The Best New iOS Apps of 2015 (And Our Favorite Updates) | Dramel Notes

Every year brings a new version of iOS and a host of new apps and updates that take advantage of Apple’s latest features. 2015 has been an awesome year for iPhone and iPad owners, with the arrival iOS 9, Force Touch and proper multi-tasking. Apple has also unleashed some of the most exciting hardware we have seen for years.

We’ve sorted through the stream of new apps that arrived in 2015 and devised a list of our favourites just for you. Here are ten apps that we think were some of the best from the past year, and five great updates that transformed older apps.

New Apps for 2015

Live GIF ($1.99)

One of the new features of the latest iPhones is Live Photos. When you take a photo, the camera also records the action from a few seconds before and a few seconds after you push the shutter. It’s essentially a GIF with sound.

Live Photos, however, have no where near the level of support enjoyed by GIFs. That’s why Live GIF is one of our favorite apps of the year. It takes your Live Photos and converts them into regular GIFs, which you can share anywhere. It may sound like a gimmick but since getting my iPhone 6s I’ve used it a lot more than I thought I would.

Tweetbot 4 ($9.99)

Tweetbot has consistently been one of the best iOS Twitter apps you can buy. The latest version, Tweetbot 4, is the greatest yet.

Tweetbot 4 was one of the first apps to embrace the new features of the latest iOS devices like 3D Touch on the 6s and split-screen multitasking on the iPad Pro. It’s a great example of what a small team of dedicated developers who understand the platform they’re working with can do. If you like Twitter and have an iDevice, this is the app you should be using.

Lara Croft GO ($4.99)

More than any other mobile game released this year, Lara Croft GO has caught our imagination here at MakeUseOf. It’s an amazing twist on the traditional Tomb Raider concept. Rather than trying to force you to play a 3D action platformer using a touch screen, Tomb Raider GO takes the spirit of the original games and turns it into a beautiful series of puzzles.

This is a game that deserves to be on every iPhone.

Workflow ($2.99)

As Apple has gradually opened up the iOS platform to developers, new apps have sprung up to offer previously impossible features. One of the breakouts this year was Workflow, which allows you to create your own powerful extensions. If you want to create shortcuts that can create a GIF from a series of photos or turn a Markdown document into a PDF file, Workflow can do that and a whole lot more.

For iOS power users, it’s opened up a whole new realm of possibilities on iDevices.

Periscope (Free)

Meerkat may have beaten Periscope to the punch but it was the latter, with the support of Twitter, which has become the clear winner in the live streaming app space.

It’s hard to believe that Periscope only launched this year given how fast it has been embraced by celebrities and media figures, and it looks set to be even more popular next year. It’s incredibly rare for an a brand new app to come out and make such a dent in social networking which is why it’s earned its spot on this list.

VHS Camcorder ($3.99)

Sometimes someone hits on an idea that makes you go “why did no one do that before?” VHS Camcorder is one of those ideas.

The app’s premise is simple: it records videos and processes them to look like 80s style home VHS. It’s the video equivalent of all those retro photo apps. If you’ve ever wanted to recapture the blurry, shaky, discolored magic of early camcorder footage, this is the app to do it with. It’s shockingly good fun.

Apple Music ($9.99/month)

While technically not a dedicated app but a replacement for Apple’s default iOS Music app, Apple Music launched to much fanfare this summer and by and large it was deserved. While I’m still a fan of Spotify, I have to acknowledge that Apple’s new Music app is a lot prettier and has some great exclusive content. Apple’s success with cloud-based services hasn’t been stellar so it was good to see that Apple Music launched without any major issues.

If you want to stay entirely contained in Apple’s ecosystem then Apple Music is for you.

Layout from Instagram (Free)

https://www.instagram.com/p/4wiRvnTQsT/

Instagram has changed a lot since they were purchased by Facebook — in many ways for the better. They’ve developed new filters, stopped forcing a square crop on all images, and generally listened to their users. Photo collages have always been popular on Instagram, and now the service supports them directly with the new Layout app.

It would have been simple for Instagram to push out a simple offering, but instead they developed a powerful app for combining multiple images into a single post. You get a huge amount of flexibility about how each image is positioned and cropped. If you’re a regular poster on Instagram, Layout needs to be on your phone.

The Robot Factory ($3.99)

Robots are awesome. Creating your own robots is even more awesome. Robot Factory is the awesomest.

This gorgeous app lets children create and design their own robots from 100s of parts. Their robots can be put to the test in real world physics based situations so they can see how different parts have different effects. It’s the perfect game for young engineers and tech geeks. It even picked up Apple’s much coveted iPad App of the Year so how could we not include it here?

Prune ($3.99)

The imaginative Prune was the worthy winner of Apple’s iPad Game of the Year. In this beautiful, minimalist game, you prune a tree so that it grows towards the sun all the while avoiding the dangers of the world around it. It’s simple and, in a strange way, incredibly relaxing.

It’s the closest I’ve ever seen a game come to meditation, so much so that we’d say it’s part-game and part relaxation tool. If you haven’t played it yet, you need to.

Updates for 2015

LinkedIn (Free)

LinkedIn is the Justin Bieber of social networks. Its fans absolutely adore it, while those who don’t like it can’t see the point in it at all. The latest iOS update might not win the social network any more Beliebers, but for existing fans it’s a welcome change. It brings some much needed functionality and makes the app a whole lot more pleasant to use.

If you’re one of LinkedIn’s fans, then this update probably made you smile.

Pixelmator ($4.99)

Pixelmator is one of the best Mac apps to come out in years. The iOS version is just as good and the latest update makes it even better. It now works on everything from an iPhone to the iPad Pro with full support for features like 3D Touch and the Apple Pencil. Not only is the Mac app a legitimate Photoshop contender, now the iOS version is too.

Microsoft Outlook (Free)

A year ago I would have been laughed at for suggesting that in 2015 Microsoft would release the best iOS email client. With the latest version of Outlook, that crazy event has come to pass. The latest releases of Microsoft Outlook for iOS have embraced the minimalist trend driven by apps like (the now defunct) Mailbox while still offering all the features you’d expect from Outlook. It’s both one of the simplest and most powerful email clients on iOS.

Snapseed (Free)

When Google bought Snapseed I thought I was going to see one of my favorite photo editing apps abandoned. Instead, this year they released an amazing update. While the most obvious change is the interface refresh, there are some big changes under the hood. New tools, effects, and filters give mobile photographers more options than ever before.

Overcast (Free)

Overcast was already one of the best iOS podcast apps available but the latest update has pushed it to the top of the list. Overcast had many innovative features like Smart Speed and Voice Boost that were kept behind a pay wall; the latest update has removed the in-app purchase adding all the features to the free version. Even better, Overcast has also added much requested features like streaming support and smart playlists. All in all, it’s one of the best updates of the year.

What Are Your Best Apps of 2015?

As a tech publication we try to keep on top of new apps and updates, but some things always slip through the cracks. If you think we’ve missed any apps or updates please let us know in the comments.

What’s your favorite app of 2015? Any big updates you absolutely loved?

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3 Nifty Browser Tricks That Everyone Will Appreciate | Dramel Notes

Mainstream browsers like Chrome and Firefox have quite a few features in common. Many useful ones are hidden in plain sight, such as the three listed below.

1. View site history: Click and hold the Back button when you’re on any website to get a dropdown list of pages you have visited before on that website.

2. Get site info: Look for an icon — usually resembling a padlock or a blank page — next to the address bar on a web page. Click on it to bring up a menu with information about the site you’re on, such as its security certificate and the cookies the site has stored on your computer. The information varies from site to site.

3. Search a site directly from the address bar: If you search a specific website often, instead of first navigating to it and then using the search box on the website every time, search directly from the address bar with a custom search engine.

On Chrome you can create a search engine via Settings > Search > Manage search engines. On Firefox, you can add one via Preferences > Search. You can also use an extension like Add to Search Bar instead.

If you want to use Google search to filter results from a particular website, prefix your search query with site: For example, to search Google for the term password tips and retrieve results only from MakeUseOf, type site:makeuseof.com password tips in Google search.

Which browser functionality can’t you do without even when you switch browsers? Is it available by default or does it need an extension to work? Tell us in the comments.

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Get A Log-Free, Lifetime VPN Subscription For Around $15 | Dramel Notes

There have been some VPN discounts over at MakeUseOf Deals, but this one is absolutely absurd. We have a pay what you want VPN bundle that features a lifetime subscription to AnonVPN and Nonkly Disposable Email that only requires you to beat the average (which is around $15, as of this writing) to get both.

If you don’t beat the average and want to pay less, don’t worry, because you’ll still get a year of AnonVPN!

Buy: Pay What You Want: VPN Lifetime Subscription Bundle

AnonVPN Features

This VPN hits one of the single most important things you should look for when you want to browse the web anonymously, and that’s the fact that it doesn’t keep logs. When we say no logs, we mean absolutely none. They don’t keep your personal information, credit card numbers, PayPal account, or anything else about you on their servers. You can rest easy knowing that you’re secure when you use AnonVPN.

If you’re a very active Internet user, you’ll love AnonVPN because they offer unlimited bandwidth. You can do whatever you want without worrying about hitting any kinds of caps and having your protection shut off. Even if you’re streaming Netflix nonstop, you’ll have nothing to worry about!

There are also servers all around the world, so if you’re trying to bypass region locks, you’ll have no problem. There are plenty of US servers, as well as London, Amsterdam, and others. This will open up a wide range of video streaming options that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to get access to.

AnonVPN also promises that its servers are incredibly fast, so you’ll be able to maintain your online anonymity without sacrificing speed. You want to enjoy the Internet speed that you’re paying for, not have your VPN slow it down to a crawl!

If you’re not convinced, you can always snag a year of AnonVPN for any price you choose and decide if it’s for you. Just remember, the average is going to keep going up, so if you’ve been meaning to secure your Internet connection, there’s never been a better time, as lifetime subscriptions for around $15 don’t come around too often.

Nonkly Disposable Email Features

When you sign up for a service, you’re probably going to need an email address. In many cases, you need a valid email address, and the service will make you prove it with some kind of verification email. This could open up your personal email address to all kinds of spammers. No one enjoys that!

That’s why you can get a lifetime subscription to Nonkly, which lets you make disposable email addresses for any reason. And this doesn’t just add numbers to your existing email address. No, you actually choose a whole new address, which makes it so spammers can’t just strip down the address and email you anyway.

There are no limits on the number of addresses you can make, so you can literally create a new one every time you sign up for a new service or list anything on classifieds where you don’t want your real email address to be seen. You can even use one to sign up for the VPN above (something the creators of AnonVPN encourage) to create an even higher level anonymity.

Hurry, Average Will Rise!

The best thing about deals where you name your own price is that you can save more by getting in sooner. But as time goes by, more people beat the average and it rises. That means you don’t want to wait! Head over to MakeUseOf Deals and get your lifetime VPN subscription for an insanely low price.

Buy: Pay What You Want: VPN Lifetime Subscription Bundle

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Most Popular Chrome Extensions and Posts of 2015 | Dramel Notes

As we are about to close out another year, it is time to take a look back at some of the new features, notable MakeUseOf posts, and standout extensions surrounding one of the most popular browsers, Chrome. There has been both good and bad said about Chrome in 2015, but the fact remains that it is and will likely continue to be one of the most widely used browsers.

New Chrome Features in 2015

2015 did bring many new options to Chrome users that you may or may not even realize exist. Take a look at just some of these features introduced this year along with the month of release:

• High-resolution audio support and synchronous music using Chromecast Audio (December)
• VP9 video format support for less data usage and higher quality videos (October)
• Site Status section to check out Safe Browsing warnings (October)
• A new Chromecast along with Chromecast Audio for streaming music (September)
• Automatically pausing Flash content for better battery life (June)

3 Must-Read Chrome Posts

It’s Time To Break Up With Google Chrome — For those of you on the fence about which browser to use, check out my piece about a heart-felt good-bye Chrome. This is an article that I wrote explaining why I needed to discontinue my use of the browser. The article contains a brief performance comparison between browsers, issues with coming out of a locked mode and then moves onto a speed test that Firefox won.

After favoring Firefox for both customization options and extensions and tools, it was a sad farewell that I bid to Google Chrome. This article sparked a lot of response from those who completely disagreed to those who were a bit indifferent to those who agreed. Whatever your thoughts on Chrome as compared to Firefox, it ultimately comes down to preference as the browser wars will definitely continue.

I Hate Google Chrome But I’m Trapped In It. Here’s Why — This article by Mihir Patkar is in a similar vein to the previous article, but a little more favorable of Chrome. The article points out vital apps and extensions that are available only to Chrome users and that kept the author using the browser.

The primary app mentioned was WhatsApp, which is an extremely popular instant messaging app. If you use WhatsApp often, this is good reason to prefer Chrome over alternatives. The article also notes an extension for Chromecast as another great reason to stick with the Chrome browser. This handy add-on lets you cast images from your computer to your television, allows you play videos from compatible apps like YouTube, and lets you to stream shows from Netflix. So, if you’re looking for reasons to stick with Chrome, this is a very helpful article.

Don’t Give Up on Chrome Until You’ve Done This First — This is quite a valuable piece by Aaron Couch. In this helpful article the author provided a good list of tips for improving the performance of Chrome for those who have been aggravated with the browser. He took readers through several steps from backing up settings all the way to running a software removal tool.

The author’s steps outlined how to fix issues, disable settings and plugins, and gave tips for better management of extensions. Aaron Couch assisted people with questions and provided a great list of actions to take to improve your browsing experience with Chrome, showing that there was hope for doubters.

Standout Chrome Extensions in 2015

As you know, MakeUseOf routinely searches, tests, and uses various browser extensions in order to bring you some of the best out there. Chrome really does have some wonderful, helpful, and useful extensions with many that stand out. Here are some of the best Chrome extensions we featured in 2015.

10 Most Productive New Tab Extensions For Google Chrome — For productivity, Mihir Patkar shares a great list of extensions, including the following five great tools:

• Prioritab for managing tasks and seeing what’s on your plate
• Momentum for an inspirational start to your day
• Wunderlist for a cross-platform to-do list option
• OverTask for a project management view of your tasks
• TabTab for combining tasks and a calendar into one view

Google Gold: 15 Essential Chrome Extensions — Showing you the tools that you definitely need, Dave Parrack provided you with his ideal list of useful add-ons, which included the following five essentials:

• Pushbullet for sending links, photos, and files between devices
• Grammarly for spelling and grammar checks
• Click&Clean for clearing your cache, cookies, and history easily
• PicMonkey for free online photo editing
• Evernote Web Clipper for saving pages or sections with annotations

15 Can’t-Miss Chrome Extensions for Productivity — Next you should read Akshata Shanbhag’s list of wonderful add-ons for an array of ways to improve your productivity, including:

• Save to Pocket for articles and videos that you want to check out later
• Note Board for organizing ideas in the form of sticky notes
• Quick Write Text Editor for tidy editing and offline note-taking
• Awesome Screenshot for capturing and annotating screenshots
• Limitless for a nice dashboard with time tracking, bookmarks, and more

8 Absolutely Brilliant Chrome Extensions That You Should Know About — Mark O’Neill looked outside the box for a list of cool extensions for Chrome, including:

• Ballloon for sending items to cloud storage
• Floating YouTube for checking out videos using a pop-up player
• Linkclump for opening multiple links from one page, at one time
• OneTab for gathering links from a page and listing them in one tab

The Best Chrome Extensions of 2015

There you have it, this is our essential list of popular posts and extensions for Chrome this year. Whether you need tips and tricks for better Chrome performance or handy extensions to improve your productivity, MakeUseOf has you covered here. We can’t wait to see what new features, tools, and extensions will be coming in the new year for Chrome users, how about you?

What are your favorite new extensions for Chrome? And which of our Chrome articles did you love most this year?

Image Credit: Gustavo Frazao; Vitalez via Shutterstock.com

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Google Maps For iOS Upgraded with Offline Navigation, Local Gas Prices, and More by @mattsouthern | Dramel Notes

Google is finally bringing some useful features from its Android app to iOS users. Among these new features are offline navigation, local gas price information, store busy times, and more.

While the addition of each of these features is noteworthy, the most significant of these updates is offline navigation. Now you can grab any section of a Google map and save it to your phone to access again whenever you’d like.

Download Maps for Offline Use

Saving a section of a map to your iOS device gives you all the functionality you’d expect from accessing Maps with an Internet connection. This includes the ability to search for locations within the area – from there you can get turn by turn directions to the location, retrieve store hour information, and everything else possible with a connection. Well, almost everything.

Omitted from downloaded maps is anything not related to traveling with your own vehicles. That means transit information, as well as walking and biking directions, are not available in offline maps

There’s no word on if those features will be available at some point, but as it stands offline maps take up a considerable amount of storage space, upwards of 100 MB per map. In an effort to preserve storage space on your device, downloaded maps will expire automatically after one month.

Downloading maps is easy. Here’s how to do it:

• Search for the map location you want to download
• Tap “Download” on the place sheet
• Alternatively, go to to “Offline Areas” in the main menu and tapping the “+” button.

If you have downloaded maps on your device, Google will revert to the saved versions automatically when it detects you’re on a sub-par connection.

Store Busy Times

In addition to offline maps, Google Maps for iOS now has a feature you’re likely familiar with from searching with from searching on Safari or Chrome – store busy times. Find out when stores are at their busiest so you can decide when is the most ideal time for you to go.

This information renders in the form of a bar graph, as shown below:

 

This information is automatically populated based on actual day-to-day foot traffic to the location.

Compare Gas Prices

Another new feature added to Google Maps is the ability to compare local gas prices simply by typing into the search bar: “gas prices in [your city]”.

A list of gas prices and locations will then be shown:

 

When it comes to comparing both the iOS and Android versions of Google Maps both are basically now on par, with each app including and omitting the same sets of features. All of these new features are available today by updating Google Maps from the App Store.

Screenshots taken on 14/12/2015 by author.
Featured Image Credit: Tsyhun / Shutterstock.com

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The Quickest and Easiest Way to Make a Table in Word | Dramel Notes

It seems that the useful features in Microsoft Word never end. From hidden features for power users to important keyboard shortcuts anyone can use to their advantage, Word is a treasure trove of productivity.

For example, the next time you need a table, instead of going to the Insert tab on the Ribbon, place your cursor on a new line and type four plus signs with a space between each one. You can also use the vertical line (|) if you like. After this, just press Enter to make the table.

+ + + + 

This makes a table with one row and three columns, corresponding to the four plus signs you typed (one for each line on the table, and a space for each cell). If you need more columns, add more plus signs before pressing Enter.

To make the columns wider, add dashes between the plus signs:

+----------+----------+----------+

Don’t forget you can also use Word’s format tools to get it right after you create the table.

If this doesn’t work for you, enable the setting by going to File > Options. Click the Proofing tab on the left, then click the AutoCorrect Options… button at the top. At the top, change the tab to AutoFormat as You Type. Under the Apply as You Type header, make sure Tables is checked. Then you’re ready to go!

Now that you’ve got a table, make sure to format it perfectly with our tips.

Have you made any tables with this trick? Do you like using keyboard shortcuts for small tasks like this, or would you prefer the Ribbon? Let us know by commenting!

Image Credit: vinnstock via Shutterstock.com

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WordPress 4.4 Now Available, With Responsive Images & New Default Theme by @mattsouthern | Dramel Notes

WordPress has released version 4.4 of its content management system, otherwise known as “Clifford”, bringing with it new features designed to keep it current going into the new year.

Among the new features is a brand new default theme, called “Twenty Sixteen”, which is decidedly modern and minimalist compared to previous default themes.

Twenty Sixteen resembles more a Tumblr blog than a traditional WordPress blog. Like Tumblr blogs, it’s designed to deliver the same experience on any device, and can be manipulated with a variety of color schemes.

In addition to the new default themes, there are several new features that all WordPress users can benefit from regardless of theme or design.

The most notable of new features is responsive images — images will now scale to the best fit on any screen. This new feature is built right into version 4.4, so nothing is required to activate it other than updating WordPress.

Another major new feature is the ability to embed WordPress posts into other WordPress sites. For years WordPress users have been able to easily embed content from other sources into their posts, now you can embed other WordPress posts into WordPress. 

Yo dawg, I heard you like WordPress… so here’s some WordPress in your WordPress, so you can read more WordPress on WordPress

To do this, just drop the URL of a WordPress post into the post editor, and it will automatically embed itself.

An embedded WordPress post will display the title, except, and featured image. The site’s favicon, as well as links to comment and/or share, will also be included.

To see these new features in action, see the release video below:

Featured Image Credit: Gil C / Shutterstock.com

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4 Audacity Alternatives for Music Production Online | Dramel Notes

You need Audacity-like editing features, yet you’re using a Chromebook. What do you turn to?

Or perhaps you’re looking to create music, but find it difficult to get together with your band members for recordings? There are now some fantastic web apps for music collaboration that work in much the same way as Audacity.

If you’re a Chromebook user, an iPad user or an Android user, you’re probably looking for an app that does everything Audacity usually does and yet also works on Mac, Windows and Linux. As a Chromebook user myself, I found it incredibly exciting to find the following apps.

Years ago, I was determined to find a way to jam live with musician friends online. But on reflection, I realized a real-time long-distance session is just unworkable for most people’s equipment.

Since then, I’ve preferred to use Audacity to record myself, and then send the file to my friends who do the same. It is a slow, clunky solution compared to the following apps, and the use of Audacity still limits users to Mac, Windows and Linux. If this sounds like your situation, you’ll love these apps.

TwistedWave Online

TwistedWave is a basic online editor for music files, with easy integration to Google Drive and SoundCloud. Without signup, you’re limited to 30 second tracks, but after a simple free signup you can store up to one hour of recordings. This interface will look instantly familiar to Audacity fans.

Key Features:

• Automatically edit SoundCloud files using a bookmarklet
• Easily edit Google Drive files
• Easy amplification and normalization
• Simple fade in/fade out
• Many effects to adjust levels of high/low frequencies
• Multiple audio export options including direct export to Google Drive and SoundCloud
• Available on web, iPhone/iPad or Mac
• Paid accounts from $5 per month

Limitations of Free Account:

• Tracks can only be five minutes long
• 1 hour of storage only
• Mono tracks only
• Files will be deleted after 30 days of inactivity

Upload your sound file, drag or drop it in the browser, or import it from Google Drive or SoundCloud. The TwistedWave bookmarklet makes it easier to edit any publicly downloadable SoundCloud track or any you own. TwistedWave also supports FTP uploads.

Soundation

Soundation is a fully-featured web app ready to build songs from virtual instruments, loops, your own recordings and added effects. Tracks you’ve created can be distributed to Spotify, iTunes, Google Play, and Deezer for a small yearly fee, then you get to keep the royalties they pay via PayPal.

Soundation encourages collaboration via Google Hangouts, and they have a Hangouts App for you to use. While that might sound confusing, it’s pretty simple and could be amazingly useful. All users of the Hangouts app can see the studio editing screen and chat about it at once. You can record new audio to your song while within Hangouts, discuss which effects sound best and save the results then and there.

Key Features:

• Virtual instruments
• Audio effects
• 700 loops/sound effect minimum for all account types
• Unlimited number of songs
• Paid accounts from 17.50 euros per year

Limitations of Free Account:

• No storage
• Cannot import audio
• Can’t record live audio

JamHive

JamHive seems to be in extended Beta, but anyone can sign up and play around with the demo. It’s simple to record a track and collaborate with other band members, and you can discuss your progress in a chat window to the right of the song. As it’s still early days for this app, you never know what will be involved in the full release. But it certainly looks promising!

Key Features:

• Designed to be social
• Invite friends to add their instrument to the mix
• Visible chat window for the contributors of each song
• Songs can be played, liked, shared, and remixed by the JamHive community

Limitations:

• It seems to be designed for all songs to be public
• Eternal Beta seems possible

Soundtrap

Soundtrap could well be both your Audacity and GarageBand replacement, as it’s got a large selection of loops and other great sounds to build your songs with. They’re easy to use and sound fantastic. The interface will be familiar to Audacity users and you’ll be able to do most things you’re looking to do.

Most importantly, you can record your own voice or instrument easily with Soundtrap, then mix it with the other tracks you’ve created or recorded.

With Soundtrap, you can invite your friends to become users, then let them collaborate on your song. They can record themselves and add their own tracks to the song until you’ve got a complete work ready to show the world. It can happen asynchronously or all at once, using whatever devices people have on hand.

If you’re all around at the same time, you can start a video chat to discuss what you’re going to do. And if you don’t have any friends on Soundtrap, you can just search by instrument and invite someone to work with you.

Soundtrap makes it really easy to save your music to Soundcloud, or share it to Twitter or Facebook. But most importantly, they make it easy to get your music on to Spotify and iTunes (and the first track is free). So, if you’ve made a decent track and you’re ready to go pro, this could be the next step on the path to the music career of your dreams.

Key Features:

• Designed for global collaboration
• Very sociable — easy to explore & collaborate
• Minimum of 750 loops available to all users
• Minimum of 125 instruments available to all users
• Easy import/export from other DAWs
• Multi-platform and available online
• Easy to add your songs to Spotify, Deezer and iTunes via Spinnup
• Pro accounts from just over €4 per month (with 30-day free trial of pro features)

Limitations of Free Account:

• Limited to five projects
• Limited to the minimum 750 loops and 125 instruments

Which Online Audacity Alternative Suits You?

I’m really excited about both Soundation and Soundtrap because it’s so easy to collaborate with my friends and with strangers. I feel they’re both intuitive and ready-to-use, and with basic export options available on both I’m going to be playing around on the two for some time yet. I’ll also keep my eye on JamHive, as it does look pretty slick.

Which of these tools did you find worked best for you? Are there certain features from Audacity or GarageBand that you need and can’t find in these apps?

Tell us what you’re looking for.

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11 Frequently Asked Office 2016 Questions Answered | Dramel Notes

Office 2016 has been floating around for a few weeks now and many questions have accumulated.

Activation, licensing issues, version rollbacks, new features, standalone or 365, subscription or retail, and what features you might actually need are all important questions. Sifting through the Internet can be a long process, and you might not find the answers to your questions.

That’s where we step in! Here is a jolly nice MakeUseOf Q&A, answering as many of your questions as possible, with a few tricks and tips thrown in. Here we go!

Q1: How Do I Get Office 2016 with an Office 365 Subscription?

Your version of Office 2016 should be available for immediate download. Based upon your current subscription level, you’ll receive one of the many versions of Office 2016. According to Microsoft, your current version should automatically update, or you can attempt to manually update. Check out these Microsoft links for how to manually update Office 365:

• Office 365 Home, Personal, or University: should have received an automatic update in the first few weeks following the Office 2016 release. If not, here is some manual update information.
• Office 365 Business and Business Premium: will begin automatically updating around now. Business and Business Premium subscriptions were slated for arrival late in the calendar year, and as such, we’d expect them very soon. For manual instructions, check here.
• Office 365 ProPlus (including E3/E4): the majority of these subscribers will be managed by an IT department. Contact your IT department for more information on when Office 2016 will be coming to your desk. Manual updates are available to network administrators; see here for more information.

Q2: What Will Be Included in My Version?

The software in your Office suite will be determined by the version you have. Take a look at this table for a little more information on what to expect from your current Office 365 subscription, or what a new license will get you:

It is also worth noting that Office 365 subscribers are rewarded with 1TB storage per user, plus 60 Skype-minutes per month.

Q3: Do I Need an Office 365 Subscription?

No, you don’t. You can purchase a retail version of Office 2016 from the Microsoft Store, or any number of software retailers. It will come in one of the flavors noted above.

Q4: Can I Get it For Free?

Almost. Microsoft offers a free online web-service, Office Online, which has been receiving updates over the past year. You don’t get the full-whack of a paid subscription or retail version, but it is still a robust Office suite, is free, is online, and is set to receive more feature updates in the near future.

As I said, it isn’t the full works. It is more comparable to an Office-lite version, or a restricted trial of Office 365. However you view it, Office Online has become an extremely viable alternative to previous king-of-the-online-office-suite-hill, Google Docs. Indeed, some would argue Office Online has surpassed Google Docs in recent times-but that is still very much up for debate.

Q5: What Is the Office Insider Program?

The Office Insider program is a preview feature available to Office 365 Subscription holders, and to those who have already purchased a retail version of Office 2016. It works similarly to the Windows 10 Insider Preview program. You’ll receive early access to new features, and a chance to offer your opinion on how Office is shaped moving forwards. You can read more just here.

Q6: I Upgraded – Can I Go Back to Office 2013?

Yes, you can downgrade. We have previously covered the process of how to downgrade to Office 2013, so I won’t elaborate too much.

Briefly, if you’ve already upgraded to Office 2016, you’ll have to uninstall before reverting back. You’ll then have to download Microsoft Office 2013 through your Office 365 account, or locate your install material and key. For detailed information on downloading Microsoft Office 2013 through your Office 365 account read the above article.

Microsoft has also provided a useful document detailing the installation and use of different versions of Microsoft Office on a single PC. You will find instructions for Office 2016 and Office 2013, Office 2010, Office 2007, and Office 2003.

Q7: Can I Install Single Applications?

Unlike previous iterations of Microsoft Office, you can no longer install single applications to your system. Microsoft believes “the vast majority of customers prefer the full installation of all of the Office apps,” and as such have removed this feature. As the scale and style the Microsoft Office installation have also changed, this isn’t as much as an issue in previous years. There are less files to install, and those installed take up less room.

That said, as with Windows 10, some users resent the denial of choice in a product they are paying for. Sure, some people just want to click through things, but why should advanced users continually suffer for those who don’t want to learn?

Q8: What’s Up with Automatic Updates?

Office 2016 has adopted the somewhat overbearing update system now synonymous with Windows 10. This auto-update system will feature two update branches that determine the speed at which you receive your updates. Just as with Windows 10, failure to update your software will result in a severance of security, both in terms of patches and feature updates. It is somewhat harsh, but this appears to be the Microsoft M.O for the time being.

Q9: Can My Team Collaborate?

Yes. Microsoft worked hard on bringing collaborative authoring to Office 2016, and it could be said it is about time. However, we understand why it hasn’t already appeared. Collaborative authoring wasn’t a feature of Office 2013, and it wasn’t in the plan to add this feature. Instead, Microsoft focused on delivering collaborative tools to Office 2016.

Q10: Help! Something Isn’t Working in Office 2016!

Oh, blimey. Depending on the severity of your bad times, it would be prudent to contact Microsoft Office Technical Support. You can start with support.office.com, and if you cannot find an answer there, you can contact the Microsoft Office Answer Desk for live support.

Q11: Will It Be the Same on Mobile?

Microsoft would like to believe their latest iteration of Office allows its users to continue their work flow from one device to the next. I’ve largely found this to be true, switching from Office 2016 on Windows 10, to the Microsoft Word app for Android, and back again, finding my work intact, formatting preserved, with an intuitive experience to boot.

A New, Connected Office Era

Office 2016 has made many fans, and the major upgrade to the Microsoft Office suite comes at a time where Redmond is riding high. Matching the Windows 10 operating system, Office 2016 can easily tie desktops, tablets, notebooks, and phones together in a seamless Office experience.

Collaboration is one of the major draws of Office 2016, as is the increased integration throughout the entire Microsoft ecosystem of apps, as well as new cloud-based features, but it still has many people asking “just why should I upgrade at all?”

And while there are numerous free alternatives — even Office Online — Office 2016 remains the real-deal, still top of the Office suite pile.

Will you be upgrading to Office 2016? Or do you use a free alternative? Let us know below!

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6 New WhatsApp Features You Should Know About | Dramel Notes

When you’re using an app day in and day out, it’s easy to miss out on new features that get added. You get a notification for an update, you update, and you continue using it as you always did. But what did you get in all those updates? With WhatsApp, quite a bit.

The best social network or instant messenger app is the one which all of your friends and family use. WhatsApp has an incredible user base now, and after becoming one of the fastest growing social networks, it’s now adding features to make it a solid, robust app.

Whether you know it or not, recent updates have brought some cool new features, from starring messages to backing up your chat logs to Google Drive. Most of these changes are reflected in the new WhatsApp for Android, but they should be available on iPhone soon enough. If you use WhatsApp, you need to know this.

‘Star’ Messages to Find Them Later

When someone sends an important message on WhatsApp, you can’t save it. Finding it later can be a pain, despite the robust search engine in WhatsApp. One of our workarounds was to use hashtags to mark important messages. But now, there’s a cool new tool.

WhatsApp now lets you ‘star’ messages. Long-press any message, choose the Star in the top menu bar, and move on. It’s exactly like a bookmark or a favorite.

Later, when you want to look up any bookmarked message, go to Menu > Starred Messages and you’ll see them all, listed chronologically.

The starred messages can also be searched, so you can find all the important stuff you marked by some person. You can also ‘unstar’ a message later, so that the Starred Messages can be cleaned up easily.

Back Up Chats to Google Drive

If you accidentally delete your WhatsApp chat history, you can restore it in a few steps. But what if you lost your phone, or got a new one, or had to reset your existing storage? While WhatsApp backs up chat history regularly, there’s now an easier (and better) way: Google Drive.

The new version of WhatsApp for Android lets you automatically backup your chat logs to Google Drive. Go to Menu > Settings > Chats and Calls > Chat Backup > Google Drive Settings and set it up. I’d recommend backing up daily (you can choose weekly, monthly, or manual), over Wi-Fi only (thus saving data costs), and including videos.

Remember, you can get 1 TB of Google Drive storage for free, so as far as WhatsApp backups go, you should be fine even if you upload all of the videos and photos.

Easier Way to Clear Chats

If you’re already backing up those chats, there’s no reason for you to keep really old messages, is there? It’s time to clear things up, and WhatsApp has made it simpler than ever.

Go to Menu > Settings > Chats and Calls > Chat History > Clear All Chats and you’ll see three options: all messages, messages older than 30 days, or messages older than 6 months. Choose what you want and WhatsApp will do the rest.

You can do this same action with specific chats too, whether with individuals or groups. In any chat, tap Menu > More > Clear Chat and you’ll see the same three options. Simple, eh?

Mark Messages as Read or Unread

You can now hide your WhatsApp status or when you were last seen, which is great. But for your own personal usage, sometimes, you might want to mark a message as unread.

Think about it in email. The ability to right-click and mark as unread is a great way to remind yourself that you haven’t fully registered an email, that you need to reply to it, or that it’s important in some way.

You can now do that in WhatsApp too. Choose a chat with any contact or group, long-press on it, and tap “Mark as Unread”—yup, as simple as that. You can do the opposite too—long-press a chat you haven’t read and you’ll see an option to “Mark as Read”, so it seems like you’ve read the message without ever opening the chat.

Do note that this doesn’t mean change the message’s status for your recipient. The recipient still sees that you have read the message. It only reflects as unread in your own phone.

Mark as read/unread has also made its way to WhatsApp Web on your desktop.

Use Custom Notifications for People and Groups

Some contacts and chat groups are more important than others, right? Well, then set a different type of notification alert for them. WhatsApp has rolled out custom notifications.

One of the cornerstones of blocking mobile distractions is to allow the right people through and cut off everyone else, and that’s what this feature does. Open any chat, tap the title bar, and you’ll find an option for Custom Notifications.

In it, you can set the notification tone, vibration effect, popup notification, and the color of the LED light for new messages. For Whatsapp voice calls, you’ll only get custom ringtones and vibrations.

Link Previews

This is a neat new feature that doesn’t really make you do anything special, but just adds to the overall experience.

Now even @WhatsApp allows link previews. Good stuff. pic.twitter.com/Y9ZbslSBX9

— Sohini (@Mittermaniac) November 25, 2015

When a link is pasted into a WhatsApp chat, you will now see a link preview with an image from the article, the headline, and the base URL—much like what you see on Facebook or Twitter.

If you’re the one sharing a link, you have the option to not include that preview, too.

What WhatsApp Feature Do You Want?

WhatsApp has come a long way from being a simple instant messaging app, but they can always do better. So if you could request the WhatsApp developers to add a new feature, what would it be?

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5 Handy Dictionary Extensions for Quick Word Lookups | Dramel Notes

What do you do when you are reading an article and either do not know what a word means or would like more information on it? There are dictionary websites, of course, but there is nothing more convenient than using a browser extension for quick word look-ups.

If you are not sure which ones are available for the browser you use or do not know which ones really work and have the features you want, check out this list. There is sure to be one here perfect for your needs.

Dictionary.com (Firefox)

One of the most popular sites for word definitions is Dictionary.com and there is an extension for Firefox that you can use. Just double-click on a word and the extension will pop open a small box showing the pronunciation along with an audio icon to hear it. You will then see the definition and can click on the More link which will take you to the Dictionary.com website for additional details. For other browsers, you can also check out the Dictionary.com bookmarklet.

Dictionary Anywhere (Firefox and Opera)

Firefox and Opera have a great extension called Dictionary Anywhere (if searching for this for Opera, it is actually misspelled as Dictionary Anewhere). To use it, just double – click on any word on a Web page and select the small icon that appears. The word is then displayed with several options including translation, audio pronunciation, the definition, synonyms, and examples. You can also easily share the translation via email, text, or social media which is a handy bonus feature.

GoodWordGuide.com (Chrome)

GoodWordGuide.com for Chrome is a good dictionary extension. It provides a pop-up when a word is double-clicked like many others, but the pop-up is configurable which makes it flexible. Along with double-clicking, you can choose to have it open when you select a word or phrase. And, for both options you can choose a trigger key along with adjusting the font size.

The Free Dictionary (Most Browsers and Mobile)

The Free Dictionary is an extension that is available for Firefox, Chrome, and Internet Explorer. For mobile lookups, you can also download it for iOS, Android, Kindle, Nook, and Windows phone.

While not as nifty as some other dictionary extensions which provide easy-to-access pop-ups, The Free Dictionary does work and provides a lot of word information. When you double-click a word, you will actually be taken to The Free Dictionary website. You can then see the definition, hear or view the pronunciation, and check out synonyms or related words.

Urban Dictionary (Firefox and Chrome)

Urban Dictionary is a popular way to search for that “hip lingo” you hear from your teenagers or just for a good laugh. If you currently use the website, then you will be glad to know there are extensions for both Firefox and Chrome, although they work differently.

For Firefox, there are two different options. The first extension will be placed in your search engine list. So, when you pop a word into your search bar, just click the icon to drop down your list of options and select Urban Dictionary. You will then be taken to the website where you can see the word’s definition and share it if you like.

The second option for Firefox is called Urban Dictionary Tooltip. With this extension, you just highlight the word on the webpage and then use the context menu to search Urban Dictionary. The definition will then be displayed in a pop-up window along with the sharing options.

In Chrome, the extension is a little handier than both of these with a simple icon in your toolbar. Just click it and enter your word to see a pop-up definition without leaving your current page. For other browsers, you can also try the Urban Dictionary bookmarklet.

Which Dictionary Extension Do You Use?

For quick word definitions, these extensions work well. But, is there a specific extension for the browser you use that you cannot live without that is not on this list? Or, do you prefer to head over to a website for a larger amount of information?

Maybe still, you have a paper dictionary that you always stick with. Whatever your method or tool, feel free to share it in the comments below.

Image Credit: Zelenskaya via Shutterstock.com

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Are Social Media Websites Listening to Their Users? | Dramel Notes

Social media apps try to keep their users interested with fancy new features and exciting updates – but sometimes those updates just don’t make sense. These four recent updates to social media sites have us scratching our heads.

People who use social media regularly have strong opinions about how it should look and perform – and they definitely aren’t silent about it. One would think that this kind of instant feedback on features would give developers a wealth of information to draw from so that they could release nothing but perfect fixes.

Instead, sometimes it seems like the developers are completely ignoring the user base and adding new features based on the position of the sun in the sky, the temperature of the Adriatic sea, and whether their coffee had cream in it that morning.

While you certainly can’t please everyone (and trying to is a guaranteed recipe for disaster), the last couple weeks have left users with some questions:

Why do Tumblr users need instant messaging? Why isn’t Reddit’s homepage algorithm working? Why has Facebook decided that a post-breakup feature should be a priority? And, most importantly, why do Twitter users need to “like” things instead of “favoriting” them?

Instant Messaging on Tumblr

What’s Happening: Many Tumblr users who signed in over the last week or so have been greeted by an explosion of confetti and the message “Congratulations! You’ve got Instant Messaging!” on their screen.

If it hasn’t happened to you yet, trust me, it will soon – it’s a rolling update, with full availability expected by early next month.

What Users Wanted: Tumblr users have wanted improvements to the site’s messaging system for ages. Before this update, there were four methods of communication on Tumblr:

1. Reblogging a post with your own commentary (great for running jokes, poor for private conversations)
2. Replying to a post (the post wouldn’t end up on your blog, but your comment was still visible to the public)
3. Fan Mail (you could send a message to another blogger and they could respond privately, after which it would disappear from their inbox)
4. Asks (you could send a message to another blogger and they could reply either publicly or privately, after which both your response and their ask would disappear from your inbox)

The messaging system was definitely broken, and Tumblr users wanted it fixed.

What They Got: Instead of simplifying the messaging system, Tumblr removed the reply feature (arguably one of the most useful of the above options) without any explanation, and then began offering a private instant messaging system.

Yes, you read that right. You can now send someone a fan mail, an ask, OR an instant message, but you cannot reply publicly to someone’s post without reblogging it to your own blog.

“Why does there need to be an arbitrary distinction between these three types of private messaging?” you call from the back.

I have no idea, and neither do any of Tumblr’s users.

Static Algorithms on Reddit

What’s Happening: Reddit advertises itself as “the front page of the Internet” has a seriously out-of-date algorithm that determines what posts are visible on its front page. When large-scale events happen, Reddit is now often one of the last social media sites to highlight current events on its main page.

Reddit used to fill a niche that no other social media website did, and it really was the best place to learn about current events (and kitten GIFs, and less savory content) for a very long time. However as other sites like Twitter and Facebook have evolved to include trending hashtags and suggested news stories, Reddit is either going to have to step up its game or change its focus completely.

What Users Wanted: Reddit users want to see revisions to the front page algorithm that allow controversial topics (such as tragic stories in the news) to reach the front page. While this has historically been effective, a recent surge in visitors has left Reddit with a broader user base, many of whom use upvotes and downvotes as “likes” and “dislikes” instead of indications of whether or not a link has added something valuable to the website’s ongoing conversation (John Bonazzo offers a more in-depth explanation of this phenomenon here).

What They Got: Well, nothing yet. Initial responses from Marty Weiner (Reddit’s chief technology officer) were defensive, and insinuated that there was nothing wrong with the site’s algorithm because “nothing has changed.”

He has promised to look into changing the algorithm, but as of this writing nothing has been done, and with each trending current event, Reddit’s credibility as a site for breaking news is going downhill.

Breakups on Facebook

What’s Happening: Breakups are complicated, and Facebook has decided that it should be the one to help you through this difficult time. An update just released in the United States offers a step-by-step process called “Take a Break” that can help you hide updates from your ex without notifying them, keep your ex from seeing your posts, and un-tag you from old photos.

What Users Wanted: Speaking very generally, I think what most casual Facebook users want are easy ways to control who sees their posts and to limit how much Facebook knows about them.

In some cases that might be because of a breakup, but users are just as likely to want to hide check-ins during a “sick” day from their bosses, photos of a wild night out from their grandparents, and upsetting life updates from casual acquaintances.

While Facebook does have very customizable privacy settings, they can be unwieldy to navigate (especially on a person-by-person basis), and often lead to more confusion than clarity. Basically since its inception, users have been asking Facebook for a simple process that will let them know with certainty who is (and isn’t) able to see their photos and posts.

What They Got: Facebook’s Take a Break wizard isn’t a bad thing, necessarily, it’s just incredibly limited in its scope. While it is helpful for the end of a relationship (it’s triggered by you changing your relationship status, so you won’t be able to use it on friendships that have recently ended), it doesn’t actually introduce any new features and has left the rest of the available privacy settings on Facebook as confusing as ever.

Love on Twitter

What’s Happening: Twitter updated its user interface so that instead of “favoriting” another person’s tweet by pressing a star icon, you now “like” it by pressing a heart icon.

What Users Wanted: Twitter users have a lot of changes that they would love to see – updates that would improve Twitter’s functionality, ease-of-use, and aesthetic design. None of these users were especially bothered by the fact that they were pressing a little star icon, and none of them were insisting that what would really improve their user experience would be if they could press a little heart icon instead.

What They Got: Twitter changed the little star into a heart. Users lost their minds.

On one hand, it’s easy to see this as a silly reaction to an arguably tiny change to how Twitter works.

However, in the nuanced language of social media, there have actually been several legitimate arguments made about the connotations implicit in “liking” something that aren’t present when “favoriting” something. Favoriting is seen as a non-emotional statement that can range in meaning from  “This is excellent commentary” to “I disagree with this, but it’s a valid point” to “I’m noticing this ironically.” Liking something, however, is rarely an unemotional comment and is almost impossible to interpret as anything other than enthusiastic agreement.

There’s also some indication Twitter might be testing an emoji response system – a move that would definitely allow for nuanced responses, but would simultaneously remove a lot of Twitter’s streamlined design. 

Social Media Design Theory

You just have to wonder — with all the research, money, and time that goes into every update on social media, how are these the priorities that social media websites choose to focus on?

What are the updates that you actually want to see on your preferred social media platform? Let me know in the comments!

Image Credit: businessmen are shouting by 6kor3dos via Shutterstock

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5 Windows 10 Registry Tweaks to Improve & Unlock Features | Dramel Notes

Windows 10 has several hidden features and settings that reside within the operating system, but can’t be accessed through any normal means. Yet, while some of these tweaks are insignificant, several of them are quite useful.

And because they’re hidden out of sight, the only way to access them is by means of the Windows registry editor.

For the most part, we only break out the registry editor when we need to fix various system errors or when we want to clean out registry junk — but we’ll make an exception here because these tweaks are that hard to pass up.

Warning: Back Up Your Registry!

Before you edit any part of your system registry, always make a backup of all keys that you intend to edit. You can do this in the editor by right-clicking on any key and selecting Export, which saves into a .reg file that can be run to re-apply the old value of that key.

But the easier method is to make a System Restore point, which saves the state of your system, including a snapshot of the registry. In Windows 10, you can enable restore points. Go to Start, type restore, select Create a restore point, select a drive, click Configure…, then pick Turn on system protection, set the Max Usage space, and click OK. If something goes wrong, you can just revert to the System Restore point. And if that fails, you can always Windows Refresh.

As for launching the registry editor, all you have to do is open the Run prompt with Windows Key + R, then type in regedit and hit Enter. (This is just one of many useful Windows Key tricks.)

Note: While there are other ways to access the registry, we’re going to keep it simple and use the built-in Windows editor for this post.

1. Switch to the Dark Theme

Dark themes can reduce eye strain and Windows 10 offers several ways to turn to the dark side. Although, what you actually do is to turn off the light theme.

Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft Windows CurrentVersion Themes in the registry. Right-click on the Themes key, select New > Key, then name the new key as Personalize.

Then right-click on the Personalize key, select New > DWORD (32-bit), which creates a new value under this key. Name the new DWORD as AppsUseLightTheme and make sure its value is set to 0.

Now, navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER SOFTWARE Microsoft Windows CurrentVersion Themes Personalize. (The Personalize key should already exist for this one, but if it doesn’t, just repeat the steps above.) Create another DWORD (32-bit) named AppsUseLightTheme and make sure its value is 0.

Log out of Windows and log back in to see the new theme in action.

2. Enable Balloon Notifications

In Windows 10, notifications are now shown as toasts rather than bubbles. There’s nothing inherently wrong with the toast notifications, but some users just don’t like the look of them. Plus, some notifications don’t show up as toasts when they do show up as balloons.

So, if you’d like to go back to balloons, here’s how you do it.

Navigate to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER SOFTWARE Policies Microsoft Windows Explorer registry key. If you don’t have a Policies key, then you’ll have to create one manually, followed by the Microsoft, Windows, and Explorer keys.

Then right-click on the Explorer key, select New > DWORD (32-bit), and name the new DWORD as EnableLegacyBalloonNotifications. Right-click the EnableLegacyBalloonNotifications value, select Modify, and enter 1 as its value.

Restart your PC and you should now see balloon notifications again.

3. Disable the Action Center

A lot of people find the new Action Center to be convenient and useful, but if you’re one who finds it intrusive and unnecessary, then this quick tweak will disable it altogether.

Navigate to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER SOFTWARE Policies Microsoft Windows Explorer registry key. If you don’t have a Policies key, then you’ll have to create one manually, followed by the Microsoft, Windows, and Explorer keys.

Then right-click on the Explorer key, select New > DWORD (32-bit), and name the new DWORD as DisableNotificationCenter. Right-click the DisableNotificationCenter value, select Modify, and enter 1 as its value.

Restart your PC and the Action Center should no longer bother you. Do note, however, that this also disables notifications in general, so you’ll need to factor that into whether or not you go through with this tweak.

4. Hide Folders From This PC

The This PC location has been a part of Windows since 8.1, but the annoying thing is that there’s no easy way to remove the default folders — Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures, Videos. For people who don’t use these folders, this is an unnecessary inconvenience.

To disable these, you’ll have to navigate to six different registry keys, each one corresponding to one of the six folders in This PC. The locations are at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft Windows CurrentVersion Explorer FolderDescriptions <FOLDER-GUID> PropertyBag.

Substitute the <FOLDER-GUID> above with one of these:

• Desktop: {B4BFCC3A-DB2C-424C-B029-7FE99A87C641}
• Documents: {f42ee2d3-909f-4907-8871-4c22fc0bf756}
• Downloads: {7d83ee9b-2244-4e70-b1f5-5393042af1e4}
• Music: {a0c69a99-21c8-4671-8703-7934162fcf1d}
• Pictures: {0ddd015d-b06c-45d5-8c4c-f59713854639}
• Videos: {35286a68-3c57-41a1-bbb1-0eae73d76c95}

Under each one’s PropertyBag key, you’ll see a string value named ThisPCPolicy. (The Desktop folder is the only one that doesn’t have this value by default, so you’ll need to create it manually.)

If ThisPCPolicy is set to Show, then the folder is visible. If you change it to Hide, then the folder will be invisible. That’s all!

5. Boost Security of Virtual Memory

When your computer doesn’t have enough physical RAM, it uses a portion of your hard drive as virtual memory in the form of a pagefile. The thing is, this pagefile still remains on your hard drive after you shut down, and that leaves it prone to tampering.

It’s possible to set Windows to delete the pagefile whenever the system shuts down, but this can increase the time it takes to shut down by several minutes, depending on how big your pagefile actually is (anywhere from 2 GB to 16 GB). Only you can decide if the security trade-off is worth it.

But here’s how you can enable this setting.

Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SYSTEM CurrentControlSet Control Session Manager Memory Management in the registry and make sure you have the Memory Management key selected. Right-click on the ClearPageFileAtShutDown value, select Modify, and set its value to 1.

Restart your PC and now Windows will wipe the pagefile every time you shut down.

Registry Tweaks Are Risky but Effective

Windows has always been full of these small-but-neat tricks, and Windows 10 brings several more to the table. For example, you’ve got the updated File Explorer address bar, the secret navigator in the taskbar, and an improved Start Menu.

It’s just a shame that the settings in this post are stuck behind the scary-but-not-really registry editor. A few registry tweaks is all it takes to solve a lot of small inconveniences.

Got any registry tweaks of your own to share? What’s the best tip you know that’ll improve Windows 10 for anyone? Share with us in the comments below!

Image Credit: red cubes by nomadFra via Shutterstock, Hard Disk Drive by Elya Vatel via Shutterstock

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17 Things You Can Do with Siri on the New Apple TV | Dramel Notes

The newest version of Apple TV has a lot of cool advanced features. Chief among these is Siri integration, which we’re betting a lot of people still don’t know how to use. Here then are 17 things you can do with Siri on it.

Siri is turning into one of our favorite digital assistants. Since its introduction just a few short years ago, Siri has become almost indispensable on the iPhone, allowing us to dash off texts, make calls, and look up information quickly without having to interact with our phones manually.

With the introduction of the Apple Watch, Siri now works from our wrists as well. So, we can now do things like show different glances, check the weather, and quite a few other neat tricks.

Now, Siri has also been integrated into the new Apple TV so you can perform many useful, mostly entertainment-related things, which we want to discuss in this article.

To access Siri, simply hold down the microphone button on the remote control, wait for Siri to pop up on your TV, and speak into the remote. You will need to continue to hold down the microphone button until Siri hears everything you say.

Turn on Closed Captioning and Subtitles

If you need to turn on closed captioning or subtitles, you can ask Siri to do both. In the following example, we turned on the closed captioning by telling Siri, “turn on closed captioning”.

Similarly, if you’re watching a foreign film and the subtitles are not on, you can turn them on by saying, “turn on subtitles”.

Search for Specific Movies

Are you itching to watch a certain movie but don’t want to search for it? No problem, just ask Siri to find it for you.

Click on a selection to open its information screen. You can then preview or play it depending on whether it is available on iTunes, Netflix, or another app on your Apple TV.

At the bottom of the movie’s page, you will see a list of related movies you can peruse if the one you selected doesn’t strike your fancy.

Find Movies by Actor and Type

You can ask Siri to show you movies starring a certain actor and then further constrain your search by type of movie.

For example, say you want to see what action movies Brad Pitt has starred in, you might say, “show me movies starring Brad Pitt” and then “that are action movies”.

Picking a movie will open to its information screen where you see we have options to preview it, buy it, place it on your wish list, or open it in iTunes.

Not all movies will be for sale as they might be available on Netflix or another app you have installed.

Check the Weather

Want to know what the weather is going to be like? Just ask Siri to show you.

Note, there is an arrow pointing upward, which mean you should swipe up to get the complete forecast.

You’re not limited to checking the weather locally, so if you want the forecast in another city, simply ask Siri to show you the weather there.

Watch Episodes of Your Favorite TV Shows

Stop scrolling and clicking when it comes to your favorite content. Now you can just ask Siri to play your favorite TV shows.

In the previous example, we asked Siri to “play Game of Thrones, season 3, episode 2” and it immediately began to play it.

Search for Movies by Genre

If you’re just looking for a comedy to watch, or maybe you’re in the mood for something dramatic, you can as Siri to show you movies by genre.

This is really useful if you know you want to watch something funny or action-packed but aren’t sure exactly what. Note, that when you click on a title, you’ll get the same type of options as with the other movie searches we’ve previously shown.

Check the Time Around the World

Want to know what time it is in London? Ask Siri to check for you.

This function is also available with Siri on the iPhone and Apple Watch as well, so if you own either or all of those devices, then you may already be familiar with them.

Check on Stocks

If you invest in the stock market, then you can check on your investments by asking Siri.

You can check stocks by a specific company, or you can see how the markets did in general such as “how did the stock markets do today”?

Search by Director or Writer

Want to find content by a specific director or writer? Siri can search that for you.

Similar to searching for a movie by name, select and click any of the titles in the list and you will be able to view its page and possibly watch it in iTunes, Netflix, or another entertainment app.

Find Movies by Studio

If you want to find movies by a certain studio, you can ask Siri to show them.

Again, choose a title from the list and it will open its page where you will see a synopsis and view options.

Find Content by Age Group

Need to search for kid-friendly content? No problem, just ask Siri to find movies or TV shows by age group.

As usual, click on a title and you’ll see options to preview, add it to your wish list, buy it, or possibly view it in Netflix, Hulu, iTunes, etc.

Control Playback

You can control playback using Siri, which extends far beyond the simple play and pause stuff. You can also ask it to skip ahead or rewind a duration, such as if your movie watching was suddenly interrupted and you forgot to pause playback.

For example, if you want to skip ahead, you can ask Siri to “skip ahead [forward] x minutes [seconds or hours]” or you can say “go back [rewind] x minutes [seconds or hours]”.

Launch Applications

Just as with you iPhone and Apple Watch, you can use Siri to launch applications.

Simply say, “open Photos” or “launch Netflix” and the app will open right up.

Repeat What Someone Said

Are you having a hard time understanding a a particular piece of dialog in a TV show or movie? Ask Siri “what did he [she] just say”? and it will automatically rewind 15 seconds.

Find out Who Stars in a Movie or TV Show

Have you ever been watching a movie or TV show and tried to figure out who a particular actor is? Now you can ask Siri to show you.

So, for example, you’re watching Insomnia and you can’t place an actor’s face. Simply ask Siri, “who starred in Insomnia”? and it will show you.

Ask Questions About Sports

Siri knows sports and can answer many of your sport-related questions such as “what was the score of the Cavaliers game”?

You can ask for far more than scores. You can ask for a team’s record, player stats, upcoming games, and more.

Ask Siri What it Can Search

If you want to know more about what Siri can search for, simply ask.

As you can see from the above screenshot, you have a few other options. You can also find titles by ratings, reviews, dates, character names, and more.

For example, you could ask Siri to find you action movies that are rated PG, or you could have it locate TV shows about Sherlock Holmes.

We’re still tapping into the potential of Siri on the Apple TV, if you know of other things it can do, or if you have a question you would like to pose, please let us know by lending us your feedback in our discussion forum.

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