Author: Martin Brinkmann

When I was young, I studied German, History and English at Essen University in Germany. I worked in computer support for several years at the time to help other computer users when they ran into issues. Writing started out as a passion project, as I wanted to help more users and not just the ones that I handled in support. This lead to the founding of Ghacks Technology News in 2005. First, as a side-project, but shortly thereafter as a full-time project as the site's popularity exploded. I sold Ghacks to Softonic some years ago, but stayed on as Editor. You can still read my articles on the site. I do publish on Betanews as well. In recent years, I started to write and publish technology books, including my latest book "Windows 11 From Beginner to Advanced", which is available on Amazon. I'm also a freelance writer for the German publisher Gamestar. Chipp.in is my newest project. I want to use it to talk about my book projects, sell my books directly, and write about technology, as this is what interests me.

WSCC gives you access to hundreds of the world’s best free apps

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Windows System Control Center is a free program for personal use on Windows that you may use to explore, download, and use hundreds of the best free apps for the operating system.

The app brings together programs by popular developers such as Nirsoft, SysInternals, MiTeC, and others.

It is available as a portable application, but you can also install it. You may select the sources that you want included on the first start.

No apps are downloaded by default, but it takes just a click to add some or all of them to the PC.

While that is convenient, it does have downsides. The main one is that WSCC does not list the space that is needed to store all selected apps on the PC.

Most apps are relatively small, but you still end up with 340 megabytes worth of apps in the folder when you install them all.

You may also notice that some apps cannot be installed. This was the case for three Nirsoft apps that Windows Defender did not want on the system.

You may use the folders of the sidebar to explore and launch apps, or the built-in search.

Selecting a group in the sidebar displays information about the available apps. This includes a handy description of its functionality.

Note that the name of the app is listed on the right, which is a bit confusing, if you are browsing by name and not by description. A click on the name launches the app immediately on the system. A click on the question-mark next to a name opens the help file, if available.

Apart from acting as a launcher, WSCC can also keep apps up to date. Since they are all portable, it is often the case that they do not get updated frequently. The app informs you about updates so that you may install them.

Closing Words

WSCC is a handy program for Windows. While you can maintain your own list of portable apps, it is a great option to download and manage hundreds of popular free apps with minimal effort.

Now it is your turn. Have you used WSCC in the past or a comparable solution? Or do you prefer to download and manage apps individually?

Microsoft reportedly showing ads in Microsoft 365 app for Android

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Is it an experiment, rolling out to everyone, or a bug? Reports are coming in that users are starting to see ads in the Microsoft 365 application for Android when they open PDF documents in the app.

The ad shows up at the top of the screen underneath the title of the document. It features a close button, but that closes it just for the current PDF document and has no effect on future documents that users view in the app.

User Longhorn describes the experience on an independent Mastadon server:

The PDF reader in the Office app on Android has built-in ads.

Even if you have an @Microsoft 365 subscription, ads do sometimes show up.

That’s utterly insane. That particular ad I got was powered by Taboola under the hood.

Another user chimed in and said that ads are also showing up for other documents opened in the application.

I tried to replicate this by opening several PDF documents and Office documents in the app, but they did not show up. It is possible that they do get blocked by the privacy-focused DNS service that I use, as it blocks most ads on Android devices.

Microsoft has been experimenting with advertisement in its products before and still is. Various sections and apps by Microsoft on Windows show ads. While some might argue that a recommendation for another Microsoft product is not an ad, I’d beg to differ.

Third-party apps are also a thing. The Copilot feature that is integrated into Windows may show third-party ads.

Ads in the Microsoft 365 app are not out of the question therefore. It would be a serious blow to subscribers, if Microsoft intents to show ads to them as well.

If Microsoft is rolling this out, we are likely going to see more and more comments about it on various places on the Internet.

What is your take on ads in apps? Do you mind, if they are free? What about paid apps? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Firefox downloads and installs faster on Linux thanks to a recent change

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Linux users who download Firefox from Mozilla to install the browser on their device will experience quicker downloads and installs going forward.

Mozilla explained on its Nightly website that it switched the packaging to .tar.xz from the previously used .tar.bz2 format.

The change has the following benefits:

  • The average file size of Firefox is 25 percent smaller.
  • The new format offers improved decompression speeds.
  • Improved compatibility.

A 25 percent reduction in file size reduces the time a download takes. Combined with faster decompression of the new format, it means that Linux users will be able to start using Firefox earlier than before.

Linux users who want to give this a try can check out the change on the Firefox Nightly download page. The download of Firefox for Linux is offered as a .tar.xz package.

The change will roll out to Firefox Beta and Release channels in the coming weeks. Maintainers should take note of the new format and update scripts that they may be using to handle both package formats or start using .tar.xz exclusively.

Mozilla says that it made the decision to use .tar.xz instead of .zst on Linux because the selected format offers better compression. The format is in wide use as well and has no extra dependencies.

Users interested in the development can check out the main listing on Bugzilla.

What is your take on the change? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Thunderbird Android

Thunderbird financials: doing really well

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

The team behind the open source email client Thunderbird has released the annual report for the 2023-2024 period. The report covers major developments as well as an overview of financials.

And it could not look better. Financial contributions reached 8.6 million US Dollar in 2023, which is an increase of nearly 35 percent when compared to 2022’s 6.4 million US Dollar.

The project received donations from over 300,000 individuals according to the report. The median amount donated was 11,12 US Dollar and the number of big — over 1,000 US Dollar — donators was just 56 in the period.

Donations from five countries — Germany, the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Japan — accounted for more than 63 percent of all donations.

The expenses chart is interesting, especially when compared to Mozilla’s expense chart. More than 68 percent of expenses go to personnel, and almost 14 percent to infrastructure and operational services. Donation processing fees eat up more than 7 percent, which means that more than 600,000 US Dollar are wasted on fees. Marketing makes up 2 percent of expenses.

The bulk of revenue flows directly into the Thunderbird project and related services.

Major development took place since 2023

The organization has released two major versions of Thunderbird for the desktop since 2023. First Thunderbird 115 in 2023 and then a year later the big Thunderbird Nebula release.

K-9 Mail for Android was finally turned into Thunderbird for Android, which marked a major development step in creating a true cross-platform solution.

Development on add-on services began in 2023 as well. The team focused its efforts first on services that would add value to Thunderbird and align with its own values and goals. The following services were created as a consequence:

  • Appointment, a calendar scheduling tool
  • Send, based on Firefox-Send, a file transfer tool.
  • Thunderbird Sync, a file synchronization tool to sync settings between all devices.

Development picked up pace between 2023 and 2024, and so did community contributions, which suggests that it is heading in the right direction.

Now you: do you use Thunderbird as your email client or another application? What is your take on the development? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

ZetaOffice: LibreOffice as a web service

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

LibreOffice is probably the most popular open source document editing software out there at the moment. It is a local solution, which means that you need to install it on your devices to use it.

Related content

LibreOffice 24.8: you can now block active content in documents

ZetaOffice is a relatively new online service that brings the Office suite to the web. Desktop versions for Windows and Linux are also available, but these are in beta right now. The developers plan to release mobile versions in the future as well.

It is developed by Allotropia. The Allotropia website lists “services, consulting, and products around LibreOffice and related opensource projects” as the work focus.

ZetaOffice Online

Right now, ZetaOffice Online supports Writer, Calc, and Impress. You can head over to the official website and try the linked demos there to see how it works.

ZetaOffice Writer example

You may note that the demos are quite memory hungry. The Writer demo used about 1.4 gigabytes of memory when I tried it, which is a lot. Some demos almost locked the page when I started them.

The functionality of LibreOffice appears to be there. There does not seem to be a registration option on the website at this point. In fact, no information about using ZetaOffice with your own documents is provided.

The website offers some information on the business plan and functionality though:

  • ZetaOffice is provided as a self-hosted version and a paid version that runs on high performance servers.
  • The service is in open beta right now.

Closing Words

If you find the idea of having access to LibreOffice on a website appealing, then you may want to keep an eye on the project. It is in beta right now and it may take a while before it exits the beta phase.

No word yet on pricing, which surely has the power to make or break the project. Still, it is interesting to see that projects like it exist.

Do you use LibreOffice? Would you use ZetaOffice or another service that brings the open source suite to the web? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Android may soon warn you when you download a low quality app

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Is the app any good? This is probably one of the first questions that come to mind when you stumble upon a new app.

User reviews and ratings, as well as other information, such as the developer’s history of application releases, only help that much.

Google appears to be working on a new Google Play feature for Android that may warn users about apps before the download is started.

A report by Android Authority suggests that Google is working on such a feature. A deep-dive into the lastest release brought the information to light, according to the site.

So, how is Google going to determine if an app is low quality? Messages baked into the app give clues:

  • This app is frequently uninstalled compared to similar apps on Play
  • Play has limited user data about this app
  • This app has few active users compared to others on Play

Android Authority says that the messages will be displayed on an application’s “details page” on the Play Store. In other words, Google won’t display popups that warn users about a potentially low quality app.

The messages cover several scenarios. The first looks at uninstalls. If an app gets more uninstalls than comparable apps, it may be considered low quality by Google.

The second is for new apps. If Google Play has little data about the app, it may warn users. This does not necessarily mean that an app is low quality. All apps start with zero installs and reviews after all.

The third looks at user activity while the app is installed. If it is lower than that of comparable apps, Google may also show a warning.

There may be others, but that is all that Android Authority could extract from the latest Play Store APK file.

No clear definition of low quality

There is no strict definition of low quality. That is likely the reason why Google is not showing popups about certain apps, but adding information to the application’s page on Google Play instead.

Especially new apps cannot be judged by common metrics. They have no or only a few reviews or ratings, and the lack of users makes other metrics, such as user engagement, also difficult to use.

Still, the information that Google provides may be useful in a user’s decision making process.

What is your take on Google’s plan? Do you think it is useful? Feel free to leave a comment below.

Microsoft relaunches controversial AI-feature Recall: a bug highlights why it is still problematic

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft released a new build to the Canary insider channel that gives testers on Copilot+ PCs the option to test the AI feature Recall again.

You may remember that Microsoft announced it with some fanfare earlier this year only to be overwhelmed by the negative response that it received. It got pulled quickly by Microsoft and the company promised to go back to the drawing board to address major areas of concern.

Most of these centered on privacy and security issues.

Good to know: Recall is designed as a history feature. It captures screenshots of the screen in intervals and parses them using AI. Users may then use natural language to search the activity history and find certain content that they might not find otherwise.

Recall is available again, at least for testers on the Insider channel who use devices that meet the Copilot+ PC requirements.

Microsoft has a big post on the Windows Insider Blog that lists the changes that it made to improve privacy and security. One of the most important changes is that Recall is no longer opt-out. Means, you do not have to worry about the feature unless you enable it.

A list of known issues is attached to the page. There, you find the following issue:

Websites added as filters may be saved if the content is in split screen or side bar pane in Edge. This will be addressed in an update.

In other words: even if you have set up certain websites to be excluded from Recall, the AI may still record them if they are displayed in split screen or side bar pane view in Microsoft Edge.

This is a problem, considering that sensitive information may become available. You may recall that Recall is not compatible with all browsers that you may run.

If you run an unsupported browser, all filters will be ignored as well. The end result is that activity that you do not want recorded will be recorded, if you enable Recall.

Closing Words

Recall may be a useful feature in certain environments. Think business or Enterprise PCs that are used for very specific tasks only. Provided that security and privacy is airtight, Recall might be useful in some scenarios.

For home users or PCs with mixed activity, it might not be that useful. If you search for past content a lot and do not find it using Windows Search or other search tools, then it might be useful.

If you do not, there is little use in Recall, especially if you consider the scope of it and the access that it has to information.

What is your take on Recall? Would you use it under some circumstances? Or do you miss the use case that would it make useful for you? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Windows 11 24H2 no longer offered if certain Ubisoft games are installed

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Windows 11 PCs with certain Ubisoft games installed won’t receive the upgrade offer to Windows 11, version 24H2 anymore at the time of writing.

Related content:

Windows 11 24H2: Firmware update addresses crash issue for Western Digital and Sandisk SSD

Microsoft confirmed the new issue and has put a compatibility hold in place that prevent Windows Update from offering the upgrade on affected machines.

Here is the list of affected games:

  • Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
  • Assassin’s Creed Origins
  • Assassin’s Creed Odyseey
  • Star Wars Outlaws
  • Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora

Microsoft says that players may experience issues with these games on devices running the latest version of Windows.

In particular, Microsoft mentions the following symptoms:

  • Games may become unresponsive while starting, loading or during active gameplay.
  • Users may see a black screen.

Games may need to be ended through the Task Manager in some cases. This is Microsoft’s workaround if the issue is encountered.

  1. Open Task Manager. This can be accomplished by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc on your keyboard. Alternatively, you can right-click on the Start button and select Task Manager from the menu.
  2. In the Task Manager window, look for your game in the Processes tab. It might be listed under the name of the game or the game launcher.
  3. Click on the game’s name to highlight it. Then, click the End Task button at the bottom right of the window. This will close the game.

Note about compatibility holds: Microsoft uses these to block updates via some update management systems. These won’t prevent direct upgrades, for instance by using Windows 11 installation media. They also do not protect against changes that occur after the affected version of Windows is installed.

Plenty of Windows 11, 24H2 issues

Microsoft confirmed another four issues this month alone. Two of these have been resolved, one mitigated at the time of writing.

The last issue standing affects standalone USB scanners that support the eScanner Communication Language (eSCL) scan protocol. These may not be discovered correctly by the Windows system.

Microsoft has not published a workaround for the issue at the time.

Do you run Windows 11, or Windows 11, version 24H2? Did you run into any issues? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

How to block (most) ads on Android

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

While it is relatively easy to install ad-blockers on desktop devices, the same cannot be said for mobile devices.

On desktop, all you have to do is install an extension in your preferred browser and you are all set; at least when it comes to ads on websites. You could also pick a browser with a built-in ad-blocker, which make things even easier.

Most browsers on mobile do not support extensions. They could, and some do, but the majority does not. Some browsers come with built-in content blockers, Brave does for instance. Firefox supports extensions, including uBlock Origin on mobile.

Related content:

Android Apps: Exodus reveals trackers and permissions before installation

But what if you want to block ads in mobile ads? Browsers or extensions don’t help you in that case.

DNS-based solutions come to the rescue

One of the options that you have is to change the DNS provider on the mobile device. Some come with ad-blocking by default, and that takes care of most ads on the device, including in apps.

Here is a short list of providers that support this:

Let’s pick Mullvad from the list for this guide. The content blocking DNS server is adblock.dns.mullvad.net. You can also use other DNS servers, which block additional types of content that you may want to block.

Here is the overview:

  • adblock.dns.mullvad.net (Ads, Trackers)
  • base.dns.mullvad.net (Ads, Trackers, Malware)
  • extended.dns.mullvad.net (Ads, Trackers, Malware, Social Media)
  • family.dns.mullvad.net (Ads, Trackers, Malware, Adult, Gambling)
  • all.dns.mullvad.net (Ads, Tracking, Malware, Adult, Gambling, Social Media)

Do the following to set one of these up on your Android device:

Block ads with custom DNS
  1. Open the Settings on the Android device.
  2. Switch to Connections > More connection settings.
  3. Activate Private DNS on the page that opens.
  4. Select “Private DNS provider hostname”.
  5. Type the DNS server name, e.g., adblock.dns.mullvad.net.
  6. Tap on the Save button.

You may need to close open apps before the changes take effect in them. Ads should be reduced or even completely eliminated now in apps that you use.

Note that some options, like the ability to “get something” in games by watching an ad, won’t work anymore once you make the change. Regular ads in games, shown while you play the game, should be gone though.

You can undo the change at any time by switching back to Automatic or by changing the provider hostname to another one.

Do you use custom DNS solutions on your devices? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

WhatsApp finally has an answer for annoying voice messages

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

I have to admit that I do use WhatsApp for communication with certain relatives and friends. Some of them have the habit of sending voice messages instead of text messages.

If you are like me, you dislike this a lot. I have to play the messages to listen to them, and may have to replay them, if something is not clear. To play a message, I need to either use headphones or play the message in a location where it does not bother anyone else.

Related:

WhatsApp: set an optional username and Pin for protection against unwanted messages

Voice Message Transcripts

WhatsApp has announced a new feature that puts an end to this. It is called voice message transcripts and will transcribe voice messages to text for you.

Here are the details:

  • Voice Message Transcripts are disabled by default.
  • Long-press on a message and select the transcribe option to start the process.
  • WhatsApp says the processing happens on the local device.

The feature is rolling out to all users of WhatsApp in the coming weeks. To enable it, go to Settings > Chats > Voice message transcripts. If you do not see the option at this point, check at a later point again.

You may also set the preferred language for the transcriptions. Note that this may require a download of a language pack to the device for the selected language.

Once enabled, long-press any voice message and select transcribe to get a text version of the message.

WhatsApp notes that there may be issues during the process. The app displays “Transcript unavailable” as an error message then.

This may have different causes, including:

  • The transcript language does not match the voice message language.
  • Some words are not recognized, likely because of background noise.
  • The language of the voice message is not supported.

Closing Words

The new option is useful, but it still requires manual action for each voice message. It would be great if WhatsApp would implement an auto-transcribe feature, as it would improve the process further.

Do you use WhatsApp? What is your take on the feature? Feel free to leave a comment down below.