Don’t forget your Vision Pro passcode – if you do you’ll have to send your headset back to Apple

There are a few big features that the Apple Vision Pro is missing – such as support for Bluetooth mice and location tracking for the Apple Find My network – but perhaps the strangest omission from the Apple Vision Pro is the ability to reset your device if you forget your passcode.

During the Vision Pro set-up process you’ll be asked to enter a six-digit passcode, just as you would when setting up an iPhone or iPad. You can also optionally set up an Optic ID login method, but just as with Face ID on your other Apple gadgets there will be times when you’ll be forced to enter your passcode – for example after your headset has restarted.

If you ever forget your iPad or iPhone passcode you can unlock your Apple device by connecting it to your Mac or PC and wiping the data on it, and on the Apple Watch you can use the digital crown or your connected iPhone to do the same thing. Yes you’ll delete all the data, but a blank gadget is better than a gadget you’re forever locked out of.

However, while the Apple Vision Pro also has a setting that allows you to erase all your content – including the passcode – it’s only accessible via the Settings app. If you're locked out of your headset because you’ve forgotten your passcode there’s currently no at-home way to get into your Vision Pro. 

Instead, as reported by Bloomberg ($ /£), you’ll need to either take your headset back to your local Apple Store, or ship it back to Apple to have it reset if there isn’t a physical store near you.

Apple Vision Pro battery pack

Locked out? Send it back to Apple, or say hello to your new paperweight (Image credit: Apple)

Is there a workaround? 

Unfortunately, the only workaround to this problem available to most people is to not forget your passcode in the first place.

We’ve seen reports that users with the Developer Strap – a dongle that adds a USB-C port to the Vision Pro so that it can be connected to a Mac computer – could erase the Vision Pro’s content and passcode using a Mac. However, the Developer Strap costs $ 300 and is only available to officially registered developers, so most people won’t have access to it – and we’ve not been able to confirm that this method works, so there’s a chance the dongle wouldn’t even help you if you had one.

We expect that Apple will launch some kind of alternative way to erase your Vision Pro passcode in due course, especially once the gadget is made available outside the US, and sending your headset back becomes even more inconvenient for some. But for now you might want to make a note of your passcode, taking the usual precautions to ensure that this is secure.

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WhatsApp’s desktop app now lets you send self-destructing photos and videos

Meta is rolling out a View Once feature to WhatsApp on desktop and web allowing users to send out time-sensitive content. 

The update was initially discovered by WABetaInfo as the tech giant has yet to formally announce it. Looking at WABetaInfo's report, it’s basically the exact same feature on the mobile. WhatsApp added View Once to its smartphone app back in 2022 as a new privacy tool. Pictures or videos sent to contacts in this manner cannot be saved. Once the recipient looks at the file, it’s gone forever. This ensures sensitive material is never seen by outside parties, shared with others, or risks being taken by a bad actor. Apparently, this was highly requested as WABetaInfo claims people complained about “the inability to send view once messages” on desktop. It seems Meta heard the outcry, although it did take the company over a year to respond.  

Vital details

There are some minor details you should know about. 

Recipients have 14 days to open the media or it’ll be automatically deleted, according to WhatsApp’s Help Center. The other person cannot take screenshots of the temporary content, but only if they have the latest version of WhatsApp installed. It is possible for others to screenshot a View Once file if they're running outdated software. As a result, the company recommends strictly sending content to trusted individuals. There are plans to rectify the privacy gap, however no word on when Meta will address this issue.

Do note you cannot send multiple temporary images at once. You have to send each file one by one. Plus, as pointed out by Windows Central, you can rewatch temporary videos “as often as you’d like”, but you have to stay in the interface. Clicking play prematurely or leaving the window will lose you access.

The update will be available to both Windows and macOS users. WABetaInfo states the update is being released in waves so only a select group has access to it at the moment. We recommend keeping an eye out for the patch when it arrives.

How to send View Once content

Sending a View Once photo is easy. After launching WhatsApp on desktop and selecting a chat, click the attachment icon next to the text box then choose an image. Above the send button is a number one inside of a disappearing circle. Clicking that icon activates the View Once function. Send the picture to someone and it'll delete the moment they close it. 

WhatsApp on web has a different layout, but luckily the process is exactly the same.

WhatsApp View Once on desktop

(Image credit: Future)

While we have you, be sure to follow TechRadar’s official WhatsApp channel to get our latest reviews sent right to your phone. 

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Google wants you to send AI-generated poems using its strange digital postcards

Google has redesigned its little-known Arts & Culture app introducing new features plus an improved layout for easier exploration.

We wouldn’t blame you if you weren’t aware that Arts & Culture even existed in the first place. It is a pretty niche mobile app aimed at people who want to learn more about the art world and its history. It looks like Google is attempting to attract a bigger audience by making the Android app more “intuitive to explore… [while also] creating new ways to discover and engage with culture.” Leading the charge so to speak is the AI-powered Poem Postcards tool. Utilizing the company’s PaLM 2 Model, the tool asks you to select a famous art piece and then choose from a variety of poetic styles (sonnets, limericks, ballads just to name a few) in order to create an AI-generated poem.

Poem Postcards on Google Arts & Culture

(Image credit: Google)

After a few seconds, you can share your generated work with friends or have the AI write up something new. We should mention you can access Poem Postcards on your desktop via the Arts & Culture website although it appears to be “experimental”. So it may not work as well as its mobile counterpart.

Endless art feed

The other major feature is the aforementioned Inspire section which utilizes an endless scrolling feed akin to TikTok. It brings up a series of art pieces with the occasional cultural news story and exhibition advertisement stuffed in between. The app doesn’t just focus on paintings or sculptures either as the feed will throw in the occasional posts about movies, too. 

In the bottom right-hand corner of Inspire entries is a “cultural flywheel”. Tapping it opens a menu where you can discover tangentially related content. Google states it is “always investigating new ways to connect cultural content” meaning the flywheel will see its own set of updates over time.

As for the layout, the company has added buttons on the Explore tab for specific topics. If you want to look for art pertaining to sports, science, or even your favorite color, it’s all at your fingertips. There’s also a Play tab on the bottom bar where you enjoy games like the adorable Return of the Cat Mummy.

Arts & Culture new layout

(Image credit: Google)

The redesigned Arts & Culture app is currently available on Android through the Google Play Store with an iOS version “soon to follow”. The company says Poem Postcards is only available “in select countries”. We reached out to the tech giant for clarification. This story will be updated at a later time.

Be sure to check out TechRadar's list of the best drawing apps for 2023 if you ever decide to scratch that artistic itch.  

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WhatsApp beta now lets you send video messages – here’s how to enable it

WhatsApp is currently rolling out several new features to beta testers across different platforms – chief among them are video messages that will be available exclusively to mobile devices. 

You read that right. On top of sending audio recordings, WhatsApp will soon let you send video messages as well.

The way it currently works on beta, according to WABetaInfo, is users will have to tap the microphone button next to the chat bar where it'll turn into a new camera icon. Pressing that button lets you record a short 60-second clip, which can be shared with a contact for quick communication. 

Once the other person receives the clip, they have to tap the file to enlarge it if they “want to listen to the audio”. Otherwise, it just plays the clip muted. Basically, WhatsApp is working on introducing its version of Snapchat, but unlike Snapchat, it’s unknown if the clips will automatically delete themselves after a certain amount of time has passed or not.

WABetaInfo’s post hints at they will get deleted soon after being sent, though the post also states the videos won’t be sent under view once mode. So there may be some flexibility in how clips are sent. Like a lot of other WhatsApp content, video messages will be protected by the service’s end-to-end encryption ensuring total privacy. Be aware it won’t be possible to forward video messages to other users. They're for your eyes only.

WhatsApp video messages

(Image credit: WABetaInfo)

How to download the beta

To try out video messages, Android users will need to install the beta by joining the Google Play Store Beta Program and downloading the latest update. If you don’t get it, keep an eye for future patches. Only a handful of testers have access at this moment, but Meta will reportedly release the feature to more people over the coming weeks. Oh, and your recipients need to be a part of the program too; otherwise, the video messages won’t work.

The beta is available to iPhone users, but the iOS program is closed to new entrants. If you’re not already a part of Apple’s TestFlight service for WhatsApp, you’ll just have to wait for the official launch. 

Coming to Windows

Besides the smartphone update, WhatsApp is also rolling out some new additions to its beta app on Windows. For one, the desktop version is getting screen-sharing for video calls, something that was first seen on Android. From the looks of it, the Windows rendition functions pretty much the same way with the bottom control panel having a new screen-sharing icon. In addition, WhatsApp is introducing a call-back button for quickly returning missed calls – rather small upgrade, but still a helpful one. 

To try out these two features, all you have to do is install WhatsApp Beta from the Microsoft Store. It's that simple. 

Speaking of added convenience, it appears WhatsApp is planning on giving people the ability to have multiple accounts on a single Android device in a similar fashion to Instagram. Be sure to check out TechRadar's coverage on the future update.

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Microsoft Outlook gets emails that update themselves after you send them

After being announced at Microsoft Ignite last year, Loop components are now rolling out in Microsoft Outlook.

For those unfamiliar, Microsoft Loop is a new app that combines a powerful and flexible canvas with portable components that move freely and stay in sync across the software giant's apps. It is made up of three elements in the form of Loop components, Loop pages and Loop workspaces.

While Loop pages are flexible canvases where users can organize all of their Loop components in one place and Loop workspaces are shared spaces that allow teams to see and group everything important to a project, Loop components are an evolution of Fluid components that help users collaborate and get things done in chats, emails, meetings and documents.

Now Microsoft Outlook users will be able to leverage the power of Loop components when using the company’s email service.

Loop components in Outlook

According to a new post in the Microsoft 365 roadmap, Loop components are now rolling out in Microsoft Outlook and these live, interactive objects can be embedded in email messages to provide real-time collaboration.

In a support document, Microsoft highlights several of its Loop components that users can add to emails in Outlook or even messages in Microsoft Teams. These include bulleted lists, checklists, numbered lists, paragraphs, tables, task lists and more.

One of the nice things about Loop components is that they are automatically saved to OneDrive so that you’ll be able to easily find and use them again later.

With the addition of Loop components in Outlook, emails will become much more fluid as they’ll even be able to update themselves after being sent. Say you add a list of follow-up tasks to an email, collaborators can check off items as they complete them and all of the changes made to the Loop component will be reflected in the original email. This way users don’t have to waste time sending emails back and forth to one another once a task has been completed.

We’ll likely hear more from Microsoft regarding Loop components once Microsoft 365 users get a chance to test them out for themselves.

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Send a Harry Styles preview track over an Instagram message in new update

Instagram has added three messaging improvements to its app that should make conversations easier to manage and more colorful.

The updates include the ability to quickly share a post, share a short clip of a music track, and customize the chat background to one that's not black and white anymore.

Meta's photo-sharing platform has been busy, recently enabling Instagram on the web, the return of the chronological feed, and a bigger focus on helping users message each other in easier ways.

These three features build on that last promise, especially in sharing posts without leaving your feed.

What do you get?

Quick send will enable you to hold down the share button on a post in your feed, and quickly send it to a friend or family member without going anywhere else in the app.

You can also share 30-second clips of music tracks from Apple Music, with Amazon Music and Spotify integration coming soon.

Finally, there's the new ability to change the background of the person you're chatting with, which means you can finally get rid of the black or white background. Instagram isn't breaking new ground here. WhatsApp chat has a similar feature.

But while some may think that these are minor updates, they're potentially substantial ones for those who use Instagram more than they use Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp. With the ability to personalize your chat background and more easily share content through the main feed, it looks as though Instagram isn't done refining how you can message others on its app, and we may see more improvements in this area later this year.


Analysis: why do these updates matter?

Instagram CEO, Adam Mosseri promised toward the end of 2021 that there would be a bigger focus on messaging and now the platform is delivering on that promise.

Messaging friends and family on Instagram has become more common in recent years, due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sharing posts or just keeping in touch with those who only use Instagram has become a new standard for some users.

According to Instagram, 44% of its users are on the app to shop for products, so it's safe to assume that the majority would want to use messaging services to see where their purchases are, and if they want to receive special offers through the messaging side of Instagram.

However small these new features may sound for messaging, they leave us with the impression that this is an area of interest to Mosseri and the Instagram team. Granted, Meta also has Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp in the same category, but Instagram is on its own siloed island where you can't get the same content through these apps and Facebook.

Instagram has always set itself apart from others, building bespoke services like Instagram Stories, Reels, and shopping. Meta usually holds a yearly conference called Facebook F8, where it gives updates on its products and platforms. We may see a similar event this year but with a name change (we'd suggest “Meta8”). So, there's a good chance we may be hearing more about messages on Instagram in the near future.

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Are Apple Services down? Users unable to access iCloud, send files through AirDrop

We're getting reports that Apple's online services such as the App Store, iCloud and others are seeing outages across the globe.

Reports of issues with Apple began to surface around 16.55 GMT, with hundreds of users signaled problems on the outage tracker site DownDetector.

The company has yet to confirm that there are problems for now, but it's best to keep track of Apple Status for now.

We're following the story live, so stay tuned and read all our latest updates below…

App Store, iCloud, and Music all look to be down for now, with our writer Rhys Wood reporting that AirDrop isn't working either for him.

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Are Apple Services down? Users unable to access iCloud, send files through AirDrop

We're getting reports that Apple's online services such as the App Store, iCloud and others are seeing outages across the globe.

Reports of issues with Apple began to surface around 16.55 GMT, with hundreds of users signaled problems on the outage tracker site DownDetector.

The company has yet to confirm that there are problems for now, but it's best to keep track of Apple Status for now.

We're following the story live, so stay tuned and read all our latest updates below…

App Store, iCloud, and Music all look to be down for now, with our writer Rhys Wood reporting that AirDrop isn't working either for him.

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Microsoft 365 will tell your boss almost immediately if you send an inappropriate message

Microsoft will soon roll out a new system that will help businesses identify inappropriate messages sent by employees over its productivity and collaboration software.

As noted in a new entry in the company’s product roadmap, the Microsoft 365 compliance center will receive an upgrade that will cut the time it takes to identify breaches of company communication policies drastically.

“This feature will reduce the detection to investigation time to under an hour, allowing your organization to respond to communication compliance alerts promptly,” Microsoft explained.

The Microsoft 365 update is currently still under development, but is scheduled to roll out in preview in April, ahead of a full launch in the autumn.

Employee monitoring with Microsoft 365

Unbeknownst to some, many businesses constantly monitor the way in which employees interact with one another over email and communication software.

Part of the justification for this practice, considered by some to be an unacceptable invasion of privacy, is that cybercriminal actors frequently target employees over these kinds of platforms, which can also be used by malicious insiders to exfiltrate data.

Another factor is the opportunity for business software to be used to bully or harass fellow employees, in breach of an organization’s official communications policy.

As explained in a Microsoft 365 blog post, the communication compliance facility tracks messages sent and received over email, Microsoft Teams, Yammer and third-party platforms. Once a message in breach of pre-defined policies has been identified, it is handed over to a designated team of reviewers.

After the Microsoft 365 update takes effect later this year, the time between initial detection and review will supposedly fall from roughly 24 hours to under an hour. As part of the change, Microsoft Teams users will also be encouraged to report “inappropriate or concerning messages” within chats and channels manually, a separate roadmap entry shows.

Although businesses will certainly benefit from the upgrade, it is unclear precisely how Microsoft will manage to cut the investigation time by such a significant margin. TechRadar Pro is awaiting a response to a request for clarification.

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