Jurang Tayo

Jumat, 27 Desember 2019

Here are 9 great apps for your new Android device - The Verge

Setting up a new phone is a flurry of entering passwords, transferring contact data, downloading must-have social media apps, and entering even more passwords. Once that’s all done, it’s time to fill your phone with everything else you might need day to day: a smarter weather app, a good email client, and some things to make sure you have plenty to read and listen to. Here are our suggestions for where to start.

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.)

Dark Sky

After a decade of owning a smartphone, having powerful apps in your pocket doesn’t really feel like a surprise anymore. But Dark Sky still feels a little bit like magic every time it works: it’s a weather app that predicts when it’s going to start and stop raining, down to the minute, and it’s usually pretty darn accurate. Should you make a run for it before the rain starts, or should you wait it out inside for a few minutes because the bad weather is going to pass? Dark Sky lets you know and can keep you from getting wet. The app’s basic features are free, but you’ll have to pay $3 per year to get its detailed rain forecasts. They’re absolutely worth the price.

1Password / LastPass

You’ve probably heard this before, but you should really be using a password manager. I’ll admit: they can be a little bit of a hassle. But once you get into the flow, everything you do online becomes far more secure, and logging in mostly becomes a breeze. Password managers create and store strong unique passwords for every website you use, so if one gets stolen — and large website breaches do occur with some regularity — all of your other accounts remain safe. I’m recommending two apps here: 1Password is my favorite (I’ve been using it for years), but it comes with a monthly fee. LastPass is a perfectly good alternative available for free; I just find it to be a little less pretty to look at.

Files by Google

This should just be the file browsing app that comes built into Android. On the occasions you need to go looking for a file that was saved to some mysterious location on your phone, Files by Google makes it a lot easier to find, with obvious sections for downloads, videos, audio, and other documents. (Android’s built-in Files app has similar options, but they’re more confusing or require more taps to get to.) Files by Google also offers some handy additional features, like an entire tab dedicated to highlighting old files you might want to get rid of to free up space.

Clue

Clue is an easy-to-use app for tracking your period, with a clean design and gender-neutral language and iconography. The app’s creator says it doesn’t sell your health data, though it occasionally shares anonymized data with researchers. This year, the app got a pair of notable updates meant to better show patterns in your cycles and highlight irregularities. The app is free to use, but Clue recently began offering an in-app subscription that gives you small perks like product discounts and emailed data reports.

Pocket

All day long I come across articles I want to read but don’t have the time for. Pocket lets you quickly save those stories for later, so you don’t forget about them, and it downloads them so you can read them offline — perfect if you’re someone who’s frequently on a subway, a plane, or just waiting around somewhere with poor signal. Will I ever finish reading my entire Pocket queue? Absolutely not. But that just means I’ll always have something waiting on my phone when I have some time to kill.

TickTick

I finally started using a proper to-do list this year, and it’s made keeping track of my work tasks (and home to-dos) so much easier. TickTick isn’t beautiful, but it’s simple and flexible. You can download it on any major platform or use it on the web, and your tasks sync across devices. Adding something is easy, thanks to natural language support (e.g. just type in “Wrap gifts at 8PM on December 24,” and you’re set). While I mostly use TickTick on my Mac, the Android app is what brings it all together, delivering notifications when I ask for them and displaying upcoming deadlines in a highly customizable widget.

Otter

For whatever reason, Android doesn’t come with a built-in voice recording app (though some device manufacturers, like Samsung and Google, make their own). If you’re a person who typically records meetings, interviews, or basically anything that involves people talking, Otter is your answer. The app makes it easy to jump into a recording, and once it’s done, it creates an automated transcript of the entire recording (in English only), even attempting to break it down between different speakers. It’s never perfect (and requires you to send your audio to Otter’s servers, something to be aware of for the privacy-conscious), but it’s surprisingly good. For someone like me, who’s perpetually looking for specific things I remember from interviews, Otter is a game changer.

Pocket Casts

Pocket Casts has long been seen as one of the best — if not the best — podcast app for Android. This year, it got even better: it’s free, with the $4 price tag disappearing in favor of some premium but optional subscription features. The app has a clean interface that puts the focus on podcast art, and there are plenty of fancier features (like cross-device playback syncing, playback speed adjustment, and silence trimming) for those looking for them.

Microsoft Outlook

Google’s Gmail app looks a lot better than it did this time last year thanks to a big redesign, but the app still isn’t very good for anyone who has to deal with tons and tons of email every day. If you’re inundated with messages, particularly ones you don’t need to immediately look at, Microsoft’s Outlook can take over. It splits your inbox into two sections — “Focused” and “Other” — automatically hiding anything it suspects is unimportant inside that lesser section. The app can also limit your notifications to just the emails it deems important enough to hit your main inbox, a major relief for anyone overwhelmed with notifications. The filtering can sometimes get things wrong, though I’ve found it errs on the side of showing too many emails, rather than having you miss something you need to see. It’s the only thing that lets me keep my work email on my phone in a healthy way.

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2019-12-27 13:30:00Z
52780522908403

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.

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
52780522112808

Jumat, 27 Desember 2019

Here are 9 great apps for your new Android device - The Verge

Dark Sky

1Password / LastPass

Files by Google

Clue

Pocket

TickTick

Otter

Pocket Casts

Microsoft Outlook

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