Windows 11 has finally got a fix for an annoying bug that has been hanging around since March, with Microsoft previously pushing out a resolution for the glitch that failed to work.
This time, though, we’re told the issue has definitely been resolved.
To briefly recap, this bug appeared with the March 2023 cumulative update for Windows 11 22H2, causing an error to pop up telling the user that Local Security Authority (LSA) protection was switched off (and that their device may be vulnerable as a result).
In actual fact, LSA isn’t turned off, the bug simply produces the error message (which, ironically, is the error in itself).
The problem being that this warning keeps on appearing, and it sounds like a nasty deficiency in the defenses of Windows 11, meaning folks were unnecessarily worried about it.
Well, that rejigged version of KB5007651 has now arrived, as Windows Latest spotted. You can grab it by checking for updates under Windows Update, as per usual.
Microsoft let us know on its release health dashboard that: “This issue was resolved in an update for Windows Security platform antimalware platform KB5007651 (Version 1.0.2306.10002).”
Analysis: An episode Microsoft will want to forget
Hopefully this fix will do the trick (considering that, as noted, the previous patch failed to do so). From what we can see, there are no early reports that something is amiss this time – and a few positive comments that the gremlin has been dealt with. Of course, you’d hope Microsoft would take extreme care over this second attempt at KB5007651.
All in all, this has been one of the more embarrassing episodes in the history of Windows 11 bugs (and there’s some competition on that front).
The bug presenting panic inducing messages about vulnerability, complete with yellow triangle warnings – and doing so repeatedly – was obviously a far from ideal situation. Less tech-savvy users in particular were likely concerned that their PC was broken in some truly worrying way.
Microsoft told us that the error messages could be safely ignored, but that’s easier said than done, and them popping up repeatedly was doubtless pretty annoying if nothing else. Not everyone will have seen Microsoft’s advice on this bug, either.
At least we finally have a resolution now, and a solid one that works properly, by the looks of it.
The first beta for the Apple Vision Pro headset’s operating system – visionOS – has launched and we’re finding out a bunch of interesting details about the Apple VR headset, including that Apple wants it to be the ultimate travel companion.
Apple’s Vision Pro isn’t expected to launch until next year, but that hasn’t stopped Apple from releasing the OS early so app creators can start bringing their software to the system. This way, by the time the headset is publicly available it should have a solid library of content that’ll help justify its exceptionally high price of $ 3,499 (around £2,800 / AU$ 5,300). But the beta isn’t just giving us an idea of what third-party developers are working on for the Apple headset, it’s giving us a clear picture of the direction Apple wants to take the Vision Pro.
Previously (in our round-up of six Vision Pro details the visionOS beta has revealed) it was discovered that Apple isn’t keen for people to use its headset for VR fitness – with its guidance for app makers being they should “avoid encouraging people to move too much.” Now we’ve learned that the Vision Pro will have a dedicated Travel Mode designed for using the headset on an airplane (discovered by MacRumors).
(Image credit: Future)
Travel Mode is more than just the typical airplane mode you’d find on your smartphone. Instead, it apparently adapts how the Vision Pro operates so that the experience is better suited to being crammed like a sardine next to people in Economy. According to code found in the visionOS beta, the headset will do this by switching off some of its awareness features and asking you to stay stationary while in Travel Mode.
Both of these make sense. The Vision Pro’s awareness features alert the wearer if a person or an object gets close to them while they’re wearing the headset. On a plane, where people are around you all of the time this could make the sensors go haywire and be a major distraction to your in-flight VR movie. As for moving around, if you have people sitting on either side of you then they likely won’t appreciate it if you start flailing your arms around.
So you won’t be getting the full Vision Pro experience during your flight, but the idea of making your travel better with VR certainly sounds appealing. The beta code doesn’t go into much more detail, but we can turn to the Apple Vision Pro introduction video shown at WWDC 2023 to get an idea of how Travel mode functions. TL;DR, you can use your headset as a private movie theatre and enjoy a 4K film of your choice (that you likely had to download before you boarded) on a massive virtual display – a much larger and higher-quality image than a plane’s built-in video screens.
The Nreal Air AR Glasses (Image credit: Nreal)
That said, if you don’t want to splash out $ 3,500 for a piece of travel tech, there are much more budget-friendly AR glasses that can achieve a similar effect to the Vision Pro’s private movie theatre. The Xreal Air AR glasses (formerly Nreal Air) won’t offer you 4K visuals and have a fair few faults – namely, we feel they’re pricey for what you get and the battery life leaves something to be desired – but if you’re a frequent flier these could be just what you need and they only cost $ 379 / £400 (around AU$ 570). And when the Xreal Beam launches it looks like many of the AR glasses’ faults could be solved.
The report also showed just how fleeting some photography is. Of those surveyed, 80% said they have pictures or videos on their phone that they haven't looked at since the day they took them.
Gathering digital dust
We’re all taking more and more pictures and videos. High-resolution camera phones and a steady stream of photo editors and video editing apps have made it easier than ever before. Yet so much media is left gathering digital dust.
Mixbook calls it “phlushing”, which is probably the ugliest word to be written this week. It’s the act of taking photos, then flushing them down the memory hole like they didn’t happen. Moments captured in time, and never seen again. It all sounds suspiciously like the time before everyone had a camera in their pocket.
The data revealed users stored an average 3,139 pictures and videos on their phones. But 55% of respondents admitted not looking at their camera roll in the last year. And despite the best cloud storage providers storing years’-worth of media, users said they rarely went back to those taken more than twelve months ago. The same number confessed to feeling overwhelmed by how many photos and videos were stored on their device. Perhaps a problem easier ignored – at least until the likes of Apple iCloud and Google One come knocking for a storage space subscription.
What actually happens to all those photos and videos? In 50% of cases, nothing at all. A further 30% share them with family and friends, while 17% post to social media. In a sign of the times, just 3% print them, online or with a photo printer.
But the real concern is that 65% who are not regularly securely storing media – especially with so many ways to backup photos – whether they’re “phlushing” those images or not.
Google has revealed it is adding a new update for its office software that will make customizing and moving tables in Google Docs much more intuitive and easier to do.
A new post in the Google Workspace update blog outlines how the software is introducing “improved table positioning options” for documents.
Google says the update will add more flexibility and control over the layout of text with tables in Docs, letting you craft your documents just how you like.
Google Docs tables
While Google Workspace includes its own spreadsheet software in Sheets, many people prefer to use Docs to add inline tables to their documents.
The new changes will primarily allow users to drag tables in a document and place them exactly where you want, giving much improved customization.
(Image credit: Google Workspace)
The update will automatically wrap the contents of your document around the table, but you can also customize this by choosing the wrap direction (left, right or even both sides) as well as the specifying margin from the surrounding text.
Users will also be able to set a fixed position for a table on a page , and Google Docs will also now provide quick layouts to instantly move a table to a preset position on a page.
In a bid to improve cross-platform usability, Google Docs has also improved how it works when importing and exporting Microsoft Word documents with tables, so your documents remain consistent.
This new update is rolling out now and will be available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts.
Analysis – solving a huge pain point
Tables have long been a bane for many office software users, with Microsoft Office and Google Workspace having issues for some time.
Fortunately, today's news should help solve the problem for many users, finally making it easier to add in and move tables around.
The update follows Google's earlier change, where it added a sidebar to Docs to make it easier for users to manage a table's rows, columns, alignment and other properties. The company also added an intuitive button for creating new rows or columns in a table that will appear as an overlay as you hover over a table in Docs.
If you've been finding Reddit to be a little quieter than usual today, there's a very good reason for that – most of the site's Subreddit communities have just gone dark in protest against the site's controversial charges for third-party app developers.
The blackout, which is scheduled to last for 48 hours from Monday, June 11, but could last longer, has seen 87% of Reddit's subreddits – including most of its biggest ones – go down (according to the useful Reddit blackout tracker).
This has been possible because Reddit relies on a vast army of volunteer moderators who keep discussions on topic and remove comments – but can also make subreddits private, or effectively take them 'dark'.
On Friday, June 9, Reddit chief executive Steve Huffman responded to the blackout plans by stating that the site “needs to be a self-sustaining business” and that “we respect when you and your communities take action to highlight the things you need, including, at times, going private”.
Yet the blackout could lead to something of a stand-off. Four of the biggest third-party apps for browsing Reddit – Apollo, Reddit is Fun, ReddPlanet, and Sync – have all said that they will be shutting down due to the cost of Reddit's new API (application programming interface) pricing. Apollo developer Christian Selig has said it could cost him $ 20 million (around £15.9m / AU$ 29.5m) a year to keep the app running.
So what happens next? And when are you going to be able to get your fix of r/funny, r/mildlyinteresting, and r/catswithjobs again? Here's all the latest news about the self-styled “front page of the internet”.
Reddit blackout: why is this happening?
Back in April, Reddit announced that it would start charging developers for access to its API. This API has allowed developers to build popular, alternative smartphones apps like Apollo, which they did well before Reddit introduced its own official app in 2016.
Those charges are due to come into play from June 19, which is why many third-party apps – including Apollo and Reddit is Fun – have announced that they'll no longer be available.
While Reddit hasn't officially revealed its new API pricing details, some developers have lifted the lid on the potential costs. In a post on r/apolloapp, the developer Christian Selig said that based on the “7 billion requests” (or times a user has triggered a need for API access) it would cost him $ 1.7 million (around £1.35m / AU$ 2.51m) per month.
(Image credit: Future)
Although Selig stated that he is “deeply disappointed in this price”, particularly as it has echoes of a similar policy by Twitter that he says was “publicly ridiculed”, Reddit has denied that it has priced out developers of all third-party apps.
We've asked Reddit for official comment and will update this story when we hear back, but representatives told the BBC that “expansive access to data has impact and costs involved” and that it spends “millions of dollars on hosting fees”.
Reddit added that Apollo is “notably less efficient than other third-party apps” and that “the vast majority of API users will not have to pay for access”. According to the site, “the Reddit Data API is free to use within the published rate limits so long as apps are not monetized”.
But the issue is that existing apps like Apollo aren't really feasible as entirely free propositions, given the work involved, which is why the most popular third-party apps have all stated that they'll be unable to continue.
Reddit blackout: what happens next?
The blackout is seriously damaging for Reddit's management, both in terms of reputation and revenue – and it isn't yet clear exactly how the saga is going to conclude.
Some are hopeful that Reddit will have a change of heart and at least compromise on its new API pricing. In another post on r/apolloapp on the eve of the blackout, Christian Selig states “I really hope Reddit listens” and that “I think showing humanity through apologizing for and recognizing that this process was handled poorly, and concrete promises to give developers more time, would go a long way to making people feel heard and instilling community confidence”.
(Image credit: BigTunaOnline via Shutterstock)
In r/Save3rdPartyApps thread announcing the protest, most subreddits stated that their subreddit communities would go private for 48 hours in protest of the new API charges. But if Reddit doesn't back down or at least compromise, it's possible that the blackout could continue for longer than that.
We've asked Reddit for official comment on what it's doing to resolve the protests and will update this article when we hear back.
Reddit blackout: why not just use the official app?
While it'd be incredibly sad to see the end of third-party apps like Apollo, the official Reddit app would obviously live on if there's no compromise – so why couldn't fans simply switch to that?
Aside from the obvious annoyance that it'd be a forced change, there are lots of reasons why fans prefer third-party apps. One of the big ones is that the likes of Apollo help preserve a traditional Reddit experience, rather than the more image-led one that Reddit's moving towards.
Also, apps like Apollo are more customizable than the official Reddit app, often offer an ad-free experience, and harken back to the days of the Alien Blue app, which disappeared when the official Reddit app landed in 2026.
TechRadar's Managing Editor for Entertainment, Matthew Bolton, is an Apollo fan and explains: “I only use Apollo for Reddit because it cuts back the chaos. I like to browse particular subreddits that have good communities; I don’t want to be spammed with all the stuff that the algorithm has flagged as controversial in a desperate attempt to get me to engage,” he says.
“I want to scroll through the things I like the most without the ads,” he adds. “The Reddit app wants me to think of it like a social network, but I want to use it like a combination of Flipboard and an old-school forum – and that’s exactly what I do with Apollo. The official app is like trying to read a magazine while people keep slipping flyers about their pet views or irrelevant news between the pages.”
An early version of what is likely to end up being a major Windows 11 update has been rolling out to people signed up to test it out, and it looks like Microsoft is making a rather large change to one of the most useful features: Alt + Tab.
As Neowin reports, it looks like Microsoft will limit the amount of recent windows that you can scroll through when pressing the Alt + Tab keys on the keyboard.
A twitter user known as Xeno has been digging into the latest version, and noticed that in the ‘Multitasking’ settings of Windows 11, the limit of tabs you can quickly switch to (with each ‘tab’ representing an open application) has been reduced from an unlimited maximum to 20.
“All tabs” has been replaced with “20 most recent tabs” in Builds 25330, 23424 and 22624.1537 https://t.co/bM7BoQrubxMarch 31, 2023
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While I’m not a big fan of Microsoft removing features and functionality from Windows 11, in this case, it might be a good move.
RAMifications
Alt + Tab is one of the oldest features of Windows, and one of its most useful. By holding down the Alt key, and then tapping the Tab key, you can quickly switch between open programs. This can be a lot faster than trying to find the open app on your desktop or taskbar, especially when using devices with smaller screens, such as laptops.
Alt + Tab lets you switch between full screen apps as well, such as games, rather than having to close them down, and it has been a life-saver for many people when an app or game becomes unresponsive, as you can Alt + Tab out of it and close it, rather than having to restart your entire PC and potentially lose any unsaved work.
Limiting the usefulness of this feature would certainly be worrying, but as Xeno points out in another tweet, 20 is still a big number of open apps. If you have huge amounts of apps all running in the background, your PC will start performing slowly – and trying to find the app or window you need quickly can also become a nightmare.
Because Alt + Tab allows you to instantly switch to apps and start using them, Windows 11 needs to keep them running in your PC’s memory (RAM), so having 20 or more will be a severe drain on resources, slowing down your computer and even potentially making it crash.
It seems to reduce the likelihood of these crashes, Microsoft has implemented the limit, and in this case, it’s probably the right thing to do. I’m terrible for closing apps once I’ve used them, but even I have never had more than 20 open at once to wade through. For extreme power users who often have lots of apps going at once, and have the best RAM to handle it, Windows 11 will at least let you quickly Alt + Tab between the 20 most recently-used apps. Bad news for the 21st app, but it’s likely you weren’t using it much anyway.
Google has just announced a huge set of new AI tools that could change the way we use some of its most popular apps, including Gmail, Google Docs and more.
In both an official blog post and video (below) the tech giant revealed several new AI tools that will be coming to its most popular apps. The first ones will initially only come to select group of testers in Gmail and Google Docs, but we've also been given a tantalizing preview of the ones coming to Google Sheets, Google Slides, and Google Meet, too.
The move is most likely to rival competitors in the AI space like Microsoft's ChatGPT-powered Bing and Microsoft 365. Since AI has grown in popularity, Google has been scrambling to match its rivals' moves in the market, going so far as rushing out an announcement of its own Google Bard chatbot, which still isn't open to the public. There was also an underwhelming presentation that even had its own employees rolling their eyes.
Still, the results from what we've seen in this demonstration look far more practical and promising than the AI tools Google has announced so far. They've been integrated into Google Workspace, so users will soon be able to use generative AI in several writing features. For now, only trusted testers will have access to these new tools but after that, they'll be rolled out to all Google users.
So, in no particular order, here are all the best AI tools coming to Google's line of products.
The 5 most useful AI tools coming to Google apps
1. Gmail: instant summaries of long conversations
(Image credit: Future)
If you've ever opened up your work email only to find an extremely long and confusing email chain, this tool could be for you. This particular AI tool allows you to quickly summarize long email conversations, pulling out the most pertinent information and laying it out in a neat box.
From what we've seen from this demo, it even adds the names of those involved in the conversation, giving the summary even more context and clarity. And it drafts a response based on all the information gathered. Of course, it remains to be seen how accurate this tool will be, as any missing information from said summary could be detrimental to your work.
Most likely, it'll use machine learning to improve its quality of work, which should mean it doesn't skip important information as it's used more often.
2. Gmail and Google Docs: time-saving drafts when you type in a topic
(Image credit: Future)
Out of all the AI tools showcased in Google's presentation, this AI writing and brainstorming feature looks to be the most promising. As demonstrated in the demo, a prompt that states “Help me write” followed by the request “Job post for a regional sales rep” results in an instantly drafted job post.
From there of course the human user would edit and refine the document, but having a draft instantly created saves plenty of time and effort. You can also use the tool to add certain tones to your document depending on the situation, like whimsical or formal.
There's a lot of flexibility in this AI tool, and the fact that it works for both drafting documents and emails should make it even more valuable.
3. Google Slides: AI-generated presentations with imagery
(Image credit: Future)
This is easily the most controversial of the new batch of Google's AI tools. The core of the concept, creating slides for a presentation in Google Slides, is a smart one that could save a lot of time and energy in terms of creating layouts instantly. However, unlike the other tools that use text already written by either you or coworkers, this tool creates images, audio, and video, then inserts it into your presentation.
But where does that media come from? A database gathered by Google's AI of course. But then where does the AI pull the references from to generate this content? That's the problem and something Google will likely need to address.
As it stands, there's been a lot of misuse of this tech to the point of even plagiarism, and it remains to be seen if Google is using a personal database or pulling from the internet to create this content.
4. Google Meet: capture notes through AI
(Image credit: Future)
This is another AI feature that could potentially save a lot of time and effort. This tool captures notes from conference calls and other meetings with audio, then takes “notes” of that meeting, summarizing the most important points in an easy-to-parse format.
Judging from the demo, the most impressive part of this note-taking tool is how it organizes the notes, using complex formattings like bullet points, calendar icons to indicate an important date, headings, and more. It not only looks incredibly organized but works at a far faster rate than a human could.
This tool would leave time and energy for everyone to focus on the meeting itself and not need to devote a person to take these notes. Meaning that everyone can participate.
5. Google Sheets: auto-fill data entry with AI
(Image credit: Future)
Data entry can be repetitive and boring at times, or even confusing when dealing with extremely large sets of data. This AI tool would be especially handy in parsing dense amounts of information, then converting that information into data charts.
The demo showed the command “Personalize messages for our client” and then next to each entry created a unique message for each of them, most likely as a mailing list. A task that would take a human a long time to accomplish was done in an instant.
Of course, a human would have to edit each message to ensure quality, but having the drafts done is an incredibly useful and time-saving first step.
WhatsApp could soon be adding expiration dates to group chats so you no longer have to deal with so much clutter in your inbox.
If you open up your Whatsapp right now we expect you’ll find a backlog of defunct chats for group projects that have long been handed in, coordinating for events that happened years ago, and communicating with school friends you haven’t seen in a decade. Most of these you'd probably long forgotten about, with the unnecessary chats clogging up your smartphone’s storage with messages and images from chats you no longer need.
According to a leak, WhatsApp is set to get a feature that will help unclog your inbox called 'Expiring Groups' (via WaBetaInfo). If the feature is added you should find it on the group’s info page; using it you’ll then be able to set when you’ll be prompted to 'clean up' the group choosing either one day, one week, or a custom date. You could also remove the group’s expiration date.
(Image credit: WaBetaInfo)
Based on the leaked screenshot, each user would have to set their own expiration date for the group, and it looks like WhatsApp won’t automatically delete the group. Instead, it will seemingly remind you that it might be time to leave the group or delete it, but the decision will be yours.
We’d suggest taking this news with a pinch of salt, though. WaBetaInfo has noted that the Expiring Groups feature is still in development – so not only is it apparently not ready for a full release, it’ll likely be some time before the feature makes its way to the WhatsApp beta. As such there’s a chance we’ll never see the feature launch – the developers could decide to scrap it – or by the time Expiring Groups launches, it could function differently.
You don’t have to wait for this Expiring Groups feature to launch if you want to remove old WhatsApp groups. In your Inbox long press on the chat you want to remove and then tap the menu button in the corner (the three dots) that appears, then Exit Group. Alternatively, you can Archive the chat so that it’s no longer in your Inbox but you can return to the chat later if you choose to.
WhatsApp is taking a more proactive approach to filtering out spam as it may soon begin automatically silencing calls from unknown numbers.
The feature is fittingly called Silence Unknown Callers, according to WABetaInfo, giving users the choice of whether or not they want phone calls from people outside of their contacts. It’ll find its home in the settings menu where it can be toggled on or off at any time. Once activated, WhatsApp will no longer alert users to calls from random numbers, but the Caller ID can still be found in both the calls list and notifications center if you really want to know who it was.
As WABetaInfo points out, Silence Unknown Callers could also be addressing a flaw in WhatsApp’s Communities feature. The problem is anyone in a group can get other people’s numbers pretty easily either by contacting the Community creator or an admin to then start spam calling everyone. On the flip side, the full list of participants in a Community and their numbers are visible to the creator so even they can take advantage of the situation. Reporting and blocking certainly work, however, there’s nothing in the way to stop the first wave of spam; at least for now.
You can try out Silence Unknown Callers yourself by downloading the latest WhatsApp beta for Android which you can do by joining the Google Play Store beta program. It’s unknown at this time whether or not the feature will make its way to iOS nor do we know its official launch date.
In the works
Alongside Silence Unknown Callers, WhatsApp is currently testing a variety of other new features for Android. The big one is a new split view on tablets allowing the chat list to appear when opening a chat, status tabs, or making a call. It looks similar to the browser version of WhatsApp. Additionally, the beta will allow users to try out the redesigned Status tab now supporting Newsletters, the platform’s other big upcoming feature.
There are a few changes for WhatsApp for iPhones, but they’re a lot less impactful. Arguably the biggest change in the iOS beta is the redesigned chat attachment menu which is already present on the Android app. And a new sticker maker tool that turns images into stickers. Not much for iOS owners right now, but at least you recently got an exclusive picture-in-picture mode for video calls.
Be sure to check out TechRadar’s recently updated list of the best antivirus apps for Android if you want to know how you can boost security.
One of the most widely-used Zoom apps is closing as the company looks to modernize some of its offerings for users around the world.
The video conferencing giant has announced it is shutting its app for Chromebooks, the low-cost machines running Google's ChromeOS that have become incredibly popular among schools and universities.
Users shouldn't fear the loss of Zoom forever though, as the company says it is only making the change in order to build something better.
Zoom on Chromebook
“This app will no longer be officially supported after August 2022. Please use the new Zoom for Chrome PWA to join meetings on ChromeOS,” said a notice in the Zoom app for Chromebooks that has recently begun appearing.
The app is set to close by August 2022, meaning users have a few more weeks of the original offering, which was released during Zoom's heyday in the early weeks and months of the pandemic.
9to5Google, which first spotted the alert, notes that the Zoom app for Chromebooks is pretty basic, only offering standard access to video calls and meetings without any of the added functionality that has been added to other versions of Zoom over the years.
Google had announced back in August 2020 that it would be phasing out Chrome apps on all platforms, with support on Windows, Mac and Linux ending in June 2021. This was later extended to all Chrome apps on ChromeOS for June 2022, with the company no longer accepting new apps, and existing apps no longer being listed or made available to download on the Chrome Web Store.
Zoom had shown off a Progressive Web App (PWA) for Chromebooks in 2021, offering much of the standard functionality familiar to users on other platforms, as well as up to date UI and apps.
In its most recent financial results, the company said that the number of customers contributing more than $ 100,000 was up 46% year-over-year, as it now has around 198,900 enterprise customers, up 24% from the same quarter in its last fiscal year.
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