US Judge rejects Uber’s $100 million class-action settlement
A US district court judge in San Francisco has rejected Uber’s attempt to settle a class action lawsuit between the company and roughly 385,000 drivers in California and Massachusetts. Uber announced in April that it would settle with the drivers for $100 million, but the drivers would have to keep their status as independent contracts, rather than becoming official Uber employees. However, US District Judge Edward Chen ruled Thursday that the settlement was not fair for the drivers.
At the heart of the lawsuit, the drivers allege they were entitled to expenses like gas, vehicle maintenance and insurance to cover them between passengers. As Reuters reports, some of the drivers filed objections with the court after the offer from Travis Kalanick and company, claiming the settlement was far less than the estimated $850 million in damages. The settlement would have paid out $84 million to drivers immediately, but another $16 million at some unspecified date in the future after Uber goes public.
According to MarketWatch, most drivers would get less than $24 out of Uber’s offer, which is less than the cost of filling up a Prius in San Francisco. And Judge Chen took their side, saying it was a “substantial discount” on their claims. Uber, for their part, expressed their displeasure in a statement: “The settlement, mutually agreed by both sides, was fair and reasonable. We’re disappointed in this decision and are taking a look at our options.” Although it’s a ways off, those options might one day include doing away with drivers entirely.
Moto G4 Plus review: Moto has to bring its A-game
Motorola has been redefining what a budget phone is capable of for the past few years. The Moto X line provided affordable flagships with great features while the beloved Moto G and E lines set examples for just how well budget phones could perform given proper software.
Although Moto has diverged from its usual affordable flagships with the $600+ Moto Z line, this year’s Moto G4 and G4 Plus are still extremely affordable and come with good features. But the smartphone market has been trending towards power yet affordable flagships for a couple of years. Does the G4 Plus offer enough to make it stand out from the crowd?
Things I Liked
Software
For the last few years, Motorola has been leading the way in terms of Android skins for its phones. It does this by basically not adding a skin at all. I would wager that most would think this phone ran stock Android at first glance.
The G4 Plus’ version of Marshmallow is almost untouched aside from a few software additions and Moto apps. I love the look and feel of stock Android and usually protest to any changes made to the software by phone manufacturers. However, Moto continually impresses me with the usefulness of its added features.
Moto display is still one of my favorite OEM additions since its inception on the original Moto X. The ability to quickly view and interact with notifications using Moto Display is something you don’t realize you want until you have it.
Another addition that Moto has spoiled me with are Moto Actions. With this feature, you can control a few aspects of your phone with nothing but movement. The most famous of these are the double twist with your phone to open the camera and the double chop to activate the flashlight. While they take a few moments to master, the convenience they offer is worth it.
I still believe that Moto provides the best Android software experience aside from pure stock Android.
Performance
The G4 Plus comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 processor and Adreno 405 GPU; however, the amount of RAM is dependent on your version. There are 16, 32, and 64GB variants of the G4 Plus that each come with 2, 3, and 4GB of RAM, respectively (the 32GB/3GB version is not available in the US). I have the 64GB model with 4GB of RAM.
In my couple of weeks using this phone, performance has blown me away. I believe this is definitely due in part to the mostly stock Android software running on the G4 Plus. This phone flies through daily tasks like social media and web browsing, checking emails, texting, and playing light games.
It may struggle on games that are more graphically intensive and demanding, but for the majority of mobile gamers, the G4 Plus will be more than enough. I never experienced any stutters or lag while using this phone during my normal daily activities, which is a continuation of Moto’s commitment to making budget phones that still provide quality user experiences.
Battery life
Powering the G4 Plus is a non-removable, 3000mAh battery. Combine this with power friendly hardware and software, and that’s a phone that, in theory, should have good battery life. In actual use, I found that the G4 Plus has incredible battery life!
I use my phone heavily and can easily drain most phones’ batteries before the end of the day. With the G4 Plus, I found myself often ending the day with over 10% battery left. I never got less than 5 hours of screen time every day with most days climbing close to or passing 6 hours of screen time.
My normal day includes texting friends and family most of the day, streaming YouTube and Spotify over WiFi and LTE for about 2 hours or more together, sending some pictures through Snapchat, and having four email accounts pulling down continuously. If you are a power user, I believe most will be able to get a full day of use from the G4 Plus and lighter users could stretch that to two days or more.
Fingerprint scanner
One of the advantages of getting the G4 Plus over the basic G4 is the inclusion of a fingerprint scanner. With a base price of $250, I was not expecting much from this phone’s fingerprint scanner, but I have been pleasantly surprised by it.
While its speed will not rival the newest offerings from Samsung and Apple, it proved faster than a friend’s iPhone 6 and should be fast enough for most anyone. You also do not have to power on the display to unlock your phone; simply touching your finger to the scanner will both turn on the display and unlock the phone.
In terms of accuracy, I have had almost no misses with any of the four fingers I added to the phone. The fingerprint scanner is a welcomed addition to the G4 Plus, and its speed and accuracy make it worth the price difference over the regular G4.
Build
From pictures and videos, the G4 Plus does not appear to be anything incredible physically, and honestly, it isn’t. However, I do not think that is a bad thing. While the phone is no fully metal behemoth, the metal band on the side and slightly textured plastic back make the G4 Plus a comfortable phone to hold while also keeping weight down.
I was pleased to see Moto go with a textured plastic back instead of something glossy because it adds a grippiness to it that gives you a better hold. I was never worried about this phone sliding out of my hand or my pocket. The design itself is pretty understated with no logos or writing aside from the Moto logo on the back. The back is also removable to give you access to the SIM card slot and the MicroSD card slot.
There won’t be any awards given to the G4 Plus in terms of style or uniqueness, but its solid build and smart materials make it easy to hold, which is most important.
The following are a couple of the smaller things that I liked about the Moto G4 Plus. While they are not big enough to warrant entire paragraphs, I believe they deserve to be mentioned nonetheless.
- I love front-facing speakers and always commend companies for adding them to their phones. Moto deserves some credit for using a front-facing speaker on the G4 Plus. If you are looking for a full report on the speaker, keep on reading.
- This is a completely personal opinion, but I love the dimple on the back of many Moto phones. It creates a nice place for my finger to rest and just feels nice when you hold the phone. Sometimes it is the small things that really stand out.
Things I Didn’t Like
Display
The display on the G4 Plus is a nice size at 5.5” and comes with a respectable 1080p resolution. This resolution definitely helps the G4 Plus accomplish its impressive screen on times. Also, the IPS panel gets exceptionally bright for those who struggle viewing their phones in the sunlight.
Unfortunately, this is where the good features of the display end. The color reproduction on the G4 Plus’ display is completely horrible. Colors appear washed out and much lighter than they should be. This is especially noticeable when using the camera. For many people, I do not believe this will be important or even noticeable; however, there are some who appreciate a quality screen on their phone. If that is you, the G4 Plus probably isn’t your phone.
Camera
This category was difficult to place because the camera is fairly average for a phone in this price range. The G4 comes with a 16-megapixel f/2.0 camera on back with a 5-megapixel front camera.
In well lit, outdoor shots, the rear camera actually performs well. Details are fairly crisp, color reproduction is okay, and focusing is quick thanks to phase detection autofocus. However, I found that the camera tends to struggle in photos with uneven lighting by blowing out highlights and losing detail in shadows.
Thankfully, the G4 Plus comes with a good HDR mode that helps level out these types of shots; although, it is not as fast as I would like and requires the phone to be held steady for a few seconds, which might not be possible in some situations. As for low light, the camera struggles noticeably. I do not use my camera much in low light anyway, but the test shots I took showed lots of noise, poor detail, and an overall dull image.
My biggest complaint is actually not the camera’s fault but, rather, the screen’s. Due to the poor color reproduction of the screen, photos often look washed out, but when viewing them on another device, the photos look much better than they did on the G4 Plus. This made it difficult to tell how the photos would actually turn out.
As for the front camera, it continues on the path of average. Good enough for the majority of users, but it will not be blowing you away in terms of quality.
Speaker
Earlier, I commended Moto’s use of a front facing speaker, and some of you might be wondering why speaker is singular. Well, that is because there is only one speaker on the G4 Plus. The earpiece doubles as a speaker, which means no dual speakers on this phone. I like the inclusion of dual speakers, and I was disappointed to see Moto opt for a single one.
Of course, it would probably be okay if the speaker had good quality, but my findings on the sound from the speaker are a strong “meh”. I never expect much from phone speakers since they are rarely good, but the G4 Plus’ speaker is disappointing.
If you mostly use your speakers for watching YouTube videos, listening to podcasts, and talking on speakerphone, the G4 Plus can handle that. But do not expect to play music with any sort of style from this phone. I would recommend using headphones or an external speaker for anything like that.
Just like above, I also found a few small things that I did not like about the Moto G4 Plus that just aren’t big enough to go in their own category.
- While I loved the fingerprint scanner, I prefer fingerprint scanners on the back of phones because I like the front of my phone to be minimal and clean. I also think the dimple in the back would have been a perfect place.
- To my dismay, the G4 Plus lacks NFC. For many of you, that might not be a factor at all, but for me, it was disappointing to see it left off. I use NFC often when checking out at stores as well as connecting to several of my speakers. If you don’t use NFC, you can pretty much ignore this complaint.
- As I said earlier, little things are often what sets a phone apart from its competitors. Most people may not pay attention to their phone’s buttons, but I always love when companies make their buttons tactile and clicky. In the case of the G4 Plus, the buttons are mushy, which makes pressing them difficult.
After a few weeks with the G4 Plus, I have to say that I am pleased with Moto’s fourth iteration of its famous budget phone. Performance, software, battery life, and the fingerprint scanner are all wonderful and make this phone a joy to use. The lackluster display, disappointing speaker, and average camera keep it from being a perfect budget phone.
So the question remains: Did Moto bring its A-game with the G4 Plus? With a heavy heart, I have to say no. I think the company could have done better with the G4 Plus, which is evident when you look at my list of dislikes. That being said, I would not have much hesitation in recommending the G4 Plus to anyone looking for a quality budget smartphone.
If you are willing to overlook its faults, the G4 Plus is a phone I can see being used for multiple years. You can get a G4 Plus starting at $250 from the Motorola website, Amazon, and B&H Photo!
HP Omen X VR PC Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
Besides finding a powerful enough computer, buying an expensive VR headset, and setting up sensors or base stations, playing virtual-reality PC games also means a serious chance of tripping over the dangling wires that tether the headset to its bulky desktop PC base.
HP is one of several companies working on a solution to that problem, via a VR backpack that lets you bring the entire computer with you, battery power and all. Dell, MSI and other PC makers are working on similar configurations.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Having seen it previously only in photo mockups, we’ve now had a chance to experience the HP Omen X VR PC in person, during a public HP gaming event held in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The device is best described as a portable gaming desktop, reconfigured as a wearable backpack.
The VR headset is still tethered to the computer, but in this case, the computer is strapped to your back, so it moves with you. This is primarily designed for use with the HTC Vive, but the Oculus Rift should work just as well, especially when the Rift adds motion controllers later this year.
The unit we tried was not connected to a working VR headset, but the components inside the backpack were complete, so it gave a good sense of the final product’s weight and size. The backpack PC is surprisingly small in person, and weighs around 10 pounds. The massive backpack straps and bulky battery pockets make it feel more unwieldy than just the PC itself, but when also wearing a Vive headset, it’s just one more thing strapped to you, so I could see this being a very usable way to play VR games.
One of the two removable battery packs.
Sarah Tew/CNET
For power, the current prototype uses a battery belt pack that contains two batteries and connects to the backpack via a cable. The estimated play time on a full charge is about one hour, but VR is meant to be played in short bursts. The batteries are hot-swappable, so you’ll be able to keep the system going while swapping one of the batteries out for a fresh one, but I also can’t imagine staying strapped into all that equipment for more than an hour at a time.
But before you get too excited about untethered virtual reality, keep in mind this is still a proof-of-concept prototype, and may or may not ever become a shipping product.
Google Duo, the insanely simple video calling app, now out in the UK
Google has released its new Duo app in the UK, giving FaceTime, WhatsApp, and other video-calling apps a run for their money.
Duo, which was unveiled at Google’s I/O developer conference in May 2016, is free to use and enables 1-to-1 video calls. It relies on your number, lets you reach people in your phone’s contacts list, offers end-to-end encryption, and has nifty features like Knock Knock, which allows you to see live video of your caller before you answer. And it’s super easy to use, because the app’s interface is ridiculously simple.
The new app is already available in the UK version of the Google Play Store for Android devices and should also be available in Apple’s App Store for iOS devices. Another part of the attraction of Duo is that Google built in the capability to stay online and connected even when you’re on a slower network; the video quality is reduced “gracefully” to ensure that calls aren’t disconnected.
Duo is rolling out for Android and iOS now and will soon be live across the globe. If you want to know more about how it works, check out Pocket-lint’s hands-on with the app, where we tell you how to get started with it, place video calls, and manage preferences, and more.
AIs fight to the death in ‘Doom’ contest next month
Google DeepMind took a leap forward last year when its artificial intelligence agent mastered 49 Atari 2600 games. The learning system, or “deep Q-network” (DQN), that DeepMind designed achieved this mastery through general experience, rather than specific programming for each game. This milestone is just one step along a grander path toward the general-purpose “smart machine”: an AI that can master any task with minimal input. DeepMind’s work in this field is groundbreaking, and it’s helping advance the field in ways you might not expect.
Wojciech Jaśkowski is an assistant professor for the Institute of Computing Science (ICS) at Poznan University of Technology, Poland. After reading about DeepMind’s feat in the scientific journal Nature, he began to think about the possibilities. If an agent could learn Atari 2600 with our current levels of knowledge, why not push the envelope further? Why not try a 3D game? Jaskowski settled on the 1993 first-person shooter Doom. It has low power requirements and, more important, it’s open source. He assembled a team of university students from ICS with the aim of building a platform that would facilitate testing AI agents.
The framework they created, called ViZDoom, allows for the development of bots that can play Doom. It’s intended primarily for research in machine visual learning, which means that bots only have access to the screen buffer. They play by “seeing” the images on-screen, and have no access to any information within the game’s code. That’s the key difference between ViZDoom bots and the regular “AI” characters that exist inside most first-person shooters.
Jaśkowski’s team was successful in its endeavor. They submitted a paper back in May proving not only that their creation was an effective research platform, but that neural networks were capable of learning visually in a 3D, first-person-perspective environment. Now, anyone can download the ViZDoom platform and test out their AI systems using it. The reaction from the AI community has been very positive. It’s been downloaded by several high-profile educational institutions, and Jaśkowski said that even DICE, the video game company best known for the Battlefield series, has been using VizDoom internally to research AI.
To drive usage of the platform forward, Jaśkowski is running a competition in collaboration with the IEEE Computational Intelligence in Games conference (CIG). Anyone can submit their creation to compete in an AI-only deathmatch, with the results being announced at CIG in late September. So far, three warm-up matches have taken place, and a number of entrants have pitted their creations against one another, while others have held their cards close to their chest, preferring to save their bots for the final contest. The purpose of it all, Jaśkowski told me, is really about seeing what is possible with the current crop of AI technology.
How exactly teams will solve the questions ViZDoom poses is up to them. So long as the only data being fed to the bots is the screen buffer, anything goes. They’ll have to understand what’s wall and what’s floor, what’s a character and what’s a power-up. And that’s without working out the shooting — bots can only use rocket launchers, which makes things harder, since if you fire a rocket next to a wall, you kill yourself. In footage of the first warm-up round, lots of bots struggled with the basics. It’s likely that many are building on DQN, the deep learning network built by DeepMind to conquer the Atari 2600.
Although the final lineup won’t be confirmed for a few weeks, individuals from educational institutions like MIT and Stanford University have been active in the competition’s official discussion group, as have employees from Intel, Google and other large corporations.
ViZDoom is emblematic of the AI and machine-learning community’s spirit of collaboration
That Google might be taking part in a competition that its research helped spawn is emblematic of the AI and machine-learning community’s spirit of collaboration. It’s a field in which Facebook, Google and Twitter, which in many ways compete with one another, work together. Take Torch, for example: It’s an open source library that’s hugely important for machine-learning projects. It also happens to be maintained by scientists and engineers from those three companies, and contributed to by many, many others. There’s an understanding that, although the products that come from AI research may compete with one another eventually, getting to the point where machine learning can power those products will be a lot easier working together than alone.
Jaśkowski’s team and ViZDoom might seem like a tiny part of what is an enormous field. But without the contributions of the many like-minded students and academics working on AI, we’d be years behind where we are today.
How to disable tab previews in Microsoft Edge – CNET
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Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET
Microsoft Edge’s tab previews can be useful. They offer a thumbnail glimpse of the current page when you mouse over a tab. If you are reading this blog post, however, you may find them annoying, especially when the tab preview for the left-most tab obfuscates Edge’s forward and back buttons.
Thankfully, there is a way to disable tab previews for Microsoft Edge. You will need to dip your toes into Windows Registry waters but it’s a simple tweak.
To get started, click the Start button and type regedit, hit enter to open the Registry Editor, and give it permission to make changes.
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Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET
In the Registry Editor, navigate to the following folder:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER > SOFTWARE > Classes > Local Settings > Software > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > AppContainer > Storage > microsoft.microsoftedge_8wekyb3d8bbwe > MicrosoftEdge > TabbedBrowsing
You can navigate through the folder hierarchy in the left panel, but a faster way is use the Edit menu at the top. Go to Edit > Find and for Find What, enter TabbedBrowsing to jump straight to that folder.
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Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET
Next, right-click on the TabbedBrowsing folder and choose New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. A new item will appear in the right panel with a temporary name of New Value #1. Rename it TabPeekEnabled.
After renaming it, double-click the TabPeekEnabled item and make sure for Value data, that 0 is listed. Click the OK button and you’re done.
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Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET
Restart the Edge browser and tab previews should be a thing of the past.
For more, learn 21 shortcuts for Microsoft Edge, find out 3 ways to customize Microsoft Edge, get the best Edge extensions, and see the 8 things Microsoft still needs to fix in Edge.
(Via HowToGeek)
How not to get banned by Pokemon Go and what to do if you do – CNET
Niantic is putting the smack down on Pokemon Go cheaters , so it’s important to know what can get you banned and what you can do if you are banned so you don’t lose your beloved pocket monsters.
How not to get banned
The quick and easy answer is to not do anything that is against the Terms of Service that you agreed to when signing up for the game. No one actually reads those, though, so you’re probably still iffy on the rules.
Get evolved and not banned.
Alina Bradford/CNET
The biggest no-no that Niantic is cracking down on is bot activity. Both creators of bots to alter the game and people using them are getting lifetime bans.
Anything that spoofs your location and tricks your phone’s GPS so that you can hatch eggs faster or capture location-specific Pokemon may also get you banned.
Niantic also says that “using emulators” may also get you a lifetime ban. An example of an emulator is something that lets you play Pokemon Go on a computer or laptop instead of in the app.
Basically, stay away from any third-party app or software that needs to connect to the game in any way, just to be safe.
How to get unbanned
First, you need to figure out if you have really been banned. The first sign is you won’t be able to log in to the game. Next, Niantic will send you an email stating that you have been banned.
Some players are reporting getting banned even though they didn’t do anything against the Terms of Service. So, even if you’re sure you didn’t do any of the above and the servers must be down, check your email inbox, just in case.
Some people aren’t banned permanently. These “soft bans” typically last a few hours and you won’t get a letter. Many are reporting that these mini bans are from going too fast while playing the game.
If you get the ban hammer for no reason, there’s really only one thing you can do. Go to the Pokemon Go website and submit a ban appeal. It typically takes Niantic a couple of weeks to respond to requests, but an appeal is your only shot at reuniting with your Pikachu.
Here’s the email I was sent after submitting an appeal for research. Everyone gets this letter if they submit an appeal, even if your account isn’t banned.
Here is the email you get once you submit an appeal.
Alina Bradford/CNET
What’s new with themes on Samsung Note 7 – CNET
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The Galaxy Note 7 is for work and for play
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Samsung’s theme store is an easy way to add a personal touch to your phone. It’s through the theme store you can change the wallpaper, icons, color scheme and font of your device.
Up until now, however, Samsung has taken a one-size-fits-all approach to themes. Meaning, if you found a theme you liked, but hated the icons, you either had to keep looking for a theme you liked, or accept the icons as part of the package.
With the Note 7, things are changing for the better. Most notably, you’ll notice the theme store is now broken down into three main categories.
Wallpapers
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Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET
That’s right, you can now browse and find new wallpapers for your Note 7 within Samsung Themes. There’s currently a lot of paid wallpapers, with free options scattered throughout. But over the past week, I’ve seen the number of free wallpapers continue to rise — hopefully that trend sticks around.
Along the top you’ll find a section dedicated to wallpapers you have already downloaded from the store, as well as a link to your phone’s gallery where you can pick from your own photos or saved wallpapers.
Tap “Apply” to assign a wallpaper to your home or lock screen (or both).
Theme
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Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET
A theme store wouldn’t be a theme store without a theme section, right? Right.
This section of the app looks and works more or less the same as it always has. You browse through a list of themes, find one you like, download it and apply.
Again, the top of the page has a section dedicated to themes you’ve downloaded from the store. This is where you can go to quickly change between themes, see which have an update, or delete them from your account.
Unfortunately, despite being able to set wallpapers and icons independent of the assigned theme, you aren’t given the option to apply only certain characteristics of a theme. For example, it would be nice if you could opt to apply a color scheme and font, but not the icons and wallpaper (or any combination of your choosing).
Icons
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Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNETreenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET
The last category, but perhaps the most fun category, is Icons. As previously mentioned, you can now change the icons on your device regardless of the theme you’re using. There’s a fairly even mix of paid and free icons currently in the store.
When you open an icon pack, there’s a few screenshots at the top of the page to preview what the various icons will look like for particular apps.
Keep in mind, icon pack won’t replace every single app icon on your device. Just like applying a theme, icon packs will only replace the core apps (think Samsung apps like Phone, Settings, Email and so on)
All in all, the new theme store’s capabilities are a welcome addition to the Galaxy lineup. Breaking each part of a theme down into various categories — albeit only three right now — adds a seemingly infinite amount of customization options to your device.
Best Reddit app for Android
BaconReader is the best Reddit app for Android. Its long-established history of support, easy of use, and cutting-edge features make it a great app for all kinds of Redditors.
This post was last updated on August 18, 2016 with a new top pick.
Best overall
BaconReader
$1.99
See on Google Play
BaconReader has been around for a long, long time and users have enjoyed using it for just as long. It is one of the most-downloaded and most-reviewed Reddit apps on Google Play, and it got there by wooing users with slick features and maintaining them with stellar service and support.
BaconReader is carefully and pristinely laid out, making it easy to quickly browse and find something new and interesting to read, without stumbling around or leaving anything out. If BaconReader’s beautiful design and feel seem familiar, their developer OneLouder is also the design of 1Weather, one of our favorite weather apps.
Bottom-line: BaconReader has robust features, support, and loyalty among its users. And while you can use it for free, it’s more than worth upgrading to premium.
One more thing: If you ever need any help, BaconReader’s subreddit is quite active and the developers are quick to answer most questions.
Why BaconReader is the best
BaconReader is one of the most well-established and most-used Reddit apps on Google Play, and it got there by being feature-rich, responsive to its users, and giving said users a lot to upvote about. It’s a beautiful app with easy-to-understand settings, a highly intuitive interface, and the best damn subreddit manager I’ve seen.
BaconReader shows your subscribed subreddit list and lets you star important subreddits to keep them at the top of your list, handy for ones you use more often, especially those towards the end of the alphabet like r/todayilearned. You can also unsubscribe from subreddits with a simple tap of a checkbox — no going to each individual subreddit to unsubscribe, no double-taps or pop-ups to click through.
BaconReader’s card view is more functional than most, showing only a part of the photo but allowing you to see more cards on a page. I wish that GIFs had the option to autoplay, as they do in the official Reddit app, but this card view is easy to browse and easier to act on than others.
In the BaconReader settings are both a charcoal-grey dark theme and an AMOLED-friendly black theme, perfect for browsing /gifs when your insomnia kicks in. You can also resize the font to best fit your device and your eyesight.
Best for long-time users
Reddit: The Official App
Free
See on Google Play
Reddit didn’t have an official app for a long time. It finally debuted its official app as a beta in January and then dropped the beta tag in April. It’s a clean app, it’s a refreshingly simple app, great for users that don’t want to hassle with pages and pages of settings.
That simplicity can also be a vice. You can’t resize the text which is a shame because it’s a bit on the small side. The app’s dark theme and card views are just okay, but it can auto-play GIFs and videos in card view, which is amazing for GIF-centric subreddits.
Bottom-line: It’s the official app, and it’s off to a great start, but it’s a little late and a little lacking. If you’ve already got your subreddit subscriptions where you want and browse a lot of GIFs, this is the app for you.
One more thing: Because of the concise feature set right now, the settings for Reddit: The Official App are wonderfully simple and easy to navigate.
Best for Beginners
Relay
$2.99
See on Google Play
This is the most beautiful of the Reddit apps and also one of the best explained. If you’re new to Reddit or looking for an easy-to-navigate app, Relay has got your back with a simple layout and explainer tips the first time you use the app (or whenever you forget thanks to an option in the settings to turn it back on).
While many Reddit apps have implemented Material Design, no one has done it quite as boldly or as well as Relay. It is also one of the few apps to offer themes beyond the simple light and dark, offering pink and blue as well. GIFs may not autoplay, but the image pop-ups that appear when you tap a thumbnail beat the heck out of the image loading in a new window or in a browser, and the material transitions out of these previews are gorgeous.
Bottom-line: Colorful, highly customizable, and material to a T, Relay is a Reddit app that’s it’s hard to go wrong with, especially for newer Redditors and lovers of long threads.
One more thing: Relay’s great for longer posts with lots of threads, like popular AMAs, because you can use navigation controls in the floating action button to skip between one thread and the next.
Best for Purists
reddit is fun
$1.99
See on Google Play
I said it two years ago and it still holds true: reddit is fun looks most like the Reddit site, which can be a good or a bad thing depending on your tastes. reddit is fun has a card view, and it also has three experimental beta themes if you’re bored of the traditional views. Switching views isn’t a simple toggle the way other apps do it, but at least you have more options when picking a theme and layout.
reddit is fun is great for users who need to watch their data usage or are using a slower device, allowing you to skip downloading thumbnails when off Wi-Fi. While most apps can’t load user flair, reddit is fun can display what the flair would be if you were on desktop, for instance: usernamehere pikachu on r/Pokemongo.
Bottom-line: It’s a traditional take on a Reddit app, but reddit is fun is more than willing to experiment in order to keep users happy and give them a classic Reddit feel on Android.
One more thing: You can unsubscribe from a subreddit from the navigation page rather than having to go a separate page or menu, nice for cleaning up your subreddit list while you browse.
Best overall
BaconReader
$1.99
See on Google Play
BaconReader has been around for a long, long time and users have enjoyed using it for just as long. It is one of the most-downloaded and most-reviewed Reddit apps on Google Play, and it got there by wooing users with slick features and maintaining them with stellar service and support.
BaconReader is carefully and pristinely laid out, making it easy to quickly browse and find something new and interesting to read, without stumbling around or leaving anything out. If BaconReader’s beautiful design and feel seem familiar, their developer OneLouder is also the design of 1Weather, one of our favorite weather apps.
Bottom-line: BaconReader has robust features, support, and loyalty among its users. And while you can use it for free, it’s more than worth upgrading to premium.
One more thing: If you ever need any help, BaconReader’s subreddit is quite active and the developers are quick to answer most questions.
Now any Twitter user can filter out tweets from trolls – and here’s how
Twitter has come under fire recently for not giving all its users enough adequate tools to filter out tweets from other users who are harassing them, but it appears the social network is now beginning to address those concerns.
Twitter published a blog post on 18 August to announce two features/settings designed to give users more control over their experience on the site. Here’s everything you need to know about the features, including how they work.
What is Twitter doing to stop harassment?
Twitter now offers all its users a couple different ways to ensure they won’t be harassed on the social network.
Notification settings
The first feature/setting is the ability to limit notifications they see to only the people they follow, which essentially hides any tweets from strangers (aka trolls) who may be using Twitter to abuse or threaten.
Quality filter
The second feature/setting is a quality filter. It’s meant to “improve the quality of Tweets you see by using a variety of signals, such as account origin and behavior”. In other words, suspicious accounts, new accounts, or spam accounts with irregular or dubious activity will now be automatically filtered from your timeline and notification tab.
Has Twitter offered anything like this before?
None of these features are technically new.
Twitter has long tested the ability to hide tweets from strangers as well as a quality filter to high-profile users with blue checkmarks. The difference now is that its entire user base will finally have access to the same set of tools. With these settings now widely available and easily accessible, the idea is that Twitter’s harassment problem might soon be made a thing of the past (or at least drastically diminished).
How do these features work?
Twitter published the following video to help you figure out how to enable these new features:
Two simple settings to give you better control over your Twitter experience. https://t.co/pEJuMUhCYs pic.twitter.com/jmFd0rDoV6
— Twitter Support (@Support) August 18, 2016
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