular basis. — Cameron Faulkner

1Password / LastPass

It should go without saying that one of the most important ways you can avoid identity theft and track all those hundreds of passwords you’ve created over the years is by using a good password manager. While there are a variety of good ones out there, 1Password and LastPass are two of the most recommended, and you can’t go wrong with either. Both will pop in to save your passwords, both will add your ID and passwords automatically to your apps, and both will recommend random combinations that will keep bad actors guessing. You can try them both out and pick the one that suits you best. — Barbara Krasnoff

TreeSize

Drive space is limited, and can get used up quickly. Before you know it, you’ll try (and fail) to install something because something else is hogging your drive. A handy free app called TreeSize Free is great to have because it helps you find out exactly what is taking up the most space. Sometimes it tells you things you might already know — for instance, that your photo collection takes up half of your drive. But in other cases, it illuminates some dormant, unnecessary files that, once deleted, can free up several gigabytes of space. — Cameron Faulkner

LibreOffice Writer

If you’d prefer to use a local client to create your documents rather than a less-secure online word processor — and you don’t want to pay for Microsoft Word — LibreOffice Writer is an excellent choice. Over the years, this open-source application has become a sophisticated, highly useful word processor that has most, if not all, of the features that more expensive business applications offer. — Barbara Krasnoff

Malwarebytes

Back when I was still on Windows 8, I got hit by some drive-by malware that didn’t let me reboot or access my anti-virus software — or any executable file. I would have been totally screwed — if I hadn’t had Malwarebytes on my hard drive. I started it up (and yes, it did start up, despite the malware), ran it twice, and it found and completely eliminated the nasty from my system. Since then, I always make sure I have a copy handy, and I run it every once in a while, just to make sure. It’s one of the most effective anti-malware solutions out there, and the version that disinfects is free for personal use. — Barbara Krasnoff

VLC Media player

Media players have improved vastly during the 20-odd years that VLC has been around, but this open-source media player is still my go-to for a simple, effective, and useful Windows player. (It’s also available for Macs, iPhones, Chrome OS, Android, and a wide variety of GNU/Linux platforms.) It’s simple, efficient, runs a wide range of audio and video codecs, and, well, just works. — Barbara Krasnoff

Audacity

Podcasts and other audio entertainment are big these days. If you’re an audio creator — or are hoping to become one — Audacity is a good audio editor to install. It’s got a variety of recording and editing tools, supports 16-bit, 24-bit and 32-bit audio, has a variety of plug-ins and offers previews of the effects those plug-ins will have. And it’s all free. — Barbara Krasnoff

Wox

Some things are worth repeating, and so we are once again recommending Wox. Wox brings a Mac-like launcher to Windows that lets you find apps and files or quickly search the web. It’s very similar to Alfred on the Mac, and it’s a much more powerful way of searching than the built-in Windows search. Wox also supports plug-ins so you can customize exactly what you search for, or even translate languages right within the launcher. — Tom Warren

Clipmate

Clipmate has been a useful utility through many versions of Windows, saving and making available thousands of your clipboard saves rather than just the last one. You can also edit your saved clips, reformat them, and share them. While Windows 10 has (finally) included the ability to access more than a single clipboard save, Clipmate remains a tool that could be practical for almost anyone’s arsenal. — Barbara Krasnoff

Ninite

The Verge’s Grayson Blackmon reports that whenever he’s starting over on a Windows build he always uses Ninite to jumpstart the process for all the essentials. It packages everything as one downloader/installer and installs it onto your new PC — no muss or fuss. Just go to the Ninite website, check off which apps you want to install (the long list includes various web browsers, messaging apps, media players, document and image creators, and others), and hit the Ninite button. It’s as easy as that. — Barbara Krasnoff

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2019-12-27 13:00:00Z
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Kamis, 26 Desember 2019

Stadia Pro's free January games are 'Rise of the Tomb Raider' and 'Thumper' - Engadget

A lot of people got an Amazon Echo or Fitbit for the holidays, based on App Store rankings - CNBC

Amazon Echo Studio

Todd Haselton | CNBC

Amazon Echoes and Fitbits were popular stocking stuffers this year, if Apple's App Store is any indication.

Following Christmas Day, Amazon's Alexa app sat atop the App Store's top free apps list, which is Apple's weekly roundup of the most popular apps. Alexa dethroned last week's top app, Disney+. YouTube took second place this week, followed by Disney+.

The Fitbit app managed to take seventh. Google is in the process of acquiring the wearables company in a deal that's under regulatory review.

The Alexa app helps customers set up their Alexa-enabled devices such as the Echo smart speaker and can be used to manage the devices. The Fitbit app is used to track and monitor the wearer's health, including calories burned and heart rate. It can also be used to log information such as food consumed throughout the day.

It's somewhat rare to see hardware-tied apps like Alexa and Fitbit on the top 10 list, but there's often a spike in popular hardware after Christmas as people set their new devices up.

Beyond Alexa and Fitbit, Spotify, Google Home and Netflix also managed to make the list this week in the eighth, ninth and 10th spots respectively. Those five apps managed to bump off three game apps, a tattoo drawing app and the Amazon mobile app this week.

The Facebook app, which placed 13th this week, was notably absent from the top 10, as was Facebook Messenger, which placed 12th. Instagram was the only Facebook-owned property to make the top 10 this week.

It is at least the second week in a row that the Facebook app has failed to appear in the top 10.

Apart from Facebook, most social media apps managed to fend off the uptick in hardware-driven apps this week. YouTube rose to the second top app, up from sixth last week. Snapchat took fourth, up from eight. TikTok came in fifth, from fourth last week, and Instagram rose to sixth, up from seventh.

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2019-12-26 14:56:00Z
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The 12 best apps for your new iPhone - The Verge

If you’re lucky enough to have unwrapped a new iPhone as a holiday gift this year, you’ll probably want to install some new apps on it. Fortunately, we’re here to help with some suggestions. We’ve divided them into two types: great apps that are just generally fun or useful to have on your phone, and apps that you should download to replace the default ones that Apple ships on your iPhone.

We’ve rounded up our favorite and most-used games, apps, and entertainment. Check out our app picks for iPhones, Android phones, PCs, Macs and TVs; our favorite mobile games from Apple Arcade and Google Play Pass; and our top choices for gaming PCs, the PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. We’ve also listed our favorite streaming shows on Disney+, Hulu and Netflix, some great sci-fi books, and exciting new podcasts. (Note: pricing was accurate at the time of publishing, but may change.)

TikTok

The internet cultural sensation of 2019 and source of some of the best internet memes and videos ever made. In other words, it’s the most fun place on the internet right now. The app makes it easy to join in and endlessly scroll through amusing clips (or even create your own viral sensation).

Tweetbot

Twitter is a vaguely terrible way to spend your time these days, but if you (like me) can’t tear yourself away from the social media service/entryway into hell, you’ll want Tweetbot, which actually makes using Twitter far less painful. Tweetbot shows you the tweets of the people you follow, in the order that they tweeted them. There are no ads or promoted tweets, powerful mute filters to block out unwanted noise, and (thanks to Twitter’s unfriendly API changes) no notifications to constantly ping you to come back to the app.

Paprika Recipe Manager

The internet is basically the best cookbook ever made, with recipes for whatever dish, dessert, or drink you want to create just a click away. Paprika lets you paste in links for those recipes, pulls out the crucial information (ingredients, directions, servings) from the sometimes endless stories and histories that food blogs insist on including, and saves the info in your own digital cookbook to pull up whenever you need it.

Halide Camera

The cameras on the new iPhones are better than ever before, and a lot of that is thanks to the helpful AI-powered algorithms that work to perfect your shots. If you have a little more photographic know-how, though, you might want an app like Halide, which is designed to let you push the cameras to the limit.

Authy

Security time! Do you secure your internet accounts with two-factor authentication? If so, great; Authy is the app you’ll want to use for authentication codes. If not, GO SET UP TWO-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION NOW! And when you do, use Authy, which does a better job of storing and keeping track of all those authentication codes than other apps like Google Authenticator.

Lastpass / 1Password

Speaking of internet security, you should probably start using a password manager instead of just entering the same password for all your accounts. LastPass and 1Password are the two best options around, each with different pros / cons and costs. Setting up a new phone is the perfect time to set up some more security. Check out our full guide here for more details.

Microsoft Outlook (instead of Apple Mail)

Apple’s default Mail app for email is still just plain bad. The UI is unwieldy and support for Gmail is still poor enough in 2019 that you should install a different email app instead. Of those, Outlook for iOS is still one of the best options around, with useful features, a fast UI, and Microsoft support that means it’ll be around for years to come.

Google Maps (instead of Apple Maps)

Apple has actually updated Apple Maps in iOS 13 (which is almost certainly already installed on your new phone), and it’s probably the best it’s ever been. That doesn’t matter, because odds are that you will move it to a folder and use Google Maps anyway, because you’re the kind of person who doesn’t like getting lost on your way to wherever it is you’re going.

Venmo (instead Apple Pay)

Whether you’re splitting the internet bills with roommates or splitting a tab at a bar, everyone has to pay someone else back at some point. Venmo makes it simple, easy, and secure — and unlike Apple Pay, it works on things that aren’t iPhones, too.

Google Photos (instead of Apple Photos)

Apple Photos is the default photo app, and you’ll likely never replace it since that’s where all the photos you take go. But you should set up Google Photos anyway, which backs up all your pictures and videos for free. True, they might not be saved in the highest quality, but it’s better than no backup at all, and when it comes to all your favorite pictures, why take the risk?

Fantastical 2 (instead of Apple Calendar)

Apple’s default Calendar is fine for basic tasks, but if you want something a little more powerful, get Fantastical. Yes, it does cost actual money, but you’ll get a UI that’s far more useful on a phone screen than Apple’s own, along with Fantastical’s excellent contextual cues that can automatically add details like dates or locations when you’re adding new events. It also has a truly excellent widget that’s far better than the default calendar app’s.

Otter (instead of Voice Memos)

This is a bit more of a niche category, but if you record a lot of voice notes on your iPhone (maybe you’re a student who wants to play back lectures, or a technology reporter who needs to interview people from time to time), then you’ll want Otter.ai. It’s an AI-powered voice recording app that live transcribes things as you talk, and stores it all in the cloud to access from anywhere. It comes with 600 minutes of transcription free per month, too, which should be plenty for most people.

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2019-12-26 13:30:00Z
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Jumat, 27 Desember 2019

The 10 best apps for your new Windows PC - The Verge

Affinity Photo

1Password / LastPass

TreeSize

LibreOffice Writer

Malwarebytes

VLC Media player

Audacity

Wox

Clipmate

Ninite

Kamis, 26 Desember 2019

Stadia Pro's free January games are 'Rise of the Tomb Raider' and 'Thumper' - Engadget

Sponsored Links

A lot of people got an Amazon Echo or Fitbit for the holidays, based on App Store rankings - CNBC

The 12 best apps for your new iPhone - The Verge

TikTok

Tweetbot

Paprika Recipe Manager

Halide Camera

Authy

Lastpass / 1Password

Microsoft Outlook (instead of Apple Mail)

Google Maps (instead of Apple Maps)

Venmo (instead Apple Pay)

Google Photos (instead of Apple Photos)

Fantastical 2 (instead of Apple Calendar)

Otter (instead of Voice Memos)