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CSS Could Be The Hardest Language of All (5 Reasons Why)

Thoriq Firdaus — Fri, 22 Jan 2021 10:01:32 +0000

A website may be built upon several web languages such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP. Among these languages, we may all agree that CSS is the easiest language. CSS defines the website layouts, colors, sizes, and typography in a simple way. It is straight forward, and does not require logical or conditional function to use.

But, you might be surprised to know that, in fact, CSS could be the hardest language and very troublesome in certain cases. How could that be? Well, here are some of the reasons.

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1. No Error Report

Every web language follows specific rules for writing code. When it comes to write style rules in CSS, it starts off with the selector’s name (usually class, id, attribute selectors), followed by a curly bracket, then the style declaration inside the curly bracket, and ending each line with a semicolon.

.class {
	color: #fff;
	background-color: #000;
}

Some web languages strictly regulate the rules; otherwise, it returns errors, but not CSS. CSS does not output errors. You may have unintentionally removed a semicolon or curly bracket, or named the selectors wrong – and your layout breaks

In PHP, you will be informed of what the errors are, where it happened, and fixing it is a lot faster. In CSS, you are on your own, even if it is across multiple CSS files with thousands of code lines.

2. Too Flexible

Even though CSS seems to be easy to pick up, there are some problems in CSS that does not always have a direct answer, such as “How do you center an object?”.

There are a number of ways to center an object with CSS. We can center it using a margin, padding, flexbox, or grid. But the application will depend on what kind of center we would like to achieve, the overall page layout, the type of the object, whether it’s an image, inline or block element, a background, how the element is nested as well as the surrounding element position.

Scaling and refactoring CSS is also one problem that’s not so straightforward. Unlike a programming language, CSS syntax is declarative and flexible. We can apply CSS directly in the element, in the template, in a CSS file, or load it from an external site. You can easily add styles everywhere and would still expect your page to load “OK”. But this exactly what makes refactoring CSS tricky, especially on a large-scale website.

Refactoring CSS requires extra discipline, and you need to be careful when changing the color with find/replace as you might accidentally wipe out one that shouldn’t be replaced. As it does not throw any error, you often don’t realize it until one of your users send you a notice.

This is one reason we have dozen of CSS frameworks, patterns, and architectures to follow such as Bootstrap, Bulma, Sass, LESS, BEM, CSS-in-JS, and Utility-first to give developers set of strict guidance and rules to follow when composing CSS.

3. Browser Compatibility Nightmare

Browser compatibility is the biggest problem in CSS and is a nightmare for web designers in certain cases. Despite the published standard by W3C, browser vendors implement CSS specifications differently.

That is why websites like CanIUse.com exists – to see whether certain CSS features are supported in one browser version or the next.

When support for older browsers (like IE6 and IE7) is required – usually on a client’s demand – we could end up having to create multiple files and serve it through a conditional statement, then doing a bunch of CSS hacks to make the site look consistent and similar viewed on more modern browsers. At the end of the day, problem #1 will keep us trapped in this nightmare.

4. CSS Specificity

CSS selectors have different levels of weight/specificity. Let’s take a look at this example:

p {
	color: #000;
}
p {
	color: #333;
}

When two selectors with equal specificity hold the same styles, as shown above, the one that comes later overwrites its predecessor. But when we add class selector, say .paragraph, like so.

p.paragraph {
	color: #000;
}
p {
	color: #333;
}

…regardless of its position, the paragraph that is assigned with paragraph class will have #000 color, as it is more specific.

Frankly, CSS specificity is really confusing. You need to be attentive when defining style-rules. There might be one selector with a higher specificity which overwrites less-specific selectors, leaving you searching for the culprit for hours before locating it.

5. CSS vs. Your Client

CSS defines the website layout, colors and sizes and is closely related to the look of a website. Here lies the problem – design is subjective. Your client may have different perspective on the “look”, and may ask you to go with 1px today, and 5px the next day. If you are dealing with a client from hell, you are doomed.

"Can you make the red more blue? Revamp my logo but make it still the same? Make it a little bolder and darker, lighter and thinner?"

GAH! Smashing your head on the wall seems like a walk in the park when dealing with clients like these.

Wrap Up

CSS maybe simple and relatively easy to learn. But, we need to be disciplined and consistent so that it can become more manageable. Do you have your problems with CSS? Share them with us below.

The post CSS Could Be The Hardest Language of All (5 Reasons Why) appeared first on Hongkiat.

10 Best Sites For Free Google Slides Themes & PowerPoint Templates

Ashutosh KS — Thu, 21 Jan 2021 13:16:17 +0000

Your presentation cannot be perfect without the help of a companion set of beautiful, engaging, and informative slides. With the help of templates, you get a solid foundation for creating the perfect slides for your next presentation. Whether you use Google Slides or PowerPoint (online or offline), there is a ready-made presentation theme or template.

In this write-up, I have compiled a list of 50+ places to download Google Slides themes and/or PowerPoint templates for creating your best presentation. I am going to discuss the best 10 websites in detail and list the others for you.

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Behance

Behance is a popular social media platform for creatives. It is a place to connect and inspire creative people using a creative portfolio profile. Behance hosts tons of excellent themes and templates for Google Slides and PowerPoint. And it is completely free to browse the network without an account.

You can simply search for them and utilize Color and Tools filters below the search bar to refine the results. Though Behance may offer some of the best themes or templates listed by its creative members, it does not organize them into categories, making it difficult to browse them per requirements.

Organizes into categories – No
Offers other free downloads – Yes
Offers premium templates – Yes
Offers design services – No

Presentation Magazine

Presentation Magazine is one of the best websites to download templates for PowerPoint. Surprisingly, it boasts of hosting 76,300+ PowerPoint templates and backgrounds — all for free. And you can browse or download them without a user account. However, it does not avail any themes for Google Slides.

Unlike Behance, Presentation Magazine organizes templates into categories, making it easy for you to browse them. You can also browse them per color, popularity, or tag and/or search using keywords. However, you may also find some silly templates like printable calendars, slides having only images, etc.

Organizes into categories – Yes
Offers other free downloads – Yes
Offers premium templates – No
Offers design services – No

Powered Template

Powered Template is one of the best sites to download templates for a variety of office programs including PowerPoint, Word, Google Slides, etc. Amazingly, it offers a variety of templates including but not limited to brochures, charts and diagrams, flyers, maps, newsletters, letterheads, and a lot more.

Powered Template offers 12,300+ PowerPoint templates and 1,200+ Google Slides themes, unlike the sites below. You can browse its templates by category or color and/or search for them using keywords to quickly find them. However, I find its templates having only a few slides, so you may need to mix and match them.

Organizes into categories – Yes
Offers other free downloads – Yes
Offers premium templates – Yes
Offers design services – No

Slides Carnival

Slides Carnival is another superb website for downloading themes and templates for Google Slides and PowerPoint. It contains over 180 Powerpoint templates and Google Slides themes, allowing you to quickly create presentations.

As like Presentation Magazine, Slides Carnival organizes its templates into categories. And you can browse them by topic categories, style categories, and color. Unlike Presentation Magazine, I find Slides Carnival has good-looking themes and templates compared to other hosts that mostly have silly-looking templates.

Organizes into categories – Yes
Offers other free downloads – No
Offers premium templates – No
Offers design services – No

AllPPT.com

AllPPT.com is another featureful website for downloading themes and templates for Google Slides and PowerPoint. Unlike the above sites, it also offers other freebies including charts and diagrams for your next presentation slides. Also, I noticed some of its templates are well-designed with modern colors.

As like Presentation Magazine and Slides Carnival, AllPPT.com organizes stuff into categories, letting you quickly view them. You can browse through category or popular keywords and/or search for templates using keywords. Although its templates may not be superb, I find they contain multiple featureful slides.

Organizes into categories – Yes
Offers other free downloads – Yes
Offers premium templates – No
Offers design services – No

PresentationGO

PresentationGO is another provider of free Google Slides themes and PowerPoint templates. I find its templates visually appealing though some of them may not appeal to you. It also offers other freebies like charts and diagrams, quotes and tables, timelines and planning, maps, and more.

PresentationGO boasts of offering 1,400+ free PowerPoint templates. You can browse them by tag or color or search using keywords. But unlike many sites on the list, PresentationGO does not categorize its templates into categories.

Organizes into categories – No
Offers other free downloads – Yes
Offers premium templates – No
Offers design services – No

Showeet

Showeet is another website with compilations of themes and templates for Google Slides and PowerPoint. Though it has just 90+ templates under the category named Free PowerPoint templates, it offers a lot more templates under other categories like Business cards, Resume / CV, and others.

Unlike Presentation Magazine, Showeet does not organize templates into categories — at least not into helpful categories. However, it does categorize using tags; you can click on a presentation page and check tags at the bottom of the page. Also, you can quickly find templates by just searching for them.

Organizes into categories – No
Offers other free downloads – No
Offers premium templates – No
Offers design services – No

FPPT.com

FPPT.com is another superb site for getting free PowerPoint templates. However, it does not offer themes for Google Slides. Also, I noticed some of its templates are not as professional as present in other sites like Behance and Slides Carnival. But you can click Editor’s Pick (besides its logo) to check the best templates.

As with Presentation Magazine, FPPT.com organizes its templates into neat categories and tags, allowing you to quickly browse them. Though it does not have a specific feature to browse by color, its tags contain colors, so you can open the tags page and hit Ctrl + F to look for your color and browse that tag.

Organizes into categories – Yes
Offers other free downloads – Yes
Offers premium templates – No
Offers design services – No

24Slides

24Slides is another website compiling themes and templates. Along with the free templates for PowerPoint and Google Slides, 24Slides also offers professional presentation services, unlike the above services. I find 24Slides has beautiful themes with modern colors and design ideas, unlike Presentation Magazine.

Unlike Presentation Magazine and Showeet, 24Slides neither organizes templates into meaningful categories nor into useful tags. There are some categories but they do not help at browsing templates by color, style, or topic. Thankfully, there is a search bar for searching for themes using keywords.

Organizes into categories – No
Offers other free downloads – No
Offers premium templates – No
Offers design services – Yes

Templateswise.com

Templateswise.com is another site for downloading freebies for PowerPoint. Unlike many sites on this list, Templateswise.com offers additional free design items for creating perfect presentation slides. Its other freebies like icons, infographics, and music loops help create engaging content.

Like Presentation Magazine and FPPT.com, Templateswise.com also categorizes templates into categories, allowing you to easily browse them. Also, you can browse using tags on each template page or search using keywords. However, I find its templates are not as aesthetically pleasing as some of its competitors.

Organizes into categories – Yes
Offers other free downloads – Yes
Offers premium templates – No
Offers design services – No

This Gallery of Pure CSS Icons is What All Frontend Developers Want

Jake Rocheleau — Thu, 21 Jan 2021 10:17:55 +0000

Adobe designer Wenting Zhang created an interesting web app for generating pure CSS icons. It’s simply named “CSS Icon” and it may be one of the coolest icon generators for frontend developers.

This project is completely free and open-sourced on GitHub so you’re free to download and mess with any of the codes.

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These icons don’t have any CSS dependencies or need any special browser features. At first glance, it may seem like the icons are built on SVGs but they’re actually just divs.

Through the magic of CSS, you can build custom line icons for common interface elements such as the hamburger menu, the three-dot icon or the print icon (among many others).

You can choose between thin line icons or dark filled icons. They both utilize similar CSS properties and you can even see what they are by clicking any icon in the list. You’ll see a sliding sidebar with the HTML and CSS code along with the icon enlarged.

If you look towards the top-right corner of the code fields you’ll see a little copy icon. Click that to automatically copy the code to your clipboard. Oh, and that copy icon? Also built with Wenting’s pure CSS code.

To change the color of any icon, just find the color property in the main icon class. Updating that one color property will change everything else, too.

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Since these icons are pretty simple, they probably won’t work for every website. But this is a cool alternative to images or icon fonts and it’s completely free.

Check out the CSS Icon home page to see more examples and to copy/edit the source. You can also test each icon separately in CodePen if you wanna toy around with the source in your browser.

The post This Gallery of Pure CSS Icons is What All Frontend Developers Want appeared first on Hongkiat.

20 Best Apple Watch Docks to Buy

Hongkiat Lim — Wed, 20 Jan 2021 13:11:37 +0000

Anyone who owns an Apple Watch knows how convenient a charging dock is when you need to charge your watch at a secure and handy station. But what most people might not know is that there is an array of crazy cool Apple Watch docks that offer some interesting features as well.

From charging stands to stylish charging pads, here are some of the best Apple Watch docks you should check out and see which one will suit you the best.

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1. WatchStand

Colors: Black and white.
Material: Plastic body, metallic base.
Price: 29.99

A compactly designed dock, the WatchStand offers you a comfortable viewing angle as your watch charges. The charger is equipped with a Magnetic Charging cable that gently snaps itself onto the back of your watch along with a non-slip base.

The WatchStand offers both vertical and horizontal charging position for your watch and you can also place your mobile phone on it. The excess cable stores away from view inside the pole section of the stand that doesn’t make it look messy.

Pros

Charging cord hides inside the stand.
Metal base keeps the dock sturdy.

Cons

Too heavy to be carried around easily.
Not practical for horizontal charging position.

2. Apple Watch Stand S330

Colors: Silver
Material: TPU and premium aluminum.
Price: $24.99

A sleek and stylish charging stand that can effectively hold your Apple watch and its magnetic charger. Its charging pad has been designed to hold your watch at a 45 degree angle for easy placement and equally easy viewing.

The stand comes with charger cutout that’s compatible with all Apple Watch chargers and the cutout on the side of the stand enables easy cable management. Moreover, Nanotac™ pads give its base the best hold on flat surfaces.

Pros

Reasonable price.
Simple and elegant design.

Cons

Light material makes the stand tip over.
Watch may slide off the charging pad due to the tilt.

3. Drop XL Wireless Charger

Colors: Black-grey.
Material: Premium fabric and aluminum base.
Price: $159.99

A three-in-one wireless charging pad that allows you to power your multiple Apple devices including the Apple Watch. The dock charges AirPods up to 5W, iPhones up to 7.5W & other Qi compatible devices up to 10W, and a detachable Apple Watch puck.

The charging pad is made with a premium textile pad with a weighted aluminum base with non-slip silicon underneath. It can also easily charge your devices with cases up to 3mm.

Pros

Compact design.
Charges multiple Apple devices at the same time.

Cons

Premium price.
The small charging surface makes it a bit difficult to find the charging spot.

4. WatchKeeper

Colors: Silver/Black and Gold/Navy.
Material: Aluminium
Price: £63,95

It’s a charging dock with integrated MagSafe cable management for easy storage and a protective casing for your Apple Watch – perfect for the Apple fan who is always on the move.

The rigid protective cover comes in bespoked leather, available in black and tan, while the interior is made up of EVA foam and microfiber lining. WatchKeeper has a 12-month warranty and ships worldwide for free.

Pros

Solid aluminum body.
Easy cable management.

Cons

Doesn’t offer horizontal charging.
Comes with a heavy price tag.

5. BLOC Wireless Dock for Apple Watch

Colors: Silver aluminum, space gray aluminum, and natural bamboo.
Material: Aluminium/ Bamboo.
Price: $79.95

First in our list, here’s a wireless powerbank with 2000mAh lithium polymer battery that can offer up to four full charges for your Apple Watch. There is round cut-out for the magnetic charging cable in the center where you can place your watch for charging.

There’s a microUSB port and three LEDs at the back of the dock that indicate current charge level. It’s a nice one-piece dock however, you have to assemble your charging cable within the dock which is a bit of hassle so it’s better to keep a spare cable and devote one for the Bloc. Apart from wireless charging Bloc can also be used as a nightstand dock or paired with your Mac for charging.

Pros

Wireless charging for on the go usage.
Dock and portable battery in one.

Cons

Doesn’t come with a protective case.
Complicated installation.

6. NightStand for Apple Watch

Colors: White, black, blue, green, and red.
Material: High-grade silicone rubber
Price: $29.95

If you have a really crowded desktop, Elevation Lab’s space-saving Nightstand is what you’ll need. Made out of a single seamless piece and super adhesive NanoPad bottom, it can be mounted on any surface, horizontally or vertically. Moreover, it comes with optional 3M adhesive pad the same that’s used with GoPro cameras.

It is pretty easy to install your magnetic charging cable into the NightStand’s silicon body. The dock has been specifically designed to make good use of Apple Watch’s Nightstand mode however, you can also mount it vertically on a flat surface and charge your watch in this orientation.

Pros

Small and space-saving.
Versatile mounting options.

Cons

No base to hold the watch in place.
Not suitable for heavier watch bands.

7. Nomad Base Station Pro

Colors: Black
Material: Padded leather surface, aluminum and rubber base.
Price: $199.95

A dashing and minimal charging pad by Nomad that can power up multiple Apple devices. You can also plug in the Apple Watch mount into the charger and charge your Apple Watch along with your phones and Airpods.

The charging pad comes with FreePowerÃ‚Â® technology so you can put your device anywhere on the pad without having to find the right spot. The watch sits perfectly on the puck gives full charging within a few hours.

Pros

Aesthetically pleasing design.
Multi-device charging.

Cons

High-end price.
Apple Watch mount needs to be added separately with the charging pad.

8. Apple Watch Magnetic Charging Dock

Colors: White.
Material: Soft rubber top and microfiber cloth bottom.
Price: $79.00

This is an official charging dock for your Apple Watch. Keeping up with Apple’s signature minimalistic design, this dock will give you a simple look (a bit too simple I’d say) and allows you to charge your watch both horizontally as well as in the Nightstand mode.

What I found most interesting is that the magnetic charging puck comes integrated into the dock and can be popped up to work with the Nightstand mode. Moreover, it comes with an extra-long lightning cable that you need to connect with a power block (not included in the box) to get it charging.

Pros

Built-in charging puck.
Comes with an extra-long Lightning cable.

Cons

Available in only one color.
Not aesthetically impressive.

9. OLEBR 3 Apple Watch Stand

Colors: Bright Black.
Material: Aluminum and plastic.
Price: $29.97

First in our list, here is a charging stand for simultaneous charging of multiple Apple devices – Apple Watch, iPhone, Airpods. It comes with two lightning cable cables to charge iPhone and Airpods, however, the magnetic charging cable for Apple Watch is not included.

The OLEBR stand is a great bedside charging station for overnight charging your Apple devices. It has a sturdy base that doesn’t slide around or tip over. Also, the Apple Watch charging puck fits nicely into the cut-out and you can charge your watch in the Nightstand mode.

Pros

Charges multiple Apple devices simultaneously.
Comes with 2 Lightening cables.

Cons

Difficult to manage cables.
Complicated assembly.

10. Belkin Watch Valet

Colors: White/silver.
Material: Aluminum and plastic.
Price: $79.99

As Apple allowed accessory makers to create docks with integrated Apple Watch magnetic charger, Belkin became the first one to avail this opportunity and produced Watch Valet. It is an elegantly designed dock with premium finishing. The built-in charger is tilted to displays your watch at an optimal viewing angle and you can easily slide your watch on and off the charging connector.

The suitably heavy base of this dock has been given a typical Apple-like finish along with chrome finish solid metal arm. its most interesting aspect, however, is the removable wrist band that can be used to give extra support to your watch while charging (specifically in case of heavier watch bands).

Pros

Integrated magnetic charger.
Optional wrist band support.

Cons

Premium price.
Performance issues may appear after few months of use.

11. Mangotek Apple Watch Charging Stand

Colors: Chrome/Grey Black.
Material: Aluminium and plastic.
Price: $49.99

Quite similar to the Belkin Watch Valet in looks and features, Mangotek Apple Watch Charging Stand comes with integrated MFi certified Apple Watch charger. The charger has a nice design with elevated arm and a nicely weighted base.

This charging stand offers a lot of cool features but I think for such a hefty price tag they could have added a wireless charging pad to the base, however, it does come with an intelligent 2.1A USB port to charge your Apple Watch and other devices simultaneously.

Pros

No assembly required.
Built-in 2.1A USB port for charging other devices.

Cons

Could’ve added a wireless charger to the base.
Performance issues may appear after few months of use.

12. elago W Charging Stand

Colors: Black, Rose Gold, Dark Grey, Champagne Gold, and Silver.
Material: Silicon and solid aluminum.
Price: $29.99

elago W Charging Stand is a cylindrical Apple Watch Charging stand made with solid aluminum and grippy silicone top and bottom. The stand allows you to charge your Apple Watch anywhere and even fits conveniently in your car’s cupholder.

Cord management is what stands out the most about it as you can store away all the extra chord within the stand. Also, there are so many color options to choose from so you can easily pick the one that goes with your Apple Watch.

Pros

Good chord management.
Fits conveniently in your car.

Cons

Unimpressive finish.
Doesn’t work well with the Nightstand mode.

13. Zens Dual+Watch Aluminium Wireless Charger

Colors: Back. Silver
Material: Alminum body and rubber feet.
Price: Ã¢Â‚Â¬109.99

15 Microsoft Edge Tips and Tricks to Boost Productivity — Best of

Ashutosh KS — Tue, 19 Jan 2021 13:54:52 +0000

Microsoft Edge got a new life in late 2019 when Microsoft decided to drop EdgeHTML in favor of Chromium — the open-source browser that also powers Google Chrome.

Though it somewhat looks and feels like Chrome and supports its extensions as well, Edge also offers its own set of unique features.

That is why you must consider installing the new Edge along with Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. If you are using an older version of Windows 10 or you do not have the new Microsoft Edge, you can get it from its download page.

After all, it offers a lot of worthy enhancements over its predecessor. That said, let’s check out the productive tips and tricks for the new Microsoft Edge.

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1. Switch to dark theme in Edge

After the dark theme became popular in 2019, Windows 10 as well as macOS started offering native support for dark themes.

Fortunately, Microsoft has extended this support to its new web browser as well. However, it does not support automatic switching to the dark theme at night time.

Here’s how to enable it in Edge:

Open edge://settings/appearance in Microsoft Edge. Or you can open Edge’s Settings, then choose Appearance from its left sidebar options.
Under Customize browser, choose Dark for the option Default theme.

2. Switch between homepage layouts in Edge

The default homepage (i.e., new tab page) of Microsoft Edge is crowded with lots of services including Microsoft Bing and Microsoft News. If you find it crowded or simply wish to change the new tab view, follow the below instructions:

Open a new tab and click the gear icon near the top-right corner.
Choose one of the options under Page layout to switch the layout.

Alternately, you can also choose Custom to create and set your own layout. You can disable quick links, set a custom background, and more.

3. Change default search engine in Edge

If you are not a big fan of Microsoft Bing like me, you may wish to change its default search provider. I found Microsoft has hidden this setting deeper than in Google Chrome, but I have noted its address, making it easy for you:

Open edge://settings/search in the new Edge. Or you can click Settings and more at the top-right corner and browse to Privacy, search, and services, then scroll down and click Address bar and search.
Change the dropdown named Search engine used in the address bar.

4. Review your privacy settings in Edge

Microsoft Edge sets the tracking protection to Balanced by default, which blocks harmful trackers from non-visited websites. You will notice that ads and content are less personalized than with no tracking protection.

However, if you are looking for enhanced tracking protection, follow the below instructions:

Open edge://settings/privacy in the new Edge. Or you can click Settings and more at the top-right corner > Privacy, search, and services.
Make sure that the Tracking prevention‘s toggle is enabled, then select Strict under Tracking prevention to maximize the protection.

5. Personalize news in Edge

Microsoft Edge shows Microsoft News in the new tab (or homepage). If you are uninterested in the shown news, you can personalize them with following steps:

Click on the Personalize button of the bottom menu in the new tab.
Under My Interests, uncheck any items you do not want to see.

6. Save news posts to read later

If you find one of the default homepage layouts useful for reading news, you can utilize the new Edge’s Save for later feature for marking news posts for later.

Here’s how to do it:

In the feed, click More options for a news item > click Save for later.

For reading them, click Personalize > Saved Stories in the left sidebar.

7. Using Immersive Reader to read in peace

Microsoft Edge is full of features — especially for accessibility. Its Immersive Reader provides an awesome reading experience if you usually read documents and web pages on your computer.

It provides calm colors and adjustable font sizes to help you to relax and read, proving handy for students and researchers.

Click the Immersive Reader icon in the address bar on a supported page.

If you do not see it, the page does not support Edge’s Immersive Reader, but here’s a trick: select the text you want to read in peace, right-click the selection, and choose Open in Immersive Reader from the context menu.

In the Immersive Reader you can click Text preferences to set text size and spacing along with page colors via themes. You can also click Reading preferences to translate or use a pictorial dictionary, surprisingly.

8. Improve english using Immersive Reader

As I discussed above, Microsoft Edge’s Immersive Reader is a handy tool, which comforts your reading experience. Surprisingly, it also offers Grammar tools and a Picture dictionary to help you improve your language skills. I find it to be an excellent tool for helping children understand English.

Follow these steps:

Open a page or selected text in Immersive Reader (as shown above).
Click Grammar tools and select one of the options. For example, I toggled on the option named Nouns to highlight all nouns in purple color.

Click Reading preferences and toggle on Picture dictionary for the pictorial dictionary. Then, hover over a word showing the star to see its picture.

9. Use Read Aloud to listen to web pages

If you do not like reading or wish to give some relief to your eyes, you can use Edge’s Read aloud feature to listen to web pages and documents and e-books like PDF.

Though the new Edge has dropped support for EPUB, you can use an online reader and utilize Read aloud to listen to them in Edge.

Here’s how:

Open any PDF or web page in Microsoft Edge.
Click Settings and more at the top-right corner and go to Read aloud.
Edge will start reading out the content to you. You can use Read previous paragraph and Read next paragraph buttons in its bar to change the paragraphs. Or click Voice options to manage the speech output.

Optionally, you can also select some text, right-click on the selection, and choose Read aloud selection to only hear the selected text in Edge.

10. Save Notes and Pages with Collections

The new Edge introduced Collections — a feature to help you store and track images, links, notes, and web pages.

It helps you research for your homework, next planning trip, and/or shopping list. You can access it by clicking on the Collections icon in the top bar. Read our complete guide on Collections.

11. Annotate and sign PDFs in Edge

In 2021, every web browser supports opening and reading PDFs. The new Edge takes this feature one step further by allowing you to annotate and draw on PDFs. You can also sign a PDF using its draw feature.

Here’s how it works:

Open a PDF in Edge and use its toolbar to draw on and highlight it.

After you have drawn or highlighted the PDF, use the save buttons.

12. Install extensions from Chrome Web Store

Since the new Edge is built on top of Chromium, it supports Google Chrome extensions. However, before getting extensions from Chrome Web Store, you need to enable it first following the steps below:

Open edge://extensions and enable the option named Allow extensions from other stores available at the left-bottom of the browser.

Open https://chrome.google.com/webstore and get extensions.

13. Turn Websites into an app in Edge

If you are a frequent user of a website or you need to use some website offline, you can install it as an app using Microsoft Edge.

Edge downloads the given web page and kee

MAD Skills Kotlin and Jetpack: wrap-up

Android Developers — Fri, 15 Jan 2021 14:08:24 +0000

Posted by Florina Muntenescu, Developer Relations Engineer

We just wrapped up another series of MAD Skills videos and articles - this time on Kotlin and Jetpack. We covered different ways in which we made Android code more expressive and concise, safer, and easy to run asynchronous code with Kotlin.

Check out the episodes below to level up your Kotlin and Jetpack knowledge! Each episode covers a specific set of APIs, talking both about how to use the APIs but also showing how APIs work under the hood. All the episodes have accompanying blog posts and most of them link to either a sample or a codelab to make it easier to follow and dig deeper into the content. We also had a live Q&A featuring Jetpack and Kotlin engineers.

Episode 1 - Using KTX libraries

In this episode we looked at how you can make your Android and Jetpack coding easy, pleasant and Kotlin-idiomatic with Jetpack KTX extensions. Currently, more than 20 libraries have a KTX version. This episode covers some of the most important ones: core-ktx that provides idiomatic Kotlin functionality for APIs coming from the Android platform, plus a few Jetpack KTX libraries that allow us to have a better user experience when working with APIs like LiveData and ViewModel.

Check out the video or the article:

Episode 2 - Simplifying APIs with coroutines and Flow

Episode 2, covers how to simplify APIs using coroutines and Flow as well as how to build your own adapter using suspendCancellableCoroutine and callbackFlow APIs. To get hands-on with this topic, check out the Building a Kotlin extensions library codelab.

Watch the video or read the article:

Episode 3 - Using and testing Room Kotlin APIs

This episode opens the door to Room, peeking in to see how to create Room tables and databases in Kotlin and how to implement one-shot suspend operations like insert, and observable queries using Flow. When using coroutines and Flow, Room moves all the database operations onto the background thread for you. Check out the video or blog post to find out how to implement and test Room queries. For more hands-on work - check out the Room with a view codelab.

Episode 4 - Using WorkManager Kotlin APIs

Episode 4 makes your job easier with WorkManager, for scheduling asynchronous tasks for immediate or deferred execution that are expected to run even if the app is closed or the device restarts. In this episode we go over the basics of WorkManager and look a bit more in depth at the Kotlin APIs, like CoroutineWorker.

Find the video here and the article here, but nothing compares to practical experience so go through the WorkManager codelab.

Episode 5 - Community tip

Episode 5 is by Magda Miu - a Google Developer Expert on Android who shared her experience of leveraging foundational Kotlin APIs with CameraX. Check it out here:

Episode 6 - Live Q&A

In the final episode we launched into a live Q&A, hosted by Chet Haase, with guests Yigit Boyar - Architecture Components tech lead, David Winer - Kotlin product manager, and developer relations engineers Manuel Vivo and myself. We answered questions from you on YouTube, Twitter and elsewhere.

How to Sync Edge Bookmarks with Other Browsers

Ashutosh KS — Tue, 12 Jan 2021 15:04:58 +0000

Microsoft Edge has a powerful sync feature that allows you to access your browsing data on any of your devices. And in the previous post we talked about how to sync your Microsoft Edge browser across devices.

However, the sync feature is not limited to just that. If you want to sync bookmarks across browsers, there are some third-party tools for that too.

So in this post, I’m going to guide you on the process of syncing your Edge bookmarks with other browsers using Floccus. It is one of the most reliable tools which did very well in my testing between Edge and Chrome.

That said, let’s check out how you can sync bookmarks across browsers.

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Step 1: Sign up for a server

Floccus requires some central server which can help it to sync your bookmarks. I found is the easiest method to get Floccus working, and so, you need to sign up for one of such free offerings. For ths tutorial, I’m using 4shared. Follow the below steps:

Go to 4shared.com in your browser > click Sign Up at top-right.
Enter your details and click Sign Up. Remember these credentials.

Check your inbox for an email from 4shared to confirm your email.

Step 2: Install Floccus in both browsers

You also need to install Flocuss in all the browsers that must sync bookmarks. For instance, if you want to sync bookmarks from Microsoft Edge to Chrome and Firefox, you need to install it in all three browsers. Follow the below steps:

Go to floccus.org in your browser > click on your browser.

Install the add-on by clicking Add or Get or Install per your browser.

Repeat the last two steps for your second or third browser as well.

Step 3: Set up Floccus to sync bookmarks

After you installed Floccus in all required browsers, you need to configure it in all those browsers as well. Follow these steps to configure Floccus:

Click on the Floccus icon in your browser (maybe it is hidden under the extensions icon on some browsers including Google Chrome).
Click the New account button to add an account to sync data.

Choose XBEL file in share and click Add account.

Enter https://webdav.4shared.com/ in URL and your 4shared credentials in the Username and Password fields. Then, click Save.

Repeat the last four steps for your second or third browser as well.

Step 4: Save bookmarks in the Floccus folder

In all browsers wherein you configured Floccus, you will see a bookmark folder having a name starting with Floccus. When you want to save a bookmark that must be synced to other browsers, you must save the bookmark to this folder.

For instance, I saved floccus.org as a bookmark in my Floccus folder below.

Then, this bookmark will get synced to other configured browsers too. If you do not see a bookmark, you can click the Floccus icon and click Sync now.

You will need to do this in both — the source as well as the destination browser.

The post How to Sync Edge Bookmarks with Other Browsers appeared first on Hongkiat.

12 Excellent WordPress Themes To Use in 2021

Kate Dagli — Tue, 12 Jan 2021 13:48:31 +0000

The WordPress platform has a large and enthusiastic following among website designers. WordPress is not terribly complicated. Drag and drop is a required skill, while coding is not.

Cool WordPress themes are essentially design aids that make website building even easier. There’s no shortage of them. In fact, there are so many popular WordPress themes that finding one that will be “best” for your purposes could require a formidable amount of searching and evaluating.

Whether you’re looking for a general-purpose multiuse theme or one that’s more specialized, you’re in a good place. You should be able to find one that will perfectly suit your needs in the following selection of the best WordPress themes as opposed to having to sift your way through hundreds of themes.

That said, let’s get started.

Be Theme

BeTheme is the biggest WordPress theme on the market today. Its more than 600 Pre-built websites aren’t solely responsible for making it so, however. The truth is, this collection of pre-built websites is just one of Be’s 40+ core design features.

In other words, web designers are given an awful lot of powerful tools to work with.

A few BeTheme highlights:

The aforementioned collection of 600+ modern, professionally designed, and customizable pre-built websites cover 30+ industry sectors, a wide variety of small business niches, and every major website type. They also enable their users to get a project off to a speedy start.
The Admin (Options) Panel, working with Be’s Muffin Builder, eliminates the need for coding.
The shortcode library opens up even more options together with a Shortcode Generator if you need to create your own.
Color palettes, font styles, grid systems, special effects, and a new header builder give users even more design options and opportunities.

Grab a cup of coffee and visit the site. There’s so much to see and learn.

Total WordPress Theme

This popular theme will serve you well if you’re in a hurry to get a site up and running. It’s true that Total is loaded with features since it was designed for website-design perfectionists.

That will never be a problem; however, since you can easily disable any feature, you don’t intend to use. You won’t have extra “bells and whistles” to worry about, and you’ll quickly discover that Total is an absolute joy to work with.

Key Features:

The user-friendly, visual WPBakery drag and drop page builder.
100% WordPress and WooCommerce friendly.
40+ modern theme demos, 80+ page-building modules, and 500+ customizer settings.
A Dynamic Template layout customizer.
Tools for customizing fonts, colors, section and column widths, and more.

Click on the banner to discover more about Total.

Avada Theme

When you’ve come to the point in your search where WordPress themes are beginning to look alike, and it’s difficult to determine which one is best, sales could be a useful tie-breaker. Large sales figures imply theme popularity, which in turn implies excellent flexibility and performance.

Avada, with 450,000+ sales, is the best-selling WordPress theme of all time.

The following features likely contribute to this theme’s popularity:

The Dynamic Content system gives users all the flexibility they need to build precisely what they intend to.
57 pre-built websites designed to stimulate your creative juices.
Avada is responsive, WooCommerce friendly, and optimized for speed.
Design elements that promote a rapid and coding-free website building process.

Avada gives its users first-class support and free lifetime updates. Click on the banner to learn more about this popular, top-selling theme.

Uncode — Creative Multiuse & WooCommerce WordPress Theme

80.000+ sales have made Uncode one of ThemeForest’s all-time top sellers.

Features include Uncode’s WooCommerce Custom Builder; an interesting new tool you can use along with its companion WooCommerce additions to create an online store.
Uncode’s enhanced frontend editor makes website building quick and easy.

Click on the Uncode banner, check out the features, and pay special attention to Uncode’s showcase of user-created websites. Prepare to be impressed and inspired.

Rey Theme

Four features one might look for in any theme a designer searching for a top candidate would be that it has clean code, is unencumbered, and is modular and highly flexible.

Rey fills the bill, plus:

It’s customizable and features easy page building.
There’s a rich library of unique templates and design aids.
Its features include built-in WooCommerce tools and Elementor integrations.
Rey is also developer-friendly.

TheGem — Creative Multi-Purpose High-Performance WordPress Theme

TheGem is the best-selling theme on Themeforest with 50K+ users, which says a lot.

What you’ll find in the package:

Highly customizable and performant WordPress theme, perfect for professionals and beginners.
400+ beautiful pre-built websites and templates for any purpose and niche – all easily editable and customizable with Elementor and WPBakery page builders.
Unique tool TheGem Blocks with 300+ premium pre-designed section templates to speed up your workflow.
Rich collection of WooCommerce templates for any shops.

This Swiss Army knife of website building tools is great for business websites, shops, blogs, portfolios, and magazines and offers 5-star support. Visit the site to learn more.

Kalium — Professional theme for multiple uses

Designers who prefer to use plugins to get needed design flexibility will like Kalium’s offerings. This popular WordPress theme provides its users with easy access to several popular WordPress plugins.

Featured plugins include WPBakery, Elementor, Slider Revolution, and WooCommerce.
All the more widely-used WordPress plugins are supported.
Kalium is ideal for building portfolio and eCommerce sites.
High-quality demos are included in the package.

Kalium is loaded with pre-built demos and other design elements.

Typer — Amazing Theme with Multi Author Publishing Features

Typer is a great choice for bloggers looking to beef up their websites in terms of attractiveness and functionality.

Typer converts standard blogging sites into multi-author platforms.
The multiple article feature is designed to enhance reading flows.
Like articles can be listed, and articles can be bookmarked, summarized in weekly digests, and followed.

If your publishing activities need to be more efficiently and effectively organized, Typer is for you.

KnowAll — Knowledge Base Theme

Customers don’t like waiting on the phone for an answer.
FAQ pages can be sources of irritation rather than aids.
Answers sometimes breed additional questions.
Answering repetitive questions is time-consuming.

If your customer support operation suffers any of the above situations and needs an overhaul, the KnowAll database theme provides a solution. Customers get quick answers to their questions, they can search for additional information, and you can put the time spent on answering repetitive questions to better use.

Pofo — Creative Portfolio, Blog and eCommerce WordPress Theme

Pofo experienced great popularity in 2020, and 2021 should be no different. It is one of the best themes on the market for creatives, bloggers, and businesses, including eCommerce shops.

Its features include:

25+ home pages, plus a host of demo pages and pre-built design elements.
Premium plugins, including Revolution Slider and the WPBakery page builder.
WordPress Customizer integration.
Custom shortcodes that provide even greater flexibility.

Pofo users can expect first-class support.

Hongo — Modern & Multipurpose WooCommerce WordPress Theme

This modern, trend-setting multipurpose theme is definitely a top choice for WooCommerce site builders and for bloggers as well.

Hongo features:

Product sales-related tools like comparisons, quick views, catalog mode, and a lot more.
Hongo-built sites will be quick loading and SEO friendly.
WPBakery custom shortcodes and WordPress Customizer integration guarantee maximum flexibility.

Click to find out more about this top theme.

XStore — The Most Complete & Customizable WooCommerce Theme

What’s great about XStore is that it does the heavy lifting. Not all of it, of course, but nearly so.

The reasons?

100+ good-to-go shops.
A custom header builder and a single product page builder.
You’ll also have 350+ pre-built sections, Elementor and WPBakery support, and a nice selection of premium WP plugins at your disposal.

This top WordPress theme is too good to pass up if you have eCommerce in mind.

If you’re in the market for a top WordPress theme to get the New Year off to a great start, you’re in a good place. The products presented here feature the latest website trends and preferences. They are able to match any user needs, whether they are personal or corporate-oriented.

These great WordPress themes will help you elevate your projects to the next level — which is obviously good for business.

This is definitely a good place for you.

The post 12 Excellent WordPress Themes To Use in 2021 appeared first on Hongkiat.

10 Best Free Mind Mapping Tools

Hongkiat Lim — Wed, 06 Jan 2021 13:26:43 +0000

Mind mapping is one of the best brainstorming methods to come up with ideas or solutions, especially when you’re working in a team. However, when you’re working with a remote team, then the best option is to use a reliable mind mapping app for discussions and idea creation.

Here is a list of some of the best mind mapping apps for individual or collaborating brainstorming. Most of these tools are available cross platform and offer different features and functionalities. So take a look at the list and see which one would suit your needs the best.

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1. Coggle

An intuitive online tool for gathering your thoughts through creative mind maps. I enables you to give a picture to your random ideas in the process of planning or brainstorming. What’s more is that you can invite your team or collaborators to work on the mind maps online.

Cogule offers many features including floating text and images, adding multiple starting points, unlimited image uploads, and option to save your private diagrams even when you unsubscribe from their service. Not being available for mobile or desktop however, takes some of the lustre away from the app. But if you’re looking for an entirely online ming mapping solution, then this may be the best tool for you.

Desktop Compatibility: Browser
Mobile Compatibility: No
Coggle Price: Free
Premium app/subscriptions?: Yes (Check pricing)

2. Milanote

One of the most easy-to-use mind mapping apps you’ll find, Milanote helps you give a face to your thought process through text, images, graphics, and even videos. There are many pre-made templates to get you start with and the simple drag and drop interface makes it simple enough for anyone to use.

On the aspect of collaboration, you can work with any number of team members on a single board and it’s totally up to you to let your team edit, comment or only view the mind maps. Also, Milanote being a multi-platform app, you can sync it between different devices. There is, however, no option for having a free trial.

Desktop Compatibility: Browser, Windows, MacOS
Mobile Compatibility: iOS, Android
Milanote Price: Free
Premium app/subscriptions?: Yes (Check pricing)

3. Miro

Miro is an online whiteboard that brings different team members together for sharing ideas from anywhere. You can brainstorm ideas, do visual mapping, plan and discuss, collaborate in real-time, and even arrange webinars and remote workshops.

Ease-of-use is perhaps one of Miro’s most prominent feature. You don’t need to learn too much to get started and even the collaboration takes only a few minutes. There are a few minor hiccups in the functioning of the app but the developers are working on its improvement so we can look forward to a more prefect tool with time.

Desktop Compatibility: Windows, MacOS
Mobile Compatibility: iOS, Android
Miro Price: Free
Premium app/subscriptions?: Yes (Check pricing)

4. SketchBoard

An intuitive virtual whiteboard, Sketchboard gives you the ability to develop and share your ideas and discussions though visual and textual mind mapping. It’s a great tool to work individually or with a team online. You can choose from over 400 freehand drawings with connections appearing automatically and add text where necessary.

Sketchboard gives you an infinite drawing broad so you can drag the canvas and add as many ideas as you want. Though you can do all kinds of mind mapping through this tool, but being based on coding and modeling theme, I think it would be ideal for technical projects like mobile app development.

Desktop Compatibility: Browser
Mobile Compatibility: No
SketchBoard Price: Free
Premium app/subscriptions?: Yes (Check pricing)

5. StormBoard

Stromboard allows you to discuss and streamline your ideas in real-time. It’s more like an online shared workspace on which you can assign tasks and monitor your team’s progress on the project in hand.

The app offers professional templates, live sessions and webinars, and many dynamic reporting options. As an online whiteboard, it does miss out on a few features like diagramming and screen recording etc. but is an ideal tool for collaborative online mind mapping.

Desktop Compatibility: Browser, Windows, MacOS
Mobile Compatibility: iOS, Android
StormBoard Price: Free
Premium app/subscriptions?: Yes (Check pricing)

6. Ayoa

Ayoa combines robust task management with an efficient mind mapping solution. It features an easy-to-use interface with many collaborative features, customizable templates, agile project management, and time tracking.

One drawback of Ayoa is that it’s not available offline which makes it difficult to access your data on the go. Apart from that, the app is available cross-platform and gives you a lot of fluidity to capture and grow your great ideas with your team.

Desktop Compatibility: Browser, Windows, MacOS
Mobile Compatibility: iOS, Android
Ayoa Price: Free
Premium app/subscriptions?: Yes (Check pricing)

7. Diagrams.net

Diagrams.net is basically a professional diagramming tool that you can use to visualize your ideas and create mind maps out of your thought process. You can use it offline through the desktop app and the tool works perfectly with some of your most-used tools like Google Drive, Share Point, OneDrive, and many cloud storage services.

The tool allows you to export your diagrams in a number of formats, however exporting files from other tools needs some improvement. Other than that, it’s a simple and efficient tool for online collaborative brainstorming.

Desktop Compatibility: Windows, MacOS, Linux
Mobile Compatibility: No
Diagrams.net Price: Free
Premium app/subscriptions?: No

8. Lucidchart

An intuitive and easy to use app, Lucidchart brings you and your team on the same page of collective thought process. You can avail the pre-made professional templates, keyboard shortcuts, multi-edit a document with other collaborators in real time – all this with amazing and customizable graphics.

As Lucidchart features a whole gamut of features, for some users they may seem a bit overwhelming at first. However, with helpful guides and a smooth learning curve you get a hold of things soon and start an efficient collaboration on your ideas on the tool.

Desktop Compatibility: Browser
Mobile Compatibility: iOS, Android
Lucidchart Price: Free
Premium app/subscriptions?: Yes (Check pricing)

9. Mind Meister

An ideal mind mapping tool for those who want a more visually vivid picture fo their ideas, MindMeister offers a seamless work flow and an array of collaborative features. You can use it for note taking, collaborative brainstorming, and project management.

MindMeister has many features to help you create a comprehensive mind map. It also offers integration with Google Drive and other tools that you use most frequently. Though the free version has a limited set of features, but you still get enough tools to create amazing mind maps.

Desktop Compatibility: Browser
Mobile Compatibility: iOS, Android
Mind Meister Price: Free
Premium app/subscriptions?: Yes (Check pricing)

10. Mindup

MindMup is a mind mapping tool focused more towards students and educationist in organizing their teams or students and managing academic projects. You can create and publish mind maps, work flows, story boards, and project discussions online and on social media.

With MindMup, you can import or export files (though limited formats) and also use it as a note-taking app. Some of its features can use a bit of polishing, but all in all, it is a great tool for collaborative brainstorming among small and medium-sized teams.

Desktop Compatibility: Browser
Mobile Compatibility: No
Mindup Price: Free
Premium app/subscriptions?: Yes (Check pricing)

The post 10 Best Free Mind Mapping Tools appeared first on Hongkiat.

5 Desktop Linux Distributions for Beginners — Best of

Ashutosh KS — Tue, 05 Jan 2021 13:36:24 +0000

If you are bored from Windows or macOS, you may wish to try out Linux. It raises a question: which distribution should you try? The reason being there are hundreds of Linux OSs (or distributions), making it confusing for beginners to pick one of the available options.

Ubuntu is undoubtedly the most popular distribution on the planet, owing to its classic yet friendly interface, stability, and support for thousands of software. It is also backed by a vast community, so if you ever break your system, you may easily find help online. That is why I am skipping discussing Ubuntu in detail.

That said, let’s check out the best beginner-friendly distributions for desktops except Ubuntu. You will not miss it; I am going to discuss a lot of similar OSs.

Note: If you are a beginner going to install or try out Linux OSs for the first time, you should not install first — create a bootable flash drive and try it live before installing it in your system. You can use Rufus to create bootable flash drives.

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Linux Mint

Linux Mint is one of the most popular distros for both beginners and advanced users. If you are switching from Windows or macOS, Linux Mint offers a lot of features and utilities to help you easily switch to Linux. Some of its popular features include automatic backups and updates, huge software repo, etc.

Linux Mint is an open-source distribution that can be installed or even used directly from a flash drive. Though it avails a handsome amount of features and tools and supports most multimedia features, it is not resource hungry, unlike Windows 10. Also, it comes in three flavors, i.e., it avails and supports three desktop environments namely Cinnamon (modern), MATE, and Xfce (fast).

Pros

Windows 10’s Start menu-like app menu, making it easy for you to switch.
Works out of the box — especially for drivers and full multimedia support.
Timeshift supports incremental backups like File History in Windows 10.
Warpinator allows sending or receiving files across the network (Wi-Fi).
Synaptic Package Manager makes installing or updating apps a breeze.

Cons

Supports just three editions officially while Ubuntu or Fedora does more.
Snap — Ubuntu’s new software packaging system — is blocked by default.
PPA (Personal Package Archive) is less supported; may break the system.

Quick links

Pop!_OS

Pop!_OS is another popular Linux distribution developed by System76. One of the highlights of Pop!_OS is its superb user experience providing streamlined interface and workflows, thanks to enhanced keyboard shortcuts and automatic window tiling support — similar to the Snap Assist feature in Windows 10.

Pop!_Shop is its take on Microsoft Store, providing a single place to search for, install, or remove all latest apps and developer tools. Do Not Disturb helps skip those annoying notifications when you are working in your “zen mode”. Hybrid Graphics lets you run apps with battery-saving or high-powered graphics. Also, it supports dark mode like some other distributions and Windows 10.

Pros

Support for most everyday features, making it easy for you to switch.
Stacking helps auto-stack apps to provide browser tabs-like workflow.
Full Disk Encryption works out of the box to better protect your data.
Refresh Install helps reset your system like Windows 10’s Reset this PC.
APT and Flatpak support helps run all your apps in secure environments.

Cons

Dock may seem confusing at first if you are from Windows or macOS.
No 32-bit version is available, making it impractical for old computers.

Quick links

elementary OS

elementary OS is another popular Ubuntu-based Linux distribution. It comes with its own desktop environment named Pantheon, which provides a superbly elegant yet simple user experience, thanks to the team’s painstaking efforts. Its biggest feature is that it looks and feels like macOS, however, it does also make it limited.

AppCenter is its take on Microsoft Store, providing you a single application for searching, installing, and removing apps in elementary OS. Do Not Disturb helps avoid annoying notifications to stay focused like a monk. Surprisingly, it also supports picture-in-picture, letting you watch a video side-by-side.

Pros

Look and feel is similar to macOS, making it easier for you to switch.
Parental Control helps set per-user time limits and manage websites.
Powerful yet fully customizable keyboard shortcuts, similar to Pop!_OS.
Privacy controls let you supervise access to the location or microphone.

Cons

elementary OS may seem minimal for power users — especially to devs.
AppCenter has very limited apps; will get better with elementary OS 6.

Quick links

Zorin OS

Zorin OS is another superb Linux distribution based on Ubuntu. Its unique selling point is that it supports the look and feel of both Windows and macOS, unlike many other distributions that provides a user experience of either Windows or macOS, making it perfect for companies, schools, and organizations.

Another unique feature of Zorin OS is that it offers multiple editions — Ultimate, Core, Lite, and Education. Ultimate edition packs in premium layouts and extra apps and games while Core is targeted towards everyday users. Lite edition is built for old computers while Education packs in educational apps and games.

Pros

Windows 10’s Start menu-like app menu, making it easy for you to switch.
Zorin look changer avails customization options to change look and feel.
Software store has many apps like Linux Mint (unlike elementary OS).
Avails Wine out of the box, letting you to run Windows apps inside Linux.

Cons

Ultimate edition requires $39 to offer the macOS-like desktop style.

Quick links

Fedora

Fedora is yet another popular Linux distribution, and it is the only distribution on this list that is not based on Ubuntu. It is also easy to get started with Fedora like Linux Mint or elementary OS, however you may miss the look and feel of your previous OS until you try one of the Fedora Spins (say, Cinnamon).

As we are discussing desktop distributions, I will focus on Fedora Workstation. Using the GNOME3 desktop environment, it is a user-friendly yet powerful operating system.

Fedora is based on Red Hat, and it is mostly used for development and learning purposes, making it ideal for developers and students alike. And it supports RPM software packages, unlike above distributions that support DEB.

Pros

Avails the bleeding-edge technology from the Linux/UNIX world.
Supports multiple desktop environments as part of Fedora Spins.
Supports KDE Plasma, Cinnamon, MATE, and more environments.

Cons

Less beginner-friendly than the other Linux distributions on this list.
Poorer support for proprietary drivers than other distributions here.
Poorer stability than other distributions mostly due to new technology.

Quick links

That is all about the best Linux distributions for beginners. Hope you found the list helpful. Did I miss including one of your favorite distributions? Let me know by writing a comment or tweeting me to @iamashks to leave your feedback.

The post 5 Desktop Linux Distributions for Beginners — Best of appeared first on Hongkiat.

10 Text to Speech Applications for You — Best of

Hongkiat Lim — Mon, 04 Jan 2021 15:20:49 +0000

Text to speech systems are not unknown — you use it while conversing with Alexa or Apple’s Siri or Google Assistant. Though previously, it was only used for building accessible apps and speech-powered chatbots, its applications have grown in the last decade like in the area of audiobooks that help people enjoy stories or learn new things while multitasking.

Thanks to its growing popularity in the last decade, there are tons of text to speech (TTS) system providers, making it difficult for you to pick the best tool per your requirements. That is why I have compiled this list of the best text to speech apps to guide you. This list features premium as well as free apps.

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NaturalReader

NaturalReader is an easy-to-use text to speech software that can work with a variety of text files. It provides 100+ highly accurate and natural-sounding voices in 10+ languages. Interestingly, you can also upload text files directly from cloud storage platforms like Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive.

It supports most document formats such as PDF, TXT, DOCX, PPTX, ODS, ODT, and non-DRM EPUB. NaturalReader comes in three versions: Online, Software, and Commercial with Online Premium starting at $9.99/month and Commercial Single starting at $49/month for one user and $10/month for each extra user.

Pros

Supports most document formats such as PDF, TXT, DOCX, PPTX, ODS, ODT, and non-DRM EPUB along with JPEG and PNG, thanks to OCR.
OCR for extracting text from scanned documents (premium only).
Supports correcting or improving the pronunciation of any word.

Cons

A free version is available but with costly upgrades for extra voices.
Free apps are online-only, i.e., they require internet connectivity.

Linguatec Voice Reader

Linguatec Voice Reader is one of the best text-to-speech tools in the market that can easily convert text files into audio streams. Its most interesting feature is the set of 60+ astonishingly natural-sounding high-quality voices. You can choose any one of these professional voices to convert your texts into audios.

Linguatec provides high-accuracy transcription solutions, thanks to its four products: Voice Reader Home, Voice Reader Studio, Voice Reader Server, and Voice Reader Web. Its Home edition costs €49 (approx. US$59) per voice, which may seem very expensive — especially when compared to NaturalReader.

Pros

Studio edition costs €499 (approx. US$ 605) per language, which seems a very reasonable price for unlimited commercial use.
Supports converting a large number of text formats including TXT, RTF, DOCX, DOC, HTM, HTML, MHT, EPUB, PDF, and ODT.
Supports up to 45 different languages including all widely popular languages such as Arabic, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, etc.

Cons

No free personal version available, unlike NaturalReader.
Provides only one language and one voice in Voice Reader Home.

Capti

Capti is a productivity powerhouse including a text to speech engine, which works online as well as offline. It provides a natural-sounding listening experience in 20+ languages and integrates with cloud platforms such as Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive, allowing you to upload files directly from them.

Capti Voice — its solution for educators — is a literacy and learning platform. As an educator, Capti Voice lets you help students overcome language barriers with personalized learning and teaching strategies. Capti Voice can narrate a large variety of text documents such as articles, ebooks, and web pages.

Pros

Supports a host of platforms like Windows, macOS, iOS, and Chrome OS.
Features extracting articles from web pages while skipping all clutter.
Supports numerous text formats including PDF, DOCX, PPTX, EPUB, ODT, FODT, TXT, RTF, JPEG, PNG, and Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets.

Cons

Free account is limited, but it still works for individuals (limitedly).
No pricing info is available for Personal Use Pro and Classroom Use.

Voice Dream Reader

Voice Dream Reader is an impressive text to speech application that gives high-quality reading and listening experience. It offers 200+ voices in 30+ languages (more than the above apps) and features synchronized text highlighting, auto-scrolling, and a distraction-free view which helps you to focus and better comprehend or learn the content.

Pros

Supports numerous languages such as Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Russian, Spanish, etc.
A cheaper alternative to the above tools costing US$7.99 on the Google Play Store (for Android) and US$14.99 on the App Store (for iOS).
Supports various formats like PDF, EPUB, TXT, RTF, DOCX, and HTML.

Cons

Free version is very limited but supports buying premium voices.
No support for desktop OSs like Windows and macOS, unlike the above tools.

ReadSpeaker

ReadSpeaker offers a range of online and offline text-to-speech solutions for websites, mobile apps, embedded devices, and more. Surprisingly, it avails 200+ voices in 50+ languages with 90+ self-branded quality voices. ReadSpeaker offers a host of solutions, so I will focus on its general-purpose solutions.

Pros

Supports a host of languages like Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin, Dutch, English, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, etc.
speechCloud API provides a TTS API, unlike other listed solutions.

Cons

No free version available, unlike most solutions on this list.
No pricing info is available for any of its solutions (need to contact).

Speech Central

Speech Central is a superb text-to-speech solution, allowing you to listen to your favorite ebooks, blogs, or web pages. This app is specially designed for users with disabilities like dyslexia. It also offers features to listen to an article later, check your listening/reading history, and perform handy tasks.

Pros

Allows listening to any web page or ebook that helps at multitasking.
Windows app also allows you to convert text into audio (MP3).
Highly customizable listening and reading experience.

Cons

No support for macOS while it supports Android, iOS, and Windows.
No free trial available for Windows while it is available for Android.

KNFB Reader

KNFB Reader is an easy to use text to speech converter. It is specially built for people with disabilities like low vision, dyslexia, etc. You can take a picture of any text, and KNFB Reader will read it aloud. Unlike some other readers, it uses superb image processing technology to capture accurate pictures.

Pros

Offers voices in a range of languages including English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Danish, Russian, etc.
Works offline, i.e., it does not require an internet connection.
Supports converting text to Braille, unlike most other apps.

Cons

No support for macOS while it supports Android, iOS, and Windows.
Very pricey — especially if compared to Speech Central (almost 7-8x).

Text to Speech!

Text to Speech! is a text-to-speech app for iPhones and iPads. It produces natural-sounding accurate voices from the input text. It can produce audio as you type in the text, but it does not support speaking out complete text files. This app offers 90+ voices in 30+ languages and customization options too.

Pros

Supports most popular languages including English, Chinese, Danish, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, Russian, etc.
Works offline, i.e., without an internet connection, like KNFB Reader.

Cons

Its voices sound less natural, unlike various solutions on this list.
No support for speaking text files or text in pictures, unlike others.

Panopreter Basic

Panopreter Basic is a simple text to speech converter. It uses Microsoft TTS voices provided in Windows to convert texts in audio formats like WAV, MP3, OGG, and FLAC formats. Though the basic version is pretty limited, its premium version allows you to customize text layouts, audio pitch, and volume.

Pros

Its Basic version is freeware, unlike almost all tools on this list.

Cons

Supports only Windows, unlike most other solutions listed here.
The basic version is very limited — misses all the customization options.
The basic version does not support DOCX, but you can copy-paste content.

iSpeech

iSpeech is another text-to-speech voice synthesis software targeted towards developers. It can help you to convert text to audio like all other applications on this list. Its interesting features are its APIs and SDKs, making iSpeech a better candidate for developers rather than end-users, unlike other solutions.

Pros

Online app for converting or listening to documents in audio.
Converts to a variety of audio formats like WAV, MP3, WMA, etc.

Cons

Its voices sound a little robotic, unlike many solutions on this list.
No free plan available — requires buying credits for using its app.
No side-by-side reading experience, unlike Speech Central and more.

That is all about the best text-to-speech solutions available in the market. There are some free options here like NaturalReader, Capti, and more, but most others are only available as paid products. Did you find what you were looking for? Let me know by writing a comment below or tweeting to me at @iamashks.

The post 10 Text to Speech Applications for You — Best of appeared first on Hongkiat.

How to Sync Microsoft Edge Bookmarks with Other Devices

Ashutosh KS — Mon, 04 Jan 2021 13:18:11 +0000

The new Microsoft Edge is getting popular, thanks to its base — Chromium — the open-source project behind a lot of web browsers including Google Chrome. Since it offers unique features and integration with Windows 10, you may be tempted to use the new Edge over Chrome or Firefox, or maybe use both.

If you plan to use two or three browsers on your system or across devices, the biggest pain point is bookmarks and login credentials getting distributed. You can sync login credentials using password managers, but what about bookmarks? Thankfully, there is a trick to sync bookmarks across browsers or devices.

Microsoft Edge Sync is an exemplary feature that lets you access your browsing data across all your signed-in devices. After you have signed in to Microsoft Edge and turned on Sync, you can browse the web on any device, pause or stop, and continue on a different device. Alright, let’s check how to sync bookmarks.

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Step 1. Sign in to Microsoft Edge

You must be signed in to Edge using your Microsoft account before you can sync your bookmarks and other browsing data. If you have already set up your Edge or Windows 10 PC using your Microsoft account, you can skip this step.

On Edge for Windows 10, you need to do the following steps:

Click on the Start button > go to Settings.
Click on Accounts > Sign in with a Microsoft account.

Finally, type your account credentials, then click Sign in.

On Edge for Android or iOS, you must follow the below steps:

Click the More options button in the bottom bar.
Click on Settings > Sign in with a Microsoft account.

Finally, type your account credentials, then click Sign in.

Step 2. Enable Sync in Microsoft Edge

Once you have signed in with your Microsoft account, you can now enable Sync inside Edge’s Settings. Also, you can choose to sync your favorites, passwords, and other data across devices you have signed in with the same account.

On Edge for Windows 10, you need to do the following steps:

Click on the Start button > open Microsoft Edge.
Click the profile icon/image in the browser’s top bar.
Click on Manage profile settings, then click on Sync.

On Your profile page, click the Turn on sync button.
Toggle on Favorites and click Confirm to enable Sync.

On Edge for Android or iOS, you must follow the below steps:

Click the More options button in the bottom bar.
Click on Settings, then click your email under Accounts.

On the Account screen, click on Sync under Sync settings.
Toggle the Sync option and check Favorites under Data items.

That is all! I hope you find this guide helpful in syncing your bookmarks on Microsoft Edge across devices. If you find any issue while following this guide, write a comment below detailing the issue or tweet to me at @iamashks, and I will be glad to help you.

The post How to Sync Microsoft Edge Bookmarks with Other Devices appeared first on Hongkiat.

Fresh Resources for Web Designers and Developers (December 2020)

Thoriq Firdaus — Tue, 22 Dec 2020 13:57:29 +0000

We are finally at the end of 2020, an unprecedented year of the decade, and with that we are also back with bring fresh resources for our fellow web developers.

This year specifically, I’ve seen Laravel ecosystem thrived with new packages, libraries, and tools. In this round of the series we will explore Laravel ecosystem more such as the latest new tool to spin up a localhost environment with Docker and a couple packages that makes creating web application quicker and easier, along with other type of resources.

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DevFonts

A collection of fonts designed for writing codes. There are more than 30 font families available. Some of the fonts provide support for the font ligature that makes your codes look cleaner. The site also provides preview with the theme and language selection, so you can see whether the font fits in your preference.

Upptime

A modern uptime monitoring system and status page powered with Github infrastructure. It utilises Github Actions, Github Issues, and Github Pages all together. All you need is a Github account and repository to deploy it, which you can get for free.

Collision

A PHP library that provides a nicer error report when running your PHP application through command line / Shell environment. It will render codes with proper highlighting, colors, and numbering which make the report easier to read.

Laravel Sail

A new shiny tool from Laravel ecosystem. Sail finally provides a unified way to run a localhost environment for your Laravel application whether you’re running on Windows, macOS, or Linux.

Laravel Favicon

A Laravel package that allows you to generate a favicon image based on the site environment. You can set the background, text, and colors of the image. A quite handy approach to easily differentiate environments of your websites or Laravel applications.

Akaunting

A free web-based accounting software. Built with modern technologies such as Laravel and Vue.js, Akaunting is designed for small businesses and freelancers. For developer, you can easily extend it with new functionality to suit your needs.

Laravel Backup

Have you ever need to backup your Laravel application? Look no further this PHP library is all you’ll need. It’s able to backup file and database and you can store it multiple places that you’ve configured in your Laravel application file system.

Laravel Media Library

This handy library for your Laravel application allows you to manage files using Laravel Eloquent model. This library supports many file system that Laravel supports including local file system or S3.

Laravel Activity Log

A Laravel library that provides the functions and model that enables you to record the activities within your website or application. For example, you can name the activity, the user that’s caused it, as well as you can also set how long the log should be stored.

Invoice Ninja

A web-based application for creating invoice. It supports online payment with more than 40 payment gateways including Stripe, Paypal, and Authorize.net. You can also set it to accept deposit, partial payments, and auto reminder for payments. So not only that you can create invoices but it also helps you get paid timely.

PestPHP

A modern automatic PHP testing tool with a more linear and expressive syntax adopted from Jest, a testing tool for JavaScript. It makes your test more easy to read and understand. It also fully compatible with your current PHPUnit tests.

ClockWork

An awesome tool for debugging your Laravel application. It provides detailed insight of application when it run; data such as requests and performance data, log, database queries, cache queries, redis queries, dispatched events, and even the new Core Web Vital all presented nicely in the browser.

Corcel

A collection of PHP classes that provides a nicer way to connect and get data directly from a WordPress database on your Laravel application. You can use it to retrieve Posts along with the Posts meta data, taxonomy, pages, thumbnails, and options.

Github Universe On-demand

This month, Github has just held their annual Github Universe. It presented numerous subjects on the tech and software development. You can find the collection of pre-recorded sessions of the event here to keep up with what’s going on in tech the industry.

Generic Components

A collection of native Web Components for common web interface that is light and fast, easy to style, and accessible. There are a few custom HTML element provided including the Accordion, Switch, and Tabs

PingCRM

An example of application built using InertiaJS and Laravel. This could also be a great starting point to build your own application.

SnapDrop

A handy web app to transfer files between devices. Using built-in modern browser features such as WebRTC, WebSockets, and PWA. You can use it cross platform whether you’re in Windows, macOS, or Linux. It’s also fully open-source so you can learn how it works.

Honey

A handy PHP library for Laravel application to prevent spam. Providing honeypot techniques, IP blocking and an a simple simple to Google Recaptcha.

Sherlock Project

A CLI that allows you to search and find usernames across social networks. It supports more than 300 sites including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Slack, Flickr, and Freelancer.com, to name a few. It makes findaing a perfect consistent username easier.

Gutenberg Post Picker

A simple Gutenberg component that allows you to easily list and select posts published on your website. You can install it through NPM to incorporate into your own plugin or theme.

The post Fresh Resources for Web Designers and Developers (December 2020) appeared first on Hongkiat.

20 Pocket-Sized Gift Ideas to Help Spread The Christmas Love

Nancy Young — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 15:34:47 +0000

You probably have checked out most of the gift ideas available out there, but if you’re not into bulky gifts that could burn a hole in your pocket, then check out the pocket-sized options we have for you in this post. You’ll find cute small cameras, creative USB flash drive designs, portable battery backups, an activity tracker, a slim wallet and even a manual-powered espresso machine.

Note: Some of these items may be out of stock due to the shopping season but do check back often at the product page for replenished stock. Prices may also vary from what is depicted here because again, it’s the shopping season, synonymous with discounts!

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AirPods Pro

Experience immersive sound with Apple’s sleek and minimal Airpods Pro. These amazing in-ear headphones feature active noise cancellation, customizable fit with a soft silicone tip, and the Transparency mode that lets outside sounds in with a button.

Insta360 Go

Smaller than your thumb and weighing only 20 grams, Insta 360 is a stable camera that mounts on your body or any other surface and captures the most amazing footage from incredible angles. This tiny camera is water-proof, features FlowState stabilization, and you can easily edit the captured footage into an unforgettable video.

Wireless Mini Speaker

This cute object is not a toy but a powerful yet super small Bluetooth speaker. You can also use it as a remote selfie-shutter and if there’s a phone call, you can use it as a microphone as well.

Cocoon Accessory Organizer

This is a versatile accessory organizer that helps you store your things in its strong elastic grids. You can use it to store your art supplies, tools, makeup accessories, and just about anything. The only limit is your imagination.

Wallet Ninja Multitool

Here is a highly useful credit card-sized multitool that helps you deal with a number of situations. You can use it as a phone stand, bottle opener, screwdriver, box opener, ruler, and even a fruit peeler.

Orblue Camping Utensils

A 4-in-1 camping accessory, this is a set of cutlery with a spoon, fork, knife, and bottle opener that you can fold into one pocket-sized item. When you want to use the spoon and fork, just open and detach them. It is made with high-quality stainless steel and is pretty light-weight.

Zippo Hand Warmer

Keeps your hands warm and comfortable even in the coldest settings with this Zippo hand warmer. It produces a flameless gentle warmth for 12 hours. Once empty, you can easily fill it back with the fill cup that comes with it.

Electric Screwdriver

This is perhaps the most versatile toolkit that’s small enough to fit in your pocket. It features 23 Lithium precision screwdrivers and other bit heads including a crowbar, suction cup, and magnetizer. You can use it in automatic or manual mode and it takes very little time to charge up.

Nano Light Miniature Keychain

Nano light is a 1.4 inch LED flashlight that’s fit into a keychain and serves well as an emergency light that you can carry anywhere. The flashlight is made with Aircraft aluminum and a 5mm white LED with a 100,000-hour battery life.

DoohicKey Multitool Keychain

Doohikey is a 5-in1 multitool keychain that features a can opener, box cutter, 3 different sizes of a wrench, ruler, and a flathead screwdriver. Made with durable stainless steel, you can carry it as a separate accessory or fix it into your existing keychain.

Nomad Carabiner

Here is a carabiner charger clip equipped with a USB charging plug and a Lightining cable. It offers fast charging and features a carbon fiber body and reinforced steel frame so you can easily carry it around without worrying about its durability.

Holtzmans Wallet Knife

This is a credit card-sized knife that you can carry in your wallet or card slot and you wouldn’t even know it’s there. When needed take it out, fold it into the knife and cut through any material with stainless steel blades.

Tile Sticker

Tile is a popular Bluetooth tracking device that you can attach to any of your belongings and use it to find them in case they get lost. The device connects with the Tile app and you can make it ring to find the things you attach it with.

YanSheng Cactus Candles

Here is a set of cute tea light candles shaped as tiny cactus plants. You can use them to spice up any surrounding as a cute decor accessory.

Desktop Drum Set

Kids and amateur drummers would love this desktop drum set. The drum set is made with durable lightweight material and is highly portable.

Mini Hammer Multitool

Here is a multitool that features a hammer, screwdriver, claw, and pilers ideal for a carpenter or handyman to carry around anywhere. The tool comes with a belt pouch for conveinient portability.

FineInno Mini Vacuum

This tabletop vacuum cleaner is ideal for a clean freak or someone whos table is often messy. The mini vacuum cleaner is battery-powered and can pick up paper scraps, crumbs, hair, and dirt etc. from your desk or car dashboard.

TP-Link Smart Plug

A smart plug that lets you turn your devices on and off from anywhere by just using your smartphone. It also works with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and MicroSoft Cortana and is really small and light to carry on the go.

Syma Pocket Drone

For filming enthusiasts, here is a pocket-size camera drone that weighs less than a pound. It features a 6-Axis gyro quad-rotorcraft flight, one key takeoff/ landing, and a 360-degree stunt flip, among other attributes.

20 Christmas Gift Ideas For The Geeky Gal

20 Christmas Gift Ideas For The Geeky Gal

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For the rest of us, here are 30 ideas of what to get for that gift exchange part, for under USD$10.

20 Colors Gift Tags

Present your lovely Christmas gifts to your friends and family with these colorful gift tags. The tags come in 20 different colors and twine strings to help you wrap your presents beautifully.

Silicon Reusable Storage Bag

These reusable storage bags are perfect for keeping your snacks fresh in your bag or your fridge. The bags are leak-proof, dishwasher-safe, and are made with food-grade silicone safe for everyday use.

Running Pouch

A useful running belt that helps you store your phone, money, cards, and other important stuff while you’re out running or exercising. The pouch is made of soft material and is adjustable to your waist so you won’t feel your stuff jiggling while you run.

Keychain Screwdriver Tool

Here is a tiny toolkit that fits into a keychain. The pocket-size multi-purpose keychain has two types of screwdrivers and a hex wrench that can work wonders in an emergency situation.

Zober Gift Wrap Storage

Store your bundles of gift papers in this useful storage bag. The bag is made with sturdy canvas with an easy opening zipper and a plastic window so you can see all the stored paper rolls.

Portable Capsule Cutter

This capsule-size cutter fixed into a keychain can be a perfect carry-around accessory for anyone. It is made with premium stainless steal and can be used for unpacking cartons, opening cans, and other such needs.

3-Piece Dough Press Set

A perfect gift for an avid cook, this set of dough press is ideal for making dumplings, calzone, and ravioli, etc. The cutters come in three sizes (4″, 5″, and 6″), crimped edge design and are totally dishwash-safe.

Stainless Steel Butter Spreader

A 3-in-1 butter knife or spreader that makes a unique kitchen item. You can use it to cut, spread, and curl even the hardest butter bars and the ergonomic design keeps it from slipping from your hands.

Lamicall Phone Stand

Here is an elegant-looking cellphone stand that helps your hold your phone while its charging, during a video call, or when you want to watch a video or movie. It features an aluminum body and a non-skid rubber base for maximum stability.

Wuteku Magnetic Cell Phone Holder

A phone holder that saves you from the hassle of clipping your device in it. This magnetic phone holder is ideal for use in car and can hold even the heaviest phones with great stability.

Glucky Lime Squeezer

This simple lime squeezer is a handy kitchen tool that helps you squeeze the maximum juice out of lemons and limes. Just like what they say… easy peasy lemon squeezy!

Kimje Door Opener Tool

If you want to avoid touching doors, handles, and buttons with your bare hands, take help from this amazing door opener. Made with stainless steel and clever design, the tool helps you in push opening doors and pressing elevator/doorbell buttons without touching them.

Soporte Phone Stand

A useful home/ office accessory and desk gadget, this phone stand lets your hold your cellphone or tablet. The holder is manufactured with high-grade aluminum and comes in four different colors.

Lovers Shaped Hook

This pair of lovers shaped hooks are useful as well as interesting to look at. You can slide them over room doors or cabinet doors and use them to hand clothes, towels, and other such items.

8 in 1 Mini Screwdriver Set Pen

A mini tool kit that fits into your pocket, this 8-in-1 screwdriver set is a useful accessory to carry anywhere. It includes different types of screwdrivers and a magnetic tip that holds the bits securely when you’re working with them.

6 in 1 Small Outdoor Survival Tool

Here is an interesting little accessory rightfully dubbed as an outdoor survival tool. Equipped with a screwdriver, ruler, hex wrenches, cord bender, bottle opener, letter opener, nail driver, and a glass mirror, it can be a cool gift for an adventure-loving person.

Gun Shaped Beer Bottle Opener

This cap gun is a useful and fun accessory. You use it open the cap of a bottle and then you can shoot this cap from the gun making it an interesting gadget for parties and drinking games.

Bicycle Pizza Cutter

Here is a cute bicycle shaped pizza cutter for pizza lovers out there. The blades of the cutter are made with stainless steel with a non-stick coating and it even comes with a tiny bicycle stand.

Egg Yolk Egg White Separator

Speprating egg yolks from whites is a messy business, but not anymore. This stainless steel egg yolk separator works wonderfully as the whites slip through the gaps and yolk remains in it.

Treble Plus One Equals Four

Android Developers — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 18:16:46 +0000

Posted by Iliyan Malchev (Project Treble Architect), Amith Dsouza (Technical Account Manager) , and Veerendra Bhora (Strategic Partnerships Manager)

Extending Android updates on Qualcomm’s Mobile Platforms

In the past few years, the latest Android OS has been adopted earlier by OEMs and deployed in larger numbers to our users. The growth in adoption has been driven by OEMs delivering faster OS updates, taking advantage of the architecture introduced by Project Treble.

At the time Android 11 launched there were 667M active users on Android 10, 82% of whom got their Android 10 build via an over the air (OTA) update. Despite the events throughout 2020, there is a continued momentum among our partners to either launch their devices on Android 11 or offer Android 11 OTAs on their devices earlier.

Our efforts till now have been focussed on making OS updates easier and faster to deploy. The other side of this coin is supporting updates for a longer period of time, and today we’d like to provide an overview of the changes we are making to help our partners achieve this.

Project Treble was an ambitious re-architecture of Android that created a split between the OS framework and device-specific low-level software (called the vendor implementation) through a well-defined, stable vendor interface. As a part of this split, the Android OS framework guarantees backward compatibility with the vendor implementation, which is checked through a standardized compliance test suite - VTS. With each Android release, Project Treble publishes Generic System Images (GSIs) that are built from AOSP sources, and are guaranteed to be backwards-compatible with the previous 3 versions of vendor implementations, in addition of course to the current release—for a total span of four years. Devices launching with the new Android release must have vendor implementations compatible with that GSI. This is the primary vehicle for reducing fragmentation within the OS framework. While we allow and encourage our partners to modify the framework itself, the modifications post-Treble must be done in a way that reduces upgrade costs from one version to the next.

Besides the reuse of a vendor implementation across OS updates, the Treble architecture also facilitates the re-use of the same OS framework code across different vendor implementations.

Another important change introduced by Project Treble is that new vendor-impacting requirements for Android devices are never retroactive. They apply only to devices launching on that Android version and not to devices upgrading from an older version. The term vendor-impacting here refers to requirements for new HALs, or for the shipping of a newer Linux kernel, to the device's vendor implementation. A good example might be a new revision of the camera HAL to support multiple rear camera sensors. Since the Android framework guarantees compatibility with the older HALs, we enable older vendor implementations to be reused by OEMs for upgrades without the considerable cost of updating them with new requirements.

This principle, combined with the backwards-compatibility guarantee, gives device manufacturers (OEMs) the flexibility to support upgrades both faster (since they have to upgrade just the framework, which would cover all of their devices, including those with older versions of the vendor implementation), as well as at a lower cost (since they do not have to touch the older vendor implementations).

However, seen from a System-on-Chip manufacturers’ perspective, this design introduces additional complexity. For each SoC model, the SoC manufacturers now needed to create multiple combinations of vendor implementations to support OEMs who would use that chipset to launch new devices and deploy OS upgrades on previously launched devices.

The result is that three years beyond the launch of a chipset, the SoC vendor would have to support up to 6 combinations of OS framework software and vendor implementations. The engineering costs associated with this support limited the duration for which SoC vendors offered Android OS software support on a chipset. For every single chipset, the software support timeline would look like this:

Considering that SoC providers have dozens of SoC models at any point of time, the full picture looks closer to this:

The crux of the problem was that, while device requirements were never retroactive, the requirements for SoCs were. For example on Android Pie, SoCs had to support two versions of the Camera HAL API on a chipset if it was used to support new device launches and upgrades.

From this perspective, the solution was simple: we had to extend the no-retroactivity principle to the SoCs as well as to devices. With this change, the SoC provider would be able to support Android with the same vendor implementations on their SoCs for device launches as well as upgrades.

During the past year, we have been working hard to implement this solution. Building on our deep collaboration with our colleagues at Qualcomm, today we’re announcing the results of this work. Going forward, all new Qualcomm mobile platforms that take advantage of the no-retroactivity principle for SoCs will support 4 Android OS versions and 4 years of security updates. All Qualcomm customers will be able to take advantage of this stability to further lower both the costs of upgrades as well as launches and can now support their devices for longer periods of time.

Going one step further, we’re also reusing the same OS framework software across multiple Qualcomm chipsets. This dramatically lowers the number of OS framework and vendor implementation combinations that Qualcomm has to support across their mobile platforms and results in lowered engineering, development, and deployment costs. The diagram below indicates how significant the simplification is. From a software-support perspective, it's an altogether different situation:

This change is taking effect with all SoCs launching with Android 11 and later. By working closely with Qualcomm to offer an extended period of OS and security updates, we are looking forward to delivering the best of Android to our users faster, and with greater security for an extended period of time.

Opening the Google Play Store for more car apps

Android Developers — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 16:56:24 +0000

Posted by Eric Bahna, Product Manager

In October, we published the Android for Cars App Library to beta so you could start bringing your navigation, parking, and charging apps to Android Auto. Thanks for sending your feedback with our issue tracker, so we know where to improve and clarify things. Now we’re ready to take the next step in delivering great in-car experiences.

Today, you can publish your apps to closed testing tracks in the Google Play Store. This is a great way to get feedback on how well your app meets the app quality guidelines, plus get your in-car experience in front of your first Android Auto users.

Three of our early access partners: T map, PlugShare,and 2GIS

We’re preparing the Play Store for open testing tracks soon. You can get your app ready today by publishing to closed testing. We’re eager to see what you’ve built!

What’s your MAD score?

Android Developers — Tue, 15 Dec 2020 16:54:16 +0000

Posted by Christopher Katsaros; Your #MADscore tabulator

We’ve been talking to you a lot recently about modern Android development (MAD), through the MAD Skills series. Now it’s time to see: what’s your MAD score? From how many Jetpack libraries you’re using to what percent of your app is coded in Kotlin, today we’re launching a MAD scorecard that shows just how modern an Android developer you are.

Your MAD scorecard uses Android Studio to tell you interesting things like how much size savings your app is seeing through the Android App Bundle. It spotlights each of the key MAD technologies, including specific Jetpack libraries and Kotlin features you could be using. You’ll even get a special MAD character based on your MADest skill (who knows, you just might be a MAD scientist…).

Here’s how to get your scorecard

You can get a personalized look into your MAD score through a new Android Studio plugin, here’s how to get and share your scorecard:

Step 1 - Install the plugin: Through Android Studio’s plugin marketplace, find and download the MAD Scorecard plugin. Install easily and quickly through your Studio.
Step 2 - Run the plugin: You can always find your MAD Scorecard plugin under Analyze in your main Studio menu. Click on Analyze, and Run to start creating your very own Scorecard.
Step 3 - View and share your scorecard: When you’ve completed running the plugin, Studio will show you a notification with your personal link where you can view all the details of your scorecard. Enjoy your results and share it with others!

Level up with the MAD Skills series

Once you’re done with your scorecard, check out the episodes in MAD Skills, a series of videos and articles we’re creating to teach you how to use the latest technologies of Modern Android Development to create better applications more easily. Arranged as a series of three-week topics, from Navigation to Kotlin to Android Studio, each topic will conclude with a Q&A where we’ll answer your questions. You can check out some of our earlier topics, like Material Design Components, App Bundles, and Navigation, and tune into Android Developers on YouTube for future topics.

See your MAD scorecard and share it with all of your friends, here!

MAD Skills Material Design Components: Wrap-Up

Android Developers — Fri, 11 Dec 2020 18:00:34 +0000

Posted by Nick Rout

It’s a wrap_content!

The third topic in the MAD Skills series of videos and articles on Modern Android Development is complete. This time around we covered Material Design Components (a.k.a MDC). This library provides the Material Components as Android widgets and makes it easy to implement design patterns seen on material.io, such as Material Theming, Dark Theme, and Motion.

Check out the episodes and links below to see what we covered. We designed these videos to closely follow our recent series of MDC articles as well as existing sample apps and codelabs, so you’ve got a variety of ways to engage with the content. We also had a Q&A episode featuring engineers from the MDC team!

Episode 1: Why use MDC?

The first episode by Nick Butcher is an overview video of this entire MAD Skills series, including why we recommend MDC, then deep-dives on Material Theming, Dark Theme and Motion. It also covers MDC interop with Jetpack Compose and updates to Android Studio templates that include MDC and themes/styles best practices.

Or in article form:

https://medium.com/androiddevelopers/we-recommend-material-design-components-81e6d165c2dd

Episode 2: Material Theming

Episode 2 by Nick Rout covers Material Theming and goes through a tutorial on how to implement it on Android using MDC. Key topics include setting up a `Theme.MaterialComponents.*` app theme, choosing color, type, and shape attributes — using tools on material.io —and finally adding them to your theme to see how widgets automatically react and adapt their UI. Also covered are handy utility classes that MDC provides for certain scenarios, like resolving theme color attributes and applying shape to images.

Or in article form:

https://medium.com/androiddevelopers/material-theming-with-mdc-color-860dbba8ce2f

https://medium.com/androiddevelopers/material-theming-with-mdc-type-8c2013430247

https://medium.com/androiddevelopers/material-theming-with-mdc-shape-126c4e5cd7b4

Episode 3: Dark Theme

This episode by Chris Banes gets really dark… It takes you through implementing a dark theme for an Android app using MDC. Topics covered include using “force dark” for quick conversion (and how to exclude views from this), manually crafting a dark theme with design choices, `.DayNight` MDC app themes, and `.PrimarySurface` MDC widget styles, and how to handle the system UI.

Or in article form:

https://medium.com/androiddevelopers/dark-theme-with-mdc-4c6fc357d956

Episode 4: Material Motion

Episode 4 by Nick Rout is all about Material’s motion system. It closely follows the steps in the existing “Building Beautiful Transitions with Material Motion for Android” codelab. It uses the Reply sample app to demonstrate how you can use transition patterns —container transform, shared axis, fade through, and fade —for a smoother, more understandable user experience. It goes through scenarios involving Fragments (including the Navigation component), Activities, and Views, and will feel familiar if you’ve used the AndroidX and platform transition frameworks before.

Or in article form:

https://medium.com/androiddevelopers/material-motion-with-mdc-c1f09bb90bf9

Episode 5: Community tip

Episode 5 is by a member of the Android community—Google Developer Expert (GDE) for Android Zarah Dominguez—who takes us through using the MDC catalog app as a reference for widget functionality and API examples. She also explains how it’s been beneficial to build a ‘Theme Showcase’ page in the app she works on, to ensure a cohesive design language across different screens and flows.

Episode 6: Live Q&A

To wrap things up, Chet Haase hosted us for a Q&A session along with members of the MDC engineering team —Dan Nizri and Connie Shi. We answered questions asked by you on YouTube Live, Twitter, and elsewhere. We explored the origins of MDC, how it relates to AppCompat, and how it’s evolved over the years. Other topics include best practices for organizing your themes and resources, using different fonts and typography styles, and shape theming… A lot of shape theming. We also revealed all of our favorite Material components! Lastly we looked to the future with new components coming out in MDC and Jetpack Compose, Android’s next generation UI toolkit which has Material Design built in by default.

Sample apps

During the series we used two different sample applications to demonstrate MDC :

“Build a Material Theme” (a.k.a MaterialThemeBuilder) is an interactive project that lets you create your own Material theme by customizing values for color, typography, and shape
Reply is one of the Material studies; an email app that uses Material Design components and Material Theming to create an on-brand communication experience

These can both found alongside another Material study sample app — Owl — in the MDC examples GitHub repository.

https://github.com/material-components/material-components-android-examples

Improving urban GPS accuracy for your app

Android Developers — Mon, 07 Dec 2020 17:00:57 +0000

Posted by Frank van Diggelen, Principal Engineer and Jennifer Wang, Product Manager

At Android, we want to make it as easy as possible for developers to create the most helpful apps for their users. That’s why we aim to provide the best location experience with our APIs like the Fused Location Provider API (FLP). However, we’ve heard from many of you that the biggest location issue is inaccuracy in dense urban areas, such as wrong-side-of-the-street and even wrong-city-block errors.

This is particularly critical for the most used location apps, such as rideshare and navigation. For instance, when users request a rideshare vehicle in a city, apps cannot easily locate them because of the GPS errors.

The last great unsolved GPS problem

This wrong-side-of-the-street position error is caused by reflected GPS signals in cities, and we embarked on an ambitious project to help solve this great problem in GPS. Our solution uses 3D mapping aided corrections, and is only feasible to be done at scale by Google because it comprises 3D building models, raw GPS measurements, and machine learning.

The December Pixel Feature Drop adds 3D mapping aided GPS corrections to Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a (5G). With a system API that provides feedback to the Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 5G Mobile Platform that powers Pixel, the accuracy in cities (or “urban canyons”) improves spectacularly.

Picture of a pedestrian test, with Pixel 5 phone, walking along one side of the street, then the other. Yellow = Path followed, Red = without 3D mapping aided corrections, Blue = with 3D mapping aided corrections.

Why hasn’t this been solved before?

The problem is that GPS constructively locates you in the wrong place when you are in a city. This is because all GPS systems are based on line-of-sight operation from satellites. But in big cities, most or all signals reach you through non line-of-sight reflections, because the direct signals are blocked by the buildings.

The GPS chip assumes that the signal is line-of-sight and therefore introduces error when it calculates the excess path length that the signals traveled. The most common side effect is that your position appears on the wrong side of the street, although your position can also appear on the wrong city block, especially in very large cities with many skyscrapers.

There have been attempts to address this problem for more than a decade. But no solution existed at scale, until 3D mapping aided corrections were launched on Android.

How 3D mapping aided corrections work

The 3D mapping aided corrections module, in Google Play services, includes tiles of 3D building models that Google has for more than 3850 cities around the world. Google Play services 3D mapping aided corrections currently supports pedestrian use-cases only. When you use your device’s GPS while walking, Android’s Activity Recognition API will recognize that you are a pedestrian, and if you are in one of the 3850+ cities, tiles with 3D models will be downloaded and cached on the phone for that city. Cache size is approximately 20MB, which is about the same size as 6 photographs.

Inside the module, the 3D mapping aided corrections algorithms solve the chicken-and-egg problem, which is: if the GPS position is not in the right place, then how do you know which buildings are blocking or reflecting the signals? Having solved this problem, 3D mapping aided corrections provide a set of corrected positions to the FLP. A system API then provides this information to the GPS chip to help the chip improve the accuracy of the next GPS fix.

With this December Pixel feature drop, we are releasing version 2 of 3D mapping aided corrections on Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a (5G). This reduces wrong-side-of-street occurrences by approximately 75%. Other Android phones, using Android 8 or later, have version 1 implemented in the FLP, which reduces wrong-side-of-street occurrences by approximately 50%. Version 2 will be available to the entire Android ecosystem (Android 8 or later) in early 2021.

Android’s 3D mapping aided corrections work with signals from the USA’s Global Positioning System (GPS) as well as other Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSSs): GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, and QZSS.

Our GPS chip partners shared the importance of this work for their technologies:

“Consumers rely on the accuracy of the positioning and navigation capabilities of their mobile phones. Location technology is at the heart of ensuring you find your favorite restaurant and you get your rideshare service in a timely manner. Qualcomm Technologies is leading the charge to improve consumer experiences with its newest Qualcomm® Location Suite technology featuring integration with Google's 3D mapping aided corrections. This collaboration with Google is an important milestone toward sidewalk-level location accuracy,” said Francesco Grilli, vice president of product management at Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

“Broadcom has integrated Google's 3D mapping aided corrections into the navigation engine of the BCM47765 dual-frequency GNSS chip. The combination of dual frequency L1 and L5 signals plus 3D mapping aided corrections provides unprecedented accuracy in urban canyons. L5 plus Google’s corrections are a game-changer for GNSS use in cities,” said Charles Abraham, Senior Director of Engineering, Broadcom Inc.

“Google's 3D mapping aided corrections is a major advancement in personal location accuracy for smartphone users when walking in urban environments. MediaTek’s Dimensity 5G family enables 3D mapping aided corrections in addition to its highly accurate dual-band GNSS and industry-leading dead reckoning performance to give the most accurate global positioning ever for 5G smartphone users,” said Dr. Yenchi Lee, Deputy General Manager of MediaTek’s Wireless Communications Business Unit.

How to access 3D mapping aided corrections

Android’s 3D mapping aided corrections automatically works when the GPS is being used by a pedestrian in any of the 3850+ cities, on any phone that runs Android 8 or later. The best way for developers to take advantage of the improvement is to use FLP to get location information. The further 3D mapping aided corrections in the GPS chip are available to Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a (5G) today, and will be rolled out to the rest of the Android ecosystem (Android 8 or later) in the next several weeks. We will also soon support more modes including driving.

Android’s 3D mapping aided corrections cover more than 3850 cities, including:

North America: All major cities in USA, Canada, Mexico.
Europe: All major cities. (100%, except Russia & Ukraine)
Asia: All major cities in Japan and Taiwan.
Rest of the world: All major cities in Brazil, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.

As our Google Earth 3D models expand, so will 3D mapping aided corrections coverage.

Google Maps is also getting updates that will provide more street level detail for pedestrians in select cities, such as sidewalks, crosswalks, and pedestrian islands. In 2021, you can get these updates for your app using the Google Maps Platform. Along with the improved location accuracy from 3D mapping aided corrections, we hope we can help developers like you better support use cases for the world’s 2B pedestrians that use Android.

Continuously making location better

In addition to 3D mapping aided corrections, we continue to work hard to make location as accurate and useful as possible. Below are the latest improvements to the Fused Location Provider API (FLP):

Developers wanted an easier way to retrieve the current location. With the new getCurrentLocation() API, developers can get the current location in a single request, rather than having to subscribe to ongoing location changes. By allowing developers to request location only when needed (and automatically timing out and closing open location requests), this new API also improves battery life. Check out our latest Kotlin sample.
Android 11's Data Access Auditing API provides more transparency into how your app and its dependencies access private data (like location) from users. With the new support for the API's attribution tags in the FusedLocationProviderClient, developers can more easily audit their apps’ location subscriptions in addition to regular location requests. Check out this Kotlin sample to learn more.

Qualcomm and Snapdragon are trademarks or registered trademarks of Qualcomm Incorporated.

Qualcomm Snapdragon and Qualcomm Location Suite are products of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries.

Announcing Android Studio Arctic Fox (2020.3.1) & Android Gradle plugin 7.0

Android Developers — Wed, 02 Dec 2020 01:23:11 +0000

Posted by Jamal Eason, Product Manager

Today marks the release of the first version of Android Studio Arctic Fox (2020.3.1) on the canary channel, together with Android Gradle plugin (AGP) version 7.0.0-alpha01. With this release, we are adjusting the version numbering of Android Studio and our Gradle plugin. This change decouples the Gradle plugin from the Android Studio versioning scheme and brings more clarity to which year and IntelliJ version Android Studio aligns with for each release.

New versioning scheme - Android Studio

With Android Studio Arctic Fox (2020.3.1) we are moving to a year-based system that is more closely aligned with IntelliJ IDEA, the IDE upon which Android Studio is built. We are changing the version numbering scheme to encode a number of important attributes: the year, the version of IntelliJ it is based on, plus feature and patch level. WIth this name change you can quickly figure out which version of the IntelliJ platform you are using in Android Studio. In addition, each major version will have a canonical codename, starting with Arctic Fox, and then proceeding alphabetically to help make it easy to see which version is newer.

We recommend that you use the latest version of Android Studio so that you have access to the latest features and quality improvements. To make it easier to stay up to date, we made the version change to clearly de-couple Android Studio from your Android Gradle Plugin version. An important detail to keep in mind is that there is no impact to the way the build system compiles and packages your app when you update the IDE. In contrast, app build process changes and APK/Bundles are dictated by your project AGP version. Therefore, it is safe to update your Android Studio version, even late in your development cycle, because your project AGP version can be updated in a different cadence than your Android Studio version. Lastly, with the new version system it is even easier than before for you or your team to run both the stable and preview versions of Android Studio at the same time on your app project as long as you keep the AGP version on a stable release.

In the previous numbering system, this release would have been Android Studio 4.3. With the new numbering system, it is now Android Studio Arctic Fox (2020.3.1) Canary 1 or just, Arctic Fox.

Going forward, here is how the Android Studio version number scheme will work:

<Year of IntelliJ Version>.<IntelliJ major version>.<Studio major version>

The first two number groups represent the version of the final IntellIj platform that a particular Android Studio release is based on (earlier canaries may still be on the earlier version). For this release, this is 2020.3.
The third number group represents the Studio major version, starting at 1 and incrementing by one for every major release.
To make it easier to refer to each version, we are also giving major releases a code name, incrementing from A to Z based on animal names. This initial release name is Arctic Fox.

New versioning scheme - Android Gradle plugin

With AGP 7.0.0 we are adopting the principles of semantic versioning, and aligning with the Gradle version that AGP requires. Compatibility between Android Studio and Android Gradle plugin remains unchanged. Projects that use stable versions of AGP can be opened with newer versions of Android Studio.

We will publish another post soon with more details about our AGP versioning philosophy and what is new in AGP 7.0.

What is new in Android Studio Arctic Fox

We are in early days in the feature development phase for Arctic Fox, but we have invested much of our time in addressing over 200 quality improvements and bugs across a wide range of areas in the IDE from the code editor, app inspection tools, layout editor to the embedded emulator. Check out the release notes for the specific bug fixes.

For those trying out Jetpack Compose, we have a host of new updates, like deploy @Preview composables to device/emulator:

Deploy preview composable

Also try out the new Layout Validation Tool in Arctic Fox to see how your layout responds to various screens sizes, font sizes, and Android Color Correction/Color Blind Modes. You can access this via the Layout Validation tool window when you are using the Layout Editor.

Layout Validation

Lastly, for those running MacOS (other platforms are coming soon) with the latest Android Platform tools and an Android 11 device, you can try out the IDE integration for the Wireless ADB feature by going to the Run device selection dialogue → Pair Devices Using Wi-Fi.

Menu to access Wireless ADB feature

Wireless ADB Setup Window

What’s Next

If you want to learn more about other detailed changes coming with this release for both Android Studio and the Android Gradle plugin, make sure to take a look at the release notes.

AGP 7.0: Next major release for the Android Gradle plugin

Android Developers — Tue, 01 Dec 2020 20:11:41 +0000

Posted by Murat Yener, Developer Advocate

Today marks the release of the first Canary version of Android Studio Arctic Fox (2020.3.1), together with Android Gradle plugin (AGP) version 7.0.0-alpha01. With this release we are adjusting the version numbering for our Gradle plugin and decoupling it from the Android Studio versioning scheme. In this blog post we'll explain the reasons for the change, as well as give a preview of some important changes we're making to our new, incubating Android Gradle plugin APIs and DSL.

New versioning scheme

With AGP 7.0.0 we are adopting the principles of semantic versioning. What this means is that only major version changes will break API compatibility. We intend to release one major version each year, right after Gradle introduces its own yearly major release.

Moreover, in the case of a breaking change, we will ensure that the removed API is marked with @Deprecated about a year in advance and that its replacement is available at the same time. This will give developers roughly a year to migrate and test their plugins with the new API before the old API is removed.

Alignment with Gradle's version is also why we're skipping versions 5 and 6, and moving directly to AGP 7.0.0. This alignment indicates that AGP 7.x is meant to work with Gradle 7.x APIs. While it may also run on Gradle 8.x, this is not guaranteed and will depend on whether 8.x removes APIs that AGP relies on.

With this change, the AGP version number will be decoupled from the Android Studio version number. However we will keep releasing Android Studio and Android Gradle plugin together for the foreseeable future.

Compatibility between Android Studio and Android Gradle plugin remains unchanged. As a general rule, projects that use stable versions of AGP can be opened with newer versions of Android Studio.

Java 11 requirement

You can still use Java programming language version 8 with AGP 7.0.0-alpha01 but we are changing the minimum required Java programming language version to Java 11, starting with AGP 7.0.0-alpha02. We are announcing this early in the Canary schedule and many months ahead of the stable release to allow developers time to get ready.

Incubating APIs and important API changes

This release of AGP also introduces some API changes. As a reminder, a number of APIs that were introduced in AGP 4.1 were marked as incubating and were subject to change. In fact, in AGP 4.2 some of these APIs have changed. The APIs that are currently incubating do not follow the deprecation cycle that we explain above.

Here is a summary of some important API changes.

The onVariants, onProperties and onVariantProperties blocks are removed in version 4.2 beta.
These APIs are replaced with beforeVariants and onVariants in the new androidComponents block. Both beforeVariants and onVariants can optionally use a VariantSelector to reduce the number of variants the callback will run on, based on build type, name or flavor by using withBuildType, withName and withFlavor accordingly. The lambda onVariants and beforeVariants receives is executed after AGP computes variant combinations in afterEvaluate. Nesting properties inside onVariants is removed.
Similar APIs are added to androidComponents to allow separate blocks for UnitTests (beforeUnitTest and unitTest) and AndroidTests (beforeAndroidTest and androidTest) instead of nesting tests inside variants.
Two classes used by both the old and new way of registering actions for variants were renamed. Variant is now VariantBuilder, and it is used in the beforeVariants phase. VariantProperties is now Variant and it is passed to the new onVariants block.

Let’s take a look at some of these changes. Here is a sample onVariants block which targets the release build. The onVariants block Is changed to beforeVariants and uses a variant selector in the following example.

```
android {
   …
   //onVariants.withName("release") {
   //   ...
   //}
   …
}
androidComponents {
   val release = selector().withBuildType("release")
   beforeVariants(release) { variant ->
      ...
   }
}

```

Similarly onVariantProperties block is changed to onVariants.

```
android {
   ...
   //onVariantProperties {
   //   ... 
   //}
   …
}

androidComponents.onVariants { variant ->
      ... 
}

```

Note, this customization is typically done in a plugin and should not be located in build.gradle. We are moving away from using functions with receivers which suited the DSL syntax but are not necessary in the plugin code.

We are planning to make these APIs stable with AGP 7.0.0 and all plugin authors must migrate to the new androidComponents. If you want to avoid dealing with such changes, make sure your plugins only use stable APIs and do not depend on APIs marked as incubating.

If you want to learn more about other changes coming with this release, make sure to take a look at the release notes.

Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.

Celebrating the Developers Behind the Best Apps and Games of 2020

Android Developers — Tue, 01 Dec 2020 05:00:06 +0000

Posted by Posted by Purnima Kochikar, Director, Business Development, Games & Applications

Today, we announced Google Play’s annual Best of 2020 awards, highlighting the year’s best apps, games and digital content. None of this would be possible without the developers that created the amazing content that made a profound impact on us in 2020, or should we say a Genshin Impact … From miHoYo Limited to Loona Inc, the makers behind your favorite apps and games were unafraid to experiment, challenge the status quo, and design incredible experiences we never thought possible.

Check out the full rundown of the developers behind the best apps and games of 2020 in the U.S. on Google Play:

Best App of 2020

Loóna: Bedtime Calm & Relax by Loona Inc.

Best Personal Growth Apps

Paired: App for Couples | Relationship Advice by Better Half Ltd.
Centr, by Chris Hemsworth by Loup Pty Ltd
Speekoo by LearnMyLanguage
Intellect by The Intellect Company
Jumprope: How-to Videos by Jumprope

Best Hidden Gem Apps

Paperless Post Flyer Invitation Maker, Text Invite by Paperless Post
Loóna: Bedtime Calm & Relax by Loona Inc.
Explorest-Photo Locations by Explorest Inc.
Cappuccino by Olivier Desmoulin
Tayasui Sketches by Tayasui

Best Everyday Essential Apps

Grid Diary - Journal, Planner by Sumi Interactive
Whisk: Turn Recipes into Shareable Shopping Lists by whisk.com
The Pattern by Pattern Home, Inc.
ZOOM Cloud Meetings by zoom.us
Calmaria by ABDZ

Best Apps for Good

GreenChoice: Healthy Grocery Shopping by GreenChoice, PBC
Medito by Medito for Mindfulness, Meditation and Sleep
ShareTheMeal: Donate to Charity and Solve Hunger by United Nations

Best Apps for Fun

Best Game of 2020

Genshin Impact by miHoYo Limited

Best Indie Games

Cookies Must Die by Rebel Twins
Maze Machina by Arnold Rauers
Sky: Children of the Light by thatgamecompany inc
Inbento by Afterburn
GRIS by DevolverDigital

Best Casual Games

Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells by Zynga
DreamWorks Trolls Pop: Bubble Shooter & Collection by Huuuge Games - Play Together
SpongeBob: Krusty Cook-Off by Tilting Point
Disney Frozen Adventure by Jam City, Inc.
EverMerge by Big Fish Games

Best Innovative Games

Fancade by Martin Magni
Minimal Dungeon RPG by CapPlay
The Gardens Between by The Voxel Agents
Genshin Impact by miHoYo Limited
Ord. by Crescent Moon Games

Best Competitive Games

Legends of Runeterra by Riot Games, Inc
The Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross by Netmarble
Bullet Echo by ZeptoLab
Gwent: The Witcher Card Game by CD PROJEKT S.A.
Brawlhalla by Ubisoft Entertainment
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MAD Skills — Become an Android App Bundle expert

Android Developers — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 23:00:33 +0000

Posted by Ben Weiss, Developer Relations Engineer

The Android App Bundle series of Modern Android Development has just concluded. We finished off with a live Q&A session. I was joined by Chet Haase, Wojtek Kaliciński, and Iurii Makhno to go over bundles of questions from the #AskAndroid hashtag on Twitter as well as from the chat during the live stream.

But let’s rewind for a moment and take it from the top.

Introduction to Android App Bundles

In the inaugural episode Wojtek sets the tone for this series by talking about why app bundles matter to you and your app.

Everything to know about Play App Signing

In this episode you learn how to opt into Play App Signing by joining Wojtek on a journey through the Play Console. After watching this video you will have learned what options are available to you when opting into Play App Signing.

Alongside this video we recommend taking a look at the FAQ about Play App Signing, the app signing Android docs and the Play Console’s Play App Signing help page.

Building your first app bundle

Now it’s time to learn how to build and upload your first Android App Bundle.

In this episode, I take you through the process of building a bundle using Android Studio and the command line interface.

Instead, you can read the write up of this episode.

Accompanying this episode, take a look at the app bundles documentation.

Configuring your app for Play Feature Delivery

Here you’ll learn about delivery options. From install time, to conditional delivery to on demand delivery. I cover it all. And we’ll take an excursion through the sample on GitHub.

This episode also is available as an article for you to read. Additionally, the PlayCore guide is a valuable resource.

Testing app bundles with bundletool and the Play Console

Have you wondered about how you can test your app bundle? No more wondering. Wojtek takes you through testing your app bundle locally and with the Play Console.

You can read up on this episode’s content in the accompanying article and the guide to testing your Android App Bundle.

Additionally we have guidance on developer tools on the Play Console and the Play Console help page for internal app sharing available for you.

And, if you want to download bundletool, here is where to find it.

Big savings with Android App Bundles

Android GDE Angélica Oliveira tells us about the process and the impressive size savings her company saw when switching over to Android App Bundles.

Live Q&A session

We asked for your questions on Twitter. You replied, using the #AskAndroid hashtag.

And you continued asking questions during the live Q&A session.

Chet then got Wojtek, Iurii and myself in front of the camera for a live Q&A to answer your questions.

Reminder: App bundles will be mandatory for new apps from August 2021

The future of Kotlin Android Extensions

Android Developers — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 17:02:07 +0000

Posted by David Winer, Product Manager

The Android Kotlin Extensions Gradle plugin (not to be confused with Android KTX) was released in 2017 and brought two new conveniences to Android development in Kotlin:

Synthetics let you replace calls to findViewById with kotlinx.android.synthetic bindings.
Parcelize allows you to remove boilerplate and easily create Parcelables through the @Parcelize annotation.

Since then, we have released View Binding for Android, an officially supported library that has deep integration with the Android build toolchain and provides similar functionality as Kotlin synthetics. While we continue to recommend Parcelize, a number of drawbacks have appeared with using Kotlin synthetics:

They pollute the global namespace
They don’t expose nullability information
They only work in Kotlin code

JetBrains originally developed the Android Kotlin Extensions plugin, and together we have discussed the pros and cons of continuing to maintain synthetics: we strive to ensure long term support for APIs where we can but want to guide developers towards best practices that make for healthy codebases and, ultimately, happy users.

Over the course of the next year, our teams will be jointly deprecating synthetics in favor of continuing to support our recommended option, View Binding. Here’s what that means:

If you are using Parcelize, you can continue to use the same annotations and APIs. The annotation package will change to kotlinx.parcelize, however, and In your module-level Gradle file, you should start using the standalone kotlin-parcelize plugin instead of android-kotlin-extensions. You’ll be able to find documentation for Parcelize on the Android developer documentation site.
If you are using Android Kotlin synthetics, you should migrate to View Binding. Check out our migration guide for more details.

The deprecation period starts with Kotlin 1.4.20, released today. android-kotlin-extensions will be removed in a future Kotlin release during or after September 2021. Long term, we will continue to maintain the kotlin-parcelize plugin, and you can continue to file issues on Parcelize in the Android Studio issue tracker.

New Android App Bundle and target API level requirements in 2021

Android Developers — Thu, 19 Nov 2020 18:09:00 +0000

Posted by Hoi Lam, Developer Relations Engineer, Android Platform

In 2021, we are continuing with our annual target API level update, requiring new apps to target API level 30 (Android 11) in August and in November for all app updates. In addition, as announced earlier this year, Google Play will require new apps to use the Android App Bundle publishing format. This brings the benefits of smaller apps and simpler releases to more users and developers and supports ongoing investment in advanced distribution.

Over 750,000 apps and games already publish to production on Google Play using app bundles. Top apps switching save an average size of 15% versus a universal APK. Users benefit from smaller downloads and developers like Netflix and Riafy see higher install success rates, which is especially impactful in regions with more entry level devices and slower data speeds. Developers switching can use advanced distribution features such as Play Asset Delivery and Play Feature Delivery. We value your feedback and plan to introduce further features and options for Play App Signing and Android App Bundles before the switchover.

Requirements for new apps

From August 2021, the Google Play Console will require all new apps to:

Publish with the Android App Bundle format.
Utilize Play Asset Delivery or Play Feature Delivery to deliver assets or features that exceed download size of 150MB. Expansion files (OBBs) will no longer be supported for new apps.
Target API level 30 (Android 11) or above and adjust for behavioral changes.

Requirements for updates to existing apps

From November 2021, updates to existing apps will be required to target API level 30 or above and adjust for behavioral changes in Android 11. Existing apps that are not receiving updates are unaffected and can continue to be downloaded from the Play Store.

Requirements for instant experiences

The switch to Android App Bundle delivery will also impact instant experiences using the legacy Instant app ZIP format. From August 2021, new instant experiences and updates to existing instant experiences will be required to publish instant-enabled app bundles.

Moving forward together

Here is a summary of all the changes:

TYPE OF RELEASE	REPLACED	REQUIRED AUG 2021
New apps on Google Play	APK	Android App Bundle (AAB)
	Target API level set to 29+	Target API level set to 30+
	Expansion files (OBBs)	Play Asset Delivery or Play Feature Delivery
TYPE OF RELEASE	REPLACED	REQUIRED NOV 2021
Updates to existing apps on Google Play	No new publishing format requirement
Updates to existing apps on Google Play	Target API level set to 29+	Target API level set to 30+

Wear OS apps are not subject to the new target API level requirement.

Apps can still use any minSdkVersion, so there is no change to your ability to build apps for older Android versions.

To learn more about transitioning to app bundles, watch our new video series: modern Android development (MAD) skills. We are extremely grateful for all the developers who have adopted app bundles and API level 30 already. We look forward to advancing the Android platform together with you.

Tips for getting your app approved for background location access

Android Developers — Wed, 18 Nov 2020 18:05:13 +0000

Posted by Krish Vitaldevara, Director of Product Management Trust & Safety, Google Play

When it comes to privacy, we are committed to giving users control and transparency over data access. Users consistently tell us that they want more control over their location data, so earlier this year we announced a few privacy improvements, such as updates to Google Play’s Location Permissions policy and enhancements to location permission controls in Android 11.

To help prevent unnecessary access to background location, the updated policy allows access only if it’s critical to the app’s core functionality and provides clear user benefit. We found that many apps that requested background location don’t actually need it. Removing or changing it to foreground can help apps be battery-efficient and avoid poor app ratings when users don’t want to share their location.

If your app uses background location data, you must submit a form for review and receive approval by January 18, 2021 so your apps can stay on Google Play. Existing apps first published before April 16, 2020 have until March 29, 2021 to comply.

Tips to get approved

If your app has multiple features that use background location, choose the one that provides the most user benefit. Describe in detail why background (and not foreground) location is needed and how it is used. Learn more
You must include a short video that shows how users will encounter your prominent disclosure, location-based feature and enable it in-app. If your video doesn’t show this or we can’t access the link, your request won’t be approved. We recommend that you upload it to YouTube or Google Drive.
Remember to include a prominent in-app disclosure to explain to users what data is used and how. Learn more
Ensure your privacy policy is clearly labeled and includes details on location data usage. Learn more

Resources to help

We want to help you through this process, so we’ve created this video and free training courses in Google Play Academy to use as a reference when you’re making any necessary app updates. You can also check out these best privacy practices and technical details to help identify possible background location usage in your code.

Thank you for continuing to partner with us to make Google Play a trustworthy platform for you and your users.

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Privacy-preserving features in the Mobile Driving License

Android Developers — Thu, 05 Nov 2020 18:03:34 +0000

Posted by David Zeuthen, Shawn Willden and René Mayrhofer, Android Security and Privacy team

In the United States and other countries a Driver's License is not only used to convey driving privileges, it is also commonly used to prove identity or personal details.

Presenting a Driving License is simple, right? You hand over the card to the individual wishing to confirm your identity (the so-called “Relying Party” or “Verifier”); they check the security features of the plastic card (hologram, micro-printing, etc.) to ensure it’s not counterfeit; they check that it’s really your license, making sure you look like the portrait image printed on the card; and they read the data they’re interested in, typically your age, legal name, address etc. Finally, the verifier needs to hand back the plastic card.

Most people are so familiar with this process that they don’t think twice about it, or consider the privacy implications. In the following we’ll discuss how the new and soon-to-be-released ISO 18013-5 standard will improve on nearly every aspect of the process, and what it has to do with Android.

Mobile Driving License ISO Standard

The ISO 18013-5 “Mobile driving licence (mDL) application” standard has been written by a diverse group of people representing driving license issuers (e.g. state governments in the US), relying parties (federal and state governments, including law enforcement), academia, industry (including Google), and many others. This ISO standard allows for construction of Mobile Driving License (mDL) applications which users can carry in their phone and can use instead of the plastic card.

Instead of handing over your plastic card, you open the mDL application on your phone and press a button to share your mDL. The Verifier (aka “Relying Party”) has their own device with an mDL reader application and they either scan a QR code shown in your mDL app or do an NFC tap. The QR code (or NFC tap) conveys an ephemeral cryptographic public key and hardware address the mDL reader can connect to.

Once the mDL reader obtains the cryptographic key it creates its own ephemeral keypair and establishes an encrypted and authenticated, secure wireless channel (BLE, Wifi Aware or NFC)). The mDL reader uses this secure channel to request data, such as the portrait image or what kinds of vehicles you're allowed to drive, and can also be used to ask more abstract questions such as “is the holder older than 18?”

Crucially, the mDL application can ask the user to approve which data to release and may require the user to authenticate with fingerprint or face — none of which a passive plastic card could ever do.

With this explanation in mind, let’s see how presenting an mDL application compares with presenting a plastic-card driving license:

Your phone need not be handed to the verifier, unlike your plastic card. The first step, which requires closer contact to the Verifier to scan the QR code or tap the NFC reader, is safe from a data privacy point of view, and does not reveal any identifying information to the verifier. For additional protection, mDL apps will have the option of both requiring user authentication before releasing data and then immediately placing the phone in lockdown mode, to ensure that if the verifier takes the device they cannot easily get information from it.
All data is cryptographically signed by the Issuing Authority (for example the DMV who issued the mDL) and the verifier's app automatically validates the authenticity of the data transmitted by the mDL and refuses to display inauthentic data. This is far more secure than holograms and microprinting used in plastic cards where verification requires special training which most (human) verifiers don't receive. With most plastic cards, fake IDs are relatively easy to create, especially in an international context, putting everyone’s identity at risk.
The amount of data presented by the mDL is minimized — only data the user elects to release, either explicitly via prompts or implicitly via e.g. pre-approval and user settings, is released. This minimizes potential data abuse and increases the personal safety of users.

For example, any bartender who checks your mDL for the sole purpose of verifying you’re old enough to buy a drink needs only a single piece of information which is whether the holder is e.g. older than 21, yes or no. Compared to the plastic card, this is a huge improvement; a plastic card shows all your data even if the verifier doesn’t need it.

Additionally, all of this information is available via a 2D barcode on the back so if you use your plastic card driving license to buy beer, tobacco, or other restricted items at a store it’s common in some states for the cashier to scan your license. In some cases, this means you may get advertising in the mail but they may sell your identifying information to the highest bidder or, worst case, leak their whole database.

These are some of the reasons why we think mDL is a big win for end users in terms of privacy.

One commonality between plastic-card driving licences and the mDL is how the relying party verifies that the person presenting the license is the authorized holder. In both cases, the verifier manually compares the appearance of the individual against a portrait photo, either printed on the plastic or transmitted electronically and research has shown that it’s hard for individuals to match strangers to portrait images.

The initial version of ISO 18013-5 won’t improve on this but the ISO committee working on the standard is already investigating ways to utilize on-device biometrics sensors to perform this match in a secure and privacy-protecting way. The hope is that improved fidelity in the process helps reduce unauthorized use of identity documents.

mDL support in Android

Through facilities such as hardware-based Keystore, Android already offers excellent support for security and privacy-sensitive applications and in fact it’s already possible to implement the ISO 18013-5 standard on Android without further platform changes. Many organizations participating in the ISO committee have already implemented 18013-5 Android apps.

That said, with purpose-built support in the operating system it is possible to provide better security and privacy properties. Android 11 includes the Identity Credential APIs at the Framework level along with a Hardware Abstraction Layer interface which can be implemented by Android OEMs to enable identity credential support in Secure Hardware. Using the Identity Credential API, the Trusted Computing Base of mDL applications does not include the application or even Android itself. This will be particularly important for future versions where the verifier must trust the device to identify and authenticate the user, for example through fingerprint or face matching on the holder's own device. It’s likely such a solution will require certified hardware and/or software and certification is not practical if the TCB includes the hundreds of millions of lines of code in Android and the Linux kernel.

One advantage of plastic cards is that they don't require power or network communication to be useful. Putting all your licenses on your phone could seem inconvenient in cases where your device is low on battery, or does not have enough battery life to start. The Android Identity Credential HAL therefore provides support for a mode called Direct Access, where the license is still available through an NFC tap even when the phone's battery is too low to boot it up. Device makers can implement this mode, but it will require hardware support that will take several years to roll out.

For devices without the Identity Credential HAL, we have an Android Jetpack which implements the same API and works on nearly every Android device in the world (API level 24 or later). If the device has hardware-backed Identity Credential support then this Jetpack simply forwards calls to the platform API. Otherwise, an Android Keystore-backed implementation will be used. While the Android Keystore-backed implementation does not provide the same level of security and privacy, it is perfectly adequate for both holders and issuers in cases where all data is issuer-signed. Because of this, the Jetpack is the preferred way to use the Identity Credential APIs. We also made available sample open-source mDL and mDL Reader applications using the Identity Credential APIs.

Conclusion

Android now includes APIs for managing and presenting with identity documents in a more secure and privacy-focused way than was previously possible. These can be used to implement ISO 18013-5 mDLs but the APIs are generic enough to be usable for other kinds of electronic documents, from school ID or bonus program club cards to passports.

Additionally, the Android Security and Privacy team actively participates in the ISO committees where these standards are written and also works with civil liberties groups to ensure it has a positive impact on our end users.

MAD Skills Navigation Wrap-Up

Android Developers — Fri, 30 Oct 2020 16:33:18 +0000

Posted by Chet Haase

It’s a Wrap!

We’ve just finished the first series in the MAD Skills series of videos and articles on Modern Android Development. This time, the topic was Navigation component, the API and tool that helps you create and edit navigation paths through your application.

The great thing about videos and articles is that, unlike performance art, they tend to stick around for later enjoyment. So if you haven’t had a chance to see these yet, check out the links below to see what we covered. Except for the Q&A episode at the end, each episode has essentially identical content in the video and article version, so use whichever format you prefer for content consumption.

Episode 1: Overview

The first episode provides a quick, high-level overview of Navigation Component, including how to create a new application with navigation capability (using Android Studio’s handy application templates), details on the containment hierarchy of a navigation-enabled UI, and an explanation of some of the major APIs and pieces involved in making Navigation Component work.

Or in article form: https://medium.com/androiddevelopers/navigation-component-an-overview-4697a208c2b5

Episode 2: Dialog Destinations

Episode 2 explores how to use the API to navigate to dialog destinations. Most navigation takes place between different fragment destinations, which are swapped out inside of the NavHostFragment object in the UI. But it is also possible to navigate to external destinations, including dialogs, which exist outside of the NavHostFragment.

Or in article form: https://medium.com/androiddevelopers/navigation-component-dialog-destinations-bfeb8b022759

Episode 3: SafeArgs

This episode covers SafeArgs, the facility provided by Navigation component for easily passing data between destinations.

Or in article form: https://medium.com/androiddevelopers/navigating-with-safeargs-bf26c17b1269

Episode 4: Deep Links

This episode is on Deep Links, the facility provided by Navigation component for helping the user get to deeper parts of your application from UI outside the application.

Or in article form: https://medium.com/androiddevelopers/navigating-with-deep-links-910a4a6588c

Episode 5: Live Q&A

Finally, to wrap up the series (as we plan to do for future series), I hosted a Q&A session with Ian Lake. Ian fielded questions from you on Twitter and YouTube, and we discussed everything from feature requests like multiple backstacks (spoiler: it’s in the works!) to Navigation support for Jetpack Compose (spoiler: the first version of this was just released!) to other questions people had about navigation, fragments, Up-vs-Back, saving state, and other topics. It was pretty fun — more like a podcast with cameras than a Q&A.

(There is no article for this one; enjoy the video above)

Sample App: DonutTracker

The application used for most of the episodes above is DonutTracker, an app that you can use for tracking important data about donuts you enjoy (or don’t). Or you can just use it for checking out the implementation details of these Navigation features; your choice.

Further tales from the leading edge and beyond: more Apps, Games, & Insights podcast episodes

Android Developers — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 17:15:16 +0000

Posted by Lily Sheringham, Global Marketing, Platforms & Ecosystems

We are launching the second series of the Apps, Games, & Insights podcast.

Over the summer, we teamed up with a new group of leading industry insiders and experts to bring you 8 new podcast episodes over the next couple of months. We are bringing you their exceptional business stories, experiences and discussion on some of the latest big questions in the apps and games industry.

We are joined again by your hosts—Tamzin Taylor, who heads up Apps & Games Business Development for Google Play in Western Europe, and Dirk Primbs, who leads the Ecosystem Developer Relations team in Europe— and you can find out who they have been cajoling and corralling in the new series, below.

In the first series, the guests covered topics ranging from responsible growth and building for the long term, through advice from mergers and acquisitions and venture capital experts, to hot topics such as privacy and accessibility.

Apps, Games, & Insights podcast series 2 brings you a similarly diverse range of insights, stories, and learnings, and without further ado, get a sneak peek as to what we have lined up...

We kickoff with Elliott Rayner, Head Of Product Marketing, and John Quintana, Head of Guided Learning Experiences, from Babbel the online language learning company. Here in episode 9 we talk about how the new normal is disrupting the delivery of all types of education. Elliott and John discuss how Babbel is transforming and adapting and has been "thinking big" about the future of education: ultimately can apps take the place of traditional classroom education?

Most of us are very aware how critical environmental change is, but how do we raise awareness to fight climate change through our businesses? In episode 10 we are joined by Jennifer Estaris, Games Director at SYBO Games and Deborah Mensah-Bonsu, Founder of Games for Good and formerly at Space Ape Games, to learn how others are changing the game. In the recent Green Game Jam, 11 game studios came together to find innovative and engaging ways to educate and empower players about climate change through games. Jennifer and Deborah discuss how they ensured that the ideas were more than just another collection of tips for better recycling, and then pulled together a jam to bring great minds together and actualise change.

We also explore how to be successful with 4x strategy games—turn-based and real-time strategy games where you build an empire—in episode 11. We’re joined by David Eckleberry, General Manager and Vice President at Scopely, and Howard Chen, Google Play Growth Consultant. We hear how Star Trek Fleet Command has successfully built it’s loyal player base and the stories that bring to life the learnings about player affinity, KPI growth, comparative analysis with other game genres, and more.

With literally thousands of languages to choose from, language learning apps are in a unique position to reflect humanity’s diversity. The team at Drops have taken this opportunity by incorporating several indigenous languages into their app portfolio. So, while supporting the usual suspects of popular languages, users of Drops can also learn Hawaiian, Maori (from New Zealand), and Innu (from Japan) among others. In episode 12, we talk with Drops CEO and Co-Founder, Daniel Farkas and Chief Customer Officer, Drew Banks about how they actively foster diversity and inclusion in their product and company.

Have you ever wondered what goes behind the scenes to help you order your favourite foods from delivery apps? Delivering a quality app is essential to the success of your business, in both acquiring and retaining users. In episode 13, we’re joined by Maria Neumayer, Staff Software Engineer, at food delivery service Deliveroo and Shobhit Chugh, Product Manager, Firebase to talk about the practical steps you can take to design quality into an app or game. Discover and rectify quality problems in testing and production and hear Maria’s insights into how Deliveroo has adapted to the new normal.

Mobile gaming offers developers of PC and console games a significant opportunity. By going mobile, game developers can expand their player base and drive retention by providing a platform for players to stay engaged while they’re on the move. Jen Donahoe, Marketing and Growth lead for TeamFight Tactics at Riot Games joins us in episode 14 to discuss the challenges and opportunities they had in taking their games mobile.

What makes retention so critical to the success of a business over other measures, and how do you optimize this strategy? We speak to Marcus Gners, Chief Strategy Officer and Co-founder at health and fitness app developer Lifesum to hear how about the models they use and how they approach habitual usage. In episode 15, alongside Marcus, we are joined by best-selling author of “Hooked” and “Indistractable,” Nir Eyal, to explore the behavior apps should foster to drive retention, and how to measure this effectively.

So as to not give the whole game away, we are keeping the details of our final episode under wraps, so keep an eye out for more details shortly.

The new episodes of the Apps, Games, & Insights podcast are sure to spark the interest of business and app or gaming enthusiasts, and developers, who want to get the inside scoop from industry experts on business strategies and their success stories, and how to create successful apps and games businesses in these rapidly changing times. We look forward to you joining us on this journey.

How to stay tuned in

To find out more about what’s coming, check out our Apps, Games, & Insights podcast homepage and find links to all the latest episodes.

Subscribe and listen to our first episode here, or on your favorite podcast platform including Google Podcasts, Spotify, Apple, Libsyn, Pocket Casts and Overcast, Deezer, and iHeartRadio.

Keep an eye out on @GooglePlayDev and @AndroidDev on Twitter where we will be announcing the launch of the new episodes each week.

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Developer tips and guides: Common policy violations and how you can avoid them

Android Developers — Fri, 16 Oct 2020 17:00:03 +0000

By Andrew Ahn, Product Manager, Google Play App Safety

At Google Play, we want to foster an ecosystem of safe, engaging, useful, and entertaining apps used and loved by billions of Android users worldwide. That’s why we regularly update and revise our Google Play Developer Policies and Developer Distribution Agreement, detailing the boundaries of app content and functionalities allowed on the platform, as well as providing latest guidance on how developers can promote and monetize apps.

In recent efforts in analyzing apps for policy compliance on Google Play we identified some common mistakes and violations that developers make, and we’re sharing these with the developer community with tips and guides on how to avoid them, mitigating the risks of apps and developer accounts being suspended for violating our policies.

Links that take users back to other apps on the Play Store

One of the most common mistakes we see are apps that have buttons and menus that link out to the Play Store -- either to apps by the same developer, or other apps that may be affiliated with the developer, but not being clear that these are ads or promotional links. Without this clarity, apps may get enforced for having deceptive / disguised ads. One of the ways to avoid such mistakes is by explicitly calling these out by labeling the buttons and links as ‘More Apps’, ‘More Games’, ‘Explore’, ‘Check out our other apps’, etc.

Example of app content that link out to app listing on Play

Spammy app descriptions

Another mistake we frequently observe is where developers ‘stuff’ keywords in the app description in hope for better discoverability and ranking against certain keywords and phrases. Text blocks or lists that contain repetitive or unrelated keywords or references violate our Store Listing and Promotion policy. Writing a clear app description intended and optimized for user’s readability and understanding is one of the best ways to avoid this violation.

Watch this video to learn how to avoid spammy store listings and efforts to artificially boost app visibility.

Abandoned and broken apps

There are apps that have been published by the developers a long time ago, and are no longer being maintained. Abandoned and unmaintained apps often create user experience issues -- broken app functionality, for example. Not only are such apps at risk of getting a low star rating and negative user reviews, they will also be flagged as violating the minimum functionality policy. To mitigate the negative impact to the developer reputation and app enforcement, consider unpublishing such apps from the Play Store. Note the updated unpublish action won’t affect existing users who already installed the app, and developers can always choose to re-publish them after addressing the broken experiences.

Example of an abandoned app that provides a broken app experience

Take the ‘Minimum and Broken Functionality Spam’ course on Play Academy

Apps vs. Webview

Lastly, we observe a large volume of app submissions that are just webviews of existing websites. Most of these apps are submitted with a primary purpose of driving traffic rather than providing engaging app experiences to Android users. Such apps are considered webview spam, and are removed from Play. Instead, consider thinking through what users can do or do better with the app than in a web experience and implement relevant features and functionalities that enrich the user experience.

Example of a webview without any app functionality

Take the ‘Webview Spam’ course on Play Academy

While the above are one of the most frequent mistakes, make sure to stay up to date with the latest policies by visiting the Play Developer Policy Center. Check out Google Play Academy’s Policy training, including our new Spam courses, and watch our Play PolicyBytes videos to learn more about recent policy updates.

Introducing the Android for Cars App Library

Android Developers — Thu, 15 Oct 2020 20:27:44 +0000

Posted by Eric Bahna, Product Manager

In August, we announced plans to expand Android Auto’s app ecosystem to enable new navigation, parking, and electric vehicle charging apps. We’ve been hard at work collaborating with our early access partners to test and refine the Android for Cars App Library. Today, we’re releasing the library into an open beta, for any developer to use. This means you’ll now be able to design, develop, and test your navigation, parking or charging app on Android Auto. We’re looking forward to enabling Google Play Store publishing for your beta apps in the coming months.

Three of our early access partners: ChargePoint, SpotHero, and Sygic

The design phase is the time to familiarize yourself with our design guidelines and app quality guidelines. Driver safety is core to our mission and we want to help you optimize your app for the car.

When it comes time to build your app, our new library will hopefully make development easy. Get started with the developer guide and please give us feedback via our public issue tracker.

In the testing phase, see your app come alive on the Desktop Head Unit (DHU), our emulator that lets you simulate a car infotainment display. The DHU now supports multiple screen sizes, displaying information in the instrument cluster, and simulating vehicles with touchpad input.

The DHU simulating an instrument cluster, a widescreen head unit, and a touchpad

You can get started with the Android for Cars App Library here. We’re excited to see what you build next!

Optimize your app publishing process with new Google Play Console features

Android Developers — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 13:36:01 +0000

Steve Suppe, Product Manager, Google Play

Publishing your app or game is one of the most important moments in your app’s lifecycle. You want everything to go smoothly, from making sure the production release is stable, to getting test releases out quickly, to getting your marketing message just right.

That’s why visibility is key. Knowing when your app is in review, when it’s been approved, and when it can go live on Google Play helps you set your own schedule.

Now, with two new features in the new Google Play Console, you can do just that. The Publishing overview page helps you better understand your publishing process and Managed publishing gives you better control of when your app updates go live on Google Play. When the new Play Console rolls out to everyone starting November 2, these features will be the recommended way to control your release timing, so let’s take a closer look.

Publishing overview

The new Publishing overview page displays all your recent changes to your releases, store listings, and more, including those that are currently being reviewed or processed by Google Play. For those of you with larger teams, this means you can now coordinate all your changes in one place and publish everything at the same time.

Unlike the developer activity log, the Publishing overview only shows changes that will be visible on Google Play, or what you’ve told us about how we should consider and review your app.

The “Changes in review” section lets you quickly see changes
that have not been published yet.

These changes are organized by the type of change or release track so it’s easy to understand at a glance.

Managed publishing

Many of you may be familiar with Timed publishing in the old Play Console. In the new Play Console, we’ve replaced Timed publishing with Managed publishing, to give you a clearer and more predictable publishing experience.

When you enable Managed publishing, approved changes will only go live when you decide instead of automatically after review and processing. This allows you to submit changes long before your intended release date, giving yourself time to review or make changes without sacrificing control over your publishing date.

See which changes have been reviewed and approved

When Managed publishing is on, the Publishing overview page contains two sections: one that shows which changes have been approved and are ready to publish, and another that shows changes that are still in review.

We’ve also made some improvements that many of you have been asking for:

You can now publish your approved changes even if other changes are still in review. Previously, Timed publishing did not allow you to make any changes live until all changes had been approved.
You can turn Managed publishing on or off at any time, even if there are changes in review or ready to publish. You no longer have to wait for pending reviews before you can use Managed publishing.

See if Managed publishing is turned in the left-hand navigation menu

Soon, you’ll be able to see the Managed publishing icon in the left-hand nav next to Publishing overview. This way, you can tell Managed publishing is on from anywhere in the Play Console.

To learn more about publishing with the new Play Console, including scenarios when these features would be most useful, check out this course from Play Academy. And if you haven’t already, update to the new Play Console at play.google.com/console and give Managed publishing a try.

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Android Studio 4.1

Android Developers — Mon, 12 Oct 2020 17:00:08 +0000

Posted by Scott Swarthout, Product Manager

Today, we’re excited to release the stable version of Android Studio 4.1, with a set of features addressing common editing, debugging, and optimization use cases. A major theme for this release was helping you be more productive while using Android Jetpack libraries, Android’s suite of libraries to help developers follow best practices and write code faster. Based on your feedback we made a number of improvements to the code editing experience with IDE integrations for popular Android libraries.

Some highlights of Android Studio 4.1 include a new Database Inspector for querying your app’s database, support for navigating projects that use Dagger or Hilt for dependency injection, and better support for on-device machine learning with support for TensorFlow Lite models in Android projects. We’ve also made updates to Apply Changes to make deployment faster. Based on your feedback, we’ve made several changes to help game developers with a new native memory profiler and standalone profiling tools.

Product quality continues to be a major focus for the team, and we’ve been hard at work tracking down bugs and performance issues. We’ve heard from many developers that they liked the focus on better performance and reliability, so we’re happy to report that during this release cycle we’ve fixed 2,370 bugs and closed 275 public issues. We stay committed to maintaining high quality since we know that is key to your developer productivity.

Thank you to those who gave your early feedback in preview releases. Your feedback helped us iterate and improve features in Android Studio 4.1. If you are ready for the next stable release, and want to use a new set of productivity features, Android Studio 4.1 is ready to download for you to get started.

Below is a full list of new features in Android Studio 4.1, organized by key developer flows.

Design

Material Design Components updates

Android Studio templates in the create New Project dialog now use Material Design Components (MDC) and conform to updated guidance for themes and styles by default. These changes will make it easier to use recommended material styling patterns and support modern UI features like dark themes.

Material Design Components updates in Project Templates

Updates include:

MDC: Projects depend on com.google.android.material:material in build.gradle. Base app themes use Theme.MaterialComponents.* parents and override updated MDC color and “on” attributes.
Color resources: Color resources in colors.xml use literal names (for example, purple_500 instead of colorPrimary).
Theme resources: Theme resources are in themes.xml (instead of styles.xml) and use Theme.<ApplicationName> names.
Dark theme: Base application themes use DayNight parents and are split between res/values and res/values-night.
Theme attributes: Color resources are referenced as theme attributes (for example, ?attr/colorPrimary) in layouts and styles to avoid hard-coded colors.

Develop

Database Inspector

We wanted to make it easier to inspect, query, and modify your app's databases using the new Database Inspector. To get started, deploy your app to a device running API level 26 or higher and select View > Tool Windows > Database Inspector from the menu bar. Whether your app uses the Jetpack Room library or the Android platform version of SQLite directly, you can now easily inspect databases and tables in your running app or run custom queries.

Because Android Studio maintains a live connection while you’re inspecting your app, you can also modify values using the Database Inspector and see those changes in your running app. If you use the Room persistence library, Android Studio also places run buttons next to each query in the code editor to help you quickly run queries you define in your @Query annotations. Learn more

Inspect, query, and modify your app’s databases with the Database Inspector

Run Android Emulator directly in Android Studio

You can now run the Android Emulator directly in Android Studio. Use this feature to conserve screen real estate, to navigate quickly between the emulator and the editor window using hotkeys, and to organize your IDE and emulator workflow in a single application window. You can manage snapshots and common emulator actions like rotating and taking screenshots from within Studio, but access to the full set of options still requires running the stable emulator. You can opt-in to use this feature by going to File → Settings → Tools → Emulator → Launch in Tool Window.

Run the Android Emulator inside of Android Studio

Dagger Navigation Support

Dagger is a popular library for dependency injection on Android. Android Studio makes it easier to navigate between your Dagger-related code by providing new gutter actions and extending support in the Find Usages window. For example, clicking on the gutter action next to a method that consumes a given type navigates you to the provider of that type. Conversely, clicking on the gutter action navigates you to where a type is used as a dependency. Android Studio also supports navigation actions for dependencies defined with the Jetpack Hilt library. Learn more.

Navigate between Dagger-related code with gutter actions

Use TensorFlow Lite models

Android developers are using machine learning to create innovative and helpful experiences. TensorFlow Lite is a popular library for writing mobile machine learning models, and we wanted to make it easier to import these models into Android apps. Similar to view binding, Android Studio generates easy-to-use classes so you can run your model with less code and better type safety. The current implementation of ML Model Binding supports image classification and style transfer models, provided they are enhanced with metadata.

To see the details for an imported model and get instructions on how to use it in your app, double-click the .tflite model file in your project to open the model viewer page. Learn more.

View TensorFlow Lite model metadata in Android Studio 4.1

Build & Test

Android Emulator - Foldable Hinge Support

Android Studio

In addition to recently adding 5G cellular testing support, we’ve added support for foldables in the Android emulator. With Android emulator 30.0.26 and above, you can configure foldable devices with a variety of fold designs and configurations. When a foldable device is configured, the emulator will publish hinge angle sensor updates and posture changes, so you can test how your app responds to these form factors. See the Developing for Android 11 with the Android Emulator blogpost to read more.

Apply Changes updates

Faster builds help developers make changes to their app more easily and quickly. To help you be more productive as you iterate on your app, we've made multiple enhancements to Apply Changes for devices running Android 11 or higher.

We've invested heavily in optimizing your iteration speed by developing a method to deploy and persist changes on a device without installing the application. After an initial deploy, subsequent deploys to Android 11 devices using either Apply Code Changes or Apply Changes and Restart Activity are now significantly faster. We’ve also added support for additional code changes in Apply Changes. Now if you add a method, you can deploy those changes to a running app by clicking either Apply Code Changes or Apply Changes and Restart Activity.

Export C/C++ dependencies from AARs

Android Gradle Plugin 4.0 added the ability to import Prefab packages in AAR dependencies. We wanted to extend the capability of this feature to support sharing native libraries as well. AGP version 4.1 enables exporting libraries from your external native build in an AAR for an Android Library project. To export your native libraries, add the following to the android block of your library project's build.gradle file:

buildFeatures {
    prefabPublishing true
}

prefab {
    mylibrary {
      headers "src/main/cpp/mylibrary/include"
    }

    myotherlibrary {
        headers "src/main/cpp/myotherlibrary/include"
    }
}

Symbolication for native crash reports

When a crash or ANR occurs in native code, the system produces a stack trace, which is a snapshot of the sequence of nested functions called in your program up to the moment it crashed. These snapshots can help you to identify and fix any problems in the source, but they must first be symbolicated to translate the machine addresses back into human-readable function names.

If your app or game is developed using native code, like C++, you can now upload debug symbols files to the Play Console for each version of your app. The Play Console uses these debug symbols files to symbolicate your app's stack traces, making it easier to analyze crashes and ANRs. To include debug symbols in your app bundle, add the following line to your project’s build.gradle file:

android.buildTypes.release.ndk.debugSymbolLevel = 'SYMBOL_TABLE'

Optimize

System Trace UI improvements

In Android Studio 4.1 we’ve overhauled System Trace, an optimization tool that gives you a real-time look at how your app is using system resources. We made it easier to select a trace with box selection mode, added a new analysis tab, and added more frame rendering data to help you investigate rendering issues in your app’s UI. Learn more.

Box selection: In the Threads section, you can now drag your mouse to perform a box selection of a rectangular area, which you can zoom into by clicking the Zoom to Selection button on the top right (or use the M keyboard shortcut). When you drag and drop similar threads next to each other, you can select across multiple threads to inspect all of them at once.

Use box selection to more easily select traces.

Summary tab: The new Summary tab in the Analysis panel displays:

Aggregate statistics for all occurrences of a specific event, such as an occurrence count and min/max duration.
Trace event statistics for the selected occurrence.
Data about thread state distribution.
Longest-running occurrences of the selected trace event.

View aggregated statistics in the Summary tab

Display data: In the Display section, new timelines for SurfaceFlinger and VSYNC help you investigate rendering issues in your app's UI.

Standalone profilers

It's now possible to access the Android Studio Profilers in a separate window from the primary Android Studio window. This is useful when optimizing Android games built with other tools like Unity or Visual Studio.

To run the standalone profilers, do the following:

Make sure the profilers in Android Studio are not already running on your system.
Go to the installation directory and navigate to the bin directory:

Windows/Linux: <studio-installation-folder>\bin

macOS: <studio-installation-folder>/Contents/bin

Depending on your OS, run profiler.exe or profiler.sh

The standalone profiler will allow you to connect to the Android emulator or any connected devices.

Optimize your app with the Standalone Android Studio Profilers

Native Memory Profiler

Tracking native memory usage is important for game developers and other developers using C++ to understand how to optimize their app’s memory consumption. The Android Studio Memory Profiler now includes a Native Memory Profiler for apps deployed to physical devices running Android 10 or later. The Native Memory Profiler tracks allocations/deallocations of objects in native code for a specific time period and provides information about total allocations and remaining system heap size.

To initiate a recording, click Record native allocations at the top of the Memory Profiler window:

Native Memory Profiler window in Android Studio 4.1

Posted by Kylie McRoberts, Program Manager and Alec Guertin, Security Engineer

Google’s Android Security & Privacy team has launched the Android Partner Vulnerability Initiative (APVI) to manage security issues specific to Android OEMs. The APVI is designed to drive remediation and provide transparency to users about issues we have discovered at Google that affect device models shipped by Android partners.

Another layer of security

Android incorporates industry-leading security features and every day we work with developers and device implementers to keep the Android platform and ecosystem safe. As part of that effort, we have a range of existing programs to enable security researchers to report security issues they have found. For example, you can report vulnerabilities in Android code via the Android Security Rewards Program (ASR), and vulnerabilities in popular third-party Android apps through the Google Play Security Rewards Program. Google releases ASR reports in Android Open Source Project (AOSP) based code through the Android Security Bulletins (ASB). These reports are issues that could impact all Android based devices. All Android partners must adopt ASB changes in order to declare the current month’s Android security patch level (SPL). But until recently, we didn’t have a clear way to process Google-discovered security issues outside of AOSP code that are unique to a much smaller set of specific Android OEMs. The APVI aims to close this gap, adding another layer of security for this targeted set of Android OEMs.

Improving Android OEM device security

The APVI covers Google-discovered issues that could potentially affect the security posture of an Android device or its user and is aligned to ISO/IEC 29147:2018 Information technology -- Security techniques -- Vulnerability disclosure recommendations. The initiative covers a wide range of issues impacting device code that is not serviced or maintained by Google (these are handled by the Android Security Bulletins).

Protecting Android users

The APVI has already processed a number of security issues, improving user protection against permissions bypasses, execution of code in the kernel, credential leaks and generation of unencrypted backups. Below are a few examples of what we’ve found, the impact and OEM remediation efforts.

Permission Bypass

In some versions of a third-party pre-installed over-the-air (OTA) update solution, a custom system service in the Android framework exposed privileged APIs directly to the OTA app. The service ran as the system user and did not require any permissions to access, instead checking for knowledge of a hardcoded password. The operations available varied across versions, but always allowed access to sensitive APIs, such as silently installing/uninstalling APKs, enabling/disabling apps and granting app permissions. This service appeared in the code base for many device builds across many OEMs, however it wasn’t always registered or exposed to apps. We’ve worked with impacted OEMs to make them aware of this security issue and provided guidance on how to remove or disable the affected code.

Credential Leak

A popular web browser pre-installed on many devices included a built-in password manager for sites visited by the user. The interface for this feature was exposed to WebView through JavaScript loaded in the context of each web page. A malicious site could have accessed the full contents of the user’s credential store. The credentials are encrypted at rest, but used a weak algorithm (DES) and a known, hardcoded key. This issue was reported to the developer and updates for the app were issued to users.

Overly-Privileged Apps

The checkUidPermission method in the PackageManagerService class was modified in the framework code for some devices to allow special permissions access to some apps. In one version, the method granted apps with the shared user ID com.google.uid.shared any permission they requested and apps signed with the same key as the com.google.android.gsf package any permission in their manifest. Another version of the modification allowed apps matching a list of package names and signatures to pass runtime permission checks even if the permission was not in their manifest. These issues have been fixed by the OEMs.

More information

Keep an eye out at https://bugs.chromium.org/p/apvi/ for future disclosures of Google-discovered security issues under this program, or find more information there on issues that have already been disclosed.

Acknowledgements: Scott Roberts, Shailesh Saini and Łukasz Siewierski, Android Security and Privacy Team

Answering your FAQs about Google Play billing

Android Developers — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 20:05:01 +0000

Posted by Mrinalini Loew, Group Product Manager

We are committed to providing powerful tools and services to help developers build and grow their businesses while ensuring a safe, secure and seamless experience for users. Today we are addressing some of the most common themes we hear in feedback from developers. Below are a few frequently asked developer questions that we thought would also be helpful to address.

Q: Can I distribute my app via other Android app stores or through my website?

A: Yes, you can distribute your app however you like! As an open ecosystem, most Android devices come preinstalled with more than one store - and users can install others. Android provides developers the freedom and flexibility to distribute apps through other Android app stores, directly via websites, or device preloads, all without using Google Play’s billing system.

Q: What apps need to use Google Play's billing system?

A: All apps distributed on Google Play that are offering in-app purchases of digital goods need to use Google Play’s billing system. Our payments policy has always required this. Less than 3% of developers with apps on Play sold digital goods over the last 12 months, and of this 3%, the vast majority (nearly 97%) already use Google Play's billing. For those few developers that need to update their apps, they will have until September 30, 2021 to make those changes. New apps submitted after January 20, 2021 will need to be in compliance.

Q: Many businesses have needed to move their previously physical services online (e.g. digital live events). Will these apps need to use Google Play’s billing?

A: We recognize that the global pandemic has resulted in many businesses having to navigate the challenges of moving their physical business to digital and engaging customers in a new way, for example, moving in-person experiences and classes online. For the next 12 months, these businesses will not need to comply with our payments policy, and we will continue to reassess the situation over the next year. For developers undergoing these changes, we're eager to hear from you and work with you to help you reach new users and grow your online businesses, while enabling a consistent and safe user experience online.

Q: Do Google’s apps have to follow this policy too?

A: Yes. Google Play’s developer policies - including the requirement that apps use Google Play’s billing system for in-app purchases of digital goods - apply to all apps on Play, including Google’s own apps.

Q: Can I communicate with my users about alternate ways to pay?

A: Yes. Outside of your app you are free to communicate with them about alternative purchase options. You can use email marketing and other channels outside of the app to provide subscription offers and even special pricing.

Q: Can I communicate with my users about promotions on other platforms?

A: Of course. We're an app developer too, and we know how important it is not to restrict your ability to communicate with your users. You can email them or otherwise communicate outside of the app information about your offerings, even if they are different on Google Play than in other places.

Q: Can I have different app features, prices and experience depending on the platform?

A: Yes. It is your service and business, it is up to you. We do not require parity across platforms. You can create different versions of your app to support different platforms, features and pricing models.

Q: Can I offer a consumption-only (reader) app on Play?

A: Yes. Google Play allows any app to be consumption-only, even if it is part of a paid service. For example, a user could login when the app opens and the user could access content paid for somewhere else.

Q: Does your billing policy change depending on what category my app is in?

A: No. Business or consumer apps, and verticals like music or email are all treated the same on Google Play.

Q: Can I offer my customers refunds directly?

A: Yes. We understand the importance of maintaining the relationship with your customers. You can continue to issue refunds to your customers and other customer support directly.

Q: Will Google Play allow cloud gaming apps?

A: Yes. Cloud game streaming apps that comply with Play’s policies from any developer are welcome on Google Play.

For more examples and best practices for in-app purchases, visit this Play Academy course and watch this video.

Listening to Developer Feedback to Improve Google Play

Android Developers — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 20:04:05 +0000

Posted by Sameer Samat, Vice President, Product Management

Developers are our partners and by pairing their creativity and innovation with our platforms and tools, together we create delightful experiences for billions of people around the world. Listening carefully to their feedback is an important part of how we continue to make Android better with each release and improve how mobile app stores work. In an April 2019 blog post we shared some updates we made to Android APIs and Play Policies based on developer feedback. And today, we wanted to share some additional insights we’ve gained from developer feedback and how we’re taking that input to improve Google Play and Android. Some of the key themes we’ve heard include:

Supporting developers’ ability to choose how they distribute their apps through multiple app stores on different platforms (mobile, PC, and console), each with their own business model competing in a healthy marketplace;
Clarifying our policies regarding who needs to use Google Play’s billing system and who does not;
Ensuring equal treatment for all apps, including first-party and third-party apps, on our platforms;
Allowing developers to connect and communicate directly with their customers;
Enabling innovation and ensuring our policies embrace new technologies that can help drive the consumer experience forward.

We’d like to share our perspective on each of these points.

Choice of stores

We believe that developers should have a choice in how they distribute their apps and that stores should compete for the consumer’s and the developer’s business. Choice has always been a core tenet of Android, and it’s why consumers have always had control over which apps they use, be it their keyboard, messaging app, phone dialer, or app store.

Android has always allowed people to get apps from multiple app stores. In fact, most Android devices ship with at least two app stores preinstalled, and consumers are able to install additional app stores. Each store is able to decide its own business model and consumer features. This openness means that even if a developer and Google do not agree on business terms the developer can still distribute on the Android platform. This is why Fortnite, for example, is available directly from Epic's store or from other app stores including Samsung's Galaxy App store.

That said, some developers have given us feedback on how we can make the user experience for installing another app store on their device even better. In response to that feedback, we will be making changes in Android 12 (next year’s Android release) to make it even easier for people to use other app stores on their devices while being careful not to compromise the safety measures Android has in place. We are designing all this now and look forward to sharing more in the future!

Clarity on billing policies

As we mentioned, each Android app store is able to decide its own business model and consumer features. For Google Play, users expect a safe, secure and seamless experience, and developers come to Play for powerful tools and services that help them build and grow their businesses. Our developer policies are designed to help us deliver on these expectations and Google Play's billing system is a cornerstone of our ongoing commitment. Consumers get the benefit of a trusted system that allows them to safely, securely, and seamlessly buy from developers worldwide. Google protects consumers’ payment info with multiple layers of security, using one of the world’s most advanced security infrastructures. For developers, Google Play’s billing system provides an easy way for billions of Android users to transact with them using their local, preferred method of payment.

We’ve always required developers who distribute their apps on Play to use Google Play’s billing system if they offer in-app purchases of digital goods, and pay a service fee from a percentage of the purchase. To be clear, this policy is only applicable to less than 3% of developers with apps on Google Play. We only collect a service fee if the developer charges users to download their app or they sell in-app digital items, and we think that is fair. Not only does this approach allow us to continuously reinvest in the platform, this business model aligns our success directly with the success of developers.

But we have heard feedback that our policy language could be more clear regarding which types of transactions require the use of Google Play’s billing system, and that the current language was causing confusion. We want to be sure our policies are clear and up to date so they can be applied consistently and fairly to all developers, and so we have clarified the language in our Payments Policy to be more explicit that all developers selling digital goods in their apps are required to use Google Play’s billing system.

Again, this isn’t new. This has always been the intention of this long standing policy and this clarification will not affect the vast majority of developers with apps on Google Play. Less than 3% of developers with apps on Play sold digital goods over the last 12 months, and of this 3%, the vast majority (nearly 97%) already use Google Play's billing. But for those who already have an app on Google Play that requires technical work to integrate our billing system, we do not want to unduly disrupt their roadmaps and are giving a year (until September 30, 2021) to complete any needed updates. And of course we will require Google’s apps that do not already use Google Play’s billing system to make the necessary updates as well.

Equal treatment

Our policies apply equally to all apps distributed on Google Play, including Google’s own apps. We use the same standards to decide which apps to promote on Google Play, whether they're third-party apps or our own apps. In fact, we regularly promote apps by Google’s competitors in our Editors Choice picks when they provide a great user experience. Similarly, our algorithms rank third-party apps and games using the same criteria as for ranking Google's own apps.

Communicating with customers

Developers have told us it is very important to be able to speak directly with their customers without significant restrictions. As app developers ourselves, we agree wholeheartedly and our policies have always allowed this.

That said, developers have asked whether they can communicate with their customers directly about pricing, offers, and alternative ways to pay beyond their app via email or other channels. To clarify, Google Play does not have any limitations here on this kind of communication outside of a developer’s app. For example, they might have an offering on another Android app store or through their website at a lower cost than on Google Play.

We understand the importance of maintaining the customer relationship. As such, we have also always allowed developers to issue refunds to their customers and provide other customer support directly.

Enabling innovation

Developers are coming up with cool things all the time. Using their feedback, we are always trying to adjust our approach to ensure that we continue to help enable new forms of innovation. For example, recent innovations in game streaming have generated new game experiences that are available on Google Play, including Microsoft’s recent launch of Xbox cloud gaming in the Xbox Game Pass Android app.

Keep the feedback coming

We really appreciate all the feedback we have received from our developer community and believe the Android ecosystem has never been a more exciting place to be.

It is exciting to see developers such as Duolingo, Truecaller, Hyperconnect, Any.do, and Viber be so successful and grow their business on Android and reach a diverse audience. These kinds of services delight consumers and we are thrilled to have built a platform that can support them.

We’ve also published some additional frequently asked developer questions here.

All developers will get the new Google Play Console on November 2, 2020

Android Developers — Thu, 24 Sep 2020 13:06:28 +0000

Posted by Tom Grinsted, Product Manager, Google Play Console

We hope you’re enjoying the new Google Play Console. With over 350,000 people now using it as their default experience and thousands more providing feedback, the new Play Console is ready to come out of beta. Thank you to everyone who has helped to get it here. This means that the old Play Console will be discontinued starting November 2, 2020. After this date, you’ll be automatically directed to the new Play Console when you log into your account.

If you haven't tried it already, we recommend that you switch to the new version now. To get started, visit play.google.com/console.

The new Play Console’s responsive design means that you can use it across all of your devices. The new navigation makes it easier to find and understand important features, and we’ve added areas to help you better understand your release status, acquisition performance, and guidance on policy changes.

Thanks to your feedback, we’ve already made a lot of improvements:

We reorganized the releases area of the navigation. Production is now at the top level, and we've grouped all testing tracks together. Internal app sharing has moved to Setup.
Speed and performance on different browsers have increased, and we’ve made UI tweaks such as making text boxes resizable, introducing unread notices for messages, and refining headers on mobile so they use space more efficiently.
We launched Inbox, your personalized messaging area featuring helpful information, policy updates, feature recommendations, and more.
The new Publishing overview page lets you see what changes are in review. Managed publishing gives you control over your launch by allowing you to decide when approved changes are actually published.
Acquisition reports have been completely overhauled to help you understand your performance over time. This includes discontinuing some cohort-based metrics. These will not be available in the new console. If you want to keep a record of this data, please download it from the old Play Console before November 2. Find out more
You can still link to your Google Ads account for conversion tracking and remarketing lists, but Google Ads campaign reporting and account notifications will now be available exclusively in Google Ads.
You can now search across Play Console, making it easier to find pages and features quickly.
And lastly, we announced that later this year, all Play Console users will need to use 2-Step Verification.

To learn more about the new Play Console, you can:

Get a high-level overview of what’s new in this blog post.
Watch these videos for more in-depth information about the biggest changes.
Take a course on the Academy for App Success to become an expert on the new experience.
Dive into key features and find supporting information in the new education pages.

Thank you for being a part of our community, and we hope you enjoy the new Play Console!

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Broadcast Design News Package

Jc-imedia.com — Wed, 03 May 2017 12:48:53 +0000

VideoHive Broadcast Design News Package
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VideoHive 100 Photo Slideshow

StLove — Mon, 01 May 2017 18:53:51 +0000

VideoHive 100 Photo Slideshow
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StLove — Mon, 01 May 2017 18:25:27 +0000

VideoHive Cinematic Light Logo Reveal Pack
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HUD UI Infographics Pack 800+

StLove — Fri, 21 Apr 2017 03:01:45 +0000

VideoHive HUD UI Infographics Pack 800+
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Colorful Shadows - Motion Titles Pack

StLove — Sat, 08 Apr 2017 04:41:20 +0000

VideoHive Colorful Shadows - Motion Titles Pack
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StLove — Wed, 05 Apr 2017 08:37:47 +0000

VideoHive HUD - UI Graphics for FILM, TV and GAMES
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Element 3D Tutorials Model

StLove — Fri, 31 Mar 2017 08:00:01 +0000

Element 3D Tutorials Model
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VideoHive Lotus Pond Opener

StLove — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 17:46:52 +0000

VideoHive Lotus Pond Opener
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VideoHive Cartoon FX Pack

StLove — Sun, 26 Mar 2017 07:12:17 +0000

VideoHive Cartoon FX Pack
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Solar System 2 ( Fantasy Planets ) 8K

Jc-imedia.com — Sun, 26 Mar 2017 04:10:41 +0000

VideoHive Solar System 2 ( Fantasy Planets ) 8K
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VideoHive Whiteboard Kit - Infographic

Jc-imedia.com — Fri, 24 Mar 2017 04:22:30 +0000

VideoHive Whiteboard Kit - Infographic
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