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User experience (UX) designers don't get enough credit. Not only do they mold products to provide meaningful and relevant experiences to users, but they oftentimes have to get involved in user interface (UI) design as well. Naturally, every designer has their own tool of preference. The UX Tools' Design Tool Survey shows us what the most used apps are, and hopefully that data helps people determine what works best for their style and workflow. Figma: The Most Popular Tool Amongst Designers in 2020 After collecting the answers of over 4,000 designers online, the 2020 Design Tools Survey by UX Tools  revealed that vector graphics editor Figma is the primary design tool of the vast majority. Jamie Wong, a software engineer at Figma, took to Twitter this afternoon to celebrate: how it started: how it’s going: pic.twitter.com/IKq1KDvAGL — Jamie Wong (@jlfwong) February 28, 2021 We don't blame him, considering competing macOS app Sketch topped every ...

Apple has begun adding repairability advice to its product listings in France. The move follows legislation changes that force some companies to display a repairability index on any website that sells their products. The introduction of repairability scores aims to reduce electronic waste, helping consumers make better-informed decisions about the hardware they purchase and the likelihood of repair should it break or become damaged. Apple Displays Repair Score on French Websites The repairability scores on the Apple website appear after you finalize your selection. For example, if you head to the iPhone 12 store listing, the repairability score appears after selecting a storage size and color for the phone. Currently, the iPhone 12 receives a 6/10 rating for repairability. The score is similar to the repair rating found on iFixit, the leading site for user repair guides. The manufacturer provides the scores to the French government, which vets the scores according to its guide...

It's fascinating to dig into your family history. Even though it should be more difficult as time passes to learn about those who were here much earlier than us, advancements in technology have introduced new ways to try and fill that gap. In addition to family tree creation and ancestry tests, MyHeritage now lets you see what your deceased relatives might have looked like in motion. Animate Your Family Photos On Thursday, online genealogy company MyHeritage introduced a new AI tool called Deep Nostalgia , which animates the faces on people in still photos. It's meant to allow you to "see your ancestors from generations past like never before." With our new Deep Nostalgia™, you can see how a person from an old photo could have moved and looked if they were captured on video! Read more: https://t.co/ZwUwzJRQ26 #RootsTech #RootsTechConnect pic.twitter.com/LERXhrqiut — MyHeritage (@MyHeritage) February 25, 2021 When you upload a photo to Deep Nostalgia, th...

TikTok has settled multiple privacy lawsuits for the eyewatering sum of $92 million. The lawsuits focused on the video-sharing social media platform's misuse of user data and applies to 89 million TikTok users in the US whose details were allegedly sold to third-party advertisers. TikTok Settles Privacy Lawsuits According to NPR , 21 federal lawsuits were brought against TikTok, filed mostly by or on behalf of minors. Some of the plaintiffs are as young as six years old. The lawsuits claim that the company engaged in the "theft of private and personally identifiable TikTok user data." You can read the full Plaintiff's Motion for more information. The $92 million settlement is the result of a year-long legal battle that required extensive analysis of TikTok's operation. The platform, which has well-documented privacy issues, allegedly collected and sold personally-identifying information to Facebook, Google, and other tech companies. TikTok data was also sent ...

Google has revealed to its Google One subscribers that its High Quality photo option may reduce image quality more than previously advertised. The admission is a departure from the service's long-held position that High Quality photos are near identical to the original version and that users could safely delete originals once uploaded to Google Photos. Google High Quality Photo Option Comes Under Scrutiny Back when Google Photos launched in 2015, it came with a strong selling point. You could upload as many photos as you wanted to the service for free, provided you allowed Google to switch them into its High Quality mode. However, a recent email sent to its Google One subscribers hammered home the point that "Original quality photos preserve the most detail and let you zoom in, crop and print photos with less pixelation." The email also encouraged users to make the most of their storage quote by uploading and storing Original Quality images, rather than relying on the ...

Apple is reportedly working on ways to make its Siri voice assistant more useful to people with atypical speech patterns, such as stuttering, The Wall Street Journal claims. The report cites a new research paper on the subject recently published by Apple. It notes that Apple has built a database of 28,000 audio clips, taken from podcasts, that feature stuttering language. These are being used to train the Siri models which help Apple's AI assistant to understand what is being said. Improving Siri for Users With Atypical Speech An Apple spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal that Apple is doing this to improve voice recognition for users with atypical speech patterns, although declined to provide further information. Apple already offers a Hold to Talk feature, which allows users to control how long they want Siri to listen for. This feature, introduced in 2015, means that users who need extra time to make requests can do so without Siri cutting them off. To use the Hold t...

A primary concern related to social media apps, in general, is their threat to your privacy and security. This affects individuals, of course, but is also a wider concern, highlighting how much data we actually give away through complacency. TikTok has found itself at the center of these controversies, with some labeling it as particularly dangerous. But is it really a threat to your privacy? And how can you safeguard your profile if you do use TikTok and don't want to leave the platform? Concerns from Employers and CEOs In 2020, Amazon retracted an email sent to its employees, asking them to delete TikTok from their devices. It claimed that the app might be tapping into emails. And while this possibility remains speculation, there are still some skeptics. Other employers have followed a similar path, including the financial services company, Wells Fargo, due to issues relating to security. The app has been banned in India and U.S. military government-issued devices. Another c...

Verizon has tweeted the suggestion that users should switch off 5G connections on devices experiencing higher than expected battery usage. The tweet has caught the eyes of Verizon users who have paid out for smartphones that can use the 5G network but are now finding device battery performance less than satisfactory. Switch to LTE to Save Battery The tweet didn't specifically mention switching your 5G connection off. Instead, Verizon suggests switching to the LTE network to save battery life in the now-deleted message. LTE was a core feature of the previous generation's network standard, 4G. While providing decent speeds, the 4G network is much slower when compared to 5G . For example, 4G has a maximum download speed of around 300Mbps (37.5MB/s) versus a maximum download speed of 10Gbps (1250MB/s) for 5G. Advising users to switch the 5G feature off in favor of the previous network generation isn't actually bad advice. A smartphone constantly searching for a network con...

For a long time, Android used three navigation buttons at the bottom of the screen to get around. However, in the latest Android versions, these buttons were replaced by gestures. Whether you're new to Android or just want to try the latest navigation method, we'll explain the most important Android gestures so you know how to get around your phone. How to Change Your Android Navigation Style First, let's look at how to choose your Android navigation setup. In most cases, you can choose between using modern Android gestures or the classic three buttons. We'll use stock Android 11 on the Pixel 4 as an example; the steps may be different based on your Android version and device. On Android 10 and later, head to Settings > System > Gestures and choose System navigation from the list. Here, you can select which type of navigation you want to use: Gesture navigation is the modern standard that uses only gestures to get around. With this, you'll see a small...