The Best New Updates Coming to Your iPhone & iPad in iOS 12

Apple unveiled iOS 12, the newest version of its software, during WWDC 2018 on Monday. IOS 12 will be available for iPhones and iPads for free later this year.

These are the biggest new features you need to know about:

It will feel faster

Apple said it's "doubling down" on performance so that iPhones and iPads feel faster and more responsive. It's also going to be available for all of the devices supported by iOS 11, including the 2013 iPhone 5s. This means apps will launch up to 40 percent faster than in iOS 11. Apple said it does this by detecting when you need increased performance and pushing the processor inside your phone or iPad to focus on that task.

Siri Shortcuts

Siri is getting some improvements in iOS 12. With a new "Shortcuts" app, users can set pre-determined Siri queries that automatically launch apps. If you say, "Help me relax," it can start playing music and dim the lights. Or you can tell Siri you need to order groceries, and it'll launch a grocery delivery app. Siri will learn, so if it knows you always get coffee in the morning, it can suggest that you place your regular order through a coffee app ahead of time. If you're running late for a meeting, it can suggest you message the meeting organizer that you're behind schedule.

Screen Time

Like Google, Apple is trying to help users strike a better, healthier balance between gadgets and life. A new Screen Time feature in iOS 12 will detail how much time you’re spending on your device and using individual apps. It can break down app usage by category (games, social media, etc.) and track which apps are sending you the most notifications. Screen Time will provide a weekly summary of your usage habits.

Similar to Android P, you’ll be able to set time limits for each app. iOS will automatically notify you when you’re running out of the allotment of time you’ve given to each application. A “time’s up” message will display when the counter runs out. If you want to continue using that application, you can simply request more time. Apple is also applying this abundance of usage data to parental controls, giving parents greater oversight and supervision over how often their kids are staring at a screen.

FaceTime Group Calling

FaceTime is getting group calling support with the ability to add up to 32 people into a single FaceTime video call. Apple is integrating FaceTime into Messages, too, so you can turn a group chat chain right into a group video chat. A roster of everyone on the call is included at the bottom of the screen, so you can see everyone who has joined the call. When someone speaks, their tile gets larger automatically. A double tap on any person in the call brings them front and center, too. Filters, stickers and other effects are supported in the FaceTime group chat.

Better, Grouped Notifications

Apple is taking a huge, overdue step to fix its messy notifications situation: iOS 12 will support grouped notifications, so you’ll be able to interact with or dismiss multiple notifications from the same app at once. Grouped notifications show up in a stack to give you a sense of how many are waiting for you. Apple is also giving users more authority over which apps are allowed to send notifications that vibrate their phone. “Quiet” notifications will show up in Notification Center, but not on your lock screen. They also won’t make sounds or interrupt you in any way.

Messages and Memoji

Apple is going to let you customize your own animated emoji, or Animoji, with a spinoff called "Memoji" — it's basically a 3D version of yourself that can move based on your facial expressions. It's still only supported on the iPhone X right now. You'll be able to choose your hairstyle, skin color, freckles, eye color, head shape, glasses and more.

Measure App

iOS 12’s more powerful augmented reality is being put to use right away in a new Apple app called Measure. As the name suggests, the software allows you to accurately measure objects or walls around you. You put the object in the camera frame, tap and drag out a line, and it measures it. Several third-party apps already offer this functionality using ARKit, but now Apple is creating its own and taking advantage of the new, more precise AR capabilities in the upcoming version of iOS. Safe to say it’ll have a leg up on the competition.

Where Does Cybercrime Hit the Hardest?

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has released its annual cybercrimes report, which outlines which states saw the largest number of compromised records and the largest financial losses. The report provides statistics on what states are hit the hardest by these crimes. It also breaks down how much financial damage is caused and what mechanism for the crime was used. Interestingly, some of the states with the highest numbers of cybercrime have also been on the top identity theft state lists for several years. California, Florida, Texas, New York and Pennsylvania (in that order) had the highest numbers of cybercrime reports last year. The most financial damage from these attacks occurred in California, Texas, Florida, New York, and Arizona, again, in that order. As for how these cybercrimes manifested, Business Email Compromise (BEC) and ransomware were highly common forms, as were tech support fraud and extortion.

California, Florida, Texas, New York and Pennsylvania (in that order) had the highest numbers of cybercrime reports last year. The most financial damage from these attacks occurred in California, Texas, Florida, New York, and Arizona, again, in that order. As for how these cybercrimes manifested, Business Email Compromise (BEC) and ransomware were highly common forms, as were tech support fraud and extortion.

With such alarming numbers of occurrences around the country, what are individual consumers and businesses supposed to do? The very first answer is to simply understand that the threat even exists. Read up on the findings of the FBI, the ITRC’s annual Aftermath report, the Federal Trade Commission’s data on fraud reports. Once you understand the ways—and the likelihood—that cybercrime can strike, you’ll be better prepared to take as much preventive action as you can.

That action all starts with recognizing a possible cyber attack and refusing to play along. BECs and ransomware are easily ignored if you understand the dynamics that hackers use to trap you, for example. These tactics rely on the person receiving the communication not realizing the danger, so it’s important to set solid policies in place (for yourself and your workplace) about how to recognize, respond, and even recover from a cyber attack.  

Why the FBI Says Rebooting Your Router Can Weaken a Global Malware Attack

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is asking everyone with a home router to do one small thing: Turn your router off and then back on again.

The agency issued a warning on Friday asking home Internet users and small business owners to reboot their routers to ward off a pernicious piece of malware called VPN Filter. The malware infects routers during the first stage of an attack that eventually gives hackers great control over the devices connected to the Internet. The malware has been linked to a group believed to be connected to the Russian military.

Research from Cisco's Talos security group, published last week, estimates that 500,000 devices around the world may be affected by the malware, including routers made by major manufacturers such as TP-Link, Netgear and Linksys. While the FBI recently seized a critical part of the network that runs this attack, the agency still recommends that everyone reset their router, regardless of manufacturer, to cast a wider net.

Simply unplugging your router may not seem as if it could do much for your security. But resetting the router sets this complicated malware back to Stage One, said Ashley Stephenson of Corero Network Security. In its first stage, VPN Filter establishes a presence in a router, but it needs to talk to another part of the network to download the second stage of the attack.

Now that the FBI has control over part of the network, routers trying to enter that second stage will send information to the agency instead of hackers, Stephenson said.

Simply hitting the power button without updating their router would leave users at risk, software experts warned. As a next step, they should download the latest firmware for their devices and change their password to further guard themselves against infection.

Routers are often neglected — even forgotten — pieces of technology in our homes. After they've been set up, they are rarely given a second thought. But they have increasingly become a focal point for hackers looking to build massive networks of computers to control.

Several companies, such as Google, Eero and security firms Norton and F-Secure, are trying to make routers and their security easier to understand. Most people, however, simply stick with the router issued by their Internet service provider or one that they can find cheaply for $25 or $30 online, experts said.

Poor router security comes from a combination of factors, said Ben Herzberg, threat director at the security firm Imperva. Many people don't know how to access their router settings or how to check for software updates, he said. And some manufacturers are slow to push security updates, he said, out of negligence or because their devices are so old that they can't easily be updated over the Internet.

Herzberg recommended that anyone with a router that's at least 15 years old replace it with a newer device and that they regularly check for updates to guard against potential new attacks. And while regularly rebooting your router isn't always a necessary part of good security hygiene, he thinks it's good advice to follow this time — considering the source.

Six Tips to Increase Windows 10 Performance & Make It Faster

1. Turn On Game Mode

The latest version of Windows 10, the Creators Update, adds a new feature known as Game Mode. There’s no way to perpetually run in Game Mode, unfortunately, but you can activate it with a simple key combination of the Windows Key + G. However, you must first enable Game Mode.

To enable Game Mode (it’s only available in Windows 10 Creators Update) open Settings > Gaming and choose Game Mode. Turn on Use Game Mode. It’s only supposed to be used for games, but you can activate it whenever you need to get a little burst of speed. It’s particularly useful if you have a lot of background apps that are dragging down a resource-intensive program.

2. Turn Off Visual Effects

Windows offers a really easy way to shut off all visual enhancements. Simply navigate to System > Advanced system settings and choose Advanced from the tabs above. Under Performance, choose Settings. Then check the radio button for Adjust for best performance to shut off all visual effects.

I have visual effects disabled on a few systems and it seems to make a big impact, particularly on older computers. On the downside, things won’t look as nice. I advise leaving Smooth edges of screen fonts enabled as it helps when reading text.

3. Speed Up Your Processor

Windows possesses three predefined settings (at least) for how your processor scales its frequency up to run processes. The three defaults are Balanced, High performance, and Power saver. (Sometimes manufacturers also include custom plans here.) You are almost always better off on a laptop using Balanced or Power saver, but High performance — as the name suggests — makes Windows faster. Because it consumes the most amount of power it’s also more appropriate for desktops. Choose it if you want to get the most juice out of your computer.

4. Turn Off Startup Programs

About half of the programs that I install try to run silently in the background. That’s fine for just a handful of programs, but the effect on performance is cumulative. If your computer has enough programs set to run at startup, the entire system will bog down. Getting rid of non-essential startup software is absolutely essential for performance.

Press the key combination of Ctrl + Alt + Delete to enter Windows Task Manager. Choose Task Manager from the menu that pops up. Then select the Startup tab from the top of the screen. From the Startup tab, you can eliminate most auto-starting applications. The majority of apps out there don’t need to run in the background, unless they came preinstalled with your computer (and even these are oftentimes bloatware).

5. Malware Scanner

We’ve written to death the subject of malware scanners for good reason: most performance problems originate with malignant programs running wild in the background. Some of the better free malware scanners out there include Malwarebytes, SuperAntiSpyware, and ClamWin.

6. Registry Cleaner

The Windows registry keeps a manifest of settings for Windows and other programs. Oftentimes, programs make changes to the registry when installed but when uninstalled fail to remove those changes. Over time, thousands upon thousands of registry modifications slow system performance. A registry cleaner removes those changes. However, in my opinion, registry cleaners cause more problems than they solve. While you might see a tiny amount of performance improvement, for the most part, you’re likely to see glitchy OS behavior after running a cleaner.

The best program out there for cleaning your registry is CCleaner.

How to Test If Your Micro-USB Cable Is Charging Properly

Different chargers are going to charge your Android device at different rates, and some broken chargers might not be charging your device as quickly as they claim they can.

If you’ve ever run into issues charging your device, or you’d just like to test out how effective your charger is, read on. Today, we’re going to step through how to measure the amperage your charger is delivering to your smartphone or tablet.

Download Ampere

The first step is to grab this handy app from the Play Store called Ampere, which will do the measuring for you. It should work on any device running Android 4.0 and above, though the developer has noted in the description that certain models aren’t behaving quite right, like the HTC One M7 and M8.

Testing Your Charger

For the most accurate measurement of your charger’s full capabilities, plug it into its official USB to wall outlet adapter, and plug that into your nearest outlet. We’ll discuss in the next section how plugging into your computer can change your results.

Above, you can see some of the information provided by the app. It takes about 10 seconds to measure the charge of your phone, which is what you see on the left. On the right is the settings menu, which you will probably never have to visit.

The app will use orange text when you’re not plugged in and blue text when you are plugged in. When not plugged in, you can see how much energy your phone is currently using. This number will vary depending on how many things your phone is trying to do at once.

Below, you can see my phone with the brightness set to low (left) and the brightness set to high (right). Clearly, the brightness of my screen is quite a major pull on my battery, but other factors can influence this too, including apps updating in the background, Wi-Fi or cellular signal strength, and more.

The app itself uses a very modern Lollipop-based design, which is easy on the eyes. Tapping the circular icon to the left will take you to your full battery stats. Negative numbers mean that your phone is losing charge, and positive numbers show how much charge it is gaining.

Make Adjustments

If you’re not getting a charge as fast as you want, there are ways to increase your charging speed.

For instance, switching your phone into airplane mode and keeping the screen off while it’s charging will allow it to charge much faster. If you’re not willing to go that far though, we have some other tips for squeezing the most battery life out of your device.

Also, plugging your phone into a computer or a wall outlet may seem like they do the same thing, but they’re much different. Computers can’t output the same level of amperage as a wall socket can. Below, you can see my charger speeds when plugged into the wall (left) and when plugged into my computer (right).

It’s also recommended that you use the charging cable that your phone or tablet shipped with, rather than a third-party charger. The hardware manufacturer has tested your device with that cable specifically, and you know it has the right amperage.

If your phone supports wireless charging, that’s going to be even slower than charging from your computer. It’s convenient for sure, but still quite slow.

And, for complete optimum charging, keep it cool. Heat is bad news for batteries, and one of the big things you should avoid to keep your battery healthy. Place it in a cool spot, take it out of its case, and it should charge a bit quicker.

Source: MakeUseOf