Google’s Santa Tracker offers the ‘largest multiplayer snowball fight ever’

It’s getting freakin’ cold in the northern hemisphere again, which means only one thing: Santa and his team of elves are beginning preparations for their big day out later this month.

It also means Google is rolling out its Santa Tracker goodies again, offering kids enough entertainment throughout December that parents can enjoy a short break from having yet another rewritten Christmas list thrust in front of their face.

Google has been dusting off its Santa Tracker for the last 13 years, giving children a fun, educational, and interactive way to celebrate the holiday season and count down to Christmas.

The experience — available via desktop web, mobile web, Android app, and Android TV — kicks off with the opening of Santa’s village on December 1, offering immediate access to games, a learning experience about holiday traditions around the world, and a Code Lab teaching kids basic coding skills.

You’ll also see the advent calendar, which unlocks a new game or experience each day, although today’s (December 1) offering is merely a link to the latest version of the Santa Tracker app for Android. If you’re using an iPhone or iPad, you’ll need to hit the mobile website as there’s no iOS app for Google’s Santa Tracker.

The real action of course begins on December 24 when the Tracker itself goes live, allowing Santa fans around the world to have fun following his progress with help from Google Maps.

New with this year’s Tracker is an app-only game called Santa Snap where you fly your jetpack-powered elf around the world to take photos of famous landmarks and help Santa on his travels.

Another new game is Santa’s Canvas where kids can show off their artistic side, though it sounds like the most fun is going to be had with what Google describes as “the largest multiplayer snowball fight ever.” Look out for that.

Similar to previous years, Google is also giving teachers the chance to make use of educational holiday-themed games, with lesson plans and new video tutorials to help teachers and students get the most out of the materials.

If all that isn’t enough for your littl’uns, then point them in the direction of NORAD’s Santa Tracker, which has been following Santa on his deliveries for more than 60 years, and now offers lots of fun and features online since partnering with Microsoft in recent years.

Editors’ Recommendations

• What’s new on Netflix and what’s leaving in December 2017
• Here’s what Google’s pop-up stores in New York and Los Angeles have to offer
• Samsung’s new Galaxy Tab A is designed for everyone in the family
• ‘God of War’ rumors and news: Everything we know so far
• Let’s see some defense: It’s time to equip a GPS tracker for your car

Google’s Santa Tracker offers the ‘largest multiplayer snowball fight ever’

It’s getting freakin’ cold in the northern hemisphere again, which means only one thing: Santa and his team of elves are beginning preparations for their big day out later this month.

It also means Google is rolling out its Santa Tracker goodies again, offering kids enough entertainment throughout December that parents can enjoy a short break from having yet another rewritten Christmas list thrust in front of their face.

Google has been dusting off its Santa Tracker for the last 13 years, giving children a fun, educational, and interactive way to celebrate the holiday season and count down to Christmas.

The experience — available via desktop web, mobile web, Android app, and Android TV — kicks off with the opening of Santa’s village on December 1, offering immediate access to games, a learning experience about holiday traditions around the world, and a Code Lab teaching kids basic coding skills.

You’ll also see the advent calendar, which unlocks a new game or experience each day, although today’s (December 1) offering is merely a link to the latest version of the Santa Tracker app for Android. If you’re using an iPhone or iPad, you’ll need to hit the mobile website as there’s no iOS app for Google’s Santa Tracker.

The real action of course begins on December 24 when the Tracker itself goes live, allowing Santa fans around the world to have fun following his progress with help from Google Maps.

New with this year’s Tracker is an app-only game called Santa Snap where you fly your jetpack-powered elf around the world to take photos of famous landmarks and help Santa on his travels.

Another new game is Santa’s Canvas where kids can show off their artistic side, though it sounds like the most fun is going to be had with what Google describes as “the largest multiplayer snowball fight ever.” Look out for that.

Similar to previous years, Google is also giving teachers the chance to make use of educational holiday-themed games, with lesson plans and new video tutorials to help teachers and students get the most out of the materials.

If all that isn’t enough for your littl’uns, then point them in the direction of NORAD’s Santa Tracker, which has been following Santa on his deliveries for more than 60 years, and now offers lots of fun and features online since partnering with Microsoft in recent years.

Editors’ Recommendations

• What’s new on Netflix and what’s leaving in December 2017
• Here’s what Google’s pop-up stores in New York and Los Angeles have to offer
• Samsung’s new Galaxy Tab A is designed for everyone in the family
• ‘God of War’ rumors and news: Everything we know so far
• Let’s see some defense: It’s time to equip a GPS tracker for your car

Kano Computer Kit Complete Review

Kano’s clever coding games will enthrall curious kids.

Today’s kids have access to free software that teaches coding through blocks that are pieced together like a puzzle. Now, companies such as Piper and Kano are taking that one step further by pushing kids into building the very computers they’re targeting with code. We tested the latest do-it-yourself PC kit from Kano, the $250 Computer Kit Complete. Can you turn your kid into a coding genius?

Getting their hands dirty

With Kano’s kit, kids build an all-in-one PC sporting a 10.1-inch screen. Kids plug in color-coded components and wires using an easy-to-read manual, such as red for power, and blue for sound. The manual is 81 pages long, but it’s small in size, and provides large illustrations on each page. Its length is a sign of Kano’s complete instructions — it dedicates seven pages to illustrating speaker installation, for example.

The kit is based on the popular $35 Raspberry Pi 3 Model B board. It’s a self-contained computer that includes a processor, memory, four USB-A ports, a microSD card slot for storage, Wi-Fi connectivity, and more. The board plugs directly into the back of the screen via dedicated LEGO-like pegs, which are also provided for the other important plug-in computer components. The display comes with its own hardware-based driver already installed, so connecting it to the Raspberry Pi 3 is as simple as attaching the supplied HDMI cable to the dedicated ports.

Kevin Parrish/Digital Trends

Kevin Parrish/Digital Trends

Over the course of the assembly, kids connect the power button to the Raspberry Pi board’s 40-pin input/output connector, install a cable block for cable management, install the speaker, the USB-based microphone, the external USB ports, and the battery (which didn’t plug in securely in our kit, and may end up needing tape). All this hardware is enclosed in a clear case that snaps onto the back of the screen, which also serves as a stand, like an all-in-one PC.

Our resident 13-year-old to blazed through the assembly. The instructions were also simple enough for our resident 9-year-old, too. However, we do think the manual’s first six pages should’ve been a stand-alone fold-out blueprint — these pages merely list the component — so kids can jump straight into building. Our teen thought the first six pages asked the builder to pull everything out of the box first, which could lead to confusion.

Easy to build, but supervision is advised

Parents of younger children may want to stay close. Even with older kids, supervision should be applied, especially during the process of installing the provided microSD card. This card comes pre-installed with Linux-based Kano OS 3.0 “Lovelace,” a kid-friendly operating system with an interface targeting “exploration, creation, and play.” The microSD card is extremely small, and could get lost in the building process if not supervised by an adult.

Kano’s Computer Kit Complete is unique in how it teaches to code.

Once everything was built, and the AIO PC booted up and dove directly into a setup screen. At the start, the device introduced itself through a text-based command prompt, asking for the child’s name. It then went through a few tests to make sure the speaker and USB-based microphone worked correctly. After that, the introduction jumped into a more visually pleasing presentation that required a local wireless network connection. We then created a free Kano World account, and a customizable avatar.

With setup complete, the computer rebooted into Kanos OS – and we had no idea what to do next. The manual ends when kids snap on the clear casing on the display’s back. The Kanos OS desktop includes a large assortment of installed programs, but given the hand-holding the kit provided up until this point, we were surprised there was no direction of how to start using the device. Our teen test subject immediately jumped into Hack Minecraft, but we also noticed a large Story Mode shortcut that took up about a quarter of the screen’s total space.

The quest for Pong

Honestly, as an adult who still loves playing Pokémon games, Story Mode is great fun. It turns the installed code-teaching programs into an 8-bit role-playing game. You control a character that adventures through the many aspects of the AIO PC, interact with its residents, and take on quests. You’re not slaying dragons, performing irrelevant errands, or saving the princess, but instead understanding the ins and outs of computers, while also learning to code.

Kids start out on the shores of SD Beach. An Information Booth sitting in the sand sports a “!” above its roof, indicating it has a quest to acquire. The NPC attending the booth introduces players to the world’s map, half of which won’t be unlocked until players accomplish everything in the current unlocked areas. To kick things off, the NPC provides the first quest — complete two challenges that result in a Pong-like game.

Kevin Parrish/Digital Trends

Thus, our coding lessons began with the installed program, Make Pong. Here, kids connect blocks of code together like puzzle pieces — pick a background for the scene (code block one), choose a color for the lines (code block two), and build. In Make Pong alone, there are 16 challenges that add on to the previous lesson, such as naming the game, limiting the winning score to 10, adding a turbo mode, and more. There’s also an open-ended “playground” mode for creative coders.

The manual is a hefty 81 pages long, but provides large illustrations on each page.

Other quests kids can grab at the beginning of Story Mode include mastering Pong creation, following the white rabbit down the Power Path, and visiting Python Jungle. Like a Pokémon game, Power Path and Python Jungle are connected, explorable areas with specific themes. Python Jungle introduces kids to the Terminal, while Power Path teaches kids about the AIO PC’s power requirements.

Besides serving up quests, in-game characters act as teachers, waiting for kids to approach and interact. “You can send packets on the UDP train. I’m sending one to my friend Eleanor. I hope she gets it…” says a character sitting in the Ethernet-based Ether Street Station. Another standing around in Port Ether (get it? Ethernet port?) explains the meaning of stereo sound, which is then added to the game’s Codex library, which serves as a reference manual when needed. Another explains the difference between Wi-Fi and Ethernet.

It’s more than just a teaching tool

Again, this RPG-type Story Mode “game” is tied directly to the installed programs. Kanos OS includes code-learning utilities such as Kano Code, Make Art, Hack Minecraft, Scratch, Make Pong, Make Snake, Terminal Quest, and Make Light. All programs listed here rely on code-based blocks that are pieced together like a puzzle, although there are examples like Make Light that require kids to type in lines of code to understand how each line works.

Kevin Parrish/Digital Trends

Kevin Parrish/Digital Trends

Kevin Parrish/Digital Trends

Kevin Parrish/Digital Trends

Of course, these programs can be accessed outside Story Mode, along with standard programs like the internet browser, office tools, a calculator, and so on. The kit creates a fully functional AIO PC that’s kid-friendly, and even comes with Minecraft: Pi Edition already installed (v0.1.1 alpha). For the hacking aspect, the game includes an interface and tutorial for dragging blocks of code together to create TNT towers, large spheres, and more.

Meanwhile, Kano Code just focuses on piecing code blocks together via Events, Control, Draw, and Speaker categories. Naturally, our resident teen programmed the AIO PC to curse at us, but hearing an “you have the butt cheese” loop spoken by the artificial voice was simply hilarious. Teens — gotta love ‘em.

A great gift for your little computer nerd

Kano’s Computer Kit Complete is fun in the way it comes together and teaches kids how to code. The manual, albeit long, is a lengthy, detailed hand-holding experience that explains each step with big, colorful illustrations. Everything comes together in an orderly fashion, though we re-routed some of the cables for better management. Our only beef with the kit was with the battery, which didn’t want to correctly plug into the back of the screen. The manual could be slightly shorter, too.

Where this device shines is Story Mode, which offers a role-playing game experience that not only teaches coding, but all aspects of PC hardware. The drawback is the price, which at $250, could be applied to a Windows-based laptop supporting similar, free code-learning programs. In addition to the DIY experience, you’re mostly paying for the 10.1-inch screen, given that Kano OS is free, and the Raspberry Pi 3 board is a mere $35.

Still, we can’t deny we – and our young testers — had fun with Kano’s assembly and coding introduction. This is a great holiday gift for tiny, yet inquisitive, geeks.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Teach the kids how to build a PC with the Kano Computer Kit Complete
• Want your child to learn STEM skills? Check out these robot kits for kids
• These Raspberry Pi 3 bundles will cover everyone, from coders to gamers
• Apple aficionado, huh? Here are the 20 best Mac games
• Meet the Brits who promised the world a $25 PC, and delivered a revolution

Huawei Nova 2S: News and rumors

Huawei will introduce the new Huawei Nova 2S smartphone in December. A follow up to the Huawei Nova 2 series from earlier in 2017, which in turn was a sequel to the original Huawei Nova from 2016; the Nova 2S is so far only expected to launch in China. However, the Nova series was released internationally, so there is a chance Huawei will put the Nova 2S on sale elsewhere in the future.

Here’s everything we think we know about the Huawei Nova 2S so far.

Release and price

Huawei has sent out invitations to local media for an event on December 7, and the teaser image includes confirmation the Nova 2S will be the focus of the gathering. No other details about the device have been provided by the company at the time of writing. Like previous Nova phones, the Nova 2S will probably be a mid-range phone available at an affordable price.

Design

Huawei is keeping up with industry trends for the Nova 2S, at least according to leaked images of the device. We can expect thin bezels above and below the screen, and minimal intrusion down either side, giving the phone a very modern look. Rumors suggest the screen will measure 6-inches and have a 2,160 x 1,080 pixel resolution, and an 18:9 aspect ratio.

The smaller bezels haven’t forced the fingerprint sensor on to the rear of the phone, and in leaked pictures it’s housed in a home button below the screen. This is a change from the Nova 2 series style. Four colors may be offered: Black, silver, gold, and blue.

A dual camera setup can be seen on the back of the phone, where it takes on a similar style to the Nova 2 Plus and the Honor 7X, with each individual lens mounted separately. The body appears to be made of glass, based on the amount of reflection in the leaked pictures; but it may be a coating over metal or plastic.

It’s unclear if Huawei will release a single Nova 2S model, or if there will be a larger Plus version, just like the Nova Plus and Nova 2 Plus.

Specification

Although Huawei’s Nova phones have never challenged the P-Series and Mate-Series in terms of performance, the Nova 2S may still be powerful. Rumors point to a Kirin 960 processor and either 4GB or 6GB of RAM for the phone, which brings it level with flagship Huawei phone performance from last year.

A pair of 20-megapixel and 16-megapixel lenses should make it another cameraphone winner from Huawei, and talk of a 20-megapixel front camera will interest selfie fans. The latest version of Android, 8.0 Oreo, with Huawei’s EMUI 8.0 — a pairing seen on the Mate 10 Pro — are rumored to be installed.

Other specifications, taken from a regulatory filing by Chinese authority TENAA include a MicroSD card slot, a 3,340mAh battery, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and 64GB of internal memory.

December 7 will be busy for phone fans in China, as it’s the same day Xiaomi is holding its Redmi 5 and Redmi 5 Note launch event. We’ll keep you updated with Nova 2S news here.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Huawei Mate 10 Pro vs. LG V30: Can Huawei’s A.I. beat LG’s edge-to-edge screen?
• Huawei Mate 10 Pro vs. Google Pixel 2 XL: Can Huawei top the Android powerhouse?
• Huawei Mate 10 Pro vs. Apple iPhone X: Battle of the dual cameras
• Samsung Galaxy Note 8 vs. Huawei Mate 10 Pro: Which phablet reigns supreme?
• Honor V10: Everything you need to know

Best Honor Phone

• Best overall
• Best value

Best overall

Honor 9

See at Amazon UK

No surprise — the best Honor phone you can buy is the venerable Honor 9. This 5.15-inch handset hits a sweet spot in terms of size and price. It’ll set you back just a little over £300 at current prices, while delivering speedy performance thanks to Huawei’s homegrown Kirin 960 CPU and 4GB of RAM. The dual camera setup similar to that of the Huawei P10 also makes it across to the new Honor phone, although without the Leica branding, nor optical image stabilization.

And on the outside, the Honor 9’s glitzy metal-and-glass body stands out from the crowd, and battery life from the fixed 3,200mAh cell is easily enough to last a full day, thanks to its efficient internals. It’s running Android Nougat out of the box, with an update to Oreo coming in early 2018.

Bottom line: The Honor 9 is an excellent sub-£350 phone with a few software quirks that may take a while to adjust to.

One more thing: The Honor 9 isn’t available in the U.S. — buyers in the states should probably wait for Honor’s next big thing at this point.

Why the Honor 9 is the best

A whole lotta phone for 300 quid.

With UK pricing currently just over £300, the Honor 9 delivers excellent value for money. And if you can deal with Huawei’s EMUI 5.1 interface — it’s something of acquired taste, but way better than earlier Huawei software — there’s an awful lot to like. The display — a 1080p LCD panel — is bright and vibrant, and the fact that you’re not pushing a 2K panel means there are power savings to be had.

Meanwhile, the dual camera setup uses a full color 12-megapixel sensor and another black-and-white sensor combined, to produce clear daylight shots and photos with more detail in low light. EMUI’s camera app also includes super night mode for getting the most from stabilized shots in the dark. And all that in an attractive glass-backed package.

Best value

Honor 6X

See at Amazon

Honor’s latest phone to launch in the U.S. is the only current product sold in the country. The Honor 6X packs an efficient Huawei Kirin 655 processor and 3GB of RAM into a metal body, with a surprisingly good 1080p LCD display. There’s 32GB of storage built in (internationally you can choose beteen 32 and 64GB), and the recent Android 7.0 Nougat (and EMUI 5) upgrade brings welcome performance improvements and UI tweaks.

What’s more you’ll also get a great rear-mounted fingerprint scanner for biometric security — a feature that’s still missing from many phones at this sub-$200 price point.

Bottom-line: The Honor 6X is a decent phone with metal construction and a fingerprint scanner for comfortably less than $200.

One more thing: The biggest trade-off for the Honor 6X is the lack of oleophobic coating on the screen, meaning it can get gunked up with fingerprints pretty easily.

Conclusion

All Honor’s phones are competitively priced, but the flagship Honor 9 is the one to aim for. You’ll get flagship-tier performance and build quality, an impressive camera and all-day battery life for considerably less than the bigger brands are charging. What’s more, it’s only going to get better once Android Oreo arrives in the coming months.

Best overall

Honor 9

See at Amazon UK

No surprise — the best Honor phone you can buy is the venerable Honor 9. This 5.15-inch handset hits a sweet spot in terms of size and price. It’ll set you back just a little over £300 at current prices, while delivering speedy performance thanks to Huawei’s homegrown Kirin 960 CPU and 4GB of RAM. The dual camera setup similar to that of the Huawei P10 also makes it across to the new Honor phone, although without the Leica branding, nor optical image stabilization.

And on the outside, the Honor 9’s glitzy metal-and-glass body stands out from the crowd, and battery life from the fixed 3,200mAh cell is easily enough to last a full day, thanks to its efficient internals. It’s running Android Nougat out of the box, with an update to Oreo coming in early 2018.

Bottom line: The Honor 9 is an excellent sub-£350 phone with a few software quirks that may take a while to adjust to.

One more thing: The Honor 9 isn’t available in the U.S. — buyers in the states should probably wait for Honor’s next big thing at this point.

How to activate Night Mode in OxygenOS on the OnePlus 5T

How do I enable Night Mode on my OnePlus device?

Have you ever used the popular app f.lux on your computer to automatically adjust colors throughout the day, or Samsung’s blue light filter on the Galaxy S8? The idea behind these features is to put less strain on your eyes as you spend your whole day staring at screens.

Similarly, OnePlus includes a setting on the 5T and older models simply called Night Mode, and it’s just as easy to toggle as it is on your eyes.

Note: This feature is available in OxygenOS version 4.0 and newer, for OnePlus devices going back to the OnePlus 3.

Why would you want to use Night Mode?

Remember that time you checked your phone just after waking up, before your eyes had time to adjust, and you were blinded by your brighter-than-the-sun display? On a more serious note, blue light can have various negative effects on you, from disrupting your sleep cycle to suppressing melatonin, so it’s worthwhile to enable Night Mode and reduce your blue light intake — especially when it requires so few steps.

OxygenOS: Top 10 features you need to know

How to enable Night Mode

If you’re on a OnePlus 3, 3T, 5, or 5T and you’re running OxygenOS 4.0 or higher, enabling Night Mode just takes a few taps in your settings.

Open the Settings app.
Scroll down and tap the Display submenu.
Tap Night Mode.
Under Manual, slide the Turn on Night Mode toggle.

That’s it! You should notice your screen gradually shift to a noticeably warmer hue, and the Effect Strength section underneath the Night Mode toggle becomes available to fine-tune the display temperature. You can also access Night Mode directly from the notification shade toggles.

How to set a custom time range for Night Mode

While you’re in the settings, you can set Night Mode to automatically kick in from sunset to sunrise, or even set a specific time range manually.

In the Night Mode settings under Scheduled Night Mode, tap Turn on automatically.
In the pop-up menu, tap Custom time range.
Tap From, and set the desired starting time for Night Mode using the pop-up clock.
Tap To and set when you’d like Night Mode to end.

You’re done! Now Night Mode should turn on automatically between your custom set times, giving your eyes some time to rest throughout your day.

Questions? Comments?

Got any questions about Night Mode? Want to share how Night Mode has improved your life, or maybe why you don’t use it? Let us know in the comments below!

OnePlus 5T and OnePlus 5

• OnePlus 5T review: Come for the value, not the excitement
• OnePlus 5T specs
• Should you upgrade from the OnePlus 3T?
• OnePlus 5T vs. Galaxy S8: Beast mode
• All of the latest OnePlus 5T news
• Join the discussion in the forums

OnePlus
Amazon

Instagram Stories on Android: Everything you need to know

Instagram is the most popular photo-sharing social network, and Stories is one of its most intimate components.

A few years ago, Instagram was just a simple competitor to services like VSCO and Hipstamatic, known for heavy-handed filters, square crops, and hashtags. Today, with over 700 million monthly users, it’s one of the largest social networks around, and its new ephemeral Stories feature already has more users within its first year than Snapchat, the popular app that it, ahem, borrowed from.

Snapchat on Android: Everything you need to know

No matter your feelings on Instagram essentially cloning Snapchat, it’s hard to argue against reaching a larger audience. With over 200 million daily users, Stories is a great way to keep up with friends and idols alike — of course, it’s yet another way to keep them in the loop about your own life, too. The simpler interface versus Snapchat doesn’t hurt either, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t still complicated. Lucky for you, there’s a comprehensive guide for that — and you’re looking at it.

Download: Instagram (free)

Getting familiar with Instagram Stories

• How to view stories
• How to post stories
• Text and drawings
• Filters
• Stickers
• Live on Instagram
• Boomerangs
• Superzoom
• Rewind
• Hands-free

How to view stories

Maybe the most straightforward part of using Instagram Stories is viewing them. From the main screen (denoted by a home icon in the bottom left corner), you’ll notice a row of circular icons at the top displaying the profile pictures of the users you follow who have posted stories within the past 24 hours. You can scroll through the list to find a particular user and tap their icon to view their story, or just hit the Watch All button above the icons. Once you’ve viewed someone’s entire story, the red outline around their profile picture (indicated unseen content) will turn gray.

While you’re viewing a user’s story, their username is displayed in the top left corner of the screen, along with how long ago the content was posted. A bar at the top indicates the length of the story, and if there’s more than one entry in the story that line will be split into equal segments for each part. From there, you can tap on the left or right side of the screen to progress forward or backward through each story — once you finish a user’s story, you’ll automatically advance to the next user in the list until you’ve seen every new post.

One more thing — you can do more than just look while you’re viewing someone’s story. You can send a private message to a user in response to part of their story by tapping the camera icon or text field at the bottom. You can also send part of someone’s story to another user by tapping the paper airplane icon.

Of course, not everything is appropriate for social media, and in the case of Instagram, that includes “violent, nude, partially nude, discriminatory, unlawful, infringing, hateful, pornographic or sexually suggestive photos or other content” (per Instagram’s terms of use). If you come across a story in violation of Instagram’s policies, you can report it using the overflow button inside of the text field.

How to post your own stories

Alright, so it turns out viewing someone else’s story is actually pretty simple after all. Now let’s tackle posting stories of your own.

Start by swiping right from the main feed to access the camera; you’ve undoubtedly done this by accident a few dozen times by now, and you’d be forgiven for confusing this panel for the camera accessed by the plus icon in the middle of Instagram’s navigation bar (which is for capturing photos and videos to post on your profile). Instead, this is the hub for all of the tools that’ll help you post the best stories possible.

Near the bottom of this screen, you’ll see a few tools; namely a shortcut to your recent shots, a flash toggle, the shutter button, the camera switcher, and face filters. There are also a few shooting modes beneath those tools, including live, Boomerang, Superzoom, rewind, and hands-free, as well as a shortcut to your story settings in the upper left corner.

We’ll get to all of that in a bit, but the first thing to do is just take a photo! You can tap the shutter button to quickly take a photo, or hold it down to start capturing video — you can shoot for up to 15 seconds, or let go at any time to stop recording early. If you want to zoom while recording, just slide your finger up or down from the shutter button. Sometimes you might want to share something you’ve already shot, and that’s okay too — just tap the camera roll button in the bottom left corner or swipe up from anywhere in the viewfinder to access all of the photos and videos you’ve captured in the last 24 hours. Once you’ve captured something worth posting, you can add it to your story by tapping Your Story at the bottom of the screen.

Adding text or drawings

Before you post your first story, you might want to spruce it up with some text. You can tap anywhere on the screen to bring up a text input field, and resize your text or change colors using the accompanying tools. Typing @ followed by someone’s username (like, oh I don’t know, @androidcentral or @hayatohuseman) will tag that user in your story, notifying them of the post and creating a link for other users to view their profile. You can also make your text more visible by tapping the button in the middle of the top row to create a white or translucent background.

You can also draw on your story by tapping the marker icon in the upper right corner. There are a few different brush tips to choose from, including a marker, a highlighter, glowing ink, and chalk, as well as an eraser and an undo button to fix small mistakes. Just like with text, you can choose from a number of different preset colors, or pull a color from your shot using the dropper tool.

Face filters

Would it really be a Snapchat clone without silly face filters? You’ve probably already noticed the smiley face icon in the bottom right corner that looks like a toggle for beautification mode. Tap it or press and hold anywhere in the camera viewfinder, and a scrollable row of face filters will appear at the bottom of the screen. It isn’t just the feature itself that’s been ported over, either — the filters themselves are nearly identical replicas of some of Snapchat’s most popular effects, including a cat and dog, sunglasses, and an actual beautification filter.

Still, original or not, these face filters are a fun way to add some flair to a selfie, and the tracking is actually surprisingly good. The filters are able to detect facial movements like raising your eyebrows, opening your mouth or nodding your head, and they react accordingly with different effects and animations.

Latest Instagram update adds face filters and more

Stickers

Filters are yet another whimsical addition to your stories that can add context, viewer participation, or just simple amusement. To access stickers, tap the icon in the top right corner next to the text and marker icons. You’ll be greeted with a vertically scrolling list with dozens of custom stickers, along with all of your phone’s supported emoji to use as stickers. Options range from seasonal stickers (my list is overwhelmingly autumn-themed at the moment) to labels that are clearly catered towards millennials (lit, yasss, it me, ugh, savage, etc).

There are stickers to add the current time or temperature to your story, and you can use the location sticker to tag places of interest just as you would with a regular photo upload on Instagram. You can also use the hashtag sticker to reach a wider audience through Instagram’s search tools, or run a poll that viewers of your story can vote on.

Live on Instagram

Back to those different shooting modes in the Stories camera. Instagram wasn’t satisfied with just taking on (and overtaking) Snapchat, so it went after live streaming platforms like Periscope as well. From the viewfinder, slide the mode selector all the way to the left to access live mode. You can hit Start Live Video to begin publicly streaming, and Instagram will send a push notification to some of your followers letting them know you’re live. Viewers can comment in real time, and at the end of your broadcast the entire stream can be rewatched in your story, denoted with a play button in your story icon.

You can also add a second person to your live stream using the Add icon near the bottom right of the screen. A list will appear with the users currently watching your stream, any of which can be invited to join in a split-screen view. This feature is great for increasing audience engagement during a live stream, and you can remove the second party at any time.

Instagram now lets you live stream with a friend

Boomerangs

Boomerangs are one of my favorite parts of Stories. They’re essentially just animated GIFs for Instagram, with the added bonus of not igniting tired arguments over pronunciation. To start capturing one of your own, swipe over to the Boomerang mode in the Stories viewfinder. An infinity symbol will appear in the shutter button, and tapping it will record a one second looping video that you can edit and share to your story just like any other capture. You can also press and hold the shutter button to capture a longer Boomerang, cutting off after about three seconds.

It hasn’t been updated in over a year, but there’s also a standalone app for capturing Boomerangs, which you can then share to Instagram or Facebook. The nice thing about both the app and the shooting mode in Instagram is that if you really enjoy a particular capture, it doesn’t have to stay confined to your story — you can post Boomerangs to your regular feed the same way you would a photo or video.

Download: Boomerang for Instagram (free)

Superzoom

Superzoom is a just-for-fun feature that, while not particularly useful, will still probably get a laugh out of you when you use it. When recording in Superzoom mode, a dramatic sound effect will play as the camera automatically zooms in on a subject. Switch to the Superzoom shooting mode and a box will appear, denoting where the camera will zoom. The camera immediately begins searching for a face to track, and if none are found it will default to the center of the frame. Once you start shooting, it’s just like any other video — edit away and share it to your story!

Rewind

This one’s pretty self-explanatory. From the rewind shooting mode, you can either tap the shutter button or press and hold to begin recording a video. Once you’ve finished, Instagram will take a second to process the footage and begin playing it back in reverse. This is a bit less robust than Snapchat’s rewind function, which is applied as a filter rather than an entire shooting mode; because of this difference, you can’t change a reversed clip to play back the right way if you change your mind, so make wise use of this effect.

Hands-free stories

As a guitarist who sometimes like to share snippets of songs I’m working on to my story, I really appreciate Instagram’s final shooting mode for Stories, hands-free video. In this mode, you can simply tap the shutter button to begin recording a video, as opposed to needing to press and hold in the normal shooting mode. If you aren’t musically inclined, that’s okay — there are plenty of handy uses for this feature, none of which can be done on Snapchat.

It’s worth mentioning that this feature can be subverted by simply uploading an existing video clip you shot in your phone’s native camera app, but there’s just something different about recording directly from the app you’re sharing to.

Having trouble?

I really like Stories, and Instagram as a whole, but neither is without its flaws. Luckily whenever there’s a problem, Instagram is quick to resolve it, but it’s still good to be aware of the occasional setbacks.

Instagram taking new steps to reduce offensive and spammy comments using machine learning

How to stop Facebook and Instagram notifications from driving you crazy

Got any other tips or tricks?

We tried to make this as detailed as possible, but if we missed anything, let us know in the comments below and we’ll update the article as new features come to Instagram Stories.

The Morning After: Friday, December 1st 2017

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.

As this week wraps up, we have updates in the Apple vs. Qualcomm squabble, plus some important news for cryptocurrency traders who use Coinbase.

Are two screens better than one?ZTE Axon M review

We don’t see enough phones with exciting gimmicks, but fortunately, ZTE is trying to make the dual-screen dream happen with its new Axon. It brings a pair of 5.2-inch screens in a folding design; however, Chris Velazco wasn’t too impressed with their quality. While they were great for reading with the Kindle app, they didn’t make a big enough difference with video or multitasking and drove up the price on this $725 device.

Not that boring.Elon Musk’s Boring Co. to bid on Chicago airport transit link

Chicago is planning a new airport link between O’Hare Airport and downtown, so naturally, Elon Musk’s tunneling company wants in. A high-speed option could cut travel time from 45 minutes to just 20, but first The Boring Co. will need to get the bid.

Get your filings in order.Coinbase must share users’ cryptocurrency data with the IRS

After a year-long battle, a California judge decided that Coinbase has to share information about its users with the feds. The data sharing affects every user who has bought, sold, sent or received more than $20,000 through their accounts in a single year between 2013 and 2015 — which Coinbase estimates to be 14,355 individuals. The company will have to turn over the user’s name, date of birth, address and taxpayer ID, plus records of all account activity.

Crush the ‘gram.Toyota FT-AC concept

Toyota’s FT-AC (Future Toyota Adventure Concept) isn’t just an AWD crossover ready to go offroad — it’s also your ticket to social media stardom. That’s thanks to detachable infrared cameras on the side mirrors that can upload video to the cloud via its built-in hotspot. It’s just a concept, so we’re unlikely to see this version on or off the streets, but it is an indicator of features Toyota is considering.

Double the fun.Google Home can now do two things at the same time

Now you can tell your smart speaker to do things like the bump the temperature in your kids’ room and start playing Slayer’s ‘South of Heaven’ in there as a lullaby.

Treat yourself (or someone else).The best TVs and media streamers to give as gifts

Unless the person on your list already owns a smart TV, media streamers are almost fool proof as far as gift ideas go, and they’re reasonably affordable, too. We put several in our holiday gift guide, including the Apple TV 4K at the high end and the Roku Ultra, which is nearly half the price.

But wait, there’s more…

• Qualcomm hopes to ban Apple’s iPhone X sales with new lawsuit
• Blue Apron co-founder steps down as CEO
• Lego AR-Studio puts virtual dragons in your physical sets
• Best Buy claims Google Home Max will be on sale December 11th
• Google releases an AI camera kit for Raspberry Pi
• Project Redspace imagines an office-car for megacity traffic

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Amazon’s Treasure Truck brings deals on wheels to the UK

If I said the words “Christmas” and “truck,” what would you think of? The Coca-Cola advert, possibly? Well, this holiday season Amazon hopes you’ll think about its “Treasure Truck” instead. It’s a big blue machine that will be touring London, Manchester and other parts of the UK. Inside are special deals that you can only buy through the Amazon app. Here’s how it works: You text “truck” to 87377, then wait for a message detailing the day’s “treasure.” If you like it, you can buy it through the app (under Programs and Features, followed by Treasure Truck) and pick it up in town.

It’s all rather silly, and not very efficient for the consumer — you have to put in the legwork, after all, to find the truck and retrieve your package. Amazon says it’ll be worth your while, however, because the “treasure” will include exclusive items including “trending tech, seasonal must-haves, delicious food, favourites from local businesses, amazing deals on limited edition items” and more. There will also be a “delight squad” to meet you in the cold and the occasional celebrity appearance, as well as games and seasonal events. Think of it like a Santa’s Grotto on wheels — if Jeff Bezos was Saint Nicholas and the North Pole was a money pool in Seattle.

Source: Amazon (Press Release)

Proposed Senate bill could send execs who conceal breaches to jail

A re-introduced Senate bill is addressing a timely topic, by making it a crime — punishable by up to five years in prison — if companies knowingly conceal a breach of customer information. After a slew of cyber attacks (like the one on Equifax) and news that Uber concealed a breach impacting some 57 million people, Sen. Bill Nelson, the ranking Democrat on the commerce committee, is reviving a bill he tried to pass during the last session called the “Data Security and Breach Notification Act (PDF).”

If it becomes law, then it would overrule the many statewide laws regulating breach notifications by establishing a nationwide standard. There’s a requirement for companies to notify customers within 30 days, along with the potential criminal penalties. It also directs the FTC to develop standards businesses must follow if they collect customer information, like naming a person in charge of information security, establishing a process to identify vulnerabilities, have a process for the disposal of information, and other items in that vein.

In a statement, Nelson said “Congress can either take action now to pass this long overdue bill or continue to kowtow to special interests who stand in the way of this commonsense proposal. When it comes to doing what’s best for consumers, the choice is clear.”

In 2015 Nelson’s bill was one of several introduced to deal with the issue of protecting customers from these leaks and it’s likely that it will again have company. Splits, mostly along party lines, over concerns of privacy, and potential over-regulation are some of the reasons legislation didn’t pass then and could prevent that from happening again.

Source: Senator Bill Nelson, Data Security and Breach Notification Act (PDF)