TikTok adds new screen time controls to remind users to take breaks

TikTok is rolling out more screen time controls to help users manage how much time they are spending in the app. With the change, the company is adding a new in-app dashboard that will more closely track how long people are spending in the app.The dash…

Twitter’s latest shopping feature alerts you to limited product drops

Twitter is introducing another shopping feature as it slowly tries to ramp up its in-app commerce features. The company’s latest experiment is product drops, which allows users to get notifications ahead of in-demand product launches.The company says …

AWS IAMがWebAuthnに対応。パスワードレスでAWSへのログインが可能に

AWS(Amazon Web Services)は、AWS IAM(AWS Identity and Access Management)でパスワードレスでのログインを可能にするWebAuthnに対応したことを発表しました。 WebAuthnは、パスワードレス技術の標準化団体であるFIDO Alliance(ファイドアライアンス)が策定したFIDO2仕様の構成要素であるWeb認証技術のことです。…

Google adds auto-transcription and simplified grading to its education tools

Many students have returned to in-person classes, but that isn’t stopping Google from making online education more viable. The company has updated Classroom and Workspace for Education with a host of features that improve life for teachers and students alike. In Workspace, for instance, you can now auto-transcribe Meet calls directly into Google Docs — helpful if you want to quickly produce lesson material or help students catch up when they miss lectures. You can also host polls and Q&A sessions in Meet sessions, livestream public events (think school assemblies) to YouTube and use picture-in-picture to manage class presentations without losing sight of your pupils.

Teachers using Classroom, meanwhile, now have access to previously beta-only add-on support that extends functionality beyond what Google can offer. You can get an EdPuzzle add-on to automatically integrate and grade assignments, while a Pear Deck extension can create assignments using lessons from the Pear Deck library. The Classroom updates also make it easier to add YouTube videos to lessons, export grades and get updates through email notifications. An update later in 2022 will let teachers reply directly to students from Gmail notifications.

Google is expanding access to its Read Along app, too. It’s rolling out a beta for a new web version over the next month, so students might not need to lean on their phones as they improve their literacy skills.

The announcements come alongside Chrome OS updates that include improved casting and optimizing educational apps like Figma. Although these updates might not matter much as the pandemic (hopefully) winds down, they could still be useful as schools increasingly rely on internet-based lessons and coursework.

Google’s Screencast app for Chrome OS lets teachers record video lessons

In its ongoing push to corner the education market, Google is introducing new classroom-specific features to Chrome OS. The first of those is Screencast, a new built-in app that allows teachers to build a video library of lessons and demos students can…

iOS 16 will automatically install security fixes

When iOS 16 arrives, iPhone owners won’t have to deal with full software installs for the latest security patches. Apple is launching a new feature with the mobile OS called Rapid Security Response, which enables the company to automatically apply security fixes to users’ devices in between its standard software updates. It’s one of the security features the tech giant has announced at WWDC this year, along with Safety Check that gives users a quick way to see which contacts have access to their location and calendar info. Safety Check will also show them the permissions used by every app on their device. 

As MacRumors notes, iOS 16 will add a new section under Automatic Updates in Settings called “Install System and Data Files.” When toggled on, users can get software fixes that aren’t tied with full updates, installed automatically and without them having to restart their phones or lift a finger altogether. It’s switched on by default upon upgrading to the new OS, so those who don’t want automatic installs will have to remember to toggle it off.

Apple’s iOS 16 brings a bunch of other new features to iPhones, including a more customizable lock screen, the ability to edit texts and the ability to use Face ID even when the device is in landscape mode. The public beta of the mobile platform will come out in July, though it’ll no longer support the iPhone 6S, 7 and the first-gen SE.

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