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How to set up Focus modes on iOS
Apple's Focus modes allow for unprecedented control over distractions. Here's how to use one
Are you feeling a bit distracted these days? Is a new remote work situation or job creating problems with task management? Apple added a productivity feature to iOS and related platforms called Focus. Focus allows you to customize certain modes for work, studying, or other activities to avoid distractions. If you haven't tried it, we recommend incorporating it into your most productive times. Focus is more useful than the usual sleep modes or just leaving messages on read.
How to set up Digital Wellbeing on your Android phone
Sometimes too much of a good thing can cause distractions
Androids and iPhones are great for keeping in contact with loved ones, watching videos on YouTube, and scrolling through social media feeds. There's a good chance the average person has a smartphone glued to their hand at any given time. Some may call it an addiction, while others mention the fear of missing important notifications. If this is something you're worried about, Android has a tool called Digital Wellbeing, which is meant to help you set limits for your device usage.
Best productivity apps to reach your new year goals
Here are a few tools to help you get the most out of each day
Now that 2023 is here, many people are focused on the new goals they've made for themselves. However, despite being more determined, most people still fall short of their objectives. There might be a number of things going on that make it hard for you to concentrate and complete all the goals you've set for yourself. The good news is that you are not alone, and the support you need is right there on your Android device.
Scheduled Summary is the best feature Android should steal from iOS
It's important to keep the competition in check
Although some people believe Android has better notification management than iOS, Apple has one trick up its sleeve to make Android fans envious; that trick is Scheduled Summary. Announced with iOS 15 in 2021, Scheduled Summary combines notifications from selected apps and shares them with users at set intervals. After using it for over a year, we feel it's the best feature Android should steal from iOS.
Firefox Focus 93 comes with new interface, icon, and features inspired by the real Firefox
Focusing on design this month
While the majority is probably familiar with Firefox for Android, fewer people likely know Firefox Focus, the smaller and even more privacy-focused sibling of the full browser. You can basically consider it an auto-incognito browser that blocks trackers and discards browsing history after some time, so it's ideal when you just want to look up something real quick, without bothering with a full tabbed browser experience. And today, Mozilla has shared that the Focus browser is in for a huge update with a new UI and icon as well as tons of features from regular Firefox.
iPhones start playing catch-up with Android's notifications in iOS 15 redesign
Plus new Focus do-not-disturb modes that rein them in based on what you're doing
Among the biggest complaints Android converts to iOS have (apart from the platform's lack of an intents system... and file management... and the price) is how Apple handles notifications. For a modern software system, they feel right out of 2011 in a lot of bad ways. Thankfully for anyone on team green considering the switch, Apple is making a handful of changes that should make them better — though probably still not quite as good as Android.
Google has been on a roll recently with its digital wellbeing initiatives, releasing Family Link for parental controls, various apps to view and manage your usage, and a Focus Mode for pausing apps you find distracting. Now it's continuing the trend by releasing 3 new apps, the most notable of which asks that you literally put your phone in an envelope so you can't use it.
The Portrait mode on the new Pixel 2 phones is impressive. With just a single camera, the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL are able to mimic a convincing depth of field effect, like that created by much larger hardware. It isn't quite as good as an SLR, but it's a reasonable approximation. And if you were interested in exactly how it works, we've put together an explanation.
As unfortunate as it might be, it's a given that using the internet extensively may compromise your privacy. Tracking codes that can follow you across sites have become incredibly common, often used to create targeted advertisements for users. At this point, Google probably knows more about me than I do.
Focus is a very neat alternative gallery app on Android. After the unfortunate sale of QuickPic, it became my go-to third-party photo browser if I needed something other than whatever was installed on my phone (Google Photos or LG/Samsung's default Gallery app), and that's not just because it's well designed, but also because it's very fast and can handle thousands of photos with nary an issue.
Francisco Franco, of franco.Kernel fame and several other root applications, has just released a new media gallery browser for Android: Focus. Designed by our very own Liam Spradlin (#halleliam), Focus brings a big, erm, focus on design, usability, and efficiency. It's decked with Material Design elements and animations, but it still keeps a unique look and approach to image, gif, and video viewing.
[Update: Now In The Play Store] Hands-On: Focus@Will Launches Android App, But It's Pretty Much Just The Website On A Smaller Screen
I may have just heard about focus- and relaxation-inducing music site Focus@Will, but that hasn't stopped me from already falling in love with it. For
I may have just heard about focus- and relaxation-inducing music site Focus@Will, but that hasn't stopped me from already falling in love with it. For much of my stare-at-a-screen-all-day career, I've actually wanted a service like this, and even have a few stations on Pandora and Spotify that almost mimic the service. Now that I've found F@W, though, those stations are essentially defunct.
Following the collapse of T-Mobile's planned $39 billion deal with AT&T, the magenta carrier has turned its attention to network quality and performance to draw new customers. Chief Executive Philipp Humm provided comment on the situation Wednesday:
The team behind the most popular custom Android ROM on the planet, CyanogenMod, is not planning to take a break even for the national holiday (happy Independence Day, everyone!), giving us a number of new reasons to praise their product over and over again.