Using Microsoft Teams on Mozilla Firefox could soon be a much nicer experience after a number of key features were announced to be finally coming to the browser.
The company has said it is working on bringing what it called “improved meeting support” for Teams users looking to work with the Firefox browser.
This includes full audio and screensharing support for any Microsoft Teams meetings carried out in Firefox, which up until now has struggled to allow users to utilize the video conferencing tool to its full strength.
Microsoft Teams and Firefox
In the Microsoft 365 roadmap entry, the update is still said to be in development, however the company says it should roll out by the end of April, meaning users should not have to wait too long.
Anyone attempting to join a Teams meeting using Firefox would be directed towards downloading the software's desktop client, a somewhat more lengthy process that could make you late for a call.
Although some users of these browsers may have been able to join a Microsoft Teams call, they would have had to deal with a potential lack of video or audio, as well as lacking desktop, window and app sharing.
When available, Microsoft says the upgraded experience will be available to all Teams users in the Firefox browser across the world. The latest data suggests Teams has racked up more than 270 million monthly active users (MAUs), up from fewer than 50 million daily active users before the pandemic began.
Microsoft Teams has enjoyed a regular schedule of updates and upgrades in recent months as the company looks to ensure its platform remains on top of its game.
The news follows a similar recent update from the company revealing that Microsoft Teams apps will soon be available on Office.com and the Office for Windows app as the company looks to further expand the reach of its video conferencing service. This should help improve the user experience for Teams customers around the world, meaning there’s no longer a need to switch between platforms to use specific apps.
Using Microsoft Teams on Mozilla Firefox could soon be a much nicer experience after a number of key features were announced to be finally coming to the browser.
The company has said it is working on bringing what it called “improved meeting support” for Teams users looking to work with the Firefox browser.
This includes full audio and screensharing support for any Microsoft Teams meetings carried out in Firefox, which up until now has struggled to allow users to utilize the video conferencing tool to its full strength.
Microsoft Teams and Firefox
In the Microsoft 365 roadmap entry, the update is still said to be in development, however the company says it should roll out by the end of April, meaning users should not have to wait too long.
Anyone attempting to join a Teams meeting using Firefox would be directed towards downloading the software's desktop client, a somewhat more lengthy process that could make you late for a call.
Although some users of these browsers may have been able to join a Microsoft Teams call, they would have had to deal with a potential lack of video or audio, as well as lacking desktop, window and app sharing.
When available, Microsoft says the upgraded experience will be available to all Teams users in the Firefox browser across the world. The latest data suggests Teams has racked up more than 270 million monthly active users (MAUs), up from fewer than 50 million daily active users before the pandemic began.
Microsoft Teams has enjoyed a regular schedule of updates and upgrades in recent months as the company looks to ensure its platform remains on top of its game.
The news follows a similar recent update from the company revealing that Microsoft Teams apps will soon be available on Office.com and the Office for Windows app as the company looks to further expand the reach of its video conferencing service. This should help improve the user experience for Teams customers around the world, meaning there’s no longer a need to switch between platforms to use specific apps.
Vivid is available for Apple's Macs from today (April 4), where it can double the brightness of your Pro Display XDR or MacBook Pro 14-inch (2021), with no loss in quality of the image.
Apple has been showcasing how bright these products can go, but this level of brightness has only been reserved for certain use cases such as editing videos and watching HDR movies. The maximum brightness has been 500 nits for both the MacBook Pro and Pro Display XDR for its users, with no override on the user's part to enable this higher brightness for other methods.
This is where Vivid comes in. Available to download as a free trial, alongside a one-off fee of $ 15 / £15 / AU$ 17 to remove the split-screen that shows the default brightness, and Vivid's settings.
On the day of its launch, TechRadar spoke to its two developers, Jordi Bruin and Ben Harraway, about how Vivid came to be, and whether there's any risk to leaving the brightness on for longer than needed.
We speak to Vivid's developers
(Image credit: TechRadar)
Having used Vivid before its launch, we were taken aback as to how much of a difference the full brightness made, especially with games. Playing Streets of Rage 4 on macOS through Steam, or Metal Gear Solid 5 through Parallels, really showed off what the display of the MacBook Pro 14-inch is capable of.
We asked Bruin and Halloway what prompted them to create Vivid in the first place. “Back in October of last year I received my new MacBook Pro and was very surprised when I saw the brightness of HDR videos. It made it seem like the rest of my screen was becoming dimmer when in fact the video was just getting brighter.” Bruin explains.
“I like to work from different places throughout the day and often end up outside on a terrace or in a park. I tried watching some HDR videos outside and they were much more visible than the other content on the screen. After spending a few weeks working on different approaches I gave up for a few months until reaching out to Ben, who found a solution that worked great!”
Using the brightness keys on our MacBook Pro 14-inch, once you reach the maximum setting, a further option appears thanks to Vivid, where you can go even brighter, taking advantage of the display.
While there's a small hit on the battery life, it's a hit worth taking once you see how much everything pops with the extra brightness.
However, we asked Bruin and Halloway whether there was any danger to the display, in way of screen burn. “Vivid doesn’t use any hacks or low-level system calls to achieve the higher brightness. We believe that makes it really safe to use,” Halloway explains.
“We don’t make your display do anything it’s not supposed to. Vivid just enables the extra brightness usually reserved for HDR content, so it’s exactly the same as watching an HDR video.” Bruin clarifies.
“Apple claims the following: “Pro Display XDR can sustain 1000 nits of brightness across the full screen. This means that a pro can edit an HDR photograph or video with the entire frame at 1000 nits of brightness, indefinitely.”
The official word from Apple on this topic is here. macOS has built-in protections to dim the screen if it would get too hot as well. But to be clear, we are not changing anything on the display level, we are overlaying an HDR window which triggers the extended brightness mode.”
(Image credit: TechRadar)
While Vivid is a simple app, it gets the job done, and the difference is night and day, especially when you're using it at night. Even though we're at the launch of the app, we wondered if there were already any features in the planning for future versions.
“We wanted to keep the first version tightly integrated with the system and easy to use, so that we could get feedback from users on what they would want to see. We have a version that includes Shortcuts and Widgets, but right now we’re not sure if those features would really add something that our customers would be looking for.” Bruin explains.
“We’ve designed Vivid in a way that you almost forget that it’s an extra app since you just use your normal brightness keys to activate it. Accessibility is important for both of us, which is why we’re using as many native components as possible. After launch, we will be searching for feedback on this front to fix any issues we might have overlooked.”
So far, Vivid is something that can make you look at your MacBook Pro or Display XDR in a different way, especially as you watch videos or play games. As the displays improve and the brightness gets brighter, it looks as though this app will be useful to many Mac users for the next few years at least.
Vivid is available for Apple's Macs from today (April 4), where it can double the brightness of your Pro Display XDR or MacBook Pro 14-inch (2021), with no loss in quality of the image.
Apple has been showcasing how bright these products can go, but this level of brightness has only been reserved for certain use cases such as editing videos and watching HDR movies. The maximum brightness has been 500 nits for both the MacBook Pro and Pro Display XDR for its users, with no override on the user's part to enable this higher brightness for other methods.
This is where Vivid comes in. Available to download as a free trial, alongside a one-off fee of $ 15 / £15 / AU$ 17 to remove the split-screen that shows the default brightness, and Vivid's settings.
On the day of its launch, TechRadar spoke to its two developers, Jordi Bruin and Ben Harraway, about how Vivid came to be, and whether there's any risk to leaving the brightness on for longer than needed.
We speak to Vivid's developers
(Image credit: TechRadar)
Having used Vivid before its launch, we were taken aback as to how much of a difference the full brightness made, especially with games. Playing Streets of Rage 4 on macOS through Steam, or Metal Gear Solid 5 through Parallels, really showed off what the display of the MacBook Pro 14-inch is capable of.
We asked Bruin and Halloway what prompted them to create Vivid in the first place. “Back in October of last year I received my new MacBook Pro and was very surprised when I saw the brightness of HDR videos. It made it seem like the rest of my screen was becoming dimmer when in fact the video was just getting brighter.” Bruin explains.
“I like to work from different places throughout the day and often end up outside on a terrace or in a park. I tried watching some HDR videos outside and they were much more visible than the other content on the screen. After spending a few weeks working on different approaches I gave up for a few months until reaching out to Ben, who found a solution that worked great!”
Using the brightness keys on our MacBook Pro 14-inch, once you reach the maximum setting, a further option appears thanks to Vivid, where you can go even brighter, taking advantage of the display.
While there's a small hit on the battery life, it's a hit worth taking once you see how much everything pops with the extra brightness.
However, we asked Bruin and Halloway whether there was any danger to the display, in way of screen burn. “Vivid doesn’t use any hacks or low-level system calls to achieve the higher brightness. We believe that makes it really safe to use,” Halloway explains.
“We don’t make your display do anything it’s not supposed to. Vivid just enables the extra brightness usually reserved for HDR content, so it’s exactly the same as watching an HDR video.” Bruin clarifies.
“Apple claims the following: “Pro Display XDR can sustain 1000 nits of brightness across the full screen. This means that a pro can edit an HDR photograph or video with the entire frame at 1000 nits of brightness, indefinitely.”
The official word from Apple on this topic is here. macOS has built-in protections to dim the screen if it would get too hot as well. But to be clear, we are not changing anything on the display level, we are overlaying an HDR window which triggers the extended brightness mode.”
(Image credit: TechRadar)
While Vivid is a simple app, it gets the job done, and the difference is night and day, especially when you're using it at night. Even though we're at the launch of the app, we wondered if there were already any features in the planning for future versions.
“We wanted to keep the first version tightly integrated with the system and easy to use, so that we could get feedback from users on what they would want to see. We have a version that includes Shortcuts and Widgets, but right now we’re not sure if those features would really add something that our customers would be looking for.” Bruin explains.
“We’ve designed Vivid in a way that you almost forget that it’s an extra app since you just use your normal brightness keys to activate it. Accessibility is important for both of us, which is why we’re using as many native components as possible. After launch, we will be searching for feedback on this front to fix any issues we might have overlooked.”
So far, Vivid is something that can make you look at your MacBook Pro or Display XDR in a different way, especially as you watch videos or play games. As the displays improve and the brightness gets brighter, it looks as though this app will be useful to many Mac users for the next few years at least.
Backward compatibility in games has been something I've been a proponent of since the PlayStation 2 introduced the feature in 2000. You could load up almost any PlayStation 1 game, and play it as normal.
But as times changed and technology became more refined, playing back-catalogs of titles on Sony's platforms increasingly felt more of an afterthought.
This is why the new PS Plus service fills me with hope, with just a hint of trepidation. The idea of being able to play Metal Gear Solid, Tomb Raider, Gex, and more on a PS5 has tempted me to finally consider grabbing the console.
But Sony is already making it difficult for users like me with the new tiers that it's offering, and it makes me wonder if Sony should already look to simplify the new service before its launch in June.
But Sony has always been bizarrely hesitant to offer its back catalog to new users. Back when the PlayStation 3 was released in 2007, you could pop in a PS1 or PS2 disk, and play as normal. But later models would regress this to just PS1 games, and while some other PS2 games would be available in the store, they would be very few and far between.
As it stood with PS4 and PS5, your only hope was to ask developers for remasters to arrive, as there was no chance of seeing re-releases of PS1 and PS2 games for the systems.
(Image credit: TechRadar)
Many gamers in the 90s, myself included, grew up on a PlayStation, and many in my age group have kids who they're trying to introduce to retro classics in between Fortnite matches on the Nintendo Switch.
Yet, many have been unable to share some of their favorite games from their own childhood because of Sony's approach to its PS1 and PS2-era titles. Its CEO, Jim Ryan, continually dismissed the games because they're old, an opinion that has felt like a big misstep the whole time.
I would chat to friends, both offline and on Twitter, about how we'd love to play certain games like Wipeout 2097 again on a PS5, hoping Sony might one day reconsider its stance.
But there finally looks to be a change of heart, perhaps in response to what Microsoft and Nintendo have done in this area of nostalgia.
Just one tier for retro gaming
(Image credit: TechRadar)
However, Sony is in danger of already confusing its users before the service has gone live. There's three tiers, with the highest, called PlayStation Plus Premium, priced at $ 17.99 / £13.49, with Australian pricing yet to be confirmed. This is the only tier that will let you play Sony's games from the PS1 and PS2 eras.
To pay a monthly price, or a higher one if you choose to pay yearly, for access to Sony's back catalog in just one tier, says to me that the company still has a way to go before it recognizes how important retro gaming is.
There's also the question of the classic games that previous PS3 owners, myself included, had bought back in the day. From Ape Escape to Ridge Racer, if they're not able to be converted into free downloadable purchases from looking at our previous purchase history, Sony could have another job on its hands to justify its actions.
Finally, there's been no list as yet as to what games will be included in this plan. Its blog post spoke of 340 additional games to this tier, but while I hope this includes rare classics like Evil Zone, Rosco McQueen, B-movie, and Star Wars: Jedi Power Battles, there's a chance it could be filled up with much more forgettable games from the past.
(Image credit: TechRadar)
So am I happy with the announcement? Almost. It's a silent acknowledgment from Sony that this should have been on its consoles as far back as the PlayStation 4. It's great that there are almost 400 classic games getting their chance in the spotlight again.
But I'm also feeling much trepidation from it.
Playing F-Zero with friends online through the Switch has me hoping that we'll get something similar for this service as well. But with only one tier that allows you to play these games, it looks greedy from Sony's point of view, and the method of playing games from past eras has changed now. We want a mix of the old games, but with today's features, much like what Xbox and Nintendo Switch offer.
Sony has a lot to prove here. It has to prove that it's committed to preserving a catalog that defined the PlayStation to start with. It has to prove that it's listening to its userbase, and it definitely has to prove that this isn't a one-time service. Once the PlayStation 6 arrives, we should see this service continue to be offered regardless, and not as an afterthought.
But right now, as it stands, I'm happy that something is being done at least, and I'm sure once the list of 400 games comes out, I'll be checking stores for available PS5 stock whenever I can.
Backward compatibility in games has been something I've been a proponent of since the PlayStation 2 introduced the feature in 2000. You could load up almost any PlayStation 1 game, and play it as normal.
But as times changed and technology became more refined, playing back-catalogs of titles on Sony's platforms increasingly felt more of an afterthought.
This is why the new PS Plus service fills me with hope, with just a hint of trepidation. The idea of being able to play Metal Gear Solid, Tomb Raider, Gex, and more on a PS5 has tempted me to finally consider grabbing the console.
But Sony is already making it difficult for users like me with the new tiers that it's offering, and it makes me wonder if Sony should already look to simplify the new service before its launch in June.
But Sony has always been bizarrely hesitant to offer its back catalog to new users. Back when the PlayStation 3 was released in 2007, you could pop in a PS1 or PS2 disk, and play as normal. But later models would regress this to just PS1 games, and while some other PS2 games would be available in the store, they would be very few and far between.
As it stood with PS4 and PS5, your only hope was to ask developers for remasters to arrive, as there was no chance of seeing re-releases of PS1 and PS2 games for the systems.
(Image credit: TechRadar)
Many gamers in the 90s, myself included, grew up on a PlayStation, and many in my age group have kids who they're trying to introduce to retro classics in between Fortnite matches on the Nintendo Switch.
Yet, many have been unable to share some of their favorite games from their own childhood because of Sony's approach to its PS1 and PS2-era titles. Its CEO, Jim Ryan, continually dismissed the games because they're old, an opinion that has felt like a big misstep the whole time.
I would chat to friends, both offline and on Twitter, about how we'd love to play certain games like Wipeout 2097 again on a PS5, hoping Sony might one day reconsider its stance.
But there finally looks to be a change of heart, perhaps in response to what Microsoft and Nintendo have done in this area of nostalgia.
Just one tier for retro gaming
(Image credit: TechRadar)
However, Sony is in danger of already confusing its users before the service has gone live. There's three tiers, with the highest, called PlayStation Plus Premium, priced at $ 17.99 / £13.49, with Australian pricing yet to be confirmed. This is the only tier that will let you play Sony's games from the PS1 and PS2 eras.
To pay a monthly price, or a higher one if you choose to pay yearly, for access to Sony's back catalog in just one tier, says to me that the company still has a way to go before it recognizes how important retro gaming is.
There's also the question of the classic games that previous PS3 owners, myself included, had bought back in the day. From Ape Escape to Ridge Racer, if they're not able to be converted into free downloadable purchases from looking at our previous purchase history, Sony could have another job on its hands to justify its actions.
Finally, there's been no list as yet as to what games will be included in this plan. Its blog post spoke of 340 additional games to this tier, but while I hope this includes rare classics like Evil Zone, Rosco McQueen, B-movie, and Star Wars: Jedi Power Battles, there's a chance it could be filled up with much more forgettable games from the past.
(Image credit: TechRadar)
So am I happy with the announcement? Almost. It's a silent acknowledgment from Sony that this should have been on its consoles as far back as the PlayStation 4. It's great that there are almost 400 classic games getting their chance in the spotlight again.
But I'm also feeling much trepidation from it.
Playing F-Zero with friends online through the Switch has me hoping that we'll get something similar for this service as well. But with only one tier that allows you to play these games, it looks greedy from Sony's point of view, and the method of playing games from past eras has changed now. We want a mix of the old games, but with today's features, much like what Xbox and Nintendo Switch offer.
Sony has a lot to prove here. It has to prove that it's committed to preserving a catalog that defined the PlayStation to start with. It has to prove that it's listening to its userbase, and it definitely has to prove that this isn't a one-time service. Once the PlayStation 6 arrives, we should see this service continue to be offered regardless, and not as an afterthought.
But right now, as it stands, I'm happy that something is being done at least, and I'm sure once the list of 400 games comes out, I'll be checking stores for available PS5 stock whenever I can.
The company released the beta in stealth back in December, but has now gone public with native applications for both Windows and macOS, TechRadar Pro can reveal.
Until now, Rows has been available exclusively as a web app, which had placed a limit on performance. However, the company says the new desktop clients will support complex and large-scale sheets as efficiently as the market leaders, as well as providing a foundation for some functionalities only available with Rows.
Spreadsheets, but different
The central ethos behind the Rows project is that the spreadsheet software market is ripe for disruption. The duopoly of Microsoft and Google has led to a dearth of innovation, the company believes, leaving the door wide open for an ambitious challenger.
“Let’s face it. Spreadsheets suck,” said Humberto Ayres Pereira, Rows co-founder and CEO. “The business world still runs on them but they’re slowing us down. Rows is bringing the beloved spreadsheet into the modern working world.”
The company has not been shy about its ambitions to topple the incumbents. As part of a recent marketing campaign, Rows rented billboard space close to the Microsoft headquarters and erected a sign that read: “Dear Microsoft, your spreadsheet has been at it for 36 years. It’s time to retire.” And Google was given the same treatment.
To understand what distinguishes Rows from every other spreadsheet software, we spoke to Renan Araújo, who is heading up the development of the desktop app. Although Rows features all the familiar spreadsheet functionality – cells, rows, columns, functions, tables etc. – the service differs from Excel and Sheets in a few crucial ways, he told us.
Most significantly, Rows has focused closely on the ability to integrate third-party APIs into spreadsheets, with little to no coding expertise required. In practice, this means someone could easily draw data from services as diverse as Twitter, Stripe and Google Analytics into their sheets, in a way that would require a mastery of Excel.
Rows spreadsheets can also be configured to update themselves at regular intervals. In an example shown to us by Araújo, a spreadsheet was set to update every 60 seconds with new pricing information from the Amazon marketplace, effectively allowing for real-time price comparison.
Another unique feature is the ability to turn Rows spreadsheets into simple web apps that can then be let loose on the public. For example, someone could turn a Rows sheet into a landing page that collects information from customers, without having to meddle with HTML and JavaScript or pay for a third-party service.
“Building spreadsheets is a kind of programming – it’s a visual programming language,” said Araújo. “But bringing this kind of flexibility to spreadsheets takes things to a whole other level.”
Elephant in the room
The main problem facing Rows is the extent to which Microsoft and Google services are embedded in the professional world, creating a platform effect that can be difficult to overcome.
In the case of Microsoft, the company is able to establish synergies between products that extend all the way out to the Windows operating system on which most business computers run.
As a result, companies like Rows must convince potential buyers that their service is not only on-par with existing apps, but also offers sufficient additional value to justify the extra line of expenditure on the balance sheet.
With fewer than 4,000 weekly users, Rows is currently a flea nipping at the heels of the giants. But the user base has expanded rapidly since the turn of the year, and the firm is confident in its growth prospects, despite the significant headwinds.
Asked why the company believes its spreadsheet software will succeed where others have failed, we were told that changing market conditions have combined with product innovation to create a window of opportunity for Rows.
“The evidence we see is that our two biggest innovations (built-in integrations and sharing as a website) are strong enough drivers to lead large teams to adopt a new spreadsheet,” said Henrique Cruz, Head of Growth at Rows.
“In the past 15 years have seen three very large changes in work setup (mobile-first, APIs and explosion of SaaS, and async first), and we are the first company building a pure spreadsheet for this new world.”
To close the gap on the likes of Microsoft and Google, Rows will rely largely on virality. In other words, the company intends to let its product speak for itself.
Like other SaaS offerings, Rows is available for free to those that want to dip a toe in the water. And although the desktop beta is missing a handful of features (e.g. tables), the company says it aims to achieve parity with the web service by the end of the year.
The company released the beta in stealth back in December, but has now gone public with native applications for both Windows and macOS, TechRadar Pro can reveal.
Until now, Rows has been available exclusively as a web app, which had placed a limit on performance. However, the company says the new desktop clients will support complex and large-scale sheets as efficiently as the market leaders, as well as providing a foundation for some functionalities only available with Rows.
Spreadsheets, but different
The central ethos behind the Rows project is that the spreadsheet software market is ripe for disruption. The duopoly of Microsoft and Google has led to a dearth of innovation, the company believes, leaving the door wide open for an ambitious challenger.
“Let’s face it. Spreadsheets suck,” said Humberto Ayres Pereira, Rows co-founder and CEO. “The business world still runs on them but they’re slowing us down. Rows is bringing the beloved spreadsheet into the modern working world.”
The company has not been shy about its ambitions to topple the incumbents. As part of a recent marketing campaign, Rows rented billboard space close to the Microsoft headquarters and erected a sign that read: “Dear Microsoft, your spreadsheet has been at it for 36 years. It’s time to retire.” And Google was given the same treatment.
To understand what distinguishes Rows from every other spreadsheet software, we spoke to Renan Araújo, who is heading up the development of the desktop app. Although Rows features all the familiar spreadsheet functionality – cells, rows, columns, functions, tables etc. – the service differs from Excel and Sheets in a few crucial ways, he told us.
Most significantly, Rows has focused closely on the ability to integrate third-party APIs into spreadsheets, with little to no coding expertise required. In practice, this means someone could easily draw data from services as diverse as Twitter, Stripe and Google Analytics into their sheets, in a way that would require a mastery of Excel.
Rows spreadsheets can also be configured to update themselves at regular intervals. In an example shown to us by Araújo, a spreadsheet was set to update every 60 seconds with new pricing information from the Amazon marketplace, effectively allowing for real-time price comparison.
Another unique feature is the ability to turn Rows spreadsheets into simple web apps that can then be let loose on the public. For example, someone could turn a Rows sheet into a landing page that collects information from customers, without having to meddle with HTML and JavaScript or pay for a third-party service.
“Building spreadsheets is a kind of programming – it’s a visual programming language,” said Araújo. “But bringing this kind of flexibility to spreadsheets takes things to a whole other level.”
Elephant in the room
The main problem facing Rows is the extent to which Microsoft and Google services are embedded in the professional world, creating a platform effect that can be difficult to overcome.
In the case of Microsoft, the company is able to establish synergies between products that extend all the way out to the Windows operating system on which most business computers run.
As a result, companies like Rows must convince potential buyers that their service is not only on-par with existing apps, but also offers sufficient additional value to justify the extra line of expenditure on the balance sheet.
With fewer than 4,000 weekly users, Rows is currently a flea nipping at the heels of the giants. But the user base has expanded rapidly since the turn of the year, and the firm is confident in its growth prospects, despite the significant headwinds.
Asked why the company believes its spreadsheet software will succeed where others have failed, we were told that changing market conditions have combined with product innovation to create a window of opportunity for Rows.
“The evidence we see is that our two biggest innovations (built-in integrations and sharing as a website) are strong enough drivers to lead large teams to adopt a new spreadsheet,” said Henrique Cruz, Head of Growth at Rows.
“In the past 15 years have seen three very large changes in work setup (mobile-first, APIs and explosion of SaaS, and async first), and we are the first company building a pure spreadsheet for this new world.”
To close the gap on the likes of Microsoft and Google, Rows will rely largely on virality. In other words, the company intends to let its product speak for itself.
Like other SaaS offerings, Rows is available for free to those that want to dip a toe in the water. And although the desktop beta is missing a handful of features (e.g. tables), the company says it aims to achieve parity with the web service by the end of the year.
The built-in password manager in Google Chrome is about to get even better as Google is preparing to add the ability to store notes alongside your passwords.
Besides storing your existing passwords, Chrome’s password manager also includes a password generator to help you create strong, unique and complex passwords for each of your online accounts.
While you can use a standalone password manager like LastPass or 1Password to store your passwords securely, Google Chrome and most other browsers now offer similar functionality. However, these paid solutions often come with extra features like secure cloud storage and password sharing in addition to letting you store notes about each of your passwords.
Now though, it appears that Chrome’s built-in password manager will be getting a big upgrade with the next major release of Google’s browser.
Adding notes to your passwords in Chrome
As reported by 9to5Google and first spotted by Leo Varela, the latest Chrome Canary release adds a new feature to Chrome’s built-in password manager that will allow you to store notes with your passwords.
Once this feature becomes generally available, you’ll see a new “Notes” field underneath the username and password fields in Chrome’s password manager. However, this option will only show up when adding a new password or when you go to edit an existing password. Varela also pointed out in his Reddit post that Google is working on adding the ability to securely send passwords to others as well.
Being able to add notes to each of your saved passwords can be quite useful for those with a lot of different online accounts. For instance, you can add a note to give context to the account, to differentiate between a work and personal account or even if you want to back up the answers to the security questions associated with a particular account.
Users running Chrome Canary can test out this feature now and Google has even added the #passwords-notes flag to make it easier to enable. As this feature is currently tied to the release of Chrome 101, it should arrive in the Stable channel around April or May but the timing of its arrival could change.
As another developer preview of Android 13 is released, Google has announced that it's finally introducing a way to manage new notifications, with a prompt.
According to a blog post, whenever you open a new app for the first time, a message box will appear, asking you to approve or deny any future notifications from the app.
This is a feature that's appeared in Apple's devices since 2010 with iOS 4, so it's good to see Android catch up on a feature that's been requested for over a decade, though it's baffling that Google took this long.
Analysis: Lucky 13 for notifications
(Image credit: Google)
Google likes to take its time when it comes to Android, and a notification prompt is the latest in a long line of features that users have been wishing for.
For years, users had been wanting the company to offer official themes, and a way to change their color scheme across Android while having them adapt to the apps that they would use each day.
While Android 12 brought this out with Material You, there's plenty of room for refinements, as buttons and menus seem bigger than necessary.
So when it comes to how notifications look with these new themes, they look huge and not easy on the eye, especially if you pick the lime green theme.
But thanks to Android 13, it looks like more improvements to the themes are coming. Combine this with the new option to hide notifications from new apps at the start, and it could be a release that could satisfy old and new users who have been holding off from updating their phones.
1 844.742.7448 
Email Us
Remote Support 
Contact
