From drones to bionic arms, here are 8 examples of amazing mind-reading tech

Elon Musk is a firm believer that brain-computer interfaces will be a big part of how we interact with computers in the future. But make no mistake: Mind-reading machines are here already. As science fiction writer William Gibson has noted, “The future is already here — it’s just not evenly distributed.”

Without further ado, then, here are eight examples of amazing mind-reading tech being explored in some of the world’s most exciting research labs.

Mind-reading hearing aids

kzenon / 123RF Stock Photo

Hearing aids are amazing inventions, but they run into problems in certain scenarios, such as crowded rooms where multiple people are speaking at the same time. One possible solution? Add in a dose of mind-reading.

That’s the broad idea behind a so-called “cognitive hearing aid” developed by researchers at the Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science. The device is designed to read brain activity to determine which voice a hearing aid user is most interested in listening to, and then focusing in on it. It’s still in the R&D phase, but this could be a game-changer for millions of deaf or hard of hearing people around the world.

“Working at the intersection of brain science and engineering, I saw a unique opportunity to combine the latest advances from both fields, to create a solution for decoding the attention of a listener to a specific speaker in a crowded scene which can be used to amplify that speaker relative to others,” Nima Mesgarani, an associate professor of electrical engineering, told Digital Trends.

Future interrogation techniques

Ken Jones/University of Toronto

Want an idea of what future interrogation scenarios might look like? Researchers at Japan’s Ochanomizu University have developed artificial intelligence that’s capable of analyzing a person’s fMRI brain scans and providing a written description of what they have been looking at. Accurate descriptions can extend to the complexity of “a dog is sitting on the floor in front of an open door” or “a group of people standing on the beach.”

Ichiro Kobayashi, one of the researchers on the project, said that there are no plans to use it as the basis for a supercharged lie detector… just yet, at least. “So far, there are not any real-world applications for this,” he told Digital Trends. “However, in the future, this technology might be a quantitative basis of a brain-machine interface.”

Another project from neuroscientists at Canada’s University of Toronto Scarborough was able to recreate the faces of people that participants had previously seen.

Next-gen bionic prostheses

Bionic prostheses have made enormous strides in recent years — and the concept of a mind-controlled robot limb is now very much a reality. In one example, engineers at Johns Hopkins built a successful prototype of such a robot arm that allows users to wiggle each prosthetic finger independently, using nothing but the power of the mind.

Perhaps even more impressively, earlier this year a team of researchers from Italy, Switzerland, and Germany developed a robot prosthesis which can actually feed sensory information back to a user’s brain — essentially restoring the person’s sense of touch in the process.

“We ‘translate’ information recorded by the artificial sensors in the [prosthesis’] hand into stimuli delivered to the nerves,” Silvestro Micera, a professor of Translational Neuroengineering at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne School of Engineering, told Digital Trends. “The information is then understood by the brain, which makes the patient feeling pressure at different fingers.”

Early warning epilepsy warnings

For people with epilepsy, seizures can appear to come out of nowhere. Unchecked, they can be extremely dangerous, as well as traumatic for both the sufferer and those people around them. But mind-reading tech could help.

Researchers at the University of Melbourne and IBM Research Australia have developed a deep learning algorithm which analyzes the electrical activity of patients’ brains and greatly improves seizure prediction.

“Our hope is that this could inform the development of a wearable seizure warning system that is specific to an individual patient, and could alert them via text message or even a fitbit-style feedback loop,” Stefan Harrer, an IBM Research Australia staff member who worked on the recent study, told Digital Trends. “It could also one day be integrated with other systems to prevent or treat seizures at the point of alert.”

Treating impulsive behavior

In not dissimilar work, researchers from Stanford University School of Medicine have developed mind-reading tech that could be used to moderate dangerously impulsive behavior.

Their system watches for a characteristic electrical activity pattern in the brain which occurs prior to impulsive actions, and then applies a quick jolt of targeted electricity. (No, it’s not as painful as that makes it sound!)

“This is the first example in a translatable setting that we could use a brain machine interface to sense a vulnerable moment in time and intervene with a therapeutic delivery of electrical stimulation,” Dr. Casey Halpern, assistant professor of neurosurgery, told Digital Trends. “This may be transformative for severely disabling impulse control disorders.”

Controlling virtual reality

University of Michigan

Imagine if it was possible to navigate through a virtual reality world without having to worry about any handheld controller. That’s the idea behind a project by tech company Neurable and VR graphics company Estudiofuture. They’re busy developing the technology that will make brain-controlled virtual reality a… well, real reality.

Neurable’s custom headset monitors users’ brain activity using head-mounted electrodes to determine their intent. While there are limitations (it’s not ideal for typing or navigating menus), it could nonetheless be invaluable for making fields like VR gaming even more immersive than they already are.

Mind-reading drones

When we control a vehicle, it’s important that our ability to manipulate its controls are as close as possible to our ability to perceive potential obstacles. In other words, we see something; we process it; our brain tells our hands to turn the wheel. Wouldn’t it be a whole lot easier if we just cut out the middleman?

That’s the concept behind neural interfaces which make it possible to steer drones (or even swarms of drones) using nothing more than our thoughts. Back in 2016, the University of Florida made headlines when it organized the world’s first ever brain-controlled drone race. Participants donned electroencephalogram headsets powered by brain-computer interface (BCI) technology, and then flew drones around a course using only their brainwaves.

While there’s still work to go, this could potentially be a useful method of rethinking the way in which future vehicles are piloted. Speaking of which…

The brainy way to drive a car

So you’ve got a new possible means of controlling a vehicle using brainwaves, but it’s not quite ready for prime time just yet. What do you test it on? Driving a car, of course — with the passengers inside. At least, that was the basis for an intriguing (if terrifying) experiment carried out by carmaker Renault late last year.

The company recruited three willing participants and gave them the opportunity to work together to mentally pilot a modified Renault Kadjar SUV. One person controlled the car’s left turns, another controlled its right turns, and the third handled its acceleration.

No, this is unlikely to make it to our roads any time soon, but it’s certainly a memorable tech demo. Even if, quite frankly, we’d rather walk to pick up our groceries!

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After the San Bernardino iPhone fiasco, lawmakers introduce the Secure Data Act

Lawmakers introduced the Secure Data Act on Friday: a new bill that prevents law enforcement and surveillance agencies from forcing companies to insert backdoor entrances into their products and services. The bill was presented by U.S. Representatives Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) along with four co-sponsors. 

“U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies have requested, required, and even sought court orders against individuals and companies to build a ‘backdoor,’ weakening secure encryption in their product or service to assist in electronic surveillance,” Lofgren said in a press release. 

Why is this bill needed? A prime example would be the fiasco between the FBI and Apple over an iPhone 5C. The FBI recovered the phone from one of the shooters in the San Bernardino attack at the end of 2015, but couldn’t unlock the device. After turning to the National Security Agency to break into the phone with no success, the FBI then demanded Apple to create a version of iOS to install on the device packing a backdoor. Agents could then bypass the phone’s 10-try PIN entry screen.

Apple refused. 

“In the wrong hands, this software — which does not exist today — would have the potential to unlock any iPhone in someone’s physical possession,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said. “The FBI may use different words to describe this tool, but make no mistake: Building a version of iOS that bypasses security in this way would undeniably create a backdoor. And while the government may argue that its use would be limited to this case, there is no way to guarantee such control.” 

The battle grew ugly, incorporating a court order against Apple under the All Writs Act of 1789 and pressure by the U.S. Department of Justice. Apple offered four methods to access the iPhone 5C data, but the FBI instead chose to request that Apple develop malware for this one specific device, granting access to the phone’s contents. 

Eventually the government dropped its court case against Apple after the FBI hired hackers to create a tool that exploited a zero-day vulnerability in iOS. With the tables turned, Apple wanted to know how the FBI cracked the iPhone. But even lawsuits filed under the Freedom of Information Act couldn’t persuade federal judge Tanya Chutkan to release the details, citing possible theft of the tool and a target on the third-party hackers. 

“FBI officials did not pursue available technical solutions to access Farook’s iPhone because the FBI preferred obtaining a precedent-setting court judgement compelling Apple to weaken their product encryption,” Lofgren said on Friday. “It is well-documented that encryption backdoors put the data security of every person and business using the products or services in question at risk.” 

Lofgren also said that backdoors created for law enforcement and intelligence surveillance are “vulnerabilities available for hackers to exploit.” He points to the Recording eXpress call recording suite developed by Nice Systems, which included an undocumented backdoor account. This hidden entry granted hackers full access to the system and listened to recorded calls without authorization. 

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Master JavaScript and learn to code like a pro for only $29!

JavaScript is the engine that powers all modern browser, like Chrome and Firefox, and learning this dynamic language is your ticket to a career in front-end development, building frameworks and libraries. Alongside HTML and CSS, Javascript is among the three core language of the internet. Think of it as the Batman in the internet’s Trinity. Learning it is invaluable, especially if you’re looking for a career in development of any kind.

Learning in a classroom setting can be boring and taking all these extraneous electives and requirements that colleges and universities have is costly, time-consuming, and annoying (no, I don’t want to take Drama 1001; I want to learn JavaScript. I don’t care if this year’s musical is “Anything Goes”!). So you need courses that you can take on your own time and you need courses that start from scratch, especially if you’re not 100% about your career path.

Lucky for you, Android Central Digital Offers has the Essential JavaScript Coding Bundle. It features 11 courses on JavaScript and beyond, to which you’ll receive lifetime access. So if you only have time to learn JavaScript in your spare time, you can, and it can take years if you want. And why pay over $900 for these courses like you would elsewhere? Instead, pay only $29 at Android Central Digital Offers, a savings of 96%!

You’ll learn the ins and outs of JavaScript, from web development using popular frameworks to improving the efficiency of JavaScript code developing mobile apps using Angular. If you have any interest in learning JavaScript, now is the time to do it and Android Central Digital offers is the place to get the courses you need, and for only $29.

Whether you want to dive headfirst into JavaScript or you just want to dip a toe in the water, don’t go paying over $900 for the courses you need to get you going. And why have those courses be finite? Get lifetime access to the Essential JavaScript Coding Bundle for only $29! Only at Android Central Digital Offers!

See at Android Central Digital Offers

Google’s making it easier to understand and manage user data it collects

These changes will go into effect May 25.

Over the past couple weeks, you’ve likely gotten emails from a number of website and apps you use regarding updates to their privacy policies. Europe will soon launch its new General Data Protection Regulation (aka the GDPR) to give people more rights over their online data, and Google recently shared all of the steps it’s taken to ensure it complies with the new law.

First and foremost, Google’s updating the way its privacy policy is presented. Although the policy itself is remaining the same, it’s now much easier to understand. You can browse through the policy by certain categories, a “clearer language” is used, and Google’s added videos and images to give you a visual of what you’re reading.

Additionally, Google is also expanding the controls it gives its users for managing the way their data is collected and handled –

As part of our GDPR compliances efforts, we’ve improved both the controls and the clarity of information in My Account so that people are better informed about how and why their data is collected.

Being able to download and transfer copies of your data is another big point for the GDPR, and Google’s addressing this head on, too. The company’s data download tool already allows you to download and save your info from Photos, Drive, Calendar, Play Music, and Gmail, but Google notes it’s expanding this to additional services. Similarly, a tool will be added for scheduling downloads and the Data Transfer Project in GitHub makes it easier for app developers to allow users to transfer their account info to another service.

Along with all this, Google also announced that it’s bringing its Family Link parental control suite to the EU, is giving publishers more tools for managing ads on their sites, and has –

Now further improved our privacy program, enhancing our product launch review processes, and more comprehensively documenting our processing of data, in line with the accountability requirements of the GDPR.

All of these changes will go into effect on May 25, 2018.

Learn more about what’s changing

Icon Pack Studio means never having gaps in your app drawer again

App drawers have always been a mess, and Icon Pack Studio is the closest anyone’s come to fixing it.

Adaptive icons and icon packs try to make our app drawers and docks look uniform, consistent, and beautiful, but they both have their limits. Where they fail, however, Icon Pack Studio not only succeeds but thrives. Whether you just want your apps to have a consistent look and feel or you want to create an icon pack that perfectly suits your budding themes, Icon Pack Studio is a fantastic tool to keep in your toolkit.

Even the best icon packs leave gaps. There are millions of apps in Google Play, to say nothing of third-party app stores, and it’s impossible for icon makers to make specialized icons for them all in their packs. Icon masks help smooth over the gaps an icon pack can leave in your app drawer, and Icon Pack Studio helps users make an icon mask just the way they want it.

You go through the basic features when initially setting up your icon pack in Icon Pack Studio: picking a shape, a stroke, how big or small you want the logos in your icons to be, giving everything a color, adding some basic effects. It’s once you’ve named your pack that you can get into the full editor and start doing some really cool things with your icon pack:

• Don’t want your icon pack to have a shape behind it? Resize the Background to 0 and you’ll have a sweet monocolor icon pack, like a color-changable Whicons pack.
• Want see-through icons? The compositing options for Logo allow you to make semi-clear or completely clear logos in your icons?
• Want your icons to match your theme? Icon Pack Studio can pull colors from your wallpapers — just like Action Launcher’s Quicktheme — or even pull colors from your original app icons, making the Facebook app blue, Hangouts green, and so on. Pulling the app colors isn’t always perfect, but the wallpaper colors are usually pretty dead on.
• An update this week also gave Icon Pack Studio a new option for color-picking: hex color input, so that you can match your colors precisely with other elements of your theme.
• Use textures to create unique metallic packs, camo packs, and geometric packs. The scalloped pattern makes for a cool mermaid icon pack. Many of the FX like this are part of the Material Bundle, a $2.49 upgrade that turns Icon Pack Studio up to 11.

Once you’ve made an icon pack, you still need to apply the icon pack. If you’re using Smart Launcher 5 you can do this pretty much instantly — after all, Icon Pack Studio is made by the Smart Launcher team. If you’re using another launcher, Icon Pack Studio will export your icon pack as a separate app that can be installed and applied like a regular icon pack.

The export and install process is fairly painless, though you can only have one exported icon pack installed at a time, as every pack from Icon Pack Studio exports and installs as an app with the same name: Exported Icon Pack Studio. Since most launchers can only use one icon pack at a time, that’s not really a problem, but if you bounce back and forth a lot between themes, be prepared to come back and re-export each time you switch — or consider switching to Smart Launcher.

If you’re a themer that like to share your setups with others, Icon Pack Studio also got a heck of a lot more alluring with its last update, which allows you to Share the settings of one of your packs to someone else with Icon Pack Studio so they can import it and apply it in a few easy clicks. We’ll cover that next week in our new Deadpool theme!

Icon Pack Studio is a great tool for building icon packs that perfectly pair with your wallpapers, and it’s also a great tool for Smart Launcher to try and improve its functionality and image as a theming launcher. Whether you just want an app drawer that is completely consistent or you want icons that match each and every theme perfectly, Icon Pack Studio is for you.

Download Icon Pack Studio (Free, $2.49)

This AmazonBasics 50-mile indoor HDTV antenna is only $21

Cut the cord and save even more.

This AmazonBasics 50-mile indoor HDTV antenna is down to its lowest price ever. It regularly sells for $28 and has only dropped from that price once before, but even that previous drop didn’t go as low as this one. This price drop makes it only $1 more than the 35-mile version.

The 50-mile range is helpful particularly for people who don’t live in urban centers. You want to make sure your antenna can reach the signals coming from the nearest broadcast tower. This antenna lets you pick up channels like ABC, NBC, PBS, Fox, and more. It has black and white sides, and it can be painted over if you would like it to be a different color. The coaxial cable is 16 feet long. Use this map of DTV signals from the FCC to make sure this antenna works for you.

If you want to go all-in on cutting the cord, you can get a month of DIRECTV NOW and a Roku Streaming Stick for just $35 or your first 3 months of service for $30 if you’re a new customer.

See at Amazon

Android P’s gestures are a jagged pill you should learn to swallow

The new gestures in Android P aren’t great, but they’re a good start.

Imagine if, in June of last year, Apple had released the first iOS 11 beta with the option to swipe up on the bottom of the iPhone 7 series to go home. Continue engaging your imagination to consider that Apple’s iPhone X, once it shipped, opened the iOS multitasking menu with a default swipe up, requiring a second shorter swipe to finally land on the home screen.

People would have lost their minds.

That’s because iOS has held a core belief that the home button, or now the home gesture, should do exactly that: it should go home. The button and subsequent gesture inform Apple’s prime directive around the iPhone: that its users should always be able to reset the interaction and return home. Of course, throughout the years Apple has expanded and complicated that core belief — double-tapping the home button opened the multitasking window, and when 3D Touch was introduced in 2016, larger iPhone models could hard-press on the edge of the screen to quickly switch between apps. Complication begets confusion, so Apple, with the iPhone X, decided to reset everything all over again.

The iPhone X’s gestures are certainly not free of complication — swiping down from the right side of the notch to access quick settings is incredibly inconvenient — but they achieve the recreation of Apple’s prime user experience directive: the easiest gesture returns home.

I bring this up because when Google introduced its new pill-shaped gesture area on Android P’s first public beta, it was immediately apparent that Google was not aiming to recreate the simplicity, or even the convenience, of its decade-old three-button navigation scheme. Swiping up does not, in fact, go to the home screen but to the multitasking menu. Swiping up again, and only from that in-between state, reaches the app drawer. Indeed, reaching the home screen requires tapping the pill, something that’s not at all obvious from its shape, or from precedent set by Apple and the rest of the industry.

Google doesn’t need to copy Apple’s gestures, or parrot webOS or BlackBerry 10, to be considered successful at this.

Now, I’m not suggesting that Google reproduce Apple’s gestures — it would be impossible to limit Android’s navigation scheme to Apple’s limited set of gestures because Android has been saddled (or, more accurately, saddled itself) with a back button, that legacy bit of code that spared app developers from having to build a consistent method for returning to the previous screen. But Google took the opportunity, in switching to a gesture-based navigation modality, to empower its users to quickly switch between apps as quickly as possible.

For frenetic phone users (like me), this is a clear benefit, since there are two ways to access the multitasking menu and instantly cycle between apps. But such a dichotomy — tapping on the pill to go home and either swiping up or to the right to multitask — adds a layer of cognitive dissonance that won’t disappear (though it will abate) with frequent use.

I am keenly aware that our first interaction with Google’s redesigned navigation scheme comes as an opt-in toggle inside a developer beta, and that this is all subject to change — significantly. Indeed, Dave Burke, the head of Android’s vast engineering team, admitted that he’s already using a version of Android P with numerous usability upgrades over what was rolled out to developers and early adopters this week.

The change is all about simplification, but in the short-term, there will be growing pains.

Things will improve, and likely for the better, based both on user feedback and Google’s own internal guiding light, but it’s clear that a line has been drawn, and the company intends to pursue gestures to eventually replace navigation on all Android devices, not just its Pixels. And that’s a good thing.

In an article with CNET, Burke said the move to gestures was actually about simplifying the current scheme, mainly because the multitasking button — that bland-looking square to the right of the home key — continues to confuse many Android users. (It doesn’t help that Android’s biggest mover, Samsung, designs its own navigation keys, and they’re… not great.) “Android have those three buttons at the bottom: Home, back and something else. And it’s a little too much, a little too complicated. I think of it as like walking into a room with three doors and it’s like, ‘which door do I go in?’” he told CNET’s Jessica Dolcourt.

And then there’s the back button, which will always be there in some form, Burke admits. Whether it will always dangle to the left of the pill like a sore remains to be seen — some have suggested Google replace the back button with a unique gesture — but Android’s app legacy will require its existence in some form for years to come.

A few other tenets of the gesture-based navigation feel incomplete right now, such as the three-step process to launch multi-window mode, and the tuning of the snap gesture to switch between open windows. But I have faith those, along with the fundamentals of this design, will be fixed by the time Android P is released publicly later this summer.

What I’m less sure about is whether this combination of taps and swipes is the right move for Android in the long run, especially since it will take years, and plenty of insufferable experimentation by Google’s Android partners, to once again establish what resembles a consistent navigation standard.

Even today, we have companies like OnePlus, Huawei, and Motorola telling customers that to reclaim essential screen space they can master an esoteric set of finger wags that encourage platform lock-in and undermine Google’s own carefully-considered approach to Android design. But if Google can’t get it right, how can we expect the same of its less-capable counterparts?

Either way, gestures aren’t going anywhere, so if you’re raging against this virtual machine, try to get used to it. It only gets better from here.

Android P

• Android P: Everything you need to know
• Android P Beta hands-on: The best and worst features
• All the big Android announcements from Google I/O 2018
• Will my phone get Android P?
• How to manually update your Pixel to Android P
• Join the Discussion

Google Drive: How to upload, download, view, and share files and documents

How do I use Google Drive on Android?

Google Drive is one of the handiest cloud storage services around, giving you 15GB of free space, which you can access from just about any device with an internet connection. The age of USB thumb drives is over.

When you set up your Android phone, you would have been prompted to add your Google account, which is all you need to use Google Drive. Here’s how to set up your personal Google Drive and use some of its main functions.

• How to add an account to your Google Drive on Android
• How to upload files to your Google Drive on Android
• How to view files in your Google Drive on Android
• How to share files from your Google Drive on Android
• How to view files that were shared with you via Google Drive on Android
• How to download a file from Google Drive
• How to check your storage in Google Drive on Android
• How to delete files from your Google Drive on Android
• How to upload files from your home computer to Google Drive

How to add an account to your Google Drive on Android

If you’ve already set up your Gmail account on your phone, then you’ll just have to launch Google Drive and perform steps 1-3 below. If you’d like to add another account, like a work email address, continue on after step 3.

Launch Google Drive from your home screen or from the app drawer.
Tap the next arrow in the bottom right corner through the start screens.
Tap Done in the bottom right corner of your screen.

Tap the menu button in the top left corner of your screen. It looks like ☰.

Tap the dropdown arrow next to the current account that’s associated with your Google Drive.
Tap Add account.

Tap the type of account you’d like to use. You can even use Twitter!

Enter your security measure if you have a pattern lock or PIN lock on your phone.
Enter your email address or login credentials, depending on what type of account you chose to add.
Tap Next.

Type in your Password and tap Next in the bottom right corner.

Tap Accept.
Tap the circle next to a payment option.

Tap Continue.

The account will now be added to your phone and can be used with other Google apps, like Gmail, Docs, Sheets, and more!

How to upload files to your Google Drive on Android

You can upload Microsoft Word documents, Google Docs, photos from your Gallery, and tons more!

Find the document on your phone that you’d like to upload to Google Drive. In this example, we’re using a photo from the Gallery.
Tap the share button. It’ll usually look like a left-pointing triangle, with a dot at each point.

Tap Save to Drive.

Tap Allow if prompted to allow Google Drive access to your files.

Add a title to the document if you’d like and tap Save in the bottom right corner of your screen.

Your file will now be uploaded to your Google Drive where you can view it from any device on which you can access Google.

How to view files in your Google Drive on Android

Viewing your files in Google Drive on Android is as easy as launching the app from your home screen or app drawer. That’s it! When you launch the app, you’ll be brought to your Drive with all of your files right there for you to scroll through and view. Just tap a file to open it.

You can search for files by name by tapping the search icon (usually looks like a magnifying glass) and typing the name of the file you’d like to view.

How to share files from your Google Drive on Android

You can share any file from your Google Drive, either by sending the physical file or by sharing a link that will allow someone to view the file in your Google Drive (they won’t be able to see anything else).

Launch Google Drive from your home screen or from the app drawer.
Tap the more button on the file you want share. It looks like three vertical dots.
You have two ways to share your file:

• Tap Share link to send someone a link to this file in your Google Drive.
• Tap Send file to send someone the physical file.

Tap a sharing method. You can share files via email, Facebook, messaging, and much more!

Now you can just share the file or the link via the method you’ve chosen normally. If you’re sending it as a message, just tap the send button like you would for a text message. If you’re sharing it via email, you can add a message and add multiple recipients, just like normal!

How to view files that were shared with you via Google Drive on Android

If you have notifications for Google Drive turned on (which they usually are by default), you can just tap the notification and it’ll open right to the file that’s been shared with you. If you dismissed the notification by mistake or just didn’t get one, here’s how to view files that have been shared with you!

Launch Google Drive from your home screen or from the app drawer.
Tap the menu button on the top left of your screen. It looks like ☰.
Tap Shared with me.

Tap the file you’d like to view.

How to download a file from Google Drive

If you’re transferring files via Google Drive and want to save a hard copy to your phone, you just have to download the file.

Launch Google Drive from your home screen or from the app drawer.
Tap the more button on the bottom right of the file thumbnail. It’s the three vertical dots.

Tap Download.

The file will now be downloaded to your phone. You’ll receive a notification when it’s downloaded, and you can tap that to view it or look in your file storage.

How to check your storage in Google Drive on Android

Google Drive starts you off with 15GB for free, and if you find you’re saving a lot to your Google Drive, it’s probably best to keep an eye on your storage.

Launch Google Drive from your home screen or the app drawer.
Tap the menu button on the top left of your screen. It looks like ☰.

Tap Settings.

The first item in the Settings list is Storage and beneath it, it’ll tell you how much of your 15GB you have used. If you’re just using your Drive to save Google Docs, it’s going to take you a very long time to fill it up.

How to delete files from your Google Drive on Android

If you do find your Google Drive is getting a bit full because you’ve been using it to save photos, videos, music, and a ton of other stuff, you can choose to pay to upgrade your storage or take the frugal route and delete some stuff!

Launch Google Drive from your home screen or the app drawer.
Tap the more button on the file you’d like to delete. It’s the three vertical dots in the bottom right corner of the thumbnail.

Tap Remove, which is at the bottom of the options.

The file will now be removed from your Google Drive, but you can always re-upload it if you need to.

How to upload files from your home computer to Google Drive

Google Drive is also a great place to store documents and other files that you created on your desktop computer. You can either do a one-time backup, or set your folders to synchronize to Google Drive.

Open the Google Drive web site.
Click on New.
Click on File upload or Folder upload, whichever is appropriate.
Select the file or folder you’d like to upload, then click open.
When the files or folders are down uploading, there will be a notification in the lower right corner of the screen.

This was a one-time upload, but setting up the synchronization is also easy!

Download Google Drive Backup and Sync from this website.
Click on the installation file. You will need administrator rights for your computer to install the software.

Once the installation is finished, click on the cloud icon in the lower-right corner of your screen.

Sign in with your email address, password and two-factor authentication method.

Select the libraries and folders you would like to synchronize to Google Drive.

Select the Google Drive folders you would like to synchronize to your computer.

That’s it! Now your computer files will automatically backup to the cloud, where they’ll be safe and sound.

This article was updated in May 2018 with information about uploading files from your home computer to Google Drive.

Google’s now forcing OEMs to update devices with ‘regular’ security patches

Good move, Google.

Google I/O is always home to a lot of announcements, and while the biggest ones usually come from the opening keynote, there are little nuggets to be found throughout the smaller breakout sessions over the week.

As spotted by XDA Developers, there was one particularly interesting statement that came out of Google’s “What’s new in Android security” talk.

During it, David Kleidermacher, Android’s head of security, said the following:

We’ve also worked on building security patching into our OEM agreement. Now this will really lead to a massive increase in the number of devices, and users, receiving regular security patches.

Some OEMs such as Essential and Sony have shown a good track record for updating their phones with security patches on a timely basis, but other brands have a tendency to keep users waiting and waiting.

Kleidermacher didn’t explain what exactly “regular” updates mean, but by requiring OEMs follow through with this, we should hopefully see many more smartphones running the latest patches compared to what we’ve got right now.

Google I/O 2018: All the big announcements!

Best Bands for the Samsung Gear Fit 2 in 2018

Update the look of your Gear Fit 2 with these stylish band options!

The Samsung Gear Fit 2 is a pretty good fitness band that includes a feature typically found on smartwatches: the ability to swap out the 22mm bands for other colors or styles.

If you prefer to wear yours 24/7, having a couple extra bands can help you accessorize your Gear Fit 2, whether you’re attending a formal affair or just like to spice things up with a fresh splash of color. There’s a number of great, affordable options out there, so let’s dive in!

• MoKo Soft Silicone Replacement Sport Bands
• Moretek Fit 2 Wrist Straps
• V-Moro Metal Replacement bands
• Maxjoy Metal Replacement Straps
• MDW Security Clasps

MoKo Soft Silicone Replacement Sports Bands

MoKo offers a wide range of color options for their silicone straps for the Gear Fit 2. Each strap is adjustable to fit small or large wrists (4.96″ – 8.38″) via the same style of metal plug used on the strap that came with the Gear Fit 2. Bands can be swapped in and out quickly with the one-button quick release for locking the watch band, making it convenient to have a fresh strap to swap out after a sweaty workout.

With a price of only $11 compared to Samsung’s stock replacement for the black, you can economically afford to get a couple of these in your favorite colors, then keep them in a bit of a rotation so your wrist always feeling fresh and looking fine.

See styles at Amazon

Moretek Fit 2 Wrist Straps

Moretek offers two different styles of wristbands for the Gear Fit 2: a more traditional strap available in 12 different color and pattern options and a rugged strap (pictured) that offers impact protection for your tracker’s watch face. Everything is made of a skin-friendly silicone material and held on your wrist with a traditional watch strap buckle. The rugged bands are definitely going to add some bulk to your wrist, but whether you’re playing a high-impact sport or simply prone to banging it against doorways, that extra protection might save you from incidental damage.

Pricing starts around $12.

See at Amazon

V-Moro Metal Replacement bands

If you’re after a metal strap option for a more stylish look, V-Moro has you covered with two distinct styles — a classic metal link band and a Milanese loop band featuring a magnetic clasp. Both styles are available in silver or black, with the Milanese band (pictured) sold in small and large sizes, so choose accordingly.

The metal band includes a tool for adding and removing links for adjusting sizes. Both are great for incorporating your Gear Fit 2 as an accessory in a professional wardrobe. V-Moro also offers a medium-sized silicone strap on the same Amazon listing. In stark contrast to the stylish metal offerings, these are extremely utilitarian and offer that “classic” fitness tracker look, with five color options to choose from. Get yours starting at $20.

See styles at Amazon

Maxjoy Metal Replacement Straps

Not everyone digs the rubber strap look. While it might be ideal for getting sweaty in the gym, if you’re planning to wear your Gear Fit 2 out on the town you might be after a bit more of a classy look.

Maxjoy has a line of stylish metal replacement straps for your Gear Fit 2 that included Milanese loop bands as well as metal link bands made of high-quality stainless steel. The Milanese bands are available in black, silver, and rose gold for just $17, or choose between a black or silver metal link band for just $20. All bands are backed by a 100% satisfaction guarantee and a 12-month warranty which means you can buy with confidence.

See at Amazon

MDW Security Clasps

Not digging the band recommendations above? We get it. Frankly, it’s quite alright to love the band that came with your Gear Fit 2. However, there have been reports of bands coming unclasped or otherwise falling off people’s wrists. Maybe this has happened to you.

Allow us to share this recommendation from the comments. You can get a 7-pack of these colorful security clasps for just $6 that fit over the band and ensures your band never pops off. They should offer the extra protection from your Fit 2 falling off your wrist while also letting you add a splash of color.

See at Amazon

How do you accessorize your Gear Fit 2?

Are you a band swapper? What’s your favorite style for your Gear Fit 2? Let us know in the comments!

Updated May 2018: Updated pricing and buy links for our selections. These are still your best options for accessorizing your Gear Fit 2!