President Trump deletes tweets that supported a losing candidate

Last year, Twitter cut off and then reinstated Politwoops, a project that stores and reports deleted tweets by politicians. CEO Jack Dorsey said at the time that Twitter reinstated its access to “bring transparency” – similar to reasoning the company recently cited for not deleting certain tweets that appear to violate its rules. As a result, Politwoops was up and running tonight when three tweets posted in the last day from Donald Trump’s personal account suddenly disappeared.

Big election tomorrow in the Great State of Alabama. Vote for Senator Luther Strange, tough on crime & border – will never let you down!

Luther Strange has been shooting up in the Alabama polls since my endorsement. Finish the job – vote today for “Big Luther.”

ALABAMA, get out and vote for Luther Strange – he has proven to me that he will never let you down! #MAGA

All three referred to an Alabama GOP primary race between Luther Strange and Roy Moore over the Senate seat vacated by Jeff Sessions. The president supported Strange, who lost. While other, older tweets in support of Strange remain up, these three were replaced by a new one.

Congratulations to Roy Moore on his Republican Primary win in Alabama. Luther Strange started way back & ran a good race. Roy, WIN in Dec!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 27, 2017

Via: John Passantino (Twitter)

Source: Politwoops

How to uninstall an iOS beta from your iPhone

The first official iteration of iOS 11 is finally here, but for some of you, it was already on your phone — at least in beta form. If you’re ready to ditch the beta and upgrade to the real thing, we’ve put together this guide on how to uninstall an iOS beta from your iPhone.

First, back up your phone in the same manner you normally would. To remove the beta, you’ll need to put your iPhone in recovery mode, which means everything on your phone will be erased. Apple’s made the recovery process pretty easy with both iTunes and iCloud, so be sure your backup is recent.

After you’ve backed up your iPhone, make sure you have the newest version of iTunes installed on your computer. The application will usually notify you when there’s an update available, but if you’ve ignored the updates for awhile, then head to Apple’s download site to install the latest version of the software.

Once you’ve done that, go to Settings and tap the General tab. Once you’re in, go to Profiles and you’ll see the iOS beta under Configuration Profile. Tap on the beta, and hit Remove.

Next, plug your iPhone into your computer via USB while you put your device in recovery mode. If you’re using an iPhone 6S or older, hold the power and home buttons at the same time until the screen goes black and the Apple logo appears. If you’re using an iPhone 7 or newer, press the power button and volume down buttons at the same time until you see the Apple logo.

When you do that, iTunes will tell you that it has detected an iPhone in recovery mode. It will then recommend that you restore your phone, which is what you want to do. Doing so will basically reset your device to its original factory settings, and once done, iTunes will update your phone with the newest operating system available (in this case, iOS 11).

Once your phone is restored, you’ll have to go through the same steps you did when first unboxed your iPhone. Thankfully, you’ll be able to restore your phone to the way you had it — all you have to do is hit the confirmation button when your phone asks if you’d like to restore your backup from iCloud or iTunes.

David Cogen — a regular contributor here at Digital Trends — runs TheUnlockr, a popular tech blog that focuses on tech news, tips and tricks, and the latest tech. You can also find him on Twitter discussing the latest tech trends.

macOS Sierra and Later Not Listed in Mac App Store Purchased Tab, Updates Not Tied to Apple ID

Following the release of macOS High Sierra, Mac users have discovered that Apple is no longer listing previous operating system updates in a user’s Purchased tab in the Mac App Store.

Neither macOS Sierra nor macOS High Sierra show up in the Purchased list, suggesting the updates are no longer tied to an Apple ID account. Previous Mac software updates were linked to an Apple ID account and updating required an Apple ID and password, something that could be a hassle when a Mac changed ownership.

An Apple support document on reinstalling apps confirms that the change to remove macOS Sierra and High Sierra from the Purchased tab was intentional.

“macOS Sierra or later doesn’t appear in the Purchased tab,” reads the document.

In the case of macOS Sierra, the change means that there’s no way for Mac users to download macOS Sierra should they want to downgrade from High Sierra for some reason.

OS X El Capitan, OS X Yosemite, OS X Mavericks, and earlier updates are all tied to a user account and listed in the Mac App Store. Apple has also made a link to the OS X El Capitan update available through a support document, but no similar support document is available for macOS Sierra.

Related Roundup: macOS High Sierra
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Shazam Debuts Redesigned Apple Watch App That Identifies Songs Faster

Shazam, the service designed to listen to music and identify lyrics, today updated its iOS app with support for iOS 11 and watchOS 4.

The update includes an entirely revamped version of the Shazam Apple Watch app, with a new look and feel and some impressive speed improvements.

Shazam for Apple Watch is able to identify songs much more quickly, and there’s a new more convenient feature that lets users set Shazam to listen and then lower their wrists. When the song is identified, Shazam offers up a little haptic tap.

As MacStories points out, on one of the new Apple Watch Series 3 models, Shazam was able to identify music that was playing in just a few seconds. Shazam is also able to operate entirely over LTE on the new devices when an iPhone isn’t available.

The new app also supports listening to previews of song matches directly on the Apple Watch, with the interface displaying list of the last handful of songs that were identified.

Shazam can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Tag: Shazam
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Apple Named World’s Most Valuable Brand for Fifth Consecutive Year

Apple was named the world’s most valuable brand in Interbrand’s 2017 Best Global Brands ranking this week, marking Apple’s fifth consecutive year in the position.

Apple’s Interbrand valuation was up three percent, coming in at $184.15 billion to beat out Google ($141.7B), Microsoft ($80B), Coca-Cola ($69.7B), Amazon ($64.8B), and Samsung ($59.3B). Apple and Google together have held the top two positions for several years, but Microsoft’s #3 position is new and comes thanks to double-digit percent growth.

Though Apple struggled with its first year-over-year revenue decline in 2016 due to flagging iPhone sales, the company rebounded during the first quarter of 2017 to set new revenue records and has maintained its sales pace throughout the year.

Apple was not included in the top five Growing Brands category, with Facebook (48 percent growth), Amazon (29 percent), Adobe (19 percent), Adidas (17 percent), and Starbucks (16 percent) leading that list.

To determine a brand’s cumulative value, Interbrand considers the financial performance of branded products products and services, the role the brand plays in influencing customer choice, and the strength the brand has to command a premium price.

Along with Interbrand, several other companies offer brand rankings, like Forbes, and Apple often tops those lists as well.

Tag: Interbrand
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New Fluent Forever language-learning app breaks Kickstarter records

Why it matters to you

New Fluent Forever app promises to teach you to speak other languages by changing the way you think about learning them.

Whether for fun or business, many of us would like to speak another language. There are various apps like Duolingo and Memrise in existence that help make this easier, but a new Kickstarter campaign wants to add another to the mix. It’s the work of Gabriel Wyner, an opera singer, multilinguist, and author of the Fluent Forever language-learning book — and he’s convinced that he’s come up with a way to crack the challenge of teaching people new languages.

The “hook” for the subscription-based app is not to get users to think in terms of translating individual words, but instead building up new associations between concepts and a large number of foreign words, which they can then access when trying to think of a particular word.

“Fluent Forever has always focused on memory as the primary barrier to language learning,” Wyner told Digital Trends. “Not grammar, not listening comprehension, but memory. When I say ‘camera,’ your brain lights up with thousands of associated images, sounds and words. ‘Camera’ connects with iPhone and DSLR and shutter and lens. It connects with photographs you’ve seen throughout your life and the ‘shutter’ sound on your cellphone. It has grammatical associations: You might use a camera to shoot a photograph. You might see a cameraman on the news. You are never going to forget the English word ‘camera,’ because you have so many associations with that word.”

According to Wyner, however, when we learn other languages we don’t do this — which is why it’s easy to forget the words we pick up. It’s here that the new app aims to change things, with the assistance of some nifty flashcards and “ear-training” techniques. Through these, you’ll learn pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar, all in a way its creator says is far more intuitive than other apps. Using the service, Wyner claims that users will be able to pick up a reasonable fluency of Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, or Dutch in six months, German in nine months, Russian or Hebrew in 12 months, and Korean, Japanese, Mandarin, or Arabic in 24 months.

Those are some big claims, but clearly folks are convinced by the approach — since the app has already become the most-funded app in Kickstarter history. If you’d like to get in on the ground floor, you can get beta access to the app with a pledge starting at $40. Estimated delivery is set for August 2018.

New Fluent Forever language-learning app breaks Kickstarter records

Why it matters to you

New Fluent Forever app promises to teach you to speak other languages by changing the way you think about learning them.

Whether for fun or business, many of us would like to speak another language. There are various apps like Duolingo and Memrise in existence that help make this easier, but a new Kickstarter campaign wants to add another to the mix. It’s the work of Gabriel Wyner, an opera singer, multilinguist, and author of the Fluent Forever language-learning book — and he’s convinced that he’s come up with a way to crack the challenge of teaching people new languages.

The “hook” for the subscription-based app is not to get users to think in terms of translating individual words, but instead building up new associations between concepts and a large number of foreign words, which they can then access when trying to think of a particular word.

“Fluent Forever has always focused on memory as the primary barrier to language learning,” Wyner told Digital Trends. “Not grammar, not listening comprehension, but memory. When I say ‘camera,’ your brain lights up with thousands of associated images, sounds and words. ‘Camera’ connects with iPhone and DSLR and shutter and lens. It connects with photographs you’ve seen throughout your life and the ‘shutter’ sound on your cellphone. It has grammatical associations: You might use a camera to shoot a photograph. You might see a cameraman on the news. You are never going to forget the English word ‘camera,’ because you have so many associations with that word.”

According to Wyner, however, when we learn other languages we don’t do this — which is why it’s easy to forget the words we pick up. It’s here that the new app aims to change things, with the assistance of some nifty flashcards and “ear-training” techniques. Through these, you’ll learn pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar, all in a way its creator says is far more intuitive than other apps. Using the service, Wyner claims that users will be able to pick up a reasonable fluency of Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, or Dutch in six months, German in nine months, Russian or Hebrew in 12 months, and Korean, Japanese, Mandarin, or Arabic in 24 months.

Those are some big claims, but clearly folks are convinced by the approach — since the app has already become the most-funded app in Kickstarter history. If you’d like to get in on the ground floor, you can get beta access to the app with a pledge starting at $40. Estimated delivery is set for August 2018.

How to master your equalizer settings to produce the perfect sound

Most folks are at least vaguely familiar with what an equalizer (EQ) looks like. For some of us, those rows of sliders arranged into a kind of smiley face are an icon of the ’80s – remember the one Tom Cruise was forbidden to touch by his stoic dad in Risky Business? Or how about that ridiculous system Ferris Bueller had in his bedroom? But movie references aside, do you really know what to do when it comes to fiddling with equalizer settings?

Those old-school component-style graphic EQs have pretty much gone the way of the cassette deck (hipsters notwithstanding). But the EQ lives on in digital form, found in everything from smartphones and tablets to wireless speakers, and even streaming services like Spotify. Unfortunately, understanding how an EQ works and using it properly is a much more elusive concept. You don’t want to pull a Tom Cruise and just shove every slider to the max – that’s going to sound terrible.

Equalizers put the power of sound sculpting at your fingertips. And you know what they say: With great power comes great responsibility. OK, so an EQ isn’t an actual superpower, but it can get you closer to the sound you’re looking to get out of your gear … if you know what you’re doing. With that in mind, here’s our top-to-bottom EQ guide.

Why do I want to use an EQ?

Electronics manufacturers have their own ideas about what a piece of gear should sound like, but EQ lets you have your say. Also, we don’t always get to listen to music in ideal environments. Many of us listen while commuting or exercising, where the shape of the room or ambient noise can each have a nasty effect on how our music sounds. An EQ can help.

Maybe you have a pretty bass-heavy pair of headphones that you need to tone down a bit. Or perhaps you listen to a lot of EDM, but the treble is too sharp and needs to be pulled back. Whether you’re looking for more punch, a warmer sound, or bass that will rattle your innards, an EQ can help you dial in the sound that suits you best.

Twitter is testing doubling the character limit to 280

Twitter is planning to double its 140 character limit.

Twitter announced it’s testing out a new feature with a “small group” of people: a doubled character limit.

Can’t fit your Tweet into 140 characters? 🤔We’re trying something new with a small group, and increasing the character limit to 280! Excited about the possibilities? Read our blog to find out how it all adds up. 👇https://t.co/C6hjsB9nbL

— Twitter (@Twitter) September 26, 2017

The company says 140 characters may not be enough space for folks to express themselves. In a blog post, Twitter shared some of its product research regarding the 140 character limit. It seems nearly every language supported on Twitter — save for Japanese, Chinese, and Korean — runs up against that 140 mark time and time again.

In languages like Japanese, Korean, and Chinese you can convey about double the amount of information in one character as you can in many other languages, like English, Spanish, Portuguese, or French. … We see that a small percent of Tweets sent in Japanese have 140 characters (only 0.4%). But in English, a much higher percentage of Tweets have 140 characters (9%). … Our research shows us that the character limit is a major cause of frustration for people Tweeting in English, but it is not for those Tweeting in Japanese.

Before you get too excited (or incredibly frustrated) by the change, know this: Twitter has yet to roll out the feature to everyone. The company says it will be collecting data and feedback from its test group before it makes any changes.

Although we feel confident about our data and the positive impact this change will have, we want to try it out with a small group of people before we make a decision to launch to everyone.

In any case, Twitter says it plans to keep everyone posted regarding this possible change in character limit, so keep your eye on that @Twitter account!

Are you looking forward to having more characters to express your thoughts (and hot takes) on Twitter or do you want the service to keep things right where they are? Give us a shout in the comments or — even better — over on Twitter!

These are the 5 PlayStation PlayLink games you’ll be able to control with your phone

Here’s everything to expect from the 5 PlayStation PlayLink games announced so far

During E3 this past June, Sony announced its new PlayLink system for the PlayStation 4 that allows users to play games with other people in the room by using their phones. It’s a rather ingenious take on the whole party-game niche, and Sony recently outlined all of the PlayLink games that have been announced for the PS4 so far.

That’s You!

That’s You! is currently the only PlayLink game that’s actually available to play, but it’s a great example of what PlayLink is truly capable of. Developed by Wish Studios, That’s You! lets you get together with a group of friends to answer questions about one another to see how well you truly know each other.

Questions like “Who’d use a two-for-one coupon on a romantic date?” and “Who’d enjoy the feeling of being handcuffed?” help to get everyone involved and thinking, and by answering questions correctly, you get points. Combine this with a Joker power-up that lets you double points for answers you’re really confident about, and That’s You! is a great game to throw on when hanging out with your besties.

Hidden Agenda

There are currently three games scheduled to be released on October 24, and the first of those is Hidden Agenda. Unlike the fun and light atmosphere created by That’s You!, Hidden Agenda is a murder mystery/thriller game that’s seen a lot of inspiration from games like Until Dawn.

You and your group will have to make decisions that affect the story of Hidden Agenda by voting for what should happen on your phones, and throughout the game, certain players will receive Hidden Agenda cards that give them additional points for making certain decisions over others.

Knowledge is Power

The second game slated for an October 24 release is Knowledge is Power, and this ditches the thriller vibe of Hidden Agenda for a trivia game night. Wish Studios is also behind the creation of this game, and players will go through more than 5000 questions in an attempt to beat out your opponents.

Along with the questions themselves, Knowledge is Power also introduces the ability to use Power Plays. With Power Plays, you can freeze other players’ phone/tablet screens so they have to break through virtual ice before answering, or cover their screens with slime so they have to wipe it away before doing anything else. It’s a fresh take on the traditional trivia game setup, and it’s one that sounds like it’ll create for a lot of fun game nights.

SingStar Celebration

SingStar Celebration is the third PlayLink game coming out on October 24, and when it’s released, you and your friends will be able to use your phones to sign through 30 songs that range from current hits to classic oldies.

You’ll be able to upload photos and videos of your performances to social media and the SingStar Community, and once you’ve sung through the included tracks, you’ll be able to purchase more through the SingStore that holds hundreds of other tunes for you to belt out.

Frantics

The fifth and final PlayLink game that’s been announced is Frantics. Currently planned for a March 13, 2018, release, Frantics is a collection of minigames that you and up to 3 of your friends will be able to play through with one another.

Your phone is the controller for all of the games that you play through, and Frantics will require you to swipe, shake, tilt, and even use your camera to complete various challenges. That sounds a lot more involved than pressing buttons on a regular controller, and it’s bound to make similar party-games a lot more boring in comparison.

PlayStation 4

• PS4 vs. PS4 Slim vs. PS4 Pro: Which should you buy?
• PlayStation VR Review
• Playing PS4 games through your phone is awesome

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