When Apple announced iCloud+ at WWDC 2021 developer conference, one key feature that caught the attention of a lot of internet users was “iCloud Private Relay”. But what exactly is iCloud Private Relay? Is it Apple’s new way of calling a VPN in iOS 15? That’s what we will be discussing in this article about Apple’s iCloud Private Relay, and learn if it is better than a VPN or not.
Apple’s iCloud Private Relay: Everything You Need to Know (2021)
What is iCloud Private Relay?
iCloud Private Relay is Apple’s latest privacy-friendly addition to enhance the privacy of users while browsing the web on Safari. It is part of the new iCloud+ subscription that’s available for paid iCloud customers. Behind the scenes, Private Relay uses a dual-hop architecture while you browse the internet. All the web traffic that leaves your device is encrypted and sent through two internet relays.
While the first relay assigns an anonymous IP address, the second relay decrypts the web addresses and takes users to the destination. This way, no single entity can identify the user and the sites they visit. For the second relay, Apple has partnered with third-party providers.
From a technical standpoint, you should know that Private Relay involves an Ingress Proxy and an Egress Proxy. Ingress Proxy accepts connections from the internet and makes sure other servers don’t access your IP address and encrypts your internet traffic. On the other hand, Egress Proxy relays back to the internet while also preventing Ingress Proxy from seeing the websites you visit.
While Apple doesn’t name its content partners, user reports suggest that the company has partnered with Cloudflare, Akamai, and Fastly for the Egress Proxy or exit node.
Image Courtesy: Apple
Think of it as a VPN, but Apple’s implementation of Private Relay isn’t exactly the same as what you would find on a VPN. Check the next section to learn more on how Private Relay differs from a traditional VPN service.
Apple Private Relay vs VPN: What’s the Difference?
For starters, Private Relay maps users to a different location in their region. This is unlike VPN, where users can choose the destination. To put that in perspective, you may not necessarily be able to access a website that’s banned in your country with Private Relay. That’s clearly not the case with a VPN where you can choose any supported location in the world to access geo-restricted content. So if you were planning to use Private Relay to watch the best Netflix shows that are not available in your country, you are out of luck.
And there’s the fact that you will have to stick to the Safari browser to use the benefits of Private Relay. Private Relay will not support other best browsers for privacy on iOS. So, what does Private Relay solve and why does it exist? Well, using a VPN requires users to trust the VPN provider. While using a trusted VPN service should solve this, there are numerous shady VPN providers out there that are often secretly logging your browsing activity. That’s where Apple serves as a trusted intermediary with Private Relay.
“We wanted to provide many of the benefits that people are seeking when in the past they’ve decided to use a VPN, but not force that difficult and conceivably perilous privacy trade-off in terms of trusting it a single intermediary,” said Apple’s Craig Federighi in an interview with Fast Company.
Is Private Relay Better than Traditional VPN Services?
Will Private Relay replace a paid VPN? No, you don’t get the ability to bypass geo-restrictions and browse with your desired location. Is it better than a free VPN in most cases? Yes, if all you want to do is browse the internet without being tracked and you happen to be a paid iCloud user who also uses the Safari browser, you could switch to Private Relay.
How to Enable iCloud Private Relay in iOS 15
1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone, tap on the Apple ID preview card present at the top, and choose iCloud.
2. Under iCloud Settings, tap on Private Relay and enable the “Private Relay” toggle from the next page. You can now start using iCloud Private Relay with Safari browser. You could also install extensions in Safari on iOS 15 to elevate the experience.
How to Enable iCloud Private Relay in macOS 12
1. Open System Preferences of your Mac and click on “Apple ID” at the top-right corner.
2. Under iCloud Settings, locate “Private Relay” and click on the “Options” button.
3. From the pop-up that appears now, click on the “Turn on Private Relay” button and hit OK. And that’s it. You can open Safari to browse the web using the service.
Note: At this point, I would like to point out that Privacy Relay is enabled by default when you get the iCloud+ subscription. So this process will come in handy if you disabled the feature in the past.
Alternatives to Apple’s iCloud Private Relay – Cloudflare WARP+
The closest equivalent to iCloud Private Relay would be Cloudflare WARP+. While the underlying architecture of Cloudflare WARP differs from how Apple has implemented iCloud Private Relay, you get similar features. I have been using Cloudflare Warp+ ever since it launched back in 2019, and the experience has been fairly reliable.
Although you shouldn’t expect the same speed as before, it doesn’t significantly slow down your internet speed and offers a fairly consistent browsing experience. You can download Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1 app on Android (Free) and iOS (Free). Cloudflare also offers WARP+ for macOS and Windows users, so visit the website right here.
Try Apple’s iCloud Private Relay on Safari
So, that’s pretty much everything you should know before using iCloud Private Relay. As mentioned earlier, iCloud Private Relay is not a VPN killer, and paid VPN services are still superior in terms of features and flexibility. To learn more about other iCloud+ features, check out our in-depth explainer linked here. You can also explore other amazing iOS 15 features, including how to screen share in FaceTime on iOS 15, blur the background in FaceTime video calls, and more.
Google had to entirely cancel its I/O developer conference last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the company is prepared to make some ‘significant announcements’ this time around. This year, Google I/O 2021 is free for everyone, and the Mountain View giant announced the dates of the event earlier this month. Google I/O 2021 is entirely virtual, and in this article, we will take a look at the expected announcements at the event.
To recall, Google I/O 2021 is all set to be held from May 18 to May 20. You can register for the event right now from Google’s dedicated event website. After registration, you can attend workshops, AMA sessions, live Q&A during sessions, get developer profile badges, and more during the event. Apart from this, we could also expect key consumer-centric product announcements at the event.
Watch Google I/O 2021
As always, you can watch Google I/O 2021 keynote from Google’s official YouTube channel. The event link is not available as of this writing, but we will update this post with the event link when it becomes available. Further, you can stay tuned to the I/O website for specific events.
Expectations for Google I/O 2021 Keynote
With the basics out of the way, let’s get to the exciting hardware and software you can expect to be announced at the event:
Android 12
Android 12 will be one of the key highlights at the event. While Google won’t roll out the finalized build of Android 12 to Pixel phones soon after the event ends, you could expect the first Android 12 beta release. Meanwhile, you can catch up on the best Android 12 features from our linked article.
In case you’re out of the loop, Google has already released three developer previews. Going forward, there will be four beta releases in May, June, July, and August, respectively. Android 12 will reach platform stability in August, and you could expect the stable Android 12 release sometime in September.
Like last year, we could expect Android 12 beta builds from OEM partners for specific devices alongside Pixel phones. Notably, this will be the last major Android update for Pixel 3 and 3 XL. Here are the Pixel devices that will get Android 12:
Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL
Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL
Google Pixel 4
Pixel 4a and Pixel 4a (5G)
Google Pixel 5
Google Pixel 5a
Image Courtesy: Voice/OnLeaks
Alright, let’s talk about the Pixel 5a. Following rumors of Pixel 5a’s cancelation, Google stepped up to reveal that the Pixel 5a is not canceled and will launch later this year. In addition, the company also revealed we could expect the device launch to be in line with last year’s Pixel 4a unveiling. In case you don’t remember, Pixel 4a launched in August last year.
Here’s where things get interesting. In an ideal world, Google would have announced the Pixel 4a at I/O 2020, just like how it revealed the Pixel 3a series at I/O 2019. However, since I/O 2020 didn’t happen, the launch was pushed to August. Going by these, there’s a chance that Google could announce the Pixel 5a at I/O 2021, with market availability set for August or even June.
On the hardware front, the Pixel 5a 5G is rumored to pack a 6.2-inch Full-HD+ OLED display with the same Snapdragon 765 SoC seen on the Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5. With all that said, one area where there’s little to no reason to be excited about is availability. A Google spokesperson has already confirmed that the Pixel 5a 5G will be limited to the U.S. and Japan.
Pixel 5a Launch in India?
So, what about the BIS certification of the alleged Pixel 5a with model number GR0M2 and that ET Telecom report shedding light on Google’s grand India push? Well, we’re not sure either. The global chip shortage has likely forced Google to hit the pause button on its ambitious plans to widen its presence in the country. If Google skips the Pixel 5a 5G launch in India, that could mean there will be no new budget Pixel phone in India this year. That leaves Pixel fans with Pixel 4a that made its way to India last October. Clearly, it is not a great time to be a Pixel fan in India, and the situation is far from ideal. C’mon Google, do something.
Pixel Buds A
Google Pixel Buds A is the company’s upcoming truly wireless earbuds expected to launch at the event. It was rumored to launch sometime in April, and the next best timeline is at Google I/O 2021. Another evidence for its existence is a recent marketing email where Google accidentally leaked the Pixel Buds A design. Spoiler alert: They look pretty much like Pixel Buds 2, but with a green shade.
In terms of specifications, we don’t know a lot about the Pixel Buds A. Judging by the ‘A’ in the branding, it could be a cheaper variant of the Pixel Buds. Further, a recent 9to5Google report suggests that the Pixel Buds A may lack gesture inputs for controlling the volume. Hence, do not get your hopes high for the new Pixel Buds A. We will have to wait a little longer for the true successor of Pixel Buds 2.
Whitechapel Chipset Announcement?
Rumors about Google’s in-house SoC codenamed Whitechapel started last year. After a year of silence, a 9to5Google report earlier this month further detailed Google’s plans to use its own chipset, starting with the Pixel 6 5G. Google seems to have teamed up with Samsung Semiconductor’s system large-scale integration (SLSI) division for the much-awaited Whitechapel chipset.
Speaking of the technical tidbits, as per recent reports, it will be an octa-core chipset manufactured on Samsung’s 5nm process. It could include two ARM Cortex-A78 cores, two Cortex-A76 cores, and four Cortex-A55 cores. While you should not expect Google to announce the Pixel 6 at I/O 2021, it is likely that Google will announce the Whitechapel chipset so that developers know what to expect and how to prepare when it is ready.
Wear OS Improvements and New Nest Hardware
Now that Google owns Fitbit, we could expect the company to announce improvements to Wear OS and Fitbit OS at I/O 2021. Interestingly, Google could drop ‘OS’ and simply call it Google Wear, as revealed in the I/O schedule. Another possible outcome is the announcement of new Nest hardware products. Another possibility is the rumored Pixel Watch, but even the leaks point to an October release date.
In Alphabet’s Q1 2021 earnings call, Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai told investors to expect ‘significant product updates and announcements.’ Hence, there’s room for a slew of product announcements at the event.
Improvements to Google Assistant, Stadia
Google usually announces massive improvements to its voice recognition technology at I/O, take Duplex, next-gen Google Assistant, for instance. Google I/O 2021 will be the perfect time for the company to show off advancements it has achieved with Assistant throughout the year. The company, however, has already announced a few Assistant updates, including pronunciation accuracy improvement and natural conversations using BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers). We could also get a glimpse of what the future holds for Stadia, Google’s cloud gaming efforts.
Google I/O 2021 Expectations
So, that sums up our expectations for Google I/O 2021. Which of these announcements are you most excited about? If I had to pick one, it would have to be Google’s in-house Whitechapel chipset and its capabilities, followed closely by Android 12. Share your expectations with us in the comments.
Although we’re living in a generation where streaming services have essentially taken over our media consumption, a traditional media player never goes out of fashion. Whether you want to watch a video you have recorded or watch an offline copy of your favorite movie, it is hard to imagine the absence of a media player. So if you are looking for the best media players to use on your Windows 10 computer, we have compiled a handy list for you. So let’s not waste any more time and jump right in.
If there’s one software on this list that I will happily use for years to come, it is VLC Media Player. In case you’re unaware, the VLC media player is a free and open-source multimedia player capable of playing almost anything you throw at it. You can use the VLC player for playing MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264, MKV, WebM, WMV, MP3, and more on your Windows 10 PC. Thanks to its cross-platform availability, you can also use VLC media player across a multitude of platforms, including Linux, macOS, Unix, iOS, and Android.
One area where VLC media player could use some improvement is in terms of design. I understand why the non-profit organization is taking an ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ approach, but the interface of VLC might not be appealing to everyone. If you need a version of VLC that goes easy on the eyes, you could check out the Microsoft Store UWP variant but it doesn’t support DVD or Blurays. You could also try to elevate the aesthetic by using skins or check out other VLC tips and tricks right here.
Download VLC Media Player | Download VLC Player from Microsoft Store
2. MPV
MPV player is another powerful media player for Windows 10. While it may seem like a basic player on the surface, you can unleash its true potential with the help of user scripts. There are hundreds of user scripts available in the MPV GitHub wiki to help you enhance the player’s capabilities. All you have to do is move the script to the script folder (usually C:/Users/Username/AppData/Roaming/mpv/scripts/) to use them.
While MPV is wildly popular among Linux users, its Windows version isn’t too bad either. Whether you consider yourself a power user who wants to finetune the media player or a minimalist who wants to playback videos, you can’t go wrong with the MPV Player.
KMPlayer is another option you can consider if you are looking for feature-rich media players for Windows 10. You can use KMPlayer to watch up to 8K videos, and it supports a variety of video codecs, including HEVC (h.265), h.264, and VP9. You also get support for playing Blu-ray and DVD content here. Much like VLC player, you won’t have any trouble playing most media formats on KM Player.
One unique aspect of KMPlayer is that it lets you create GIFs from videos. You can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+G to access the GIF creation interface. You can also use KMPlayer to download YouTube videos.
If you’re old enough, you might recall Media Player Classic. In an attempt to resurrect MPC, developers created a fork of the project with the name MPC – Home Cinema. Although MPC-HC’s development eventually came to an end in 2017, there exists another fork called Media Player Classic – Black Edition
Unlike MPC-HC, MPC-BE is still actively maintained and is getting regular updates. If you prefer Media Player Classic’s interface, you should try out this fork. It also comes with additional features, including hardware decoding and deinterlacing, and it automatically mounts ISO images.
Although Kodi is a media server app, you can use it for all your media playback needs on Windows 10. It plays almost all widely used media formats. As you can see in the image below, there are separate sections for music and videos in Kodi. This way, you can easily organize your media files without a hassle.
Kodi’s full potential lies in addons. Using add-ons, you can enhance the capabilities of the application. If you have never used Kodi or heard about it before, check out our beginner’s guide on Kodi to know everything about it.
Another media player worth trying out is the GOM Player. It comes loaded with all the features you would expect from media players for Windows 10, including support for 360-degree VR mode and EQ presets. One notable feature of GOM Player is that it can even show you two subtitles simultaneously.
One thing you should keep in mind before using GOM Player is that it has ads. If you like GOM Player’s free version, we suggest you get the $15 premium ‘GOM Player Plus’ version for an ad-free experience.
Kakao Corp’s PotPlayer is an option you can consider if you’re looking for a powerful media players for Windows 10. Other than the standard features you get from all media players, PotPlayers supports H/W acceleration, support for 3D content, and different types of subtitles and codecs. A PotPlayer feature that you won’t often find in other players is the ability to bookmark specific scenes or chapters for quick access.
While the default theme of PotPlayer looks good enough, you can tweak it with the help of skins from settings. One subtle UX enhancement of PotPlayer worth pointing out is that it shows the video’s overall progress in Windows 10’s taskbar. The player received backlash for ads, but it has since been removed. Overall, PotPlayer is a good alternative to the default media player present in your Windows PC.
DivX is a media player that looks simple but packs a ton of features. You can use the player to stream videos to DLNA-compatible devices, use multiple subtitle tracks, and more. The free version, however, comes with ads. You need to purchase the $20 premium version to get an ad-free experience along with other features.
Features exclusive to the Pro version of this media player for Windows 10 include an editor to crop video border and add custom logo overlays, the option to import videos from Google Drive and Dropbox, video conversion, audio enhancer, HEVC 10-bit playback, and AC3 audio playback.
Apart from the usual 1080p,4K, and 8K videos, you can use 5KPlayer to play 360-degree videos. Moreover, it supports AirPlay and DNLA wireless stream for easily streaming media. You can also utilize the embedded online video downloader to download videos from YouTube and 300 other video sharing sites.
5KPlayer also packs an online radio feature that lets you listen to satellite radio stations. Apart from this, I like that 5KPlayer also comes with handy controls for rotating the screen, taking snapshots, and video recordings in the main player UI.
Films and TV app is the default media player for Windows 10, but it doesn’t often get enough credit. Sure, it may not be as feature-rich as other players listed on this list, but it is functional and will serve the needs of an average PC user.
As long as the videos that you usually watch plays just fine on Films and TV, there’s no inherent need for you to switch to another app. Not to mention, the interface and overall experience while using Films and TV is often overlooked by many. If you’re not a power user, you can stick to Films and TV for media consumption.
So, those are the best media players you can use on your Windows 10 PC. It’s incredible to see how the VLC player still manages to retain its pole position among other popular media players for the Windows operating system. Which one of these media players do you use? Let us know in the comments section below.
Twitter users often make use of threads to write posts that exceed the platform’s 280 character limit per tweet. With the enormous user base of Twitter, it is easy to lose an informative Twitter thread if you don’t save it for viewing later. To solve this problem, we’ve compiled a list of ways you can follow to save useful Twitter threads.
One Twitter feature many users tend to overlook is the ability to bookmark tweets. Whenever you want to save a Twitter thread, click on the Share button and choose ‘Add tweet to bookmarks.’
You can then access all your bookmarks from the Bookmarks section present in the left sidebar on the website. If you want a straightforward method to save interesting Twitter threads, you should start using Twitter’s bookmarks feature. It makes for a good collection of reading material down the line. And you can remove tweets from bookmarks once you have read them or feel like clearing out the clutter, much like bookmark managers.
2. Thread Reader
Thread Reader is a popular third-party service to save Twitter threads. Apart from saving important tweets, Thread Reader’s website makes it convenient to read Twitter threads like blog posts. To use the service, all you have to do is reply to a Twitter thread in the following format:
@threadreaderapp unroll
If you don’t want to use the bot, go to Thread Reader’s website and paste the tweet’s link in the search box. You should create a free Thread Reader account to see all your past thread unrolls in one place and manage them efficiently. The website even lets you save threads as PDFs after creating an account.
Readwise is another service that can help you efficiently keep track of Twitter threads. Apart from Twitter, you can use Readwise with many other platforms, including Kindle, Pocket, Instapaper, iBooks, and more. However, Readwise is not free. You can avail a month’s free trial to see if you find it useful. After the trial ends, you’ll have to purchase a monthly subscription that starts at $4.49. To save a thread, reply to the first tweet using this format:
@readwiseio save
When you save threads, you’ll also see some stats, including the number of saves, the unique and total number of unique saves of the author’s Twitter threads. You can also sync Readwise with popular note-taking apps such as Evernote, Notion, and Roam.
Threader is a similar service for collecting Twitter threads. Like other services, Threader also has a Twitter bot to help you easily save informative threads. Check out the format for using Threader below:
@threader_app compile
Threader is also available as an iOS app for conveniently reading good threads. It is worth pointing out that you’ll need Threader’s premium subscription for additional features, including dark mode and PDF support. Threader premium costs $3 per month.
Unroll Thread is another great option you can consider for saving informative Twitter threads. Unlike other Twitter bots, you don’t need a keyword to use Unroll Thread. You simply need to mention the Twitter handle of Unroll Thread to save the tweets. The Twitter handle you need to reply with is given below:
@UnrollThread
You can also save threads as PDFs with Unroll Thread. In addition, Unroll Thread also offers dark mode support without a premium subscription. If you want popular features without paying for a subscription, you could consider trying Unroll Thread.
So, those are the five best ways you can follow to save your favorite Twitter threads. I usually rely on Twitter’s built-in Bookmarks feature to save interesting conversations, tips, tricks, and other information from tweeple. Is there any other service that you use for saving threads? Do not forget to share it with us in the comments section below. For more such tips, check out our article on the best Twitter tips and tricks.
Liquid Lens Technology: After Xiaomi recently unveiled the Mi Mix Fold with the world’s first Liquid Lens on a smartphone, everyone is wondering what exactly is this new Liquid Lens Technology? Well, it’s not a new technology per se and has been in the works for more than a decade and a half. The Liquid Lens on the Mi Mix Fold is supposed to bring both telephoto and macro photo-capturing abilities with a single lens, but there is more to this tech. That’s why we have put together this article to help you understand what is Liquid Lens technology in great detail with comprehensive examples. So on that note, let’s go ahead and learn about the advantages and disadvantages of Liquid Lens Technology.
In this article, we have covered everything from the basic definition of Liquid Lens Technology to its working mechanism, pros and cons, and more. You can expand the table below and move to the relevant section at your convenience.
Table Of Contents
What is Liquid Lens Technology?
To understand Liquid Lens technology, you first need to know how the traditional camera system works. The traditional camera system, be it on smartphones or DSLRs, are mechanical in nature. By mechanical, I mean, if you want to zoom on a subject while using a DSLR, you need to change the lens first and zoom in using a motor which is a mechanical process.
Similarly, on smartphones, you need to switch the lens to a telephoto one to click pictures of far-away subjects. In both scenarios, the process is quite physical and mechanical. It takes too much time to change the lens, zoom in, find the depth-of-field, and focus on the subject. Apart from that, in a traditional camera system, you can’t shoot images having a different focal length using a single lens. For example, you can’t click an ultra-wide photo or a zoomed-in image (telephoto), or a very close photo (macro) with a single lens.
You will need to switch to dedicated lenses that vary in focal lengths for different shooting conditions. That’s why we see a large camera module to enable a multi-lens camera system on modern smartphones. The traditional camera system that we know today is constrained by a singular focal length and a mechanical process that is quite slow, relatively speaking.
Source: Varioptic
Liquid Lens technology wants to change this and not restrict you to one type of lens. It’s a new technology that uses a solution of water and oil to create different focal lengths on the fly. In a Liquid Lens system, you don’t need to change the lenses. From a single lens, you can create multiple focal lengths, and it’s also much quicker to focus than a traditional camera system.
How Does a Liquid Lens Work?
The way Liquid Lenses work is quite ingenious. Unlike the mechanical camera system, Liquid lenses use electricity to change the focal length. That’s the major reason for Liquid lenses being so fast. It’s a fact that a stream of water changes its course when you bring it closer to an electric field. What’s happening here is that an electric field can bend the water stream to a different shape.
Source: Applied Science / Youtube.com
This change in the shape of water is crucial here, and it forms the basis of Liquid Lens technology. If you take a water droplet and apply voltage, you can change the droplet’s shape to a different curvature. This process is called electrowetting. Within milliseconds, it can create a positive, negative, or neutral curvature by changing the shape of the water droplet. And that gives you different focal lengths from a single lens.
Moreover, in a Liquid Lens system, the shape is changed electrically so that the alteration between different focal lengths is really fast. What is important to note is that it also improves the focus speed drastically. Unlike the mechanical camera system, Liquid Lenses can find the depth-of-field and calculate how farther or closer the object is in real-time, which improves the focus speed exponentially.
Source: Edmund Optics / Youtube.com
Now, if you want to capture a zoomed-in image, an ultra-wide photo, a standard wide image, or a macro image where there is absolutely no fixed focusing distance, you can do all of that with extreme precision and much quicker with just a single Liquid Lens.
How is Liquid Lens Different From Traditional Optical Lens?
Optical lenses found in traditional camera systems are made of glass, and have a fixed curvature radius. Whereas Liquid Lenses are small cells that contain an optical-grade liquid, which is a mixture of water and oil, and it can change its shape resulting in different curvature and focal lengths. So that is the principal difference between Liquid Lens and Optical Lens.
Source: Varioptic
Besides that, as I have mentioned above, Liquid Lenses are much quicker to find the depth-of-field and focus on subjects than optical lenses. Even when the subject is in motion, Liquid Lenses can lock the focus effectively while optical lenses struggle to regain the focus.
Pros and Cons of Liquid Lenses
Pros
There are many advantages of Liquid Lenses over traditional optical lenses. For one, it’s quite small in size in comparison to bulky DSLR lenses. Next, it’s much quicker, offers multiple focal lengths, and consumes much less electricity than a motorized camera. What I particularly like about Liquid Lenses is that it’s a perfect solution for smartphone cameras.
You don’t need a large camera module with multiple lenses. Just have one Liquid Lens on your device, and it will take care of all the focal lengths. Other than that, Liquid Lenses also provide decent image stabilization. Currently, the role of the liquid is mainly to create different curvatures, but can also help in stabilizing the image.
Currently, the Liquid Lenses are in use for various industrial applications where you require machine vision for automatic inspection. However, it’s also widely gaining popularity in the medical field for surgery where the lens does not have much focusing area.
Cons
Coming to the cons of Liquid Lens technology, it’s still in the development phase and needs some key improvements for widespread adoption. The Liquid Lens technology was first invented by Bruno Berge in 2002, so the technology is relatively new. Berge now runs Varioptic, which is owned by Corning, the maker of Gorilla Glass. Experts say that scattering of light is one issue that needs to be fixed in this camera technology. Also, the researchers must prevent the flow of liquid in narrow spaces.
Mi Mix Fold with Liquid Lens
For the record, Samsung partnered with Varioptic in 2006 to bring Liquid Lenses on its smartphone, but it didn’t bear any fruition. Xiaomi recently launched the Mi Mix Fold a 3x – 30x Liquid Lens, becoming the first manufacturer to bring this technology to smartphones. Now, we need to wait and see if Liquid Lenses have fixed its shortcomings and whether it’s ready for mass adoption or not.
Liquid Lenses: Are You Ready For the Future of Camera Technology?
So that is all you need to know about the Liquid Lens technology and how it will usher in a new era of lighter and quicker camera systems. I am eagerly waiting for the technology to become a standard, mainly in smartphones. In case you want to learn more about upcoming technologies, such as GaN chargers and Graphene batteries, then go through our dedicated articles. And if you have any questions, let us know in the comment section below.
Currently, WhatsApp is the largest messaging service in the world with over 2 billion monthly active users. Following that, Telegram accounts for 400 million and Signal stands at a ballpark of 10-20 million monthly active users. Looking at the raw numbers, it’s clear that WhatsApp is wildly popular and almost ubiquitous while Telegram is catching up and Signal seems to have just joined the million downloads race. Having said that, numbers don’t tell you everything and that’s why we bring you a detailed comparison between WhatsApp vs Telegram vs Signal. In this article, we rigorously analyze the security models of all three messaging services and also look at their distinct features. Now with all that said, let’s go through the article and find out who wins this round.
WhatsApp vs Telegram vs Signal: A Rundown
1. Security
Before anything, I would like to begin with security first as it’s the most debatable and contentious topic among the three messaging services. So let’s start off with WhatsApp’s security model first in this battle against Telegram and Signal.
WhatsApp
As we all know, WhatsApp is end-to-end encrypted and it’s one of the major messaging services to bring E2E to the masses. And the best part is that the encryption is enabled by default and extends to all forms of communication on WhatsApp, be it messages, audio or video calls, and WhatsApp Web. Having said that, you would be in for a surprise when you discover that WhatsApp uses the encryption protocol developed by Open Whisper Systems — the company behind Signal messenger.
The cryptographic protocol has been named as the Signal protocol and it’s entirely open-source. Further, the protocol has been peer-reviewed by many security researchers and it’s used in other messaging services too such as Skype and Facebook Messenger for optional secret chats.
Apart from that, on the user’s side, WhatsApp now offers a native app locker which is great. Next, you also have the option to enable 2FA on WhatsApp and that’s again commendable. That being said, keep in mind, WhatsApp does not encrypt the backup files (either local or cloud backups).
Also, it does not encrypt the metadata which is used to carry communication between two endpoints. This is one of the major criticisms of WhatsApp’s security model. While metadata does not allow anyone to read your messages, it lets authorities know whom and when you messaged someone and for how long. Anyway, as far as security is concerned, WhatsApp is well-guarded with end-to-end encryption and really outshines most of the competitors.
Telegram
Coming to Telegram, there have been major criticisms around its security model. While Telegram is marketed as an end-to-end messaging service, the fact is that E2E encryption is not enabled by default. Only if you use the “Secret Chat” option then your messages will be transmitted through end-to-end encryption. Meaning messages can only be decrypted on the client’s side. For normal conversations on Telegram, the messages are not E2E encrypted, instead, it uses client-server encryption during transit and at rest.
It means that the messages are encrypted on your device and then they are decrypted on Telegram’s server. Again, the messages are encrypted on the server and sent to the recipient’s device for final decryption. As you can see, in this process, Telegram has the encryption keys on the server-side and can, in theory, access your normal chats.
Other than that, Telegram uses its proprietary encryption protocol (called MTProto) which is a point of major concern. Security researchers believe that using a tried and tested protocol like Signal protocol is a better and far more secure way to implement encryption. Not to mention, MTProto is closed-source so no one can audit and scrutinize Telegram’s server-side code.
Coming to the user’s side of things, Telegram groups don’t support E2E encryption because Secret chat is only meant for individual users. Other than that, if you use the desktop client of Telegram on Windows or Linux then you can’t use Secret Chat. macOS users are covered though. Having said that, the good part is that Telegram offers a built-in passcode lock along with two-step verification.
Signal
Signal is by far the best when it comes to protecting user privacy and it’s miles ahead of both WhatsApp and Telegram. As mentioned above, Signal uses the open-source Signal Protocol to implement end-to-end encryption. And just like WhatsApp, the E2E encryption covers all forms of communication on Signal.
While WhatsApp encrypts messages and calls (and that’s enough for most users), Signal goes one step further and encrypts the metadata too. In order to protect user privacy from all corners, Signal devised a new way to communicate between the sender and the recipient and it’s called Sealed Sender. Basically, with Sealed Sender, no one will be able to know — not even Signal — who is messaging whom, which is amazing.
In addition, you have some incredible privacy features on Signal that is going to make your messaging experience even more private and secure. For instance, you can lock Signal with a passcode or biometrics. Then there is 2FA and an option to block screenshots within the app and the recent screen. And recently Signal added a new feature to blur faces automatically before sending images. That’s cool, right?
Not to mention, Signal by default encrypts all the local files with a 4-digit passphrase. And if you want to create an encrypted local backup then you can do that as well. All in all, in terms of security and privacy protection, Signal stands head and shoulder above WhatsApp and Telegram and that make it the most secure messaging app between the three.
2. Features
WhatsApp
Coming to features, WhatsApp is pretty good and offers all the essential features. You can securely chat with individuals, create a group (up to 256 participants) or broadcast your messages to several contacts at once. In addition to audio calls, WhatsApp now also offers video calls with up to 8 people which is really great.
Apart from that, WhatsApp offers a distinct feature that neither Telegram offers nor Signal. Yes, I am talking WhatsApp Status (also called Stories). Users love this feature as they are able to express their thoughts and feelings to their closed ones. In a way, this makes WhatsApp a social media platform, and not just a messaging service.
Moving ahead, you can share all sorts of files on WhatsApp, and the file size limit is 100MB. You can also share live location with your contacts and I am sure many users find this feature helpful. And since WhatsApp is meant for general users, it offers seamless backup and restore functionality through cloud services like Google Drive and iCloud. And the best part is that cloud backup is completely free. Not to mention, recently dark mode arrived on WhatsApp which is just great. To learn more about its features, you can head over to our article on the best WhatsApp tips and tricks.
Telegram
In terms of features, Telegram is way ahead of WhatsApp and Signal. Telegram is packed with so many features that many find it overwhelming. To start with, you can chat individually and also create groups and channels, similar to WhatsApp. But the main highlight of Telegram is the ability to host close to 200,000 members in a single group which is just mad crazy. Apart from that, Telegram offers many features to manage groups such as polls, quiz, hashtag, bots, and more.
Not to mention, users can upload and host files on Telegram of up to 1.5GB (in contrast, WhatsApp file size limit is just 100MB), which is again bonkers. Other than that, you also have voice calls for individuals. That said, video calling has not arrived yet on Telegram. It might be the only omission, but it’s a big one.
Telegram also comes with a self-destructing timer where you can set a time period and send messages. After the time is up, the message will be automatically deleted from both ends. Furthermore, you can edit sent messages which is usually not found on messaging apps.
Then there are features like message scheduling, ability to send uncompressed media, granular notification management, themes, live location sharing, and much more. Not to forget, Secret chat that allows you to chat with end-to-end encryption. If you want to discover more such features then go through our article on the cool Telegram tricks.
Signal
As Signal is primarily a privacy-oriented messaging service, it falls short on some consumer-friendly features. You do have secure messaging, voice, and video calls and all communications are end-to-end encrypted. Further, you can create groups, but don’t have the option to broadcast messages to multiple contacts at once. Keep in mind, as of now, Signal does not support group video/audio calls.
Nevertheless, you have features such as disappearing messages similar to self-destructing messages of Telegram and the ability to send a one-time viewable image. For me, the best feature of Signal is “Note to Self”. Unlike WhatsApp, you don’t have to create a single-member group to send notes to yourself. On Signal, the feature is available natively and you can jot down your thoughts and ideas while messaging with your friends and family.
Apart from that, Signal allows you to relay voice calls to its servers so your identity remains concealed from your contacts. The feature is somewhat similar to what a VPN does, but Signal offers a built-in option to hide your IP address. Further, you can enable incognito keyboard while typing on Signal, apply dark mode, delete old messages in one stroke, and of course, blur faces and private information from images using its powerful photo editor.
There are also emojis and some privacy stickers, but they are very limited in comparison to WhatsApp and Telegram. All in all, Signal has some of the best privacy features but might fall short for users who want endless customization options. You can learn more about Signal features from our article on the best Signal tips and tricks.
3. Ownership
While that was all about security and features, now we need to discuss the ownership of all three platforms: WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal. Ownership is important because it allows us to understand how companies are looking to monetize user data and lets you take an informed decision.
WhatsApp
In case you are unaware, WhatsApp is owned by Facebook and many experts believe that WhatsApp could be another platform for Facebook to collect user data behind the scene. So far, there have been many allegations around breaking its encryption and creating a backdoor. And now we are hearing that Facebook will show targeted ads in the form of WhatsApp status, but so far nothing has actualized yet.
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO
A recent report suggests that Facebook has not ditched the plan altogether and in the not-so-distant future, it will show targeted ads to users on WhatsApp. Apart from that, security researchers believe that metadata is an essential piece of information and that is enough for Facebook to track your online behavior. Since the metadata is not encrypted on WhatsApp, you might be risking your privacy on this popular messaging service. Not to forget, Facebook does not have a good reputation when it comes to protecting user privacy as we observed in the Cambridge Analytica data scandal.
Telegram
Coming to Telegram, it was launched in 2013 by Nikolai Durov and his younger brother, Pavel Durov. Both are from Russia and are currently on a self-imposed exile. Pavel Durov was dismissed as CEO of a Russian social-media site after he refused to hand over data of Ukrainian protesters to Russia’s security agencies. Apart from that, on many occasions, Pavel Durov has taken a principled position against censorship and government interference. Looking at the history that geared the development of Telegram, I would say, it does inspire trust. However, the closed-source encryption protocol and optional E2E support leave the room for more transparency and improvement.
Pavel Durov
Signal
Finally, Signal is owned by the nonprofit Signal Foundation which is run by cryptographer Moxie Marlinspike and Brian Acton. Moxie Marlinspike used to run Open Whisper Systems — the brainchild behind the Signal protocol. After he met Brian Acton in 2018, they formed a new alliance called Signal Foundation which now wholly funds the development of Signal messenger. You shouldn’t miss the fact that Brian Acton was the co-founder of WhatsApp, but he left the company 3 years after Facebook acquired it.
Moxie Marlinspike / Image: TechCrunch
Now, he oversees the development of Signal along with Moxie Marlinspike. Signal has been endorsed by many high-flying people including Edward Snowden, the American whistleblower; Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter, and more. In addition, Signal has received top scores on the EFF’s Secure Messaging Scorecard making it the most secure messaging platform.
The Verdict: WhatsApp vs Telegram vs Signal
As we went through all the points, it’s clear that Signal is a highly-secure messaging service and much better than WhatsApp and Telegram. However, WhatsApp is not far either as it supports end-to-end encryption and also brings some great consumer-oriented features. The lingering issue with WhatsApp is its association with Facebook that may affect the messaging experience in the coming days.
Lastly, Telegram is not the best in terms of security, but it does offer you optional encrypted messaging and you have to be aware of the many features it offers. Other than that, the endless features Telegram offers are simply incomparable and a treat to users and group admins.
To sum up, in the end, you have to make the final decision balancing your privacy and feature needs. Personally, I would pick WhatsApp as long as Facebook stays away from making any major changes. But I would be the first one to jump ship to Signal the day Facebook goes overboard.
Gmail : Every type of people, from office to school and business class, deal with Gmail. Every person uses Gmail. But usually most users are aware of the basic features of Gmail. The information of such limited features often becomes a problem for users. In such a situation, today we are telling you about the top-secret features of Gmail, which will not only reduce your hassle, but will make you a Gmail Pro user.
Thread messages of group mail used in office are enough to annoy you at times. Frequent thread messages during work disturb us a lot, especially when you work from home. To avoid this, you can mute the active group. This will move the thread’s message to the archive, where you can check it when it is free. To mute, click on the three dots of the thread message, where the mute button will appear. Conversation will be muted as soon as it is clicked. After this, if you want to unmute the conversion, click on the conversion, and then you can unmute it by clicking on it.
Snooze Feature
Snooze is a kind of alarm button. It works to save your time. Meaning if you have any important message that you do not want to miss. But at that time you do not have time to read the message comfortably, so using the Sooze button, you can check the mail at a fixed time. You will not miss any mail update from this. To use the Snooze button, one has to tap on the message. After this you can do Snooze on a particular date and time.
Auto Advanced Feature
This is an easy way to delete non-essential messages. After deleting one message in it, the second message automatically arrives. Meaning you do not have to go back to the inbox again. For this, first you go to the Settings option, choose Auto Advance option from here. Then enable Turn on.
Advanced Search Features
Often a lot of time is spent searching a mail. To avoid this, the advanced search option can be selected. To use it, the user has to click on the right side of the search option. Where an extra tab will open. You can search mail according to time, date and key word.
Send Big File Through G-mail
Often people have to struggle while transferring large files from Gmail. But in a way, a file of large size can be transferred through Gamil. Usually people transfer files in mail by attaching Pdfs, Word docs, image. This allows transfer of files up to 25MB only. But if you transfer the link to FICE from Google Drive, you can transfer files over 25MB.
Google Earthquake Detection System : One of the world’s largest organizations, Google has developed a new way to detect earthquakes and tsunamis in the ocean floor with the help of fiber optic cable. This technology will be useful for warning systems around the world. Google claims that their technology works at thousands of kilometers compared to other techniques that are effective at distances up to 100 kilometers. Earlier methods for detecting earthquakes require special equipment and sensing fibers, while Google claims to use existing fibers to detect movement on the surface of the ocean.
A sub-fiber optic cable is a submarine communication cable placed on the sea bed between land-based stations to carry telecommunications signals across the ocean and sea.
Fiber optic cables connect continents together through the ocean surface, which transmit vital information, including the international traffic of the Internet. Google’s global network of undersea cables has made it possible to share, send, search and receive information around the world at the speed of light. Undersea cables made using optical fiber transmit data as vibrations of light at a speed of about 204,190 kilometers per second.
Is it possible to detect earthquakes with submarine cables? We think it might be.https://t.co/6oIZTxg1wk
Google began monitoring polarization conditions on its global submarine cables in late 2019. Initial tests showed that SOP was remarkably stable even over long distances. SOP changes that would indicate earthquakes were not observed. On 28 January 2020, a 7.7 magnitude earthquake was detected from Jamaica which is 1500 km from the nearest point of one of the cables. In the months following the detection, several medium-sized earthquakes over short and long distances were recorded.
After analyzing the data, Dr. Zhongwen Zan of the California Institute of Technology Seismological Laboratory has confirmed the findings and has also concluded that the cables can be useful in detecting sea pressure changes that allow us to detect tsunamis. Can help make forecasts.
The early success of detecting seismic activity with the help of optic fiber cable can improve the ability to study the Earth’s structure and its dynamics. Google’s measures are broadly based on today’s fiber-optic network technology. Google also noted in its blog post, “This is only a first demonstration, not a working system, and much work remains to be done. First, scientists will need to better understand the deluge of complex data generated by monitoring SOP. “Therefore, it will be exciting to see what happens next and how optic fiber cables will help us prepare for bigger disasters than before.
