How to Transfer Google Contacts From Android to iPhone
Do you want to transfer all your contacts from Android to iPhone? Or maybe you want to sync your Google contacts with an iPhone so the two lists are always identical? Whatever the reason, moving all your contacts to different email providers and operating systems can be a daunting task.
If you want to know how to import Google contacts to iCloud or an iPhone, keep reading. We’re going to explain a few different approaches you can take.
1. Transfer Gmail Contacts to iCloud Automatically
First, let’s look at how you can sync your Google contacts with an iPhone using nothing more than the two respective mobile operating systems. This method is only a feasible option if you have both an Android device and an iPhone on hand. If you don’t have both devices, you’ll need to skip forward to next solution.
To begin the process of transferring contacts from Android to iPhone, you need to ensure that the contacts on your Android device are actively syncing with your Google account.
Grab your Android device, open the Settings app, and go to Accounts > Google. If you have more than one Google account connected to your device, make sure you select the appropriate email address.
Next, tap on Account sync. You will see a list of the various types of data that can sync between your device and your Google account. Scroll down to Contacts and make sure accompanying toggle is the On position.
Finally, force a manual sync by tapping on the three dots in the upper-right corner and choosing Sync now. Give the synchronization process a couple of minutes to complete before moving on.
On Your iPhone
Now it’s time to switch devices. You need to tell your iPhone to pull the contacts from your Google account so they’re available on that device.
Fire up your iPhone and open the Settings app. Scroll down the list of options and tap on Password and Accounts.
If you have not already added your Google account to your iPhone, now is the time to do so. Select Add Account (at the bottom of the list of your existing accounts), then select Google and type your credentials.
Next, tap on the Google entry in your list of accounts. You will see four types of data that you can sync from your Google account to your iPhone: Mail, Contacts, Calendar, and Notes. Make sure the toggle by Contacts is in the On position.
Give the sync process some time to complete, and you should see eventually see your Google contacts in your iPhone’s Contacts app.
2. Import Google Contacts to iPhone Manually
It’s also possible to transfer Gmail contacts to iCloud without touching either an Android or iOS device. The process involves downloading your contacts from your Gmail account, then uploading them back into your iCloud account.
To begin, head to Google Contacts in a web browser and enter your login credentials. You should see a list of all your Google contacts.
To grab a copy of these Google contacts, click on Export in the left panel. This will provide you with three different formats to choose from: Google CSV, Outlook CSV, and vCard (for iOS Contacts). Select the vCard option.
The same dialog box also lets you choose whether to export all your contacts or only the ones you have selected. Make your choice as required. When you’re ready, click on Export. The file will download onto your machine.
Now you need to head to your iCloud account. Go to the iCloud website and enter your username and password. You will see a list of all your iCloud apps—choose Contacts to proceed.
Once the Contacts app loads, you need to click on the Gear icon in the lower-left corner, then choose Import vCard from the popup menu.
Locate the contacts file that you just downloaded and hit Open. Your Gmail contacts will then start transferring into your iCloud account. The process may take a couple of minutes, depending on the number of contacts you’re syncing.
As soon as the import process finishes, all your Google contacts will immediately be available in the Contacts app on your iPhone.
3. Use Third-Party Apps to Transfer Gmail Contacts to iCloud
The other way to transfer contacts from Android to iPhone is to let a third-party app take care of the entire process for you. Once the app is up and running, you’ll never need to worry about performing manual syncs or exporting/importing data.
A couple of apps in the Google Play Store are worth checking out.
Bluetooth Contact Transfer
As the name suggests, Bluetooth Contact Transfer uses Bluetooth technology to import Google contacts onto your iPhone. It offers three different file formats: PDF, TXT, and VCF. For your iPhone to accept the file, you need to select the VCF option.
As an aside, this is also great if you want to make a backup of your Google contacts for any reason. The app is ad-supported.
Download: Bluetooth Contact Transfer (Free)
My Contacts Backup
My Contacts Backup is another app worth considering for syncing Google contacts to an iPhone.
To make the transfer, you will need to install the app on your Android device and generate a VCF file. There is an in-app option to send the file to yourself via email, though you can also transfer via SD card and USB if you prefer.
While an iOS companion app exists, you don’t need to install it to add the contacts to your iPhone. Just tap on the VCF attachment from your iPhone’s email client and the rest of the process is automated.
My Contacts Backup is restricted to 500 contacts per transfer on the free version of the app. A pro version, which also unlocks the ability to restore contacts in-app, costs $1.
Download: My Contacts Backup for Android | iOS (Free, premium version available)
Transfer More Data From Android to iPhone
Contacts aren’t the only type of data that you might want to transfer from Android to iPhone. There are also photos, calendars, notes, downloads, and a whole lot more.
To learn more about how to transfer content between the two operating systems, check out our guides on how to transfer iOS contacts to Gmail and how to transfer data from iOS or Android to an iPhone.
Read the full article: How to Transfer Google Contacts From Android to iPhone
Source: MakeUseOf | 18 Sep 2019 | 4:00 am(NZT)
Netflix Acquires the Rights to Stream Seinfeld
Netflix has announced that Seinfeld will be available to stream on the platform from 2021. Yes, that’s a long time away (as we report this in September 2019), but with Netflix losing so many big shows to its rivals it’s clearly keen to keep subscribers interested.
Original Content Will Only Get You So Far
Netflix has been investing heavily in original content. As soon as you open Netflix you’re hit with a wall of Netflix Originals, including movies and TV shows. Netflix’s original programming includes Stranger Things and Orange Is the New Black.
However, while original content is great, sometimes you want to watch something you love. Especially the best sitcoms, which you can watch again and again without getting bored. Which is why Netflix has acquired the rights to stream Seinfeld.
Netflix Acquires the Rights to Stream Seinfeld
Seinfeld will be available to stream on Netflix for five years from 2021. This comes after Netflix wrestled the worldwide streaming rights off Hulu, which is the current home of Seinfeld. All 180 episodes will be available to stream, and all in 4K.
Jerry &
Elaine &
George &
Kramer &
NetflixAll 180 episodes of the Emmy-Award winning Seinfeld are coming to Netflix — worldwide! — starting in 2021 pic.twitter.com/tLvcCKH4vl
— Netflix US (@netflix) September 16, 2019
Seinfeld is one of the best sitcoms ever made, which is why so many streaming services want Seinfeld on their platform. Netflix hasn’t revealed how much it’s paid for the rights, but we do know that Hulu paid $160 million for the show back in 2015.
Netflix is facing increased competition from the likes of Disney+, HBO Max, and NBCUniversal, all of which are taking their shows back in house. Which means Netflix is losing Friends in 2020 and The Office in 2021. Making Seinfeld a crucial signing.
People Never Get Bored of the Best Sitcoms
You may wonder why people still watch old sitcoms which aired on TV decades ago. However, between people watching the likes of Seinfeld and Friends for the umpteenth time, and people discovering them anew, these shows are perpetually popular.
When this switch happens, we’ll add Seinfeld to our list of the best sitcoms to watch on Netflix. We will also have to update our list of the best 90s sitcoms to watch on Hulu. And with the streaming wars only just heating up, who knows what will happen next.
Image Credit: Jeff Hitchcock/Flickr
Read the full article: Netflix Acquires the Rights to Stream Seinfeld
Source: MakeUseOf | 18 Sep 2019 | 3:30 am(NZT)
The 6 Best Websites to Find the Meaning of a Song
Have you ever wondered how to find the meaning of a song? You probably like a lot of music, but the best songs are usually ones with lyrics that make you ponder when you really consider them.
Next time you want to get lyric interpretations from a song, you can turn to the internet. Here are the best sites for looking up the meanings of songs, whether official or through someone else’s perspective.
1. SongMeanings
Arguably the best song meanings website, SongMeanings.com has been around for decades. Look up any song, and you’ll find lyrics and (hopefully) comments discussing them. In 2011, the site partnered with LyricFind in order to officially license lyrics for many songs.
On the main page, you’ll see top artists, trending songs, and recent comments. If you aren’t interested in any of those, simply search with the bar at the top. This will show songs, albums, and artists that match your query. If you browse an artist page, you can easily see how many comments each of their songs have.
You can read comments without logging in, but you’ll need to make an account to contribute to the site. The site allows you to respond to other people’s comments, as well as add your own. If you register, you can also edit lyrics if you find a mistake.
At the time of writing, the site contained nearly 1.1 million lyrics and 1.7 million comments, so you’re bound to find a discussion on a song you like. It’s a great first stop when you want to see what other people think of a song.
2. Songfacts
This one provides something a little different than song interpretation websites. Instead of people offering their thoughts on what a song means, it collects interesting bits of info on specific music tracks.
The homepage has highlighted artists and songs, as well as interesting categories (such as “songs with beverages in the title”). Search for a song or artist using the bar at the top—just note that Songs is the default, so you’ll need to switch to the Artists tab manually if you search for one.
Once you select a song, you’ll see various Songfacts about it. Not all of these have citations, though some of them do link to relevant interviews or videos. While there’s no way to confirm these facts are 100% correct, the site doesn’t let visitors add them. Thus, you can be reasonably sure the information is accurate.
Some bands also have “Artistfacts,” which are similar factoids that concern the band as a whole. Take a look and maybe you’ll learn something new about your favorite bands.
3. Genius
Genius has provided users with the ability to look up the meaning of songs since 2009. While it was originally founded as Rap Genius with a focus on hip-hop music, it’s since branched out to cover every genre.
Like the other sites, you can search for a song or artist using the top bar. Take a look at top tracks for an artist if you like, then click a song. You’ll see its lyrics, along with information about the track’s recording.
The rest of what you see depends on the song. Some include artist-sourced information about the track or even the whole album. Otherwise, Genius’s key feature is that you can annotate certain lyrics and add your thoughts on them. You’ll see a gray highlight around lyrics someone has annotated. Click them to take a look.
You can view these without an account, but you’ll need to sign up to take full advantage of the site. This allows you to post your own annotations, suggest improvements to what others have added, and upvote/downvote annotations. You can also leave a comment if you don’t have anything specific lines to annotate.
4. Lyric Interpretations
This site isn’t as polished as the above, but it’s still worth stopping by if your search for a song meaning hasn’t been satisfied yet. Search for a song or select one from the homepage, and you’ll see various interpretations posted by other users.
Everyone who visits the site can rate these interpretations from one to five stars. The best ones rise to the top, but of course this doesn’t mean they’re the official meaning.
If you’re looking to discover more music with interesting lyrics, you’ll see categories on the site’s sidebar that you can explore. These include “songs that tell a story” and “songs about not being good enough,” among others.
5. LyricsMode
This site isn’t popular as the above, so you might struggle to find lyrics on it. But it’s still worth mentioning in a collection of song meaning websites.
Like the others, you’ll see feeds of hot tracks and artists on the homepage. Search for something you’d like to dig into using the top bar, and you can read the track’s lyrics.
On the lyric page, you can either highlight a specific bit of the lyrics and explain them, or leave a comment to explain the overall meaning. Neatly, you can also highlight some lyrics and click Request to ask the community what they think that part means.
6. Wikipedia
Still can’t find information about the lyrics of your favorite song? Try turning to Wikipedia if nothing else has given you the answers you seek. While it’s not a proper lyrics meaning website, you’ll often find a bit of backstory on albums and songs when you look them up.
Simply search for the name of the song you want to look up. For singles and other popular songs, Wikipedia typically includes a dedicated page with information about the song’s performance, reception, and other information. You’ll sometimes find background or meaning info in a dedicated section or the intro.
If you can’t find any info on the particular track, try looking at the album’s entry. There might be more detailed info on certain tracks or the album’s overall themes there. You should also take a look at enhanced Wikipedia tools if you enjoy using it to search for lyrics.
How to Figure Out a Song’s Meaning, Made Easy
Next time you want to find the meaning of a song, you now know where to look. Most of these websites are built on people like you who want to dig deeper into their favorite music.
Thus, after you discover the meaning of some lyrics, why not pay it forward and comment on a few songs yourself? You never know who will appreciate it in the future.
If you’re looking for some new music, why not look into some timeless ways to discover fresh tunes?
Read the full article: The 6 Best Websites to Find the Meaning of a Song
Source: MakeUseOf | 18 Sep 2019 | 3:00 am(NZT)
7 Free PowerPoint Alternatives for Your Presentation Needs
Microsoft PowerPoint is fantastic and there are good reasons why it’s the industry standard presentation tool for schools and businesses: it’s standard, it’s easy, it works, and it has a bunch of nifty templates that make presentations simpler to create.
But there are also reasons why you might not need an alternative to Microsoft PowerPoint. For example, you probably shouldn’t buy Microsoft Office. It’d be smarter to get an Office 365 subscription, but that will still cost you.
Fortunately, there are free PowerPoint alternatives! None of them are quite as good, but many of them are good enough for most users—especially if you aren’t in a business setting. Here are the best free alternatives to Microsoft PowerPoint.
1. LibreOffice Impress
LibreOffice is the best free alternative to Microsoft Office. It has improved a lot over the years, putting it on par with Microsoft Office in many ways—and the best part is that it’s 100% free, open-source, and cross-platform, making it one of the best Linux presentation tools.
LibreOffice Impress is LibreOffice’s analog to Microsoft’s PowerPoint. With it, you can create all kinds of slide-based multimedia presentations that can be viewed in several ways: regular editing, outline mode, annotated slides, and even a handout mode for printing presentations to paper.
Impress supports all PowerPoint formats—PPS, PPT, PPTX—and it also supports a handful of other open formats and standards.
2. Google Slides
Google Slides has been a solid alternative to Microsoft PowerPoint for several years now. (Prior to 2012, it was known as Google Presentations.) As with Google Docs and Google Sheets, Google Slides is an online web app.
It’s 100% free, supports templates, allows you to create/edit/manage from anywhere with internet access, comes with mobile apps (Android, iPhone), supports real-time collaboration and annotations, and converts flawlessly back and forth when used in conjunction with Microsoft PowerPoint.
We highly recommend Google Slides if you’re already in Google’s cloud ecosystem. Meaning, if you’re already using Google Drive, Docs, and Sheets, you may as well use Google Slides. Check our our guides on creating a presentation in Google Slides and using custom gradients in Google Slides.
3. Zoho Show
Zoho is another office suite in line with Microsoft Office and LibreOffice, but it’s more of an in-between for the two. It’s not 100% free and open-source like LibreOffice is, but it does come with a free option. If you want to unlock advanced features, you’ll have to subscribe like with Office 365.
Zoho Show is this office suite’s presentation tool, and it’s a web app so it’s most similar to PowerPoint Online. The beauty of it is that you can create, edit, and manage your presentations from anywhere with internet access, and you can collaborate in real-time too.
Not only can Zoho Show import several common file formats—PPS, PPT, PPTX, PPSX, ODP, and SXI—you can also rest assured that every bit of presentation formatting will remain true-to-view, no matter which format you use. No distorted layouts or misaligned images!
You can also publish presentations on the web.
4. SlideDog
Maybe options like Microsoft PowerPoint and Google Slides are too complex for what you need. Or maybe they’re too traditional and stuffy. SlideDog is the presentation tool for anyone who wants an alternative that’s modern yet easy.
With SlideDog, you can take all kinds of media—images, videos, PDFs, websites, and even PowerPoint or Prezi files—and stitch them together in a seamless way. It’s perfect for simple and straightforward image-to-image presentations.
What’s even cooler is that you can liveshare your SlideDog presentation and anyone can watch over the internet in real-time. They can ask questions, comment on slides, and even vote in polls. It’s an awesome way to get immediate feedback on what you’re presenting.
The free version of SlideDog is available indefinitely. Advanced features like custom backgrounds, dual screen mode, liveshare, and audience interaction cost $49 per presentation event or $99/year for unlimited presentations.
5. Visme
Visme isn’t a dedicated presentation tool, but you can create presentations with it. The goal of Visme is to make it easy for you to translate ideas into engaging content: presentations, infographics, reports, and more.
Visme comes with its own online editor and hundreds of templates to get you started in just minutes. You can change everything—fonts, backgrounds, colors, images—and you can publish your results on the web, offline, or save as a PDF.
The downside is that you can’t import from Microsoft PowerPoint or export to Microsoft PowerPoint. And even though anyone can publish online, free accounts can only download projects as JPG. (PDF is available in the $14/mo plan and HTML5 is available in the $25/mo plan.)
6. Sozi
Sozi is a unique free tool that doesn’t use the same slideshow concept that other presentation tools use. Rather, you’re given a large canvas that you can design however you want—whether by drawing or embedding content—and then you transition from area to area.
It’s actually really cool once you give it a try. Is it professional-grade software? No, not yet. For business settings, you’d really want to use something like Adobe After Effects instead. But for simple, personal presentations that require some dynamics, Sozi is pretty awesome.
7. Haiku Deck / Prezi / Slid.es
These three web tools are independent and unaffiliated with each other, but I’m grouping them together because they all share one important characteristic: their free versions only support public presentations that are published online and searchable by anyone.
Whether you choose Haiku Deck, Prezi, or Slid.es, all you have to do is use the respective online editor to build your presentation. In the case of Haiku Deck, audience members can even view your presentation through a mobile app.
Obviously, these aren’t the best choices for business needs or private projects, but if you don’t care whether or not strangers can access your presentation—or if you want strangers to see it—then these free services can be quite useful.
You can always unlock private presentations by upgrading to a paid account, starting at $10/mo for Haiku Deck, $7/mo for Prezi, and $5/mo for Slid.es.
Which Microsoft PowerPoint Alternative Is Best?
There’s no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to Microsoft PowerPoint alternatives. LibreOffice is the closest real clone that you’ll find, but Google Slides and Zoho Show are both great if you prefer a web-based tool over a desktop tool.
Want one more option? Take a look at how you can create professional presentations with Canva.
Image Credit: wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock
Read the full article: 7 Free PowerPoint Alternatives for Your Presentation Needs
Source: MakeUseOf | 18 Sep 2019 | 2:00 am(NZT)
4 Reputable Linux Hardware Makers for Open-Source Enthusiasts
It’s a great time to love free and open software, free apps that don’t try to exploit you for profit. For years, if you’ve wanted to use a free and libre operating system, such as Linux, then you’ve had to install them yourself.
Now there are a growing number of machines you can buy that come with Linux pre-installed, with hardware makers appealing to different types of free software users and different wallet sizes. Here are three companies and one charity attracting admiration from FOSS enthusiasts and growing attention from the broader public.
1. Raspberry Pi Foundation
The Raspberry Pi is the most mainstream consumer device that comes with a genuine GNU-based free and open source desktop interface. Whether you’re making a set-top box, building a robot, or crafting your own Game Boy, a Raspberry Pi is ideal.
That’s because the Raspberry Pi is a highly-functional computer with everything you need contained on a single board. You can buy one for around the price of dinner for two at a restaurant. You can upgrade to a more powerful model for the cost of appetizers and dessert.
With newer models, the specs have reached a point where you could use a Raspberry Pi as your desktop PC. Word processing and similar office work is not a problem. You can browse the web with numerous tabs open. Music and video stream just fine on the Raspberry Pi 4, even at high quality.
Thanks to affordable hardware, the Raspberry Pi Foundation has distributed free software to millions. This is all without trying to convince people that they need to abandon Microsoft Windows or Apple macOS. Many find the Raspberry Pi to simply be the most functional tool for the job.
2. Pine Microsystems
Pine Microsystems (commonly known as Pine64) is a company that exists to create hardware for the FOSS community. The ambition is not only to provide computers and mobile devices, but to make these available for cheap.
The Pine A64 chip is a piece of hardware like the Raspberry Pi, and another way to access free software. By sticking this chip inside a laptop chassis like the Pinebook, anyone can grab an affordable machine to code on. Incredibly, the Pinebook costs just $100 (plus shipping).
Pine Microsystems is also helping the community overcome an even bigger roadblock. Until now, developers have not had access to open phone hardware. This has limited Linux mobile OS makers to providing aftermarket options for aging devices such as the Nexus 5.
With the PinePhone, developers using Plasma Mobile and UB Ports have a far more open device to develop for. Unsurprisingly, it will only cost them $150. The PineTab does the same thing, but for tablets.
Pine Microsystems is notable not only for its ambition, but its approach. It works with the broader open source community to see what developers want and provide hardware that meets those needs.
Pine does not develop its own software because it believes the community is already capable of doing that. What developers need is accessible hardware.
Pine Microsystems has broader goals as well. The company sees low-cost hardware combined with free software as a way to help close the digital divide. It is working to donate machines to people in places where $100 is still quite a lot to ask.
3. System76
System76 is a Linux hardware manufacturer that first made its name shipping computers that came with Ubuntu pre-installed. While System76 remains small compared to the likes of Acer and HP, the company has grown substantially since those early days. So has its product line.
Today, System76 ships laptops ranging from slim ultrabooks like the Galago Pro to 17-inch desktop replacements like the Serval WS. With the Thelio line of desktop rigs, System76 is now in the business of providing its own customized hardware. These systems are among the most stylish options you will find, period, Windows and macOS desktops included.
It’s not only the hardware that makes System76 an easy recommendation; the software support is great as well. The company now maintains its own Linux distribution known as Pop!_OS. Based on Ubuntu with added niceties (e.g. built-in proprietary graphics drivers, easy firmware updates), Pop!_OS runs on any PC. You can even enjoy improved power management options and some additional pre-installed GNOME extensions.
If you want a powerful Linux machine to crunch code or keep up with the latest Steam Proton games, System76 has what you need. System76 is easily the best choice for a functional mid-to-high-end Linux PC with great support whenever you encounter any issues.
4. Purism
System76 is the company I would most strongly recommend to someone looking to switch to Linux, but the out-of-the-box experience isn’t for me. That’s because both Ubuntu and Pop!_OS recommend proprietary software, and I’ve reached a point in my free software journey where that isn’t functionality I desire.
If you feel the same way, there’s a different company selling computers that don’t nudge you toward any closed source code.
Purism began in 2014 from a crowd-funding campaign to create privacy-focused laptops running entirely free software. The resulting Librem line of laptops have delivered on that promise at the operating system level thanks to PureOS. This is Purism’s customized Debian build that doesn’t include proprietary code. Even the Linux kernel (not as open as you think) and the Purism app store are free of proprietary software.
Since the first iteration, Purism has gradually expanded the depth of that software freedom. Librem laptops now come with coreboot and a neutralized version of the Intel Management Engine where most of the code has been removed.
While there are still some proprietary bits that keep Librem laptops from getting the Free Software Foundation’s “Respects Your Freedom” certification, Purism continues to work toward that goal. If things go as planned, the Librem 5 smartphone will have that certification before the laptops.
In the meantime, it still impresses me that you can now buy a sleek aluminum ultrabook that comes with a 100% free and libre Linux desktop.
If you’re more inclined towards GNU in GNU/Linux and want to support efforts to provide truly free hardware, then you may be willing to pay the premium it takes to own a Librem device. But if you’re looking for high specs, save money by buying machines with similar numbers from just about anyone else.
Are These the Only FOSS-Friendly Companies?
Hardly. If you want a computer that doesn’t come with a Debian-based distro, or you want one that specifically comes with Debian itself, ZaReason will sell you System76-comparable hardware with a distro of your choice pre-installed. Slimbook sells what can be considered the flagship KDE computer.
And while I wouldn’t exactly consider Dell a free software company, that multinational has a growing number of computers that come with Ubuntu, and they’re now easier to find.
Interested in grabbing a Linux PC of your own? Here’s a list of specific Linux computer models worth checking out.
Read the full article: 4 Reputable Linux Hardware Makers for Open-Source Enthusiasts
Source: MakeUseOf | 18 Sep 2019 | 1:00 am(NZT)
Everything You Need to Know About Instagram Screenshot Notifications
When using Instagram, you may come across content you wish to forward to your friends. Which invariably means you need to screenshot that stort, post, or DM.
However, when you do that, does Instagram notify people when you screenshot a story, post, or DM? Here’s everything you need to know about Instagram screenshot notifications.
Why You May Want to Screenshot an Instagram Story, Post, or DM
There are several reasons why you may want to take an Instagram screenshot.
These include wanting to download a meme which you’d like to share elsewhere. Maybe it’s a picture of scenery you think will make a nice wallpaper. It’s also possible you want to download a recipe video in order to avoid scrolling through hundreds of posts later when you come to cook the dish.
Stories are the most common place where you may feel the need to take a screenshot. This is mainly because media shared via stories is ephemeral and no longer available after 24 hours.
Irrespective of Instagram’s notification policies, you should be mindful of people’s privacy especially when you screenshot their personal pictures and videos.
Does Instagram Notify When You Screenshot a Post?
No, Instagram doesn’t notify users when you take a screenshot of their post.
Posts are essentially all of the photos and videos you see on Instagram’s home feed or in the Explore tab. Instagram also doesn’t send an alert when you screen grab a post right from someone’s profile page.
It’s worth noting that Instagram has a bookmarking feature for posts if you don’t want to download media locally. It lets you flag pictures and videos for later. These are accessible from a special section inside the Instagram app and won’t be downloaded to your phone’s gallery.
Plus, you have the option to group your bookmarked posts into separate collections. So, for example, you can create one for recipes and another for your favorite posts about dogs.
You can save a post by tapping the Bookmark button present at the bottom right corner of any image or clip.
To view your bookmarked posts, head to the fifth Profile tab on the Instagram app and touch the three-bar icon in the top-right. Select the Saved item. Here, you can also build new collections by tapping the Plus button.
Does Instagram Notify When You Screenshot a Story?
Instagram will now notify you of person who took a screenshot or screen recording of your story. ? pic.twitter.com/RBJHeiQtYV
— ??? (@mkrsltn) February 8, 2018
At the time of writing, other people can’t see when you screenshot their story.
However, in 2018, Instagram experimented with notifying users when anyone took a screenshot of their story. Instagram dropped the feature shortly after. But you should keep a tab on the Instagram app’s changelog in case the functionality returns in the future.
Alternatively, you can use one of these ways to screenshot Instagram stories without getting caught.
Instagram has an Archive feature for people who are capturing screenshots of the stories they posted directly through the in-app camera. The social network, by default, retains a copy of all your stories. To browse or delete them, open the Instagram app and go to your profile page. Tap the three-bar icon in the top-right and enter the Archive.
Does Instagram Notify When You Screenshot a DM?
Yes, Instagram notifies recipients when you take a screenshot in private conversations, but only for disappearing messages. Similar to stories, users can send expiring photos and videos personally to an individual or a group. When someone takes a screenshot of these, the delivery status—instead of Delivered or Opened—will read “Screenshot”.
On the other hand, if you take a screenshot of the entire chat or regular texts and images, the person won’t be notified.
Didn’t know you can send disappearing messages in private conversations? Then check out these other useful Instagram features you should be using.
Does Instagram Notify When You Screen Record
No, Instagram doesn’t notify users when you screen-record videos in posts and stories.
Interestingly, this applies to disappearing DMs as well. Hence, it’s sort of a loophole for secretly capturing personal stories on Instagram. You can simply capture a screen recording and then take a screenshot of the video file later on.
As we mentioned earlier, though, you should respect the sender’s privacy if they’ve sent you a sensitive photo or video in private.
You should also keep in mind that Instagram may fix this loophole in a future update.
Can You See If Someone Screenshots Your Instagram Story?
As of now, Instagram doesn’t offer any setting you can switch on to get notified when someone takes a screenshot of your story. Hopefully, screenshot notifications for stories will make a comeback. On Android, you can sign up for Instagram’s beta channel to be the first one to get new updates.
If you’re worried about strangers misusing your photos and videos, you can protect your account by switching to a private profile. To turn your Instagram profile private, go into the Settings and switch on the Private Account option. Your existing followers won’t be affected by this, hence it’s best to check your Followers list to ensure only the people you know have access to your gallery.
Alternatively, you can take advantage of Instagram’s Close Friends feature. That lets you share your stories to a specific set of users while keeping your profile publicly visible.
You can configure the list by tapping the Close Friends option located in your profile’s hamburger menu. In the Your List tab, add or remove your close friends. When you’re done, you will have a new green option before publishing a new story. Enable it to share the story only with users in your Close Friends list.
How Does Instagram Work?
Instagram is rich with various types of content. Unfortunately, taking a screenshot or screen recording is the only native way to save photos and videos from Instagram. Therefore, it’s important to have an understanding of how Instagram handles screenshot notifications.
To summarize, for now, Instagram does not notify people when you screenshot a story, post, or DM.
Instagram is a large social network and there may still be parts of it you have trouble figuring out. For help with that, take a look at our beginner’s guide explaining what Instagram is and how it works.
Read the full article: Everything You Need to Know About Instagram Screenshot Notifications
Source: MakeUseOf | 18 Sep 2019 | 12:00 am(NZT)
Learn How to Ace Every Interview With This Course From an MBA Professor
Landing your dream job is hard. You can have all the right skills and an outstanding résumé and still fall at the interview stage. Not everyone is a natural self-promoter, but anyone can improve. Interview Better Than Anyone is a course that provides five hours of instruction from an MBA professor and business expert. Right now, you can get the course for just $13.99 at MakeUseOf Deals.
Interview Better
Answering difficult questions on the spot is never easy. But when your dream job is on the line, you may even lose the power of speech. If you want to feel more confident, this course can help you prepare.
The training is delivered by award-winning MBA professor and successful venture capitalist, Chris Haroun. Over the years, he has developed a methodology for interviewees. Through 159 concise video tutorials, you learn how to apply the mental framework.
Along the way, you will discover how to add structure to your answers and predict what questions will come next. The videos also help you to get inside the mind of your interviewer, and tune your vocabulary in order to make a good impression.
159 Tutorials for $13.99
Order now for $13.99 to get lifetime access to this career-enhancing course, worth $200.
Read the full article: Learn How to Ace Every Interview With This Course From an MBA Professor
Source: MakeUseOf | 17 Sep 2019 | 5:30 pm(NZT)
5 Apps for Office-Goers Who Want a Fit and Healthy Work Lifestyle
Slowly but surely, your office job takes a toll on your health and fitness. It’s easy to overlook how it’s affecting you, and it’s just as easy to fix it. You can work hard while staying healthy.
There are a variety of ways that office work affects you, such as sitting for too long, bad posture, muscle aches due to repetitive tasks, stress and anxiety, and so on. By taking small steps to address these issues, you can stop them from becoming serious. As these five apps show, it would take no more than five minutes in every hour to fix.
1. Fix Posture (Web): Look Into Webcam to Fix Your Posture
Fix Posture is a website that promises to tell you how to sit in the best and most ergonomic way at your desk. Once you grant it access to your webcam, the AI will determine if you’re making a mistake. Till you fix the mistake, the whole web page will look blurry.
The app looks out for common posture mistakes like if your body is leaning towards the screen or the screen is too far from eye level. If you keep the tab open, Fix Posture will send you an hourly reminder to check how you are sitting. It’s not perfect and foolproof, of course, but try it out. The minute you adjust yourself to unblur the text, you’ll feel like you are sitting with a better posture.
The text on the website has some mistakes because it’s seemingly made by someone who isn’t a native English speaker, but it’s best to overlook that. You’ll get a gist of what the person intends to say, and that’s good enough for the app to work well.
2. Move More (Windows, macOS, Linux): Desktop App for Alerts
Several scientific studies have shown that sitting in one place for too long is harmful. Among other things, it has been linked to diabetes, heart disease, and osteoporosis. But when you’re engaged in work, it slips your mind. A simple reminder app can fix that.
Move More is a desktop software for all major operating systems that sits in the system tray quietly till you need a reminder to take a break. You can set the amount of time for that reminder manually, and the option of a sound alert. You also get a message with the reminder to do something healthy.
The message is customizable, which is where you can get a bit creative. For example, you could set a simple to-do list for breaks, reminding yourself of three to five healthy habits. Pick any of them to do, and then get back to work.
Download: Move More for Windows | macOS | Linux (Free)
3. Mindshift (Android, iOS): Deal with Work Stress and Anxiety
Office and work situations can often be stressful and make you feel anxious. To help you deal with them, Anxiety Canada has developed a free app that guides you through different mental troubles and doubles up as a mood tracker.
Based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, you can choose from a range of exercises in the Healthy Thinking and Taking Action sections. For example, coping cards give you reaffirming statements that tackle stressful thoughts like perfectionism, social anxiety, panic, and general worry. Belief experiments will make you predict the outcome going through your mind and check in later to see if it panned out.
Apart from these exercises, there are informational guides about different anxiety-based situations. And as with most such apps, there are short guided meditations to calm you.
Mindshift is a Swiss Army knife of methods to deal with stress and anxiety at work. According to the situation you find yourself in, choose the method that is best for you.
Download: Mindshift for Android | iOS (Free)
4. Brogrammer (Web): Reminders to Take Breaks and Exercise
If you tend to get lost in your work, a shrill whistle is bound to snap you out of it. That whistle means your coach says it’s time to take a break, get up, and move. Brogrammer is a free web app that sends you these periodic reminders and suggests an exercise.
At its core, you will get a reminder every hour to take a break and move around. It has a varied collection of exercises and you’re free to skip the suggestion till you find something you like. Then it’s time to do that exercise (shown as an instructional GIF) for the number of suggested reps or seconds. When you’re done, click “Stop exercise now” to get a reminder to drink some water. Finally, reset the clock when you’re back at work.
Brogrammer even lets you create a custom workout plan for your needs. In that, you can customize the types of workouts you want, the frequency of these exercises, how many hours you intend to work for, and the intensity of the workout.
As a completely free app that requires no installation, you can use it on your desktop or even on your mobile. It’s one of those apps that does exactly what it set out to do and does it well.
5. Darebee’s 100 Office Workouts (Web, Android, PDF): No-Equipment, Visual Guides
When you’re taking a quick break, a little bit of stretching or light exercises can go a long way to keeping your body from breaking down. Darebee is one of the best websites to find free health and fitness printables on a variety of topics.
Whether you use it from the free PDF ebook or the Android app, it’s the same result. There are 100 office workouts, all of which require no external apparatus. Some can be done sitting in the chair, others require you to get up and move around. Author Neila Ray is an expert in no-equipment workouts.
How you choose to do the office workouts is up to you since there isn’t a prescribed guide for that. It’s best to stick to one page at a time and cycle through them according to the area of the body you want to exercise. The 60-second workouts are great, and I’d recommend bookmarking those pages.
Download: 100 Office Workouts for Android (Free)
Download: 100 Office Workouts Ebook (PDF)
Choose the Right Computer Chair
As you know through this article, there are several factors to keep in mind when you want to stay healthy at work. Ideally, seek work-life balance and ensure you get enough sunlight, move around regularly, eat healthy, and drink water. But apart from that, you need to concentrate on your sitting hours too.
One of the best investments you can make for a healthy body is to buy a comfortable and ergonomic chair. Not everyone needs a Herman Miller, so take a look at some of the best cheap computer chairs to get started.
Image Credit: AndreyPopov/Depositphotos
Read the full article: 5 Apps for Office-Goers Who Want a Fit and Healthy Work Lifestyle
Source: MakeUseOf | 17 Sep 2019 | 4:30 pm(NZT)
Vudu Now Offers Family Friendly Streaming
Vudu has introduced several new features designed to make its streaming service more family friendly. This includes the option to skip objectionable content, a new kids mode limiting what children can watch, and ratings by parents for parents.
Vudu is Walmart’s streaming platform. It offers a selection of movies and TV shows to stream online. Vudu offers content for free (ad-supported), and even more content to rent or purchase. And now it’s becoming a little more family friendly.
Vudu’s Family Friendly Streaming Features
In a post on The Vudu Blog, Vudu announced a suite of new features. According to the company, these “offer customers the ability to control and customize their entertainment viewing experience to better meet the needs of their family and their values.”
The first new feature is Family Play, which lets customers “skip or mute objectionable content, including substance abuse, language, violence, sex, and nudity, based on their own preferences.” Family Play is currently available on over 500 titles.
Now there’s more to love about #Vudu – we’ve launched new features and content for family-friendly entertainment! Learn more and check out our hilarious new original, #MrMom: https://t.co/6kMwPAUEe5. pic.twitter.com/7Ge1CbqAy5
— Vudu – Movies & TV (@VuduFans) September 12, 2019
Next up are Ratings and Reviews From a Parent’s Perspective. Vudu has partnered with Common Sense Media (which offers recommendations for families) to help customers “gauge if a film or TV show is appropriate for the little ones in their homes.”
Finally, a new Kids Mode gives customers “the ability to provide a safe watching experience for their kids.” When enabled, Kids Mode limits the content kids can browse and watch based on their age. Again, with the help of Common Sense Media.
How to Get Started Using Vudu
All of these features are available across Android, iOS, the web, and living room devices. And Vudu claims to be the “only streaming service to offer a comprehensive solution to safeguard content for viewers.” Which is certainly a bold claim.
For many children, streaming media is now the norm. Which is why it’s so important streaming services offer parental controls. And Vudu has outdone itself here. If you’re new to Walmart’s offering, here’s everything you need to know to get started using Vudu.
Read the full article: Vudu Now Offers Family Friendly Streaming
Source: MakeUseOf | 17 Sep 2019 | 11:30 am(NZT)
MoviePass Shuts Down for All Customers
MoviePass is no more. The subscription-based movie ticketing service has collapsed, with no funding forthcoming, and parent company, Helios and Matheson, looking to sell the company’s assets. Still, MoviePass has at least changed things for the better.
A Brief History of MoviePass
MoviePass launched in 2011, offering cinemagoers the chance to watch a certain number of films per month for a set fee. Its popularity waxed and waned until 2017, when MoviePass started offering unlimited movies for just $10/month. Which made headlines.
Seeing one or two movies a month covered the cost of the subscription. However, most users saw more than that, and with MoviePass covering the cost, the company burned through its seed money at a rate of knots. And now, the inevitable has happened.
MoviePass Has Run Out of Money
In a press release, MoviePass’ parent company, Helios and Matheson, announced that its board of directors has formed a strategic review committee to “identify, review and explore all strategic and financial alternatives” for MoviePass.
In the meantime, MoviePass has ceased to function. Or, as the press release puts it, it’s “interrupting the MoviePass service for all its subscribers effective September 14, 2019, because its efforts to recapitalize MoviePass have not been successful to date.
RIP Moviepass: The guy who wanders into the bar at 7 pm and offers to buy everyone drinks for half price, but then the bartender says yo someone still gotta pay full price.
— Tim Baysinger (@tim_bays) September 13, 2019
Helios and Matheson are saying it’s “unable to predict if or when the MoviePass service will continue” and that it’s “continuing its efforts to seek financing to fund its operations.” So while there’s a glimmer of hope this seems like the end of the road for MoviePass.
MoviePass Alternatives to Try Instead
MoviePass was never going to be sustainable in the longterm. Hell, it was bleeding money in the short-term, only propped up by venture capitalists who clearly enjoy frittering their money away on lost causes. However, it HAS forced theater chains to wake up.
Driven by the popularity of MoviePass, theater chains have launched their own MoviePass alternatives. So while MoviePass is no more, cinemagoers can now use AMC Stubs A-List, Regal Unlimited, or Cinemark Movie Club instead. All of which seem sustainable.
And a subscription to one of these should be on any list of gifts for movie lovers.
Read the full article: MoviePass Shuts Down for All Customers
Source: MakeUseOf | 17 Sep 2019 | 5:30 am(NZT)