Category: Software

Google is adding anti-theft protections to Android

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Google announced a new set of features designed to protect Android devices against theft in May. At least some of these features are now rolling out on first devices.

The following anti-theft protections are implemented:

  • Require device or Google account credentials to set up an Android device after factory reset.
  • Private area on the device that may be locked with a separate pin.
  • More authentication prompts for changes of sensitive settings.
  • Option to require enhanced authentication for certain features.

Good to know: Factory reset protection and private space is included in Android 15. The enhanced protections “will be released to select devices” this year, according to Google.

Related content

How to turn your Android device into an Internet hotspot

Let’s take a closer look at the features.

Factor reset upgrade prevents a reset by a thief

One options that thieves had until now was to factory reset the phone before selling it on the blackmarket.

Google wants to make this more difficult by requiring credentials before the device can be set up again.

Private area with extra protection

The private area feature enables Android users to lock sensitive apps behind another pin. This prevents direct access to the selected apps. Besides finance and health apps, you may also secure other apps or games, for instance social or messaging apps.

Additional authentication prompts for sensitive settings

Last but not least, Google is adding more protections for sensitive settings. Changing these requires the pin, password or biometric authentication.

The main purpose is to keep unauthorized users, e.g., a thief, from making changes that disable security settings such as Find My Device.

There is also a new option to require additional authentication for sensitive settings. Google mentions viewing or editing “critical Google account and device settings”. These require biometric authentication.

Closing Words

Some of the features are rolling out already to Android users in the United States, according to a post by Mishall Rahman on Threads. Most Android users are probably still waiting for Android 15 on their devices.

You can read Google’s announcement here.

What is your take on the new security features? Will you use them when they become available? Feel free to let us know in the comments below.

How to install Windows 11 24H2 without Windows Update

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft released the 2024 feature update for Windows 11 a few days ago. This update is rolling out to all users and the main way to install it on non-managed devices is through Windows Update.

But what if the feature update is not shown to you? When you follow Microsoft’s instructions, but it is not offered?

In any event, I recommend that you create a backup of the system before you install a major update. A tool like Paragon Backup & Recovery does the trick. It is free and I have used it for years for backups.

To summarize the official step-by-step instructions:

  1. Open the Start menu.
  2. Load Settings.
  3. Navigate to Windows Update.
  4. Check “Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available”.
  5. Activate the “check for updates” button.

Note: I recommend that you disable the “get the latest..” option after installation of the update again. You may end up with optional updates installed regularly otherwise.

There are multiple reasons why the feature update is not returned after you hit the button:

  • Microsoft is rolling out the update, pushing it to PCs first that it considers the most likely to install it without issues.
  • If a PC is affected by a known issue, it won’t get the update.
  • Driver or application compatibility issues may also block the update via Windows Update.

Thankfully, several other options exist to install the feature update.

Option 1: the Windows 11 Installation Assistant

What is it? The Windows 11 Installation Assistant is a free Microsoft program to upgrade the operating system to a new version.

  • Download the Windows 11 Installation Assistant from the Microsoft website.
  • Run the downloaded Windows11InstallationAssistant.exe file.
  • Select “yes” when the security prompt (UAC) is displyed.
  • Accept the terms.
  • The new version of Windows is downloaded.
  • Follow the on-screen instructions to upgrade the system.

Option 2: Using the latest Windows 11 ISO

What is it? A disk image holds the installation files for the operating system.

  1. Open the Microsoft Windows 11 download website.
  2. Scroll down to “Download Windows 11 Disk Image (ISO) for x64 devices”.
  3. Select Windows 11 (multi-edition ISO for x64 devices) from the menu.
  4. Activate the “Download Now” button.
  5. Select the desired language of the installation (you can change it later, if you make an error).
  6. Click on the 64-bit Download button.
  7. Use the save file dialog to save the ISO image to the local system.
  8. Right-click on the downloaded ISO image and select Mount from the context menu.
  9. Accept the request prompt to open the image on the device.
  10. Double-click on the setup.exe file to start the upgrade.

Note: the download link is valid for 24 hours. You also need to make sure that you choose to keep files and installed apps during installation.

There are other options, but not all are recommended for all users. You could download the Windows 11 ISO from another source, for example. This is only recommended if you trust the source.

Another option is provided by the open source tool Rufus. You may use it to download the latest Windows 11 ISO, mount it and run the installer. You may also burn the ISO to disc or copy it to a USB Flash drive instead.

Do you plan to install the new feature update, or have done so already? Feel free to write a comment down below.

Firefox

Firefox 131 ships with Tab Previews, Temporary Permissions, and other usability improvements

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Mozilla released a new version of the Firefox web browser today. Firefox 131.0 is the new stable version of the browser. It is available for all supported operating systems and introduces several new features and improvements.

The details:

  • Site permissions may now be granted temporarily to sites.
  • Firefox displays previews when hovering over tabs.
  • Firefox Translate supports Swedish.
  • Links to text snippets on websites can now be shared.
  • Security fixes.

Firefox 131.0: new features

Temporary permissions

Firefox temporary permissions

Firefox is not the first web browser to support temporary permissions, but it is still a welcome feature. The main idea here is to allow sites access to certain features only for the session by default.

You can still enable permanent permissions. This can be useful if you use a website or app regularly and do not want to be bothered by permission prompts each time you open it.

Firefox permanent permission

Firefox revokes the permission automatically after one hour or when the tab is closed. A click on the site icon reveals whether permissions are temporary or permanent.

Tab Previews

Firefox Tab Previews

Tab previews have finally arrived in Firefox 131.0. Just hover over any open tab in the Firefox web browser and you will get a visual preview of the site or app.

You also see the page title and domain name in the preview. Previews work for local and public pages in Firefox.

Firefox users who do not like the feature can turn it off easily:

  1. Load about:preferences#general in the address bar.
  2. Scroll down to the Tabs section on the page that opens.
  3. Uncheck “Show an image preview when you hover on a tab”.

Firefox will only show the page title and domain name from now on.

Linking to text fragments

This feature allows you to link to specific text on a webpage. There does not seem to be a context menu option yet for this, which makes it a bit hard to create this type of links.

To link to text, append #:~:text=TEXT to the address and replace TEXT with text that you want to link to on the page.

Note: Firefox will always pick the first instance of that text on the page. You may need to be specific, if multiple instances of the text are on the page.

Example: https://chipp.in/software/qbittorrent-5-0-is-now-available-with-a-massive-list-of-changes/#:~:text=qBittorrent%205.0

This address highlights the first instance of qBittorrent 5.0 on the linked page.

Check out Mozilla’s detailed instructions for using the feature here.

You can check out the full release notes here.

What is your take on these features? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

qBittorrent 5.0 main interface

qBittorrent 5.0 is now available with a massive list of changes

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Do you still use torrents to download or share files? The makers of open source torrent client qBittorrent have released a major update; qBittorrent 5.0 comes with a large list of new features and changes.

The details:

  • qBittorrent 5.0 is compatible with Windows 10 and newer, macOS Big Sur or newer, and Linux.
  • Existing installations will be upgraded to the new version.
  • Some users report issues after upgrading.

Worth a read: Streaming services are moving in the wrong direction.

What is new in qBittorrent 5.0

The official release notes are long and include new features as well as fixes and other changes.

Here is a quick list of important features and changes in the new version:

  • Option to pause and resume entire BitTorrent sessions.
  • Set a shutdown timeout.
  • Mark-of-the-Web support.
  • Separate filter for tracker errors.
  • Download button if torrent was retrieved from the clipboard.
  • Deleted files may be moved to trash instead of being deleted right away.
  • Search supports regular expressions.
  • Seeding limits may be set for RSS and Watched folders in folder options.
  • Search plugins are lazy loaded.

You may check out the full list of changes here.

Problems with qBittorrent 5.0

Some users who have upgraded to the new version or tried to upgrade have reported issues on sites like Reddit.

Here is a short overview what has been reported:

  • Torrents cannot be started after upgrading to qBittorrent 5.0.
  • Search plugins may be incompatible with new version. Potential fix discussed here.
  • Getting “Error Opening File for Writing” when upgrading.
  • Theme may switch to dark mode / light mode automatically based on the OS setting.
  • Web UI is broken for some (downgrading restores functionality reportedly).

It is probably a good idea to test the new release first or wait days or even weeks before running the upgrade. In any event, it may be a good idea to create a system backup before running the upgrade.

Do you use torrent software? If so, which is your favorite and why? If not, what do you prefer to download or share files? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

The latest Windows 11 update is causing reboot issues

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft has confirmed a reboot issue that is affecting Windows 11 version 23H2. The company says that it is investigating issues that are causing multiple restarts or blue / green screens after installation of the latest update for Windows 11.

The update in question is KB5043145, which Microsoft released as an optional update for the operating system some says ago.

Affected devices reboot the system multiple times. Some may trigger automatic repair in an effort to repair the issue that is preventing the start of the Windows 11 operating system.

In other cases, users may get into the BitLocker recovery screen where they may need to enter the key to proceed.

Good to know: Microsoft plans to encrypt drives automatically with BitLocker.

Not the first time

If you follow Windows 11 news, you may remember that Microsoft confirmed a very similar issue back in July.

Back then, Microsoft confirmed that devices might boot into BitLocker recovery after installation of the — then — latest update for Windows 11.

Microsoft resolved the issue in August 2024. It is unclear if the issue is identical or related to the September 2024 issue that Microsoft confirmed this week.

Closing Words

The bulk of Windows 11 users are not affected by the new issue, as it is triggered by the optional update that Microsoft released in September 2024 for the operating system.

Microsoft has about two weeks left to address and fix the issue before the next cumulative update gets released. If Microsoft fails to to so, it will impact more users.

The next Patch Tuesday updates will be released on October 9, 2024 for Windows 11 version 23H2 and other supported systems.

The issue highlights again why most users may want to ignore the optional — beta — updates that Microsoft releases at the end of each month. These may introduce issues and bugs. If you do not want beta updates, do not install them and wait for the inclusion less than three weeks later as part of the cumulative security updates.

What is your take on optional updates? Do you install them or skip them? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Recall: Microsoft’s second attempt begins with security and privacy changes

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

The initial announcement of the AI feature Recall is a great example of shooting yourself in the foot. When Microsoft announced Recall, it floated on a wave of positive and encouraging AI news and developments.

Recall was never tested in Insider builds prior to the announcement, at least to my knowledge. While the reason for that decision is unknown, it is possible that Microsoft wanted to launch the new Copilot+ PCs with a banger.

Microsoft did not anticipate the criticism that it received after the announcement. These complaints were valid and could have been avoided if Microsoft would have received feedback from beta testers outside the company.

Privacy and security were at the center of the issue. Recall was enabled by default, which meant that users had to disable it, if they did not want to use it. It recorded the screen every 5 seconds and saved the data in a database that was not protected during runtime.

Microsoft pulled Recall shortly thereafter and promised to do better. Today. Microsoft revealed the improved version of Recall on its Windows Experience website.

Has it improved? Lets find out.

Recall Security

Microsoft makes four statements in regards to security:

  • Recall is opt-in — The option is shown during the setup experience and users need to enable the feature to use it.
  • Recall data is encrypted — Snapshots and information is stored in an encrypted database. Keys are protected using TPM and are linked to the user’s Windows Hello Enhanced Sign-in Security identity.
  • A core service is further isolated — Microsoft says that the service responsible for accessing snapshots and data runs in a secure VBS Enclave. Only data that the user requests is getting outside, according to Microsoft.
  • Recall uses Windows Hello Enhanced Sign-in Security – This is done to authorize Recall operations.

Particularly interesting is the fact that users may uninstall Recall. Microsoft introduced the option under Optional Features some time ago, then pulled it again saying that it was a bug. Now it turns out that Recall can be uninstalled fully, if the user so desires.

Microsoft addresses main criticisms with the change. Making Recall opt-in will reduce usage, but it ensures that unsuspecting users do not have screenshots of their activity taken every five seconds by the feature.

Recall Privacy

Next to security, Microsoft says that it has also improved privacy controls. Apart from making Recall opt-in, Microsoft highlights the following options to users who choose to enable the AI-feature.

  • In-private browsing data is never captured or saved. This is true for supported browsers. Microsoft lists Edge, Chrome, Firefox, Opera and other Chromium-based browsers.
  • Specific apps or websites viewed in browsers may be filtered. Works only in Edge, Chrome, Firefox and Opera.
  • Users control how much disk space Recall uses and how long content is retained.
  • Sensitive content filtering is enabled by default. This helps protect passwords, credit card numbers and the like to a degree.
  • Options to delete a time range, or all content from an app or website, or “anything and everything found in Recall search”.
  • An icon visualizes when snapshots are saved. Allows to pause snapshots.

Closing Words

Some of the features existed in the first version already. Microsoft has addressed the major points of criticism. While it is too early to tell how this will all work out, as Recall has not been released yet, it is giving users who are interested in the feature more control and better security.

Those who have no interest in the feature can either ignore it, by making sure not to opt-in during setup, or to remove it from the system entirely, if they prefer that.

You can check out the full blog post, which includes many security details, here.

What is your take on the changes? Do they go far enough, or is still something amiss? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Tab Group in Firefox

Firefox is getting Tab Groups – and you may try the feature already

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Tab Groups is a useful browser feature that allows you to group open websites together for better management. Most Chromium-based browsers support Tab Groups, as Google implemented them in Chromium and Chrome.

That’s one of the advantages of using an established browser source that is developed constantly. Don’t get me wrong, there are also disadvantages, like the death of Manifest V2 extensions support, which Google put into Chromium.

It is interesting to note that Mozilla introduced Tab Groups into Firefox at a time when Chrome and Chromium-based browsers did not really support it. Called Panorama, Mozilla launched it in 2010 as a way for users to group tabs.

While the implementation was not as elegant as what Google introduced in Chromium and Chrome, it was nevertheless a useful feature to some. Firefox extensions like TabGroups Manager would improve accessibility and usability. Mozilla decided to kill tab groups in Firefox eventually.

A few months ago, Mozilla announced that it would listen to feature requests from the community. Next to vertical tabs, Firefox would also get support for tab groups.

Tab Groups in Firefox Nightly

Firefox Tab Groups Enable

First bits of code have now landed in Firefox Nightly.

Note: Tab Groups in Firefox is not feature-complete at this point. There is no point in criticism Mozilla at this point, as development is still ongoing.

With that said, Firefox users who want to follow the development may enable Tab Groups in Firefox in the following way:

  • Make sure that Firefox Nightly is up to date (check Menu > Help > About Firefox Nightly).
  • Load about:config in the browser’s address bar.
  • Search for browser.tabs.groups.enabled.
  • Click on the toggle icon to set the value to true.
  • Restart Firefox.

Right-click on a tab and select “Add tab to new group” to create a new tab group in Firefox. You can drag & drop tabs between groups already. Some features, such as the ability to collapse and expand groups, are not implemented yet.

What is your take on tab groups in Firefox? Do you plan to use the feature once it lands? Feel free to write a comment down below.

Edge Extensions performance issue

Microsoft Edge: performance-dragging extension warnings in the works

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Browser extensions can be very useful. From the ultra-useful content blocker to extensions designed for specific tasks. They can make your life on the Internet easier or better.

While most extensions may not impact performance noticeable, some may. That is a problem, as it may not always be obvious which one is to blame. Some userrs may even blame the browser, which is not something that browser makers want.

Microsoft is working on integrating warnings in Edge to warn users about extensions that impact the browsing performance.

The details:

  • The feature is available in Edge 130 and newer only.
  • It needs to be enabled.
  • Edge monitors the performance of extensions when enabled.

Note that the feature monitors performance only.

Tip: Microsoft is testing several new features. There is Super Drag & Drop or a RAM limiter that you may try.

How to enable the feature

Starting with Edge 130, some users of the browser will have the new performance detector enabled by default. Most users won’t, but there is an option to turn it on.

Here is how you enable it in Edge

  1. Load edge://flags/#edge-performance-extension-detection in the browser’s address bar.
  2. Change the value of Extension performance detector to Enabled.
  3. Restart Microsoft Edge.

The feature runs in the background from that moment on.

How the extension performance detector works in Edge

Microsoft describes the feature in the following way:

Enables detection and optional disabling of user-added extensions if they impact page load time. Alerts will appear in browser essentials.

This is not too helpful, but Microsoft published a blog post as well that provides additional details.

There, Microsoft says that Edge will alert the user if it notices persistent extension slowdowns that impact the browsing experience.

A click on the browser essentials icon in Edge displays information about extensions that Edge found to slow down browsing consistently.

Each extension is listed with the percentage of slowdown and an option to disable it. Disabling is optional, and you may also select to get a reminder at a later time.

Most users who use extensions will not see the alerts according to Microsoft.

Closing Words

Whether the performance monitor for extensions is useful or not depends on the individual user. It may help users who install lots of extensions in the browser and users who noticed slowdowns after installing extensions.

The alerts may help identify performance issues, which is useful. Still, some extensions may be too valuable even though they may impact the browsing performance or experience.

Do you run extensions in your browser that you would not disable under any circumstances? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Defender Teaser

ConfigureDefender: open source tool to manage Microsoft Defender settings

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft Defender is the default security solutions on all modern versions of Windows. Users have to become active to replace it with another security solution. It is probably a safe bet that Defender is the tool on most Windows 10 and 11 systems.

It is different from tools like SuperMSConfig, which provide broader tweaking options.

The operating system offers several options to configure Microsoft Defender. The most common for home users is to use Windows Security. It divides settings on multiple pages and subpages, and may leave out some settings depending on certain factors.

ConfigureDefender is a long-standing open source tool to improve this. Just launch the small app after you have downloaded it from its GitHub repository to get started.

The app displays all settings on a single page.

You have two main options now:

  • Change individual settings directly.
  • Use a preset to change the status of multiple settings at once.

Presets offer a quick way to change settings, but it is rather difficult to understand what each setting does. Max, for example, looks like it would set everything to the highest values, but you still do not know what that actually means.

ConfigureDefender supports four presets: default, high, interactive and max. Default is handy, as it resets all settings to their default values.

A click on the info-button opens a readme with the information. There you find information about each preset. It will take some time to go through the listing though.

The second option gives you full control over the settings. Some users may have difficulties understanding what some of the settings do. While experienced users may understand that PUA Protection refers to “potentially unwanted applications”, inexperienced users may not.

It may be necessary to search for specific terms on the Internet to find out what they do.

The program supports a large number of settings. These are divided into basic, admin and exploit guard settings. Each preference is modified through a simple menu. Click on the menu and ConfigureDefender displays the available options. Pick one and hit the refresh button. The program reminds you that a restart of the Windows PC is required to apply the change.

Closing Words

ConfigureDefender speeds up the configuration of Microsoft Defender on non-managed systems. It is easy to use, especially for users who know what each of the settings do. New users may need to spend time in the beginning researching some of the preferences to understand what they do.

All in all, it is a useful helper app for Windows users.

Which security solution(s) do you use? Is Microsoft Defender one of them? Feel free to write a comment about this.

Chrome for Android may move and delete Tabs automatically

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Google released Chrome 129 today for Android and desktop systems. The update fixes a few security issues and introduces new features and changes as well.

One change in particular affects users of Chrome on Android: the automatic handling of inactive tabs.

Once updated to Chrome 129 on Android, the browser will move inactive tabs to a new group automatically. There, the tabs remain for a period of 60 days before they are deleted automatically according to Google.

Tip: Switching from Chrome to Firefox is easier than ever before. If you worry about disabled or crippled extensions, Firefox is your best bet to avoid this.

Note: Whether the deleting is enabled by default is unclear. Google says that the tabs will get deleted automatically, but it was disabled in Chrome 129 Beta.

When is a tab considered inactive? Google moves tabs to the Inactive Tabs group after 14 days of inactivity. Inactivity means that the tab was not activated in that time in Chrome.

Chrome for Android's new Inactive menu.

Good news is that you may change the functionality in the settings. Here is how that is done:

  1. Open Google Chrome on the Android device.
  2. Select Menu > Settings to open the preference.
  3. Activate Tabs there to display tab-related settings.
  4. Tap on Inactive to customize the functionality.
  5. Set the period to 7 days, 14 days, 30 days, or never. The default is 14 days.
  6. Toggle “Close after 60 days” to enable or disable the auto-delete feature.

Google says that the feature is designed to reduce Chrome’s memory usage and to improve the accessibility of tabs in the browser.

Deleted tabs remain accessible through the browsing history, but only if it has not been deleted.

Chrome users who do not want inactive tabs to be moved to the new group should set the functionality to Never. This ensures that Chrome won’t move inactive tabs out of sight or delete them after the inactivity period.

How do you handle tabs in your browser? Keep everything open? Use bookmarks? Start afresh on every start? Feel free to leave a comment below.