Two states say the DHS is wrong about election hacking

Just a few days ago, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) finally revealed which states were targets of Russian election hacking attempts after having known itself for nearly a year. But Reuters reports that two states are saying the DHS is wrong and their election systems weren’t targeted.

California and Wisconsin were among the 21 states noted by the DHS, but after requesting additional details from the agency, the DHS informed California officials that actually it was the state’s Department of Technology that had been targeted, not the Secretary of State websites that the initial report said. Similarly, Wisconsin revealed DHS information that said it was the state’s Department of Workforce Development, not its election commission, that had been targeted by hackers.

A DHS spokesperson told Reuters that the initial reports to the 21 states were, “based on a variety of sources, including scanning detected from malicious IP addresses and intelligence information that cannot be publicly disclosed,” and that the government had “provided additional information and clarity to a number of states.” However, he added that the DHS, “stands by its assessment that Internet-connected networks in 21 states were the target of Russian government cyber actors seeking vulnerabilities and access to U.S. election infrastructure.”

While the DHS has maintained that no votes were altered and in many cases, the hacking activity was insignificant, some states fared a little worse than others. Hackers stole 90,000 Illinois voting records and the state noted that its Board of Elections IP addresses were hit with five hacking attempts per second in the day before the election.

Source: Reuters

ACLU challenges DOJ request for info on 6,000 anti-Trump Facebook users

Way back in January, 200 protesters were arrested at Donald Trump’s Presidential Inauguration for felony rioting. The resulting investigation into their activities has been a rollercoaster of complaints alleging DOJ overreach, including the department’s request for 1.3 million visitors to a site (DisruptJ20.com) that organized the protesters. Today, the DC chapter of the ACLU announced it has filed suit against the government for another overly-broad set of inquiries. The first warrant requires Facebook to divulge extensive information on three users’ accounts, including their contact network, while a second requests data on who interacted with DisruptJ20’s Facebook page over a three-month period — which is over 6,000 people.

The DOJ warrants violate Fourth Amendment rights to privacy, the ACLU said in a statement — specifically because it reveals the “lawful political associations and activities of the users and thousands of third parties.” The ACLU found it particularly heinous that law enforcement would tangentially get access to records of political organizing that opposes the administration that they work for.

“Although the warrants claim to seek only evidence in support of the government’s prosecutions of January 20 demonstrations, they demand—among other things—all private messages, friend lists, status updates, comments, photos, video, and other private information solely intended for the users’ Facebook friends and family, even if they have nothing to do with Inauguration Day. The warrants also seek information about actions taken on Facebook, including all searches performed by the users, groups or networks joined, and all “data and information that has been deleted by the user.””

The ACLU’s issue with the DOJ’s Facebook page-related warrant is a little more intricate. Sure, anyone could find out who was on a public group’s list of followers, but Facebook would be divulging info on users who simply interacted with the page. In the ACLU’s words, “Although the page is public, the warrant would require the disclosure of non-public lists of people who planned to attend political organizing events and even the names of people who simply liked, followed, reacted to, commented on, or otherwise engaged with the content on the Facebook page. During the three-month span the search warrant covers, approximately 6,000 Facebook users liked the page.”

Folks first found out about the DOJ’s requests to Facebook when the social network fought back on a gag order that prevented them from informing the three users targeted by the investigation. While the DOJ rescinded the order, they still required the information. Likewise, the department gave up on its request for the IP of 1.3 million visitors to DisruptJ20.com, but served an amended warrant to the site’s host the next day. In this round of overreach, the ACLU is requesting the DOJ rescind, or amend, its warrants.

Via: LawNewz

Source: ACLU-DC

FAA will restrict drones from flying around the Statue of Liberty

On October 5th, hobbyists will no longer be able to fly their drones around ten US landmarks. The Department of the Interior and the FAA have restricted UAV flights within 400 feet of the monuments, which include the Statue of Liberty, Mount Rushmore and the Hoover Dam.

The #FAA and @Interior agree to restrict #drone use over certain landmarks. https://t.co/WP2S3L8qmH pic.twitter.com/OOXe8xUMbT

— The FAA (@FAANews) September 28, 2017

No reason was given for the new restrictions on the FAA post announcing them, though the department’s data website notes it was by request of the Department of Defense along with federal intelligence agencies due to “National Security, or Intel Agency or National Defense” concerns. Regardless, the restriction is classified as temporary, and it’s the first time the department has banned hobbyist UAVs from flying over monuments, though the FAA has long banned them from military bases. Individuals can request an exemption from each landmark’s staff and/or the FAA itself.

The ban goes into effect on October 5th, and the list of monuments will be added to the FAA’s B4UFLY app. Here are all ten landmarks you can no longer fly within 400 feet of when making your sweet long-exposure YouTube vids:

• Statue of Liberty National Monument, New York, NY
• Boston National Historical Park (U.S.S. Constitution), Boston, MA
• Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia, PA
• Folsom Dam; Folsom, CA
• Glen Canyon Dam; Lake Powell, AZ
• Grand Coulee Dam; Grand Coulee, WA
• Hoover Dam; Boulder City, NV
• Jefferson National Expansion Memorial; St. Louis, MO
• Mount Rushmore National Memorial; Keystone, SD
• Shasta Dam; Shasta Lake, CA

And before you ask — no, none of those overlap with the ten monuments Trump-appointed DOI Secretary Ryan Zinke wants to reopen for commercial fishing, logging and cattle grazing.

Via: Aviation Pros

Source: FAA

Dubai is building a mock Martian city

Someday, you could take a flying taxi from Dubai to a Martian city in the middle of the desert right here on Earth. In preparation for its plans to establish a settlement on the red planet, the United Arab Emirates has announced that it’s building a 1.9 million square feet simulated Mars settlement. It will be called Mars Science City and will serve as home to interconnected domes housing various laboratories simulating the planet’s terrain. The team building the structure plans to use advanced 3D printing techniques and heat and radiation insulation to mimic the harsh environment of our neighbor.

Scientists will use those labs to develop technologies that can provide future Martian colonies with food, water and energy. That way, settlers wouldn’t have to spend years eating only potatoes in their new home. In addition to laboratories, the man-made city will house a museum showcasing humanity’s greatest space achievements, which will boast 3D-printed walls made of sand from the country’s desert. There will be areas meant to engage kids and ignite their interest in space, as well. Once the city’s up, the UAE intends to conduct an experiment involving a group of people living within its confines for a year.

According to the Government of Dubai, which is heading the project, it will cost around $140 million to build the artificial city. UAE’s Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said:

“The UAE seeks to establish international efforts to develop technologies that benefit humankind, and that establish the foundation of a better future for more generations to come. We also want to consolidate the passion for leadership in science in the UAE, contributing to improving life on earth and to developing innovative solutions to many of our global challenges.”

The country hasn’t revealed a timeline for the project yet, but we’d sure love to see Matt Damon grace the city’s ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Via: BGR

Source: Government of Dubai

Roku’s IPO pushes its value to over $2 billion

When Roku announced it was chasing an IPO, its sights were to raise $100 million. The end result is more than double that, according to Bloomberg. As of press time, investors had bought some $219 million in stock and the company has been valued at $2.1 billion. What’s the streaming outfit planning to do with all that cash? Probably wrangle together more ad-supported programming.

“Our business model has really transitioned from hardware to our platform businesses, which is selling advertisements and distributing [shows and movies],” CEO Anthony Wood told Bloomberg. “The fastest-growing category on Roku is ad-supported [programming].” Sounds like you’ll have more ad-supported free channels coming your way.

Source: Bloomberg

CRISPR’s latest achievement? Taking the gluten out of wheat

Why it matters to you

Genetically modified wheat could be a game changer for people who want to lower the amount of gluten in their diet.

Avoiding gluten may be about to get a whole lot easier — and it’s all thanks to CRISPR gene editing. That’s because a team of researchers at the Institute for Sustainable Agriculture in Cordoba, Spain have used the technology to eliminate the majority of the gliadins (the gluten proteins which cause most of the gluten intolerance issues for people with celiac disease) in wheat.

“Gluten proteins, and specifically gliadins, are major [factors] responsible of triggering celiac disease in genetically predisposed individuals,” Dr. Francisco Barro Losada, the geneticist whose team carried out the research, told Digital Trends. “There are many gliadin genes in the grain of wheat, which makes it impossible to obtain gliadin-free wheat lines using classic breeding methods. Gene editing by CRISPR/Cas allow the introduction of mutations in specific genes, and shutting down [of] those genes. In this work, we were able to mutate 35 out of 45 gliadin genes in bread wheat, and reduce wheat toxicity up to 85 percent. This is an unprecedented application of CRISPR/Cas technology. The low-gluten, transgene-free wheat lines described in the work constitute an unprecedented advance, and the resultant lines provide excellent source material for plant breeding programs to introgress the low-gluten trait into elite wheat varieties.”

Barro Losada points out that at present the resulting wheat isn’t (yet) suitable for celiac disease patients — since it still contains some gluten, even though this is at a lower quantity. However, the wheat could still be used to prepare low gluten foods for those who wants to reduce their intake of gluten. Because there is a sizable group of people able to tolerate only low amounts of gluten, this could be a major benefit to them.

“We are working now with the gliadin genes still present in these lines,” Barro Losada continued. Specifically, the team hopes to be able to disable the remaining 10 genes to make sure that no gliadin proteins are produced. Should all go to plan, and provided that this is deemed to be safe through the proper channels, hopefully it won’t be long before a whole new range of gluten-free products appear on grocery store shelves everywhere.

A paper describing the work was recently published in Plant Biotechnology Journal.

GoPro Hero6 Black brings 4K at 60 fps, better low-light chops, faster Wi-Fi

Why it matters to you

Higher framerates, better image quality, and the best stabilization ever in a GoPro make the new Hero6 Black the new action cam to beat.

GoPro unveiled the new Hero6 Black camera on Thursday, September 28, holding true to its promise of returning to yearly camera refreshes. Looking essentially identical to the Hero5 Black, the headline feature of the Hero6 is support for 4K video at 60 frames per second, doubling the 4K framerate over the Hero5 and, critically, catching up to competitor Yi who introduced the 4K/60p-capable 4K+ camera earlier this year. It will also handle slow motion at Full HD 1080 at 240p.

But that isn’t the only new feature that is found its way into GoPro’s new flagship action cam. The company is also touting improved performance across the board, mostly thanks to the new custom-designed GP1 processor. While GoPro didn’t publish any hard numbers, it claims dynamic range is significantly improved and that it has the most advanced stabilization of any Hero camera. GoPro says the Hero6’s stabilization offers similar quality to Karma’s system while being built into the camera body. The camera should also do better in low light.

“Hero6 is the very best of everything GoPro,” CEO Nick Woodman said during the launch event in San Fransisco. “We took the world’s most durable camera and gave it the most advanced stabilization ever found in a GoPro, with 4K 60 fps and 1080 240p, expanded dynamic range and low-light performance, and better Wi-Fi for three times faster transfer.”

Beyond image quality, the Hero6 Black looks to improve the user experience with a new digital zoom that can be activated through the touchscreen. It also offers 5Ghz Wi-Fi for transfer times up to three times faster, which, combined with the QuikStories feature in the GoPro mobile app, will make it easier than ever to get your adventure posted online in as little time as possible. In our review of the latest version of Quik with QuikStories, we found transfer speeds can be pokey with longer clips, so the faster speeds should improve the experience while, we presume, also saving battery life.

GoPro also claims that the GP1 processor will help produce even better QuickStories thanks to computer vision and improved sensor analysis, which help it determine the most exciting parts of a video. Woodman says the Hero6 is the company’s smartest camera yet with enhanced hardware and algorithms that improve how that QuikStories app automatically creates the video. Algorithms for facial recognition and audio have improved while on the hardware side the GPS and accelerometer help the software pick the peak moments.

Like the Hero5 Black, the Hero6 Black will be waterproof without the need for a housing. The camera also expands the number of available voice controls that launched with the Hero5. Data and battery recharge are handled over USB-C, and it will work with existing GoPro mounts. The camera is available now for a price of $499.

GoPro goes 360 with Fusion

GoPro also shared details of its Fusion 360 camera, a product that has been in development for some time now. GoPro publicly tested the camera with several high-profile production houses earlier this year, but now we finally know what it is inside the camera, and what it can do.

The Fusion will shoot 5.2K spherical (360 x 360 degrees) video with advanced “gimbal-like” stabilization. Overcapture, which was detailed previously, will allow users to output to standard fixed-frame video with full control over camera angle and field of view (Garmin recently introduced a similar feature for its VIRB 360 cam). With Overcapture, GoPro expands the ability for users to record their own adventures by allowing for techniques like panning through editing instead of actually moving the camera. Mounting the Fusion in one central location, Overcapture allows users to go back in and create a video that follows the motion on a standard-sized screen.

“This is ultimately where cameras are headed — you shouldn’t have to point at what you want to film, you should just be able to film what’s happening and Fusion makes that possible,” Woodman said.

Fusion can also capture 18-megapixel spherical still images, has time-lapse and burst photo modes, is waterproof to 16 feet (compared to 33 feet for the Hero6 Black), and has a built-in GPS, accelerometer, gyroscope, and compass for data logging and overlays. Like the recent Hero cameras, there is voice control, which we find works well in the Hero cameras, so we expect the same from the Fusion.

The Fusion will also capture 360-degree audio. If it is similar to the new Ricoh Theta V, then the ability to record spherical audio should allow for a more immersive experience when content is viewed through a headset.

GoPro also detailed the different viewing modes that will be available with Fusion. When mounted on an extension pole, the Fusion’s unique angle of view cuts out the actual pole and looks just like a cameraman was following a few feet from the action, a feature called “angel mode.” A preset called “pannoflow” creates an effect similar to placing a camera on a gimbal with a rotating timer — the Fusion shoots the video with pre-determined panning motion. The sample shared during the launch event showed a timelapse with a slow panning motion around the scene. The “little planet” view, a feature that is popular among 360 cameras, will also be available along with the more traditional scroll-around 360 view.

The Fusion will work with existing GoPro mounts, which is good news for existing GoPro owners, and there are lots of mount options to choose from. The camera will come with something called the Fusion Grip Mount; there are no specific details at time of posting, but we will update the story as we learn the information. Also unknown is whether it will work with the Karma Drone and Karma Grip in some fashion.

Pre-orders are open now with the Fusion expected to ship in November at a price of $699. The Overcapture features come at a later date with a free app update early in 2018, GoPro says.

No new drone, but Karma gets smarter

GoPro’s Karma drone got off to a rocky start when it launched last year. One recall later, the drone is back on sale and GoPro continues to improve it rather than try and replace it. It is fully compatible with the Hero6 Black.

A new firmware update, available now, introduces Follow and Watch modes. As the name suggests, Follow mode tells the drone to follow the Karma controller, while Watch mode pans to keep the controller in frame while the drone hovers. Users can also now set up to 10 waypoints in cable cam mode. Another update allows the gimbal to point upward, getting a shot of the sky without getting the Karma’s blades in the footage.

“Innovation on GoPro products does not stop after a product is launched, and that’s the case with Karma,” Woodman said.

By itself, the Karma drone costs $799 but users can opt to bundle it with a Hero6 Black for $1,199 for a savings of $100.

Additional new accessories include the Shorty, a pocket-friendly extension pole and tripod; the Handler, a floating handgrip with a quick-release mount; and the Bite Mount + Floaty. GoPro did not reveal any extra details on these products ahead of time.

We will update this article with additional details revealed at the show from GoPro’s launch event in San Francisco, as well as some initial impressions.

Time for a new smartwatch? These are the 5 hottest deals available right now

While smartwatches aren’t nearly as common as smartphones, they’re not enthusiast-only items either. The best smartwatches make your life easier by providing alerts to your wrist, so you don’t have to constantly find and pull out your phone. Many also provide some sort of fitness-tracking feature, while others double as music players with support for popular services such as Spotify, Apple Music, and iHeartRadio. While Apple watches make up a portion of the market, most models are Android smartwatches, which provide a good amount of flexibility in how you use them. Many analysts believe the smartwatch market will continue to grow in coming months as manufacturers add new features to their products. So, if you’re ready to take the plunge, read on for the best smartwatch deals you can score online right now.

Pebble Time Smartwatch

Get all of your notifications at a glance with the popular Pebble Time Smartwatch. The Pebble Time provides the same updates as your smartphone, including calendar events, text and emails, incoming calls, and more, but they go directly to your wrist.

The smartwatch has a built-in activity and sleep tracker, while also providing daily reports and weekly insights. It has a microphone for voice notes and quick replies, along with seven-day battery life.  It has a 9.5mm thin chassis with a curved, ergonomic profile, Marine-grade stainless steel bezel with PVD coating, matte and polished finishes, and tactile buttons for easy, eyes-free control.

The tough, 2.5D glass display is an always-on color E-Paper screen that’s water resistant up to 30 meters, complete with a durable glass lens. The Pebble Time Smartwatch normally retails for $150 but is currently on sale for $75 on Amazon, providing a $75 (50 percent) discount.

Amazon

Fossil Q Wander Leather Touchscreen Smartwatch

Get a fashionable smartwatch you’ll want to show off to your friends with the Fossil Q Wander Leather Touchscreen Smartwatch, which is currently 25 percent off on Amazon. This smartwatch model boasts a genuine leather band along with customizable dials and features. you can also change up your look on the fly when you choose a Fossil or Android Wear design by adjusting the colors and then adding the complications of your choice to your watch face.

Easily get notified of important texts, calls, social media messages, and emails, thanks to Bluetooth technology. It has built-in activity tracking, so you can monitor your everyday accomplishments including steps, distance, and calories burned. The smartwatch automatically syncs to your phone so you can keep tabs on your activity and notifications without even pushing a button.

Other features include the ability to control your music on your favorite music player and use the built-in microphone and speaker to perform a variety of tasks on the smartwatch using just your voice. The Fossil Q Wander Leather Touchscreen Smartwatch regularly retails for $255 but is currently marked down to $191 on Amazon, saving you $64 (25 percent).

Amazon

Huawei Watch Black Stainless Steel Smartwatch

Get a durable smartwatch that you can adapt to your own signature style with a Huawei Watch Black Stainless Steel Smartwatch, which is currently more than $100 off on Amazon.

This smartwatch allows you to use all your favorite apps on the go for a truly seamless experience. With this smartwatch, Google Now becomes your personal assistant. The watch also helps you stay on top of your health game with built-in fitness-tracking features including an enhanced heart rate monitor and sensors to track running, walking, and more. Thanks to Bluetooth, it’s compatible with most devices with an iOS 8.2 or Android 4.3 or later operating system.

The smartwatch is designed for those on the go and charges to 80 percent capacity in a mere 45 minutes. A style accent all in itself, the Huawei Watch Black Stainless Steel Smartwatch normally retails for $400 but is currently on sale for $268 on Amazon, saving you $132 (33 percent).

Amazon

Samsung Gear Fit2

Get the motivation you need to stay on top of your fitness goals with a Samsung Gear Fit2, which helps keep track of your daily activity levels, heart rate, and more. The smartwatch uses a wide range of tracking sensors to closely monitor your activity levels including steps taken, calories burned, heart rate, and sleep quality. It can even automatically identify the different types of physical activities such as running, cycling, and working out on the elliptical.

The smartwatch is water-resistant and features a curved, full-color super AMOLED screen that displays real-time activity stats along with texts and other alerts from your iOS or Android smartphone within Bluetooth range. Get credit for every step thanks to the built-in GPS that gives you accurate real-time stats and allows you to leave your phone behind. The watch features the S Health app , which you can use to you can set goals, check leaderboards, challenge others to step competitions, and share workout results with just the touch of a button

The smartwatch also acts as a stand-alone music player so you can store your favorite music on your Gear Fit2 or connect to your phone with Spotify to access millions of songs. Charging is easy with the included cradle. Score a Samsung Gear Fit2 for $134 on Amazon, after a $56 (29 percent) discount.

Amazon

Garmin Vívosmart HR

Score a smartwatch that is comfortable to wear all day with the Garmin Vivosmart HR. The health-based smartwatch is sleek and stylish and displays all your stats on your wrist so clearly, you can even read it in direct sunlight.

The smartwatch displays steps, distance, calories, heart rate, and activity intensity along with text, call, email, calendar and social media alerts. The smartwatch uniquely reminds you to keep active via a move bar and vibration alert. It has an integrated barometric altimeter that tracks when you take the stairs and measures activity intensity through a feature called Intensity Minutes, so you can monitor your progress against weekly goals. For detailed calorie tracking, you can create an account at MyFitnessPal and link it to your Garmin Connect account, which allows you to compare calories consumed to total calories burned, as well as compete in challenges with others using your Garmin Connect account.

The smartwatch has a battery life of up to five days, as well as a convenient, non-intrusive touchscreen design. Pick up one today on Amazon for $96 after a $54 (36 percent) discount.

Amazon

Looking for more great deals on tech and electronics? Check out our deals page to score some extra savings on our favorite gadgets.

We strive to help our readers find the best deals on quality products and services, and choose what we cover carefully and independently. If you find a better price for a product listed here, or want to suggest one of your own, email us at dealsteam@digitaltrends.com. Digital Trends may earn commission on products purchased through our links, which supports the work we do for our readers.

Anthropologie uses AR and CGI to help you design your living room

Why it matters to you

You may know it best for its clothes, but Anthropologie is also making a name for itself in the furniture and now, AR worlds.

Computer-generated imagery (better known as CGI) isn’t just useful for creating dragons in Game of Thrones. Even if you’re not a dragon-riding conquerer, you can still take advantage of the technology in your own palace (read: home). Thanks to a new app from Anthropologie, you will be able to decorate your abode in style, and in augmented reality. While the 25-year-old brand may be known best for dressing the boho chic women of today, Anthropologie also has quite the selection of home furnishings. Now, you can envision all those offerings in your home with an app.

The company’s custom furniture collection was introduced in 2014 and encompass more than 120 shapes, 11 fabrics, 140 colors, and a number of options for both hardware and leg finishes. With the new app, customers can make even further personalizations to their furniture, customizing various pieces to their heart’s content.

“As much as our customers delight in personalization, custom furniture design can be challenging,” Andrew Carnie, president of Anthropologie Home, Garden, and Europe said in a statement. “It involves an incredible number of considerations and represents a significant financial investment. As we made more customization choices available, we recognized they needed to understand not only how a piece would look but how it would look in their homes.”

To do this, Anthropologie integrated with Apple’s new ARKit technology, giving customers the capacity to design pieces exactly to their preferences and preview them in their homes (or just about anywhere else). Thanks to CGI, the app promises nearly 100 percent scale and color accuracy, so you’re not just approximating what a couch might look like — you’re seeing what it will look like.

By teaming up with production studio CVLT, the Anthropologie team created more than 96,000 high-resolution assets, which can also account for environmental lighting and shadows in real time within the app. So while there are plenty of AR tools available already, this one just might be the most honest.

“We’re dedicated to using technology in ways that bridge the gap between online and offline realms to meaningfully impact customer experience. Our new digital tools will complement physical resources like our stores and home personal stylists to present the full range of furniture customization opportunities and to give customers the confidence they need to enjoy them,” Carnie added.

You can download the Anthropologie app for free from Apple’s App Store. You need an iPhone 6s or newer and iOS 11 to make use of the AR capabilities.

It’s just a click to a wink: How to get emojis on your Mac

Are you missing emojis on your favorite Mac app, email, or messaging service? If you are used to emojis supplementing your witty banter, it can be tough to give them up! Fortunately, Macs have their own built-in emojis that you can tap into at any time. They’re waiting in the Character Viewer, and we’ll show you just how to get emojis on your Mac with this simple tool.

Accessing and using the Character Viewer

Fabian Irsara/Unsplash

The Character Viewer is a small window of emojis that is built into the latest MacOS. The advantage of this little window (compared to emoji options within many individual apps) is that the same emoji options are available everywhere you want to use them on your Mac, including places you may have never tried them before. Accessing this Character Viewer is very simple. Place your cursor where you want the emoji (such as a messaging service), and then follow these steps.

Press the Control, Command (⌘), and spacebar keys on your keyboard. You only need to hold them down for a moment. This should bring up the Character Viewer in the window in which you are working. The Viewer pop-up will stay connected to that program even if you navigate to another app and return. You can also move it between windows of the app or browser you are using.

Alternatively, you can usually find the Character Viewer by going to the Edit tab at the top left of the screen. The last option in the Edit drop-down menu will say “Emoji and Symbols,” and will open the Viewer when you click on. It’s not always as reliable as the key shortcut, but it’s a lot easier to see where you’re going for the first few times.

Now you will see a list of emojis you can use. At the bottom of the window are several icons that allow you to pick specific emoji categories like sports, light bulbs, and so on. Select the emoji that you want, and the Character Viewer will tell you how popular that emoji is, then paste it into the character field that you are currently using.

Note: If the Character window is too small for you, select the icon in the upper right corner of the window. This will expand it to a larger version that has text-based lists of the categories, allows you to search for specific emoji types, and lets you pick out favorite emoji. It’s a good way to search the limits of Mac emojis when you are first beginning to use the Character Viewer. An even larger version of the Character Viewer is available in System Preferences for more detailed customization.

You can take advantage of the expanded window to choose several favorite emojis, the ones that you tend to use frequently with social apps like Facebook or Instagram. Simply choose an emoji and select “Add to Favorites.” These will appear on a Favorites bar at the top of the window whenever you open it, even in its smaller version. This can help you save a whole lot of time after you find the emojis that you really look.

Macs with Touch Bars

If you have a newer MacBook that includes a Touch Bar, you have additional emoji options. The standard setup of the Touch Bar will offer an emoji icon when you are in text-friendly apps like Mail or Messages, etc. Touch the emoji, and it should pop up a mini version of the Character Viewer on the Touch Bar showing popular emoji.

As you choose emoji across your Mac apps, the Touch Bar will start to show your favorite options more frequently. This method is a little hit or miss, but when it works it can help you save a lot of time if you aren’t used to the keyboard shortcut.

Limitations of the Character Viewer

Character Viewer is particularly handy in situations where another emoji option isn’t available, or when you are switching between different apps/conversations and want the same emojis for everything. However, this does not make the Viewer entirely universal. There are still instances where you will not be able to use it, such as:

• Older software, or apps that don’t support many Mac functions.
• Text boxes that don’t support much formatting, such as search fields.
• Browsers that aren’t compatible or have plugins that interfere with Character Viewer.

When in doubt, update your OS to the latest version, browser, and apps to see if this helps. Otherwise, you may need to find another emoji option for these cases.

And if you were curious about mobile options, there are ways to access an emoji keyboard on iOS as well.