Contact Management App ‘Cardhop’ Gains Support for Smart Groups, Printing Options and More Languages

Cardhop, the popular contacts management app from Flexibits, makers of Fantastical, today received its first major update to introduce new features and new functionality.

For those unfamiliar with Cardhop, it’s designed to turn the standard Apple Contacts app on the Mac into an interactive communications hub, providing you with tools to email, message, tweet, and interface with all of your contacts from one central location.

Today’s 1.1 update to Cardhop introduces Smart Groups, a feature that lets you create a group of contacts based on specific search criteria that updates automatically from details like company, location, link domains, and more.

So, for example, if you add several contacts from the same company, you can have them all grouped up in one easy to access spot.

With printing support, you can print customized envelopes, labels, and lists of contacts, and there’s now an option to include a timestamp when you use Cardhop’s “Notes” feature to add details about a contact.

There are new template preferences for customizing fields and labels for contacts, and when you type into a name field, you’ll now see suggestions for other names in your contacts list.

Finally, today’s update introduces full support for French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Japanese, plus it includes a range of bug fixes and performance improvements.

“We’re very excited to present our first major update for Cardhop,” said Michael Simmons, Co-founder of Flexibits. “With 5 new languages, printing, smart groups, and much more, Cardhop is even more so the contacts app you’ll actually want to use.”

Cardhop for Mac can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for $19.99. [Direct Link] It’s also available from the Flexibits website, where you can get a free 21 day trial to test it out.
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Notch vs. Notch: LG’s New G7 ThinQ Compared to iPhone X

LG is today unveiling its newest flagship smartphone, the LG G7 ThinQ, at an event in New York City. Before the new device’s debut, MacRumors had a chance to go hands-on with it, and we thought we’d compare it to Apple’s flagship smartphone, the iPhone X.

You see, the G7 ThinQ is the first smartphone with an iPhone X-style front notch from a well-known manufacturer that sells devices in the United States. So how does the G7 ThinQ measure up to the iPhone X? Read on and watch the video to find out.

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Other companies like Essential, Huawei, and Chinese manufacturers have previously launched smartphones with notch designs, but LG’s newest device is the highest-profile smartphone to get a notch, and it’s the first notched device that’s going to be widely available in stores aside from the iPhone X.

Because of the notch included at the top, LG’s G7 ThinQ looks quite similar to the iPhone X. As is the style these days, it features a glass and aluminum body, a smaller form factor, minimal bezel, and a 6.1-inch display that’s nearly edge to edge.

Unlike Apple, LG hasn’t quite mastered maximizing screen space. While the bottom of the iPhone X has no bezel, there’s a small chin on the G7 ThinQ. And, of course, at the top of the G7 ThinQ is the infamous notch, which allows LG to get more vertical screen space while still including front-facing camera equipment.

The LG G7 ThinQ has a smaller notch than the iPhone X, and that’s because the notch isn’t doing quite as much. The iPhone X notch houses the entire TrueDepth camera system that enables the secure Face ID biometric authentication that Apple uses, and the G7 doesn’t have an equivalent feature.

Sure, there’s a front-facing camera and an option to use face unlock, but it’s not the secure 3D-based facial recognition Apple uses – instead, it’s much less secure and can be used solely for unlocking the smartphone rather than verifying mobile payments or replacing passwords.

LG did do something with the notch that Apple didn’t – rather than forcing customers to embrace the design, LG gives customers the option to turn off the notch and hide it within a more traditional status bar.

LG’s ThinQ G7 is a decent Android device that has a premium look and feel and many of the features expected of flagship devices: a fingerprint sensor, 16-megapixel dual cameras, a dedicated assistant button (for summoning Google Assistant), water resistance, an AI camera feature to improve photos, and a powerful processor.

As with most smartphones, the question of whether it’s “better” than the iPhone X largely comes down to ecosystem preference. Those who enjoy the openness and customization available on the Android platform will prefer the G7 ThinQ to the iPhone X, while those who are committed to Apple’s ecosystem will see the iPhone X as the better device.

What do you think of the G7 ThinQ’s notched design and the overall trend toward embracing the notch as a way to maximize screen real estate? Let us know in the comments. Stay tuned to MacRumors because we’ll have a detailed comparison of the G7 ThinQ camera and the iPhone X camera coming.

Related Roundup: iPhone XBuyer’s Guide: iPhone X (Neutral)
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Hulu Announces Offline Download Feature Will Include Ads for Users on $7.99/Month Plan

During its Upfronts presentation in New York City today Hulu confirmed that users will be able to download content from the streaming service and onto their mobile devices. This will let subscribers watch shows and films when not near Wi-Fi or a reliable mobile data connection.

The streaming company also confirmed that its offline download solution will be an “ad-supported downloadable content experience” for subscribers of Hulu’s standard $7.99/month Limited Commercials plan. Those who pay for the $11.99/month No Commercials option will still be able to avoid ads offline.

According to TechCrunch, this means that Limited Commercials subscribers will download commercials along with their shows, and “customers won’t have the ability to fast-forward through these offline commercials.” As of now, Hulu has not announced which shows will be available for offline viewing, but it’s likely to be a limited assortment similar to Netflix’s feature for mobile devices.

Netflix originally launched offline viewing for many of its shows and some films in late 2016, opening up a new section on the iOS app for content specifically designated as “Available for Download.” Showtime followed in 2017 with an offline viewing feature that supports the service’s entire TV and movie catalog. Amazon, Starz, and Epix also support offline downloads, but HBO still lacks the ability. Hulu’s will be the first to include ads.

During the presentation, Hulu announced that it has reached 20 million subscribers across all of its business, including on-demand and Hulu with Live TV. That count is up from 17 million in January. Later this month, subscribers will also be able to tell Hulu to “stop suggesting” a show they don’t have any interest in with a new button. “We want you to be in control of the experience. If you don’t like something, you should be able to tell us,” said Hulu’s Head of Experience, Ben Smith.

In regards to a launch date for Hulu’s offline downloads, all the company said was that it will be available sometime during the “2018-2019 Upfront season,” which should mean within the next few weeks.

Tag: Hulu
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iPhone’s Market Share Grew Slightly Last Quarter Despite a Few Weeks of Galaxy S9 Availability

Apple’s share of the worldwide smartphone market grew slightly in the first three months of 2018, despite Samsung launching the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ in March, according to research firms IDC and Strategy Analytics.

Apple on Tuesday reported that it sold 52.2 million iPhones last quarter. Based on that, the research firms estimate that the iPhone accounted for 15.3 percent of smartphone shipments during the quarter, a slight increase from 14.5 percent in the year-ago period. Both percentages are averaged.

While the single-percentage-point growth is modest, the slight gain becomes more impressive when considering that the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ launched March 16 in several countries, a full two weeks prior to the quarter ending. Pre-orders of the devices began even earlier on March 2.

Samsung shipped 78.2 million smartphones last quarter, according to the research firms, but its estimated 22.6 to 23.3 percent market share was essentially unchanged from the year-ago quarter, despite the bumped-up Galaxy S9 launch. Last year, the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ were released April 21.

Samsung continues to lead the smartphone market in shipments, but it sells a variety of handsets at a wide range of price points. Apple typically ships fewer iPhones, but the company captured an estimated 87 percent of smartphone profits in the December quarter, according to research firm Canaccord Genuity.

Apple doesn’t disclose iPhone sales on a model-by-model basis, but given iPhone revenue increased 14 percent last quarter despite only a three percent rise in unit sales, the higher-priced iPhone X was likely a big factor.

Tags: Samsung, IDC, Strategy Analytics
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Sphero spin-off’s Misty II robot is now available for pre-order

Sphero spin-off Misty Robotics has officially announced the mass-produced version of the robot helper it showed off at CES this year. The cute little machine officially called Misty II still resembles its Wall-E like its predecessor, but it can actually do things unlike Misty I. Thanks to developers’ work on the original robot, it now comes with a set of capabilities and has a bunch of downloadable skills to choose from. It can move autonomously and respond to its environment, create a 3D map of its surroundings, recognize faces, respond to commands, charge itself and talk.

You can also create your own skills if you want: its visual block-based programming interface makes it easy to conjure up simple skills use, but you can also use JavaScript APIs to come up with more sophisticated ones. If you’re an experienced programmer/developer, you can add third-party services like Alexa and Google Assistant and modify it to create something entirely new — maybe even find a way to make it fold your laundry or do your taxes.

Misty Robotics has also launched a 30-day crowdfunding campaign, which makes the robot available for presale at 50 percent off. Its first 250 backers can get it for $1,499, while the next 1,150 buyers can get it for $1,599. The 14-inch, 6-pound machine’s components include a 3D sensor for mapping, a 4K Sony camera for facial and object recognition and sensors for obstacle avoidance. It’s powered by two Qualcomm SnapDragon processors and runs on Windows IoT Core and Android 7 operating systems.

While other companies had released cheaper robots in the past, Misty Robotics says Misty II “is the first, easily programmable robot offered at a consumer price point for developers, entrepreneurs, students and makers.” It believes the machine is the first step to putting a robot in every home and office and expects to start shipping orders on December 4th, 2018.

Misty founder Ian Bernstein said in a statement:

“At Misty, we are focused on creating the personal robot of the future that developers and makers can build upon as well as share skills and ideas for what a robot can be. Crowdfunding the Misty II robot aligns with our mission of building a community for developers and makers, and allows us direct access to our early backers for feedback and collaboration. We are excited to see what they build on Misty and then share with the larger community.”

Source: Misty Robotics

Hulu rivals Netflix with its own exclusive Dreamworks partnership

Back in January Hulu hit 17 million subscribers. Now it’s sailed past the 20 million mark, and to celebrate, has revealed a raft of upcoming plans for the platform. For a start, it’s expanded its slate of original series, confirming the arrival of Mindy Kaling’s Four Weddings and a Funeral, Ramy Youssef’s Ramy, plus Catch-22 from George Clooney and The First, starring Sean Penn. The Handmaid’s Tale has also been renewed for a third season.

Hulu is also tipped to become the exclusive streaming home of future Dreamworks Animation movies, thanks to its first ever multi-year deal with the studio. Starting in 2019, you’ll find the likes of How to Train Your Dragon and Trolls on the platform, plus classics such as Shrek and Shark Tale. And, naturally, the two companies will be working on series spin offs from these franchises. What this means for Netflix’s partnership with Dreamworks, though, is yet to be seen, although Netflix probably isn’t too worried, as it recently blew past the 125-million-subscriber mark.

And in decidedly ­un­-family-friendly content, Hulu has also partnered with Blumhouse Television for a year-round horror event series called Into The Dark. The first Friday of every month will see the arrival of a super-sized episode, inspired by that month’s major holiday and featuring a broad selection of filmmakers and actors.

Of course, all of this programming comes at a price, hence the launch of a couple of new advertising features. Later this year, Hulu will start displaying dynamically-inserted ads within Hulu Live TV, and has announced plans to become the first entertainment company to offer ad-supported downloadable content. So you can download your shows to watch on the go, but you won’t escape the advertising. This is slated for launch during Hulu’s 2018-2019 upfront season.

Facebook Messenger Update Shown Off in Images: Dark Mode, Simplified UI, and Custom Chat Bubbles

Yesterday during its F8 conference, Facebook announced that an update coming to Messenger would simplify the chat app and reduce the amount of visual clutter that had been added into the user interface over the last few years. The Next Web has shared images of this new update, showing off the cleaned up interface, a dark mode, and more.

Images via The Next Web
The updated Facebook Messenger greatly reduces the number of buttons on the bottom of the screen to just three, and moves the camera and call buttons to the top right of the UI. In the current app, the bottom row has five buttons for Home, People, Camera, Games, and Discover. As The Next Web pointed out, Facebook doesn’t appear to be removing any features from Messenger, so anything that appears missing is believed to be combined into another button.

Messenger will still open on a recent chat list, with circles of friends aligning the top of the screen that includes a + button to add to your Messenger Day story, the app’s Snapchat clone feature. When you click on a chat, the bottom-screen UI buttons shift to include options for chat bots, the camera, and emoji. In this screen, you’ll also be able to customize your chat with various color options and set what appears to be a shortcut to your favorite emoji.

During the keynote on the update, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the company knows its users want a “simple and fast experience” in a chat app, so it would be “taking this moment to completely redesign Messenger to focus on these ideas.” Facebook introduced a pared-down version called Messenger Lite in 2016, but it was only made available for Android devices and has yet to launch on iOS.

For the new update to the iOS Messenger app, Facebook said it’s coming “very, very soon.” Yesterday, the company also unveiled a “clear history” tool for ads and analytics, showed off a dating feature to rival Tinder, and launched a standalone VR headset “Oculus Go.”

Tags: Facebook, Facebook Messenger
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How to Take a Screenshot on the Samsung Galaxy S9

You need to know how to do this.

It’s one of the simplest features of a smartphone: capturing a screenshot. The basic function can be found on any phone out there, but each company does things slightly different and adds extras to make the screenshot process more powerful and useful. Samsung goes above and beyond on the Galaxy S9 and S9+ to give you multiple ways to capture a screenshot, plus extra tools to capture scrolling lists and make quick edits after capture.

Here are all the ways you can capture, edit and share screenshots on the Galaxy S9.

• Button combo screenshot
• Palm swipe screenshot
• Scrolling capture
• Bixby Voice

Button combo screenshot

This is the simplest way to capture a screenshot, and one that the most people will be familiar with.

Open the content on the screen you want to capture.
Press and hold the volume down button and power button for about 2 seconds.

• You’ll see the screen shrink in, and editing options will appear briefly on the screen.

If you want to edit the screenshot right after it’s captured, you can tap the bottom options to draw, crop or share it immediately.
If you miss those buttons, the screenshot will also be saved in the notification shade, where you can expand and tap the options to edit, share or delete it.

If you dismiss notifications, the screenshot can also still be found in Gallery or any other app you may use to manage photos, like Google Photos.

Palm swipe screenshot

Samsung also offers a secondary method for getting to the same exact screen shot options, using the edge of your hand to swipe across and activate the process.

Go to Settings, Advanced features and make sure that “Palm swipe to capture” is turned on.
Open the content on the screen you want to capture.
Place the side of the palm of your hand on the edge of the screen, and in one motion swipe it across the face of the phone.
The screenshot will be captured in the same way as above, with the same editing and sharing options at the bottom of the screen.

Scrolling capture

Whether you initiate a screenshot with the button combination or palm swipe, you’ll sometimes notice an extra option in that bottom edit bar: “scroll capture.” This option lets you automatically scroll (in apps that vertically scroll) and stitch together several screenshots into one super-tall screenshot.

Open the content on the screen you want to capture.

• Whatever app you have open must be able to vertically scroll — remember to start this process at the top of what you want to screenshot, since the scroll only goes downward.

Use the button combo or palm swipe to initiate screenshot.
Tap scroll capture at the bottom of the screenshot edit menu.
Continue to tap scroll capture until you’ve covered everything in the app that you wish to capture.
The extra-tall scrolling screenshot will save in the exact same way as any other — you can now edit, crop and share it.

Bixby Voice

Bixby Voice can actually be useful for taking a screenshot if you’re unable to grab the phone to do the button combination or swipe gesture.

Open the content on the screen you want to capture.
Press and hold the Bixby Button, or if you’ve configured it, say “Hey Bixby.”
With the interface activated, say “take a screenshot.”
The screenshot will automatically be saved to the Gallery, where you can then view, edit and share it.

• Note that with the Bixby method, you miss out on the instant edit capabilities of the other methods. You can, however, string together commands to for example “take a screenshot and share it to Twitter” if you want to get elaborate.

Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+

• Galaxy S9 and S9+: Everything you need to know!
• Galaxy S9 review: A great phone for the masses
• Complete Galaxy S9 and S9+ specs
• Galaxy S9 vs. Galaxy S8: Should you upgrade?
• Join our Galaxy S9 forums

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Update May 2018: There are a few ways to take screenshots, and we have them simply broken down here.

How (and when) to clear app cache or data on Android

Apps sometimes can misbehave. If it happens to you, here’s something to try.

Every Android smartphone has an application manager that you can get to through the settings menu. It’s usually in the top level somewhere, though it can vary a little by phone. But once you get to it, you’re at the heart of the matter. This is where you can see every application that’s installed on your phone or tablet. And it’s a handy place to clean things up a bit should they go wonky. Here’s what’s up:

Clearing the app cache

As you use applications, they start storing files for reference later. These files are stored in an app “cache.” For instance: When you’re using the Android Central app, it’ll save images and other pieces of the stories you’ve read so that they don’t have to be downloaded each and every single time the app needs them. This saves you time and data.

But maybe you want to clear an app’s cached data, either to regain some used space or to try to fix a misbehaving app. This is where you can do it. Just tap into the app, and then tap the “Clear cache” button.

The next time you use the app it will download everything it needs from the internet like it did the first time you used it. Clearing cached data does not clear other data like logins or saved games.

This often fixes things, especially when an app pulls its content from a website that always changing and adding more content. If this doesn’t work, move to the next step.

Clear app data — or resetting an app

Clearing app data is a little more drastic. You’re wiping the cache, but also clearing any and all settings that go along with that app. You’re basically starting that app over, from scratch, and it’ll behave as it did the first time you installed it. This is generally a last resort type of thing. If you clear app data on, say, the Facebook app, you’ll need to log back in. If you clear data on a game you’ve been playing, you’ll be back at the beginning, as if you’d never played it. (And let’s hope that game is properly saving your place to the cloud.)

Next, open the app and sign in or do anything else you need to get started using it. With no “old” data in place — either stored settings or cached — you’re essentially running the app for the first time again. See if your problem is resolved and if so you’re golden.

One nice thing to do if this fixes any weirdness with an app is let the developer know. It’s mighty hard to keep track of versions and data conversion and everything else about making and publishing a great app and they’ll appreciate the heads up if you found a bug that affects everyone.

When to clear cache or data …

So when should you clear an app’s cache manually? Chances are you’ll never need to. But should an app start to “feel” sluggish or otherwise start misbehaving, this is where I’d start. Clear the cache.

And should an app really go haywire — or if you just want to start it from scratch — you can go all out and clear its data and start over from the beginning. Just tap the “clear data” button. You’ll get a warning asking if that’s really what you want to do. Confirm that, and you’ve reset the app to scratch.

Update April 2018: This post has been updated to make sure the info is good with current versions of Android.

Here’s every device with Google Assistant built in

Google Assistant is available on your favorite devices. Here’s where you can use it!

Whether you prefer using it on your phone, tablet or with a speaker, Google Assistant is working its way into more and more of our gadgets. Smart speakers are ubiquitous at this point, but Assistant is also making its way into other appliances.

Here is every device with Google Assistant!

Your phone

The easiest way to use Google Assistant is to use your phone or tablet. Assistant is available for every Android phone running Android 6.0 Marshmallow and later — about 60% of all Android phones. Just hold down the home button, and ask away.

If iOS is your preferred mobile operating system (it’s OK, we still love you), you can also download and use Google Assistant on your iPhone and iPad. Because Assistant isn’t part of the operating system like it is with Android, you’ll need to manually open the Assistant app whenever you want to use it.

Download Google Assistant on the App Store (Free)

Your car

Android Auto has had access to voice commands since day one, but just received Google Assistant support a few months ago. In reality, the Assistant voice commands are limited to the few things the older voice commands already handled — starting navigation, handling notifications, and a few other specific features, so you don’t get too distracted from the road.

Your watch

One big draw for the dozens of people with a Wear OS watch is the ability to use Google Assistant right from their wrists. Lift your wrist, say “Hey Google,” and you’ll be able to ask questions, control your smart home, and do everything else that you could do if you were using Assistant on your phone.

Chromebooks

More specifically, a Chromebook. The Pixelbook is currently the only Chromebook with Assistant — even including a dedicated key to launch it — but there is evidence to suggest that Assistant will be rolling out to more Chromebooks in the near future.

Smart speakers

Google Home served as the launch vehicle for Assistant, and is still probably the most famous use case. As nice as the Google Home family is, there are speakers from third parties that may sound better, be cheaper, be portable, or just fit your decor better. The following manufacturers are making speakers with Google Assistant:

• JBL
• Sony
• Panasonic
• Onkyo
• Mobvoi
• Insignia
• Zolo

Your TV

If you have either of the excellent NVIDIA SHIELD TVs or one of Sony’s newer TV’s with Android TV built-in, you can use Assistant right on the big screen. The SHIELD TV’s remote and controller and the Sony TV’s remotes feature microphones that you can use to talk to Assistant. You can use your voice to control your home, browse your favorite YouTube channels or ask to watch shows and movies on Netflix.

Coming soon: Smart Displays

Smart speakers are great for small bits of information that can be spoken to you, but there are some things that are better represented with visual cues. You’ll be able to use the new Smart Displays for video calls, seeing your Nest camera feed, seeing the weather forecast, music playback with album art, and more. LG’s Smart Display is available for pre-order, so you won’t have much longer to wait for a dedicated Google Assistant screen.

More: These new Smart Displays include Google Assistant

What say you?

Where do you use Google Assistant the most? Let us know down below!

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