How to Use iOS 12’s New Do Not Disturb Options

In iOS 12, Apple has given users the tools to cut down on disturbances to get more time away from their devices if desired, and one of these new tools is an expanded set of Do Not Disturb options.

Thanks to these changes, there are more convenient options for using Do Not Disturb in iOS 12, and it’s also a lot smarter.

How to Get to the New Do Not Disturb Options

Your Do Not Disturb options in the Settings app are largely the same, with the new Do Not Disturb features housed in Control Center.

Open Control Center, through a right-side swipe downwards on the screen of an iPhone X or iPad or by swiping upwards from the Home button on other devices.
3D Touch or long press on the Control Center icon that looks like a moon, which is the icon for Do Not Disturb.
A 3D Touch or a long press brings up all of the Do Not Disturb options, which can be selected with a tap.
Do Not Disturb is a default widget within the Control Center and it’s always available, so it’s not an option that needs to be enabled through the Control Center customization options.

All of the Ways You Can Use Do Not Disturb in iOS 12

There are multiple new limited-time settings for Do Not Disturb in the Control Center, which automatically turn off after the specified time elapses.

• For one hour
• Until this evening (or afternoon/morning depending on the time – it’s generally a few hours)
• Until I leave this location
• Until this event ends (if you have a timed event set in your calendar)
• A single tap on the icon without selecting an option turns on Do Not Disturb until you tap it again.

Not all of these options will be visible at all times. If you’re not in a set location or you don’t have any events scheduled, these two options won’t appear. The first two, allowing you to set Do Not Disturb for an hour or until the evening/afternoon/morning are always available.

Underneath these options, there’s a “Schedule” button (see screenshot at top) that will open up the Settings app so you can set a specific time period for when you want Do Not Disturb to turn on. This is also where you can turn on Do Not Disturb at Bedtime, a feature that prevents notifications from displaying on the iPhone’s display at night.

Check out our Do Not Disturb at Bedtime how to for more details on this feature.

Managing Do Not Disturb Settings

Your general Do Not Disturb settings are available in the Settings app, which can be accessed by going to Settings > Do Not Disturb or through the above mentioned “Schedule” section of the No Not Disturb Control Center widget.

Most of these settings aren’t new, but we thought it would be useful to offer a quick primer on Do Not Disturb’s other settings alongside what’s new in iOS 12.

In the Settings app, you can enable or disable Do Not Disturb, set a specific time for Do Not Disturb to turn on and off, or enable Bedtime Mode.

You can also choose whether Do Not Disturb should mute calls and notifications only while the iPhone is locked or at all times, and there are options to select whether calls from certain people should bypass your Do Not Disturb settings. This section is also where you’ll find your Do Not Disturb While Driving options.

Related Roundup: iOS 12
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CARROT Weather Review: your forecast with a wicked sense of humor

There is no shortage of apps to get your weather from these days. To truly stand out your app has to do more than provide the forecast with a clean layout. CARROT Weather was able to accomplish this with a twisted sense of humor. Offering all of us meatbags a beautiful weather app with plenty of snark.

CARROT Weather has been a popular app on iOS for years now offering your forecast with a wicked sense of humor. It has recently been ported to Android and is a welcomed addition. While most weather apps simply focus on giving you as many stats as possible and differ mainly by their layout or user interface CARROT Weather took a different approach.

It sought to combine your weather with a computer personality that mocks current events, the weather, and often insults you. This refreshing take on checking your weather turns a mundane daily habit into a fun activity. Whereas in the past you would simply check the weather out of necessity. Now, you find yourself opening up CARROT Weather in anticipation of what insult or quip about the weather the AI has for you.

A malevolent weather AI that knows its limits

Not everyone has the same warped sense of humor and CARROT Weather is aware of this. Giving you the option to change how aggressive of a personality it has ranging from friendly, snarky, homicidal, and finally overkill which includes profanity.

Heads up, you might want to turn off the speech synthesizer before enabling overkill. The AI also has no filter when it comes to politics either. Offering you options here as well including liberal, conservative, centrist, libertarian, communist, and apolitical.

While CARROT Weather’s claim to fame is its snarky humor, it also doesn’t hurt that the app itself has a simple, clean, beautiful design. The top is reserved for the most important weather info with a charming scene that changes depending on the weather and from day to night.

A tap will dismiss the humorous message and reveal more weather stats and below is a 24-hour timeline. Clicking any of the hours in the timeline will reveal more information for that time period, and below that is an 8-day forecast. Tapping on the bottom weekly section provides you with another view with slightly more information.

Not simply content to insult you or provide you with your weather, CARROT Weather also includes a game. Tapping the arrow in the top right corner allows you to play the Secret Locations game. In this game you are given hints to secret locations and pressing down on the map shows you how close or far you are. It can be strangely addicting, fun to play, and is another way CARROT Weather sets itself apart.

Not all sunshine and rainbows

As fun as CARROT Weather is, it still has flaws and one of these is the subscription pay model. It is not uncommon for weather apps to serve ads with some providing the option to remove them with a fee or subscription. It’s always nice to have the option to pay to remove ads but I much prefer a one-time payment over the subscription model. Especially when it’s a $3.99 per year subscription or $0.99 per month.

In defense of the subscription model, the CARROT Weather developer says access to weather data is expensive and a one time fee would cause him to lose money meatbags. The subscription fee doesn’t just remove ads though. It also adds extra features such as a weather widget and time machine option to view weather in any location for the past 70 years.

Then there is the missing option to show the temperature in the status bar or weather in the notification tray. If you enjoy checking the weather radar then you’re out of luck here as well. No matter how much you pay or how much CARROT Weather makes you laugh, people who depend on these features will be unhappy.

Conclusion

When it comes down to it CARROT Weather isn’t the most informative weather app out there but it is one of the most entertaining ways to get your weather. That is if you don’t mind being insulted and have a bit of a twisted sense of humor. However, if you don’t like ads, subscription plans, crave more stats and info, or the weather in your notification shade then CARROT Weather might be a pass for you.

Download: CARROT Weather for Android

Some Samsung phones aren’t alerting users of app background processes

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Some Samsung phones are not listing Facebook apps in the App Permission Monitor, meaning users are not informed if those apps access certain permissions in the background.

Samsung’s App Permission Monitor is one of the headline features of Samsung’s implementation of Android 8.0 Oreo, and it works by notifying users when an app accesses resources, sensors, or permissions (like your phone’s camera or microphone) as a background process. In short, it keeps you informed as to what an app is doing when you might otherwise be unaware. Some users have noticed that certain apps are not appearing on the list of apps in App Permission Monitor — which means users won’t be alerted if those apps are accessing resources in the background.

According to one source, the issue seems to mainly affect apps from Facebook, with the main Facebook app, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram highlighted as being missing from certain users’ lists. We checked one of our Galaxy S8 units, and sure enough, Facebook wasn’t present on the App Permission Monitor list — but Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger all otherwise did appear on the list.

While this sounds suspect, there does seem to be a common link between those apps which are present and those which are not — whether or not the app was installed on the phone before sale. Facebook on our Galaxy S8 is not able to be uninstalled, only disabled, which usually means that this particular app was pre-installed on the Galaxy S8 when it arrived. Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp were all installed by a user, and so appear on the App Permission Monitor.

So does that mean that pre-installed Facebook apps have free rein to access anything on your phone? Not quite. Just because it’s not being monitored doesn’t mean it’s allowed access in the first place, and since Android 6.0 Marshmallow, Android has allowed users to pick and choose app permissions. If you’re worried about any app’s permissions, you can still head over to your Apps menu, select that app, and then tap Permissions to see what that app does and doesn’t have access to. Thankfully, this works regardless of whether an app was pre-installed or not.

If you want to check out your Samsung phone’s App Permission Monitor for yourself, you can find it by heading over to your Settings app, then hitting Lock screen and security > App permission monitor.

We have reached out to Samsung for comment, and will update if we hear back.

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Prisons are fighting back against contraband-dropping drones. Here’s how

Remember those old prison movies where contraband got snuck into prison hidden in a birthday cake? It turns out that things have moved on a whole lot since then. Here in 2018, no self-respecting prisoner is worth their ill-advised neck tattoo if they don’t have a drone to smuggle weapons or narcotics into the prison yard. To defend against this misuse of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), prison technologies company Securus Technologies is employing a smart drone detection system, called AirWarden, which can help correctional officers better monitor drone traffic in the area of their prisons.

“The AeroDefense AirWarden system is an advanced drone and pilot detection system that identifies and classifies unauthorized drones operating in the vicinity of correctional facilities,” a representative for Securus Technologies told Digital Trends. “The system employs cutting-edge technology to detect all range of drones and pilot controllers using their radio frequency signals. By monitoring the radio frequency spectrum, the system is able to notify authorities of an unauthorized drone’s presence in real time via email, text or control room alerts.”

The delivery of contraband via drones is a major threat to both corrections staff and inmate safety. It’s so significant, in fact, that Bureau of Prisons’ acting director, Hugh Hurwitz, has labeled it the single biggest threat facing federal prison security today. AirWarden doesn’t blast drones out of the sky like Lockheed Martin’s UAV-obliterating laser or catch them with trained eagles like the ill-judged Netherlands initiative. Instead, the idea is that — once an unauthorized drone has been detected in a location — staff can then search that specific drop zone for any drugs, weapons, cell phones, cigarettes, or pornography which may have landed. They can also capture the drone pilot responsible for flying the vehicle.

“The technology is currently deployed by Securus Technologies at Georgia Department of Corrections facilities, with plans to expand to additional states in the coming year,” Securus’ representative continued. “The system is fully operational and was installed at facilities following the completion of extensive testing with government entities and many different drone types. AeroDefense also deploys the technology at non-prison facilities, including stadiums and other large public venues.”

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HDMI 2.0b explained: Everything you sneed to know

Cables aren’t sexy technology, but if there’s one cable that gets tech enthusiasts’ attention, its HDMI. While many TV owners may know the technology simply as that weird flat plug that makes the TV plug-and-playable, HDMI is always on the move. The all-in-one digital connection has created a cornucopia of ways to make hardware ready for the expanding AV world around us, allowing for innovations like 4K UHD technology and more. While HDMI is preparing for another leap forward, for the time being, we’re using a half-step forward in the form of HDMI 2.0b.

The best news: as with previous jumps, and unlike the upcoming HDMI 2.1, HDMI 2.0b does not require different cables than what you’re already using.

HDMI 2.0b builds on HDMI 2.0a, which tacked a few features on to the previous HDMI 2.0, including a display technology called High Dynamic Range, which we’ll refer to as HDR from here on out. Designed to vastly improve the contrast between light and dark images for a more realistic picture, HDR has quickly become a must-have in a new TV purchase. In this article, we’ll explain all the wonderful things you can do with your home theater thanks to HDMI 2.0b.

A quick note before we begin: HDMI 2.0b is an extremely minor update on HDMI 2.0a. The two are essentially the same, except that HDMI 2.0b adds support for Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG), a newer HDR technology. Any new gear being released likely ships with HDMI 2.0b, but if you’re wondering about a piece of gear you have that uses HDMI 2.0a, the information here still applies.

The basics

As we’ve written about previously, the primary reason for the switch to HDMI 2.0 was that 4K Ultra HD televisions require much more bandwidth to realize their full potential. Since 4K Ultra HD is four times the resolution of 1080p, the former HD standard, it required more throughput to handle extra data going back and forth. Lots more.

HDMI 1.4 supported 4K resolutions, yes, but only at 24 or 30 frames per second. That works fine for movies, but isn’t useful for gaming and many TV broadcasts, which require 50 or 60 fps. Also HDMI 1.4 limited 4K Ultra HD content to 8-bit color, though it is capable of 10- or 12-bit color. HDMI 2.0 fixed all of that because it could handle up to 18 gigabits per second — plenty enough to allow for 12-bit color and video up to 60 frames per second.

Ultra HD was one thing, but current TVs aim to blow our minds with even higher image realism, by creating more intense whites and blacker blacks — it’s like Tide for your TV, making everything more vivid, and it’s what HDR is all about. TVs from Sony, Panasonic, LG, Samsung, and Vizio all tout one version or another of HDR technology. And thanks to the beauty of HDMI, you don’t need to worry about a thing, since HDMI 2.0b gear is fully compatible with all versions that came before it.

Don’t throw away your HDMI cables

As mentioned above, HDMI 2.0b changes nothing about the size, shape, or wiring of HDMI cables. Should you wind up getting devices that are HDMI 2.0b compliant, your existing cables will work just fine. And since HDMI 2.0b is backward compatible with older HDMI versions, you’ll be able to connect your old Blu-ray player and/or AV receiver to a brand-new HDMI 2.0b-equipped 4K Ultra HD TV with absolutely no problem.

AMD’s Ryzen desktop CPUs for 2019 may double the core count

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

Although we’re still waiting for AMD to release new low-end second-generation Ryzen processors based on its refreshed 12nm Zen design (aka Zen+), AMD appears to be betting big on 2019. AMD said it would sample Epyc “Rome” chips with its 7nm Zen 2 design in the server market in late 2018, but mainstream processors based on that design won’t appear until next year. If current rumors are correct, those Ryzen 3000 Series chips will sport up to 16 cores.

According to reports stemming from Chinese forums, the new Zen 2 architecture provides 10 to 15 percent improved Instructions Per Cycle, meaning the design can handle more instructions than the previous design. The current Zen+ architecture sees a three percent Instructions Per Cycle increase over the original Zen design introduced in AMD’s first-generation Ryzen processors during 2017.

But the big news here is that AMD already finalized its Zen 2 design to support up to 16 cores in the mainstream market (AM4), up to 32 cores in the high-end enthusiast market (TR4), and up to 64 cores in the server market (SP3). For the mainstream and server markets, that is double the current maximum core count while the maximum Threadripper core count apparently remains unchanged.

The rumors dig a little deeper on a technical level, reporting that AMD actually finalized two Zen 2 designs. Both rely on how AMD groups its processor cores together into what it calls Core Complex, or CCX, that share the same cache. CCX are connected together using AMD’s Infinity Fabric on a single die.

In one Zen 2 design, AMD supposedly uses a CCX with six cores and pairs two CCX together on a single die, providing a maximum core count of 48 in a single processor. In another Zen 2 design, AMD uses a CCX with eight cores, and pairs two CCX together on a single die, providing a maximum core count of 64 in a single processor.

That’s a lot of tech talk, but it shows where AMD is heading with its third-generation Ryzen processors slated for 2019. The good news is that, technically, you won’t need to swap out motherboards to make way for the new chips, as AMD said the current processor seats/sockets will support all Ryzen and Epyc chips at least until 2020.

Of course, the arrival of new processors ushers in new motherboard chipsets that support all the new features in the latest CPUs. Cramming a third-generation Ryzen chip into a first-generation Ryzen motherboard won’t produce all the benefits and improvements introduced in the Zen 2 architecture.

Processors slated for a 2019 arrival will be the Ryzen 3000 “Matisse” Series for desktop (AM4), the Ryzen Threadripper 3000 “Castle Peak” Series for enthusiasts (TR4) and the Epic “Rome” chips for servers (SP3). A slide from AMD shows the company’s Zen 3 design is on track for 2020 although that will likely be toward the end of the year in samples dished out to servers. Mainstream and enthusiast products for 2020 may rely on a refreshed Zen 2 design based on the 7nm+ process node.

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Turn your Surface Pro into a cheap Surface Studio with Kensington’s dock

Do you want a Surface Studio but don’t want to pay the premium price? Kensington can make your dream come true through a new docking station built for the cheaper Surface Pro. It essentially holds Microsoft’s detachable in an all-in-one-PC-style configuration while expanding the device’s connectivity. Unfortunately, there’s no current release date although it will definitely ship with a $350 price tag.

“The SD7000’s articulating hinge allows the Surface Pro to be comfortably positioned upright as a display or at a perfect drafting table angle,” the company says. “A magnetic connection for Surface Pen keeps it handy and ready for use. With a small desktop footprint and clean lines, the Surface Pro Docking Station is designed to look as good as it functions.”

According to Kensington, the Surface Pro simply slides and locks into place, presumably connecting the docking station to the Surface Connect port located on the right side of Microsoft’s detachable. With this physical connection, Kensington’s dock expands the Surface Pro with an additional headphone jack, one USB-C port, four USB-A ports, an Ethernet port, one DisplayPort connector, and one HDMI port.

That said, your Surface Pro can be transformed into an all-in-one Windows 10 PC supporting two external monitors with resolutions of up to 3,840 x 2,160 (aka 4K) each. That means you can add a keyboard and mouse, an external hard drive, a physical network connection, and so on. You can still use the Surface Pen that’s magnetically stored on the dock’s left grip.

Of course, if you’re worried that someone will swipe your Surface Pro and docking station while you’re out to lunch, Kensington will sell a separate Lock Module for $30 that anchors the dock to your desk. It connects directly to the Kensington lock on the back of the dock, which presumably prevents the locking mechanism holding the Surface Pro in place from letting go of the device.

Again, there’s no current release date for the new $350 dock. Eventually shipped as the SD7000 Dual 4K Surface Pro Docking Station (K62917), it will be on display in Las Vegas during Microsoft Inspire from July 15 to July 19, and also during Microsoft Ready from July 18 to July 20 in Las Vegas as well.

The latest version of Microsoft’s Surface Pro starts at $799. There are seven set configurations spanning from Intel’s m3 processor with 4GB of system memory and 128GB of storage to Intel’s Core i7 processor with 16GB of system memory and 1TB of storage, the latter of which costs $2,399. Meanwhile, the all-in-one Surface Studio starts at $2,999 and can reach up to $4,199 in price.

So while the Surface Pro plus Kensington’s dock is a cheaper alternative, you will miss out on the big 28-inch screen and discrete graphics. Still, Kensington’s new dock is an awesome way to use your Surface Pro in a desktop-like scenario, and a cooler solution than Microsoft’s own $200 Surface Dock.

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Uber may soon turn into your personalized mini convenience store

Taking an Uber may soon be an all-inclusive experience. The transportation giant recently partnered with Cargo, the startup that offers in-car shopping experiences to those on the move. With this new globe-spanning collaboration, Cargo will be offering Uber customers products like snacks, beverages, electronics, and even beauty products, all while on the go.

Uber drivers now have the option to register with Cargo and retrieve a box of products at select driver onboarding and support centers, called Uber Greenlight Hubs, in both San Francisco and Los Angeles (we can only assume that more locations will soon be added). They will then be able to sell these goodies to their passengers, and earn commissions, referrals, and performance bonuses through Cargo. Basically, this partnership gives Uber drivers two opportunities to make money at the same time.

In the year since Cargo launched, the company claims that 7,000 participating drivers have earned more than $1 million by distributing more than  1 million products to passengers in major cities like New York, Boston, Minneapolis, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, and Dallas.

“Because of companies like Uber, people spend more passenger time in cars than ever before,” Cargo CEO Jeff Cripe said in a statement. “This opened the door for Cargo to create an unparalleled level of convenience for a generation of people on the move, and our partnership with Uber will play an important role in making that vision reality.”

Cargo will customize the product offerings by the market, as well as the season and time of day in order to provide options that customers might actually benefit from. For example, folks in San Francisco and L.A. will have the option to buy earplugs, fruit and protein bars, mints, face masks, iced tea, and lip balm.

“It’s always a pleasant surprise when you’re in an Uber and the driver offers you a bottle of water or a piece of gum, but up to this point, these perks have usually been on the driver’s dime,” Uber’s Keith Hensley said in a statement. “Cargo took note of this and created an innovative model that aims to bring new value to riders and drivers. We’re looking forward to working with Cargo to develop and scale in a way that makes the most sense for our customers.”

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Top 5 features Chrome OS is missing

These are niche, but they’d be appreciated.

Chrome OS already handles the basics of a desktop and laptop operating system down. So much so, that unless you need a specific application that’s only on macOS or Windows, you can happily use a Chromebook as your only device. It’ll be fast, it’ll be secure and it will only get better over time.

But that’s not to say Chrome OS still doesn’t have room to grow. It’s making Linux applications easier to use later this year, Android applications are getting more capabilities, and Progressive Web Applications are going to become more commonplace. But there are a few creature comforts Chrome OS could handle better.

• Customizable scroll speed for external mice
• Proper audio ducking
• Better window snapping
• System wide dark theme
• Persistent media controls for web apps

Customizable scroll speed for external mice

Chrome OS supports any USB or Bluetooth mouse or trackpad, but using the mouses’s scroll wheel may feel… off… compared to Windows or macOS. The scroll speed on some of my mice feels just a bit too fast compared to how I’ve grown accustomed to over the last 20 years of using a computer, and there’s no option in the settings to change this. It sounds trivial, but it’s enough to keep me from using some of my mice with my Chromebook when I’m out and about.

Proper audio muting

This is something Windows and macOS do, too, but that’s no excuse for Google. If you have audio coming from the web browser — say a YouTube video — then you open an Android application to listen to your favorite podcast. You press play on the podcast, and you panic because the sound from the YouTube video is still playing. If you switch between two Android apps, the audio from one will correctly pause, but the same is not true of the web browser. I doubt Google or any operating system builder could reach into a site to pause whatever media is playing back, but muting the browser when another application is playing media would suffice.

Better window snapping

You can snap application windows to the left or right of the display in Chrome OS, but Windows does this slightly better. When you snap an application in Windows, it shows a list of all the other application windows available to be placed on the opposite side of the screen, so you can get your split screen on that much faster. Windows also lets you quickly snap an application by pressing the Windows Key + Left or Right on your keyboard. It’d be great to see Chrome OS include either of these features.

System wide dark theme

You can get a dark theme for your browser, for Gmail and other websites, but it’s piecemeal. Again, I’m not sure there’s much Google could do as an OS builder to make a third party site display in a dark theme, but it’d be great to see one toggle to change the browser, Settings, and any compatible Android applications from the default light theme to darker tones.

Persistent media controls for web apps

Android applications already offer media controls in the notification area, but it’d be great for websites to be able to do the same. I don’t expect every website to be able to do this, but sites that use service workers as part of their Progressive Web App should be able to. It’d go a long way to making PWA’s feel more like “native” apps, and it’d be more convenient for the user to have all of their media controls in one place.

What say you?

What features would you like to see in Chrome OS? Let us know down below!

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Instant Pot cookers, smart locks, Chromebooks, and more are all discounted today

Whether you’re looking for new tech gear or household items, we’ve got you covered.

We found plenty of great deals today that include big discounts on an Asus Chromebook, the August smart lock, an Instant Pot pressure cooker, and more! Time’s running out to take advantage of these prices, so hurry!

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