Mozilla has revealed a new version of Firefox for iOS that enables iPad owners to better control their browsing experience. The new version brings support for a number of features, including split screen, and improves convenience in other areas, such as offering one-click access to Private Browsing mode. As part of its announcement, Mozilla acknowledged that "iPads aren't just bigger versions of iPhones."
They say that all good things must come to an end. What they often fail to say is that what follows may not exactly be better or even just as good. After a disastrous Windows Vista release, Microsoft was able to salvage its reputation with Windows 7. Given how Windows 8, 8.1, and now 10 have substantially changed things, not many users were keen to move on from Windows 7. They soon won't have any choice if they still want to receive critical updates and Microsoft will start repeatedly reminding them of that.
Opera has released the latest stable version of its mobile browser for Android, with various updates including the introduction of a built-in VPN service. The company has provided VPN functionality on its desktop browser for years, and has been testing it in beta builds for mobile users since February.
Although it's no longer a Wild, Wild West, World Wide Web is still far from being a peaceful territory. There is no shortage of players who'd do everything to make an easy buck or even legit actors that impose their will on users, even if it means ruining the latter's experience. From autoplaying videos that can scare the daylights out of you to late-loading ads that throw you off your reading groove, the latest Firefox release reins these misbehaving elements in to ensure a pleasurable Web experience for users.
Microsoft has given its best, and sometimes its worst, to put its Internet Explorer past behind it and push Microsoft Edge to its users. It has failed and is reworking Edge to use Chrome's engine instead. In yet another admission of defeat, it will be making its Windows Defender Application Guard browser extension, previously exclusive to Edge, available for Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. The catch? You will still have to bear with using Edge when it determines you're visiting an untrusted site.
After being a staple on PCs for so many years, last month it was discovered that WinRAR, software used to open .zip archive files, has been vulnerable for the last 19 years to a bug that's easily exploited by hackers and malware distributors. Fortunately, the software has been patched with the recent release of version 5.70, but after being unchecked for so long and installed by so many people, a new wave of malware is taking advantage.
Last year, Hello Games launched NEXT for No Man's Sky, a major update that vastly improved the game in a number of ways. While some of us might have thought that Hello Games would pull back on No Man's Sky development after NEXT shipped, the company apparently didn't. Today, the next update for No Man's Sky was revealed, and it sounds like it's going to be another big one.
It's not been a great week for cloud behemoths, with Apple's iCloud the latest online service to suffer embarrassing downtime in the past few days. More than four hours passed with users complaining of being unable to access files stored in iCloud Drive, synchronize their calendars, and more.
Apple will hold WWDC 2019 from June 3-7, the company has announced today, its annual developer event where we traditionally get our first big preview of upcoming iPhone and Mac software. The conference will be held at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California, with applications for tickets open now.
Microsoft has been widely criticized for its poor handling of Windows 10 updates but it might be a lesser known thing that Home users have it worse than their Pro counterparts. A recent report even alleged that Redmond cares little for the non-enterprise customers, practically turning them into unwitting beta testers for updates that would eventually arrive on Pro users' PCs. As if to give the former group some reprieve, the latest build for Windows 10 Home will apparently let them pause updates for up to 35 days, exactly like Pro users.
The Android Q Beta 1 has been released, with Google pushing out the first preview version of its upcoming major Android release. As always, those with Google's own Pixel phones are first in line to get a taste of the as-yet-unnamed OS upgrade, which is likely to be a centerpiece of the company's announcements at Google I/O 2019 later this year.
The Internet is something of an equal opportunity tool that empowers both the good and the bad. The anonymity it provides has encouraged frightened voices to speak up in opposition to oppressive powers but it has also emboldened less conscientious actors to say things they would never say face-to-face. That's why Alphabet's Jigsaw is working on an experimental Tune Chrome extension that lets users tune out those toxic comments for some temporary peace of mind.