How to Stop Windows 10 Update From Restarting Without Asking | Dramel Notes

Isn’t it annoying that Windows 10 automatically downloads and installs updates without notifying you? What’s worse is that it also restarts your computer at odd times to finish the update process. Let’s see how you can fix that.

Go to Settings > Update & security > Windows Update > Advanced options. The “Choose how updates are installed” option is set to Automatic (recommended) by default. Change it to Notify to schedule restart from the dropdown menu.

Going forward, once the updates have been installed, you’ll be asked to schedule a restart and you can pick a time that is convenient for you. This means no more unexpected system restarts when you’re in the middle of something important.

You have more control over Windows Update than you think. For example, you can check for updates, start them manually, or even defer them.

What do your Windows Update settings look like? Tell us in the comments.

Image Credit: The word reboot and hand pointing against orange push button by wavebreakmedia via Shutterstock

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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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Yahoo Updates Mobile Search, Tweaks Mobile Search Algorithm by @mattsouthern | Dramel Notes

We’ve not heard the last from Yahoo this year, as the company came out with an announcement detailing updates to its mobile search. Among these updates is a tweak to the mobile search algorithm.

This is a bold change which certainly sets Yahoo apart from its competitors in the realm of mobile search. Yahoo is going all in on presenting the most recently published content above all else.

Of course, Google has its News tab, but that is completely separate from the main search experience. Although a news box does occasionally appear in the main set of search results when appropriate, it’ snot something that happens all the time.

The change Yahoo announced today will see a section of popular news stories become a permanent fixture of mobile search.

No further details were given about Yahoo’s mobile algorithm change and what else will come into play when ranking stories, but I suspect as SEOs we will learn more as we get a chance to interact with it.

Yahoo’s New Image Search

In addition tweaking it’s mobile algorithm, Yahoo has revamped its image search in a similar way. Searching for photos will return the photos you’re looking for, but it will also return a section of trending content featuring the types of images you’re looking for.

Yahoo gives the specific example of searching for celebrities when describing its new image search. Does that mean it only works for celebrities and not other types of searches? Since this change is US-only for now I haven’t been able to do any of my own testing.

Twitter Integration

Twitter is now a part of Yahoo search, bringing up a section of popular tweets when famous public figures as searched for.

Again, the company explains that this will only work for celebrity searches at this time.

Accelerated Mobile Pages

News stories in Yahoo search are now compatible with the freshly unveiled Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) technology.

If you’re not familiar with AMP technology, here’s a backgrounder for you. Google executives are calling it “next year’s hottest new website technology”, so it’s in your best interest to at least be aware of it.

Available Now For US Users

All of the changes announced today are available now in Yahoo mobile search in the United States. There was no indication as to when these features might be rolled out more widely.

Featured Image Credit: nevodka / Shutterstock.com

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The Best Way to Bypass Upgrade Notifications for Windows 10 | Dramel Notes

On one hand, there are a lot of false claims made against Windows 10. It’s really not that bad. On the other hand, there are legitimate reasons to dislike Windows 10, such as forced system updates and annoying notifications.

Indeed, Windows 10 upgrade notifications are starting to get really aggressive. If you’re still on Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, Microsoft seriously wants you to upgrade — so much so that declining these notifications is getting harder and harder.

Consider the latest nag screen, which is frustratingly deceptive. It looks like you have no choice but to upgrade, right? But instead of upgrading now or upgrading later, there’s a tricky third option: clicking the X at the top right!

While that might work for now, it’s possible that Microsoft will make it even harder to decline in the future, so stay wary.

The good news is that hope still remains. If you’re willing to put in a bit of effort, you can effectively block these aggressive upgrade notifications with a combination of changed settings, registry tweaks, and third-party tools.

Are you still on Windows 7 or Windows 8.1? How bad are the nag screens for you? Is this enough to push you towards Linux? Tell us about it in the comments below!

Image Credit: Windows 10 Point by Anton Watman via Shutterstock

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How to Roll Back Builds and Uninstall Updates on Windows 10 | Dramel Notes

Windows 10 automatically installs updates in the background. The only way to prevent them from being installed is to set your connection as metered so they don’t download automatically. But updates — especially major new builds of Windows 10 like the November update — could potentially cause problems.

This shouldn’t be necessary most of the time, but it’s something to try if you find your computer suddenly has a new problem. Microsoft’s patches aren’t perfect, and avoiding an update until it’s fixed might help. It’s also essential to follow these steps if you’ve learned a recent update is causing problems with your software or hardware.

Uninstall Major Updates, or “Builds”

There are two different types of updates in Windows 10. Aside from traditional patches, there are occasional big “builds” of Windows 10 that are released. The first new build of Windows 10 released is was the “November update” released in November, 2015. This is actually Windows 10 version 1511.

This is also an essential troubleshooting step if you’re part of the Windows Insider Program and you’re helping test new, unstable preview builds of Windows 10. If a build you install is too unstable, you can roll back to the one you were previously using.

To do this, open the Start screen or Start menu and select Settings. Navigate to Update & security > Recovery. Click or tap the “Get started” button under “Go back to an earlier build” to uninstall the current build of Windows 10 and go back to the one you were using previously.

This isn’t a way to opt out of new builds permanently. Windows 10 will automatically download and install the next major build that’s released. If you’re using the stable version of Windows 10, that may be a few months away. If you’re using the insider preview builds, you’ll likely get a new build much sooner.

If you don’t see this option, that’s because it’s been too long since you upgraded to the current build. Windows 10 will automatically remove these installation files after 30 days. It’s also possible that you ran the Disk Cleanup tool and removed the “Previous Windows installation(s)” files. Builds are treated practically like new versions of Windows, which is why you uninstall a build in the same way you’d uninstall Windows 10 and revert to Windows 8.1 or 7. You’d have to reinstall Windows 10 or restore your computer from a full-system backup to go back to a previous build after those 30 days are up.

Thanks to Windows 10’s new “Reset this PC” design, you can’t go back to an older build of Windows 10 by resetting your PC. Reset your PC and Windows 10 will give you a fresh system using the current build of Windows. This saves time, as you won’t have to update Windows 10 from scratch when you reset it — something you had to do with Windows 8.

Uninstall Typical Windows Updates

You can also uninstall the regular, more minor updates that Microsoft constantly rolls out, just as you could on previous versions of Windows 10.

To do this, open the Settings app, navigate to Update & security > Windows Update, select “Advanced options”, select “View your update history”, and then select “Uninstall updates”.

This pane also shows a list of the updates Windows has recently installed.

The Windows Control Panel will open with a list of recently installed updates. You can also access this by opening the Control Panel itself, clicking “Uninstall a program” under Programs, and then clicking “View installed updates” in the sidebar.

This list automatically sorts updates by the date they’re installed on. You can examine this list to see which updates were installed recently, if you’re looking for an update that may have caused problems. You can use the search box at the top-right corner of the window to search for a specific update by its KB number, if you know the exact number of the update you want to uninstall.

Select an update and click “Uninstall” — or double-click it — to uninstall it.

This list only allows you to remove updates that Windows has installed since installing the previous “build”. Every build is a fresh slate that new minor updates are applied to. There’s no way to avoid a particular update forever, as it will eventually be rolled into the next major build of Windows 10. Think of these builds a bit like the old “Service Packs” — they include all the changes that have been made to Windows 10.

To prevent a minor update from reinstalling itself, you may have to download Microsoft’s “Show or hide updates” troubleshooter and “block” the update from automatically downloading in the future. This shouldn’t be necessary, but we’re not entirely sure if Windows 10 will eventually try to re-download and install updates you’ve manually uninstalled. Even the “Show or hide updates” troubleshooter can only “temporarily prevent” this, according to Microsoft.

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Windows 10’s updates should hopefully be more stable than ever thanks to the new insider program that allows many people to test updates before they roll out to the masses, but uninstalling a problematic update and waiting for a fixed one may be necessary at some point.

Image Credit: Matti Mattila on Flickr

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Google Kills Off Google+ Local but is Still Committed to Local Search by @bright_local | Dramel Notes

So, guess what? Google has changed the way they show local results! Again!

For those of us who operate in and around the local search industry this change is just another in a long string of functionality changes, display updates, and rebrands that Google Local has been through in recent years.

The latest change came out of the blue on November 17th. Google gave very little warning or explanation to business owners about these changes, which has created plenty of confusion and frustration among many SMBs. It feels like Google has ripped the rug out from under their feet and they’re left wondering whether it’s worth bothering with local search any more.

In this post I’ll explain what Google has changed, why it’s changed, and why Google Local is still a huge opportunity for local businesses to attract new customers.

What has Google Changed?

These changes are entirely centered on Google+ Local pages. Up until recently these pages displayed all the useful & important data that Google holds about a business, and Google linked to these pages from local and map search results.

In September, Google removed the links from Search Results to Google+ Local pages and now they have removed most of the business data from them.

The new look Google+ is a place for ‘interests’, with an emphasis on its ‘Communities’ and ‘Collections’. I explain more about these later in this post.

The most important point for business owners to understand from this change is that Google is still committed to local search & giving searchers information about local businesses, but they no longer think that Google+ is the right place to display business information.

So let’s take a look at the changes & compare old vs new.

Old Style Google+ Page

The image below shows the old Google+ interface which displays plenty of useful and important information about a business (note that Google still offers a link “Back to classic G+” so you can still view this old style page, but this won’t be forever).

I’ve highlighted a number of sections in red to show which info/content has been stripped away in the new interface.

This old style page was rich with content that was relevant to local businesses, including map, photo uploads, business description, and reviews. However, the new G+ pages no longer display the following features and info:

• Reviews / Star Rating
• Business Categories
• Maps / Directions
• Photo uploads / Interior photos
• Opening hours
• OpenTable/ Apps integration

So if we take away all those features, what are we left with?

New Google+ Page

The first thing you will notice is that the new Google+ is much simpler, and also more mobile friendly. According to Google, it focuses on ‘simple navigation and improved search’.

But there is almost no information about the business.

In the red circle I’ve highlighted a very discreet ‘info’ icon. Clicking on the info icon opens up an ‘About’ page, which loads the following pop-up which does contain very basic contact info:

What are Communities and Collections?

The new Google+ is geared towards sharing content with those who share similar interests. Communities and Collections are areas on Google+ where users can find people with similar interests, and share content related to those subjects.

• Communities – Google states that Communities now average 1.2 million new joins per day, and allows users to immerse themselves in content they are interested in, such as Star Wars or SEO.
• Collections – Launched just five months ago, Collections are growing even faster and broadly focus on more creative or niche groups, such as Zombie Cats and Motorcycle Art.

Why has Google Made These Changes?

Google+ started life as a social network, but for a number of reasons it never really took off and Google is systematically breaking it up and keeping only the pieces that did work – e.g. Photos, Communities, and Collections.

Google+ Local piggybacked on G+ and became the place that Google displayed local business data. It always felt like an odd association – social features with business information – and now that association is ending.

As I said above, Google is still staunchly committed to providing quality local information, but this isn’t via Google+ anymore.

What Does the Change Mean for Local Businesses?

The change doesn’t have a material impact on local businesses. The reality is that very few search users actually visited/used Google+ Local pages because they got the information they needed from within search results pages.

Google+ Local pages are mostly used by business owners or SEOs to help them check, audit, and manage their business information. From this perspective, the change is annoying but shouldn’t affect how local businesses attract new customers from Google.

Google still presents local business data prominently in both normal search results and in map results (see screen shots below)

In fact Google now shows local/map results for more search terms than ever before – because they know that searchers want local information. Great news for local businesses!

We can see that on a typical search for a local service / product (in this case “Plumber Boston MA”), Google gives plenty of real estate to local business websites; not only in the three pack (left), but also in the additional results featured on the Local Finder page (right).

Google’s relationship with local hasn’t changed. Local search optimization has never been just about Google+ pages, and over the years Google has demonstrated its commitment to showcasing not just large, popular brands, but also small and local businesses that can serve a users’ needs.

Google My Business: Still the Place to Update Your Business Data

Nothing with Google My Business (GMB) has changed and you should continue to use your dashboard to manage your business information. The data from your GMB dashboard will show up everywhere that Google deems necessary; notably in Google Search, Maps, mobile search, and the Knowledge Graph.

In the annual Local Search Ranking Factors study, GMB signals made up 14.7% of the overall ranking factors (see image below). This is not going to change overnight, so Google is still very much focused on local, and there is little need for SEOs and local business owners to worry about changes to Google+.

Still Not Convinced?

If you, or a client, still have doubts about the effectiveness of Google/Local Search to drive new customers, then here are some tasty stats to convince you of the continuing power of Local Search:

• 97% of consumers use the internet when researching local products/services (Source: BIA/Kelsey)
• 43% of consumers search every month for a local business (Source: BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey, 2015)
• The number one reason for an online search is to find the location of a ‘known’ business (Source: comScore, Neustar Localeze, 15 Miles – Local Search Study, 2014)
• 78% of mobile searches for local businesses result in a purchase (Source: Local Search Association Conference, 2014)
• Local Search delivers better ROI than all other online channels (Source: BrightLocal Clicks & Calls Survey, 2015)
• 34% of SEOs/SMBs would choose Local search above any other marketing channel (Source: BrightLocal Clicks & Calls Survey, 2015)

Image credits
Featured Image: rvlsoft / Shutterstock.com, Screenshots taken Nov 2015

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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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9 New Office Online Features to Manage Documents & Collaboration | Dramel Notes

Office Online has received some pretty interesting updates in the past few months, but they’ve been overshadowed by the release of its bigger brother, Office 2016. The Office web version of the ever-present productivity suite includes copies of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Sway, as well as Skype integration and tools new to Office 2016, such as Smart Lookup.

Microsoft recently delivered another update to the lightweight-but-powerful service, giving you more scope for working on the go.

What’s New in Office Online?

Over the past year Microsoft has delivered a number of useful updates to the Office Online web service. This includes the introduction of tools designed to extend the functionality of Office Online, making it a serious competitor in the online document editing world.

With so many free online editing platforms in the marketplace, Microsoft realized that one of its finest opportunities to stay ahead, is to keep the new features coming, and push the integration with other core Microsoft services.

Integrated Skype

In keeping with using Office tools to increase productivity, Microsoft announced Skype integration would be coming to Office Online, way back in February 2015. The feature is designed to extend team collaboration opportunities without having to leave the Office Online environment. Work, chat…profit? Here is what they said at the time:

“Skype for Office Online makes collaborating a breeze. The chat experience is available right next to the document, enabling you to chat in and edit in real-time with other authors. Speed up and simplify document editing with quick Skype group chats instead of long e-mail threads. Keep track of which co-authors are online as well as messages you might have missed.”

Integrated Skype for Office Online followed an earlier announcement for Skype integration with Outlook, similarly tapping into the desire to boost and ease our communication by cross-linking products where possible.

Once you’ve signed into Office Online and opened your document, click the Share button in the top right. Send a link to whoever you wish to invite to the document. When they accept your invite, their name will appear in the top-right corner of the document. If they have signed into/linked their Skype account to their Office account, you’ll be able to live chat in the document.

File Management and OneDrive

Office Online saw improvements to its file management system. You can now navigate and locate your documents quicker, whether using local or OneDrive storage, and make instant copies of view-only files for editing, using a new OneDrive toolbar command.

Microsoft also added more save options to Office Online. You can save to your OneDrive, rename OneDrive documents, download copies, and download the document as a PDF.

Editing PDFs

Together with downloading as a PDF, Microsoft also introduced PDF editing for Office Online. The editor, while basic, is still useful and runs within the Office Online environment, meaning no third-party downloads or unnecessary installation of software onto your system. This can be handy for editing surveys or forms while on the go, or caught out of office.

Dropbox Integration

As part of the ongoing Microsoft/Dropbox working partnership, Office Online received support for Dropbox earlier this year, giving Office Online users the chance to link their accounts, browse, save, upload, and edit documents from their accounts. More useful service cross-linking from Microsoft, and a nod to the “Cloud First, Mobile First” ethos.

Open Office Online, head to Open > Add a Place, choose Open from Dropbox, or just Dropbox. Dropbox should now be an option. Just add your login details, and off you go.

Anything Else?

Office Online has also seen improvements to its proofreading tools, as well as some additions to the Reading View mode. Reading View mode now has its own toolbar for commands such as Edit, Print, Share and Comment, Translate, and Download.

Office Online was also one of the first places Microsoft trialed the Smart Lookup feature, and joining it is the Tell Me search box, of the same type as Office 2016.

Finally, Office Online makes use of the Bing machine learning tool we have seen slowly moving across the entire Microsoft spectrum. That means when you’re writing a paper about Viennese Conductors and decide you want some insights on the word Viennese, your search will only return information relating to your paper – not Viennese Rolls, or Sandwiches, or the like. More context, more accuracy, more learning.

Finally, Microsoft has expanded the Office Online formatting functions. You can now copy and paste entire format sections with the Format Painter toolbar (available to Word and PowerPoint), and they’ve also included some new formatting functions for PowerPoint Tables.

Pro Tip: Use Ctrl+Shift+S to bring up an additional styles menu.

Office Online Chrome Extensions

Wanting to spread the functionality and reach of Office Online to everyone, Microsoft created a handful of Office extensions for Chrome: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and OneDrive all receive their respective apps, available in the Chrome Web Store. These have been unified into a single Office Online extension, available here.

However, I would argue that for the most part these extensions don’t add too much functionality when you can simply type Office Online into your omnibox. Depending on your search history you’ll either head straight to the requisite site, or Google will come to your rescue. That said, I will concede the addition of the Office Online extension button isn’t bad, and the service is quick to open a new document.

The choice of installation rests entirely with you, reader.

Office Online vs. The Rest

Google Docs was way, way out in front for a very long time. It was the only realistic free online productivity suite market option for both professionals and casuals, and it was clear to see why. Free, fast, integrated, collaborative, and pretty-feature-full, Google Docs had it all. It also had one important thing: time. It was ahead of Office Online in almost every sense of the word.

Office Online has clawed back, though. Not content to sit in the blue, red, yellow, and green shadow of Google Docs, Microsoft has consistently updated their web-service over the past year. The result is an altogether slicker, equally integrated experience that can match its sustained rivalry, and with the prospect of more features, more updates, and more toolbars to come, could even succeed it at the top of the pile.

Do you use Office Online, or are you forever Google? Do you use something altogether different? What features would you like to see introduced to Office Online?

Image Credit: working with business diagrams by Dragon Images via Shutterstock

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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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