Entrepreneurs are invited to the 481st FREE online 1Mby1M mentoring roundtable on Thursday, April 16, 2020, at 8 a.m. PDT/11 a.m. EDT/5 p.m. CEST/8:30 p.m. India IST. If you are a serious...
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Original author: Maureen Kelly
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Apr
10
Apr
10
Hello and welcome back to our regular morning look at private companies, public markets and the gray space in between.
Airbnb’s recent moves in the wake of a global travel slowdown are interesting and worth understanding in chronological order. What it details is a company spending heavily today to keep up its future health. Demand will return to the world travel market in time — how much, no one knows — and Airbnb wants to be a well-liked participant in the return to form.
Building off our last look at the company, we should understand how Airbnb intends to not only survive, but come out the other side of the pandemic with enough user trust to get back to work.
An IPO promise
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Apr
10
Joe White Contributor
Joe is general partner of Entrepreneur First, a Greylock-backed early-stage deep tech fund; co-chair of GBx, a curated network of British entrepreneurs in the Bay Area; and a former co-founder of Moonfruit.com, a website and e-commerce platform.
We’re in unprecedented times and are likely at the beginning of a long journey back to normal — whatever the new “normal” turns out to be.
While governments rush to get debt-relief packages in place, the high-risk, high-reward tech sector will need something different. To survive, the community requires fancy footwork, hard choices and a lot of shared pain between founders, staff, investors, suppliers and customers.
With my startup Moonfruit, a DIY website and e-commerce platform I co-founded with Wendy Tan-White (now a VP at X) and eirik pettersen (currently CTO at Secret Escapes), we survived the 2001 dot-com crash, when the entire tech sector was decimated for years to come, as well as the 2008 financial crisis, when we were lucky enough to experience rapid countercyclical growth. These experiences made us stronger and ultimately led to our successful exit in 2012 and post-acquisition growth to $150 million ARR.
I’ve spent the last five years as a general partner at Entrepreneur First, raising $200 million of funds and advising hundreds of startups through formation, growth and fundraising — but right now I work with many of them daily on survival.
For most companies, I think this crisis will look more like 2001 than 2008, though there will be some who are lucky enough to grow through it. The good news is, having been through this before, I know there are things you can do as a founder or as an investor that can mitigate the damage. In the U.K., I’m in several conversations about making emergency equity funding more available, and I hope this happens all over the world too.
Here is a tactical guide to surviving the crisis.
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Apr
10
As domestic and global economies grapple with the COVID-19 era, its impact on startups is coming into focus: All will be impacted, many will suffer and some will close.
Boston, a city that TechCrunch keeps tabs on, has seen a number of well-known startups struggle in recent weeks. Their misfortunes come quickly after companies in the region recorded huge venture raises, generating notable momentum.
In December, TechCrunch wrote that “despite winter’s chill, the Northeast’s tech ecosystem is white-hot,” taking into account Boston’s historical gains in the venture world. And earlier in 2020 we covered a few huge rounds that the city’s own Toast and Flywire had put together; worth $520 million as a pair, the two venture deals stood out for how large they were and how close to one another they were announced.
Indeed, looking at preliminary venture data from Crunchbase, Boston was on track to crush its 2019 tally of venture rounds of $50 million or more in 2020. That record-setting pace is now in doubt.
To get a feel for Boston’s new reality, we’ve collected the region’s recent news and spoke to area investors and founders, including David Cancel of Drift (the previous founder of Compete and other companies), Drew Volpe of First Star VC and a team of folks from Underscore VC.
TechCrunch had intended to start a monthly series on Boston and its venture capital and startup scenes later this month. We’re kicking it off early because the news is already here.
Slowdown
Earlier this week, restaurant management platform Toast cut 50% of its staff. The Boston-based company was valued at $5 billion in recent months, and — before the pandemic hit — was planning to spend the next few years gearing up to go public. Toast sits uniquely between fintech and restaurant tech, industries that have been arguably impacted the most by COVID-19’s spread and widespread restaurant closures.
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Apr
10
During this week’s roundtable, we had as our guest Ritesh Agarwal, Co-founder and Managing Director CerraCap Ventures, a deep tech focused early stage firm. Ecoin As for entrepreneur pitches, we had...
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Original author: Sramana Mitra
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Apr
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Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines.
The whole crew was present this week: Natasha, Danny and Alex, along with our intrepid producer Chris. And like the last few episodes it was good to have everyone around as there was so very much to get through. Even better there was a lot of good, non-COVID-19 news to cover. Yes, there were bad tidings and some COVID-19 material as well, but, hey, not everything can be fun.
We started with a look at Clearbanc and its runway extension not-a-loan program, which may help startups survive that are running low on cash. Natasha covered it for TechCrunch. Most of us know about Clearbanc’s revenue-based financing model; this is a twist. But it’s good to see companies work to adapt their products to help other startups survive.
Next we chatted about a few rounds that Danny covered, namely Sila’s $7.7 million investment to help build technology that could take on the venerable and vulnerable ACH, and Cadence’s $4 million raise to help with securitization. Even better, per Danny, they are both blockchain-using companies. And they are useful! Blockchain, while you were looking elsewhere, has done some cool stuff at last.
Sticking to our fintech theme — the show wound up being super fintech-heavy, which was an accident — we turned to SoFi’s huge $1.2 billion deal to buy Galileo, a Utah-based payments company that helps power a big piece of UK-based fintech. SoFi is going into the B2B fintech world after first attacking the B2C realm; we reckon that if it can pull the move off, other financial technology companies might follow suit.
Tidying up all the fintech stories is this round up from Natasha and Alex, working to figure out who in fintech is doing poorly, who’s hiding for now, and who is crushing it in the new economic reality.
Next we touched on layoffs generally, layoffs at Toast, AngelList, and not LinkedIn — for now. Per their plans to not have plans to have layoffs. You figure that out.
And then at the end, we capped with good news from Thrive and Index. We didn’t get to Shippo, sadly. Next time!
Equity drops every Monday at 7:00 AM PT and Friday at 6:00 am PT, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts.
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Apr
10
More than six dozen startup founders, venture capitalists and lobby groups in India have requested the government to grant them a “robust relief package” to help combat severe disruptions their businesses face due to the coronavirus outbreak.
In a joint letter to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, startups requested the government to bankroll 50% of their workforce’s salaries for six months, provide interest-free loans from banks, waive rent for three months and offer tax benefits among other things.
“Unfortunately, our startup companies across the nation are inherently young, less resilient and most vulnerable. Many of them face likely devastation during this extraordinary economic downturn. At this dire moment, Indian startups need a robust relief package from the government, lest all our collective efforts of the past few years are in vain,” they wrote.
Among those who have signed the letter include Mohit Bhatnagar, a managing director at Sequoia Capital, which is in advanced stages to close a fresh $1.3 billion fund for India and Southeast Asia, Gaurav Agarwal of online medicine store 1mg, Debjani Ghosh of industry body Nasscom, Karthik Reddy of Blume Ventures, Anand Lunia of India Quotient, Deepinder Goyal of Zomato, and Sriharsha Majety of Swiggy.
Some prominent startup founders and VCs including Vijay Shekhar Sharma of Paytm, and Ritesh Agarwal of Oyo, have also held a meeting with Piyush Goyal, the commerce minister in India, for a similar relief.
“We seek your urgent intervention to help ensure India’s startup ecosystem survives this crisis to emerge as a pillar of growth, employment and innovation to help drive India’s recovery. We need the startup ecosystem to survive in order to help the economy bounce back. We have enclosed herewith our submission for your kind consideration and we look forward to your support in this regard,” the joint letter reads.
The request for bailout comes amid a national lockdown in India that has disrupted countless businesses. New Delhi ordered a 21-day lockdown last month in a bid to curtail the spread of Covid-19.
Earlier this month, ten prominent VC and PE funds in India cautioned startups to brace for the “worst” months ahead.
“Assumptions from bull market financings or even from a few weeks ago do not apply. Many investors will move away from thinking about ‘growth at all costs’ to ‘reasonable growth with a path to profitability.’ Adjust your business plan and messaging accordingly,” they said.
As India, where the economy growth has been slowing for several quarters, scrambles to provide for its 1.3 billion citizens, the letter has drawn some criticism from industry figures.
Disappointed to see many startup leaders & investors that I admire add their names to this shameful letter to the govt asking for bailouts – surely at this time the govt has more important things to worry about than pay "50% of salary bills & contract wage bills paid by startups"
— Sumanth Raghavendra (@sumanthr) April 10, 2020
“I can’t fathom how such a list gets made in a country of more than a billion people who are facing a crisis unlike any they’ve seen before. A significant majority of them daily wage earners who have no financial cushion or any idea where their next meal is going to come from. Let’s not even stray into health and the need for medical emergencies; just putting three square meals on the table a day is proving to be impossible for so many,” wrote Ashish K. Mishra in a column on The Morning Context.
“At this very moment, it is they who need the government’s support. Not fat cats with bloated, middling business models and venture capital funds whose begging bowls are now seemingly larger than their risk appetite,” he added.
Companies asking for a bailout is not limited to India. Oil giants have sought similar help from the U.S. President Donald Trump — and VCs and startups are beginning to explore their option. Brent Hoberman, chairman and co-founder of Founders Factory and Firstminute Capital, urged the UK government to provide some relief to startups last month. But the government has yet to do much about it, just ask Deliveroo, Graphcore and other big UK startups.
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Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates said that people are now realizing that a viral outbreak similar to COVID-19 will likely happen "every 20 years or so." Speaking to the Financial Times earlier this month, Gates said that COVID-19 was the "biggest event that people will experience in their entire lives" and said world leaders and global policymakers have "paid many trillions of dollars more than we might have had to if we'd been properly ready."The 67-year-old billionaire has been warning about the risk of a pandemic disease for years, stating that a global health crisis like coronavirus could wipe out 30 million people in less than a year. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates said that this coronavirus pandemic was the "biggest event that people will experience in their entire lives," and warned that a viral outbreak will likely happen "every 20 years or so."Â
Gates discussed the global fight against the novel coronavirus with the Financial Times via Skype on April 2. FT posted the interview and transcript online on April 8.
He said world leaders and global policymakers have "paid many trillions of dollars more than we might have had to if we'd been properly ready."
"This is the biggest event that people will experience in their entire lives," Gates told FT.Â
He said that in response to this outbreak, future governments will have "standby diagnostics, deep antiviral libraries, and early warning systems."
"The cost of doing all those things well is very small compared to what we're going through here," he said. "And so now people realize, 'OK, there really is a meaningful probability every 20 years or so with lots of world travel that one of these [viruses] will come along.' And so the citizens expect the government to make it a priority."Â
He said he was confident that lessons learned from this outbreak will encourage people to better prepare for next time, but lamented that the cost this time around was too high.Â
"It shouldn't have required a many trillions of dollars loss to get there," he said. "The science is there. Countries will step forward."
The 67-year-old billionaire has been warning about the risk of a pandemic disease for years, stating that a global health crisis like coronavirus could wipe out 30 million people in less than a year.Â
In 2015, Gates gave a Ted Talk warning that the world was "not ready" for an impending pandemic.Â
"There's no need to panic ... but we need to get going," he said in 2015.
In February, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation pledged $100 million last month to fight the coronavirus outbreak, designating money towards vaccine research, frontline responders, prevention measures, and treatment efforts around the world.
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Original author: Rosie Perper
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Update (9:52 p.m. ET): The White House on Thursday reversed its decision to cut federal resources for testing sites, according to NPR. A bipartisan group of lawmakers wrote a letter opposing the federal pullback to Alex Azar, secretary of Health and Human Services, apparently prompting the change in plans. Some of the information below may no longer be current.
The Trump administration is cutting federal support for coronavirus testing sites and prompting states to take control of them, according to CNN.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has helped states create and run "community-based testing sites," or CBTSs, by providing nasal-swab testing kits, financial support, personal protective equipment, and other resources. But a number of sites are now reportedly transitioning to state-managed operations, and some are closing down entirely.
"Many states have already begun transitioning these programs, and other states have implemented testing sites based on the CBTS model," a FEMA spokesperson told Business Insider in an emailed statement. "Transitioning fully to state-managed operation creates an opportunity for the states to better serve their own communities, while leveraging federal support to augment their state's success."
States that transition "can choose to source testing kits and supplies through their standard ordering process or to request assistance from their FEMA Region," according to a policy the agency updated following the initial publication of this story.
The community-based testing sites were meant as only a temporary effort to jump-start testing in parts of the country hit hardest by the pandemic, CNN reported the agency said. However, some testing sites will be closed, apparently as a result of the change in federal support, including locations in Pennsylvania and Colorado, NPR reported â two states where cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, continue to grow.
"While I'm grateful to have had federal and state support for our successful community-based testing site, I am understandably disappointed that the supplies and the federal contract for lab testing are ending just as we are heading into the surge here in southeastern Pennsylvania," Dr. Valerie Arkoosh, chair of the Montgomery County Commissioners, reportedly told CNN.
The decision by the Trump administration to withdraw federal support was met with criticism from some, given that it comes as public-health experts say widespread testing is critical. The US has managed to increase testing capacity recently â with nearly 2.2 million tests completed nationwide â but efforts still lag in many areas, including some with widespread outbreaks.
"The idea of cutting funding to testing in any way right now? We should just be ramping up as much testing as humanly possible," Phil Petit, the national director of the International Association of EMTs and Paramedics, told Business Insider.
Even though the US missed its chance to contain the coronavirus by not testing enough people early on, experts say the country still needs to test as widely as possible, not just to isolate and treat those who are sick but also to find people who have recovered and may have developed immunity.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on Wednesday that his playbook for preparing the US for future waves of COVID-19 infections, which could come after lockdowns lift, depends on the US developing its capacity for widespread testing, contact tracing, and case isolation.
"The keys are to make sure that we have in place the things that were not in place in January, that we have the capability of mobilizing identification â testing â identification, isolation, contact tracing," Fauci said.
Government agencies have been criticized for rolling out testing and isolation policies too slowly. Errors and delays in producing the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's coronavirus test led to dangerous shortages, and decisions about lockdowns have been left to states in piecemeal fashion.
Several governors have also sparred with the administration over the federal government's response to the virus, criticizing the lack of a coordinated response, testing kits, and critical medical supplies.
Morgan McFall-Johnsen and Dave Mosher contributed reporting to this story.
This story has been updated with new information. It was originally published at 4:08 p.m. ET.
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Original author: Tyler Sonnemaker
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Aug
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Foreign intelligence agents are using online platforms and videoconferencing apps to spy on Americans, TIME reported.Chinese spies, in particular, have exploited the coronavirus pandemic to get information about American companies as they take their operations digital and offices across the US shut down amid stay-at-home orders.The app Zoom has proven especially susceptible to cyber intrusions because of its popularity and lack of encryption.A research group at the University of Toronto found that some of Zoom's encryption keys are routed through Chinese servers. Zoom also owns three companies in China, at which at least 700 employees are paid to develop its software.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Foreign intelligence agents are using online platforms and videoconferencing apps to spy on Americans, TIME reported, citing several US intelligence officials.
Chinese spies, in particular, have exploited the coronavirus pandemic to get information about American companies as they take their operations digital and offices across the US shut down amid stay-at-home orders.
The video conferencing app Zoom has proven particularly susceptible to cyber intrusions because of its popularity â Zoom's CEO said the number of people using the app jumped from 10 million in December to 200 million in March â and lack of encryption.
Hackers targeting the platform, dubbed "Zoombombers," have disrupted events like doctoral dissertations, Sunday school, city council meetings, online classes at universities, and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
Even the FBI weighed in on the matter, warning schools, in particular, to be wary of hackers infiltrating online meetings and calls to post pornographic imagery and hate speech.
Now, TIME reported, Zoom is becoming a playground for foreign spies, as operatives from countries like Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea target Americans' video chats.
"More than anyone else, the Chinese are interested in what American companies are doing," one official told the outlet.
Zoom, moreover, is more vulnerable to intrusion by Chinese cyberspies because some of its encryption keys are routed through Chinese servers, according to a report this month from The Citizen Lab, a research group at the University of Toronto.
The report also found that Zoom owns three companies in China, at which at least 700 employees are paid to develop Zoom's software.
"This arrangement is ostensibly an effort at labor arbitrage: Zoom can avoid paying US wages while selling to US customers, thus increasing their profit margin. However, this arrangement may make Zoom responsive to pressure from Chinese authorities," the report said.Â
Indeed, the coronavirus pandemic is a blessing in disguise for intelligence agencies in China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and other rogue regimes, many of whom have adapted to using cyberwarfare to carry out their objectives.
As people across the world are forced to stay home and work remotely, they're increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks and disinformation â two tools that are more useful than ever to foreign spies.
These methods are also cheaper to employ and require less financial investment than traditional methods of intelligence gathering, giving countries like China and Russia a leg-up as they compete against more financially stable countries like the US.
Zoom, for its part, has said it will work to enhance its security over the coming months.
"For the past several weeks, supporting this influx of users has been a tremendous undertaking and our sole focus," Zoom's CEO, Eric Yuan, wrote in a blog post. "However, we recognize that we have fallen short of the community's â and our own â privacy and security expectations."
Yuan announced that the company will freeze its feature updates for 90 days while it addresses privacy and security issues. He said Zoom will also conduct a "comprehensive review with third-party experts" to ensure it's taking the necessary steps to protect user privacy.
In the meanwhile, several US lawmakers have called for investigations into Zoom's security, and some state attorneys general are examining the matter as well.
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Original author: Sonam Sheth
37 Hits
Sep
10
If you're old enough to remember Vine, you've probably heard of its spiritual successor, TikTok. TikTok is a social media app that has gained popularity in recent years. TikTok users can film videos and overlay sound to achieve specific effects.
The social media aspect of TikTok includes the ability to comment on other users' videos. As long as a user's video has been made public, any TikTok user can post a comment on that video. But what if you want to delete a comment after you've made one? Don't worry, we've got you covered.
Here's how to delete a comment on TikTok.Â
Check out the products mentioned in this article:
iPhone 11 (From $699.99 at Apple)
Samsung Galaxy S10 (From $859.99 at Walmart)
How to delete a comment on TikTok
Once a TikTok comment has been posted, you cannot edit it. However, deleting a comment is simple.
1. Open the TikTok comment thread that includes the comment you wish to delete. Note that you can only delete comments you have made; you cannot delete other users' comments.
2. Tap and hold on the comment that you want to delete.
3. Tap "Delete."Â
Your comment should no longer be visible on the thread. You cannot retrieve a comment once it has been deleted, so if you simply made a typo and just want to edit your original comment, tap "Copy" before you tap "Delete." Then, you can paste the text of the original comment into a new comment and edit the text before reposting.
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Original author: Chrissy Montelli
49 Hits
Apr
10
You can easily unfollow someone on Strava If you no longer want to receive notifications or updates about their activities. Strava allows you to follow friends and fellow athletes; when you follow someone, their activity will appear in your feed.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. The "Following" button is located on the right side of the user's profile. Kelly Laffey/Business Insider Select "Unfollow." Kelly Laffey/Business Insider
Strava allows you to follow fellow athletes and friends, meaning that you can see their activity and workouts in your feed, as well as interact with them by liking or commenting on an activity.
You can unfollow someone on Strava by going to their profile and selecting "unfollow."Â
Here's how.
Check out the products mentioned in this article:
iPhone 11 (From $699.99 at Apple)
Samsung Galaxy S10 (From $859.99 at Walmart)
How to unfollow someone on Strava
1. Open up the Strava app on an iPhone or Android and type in your username and password to log into your account.
2. Select "Profile" on the tab at the bottom. This will bring you to your Strava profile page.
3. Hit "Following," which is located right underneath your profile picture. This will show you all the people you're following.
4. Select the profile of the person who you want to unfollow. This will bring you to their profile page.
5. Hit the "Following" botton. This will give you a list of options.Â
6. Select "Unfollow" from the menu.Â
7. A pop-up window will ask you to confirm that you want to unfollow. Note that if you've favorited them or enabled notifications for their activities, unfollowing them will also disable that. Select "Unfollow" again to confirm.
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Original author: Kelly Laffey
51 Hits
Apr
10
While many people are taking social distancing seriously, there are plenty who are not.
Iâm hearing regular stories of packed public parks, too many people on trails, lots of people crowded into Home Depot picking up home repair things, and strange parties that I can only rationalize as civil disobedience gone awry.
While itâs tough to stay home all the time, wear a mask in public, and keep a real physical distance from anyone outside your home, itâs really important right now. A large number of people on the front lines are literally risking their lives and working incredibly hard to get ahead of the health impacts of this disease. Simultaneously, a correspondingly large number of people, both in government, private industry, and volunteers, are working behind the scenes to get to whatever âthe new normalâ is going to be in our society.
Please be safe and healthy. Take social distancing seriously.
Original author: Brad Feld
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Apr
10
You can easily change km to miles on Strava on either a mobile device or computer.Strava, which tracks your fitness training, can log distance in either kilometers or miles, and you can change the unit of measurement in settings.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Select "Units of Measurement." Kelly Laffey/Business Insider Select "Units & Measurements" under Display Preferences. Kelly Laffey/Business Insider
Strava is an app that tracks your exercise training, with a social component that allows you to engage with friends who are also training.
The program primarily logs running and bicycling, using its built-in GPS to tell users how far they've gone and to showcase stats like average pace. The app has a free version, or a monthly paid version that gives users even more data.
Strava can track distance in either miles or kilometers. Here's how to change kilometers (km) to miles on Strava.Â
Check out the products mentioned in this article:
iPhone 11 (From $699.99 at Apple)
Samsung Galaxy S10 (From $859.99 at Walmart)
Apple Macbook Pro (From $1,299.00 at Apple)
Lenovo IdeaPad 130 (From $469.99 at Walmart)
How to change km to miles on Strava on a mobile device
1. Launch the Strava app and log into your account.Â
2. Select "Profile" at the bottom of the screen.
3. Hit "Settings," which is represented by the cog wheel at the top right of the screen.
4. Tap on "Units of Measurement" to toggle between miles and kilometers in your training.
How to change km to miles on Strava on a desktop
1. Go to Strava.com and log into your account.
2. Select "Settings," which is located underneath your profile picture at the top right corner.
3. Select "Display Preferences," from the menu on the left. Hover over "Units & Measurements" and click on the small pencil that appears to begin editing. Use the dropdown menu to change "kilometers and kilograms" to "miles and pounds."
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Original author: Kelly Laffey
24 Hits
Aug
09
You can easily create a new shortcut for use with your iPhone's "Hey, Siri" function.To do so, you'll need to make sure your software is updated to iOS 13.To add a shortcut in the app, tap the "Create Shortcut" option next to the plus sign and follow the prompts to choose actions and provide a name.You can use Force Touch with the app on your home screen to access the option.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Check your software version. Marissa Perino/Business Insider Create Shortcut. Marissa Perino/Business Insider Add Action. Marissa Perino/Business Insider Begin creating. Marissa Perino/Business Insider Select actions. Marissa Perino/Business Insider Editing a new shortcut. Marissa Perino/Business Insider Complete the process. Marissa Perino/Business Insider Shortcuts. Marissa Perino/Business Insider Access the Force Touch menu instead. Marissa Perino/Business Insider
Shortcuts are helpful iPhone tricks that allow you to ask Siri to complete simple tasks, like add a song to a playlist, call a favorite contact, save a file, and more.
To add a new shortcut, you'll first have to make sure your software is updated to iOS 13. This update includes the Shortcuts app, but if you don't have it installed already (or if you previously deleted it), you can redownload this in the App Store at any time.
Open the app and tap the "Create Shortcut" option next to the plus sign. Follow the prompts to create the shortcut of your choice.Â
You can also use Force Touch on the home screen to access the option. Tapping "Create Shortcut" there will launch the app and bring you to the same start page.
Here's how to do it both ways.Â
Check out the products mentioned in this article:
iPhone 11 (From $699.99 at Apple)
How to create a shortcut in iOS 13 on an iPhone
Before creating a new shortcut, make sure you've updated your iPhone to the iOS 13 operating system.Â
Open the Settings app and then tap the "General" app to check your iOS. Tap the first "About" option where you'll find your Software Version listed below your name.Â
If your device isn't up to date, go back one page where you'll find the "Software Update" option.
1. Open the Shortcuts app on your iPhone. If you've never created a Shortcut before "Create Shortcut" will be the only option. If you have, you'll find the gray rectangle below any creations.
2. Tap the plus sign to begin creating a shortcut.
3. Tap "Add Action."
4. Select a category from the top to browse or search using the search bar if you have a shortcut in mind. You can also scroll through the suggestions section, which the app generates based on how you use your iPhone.
5. Continue through prompts to specify your shortcut, whether it applies to a specific app or pertains to another iPhone action.
6. You can add additional actions to the same shortcut with the blue plus sign.Â
7. Tap the gray "X" to delete an action or tap the three dots to edit the name. You'll also find the option there to add the shortcut to your home screen.
8. Tap "Next" to move to the next page, where you'll be prompted to type or speak the shortcut name. The name will prompt Siri to run the shortcut.
9. Tap "Done" to complete the process.
10. Your new shortcut will immediately be added to your Shortcuts homepage.
How to create a shortcut in iOS 13 using Force TouchÂ
You can also launch a new Shortcut using Force Touch on your home screen.Â
1. Press down on the Shortcuts app to open a small menu.
2. Tap "New Shortcut" which will immediately open the app and bring you to the same start screen.
Original author: Marissa Perino
30 Hits
Sep
10
You can easily change the keyboard language on your Android If you want to have multiple language keyboards available on your device.Gboard makes having multiple language keyboards possible, and makes it easy to switch back and forth between languages as you type.There are different way to switch keyboards, depending on your preferences.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Tap System on the settings menu. Melanie Weir/Business Insider Tap "Languages & input." Melanie Weir/Business Insider Tap "Virtual keyboard." Melanie Weir/Business Insider Tap "Gboard." Melanie Weir/Business Insider Tap "Languages." Melanie Weir/Business Insider Tap "Add Keyboard." Melanie Weir/Business Insider Choose the language you want. Melanie Weir/Business Insider Adjust keyboard settings, then tap "Done." Melanie Weir/Business Insider To switch languages from any app, press and hold on the spacebar to bring up a language menu. Melanie Weir/Business Insider Press and hold on the comma key, then tap the settings icon that appears. Melanie Weir/Business Insider Tap "Preferences." Melanie Weir/Business Insider Toggle "Show language switch key" to On. Melanie Weir/Business Insider
If you're multilingual, and the standard English keyboard isn't the only one you want to use when typing on your Android phone, good news â Gboard, Google's keyboard app, allows you to easily add languages and switch between language keyboards as you type.
When you add a new keyboard language, Gboard allows you to choose how it looks, and whether you want it to be your primary or secondary language. Once it's added, you can swap back and forth with just a couple of taps.Â
Best of all â because you're technically doing this through a third-party app, switching languages or adding them does nothing to affect the language of your phone itself. That makes this method perfect for new language learners.
Here's how to change keyboard language on Android.Â
Check out the products mentioned in this article:
Samsung Galaxy s10 (From $859.99 at Walmart)
How to change your keyboard language on AndroidÂ
Before having the option to change keyboard language on Android, you will have to first add a new language on Gboard:
1. Open settings on your Android.
2. From the settings menu, select "System."
3. Under "System," tap "Languages & input."
4. In the "Languages & input" menu, under Keyboards, select "Virtual keyboard."
5. In the "Virtual keyboard" menu, tap "Gboard."
6. In the "Gboard" menu, tap "Languages."
7. At the bottom of the language menu, tap the "ADD KEYBOARD" button to add a new language keyboard.
8. Choose the language you wish to add.
9. Select the keyboard display you would like, and adjust other language settings, then tap "Done."
Once you do this, you can switch back and forth between keyboards with ease in any app that you type in: Simply press and hold on the spacebar, and select the language keyboard you want to use from the pop-up menu that appears.
However, if you'd rather switch language keyboards the way you swap to the emoji keyboard, you can â just note that you can only have one setting on at a time. So if you want to toggle between language keyboards that way, you won't be able to display the emoji keyboard anymore.
If emojis are not that important to you, here's how to alter those settings:Â
1. On your keyboard, press and hold on the comma in the lower left corner.
2. Tap the little settings icon that pops up directly above where you are pressing.
3. From the "Gboard Settings" menu, select "Preferences."
4. In the "Preferences" menu, toggle "Show language switch key" to the on position.Â
Remember, if it's greyed out, it's because you can't have the emoji switch key showing at the same time â toggle that one off in order to turn the other on.
Â
Original author: Melanie Weir
50 Hits
Sep
09
To check which version of Android you have on the device in your possession, navigate to your phone or tablet's system settings.Knowing which version of Android you have can answer a lot of questions about your phone's capability to run certain apps, as well as things like battery life and processing speed.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Open System settings from the Settings menu. Melanie Weir/Business Insider Find "System Update." Melanie Weir/Business Insider You'll find full details on your Android software version. Melanie Weir/Business Insider
Knowing which version of Android you have is important and can answer a lot of questions you may have.Â
Questions like: "Can my phone support this app?" or "Why is my phone dying so quickly?" or even "Why did my phone slow down?" can all possibly be answered by checking what version Android software you have downloaded.
If you're not updated to the latest version of Android, it's possible you could be missing out on cool new features. It's also possible that some apps and updates will not work with your phone's OS, causing bugs, crashes, and other issues.
On the other hand, if you have an older phone, updating to a newer software could create problems of its own, particularly slowing it down or eating up battery life.Â
If you have questions about how your phone is operating, checking which version of Android you're running is a good place to start.Â
Here's how to do it.
Check out the products mentioned in this article:
Samsung Galaxy s10 (From $859.99 at Walmart)
How to check which version of Android you haveÂ
1. Open your phone's Settings menu.
2. In the menu, locate and tap "System."
3. In the System menu, likely at or near the bottom, tap "System Update." It should tell you what version of Android your phone is running.
4. If you want more details, tap "System Update." It will tell you what version of Android you have, when it was updated, and if there are any new updates available.
Â
Original author: Melanie Weir
34 Hits
Aug
10
We've shown you how to mute posts on Instagram, but what if you've now changed your mind and want to see that user's content in your feed again?
While you won't be able to unmute posts on a computer, you can with your mobile device.
In just a few steps, here's how you can unmute posts on Instagram on your iPhone or Android.
Check out the products mentioned in this article:
iPhone 11 (From $699.99 at Apple)
Samsung Galaxy S10 (From $859.99 at Walmart)
How to unmute posts on Instagram on a mobile device
1. Open the Instagram app on your iPhone or Android.Â
2. Tap the search icon at the bottom of your screen.
3. Tap the "Search" bar at the top of your screen and type in the user's name.
4. A list of suggested profiles will pop up as you type. Select the desired profile by tapping on the name once it appears.
5. Tap "Following."
6. A list of options will pop up at the bottom of your screen. Tap "Mute."
7. Toggle the slider to the right of "Posts." When the slider turns gray, that means you've unmuted their content.
Â
Original author: Christina Liao
35 Hits
Sep
09
Your Spam folder in Gmail is kept separate from all your other inboxes, and may even be hidden at first, depending on which app you use.If you're using Gmail on your desktop, you'll have to click the "More" option to find your Spam folder.In the mobile Gmail app, you'll need to open the main menu to find the Spam folder.Once you've opened your Spam folder, you can read the messages in it, delete them, or bring them to your normal inbox.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Your Spam folder will be near the bottom of your folders. Marissa Perino/Business Insider Whether it's junk mail or phishing scams, Gmail's Spam folder is great for keeping your inbox clear of unwanted email.
And while the Spam folder is designed to just exist without you ever needing to open it â any message in it will be deleted after 30 days, so you don't need to manage it manually â there may come a time when you do need to find your Spam folder.
The Spam folder can be overzealous, for example, and try to delete an email you need. In this case, you'll have to go into your Spam folder and take that email out.
Or you might simply want to clear your Spam folder manually, and save yourself some storage space.
In any case, here's how to find and use your Spam folder in Gmail, whether you're on a Mac or PC, or using the mobile app for iPhone and Android devices.
Check out the products mentioned in this article:
iPhone 11 (From $699.99 at Apple)
Samsung Galaxy s10 (From $859.99 at Walmart)
Apple Macbook Pro (From $1,299.00 at Apple)
Lenovo IdeaPad 130 (From $469.99 at Walmart)
How to find your Gmail Spam folder on a desktop
1. Open Gmail in any internet browser on your Mac or PC.
2. In the left sidebar, you'll see all of your folders, including your general "Inbox." Scroll down until you see the "More" option, and click this to find even more folders.
3. Click on the "Spam" folder. This will be labeled with an exclamation point icon.
4. Any messages currently marked as spam will appear in this folder. If you'd like to clear this folder, click the blank check box at the top-left to select all messages, and then click "Delete forever."
5. If you'd like to bring a specific message back to your general Inbox, open it and then click "Not spam" at the top of the page. This will also teach Gmail not to mark messages like this as spam in the future.
You can also click "Delete forever" to delete just this specific spam email. William Antonelli/Business Insider
How to find your Gmail Spam folder in the mobile app
1. Open the Gmail app on your iPhone or Android device.
2. Click the three bars in the upper-right corner from any screen to open the main menu.
3. Scroll down and tap the "Spam" option.
4. To delete all your Spam messages at once, tap the "Empty Spam Now" option at the top of the page. To delete a single message, tap and hold your finger down on it, then tap the three dots that appear in the top-right. Select "Delete forever" from the menu that appears.
5. To bring a message back to your general Inbox, open a message and then tap "Report not spam" in the gray box. If this box doesn't appear, tap the three dots in the top-right corner and then select "Not spam."
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Original author: Marissa Perino
30 Hits
Sep
09
You can allow certain pop-ups on Firefox without disabling the pop up blocker entirely.Pop-ups are often a pest, and Mozilla's Firefox browser comes pre-packaged with a very effective pop-up blocker.However, Firefox's pop-up blocking tool can be so effective that you need to deactivate it for certain websites to perform their intended functions.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Open a new tab. Emma Witman/Business Insider Pop-ups are one of the most bothersome parts of the online world.
So, the fact that Mozilla's Firefox browser comes pre-packed with a pop-up blocker â no extensions necessary â is a great perk.
But, there are also times when you actually want to allow a pop-up to see the light of day.Â
For instance, when watching sports online, videos are often presented on a smaller, pop-out window â a window that may get blocked by Firefox's overzealous pop-up blocker.
Fortunately, you can selectively let pop-ups sneak by on certain websites without disabling Firefox's otherwise advantageous pop-up blocking tool.
Here's how to allow pop-ups on Firefox for certain websites.Â
Check out the products mentioned in this article:
Apple Macbook Pro (From $1299.00 at Apple)
Lenovo IdeaPad 130 (From $469.99 at Walmart)
How to allow pop-ups on FirefoxÂ
1. Open a new Firefox window or new tab by clicking the "+" sign next to an open tab or tabs on your Mac or PC.Â
2. Click the gear icon in the top-right corner of the tab, which will direct you to your Preferences.Â
If you're a Mac user, you can also hold "command" + "," on your keyboard to access your Preferences in Firefox. Emma Witman/Business Insider
3. Once you're in Preferences, click the three vertical lines in the top-left and select "Privacy & Security" from the options.Â
Firefox makes Preferences easily accessible in a new tab â you don't have to open a dropdown menu, although there is that option. Emma Witman/Business Insider
4. Scroll to the "Permissions" section, near the bottom of the page.Â
5. By default, the "Block pop-up windows" box will be checked. Leave the box checked, but click "Exceptionsâ¦"
The Permissions section also controls a lot of significant privacy features for browsing, like websites' access to your location, microphone, and camera. Emma Witman/Business Insider
6. Type in the address of the website that you want to allow pop-ups for, then click "Allow."
I opted to add "WatchESPN.com," where often in the past I've thought a problem prevented my being able to watch a game â when actually the pop-out video window was being blocked. Emma Witman/Business Insider
7. Finally, click "Save Changes."Â
The website should immediately appear under "Website" with the status "Allow" in Firefox's "Allowed Websites - Pop-ups" window.
One website added, several more to come, for the optimal Firefox experience. Emma Witman/Business Insider
If pop-ups from an exempted website become bothersome and you'd like to change your mind, you can always remove the website in the same Preferences page.Â
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Original author: Emma Witman
30 Hits
