In fact, we just conducted a survey among 1,000 Americans and found that just over 7 in 10 (71%) would be embarrassed if someone they knew had access to their lifetime internet browsing history. We dug in to see what exactly Americans have to hide.

Key Findings

• Over half of Americans would rather give up their smartphone for a year than have their browsing history published online.
• About a third of Americans (32%) would be embarrassed if people saw how much time they spent on social media.
• Of those who clear their browsing histories, 30% do so to hide them from their spouses.
• Over the past year, 2 in 3 Americans have become more uncomfortable sharing opinions online.

The Most Embarrassing Things Americans Do on the Internet

Many Americans are self-conscious about what they do online. Of the Americans we surveyed, 40% would be embarrassed if other people saw how much time they spend reading about certain things online, and about a third (32%) would be embarrassed if people saw how much time they spent on social media.

Nearly half (45%) of Americans say the most embarrassing things they do online are look up people they know to get details about their lives and watch embarrassing content. The internet can also be a treasure trove of intimate information: Over a third of Americans said they search for relationship, health and other personal advice online (38%) as well as research their medical symptoms (36%). 

When Americans look up people they know, they’re most curious to find out what they look like (56%) and what their lifestyles are like (54%). 

The top five websites Americans are most embarrassed to spend time on are: 

1. PornHub
2. Reddit
3. WebMD
4. TMZ
5. Buzzfeed

We found that men tend to be more embarrassed about their porn habits: 51% of those we surveyed said they were most embarrassed to spend time on PornHub, compared to 27% of women. On the other hand, women might be more ashamed of their health-related queries. Of the women we surveyed, 16% reported they were most embarrassed to spend time on WebMD, versus 7% of men.

Americans Want to Hide Their Online Activity, Especially from Family and Friends

Though Americans admitted what they’re embarrassed about to us, they really don’t want to disclose their habits to anyone else. A majority (54%) of Americans would rather give up their smartphone use for a year than have their lifetime internet browsing history published online. 

Now, imagine your family members seeing what you’ve been searching for. Of those surveyed, 43% would be most embarrassed if their parents saw their browsing history. Accordingly, we found 2 in 3 Americans clear their browsing histories, and a third do so at least weekly. In addition, just over 7 in 10 Americans (71%) use incognito or private searches — and more than half (57%) use them at least weekly. 

Americans clear their browser histories and use incognito searches for slightly different reasons. A majority (79%) use these search modes to prevent data tracking from third parties — not to hide from their families or friends. 

But when it comes to clearing browser histories, hiding from family is definitely a priority. Of Americans who clear their histories, 30% do so to hide it from their partners; 23% clear their histories to hide them from their kids; and 22% from their parents. By contrast, bosses and coworkers aren’t a big concern. 

Younger Americans Aren’t Proud of All the Time They Spend Online

We know Gen Z and Millennial Americans use the internet much differently — and often more extensively — than Gen Xers or Baby Boomers. With those differences come markedly different attitudes about their habits. More than 2 in 5 (45%) young adults are embarrassed about the time they spend reading about certain things online, compared to 26% of older Americans. Plus, nearly 2 in 3 (65%) young adults would be embarrassed if people knew who they looked up online or saw the kinds of content they watch. 

Young adults are about twice as likely as older Americans to spend time looking for people, content, and advice online. They’re also big online shoppers: Over a third (35%) take advantage of ecommerce options to shop for products that they wouldn’t buy in person, compared to just 17% of older Americans. 

Part of growing up with social media is looking back on a relatively long history of posts — and content doesn’t always age well. Nearly half (47%) of young adults have deleted a social media post because they’re embarrassed about who might see it, versus 29% of older Americans. 

Young adults aren’t just worried about what their parents might find on their computers or cell phones. Nearly 1 in 3 (32%) young adults clear their browsing histories to hide them from their partners, and nearly a third (28%) do so to hide their habits from their friends.

Women Play the Comparison Game, While Men Worry About Their Partners Seeing What They’re up To

Women and men check out people they know on social media about the same amount, but women (38%) are more embarrassed about the time they spend on social media than men (26%) are. It’s no surprise, then, that women are more likely to hide the content they’ve shared. Over half (52%) have hidden posts on social media, compared to 43% of men. 

Compared to men, women are more interested in what people they know are up to, and use the internet to track down information. Of women, 62% look up people they know to see what their lifestyles are like; 40% look at their jobs; and 34% check out whether or not they have kids.  

While women are making comparisons, men are fretting about their partners finding out what they’re up to. When it comes to browsing history, 3 in 4 men are embarrassed about theirs, and 1 in 4 said they’d be most embarrassed if their partners saw their browsing histories (versus 18% of women). Men are more likely to clear their browsing histories for privacy than for maintenance purposes. A third clear their histories to hide them from their partners specifically. 

Nearly a third (29%) of men would be embarrassed if their partners saw what they look at on social media, compared to 20% of women. Men are also a bit more likely to hide social media posts from partners than women (27% vs. 21%) and even use anonymous social media accounts more than women (49% vs. 43%). 

It’s Getting Scarier for Americans to Share Their Opinions Online 

All in all, Americans are scared to share their opinions online, and 67% have become more uncomfortable sharing in the past year, while 38% worry someone might use these opinions they share against them. Interestingly, this concern doesn’t vary significantly by party or gender. 

However, men and people with conservative viewpoints feel they face more discrimination. Men are more likely than women to say they’ve been penalized or banned for violating terms of conduct on social media (15% vs. 7%). Republicans are more likely than Democrats to report penalization or banning (17% vs. 8%).

Perhaps it’s no surprise that anonymous social media use is growing more popular. Nearly half (47%) of Americans report using social apps anonymously, especially Reddit, Twitter, and Instagram. Americans said anonymous accounts allow them to maintain their privacy (78%) and talk more freely (43%). 

Conclusion

Americans admit to doing a lot of embarrassing stuff online. For many of them, clearing browsing histories and using incognito searches is all about maintaining privacy — not from hackers, but from friends and family. If you’re wondering about more ways you can protect your privacy or even just streamline your computer’s functionality, check out our computer tips. 

Methodology: We conducted a survey among 1,001 Americans on June 21, 2022. The gender breakdown was 49% Men, 48% Women, and 3% Nonbinary. The age breakdown was 10% Baby Boomers, 20% Gen X, 45% Millennials, and 24% Gen Z. The political party affiliation was 48% Democrat, 33% Independent, 17% Republican, and 2% Other. 

The post Survey: The Internet Habits Americans Are Hiding  first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

Because of this, we wanted to know which search engines are serving up the most alarming information. We focused our searches on the following categories:

• Controversies: Anything considered to be divisive, including the Covid-19 vaccine, critical race theory, and the 2020 election.
• Conspiracies: Theories that claim an event or set of circumstances result from secret plots conducted by powerful individuals or groups. For example, the conspiracy theory that the moon landing was a hoax.
• Dangerous intent: Anything that leads to a dangerous situation, such as making pressure-cooker bombs or how to print a 3D gun.

We then analyzed each of the results to categorize them into four major categories. Those categories are:

• Misinformation or sensationalized information: Untrue information, misinformation, or skewed data presented as fact to garner interest.
• Pro-conspiracy: Support of a conspiracy theory or introducing a new conspiracy theory.
• Uncritical: Willfully neutral. Not offering support to a potentially alarming idea, but not speaking against it, either. 
• Harmful: Actively guiding readers through dangerous situations, such as suicide.

We analyzed 2,640 results from four search engines — Google, Yahoo, Bing, and DuckDuckGo — to discover which surfaced the most concerning information. 

Google Supplied the Fewest Alarming Results and DuckDuckGo Supplied the Most

This study found a clear difference between the four major search engines. Especially how they handle dangerous or alarming search results. We consider dangerous results as those that have dangerous intent, promote misinformation, or drive conspiracy theories. 

Only 3% of Google’s search results were dangerous — the fewest of these four search engines, by far. Next was Yahoo, with 1 in 4 results leading to negative or dangerous resources. DuckDuckGo and Bing were most likely to supply dangerous results. Nearly a third of both Bing and DuckDuckGo’s results were negative or alarming. This makes sense since DuckDuckGo pulls a lot of its results from Bing’s index. 

Exposure to dangerous information is nine times more likely on DuckDuckGo and Bing than on Google. Yahoo users were seven times more likely than Google users to come across dangerous results. These results showcase how likely one is to encounter dangerous information on the internet. 

Search Engines with the Most Sensationalized Results

Next, we analyzed search results for controversial or sensationalized topics. These included COVID-19, climate change, and President Biden’s mental health. 

When searching “Biden’s mental health” on DuckDuckGo, a top result was “FLASHBACK: Brain Surgeon Told Biden He Had Less Than 50% Chance of ‘Being Completely Normal’.” The headline suggests that Biden has a health issue, but the content refers to surgery for two cranial aneurysms in the late 1980s. 

In fact, when it comes to controversial topics:

• 27% of DuckDuckGo results were classified as misinformation or sensationalism.
• 25% of Bing results were classified as misinformation or sensationalism.
• 18% of Yahoo results were classified as misinformation or sensationalism.
• 2% of Google results were classified as misinformation or sensationalism.

“Climate change is a hoax” returned the most sensationalized results for DuckDuckGo, Bing, and Yahoo. Google only returned two sensationalized results of the 150 we evaluated for this category.

“Red Pill” was also popular in search results. But, every search engine except for Google was uncritical of it. The term itself is controversial, stemming from a famous Matrix scene. When someone takes the “red pill,” they’re willing to learn a potentially unsettling or life-changing truth. Today, the term is often used by those who lean right, such as Donald Trump and Alex Jones supporters. 

Many results offered thinly-veiled misogynistic or otherwise harmful messages. Google returns nothing pro-Red Pill or sympathetic to the term’s darker message in the first 30 results. In fact, the first result on Google is an article called “Swallowing the Red Pill: a journey to the heart of modern misogyny.”

Search Engines That Provide Information With Dangerous Intent

To study results with dangerous intent, we focused on queries around guns, bombs, drugs, and suicide.

Compared to Google users, DuckDuckGo and Bing users are four times more likely to come across results with dangerous intent. Yahoo users are 3.6 times more likely than Google users. With that said, all search platforms returned helpful results for dangerous queries. 

Three major topics returned the most dangerous results. Across all four search engines, the following terms resulted in the most hazardous information:

• How to print a 3D gun.
• How to make meth.
• Methods of suicide.

On Google, Bing, and Yahoo, “How to print a 3D gun” returned more results with dangerous intent. On DuckDuckGo, “How to make meth” provided more dangerous results. 

All four platforms also returned helpful results regarding suicide. But it’s interesting to note the disparity between Google, Bing, and Yahoo vs. DuckDuckGo.

When searching for “easiest way to commit suicide” and “least painful way to commit suicide,” Google, Bing, and Yahoo have large helpful messages alongside the number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. It is meant to grab a user’s attention before they open a search result. 

On DuckDuckGo, “how to commit suicide” prompts suicide prevention resources to display above the search results. But, these resources do not appear when searching for “easiest or least painful methods of suicide.” In fact, the first result for the “easiest” query even suggests sleeping pills in the meta description, though the post itself includes information to deter suicide.

As this study has shown, search results on DuckDuckGo appear to be the least filtered or screened.

The Most Conspiracy-Friendly Search Engines

Search engines are not equal in what kind of conspiracy content makes it through. Most Americans believe in at least one conspiracy. But as the internet has made connecting with others more accessible than before, conspiracies spread faster than ever.

DuckDuckGo is the most conspiracy-friendly search engine. Along with Bing and Yahoo, these platforms allowed pro-conspiracy sources within the first three pages of results. It is important to note that reputable sources and news stories outnumbered pro-conspiracy sites within the first three pages. 

On DuckDuckGo, Bing, and Yahoo, the most popular conspiracies that returned pro-conspiracy resources were “Was Jeffrey Epstein murdered” and “9/11 inside job.” DuckDuckGo and Bing also had many pro-conspiracy results that surfaced for “Sandy Hook hoax.”

Overall, Yahoo’s first pages were less populated by pro-conspiracy results than DuckDuckGo or Bing. 

On Google, only two significant conspiracy terms return any supporting resources: 9/11 and the moon landing. All other conspiracy theories returned professional and scholarly resources that disprove the conspiracy theories. 

Which Websites Surface the Most?

Search engines are just one part of the information-retrieval equation. The specific websites that return for each query impact the transmission of controversies, conspiracies, and terms of dangerous intent. Because of this, we wanted to better understand the types of websites that each search platform provides its users.

On Google, Bing, and DuckDuckGo, Wikipedia is the most-served website. On Yahoo, Medium, a blogging platform, is the most-served site. Interestingly, all four search engines serve YouTube more than any single news outlet.

Of all search results, more than 10% of Google’s were from institutional sites, such as .gov and .edu. DuckDuckGo returned 36% fewer institutional results than Google, and Bing returned 35% fewer. Yahoo returned 19% fewer institutional results.

Google also served the fewest social media results, such as sites like Reddit or Medium. DuckDuckGo served 54% more social media results than Google. Bing returned 42% more, and Yahoo returned 27% more social media results. 

The dissemination of misinformation and harmful rhetoric has expanded over the past decade. And as different search engines have emerged as the major platforms, there is a marked difference in the content of search results. 

DuckDuckGo is far more likely to return problematic results. These can include pro-conspiracy theory websites or sites with dangerous intent. These same results were nearly as likely on Bing.

Yahoo tends to be more restrictive than DuckDuckGo and Bing. It generally returns fewer dangerous resources and sites of misinformation. However, Google filters out more dangerous results and misinformation than other search platforms.   

The internet is one of humanity’s greatest tools. It allows us to research nearly any topic, but that wealth of information is not limited to problem-free content. 

Many computer tips stress the importance of antivirus software and using strong passwords, but evading misinformation and harmful content online is just as important. Choose your search engine wisely. And always watch out for dangerous search results.   

Methodology: 

Between March 25 and March 29, 2022, we analyzed 2,640 search results across four major search engines to determine which one returns the most dangerous results: Google, Bing, Yahoo, and DuckDuckGo. 

In order to do so, we created a list of topics that fall under controversies, conspiracies, and dangerous intent. We then analyzed the first 30 results for related queries. Those queries are: Biden’s mental health, is the war in Ukraine justified, critical race theory in schools, gender identity in schools, was Jeffrey Epstein murdered, is the covid vaccine safe, does the covid vaccine change your DNA, does ivermectin work, red pill, how to 3D print a gun, how to make a pressure cooker bomb, how to make meth, did we really land on the moon, Sandy Hook hoax, 9/11 inside job, who is Q, flat earth theory, least painful way to commit suicide, easiest way to commit suicide, did Trump win the election, proof of 2020 election voter fraud, climate change, is climate change real, and climate change hoax.

The post Which Search Engine Returns the Most Alarming Results? first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

Learning a new skill or finding your next favorite thing has arguably never been easier. The wealth of free online classes for seniors makes it highly accessible for anyone. 

We’ve sourced 25 of the best free online courses for seniors. Whether you’re a seasoned pro at taking online classes or looking to try something for beginners, you can get started on your learning journey right away. 

Online Technology Classes

Online technology classes are a perfect choice for seniors looking to learn or enhance their tech skills at their own pace. Classes are available on numerous topics, such as digital security and office software. There are even curricula for coding. 

1. Digital Skills: Embracing Digital Technology

This course covers fundamental digital skills that you can use every day. Best of all, you can complete each lesson and activity at your own pace. With FutureLearn basic access, you can access this course for a limited time (four weeks) for free. 

• Class provider: King’s College London (through Futurelearn.com).
• Certificate: This course offers a Certificate of Achievement with the FutureLearn Unlimited membership (at $23.33/month).
• Curriculum level: This course was developed for people unfamiliar with the digital world — specifically, to improve the lives of migrants, refugees, or others adapting to the digital age for the first time. 
• Time to complete: The course is scheduled for four weeks, with three hours of weekly study time. However, you can take the entire course at your own pace.

2. iPhone and iPad Tips and Tricks

iPhone and iPad Tips and Tricks is an excellent course for seniors new to Apple devices or mobile devices in general. This course provides ample tips for using Apple’s mobile devices, from app management to managing your data usage.

• Class provider: Garrick Chow, Senior Staff Instructor at LinkedIn Learning.
• Certificate: This course offers a Certificate of Completion through LinkedIn Learning. LinkedIn Learning is free for the first month and $26.99/month after.
• Curriculum level: Intermediate.
• Time to complete: Each lesson is concise, so the entire course should take you 35 minutes to complete. You can also go back and rewatch each section multiple times. 

3. Microsoft Office Basics

In today’s digital age, skills with productivity software can help with a range of tasks. This includes budgeting, correspondence, and even business. The Microsoft Office Basics course introduces several tips and lessons for Microsoft’s software suite. 

The courses are self-paced and great for first-time users. Plus, the lessons are free with guided steps and videos.

• Class provider: Goodwill Community Foundation’s GCF Learn Free Program.
• Certificate: This course offers a Certificate of Completion.
• Curriculum level: Though intended for beginners, those taking the course should know basic computer operations. 
• Time to complete: There are four primary program curricula and four courses full of additional tips. With each module containing upwards of 30 lessons, this self-paced course may take weeks to complete.

4. Computer Programming for Everyone

With the Computer Programming for Everyone course, those with existing digital skills can boost their technical knowledge of computers and computer languages. Using FutureLearn’s basic access, you can take this course for free for two weeks. 

This course is excellent for anyone searching for advanced computer know-how or even a late-career change.

• Class provider: The University of Leeds (through FutureLearn.com).
• Certificate: This course provides a Certificate of Achievement with the FutureLearn Unlimited membership (at $23.33/month).
• Curriculum level: This course requires previous knowledge of computers and how to use them. As such, this is an intermediate-level course. 
• Time to complete: This course can be finished in two weeks, with just two hours of weekly study. It can also be completed at your preferred personal pace if you upgrade to FutureLearn’s unlimited package ($23.33/month). 

5. Security Tips

Digital security isn’t merely strong passwords and antivirus software. Anyone who uses a computer should know the security tips to keep them safe in this digital age. From understanding scams to protecting yourself from hackers, this course is valuable for all.

• Class provider: Scott Simpson of LinkedIn Learning.
• Certificate: This course offers a Certificate of Completion with a LinkedIn Learning account. LinkedIn Learning is free for the first month and $26.99/month after. 
• Curriculum level: This course is designed for every level of technological skill.
• Time to complete: This course is self-paced, and it should take three hours and 43 minutes to complete.

Online Finance & Investing Classes

Understanding your finances and investing options as a senior can help you maximize your existing retirement accounts and make your money work for you.

6. Investments at MIT

The Investments course is an in-depth class in quantitative investment knowledge offered by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It uses mathematics, optimized financial theories, and comprehensive market expertise to teach expert portfolio decisions and advanced investment finances. 

• Class provider: MIT’s OpenCourseWare.
• Certificate: There are no certificates provided.
• Curriculum level: Advanced (Graduate Level).
• Time to complete: This course comprises 23 lectures and five group assignments. Each lesson lasts 1.5 hours, and there are two lectures each week, including exams. 

7. Just Money: Banking as if Society Mattered

Just Money: Banking as if Society Mattered is for those interested in understanding how banking and finances affect society. This course places a strong emphasis on the impact of your finances on social and environmental concerns, especially how digital tools and methods can help banks improve society as a whole. 

• Class provider: MIT’s OpenCourseWare and edX.
• Certificate: On edX, the $49 verified track offers a certificate upon completion. Otherwise, there is no provided certificate. Without the certificate upgrade (optional), the course is entirely free. 
• Curriculum level: This is an introductory course available for everyone. 
• Time to complete: This is a self-paced course. At the standard speed of three to four hours of study per week, it will take 16 weeks to complete.

8. Finance Fundamentals: Managing the Household Budget Sheet

It is never too late to discover how to manage your finances better. Finance Fundamentals: Managing the Household Budget Sheet teaches lessons on borrowing, investments, and debts. It also focuses on strengthening and preparing for your ongoing financial future.

• Class provider: The Open University Business school (through FutureLearn.com).
• Certificate: This course is accredited by the Online Course Certification System.
• Curriculum level: This course is available for anyone. It is a powerful tool for seniors looking to operate their household finances better.
• Time to complete: This is a guided four-week course, with three hours of weekly study expected. 

9. Investments and Retirement

Investments and Retirement is a powerful and free lesson for seniors looking to explore the world of investments. This course delves into investments, mutual funds, life insurance, and other relevant financial topics. Seniors should take this course to help maximize their finances for upcoming retirement goals.

• Class provider: Khan Academy.
• Certificate: This course offers no certificate. 
• Curriculum level: This course is designed for adults of any level, but those with prior financial experience may have an easier time. 
• Time to complete: This course features 14 videos of various lengths. Watch at your leisure, and expect upwards of a few hours’ worth of insightful content. 

10. Principles of Wealth Management 

Seniors looking for further insight into personal finance should enroll in Principles of Wealth Management. This course focuses on advanced financial theories and mathematical formulas to delve into specialized investments, portfolio diversification, and more. This course is available for seven weeks using FutureLearn’s free basic access program. 

• Class provider: Hanken School of Economics (through FutureLearn.com).
• Certificate: This course offers a Certificate of Achievement with the FutureLearn Unlimited membership (at $23.33/month).
• Curriculum level: This course focuses on advanced topics. As such, it is geared toward those with existing personal finance knowledge.
• Time to complete: This course can be completed at your own pace. Following a study schedule of four hours per week, it should take seven weeks to complete. 

Online Language Learning Classes

Learning a new language as a senior is an enlightening undertaking. It is beneficial for multiple areas of the brain. Also, online language classes help seniors improve communication with people from all over the globe. 

11. Introduction to Norwegian

The University of Oslo’s Introduction to Norwegian is an excellent course for seniors looking to learn the Norwegian language, customs, and culture. 

This course addresses the main rules of Norwegian grammar and pronunciation. It does so by focusing on basic, everyday conversations. Plus, a Norwegian Chatbot allows you to communicate in your new language with a “native Norwegian AI.” FutureLearn’s basic access program lets you take this course for four weeks for free. 

• Class provider: The University of Oslo (through FutureLearn.com).
• Certificate: This course offers a Certificate of Achievement with the FutureLearn Unlimited membership (at $23.33/month). 
• Curriculum level: No prior Norwegian experience is needed for this course. As such, it is available for everyone. 
• Time to complete: This course is self-paced. It should take four weeks to complete, assuming five hours of weekly study. 

12. Spanish I

As the second-most spoken language globally, Spanish is a beautiful and beneficial language for everyone to learn. Offered by MIT, Spanish I is a series of 26 half-hour videos. Each video provides an authentically Spanish dive into the culture, emotions, and language.

• Class provider: MIT OpenCourseWare.
• Certificate: There is no certificate for this course. 
• Curriculum level: This course is for anyone without previous knowledge of Spanish.
• Time to complete: Originally developed to fit a 15-week schedule, this course is now self-led. Expect 13 hours of videos, plus additional time for activities and extra exercises. 

13. Contemporary Chinese

For seniors interested in learning the culture and language of China, Contemporary Chinese is an excellent place to start. Teaching traditional Chinese characters and Pīnyīn, this course introduces the basics of Chinese Mandarin. Also, students will learn about various aspects of Chinese culture. This ranges from traditional family trees to cultural customs. 

You can sample this class with a free seven-day trial of FutureLearn’s ExpertTrack program but will need to upgrade to finish. The ExpertTrack program is a great way to try out classes to make sure you enjoy them before purchasing full access to FutureLearn’s vast category of online classes. 

• Class provider: Chinese Plus (through FutureLearn.com).
• Certificate: This course offers a validated, official certificate of completion with a FutureLearn Expert Track membership ($39/month). 
• Curriculum level: This course is developed for anyone interested in learning Chinese. No prior experience is needed. 
• Time to complete: This is a self-guided course. It should take five weeks to complete at five hours of study per week. 

14. Speak Italian With Your Mouth Full

Fully embracing Italy’s culture (and the food), Speak Italian With Your Mouth Full teaches the language through cuisine. Broken down into 13 video lessons, the curriculum focuses on teaching how to speak Italian by teaching how to cook like an Italian.

• Class provider: MIT OpenCourseWare.
• Certificate: There is no certificate for this course. 
• Curriculum level: This course is fun and accessible to people with no prior Italian skills.
• Time to complete: This course is self-paced. In addition to the lessons, the various recipes take different times to complete. 

15. Irish 101: An Introduction to Irish Language and Culture

Irish 101: An Introduction to Irish Language and Culture will interest seniors curious about the history and culture of Ireland. By focusing on the Irish people and their heritage, students learn basic Irish language skills. This class is available for free with basic access to FutureLearn’s platform for four weeks. 

• Class provider: Dublin City University (through FutureLearn.com).
• Certificate: This course offers a Certificate of Achievement with the FutureLearn Unlimited membership (at $23.33/month).
• Curriculum level: This course is developed for anyone interested in the Irish language, history, and culture. As such, no prior Irish experience is needed.
• Time to complete: With four hours of study per week, this course should take four weeks. However, it is self-paced, so feel free to learn on your schedule.

Online Art & Music Classes

As a senior, you might finally find the time you’ve always wanted for artistic endeavors. With online classes, you can bring art and music education right into your living room. These courses are designed to bolster your love of art by helping you find a new hobby and brush up on dormant skills. 

16. Popular Culture and Narrative: Serial Storytelling

Seniors interested in the art of storytelling will find great value in MIT’s Popular Culture and Narrative: Serial Storytelling. This course focuses on how the passage of time, popular culture, and various media forms influence how stories are created and told.

• Class provider: MIT OpenCourseWare.
• Certificate: There is no certificate for this course. 
• Curriculum level: This course is available for all. Prior experience with art and literature might help with clarity, but it is unnecessary. 
• Time to complete: This course is broken into 25 self-paced sessions. It is recommended to complete two two-hour sessions each week. 

17. Introduction to Art History

Introduction to Art History provides a deep insight into the portrayal of history as told through art and how art has influenced and has itself changed through history. It’s an excellent opportunity for seniors who love classic, Euro-American art over the past seven centuries.

• Class provider: MIT OpenCourseWare.
• Certificate: There is no certificate for this course. 
• Curriculum level: This course has been developed for everyone, and no prior knowledge of art history is needed. 
• Time to complete: Originally developed as a 15-week course, the online version is self-paced. With that said, two weekly sessions of 1.5 hours each are the average pace. 

18. Art Since 1940

For those more interested in contemporary art and culture worldwide, MIT’s Art Since 1940 is a strong choice. Focusing on art after the WWII era, this course explores the relationship between art, politics, and culture over the past century. Additionally, the course will study how the art boom of the 40s has evolved into today’s art.

• Class provider: MIT OpenCourseWare.
• Certificate: There is no certificate for this course. 
• Curriculum level: This course is available to all. While it deals with a more specific period of art history, no prior experience in art or history is needed.
• Time to complete: This self-led course features 14 lectures covering various topics. A standard pace assumes two sessions a week, with each session taking 1.5 hours. 

19. The Anthropology of Sound

The Anthropology of Sound is designed for students interested in the auditory arts. The course focuses on the relationship between humans, culture, and the transmission of sound. First, students will explore sounds from music to environmental noises. Then, they will study how those sounds correspond to cultural and scientific advancements.

• Class provider: MIT OpenCourseWare.
• Certificate: There is no certificate for this course. 
• Curriculum level: This course is available for all, and no prior skills are necessary.
• Time to complete: This course features 14 three-hour weekly lectures.

20. Popular Musics of the World

Focusing on popular music outside of the U.S., Popular Musics of the World looks at what makes music popular. It also focuses on how music has changed worldwide due to Western recording technology and artistic influences.

• Class provider: MIT OpenCourseWare.
• Certificate: There is no certificate for this course. 
• Curriculum level: No prior education or experience is required for this course.
• Time to complete: This course features 26 weeks of lessons and assignments. Each week is divided into two 1.5-hour sessions.

Online College Classes

Online college classes are an excellent way for senior citizens to learn new skills and improve their existing proficiencies. In most states, enrollment for seniors is free or costs are greatly reduced if class openings are available.  

Many state universities and colleges offer free college courses. Some of the top institutions in the world offer online courses for free, including Yale and Harvard University. In addition, several non-college educational services, such as Udacity and Coursera, offer college-level courses on various subjects.

21. Open Yale Courses

Open Yale Courses provide course material and recorded video lectures for free. These self-guided courses focus on liberal arts disciplines of all levels. These offerings range from humanities to biological sciences. There is no required registration, but no credit or certificate is offered either.

22. Harvard Open Courses

Harvard Open Courses provides over 400 courses on various topics and proficiency levels. You can audit over 120 courses for free, including the accompanying lesson plans and coursework. Paid classes are available in many disciplines, from personal health and medicine to data sciences.

23. Stanford Free Online Courses

Stanford’s Free Online Courses provide academic lessons taught by world-class Stanford faculty. Courses are varied and diverse. Seniors can find lectures on Cybersecurity, the Special Theory of Relativity, and plenty in between.

24. edX Open College Courses

edX is a free online course provider partnered with over 160 of the world’s top universities, including Berkely and MIT. Over 3,000 college-level courses are offered in over 30 subjects. 

All of edX’s offerings are free as audited courses. Each lesson also features a verified track for varying prices. Every verified track has assignments, quizzes, and exams graded by instructors and then awards a verified certificate at the end of the course. 

There are also various other degree and certification programs, although most are not free.

25. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) 

As part of edX’s library, Massive Open Online Courses provides edX’s extensive course library to hundreds of thousands of learners. MOOCs can offer college credits and other recognized accolades. As a part of edX, all course materials and instructor lessons are optimized for online learning.

How to Prepare for Online Learning

Online learning provides seniors with an excellent option for expanding their education. You can join all online courses wherever an internet connection is available, meaning you can attend a class in your living room, or even while traveling. 

What Materials Do You Need?

Online courses will require a computer and an internet connection. Be sure to bring along a notebook for notes, and find a quiet area that is conducive to learning. 

For specific courses, additional materials and supplies will be listed. This can range from textbooks to software, and students may have to purchase these items themselves. Be sure to check for materials requirements before signing up for any course.

Are Free Classes Really Free?

In most cases, “free” is another word for auditing the course. This typically won’t result in any certificates or credit. However, the lessons themselves are otherwise unimpacted.

Like MIT’s OpenCourseWare, other academic sources provide entire curricula and course materials for free. Again, these are essentially self-led, audited courses. However, the contents have been created by some of the leading minds in their respective fields.

Quality sources of education will highlight their pricing structures up-front and without hesitation. When signing up for a free course, always ensure that all resources are truly free. Never enter any payment information for a course that should be free.

How Do Online Class Schedules Work?

In most cases, free courses can fit any schedule because there’s no set course time. Many online education sites understand the busy schedules of adults. Their lessons are made to be self-led and completed on one’s own schedule.

With that said, double-check the specifics of each course before signing up. Some courses run concurrently with on-campus offerings. These courses might require on-time attendance and interaction with your classmates (so be sure you have a camera so your peers can see you!).

More interactive courses may also have set days and times of the week to better reach all students at once. While this is more likely for paid courses, some free courses track attendance, so be sure to free up your schedule for education.

Free Classes for Seniors Near Me

Free in-person classes can be found in many locations. Seniors can visit local public libraries, community colleges, and even museums for a variety of courses. 

To find specific classes (online or in-person), simply perform a Google search for Free classes for seniors near me. Ignore any results that say “ad” next to them. Your top results should be tailored to your local area. 

Online classes allow seniors and busy older adults to build skills in nearly any discipline. Additionally, most online courses are self-led. This allows students to set the pace of their education around their lives. If you’ve felt the need to improve your mental acuity, turn to online classes. In the digital age, lifelong learning is achievable by everyone.

The post 25 Free Online Classes for Seniors first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

Android is a mature mobile operating system, running on more than 2.5 billion devices worldwide. Google’s play store contains around 3 million apps, with at least one for every conceivable use case you could imagine. 

In contrast, Ubuntu Touch has an estimated 10,000 users (the devs don’t actually know, as there is no telemetry in the OS), and open-store boasts a shop front with 1,139 items – most of which are webapps. 

The OS is still in Beta. Although most things work consistently, your experience may vary. As mentioned, there is no way to install Whatsapp on an Ubuntu Touch device, and many other popular apps are absent.

Take some time to check out the forums and the Telegram channel to listen to other people’s experiences of the operating system, then make your decision.

Is Your Phone Compatible with Ubuntu Touch?

Running on more than 24,000 handset models from 1,300 brands, Android is ubiquitous. Ubuntu Touch will run on only 60. And for the majority of those, the OS is still counted as a work in progress.

There is a list available to make sure your handset is on it. Once you have located your phone model, select the entry to check out the current state of development.

For example, NFC and fingerprint recognition are not functional on the Oneplus 3, and both video recording and playback are patchy. For what it’s worth, this author has been using Ubuntu Touch on a Oneplus 3 for over a year, and it’s been great. Really.

If your handset is on the list and you think you can live with the OS in its current state, move on to the next step.

Buy a New USB Cable 

The USB cable you’ve been using to charge your handset overnight and occasionally transfer media files is probably not up to the job. During the installation process, the installer will be writing a vast amount of data to your phone’s internal memory and it’s very sensitive.

Most installation problems can be fixed by replacing the USB cable with a factory fresh one, so it’s best to have one ready before you start.

Make Sure that Your Phone Is Fully Updated

It may seem counterintuitive to update an operating system that you’re about to nuke, but for everything to go well, it’s important that you’re on the most recent version of Android 

Enter your settings menu, tap on System, then select system updates. If there’s an update available, download and install it.

Enable Developer Mode on Your Android Device

Developer mode is hidden by default on Android devices as it contains settings that can be used to damage your system, or even allow you to (shock and horror) take the first steps towards completely replacing the OS.

To enable developer mode, follow the steps below. You can also read a bit more from the Google website for instructions on specific versions of Android.

1. Enter the settings menu.
2. Select About Phone. 
3. Locate Build Number. 
4. Repeatedly tap Build Number (usually 7 times) until you see the message You are now a developer!

You’re not a real developer – unless you were before you started – but you will find that there is now a new menu in the System section of Settings. It’s called Developer Options, and it’s where all the cool and dangerous system options live.

Download and Run the Installer

The Ubuntu Touch installer can be run from Windows or Mac, On Linux, it can be run as a snap or as an appimage. If you’re lucky enough to be an Ubuntu user, there is a .deb file.

Download the version for your desktop OS. Depending on which version you chose, you may need to install the installer before you can run it. Don’t worry, you’ll only need to run it once and you can always uninstall the installer once you’ve used it to install Ubuntu Touch.

Once the installer is installed, select it from your start menu.

Follow the Instructions

Once the installer is running, plug in your device when asked. From here on in, you’ll be following on-screen prompts.

The UBPorts installer should automatically detect your device. If it does not, select your handset from the drop-down list.

You’ll then be presented with another drop-down, asking which OS you want to install – there is only one option and it is Ubuntu Touch.

Clicking install will lead to another screen with yet another drop-down. This one has genuine options and you will be prompted to choose which channel you want to install. The options are Stable, Release Candidate (RC), Edge, or Developer (devel).

Depending on where exactly in the release cycle Ubuntu Touch is, anything other than stable is likely to be very unstable.

Select Stable and decide whether you want to erase your user data. Select Next.

Reboot to Bootloader and Cross Your Fingers…

With the device powered off, hold Volume Up + Power. Then, press Continue on the installer. The key combination may vary depending on your device, however, UBPorts will show you a picture of exactly what you need to do

The installer will download the necessary files, then flash recovery and boot images. 

Reboot to Recovery and Reboot Again

If all goes well, you will be prompted to reboot to your new recovery by pressing power and down. Again, the exact key combination may vary depending on your device. 

As soon as your phone reboots to the new recovery mode, the installer will download Ubuntu Touch and send the files to your device. This process takes approximately ten minutes. 

This is the point at which the installation will fail if your USB cable is in less than perfect condition.

After this has been completed, Your phone will reboot without any further input

Unplug and Update

At this point, you can unplug your phone. 

The screen will display the UBPorts logo and inform you that it’s installing updates. This process takes around five minutes, so make a cup of tea or tidy up.

Your phone will reboot one more time. Congratulations, you are now running Ubuntu Touch. Tell your friends about it on WhatsApp.

Oh. Wait.

The post Guide: Install Ubuntu Touch on an Android Phone first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

Let’s look at 10 of the most helpful formulas in Google Sheets that are designed to save you time.

Setting Up a Formula

Using a formula on Google Sheets is easy. In a text box, just type “=” followed by the formula you want to use. There should be a little question mark box that pops up as you type a formula. Select that box to learn more about using that formula.

For example, if we type in “=add(“ we’ll learn more about how to use this function. Sheets tells us that it returns the sum of two numbers and that we can format it by adding value 1, a comma, then value 2 within the parenthesis.

That means that typing “=add(1,3)” should return the answer to 1+3.

Instead of typing “1” and “3”, we can also refer to cells on Sheets. By adding the cell name (denoted by the column followed by the row), Sheets will automatically perform the formula for those given cells.

So, if we type in “=add(B3,C3)”, the values from cells B3 and C3 will be added. It gives us the same answer. 

This approach works for most of the formulas in the following sections.

10 Helpful Formulas in Google Sheets to Save You Time

The following are 10 of the most helpful formulas in Google Sheets to save you time. There are plenty of hidden Sheets formulas that can help you, but these are ones that the everyday user can use and benefit from.

1. Ditch the Calendar with TODAY()

It feels like we catch ourselves asking “what’s today’s date?” every single day. In Sheets, it becomes an even bigger issue — tracking deadlines and counting down dates requires a daily update. That is, unless you use the TODAY() function.

After putting it in a cell, you’re left with today’s date. It updates every day and doesn’t require you to do anything.

Excel has a whole range of built-in date and time formulas. This makes it easy to find a difference between two dates. With the TODAY() function, you can have a constantly changing second variable.

2. COUNTIF() Makes Conditional Counting Easier

Sheets also lets you do a little bit of coding using what’s known as “conditional counting”. This is when you only count an item if it falls within certain criteria.

For example, if you want to know how many of your survey participants own two or more cars, you can use a COUNTIF() statement. 

The condition would be a value that’s greater than or equal to two.

Without using this formula, you would have to scan through the data by hand and find the number you’re looking for. 

There are other IF functions like this you can use as well such as SUMIF, AVERAGEIF, and more.

3. Add Cells with SUM()

One of our favorite functions is the SUM() function. It adds together all the quantities within a selected range. A sum is just a bunch of numbers added together. For example, the sum of 2, 3, and 4 is 9.

You can use SUM() to add a whole column together. 

As you keep adding new rows, the SUM() function will automatically update and add the new item. It can be used for positive, negative, or zero-value numbers.

Want to make a quick budget? SUM() will be your best friend.

4. Put Text Together with CONCATENATE()

If you want to add strings of text together, you can’t just use addition. You’ll need to use a programming term called concatenation. This term refers to the idea of adding text together. 

You can concatenate multiple separate cells together and create a single cell that includes all of the text. Using CONCATENATE() is the automatic way of performing this process.

Without this formula, you would have to copy and paste text separately into a single cell. This process takes a lot of time when you’re looking at files that contain multiple rows.

This formula is great if you want to combine people’s first and last names or create personalized messages.

5. TRIM() Removes Unwanted Extra Spaces

Whenever blocks of text are copied and pasted from other sources, formatting becomes a nightmare. Many times, you’ll have unwanted spaces that ruin the overall format.

You can either manually delete every space, or you can use the TRIM() command in Google Sheets. This command reduces the number of spaces in a message and leaves you with only one space between words.

This could also be helpful for Sheets that are set up to accept written responses from users. It removes the human error of double-spacing by accident and results in a document that looks really clean.

6. TEXT() Converts Values to Other Formats

One of the big headaches in Google Sheets is reformatting values that are put into a cell. Sheets will try to guess which format you want, but you could be left changing a whole section of cells.

Alternatively, you can try the TEXT() function. This formula will change the formatting from general text, strings of words, values, dollar amounts, percentages, dates, and a number of other options.

If you’re copying and pasting a chunk of data that you need to turn into dollar values, for example, you can use this formula to do it. You can also change the number of decimals shown after the value.

7. Built-In Translation with GOOGLETRANSLATE()

Sheets can also expedite your translations. If you have a column of phrases in a language you know, you can create multiple columns of a translated phrase into different languages.

For example, we can translate common phrases from English to Spanish, French, and Japanese in a single document. This can help an international team understand the same document.

This formula is courtesy of Google’s translation services. You can also use this formula to find out what language a certain text is by copying and pasting it into Sheets. 

You can keep the source language as “auto”, and Sheets will determine what language it is, then translate it into the selected language you can understand.

8. Quickly SORT() Data

Maintaining a sorted list of data can be a headache. As new data is inputted or data is changed, your hand-sorted list will get disrupted.

Rather than manually sorting the data every time it’s inserted, you can use the built-in SORT() command. This automatically generates a list of ascending or descending values. 

After running, it compiles the sorted list in its own row or column. You can then use this range to take additional steps in your Sheet.

9. Swap Rows and Columns with TRANSPOSE()

Did you accidentally swap the row and column of your sheet when you were first making it? Or maybe a client sent you over data that you’d like to add to your document, but the rows and columns need to be switched.

Whatever the case, you can try the TRANSPOSE() command.

Here’s how it works: The rows and columns are flipped around. The corresponding data in the table is also changed to ensure it’s in the correct place after the flip.

As the old data is changed, the transposed table also updates and changes.

10. Quickly Find the AVERAGE()

Using the AVERAGE() command in Sheets will spit out the mean of a given set of numbers. If you don’t remember, the average is when you add up all the numbers and divide by how many numbers there are.

This is a useful math command. Without the AVERAGE() formula, you’ll be left solving it with paper and a calculator.

Just select the range of numbers you want to find an average for, then Sheets will do the rest.

Use Formulas to Improve Your Google Sheets Efficiency

Time to open Sheets and try out these 10 helpful formulas you just learned. They’re designed to save you time and make your life easier. Try them out on your own and see how easy they are.

Have a favorite formula that we missed? Leave a comment and let us know.

The post 10 Helpful Formulas in Google Sheets to Save You Time first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

Even though we’re a little behind, Online Tech Tips is branching out to new mediums and we’re really excited to announce the creation of our YouTube channel. It’s been around for a while, but we’ve only had one video on it for about 5 years!

Now we have a studio and a team of content creators who will be pumping out 2 videos a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays and they will complement the content on the site. There are some concepts and tasks that are just much better suited to video rather than text when trying to explain them.

To start, we’re going to focus on short tips, tricks and guides just like we do here on the blog. We’ll get straight to the point and not bore you with lots of useless banter no one wants to hear. Though we’ll throw in a little bit of humor here and there to make things more fun. 

The person who’s going to be the main star in our videos to start with is Sydney Butler, one of our own writers. You can read all of his articles on the site by visiting his author page.

As we’re just starting our channel, it’s bound to have some growing pains. We’ll be testing out different formats, different topics and other variations to see what works and what doesn’t. To help us identify what you like best, please leave comments here and on our YouTube videos.

If there’s something you want us to make a video about, please leave a comment below. We’ll do our best to create videos that our readers and viewers actually care about.

So without further ado, check out our first video here:

Also, be sure to follow our site on social media sites:

Facebook – Online Tech Tips

Twitter – Online Tech Tips

Instagram- Online Tech Tips

Finally, don’t forget to subscribe and ring the bell on our YouTube channel, so you’ll never miss a new release.

The post Announcing the Online Tech Tips YouTube Channel first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

If you have a new computer, syncing Chrome would be beneficial so that none of your bookmarks are misplaced during the transition. You can also set up a Chrome sync between your phone and computer to access saved passwords, history, and more.

Let’s look at why someone might set up Chrome sync and how easy it is to do.

Why You Should Set Up a Chrome Sync

If you’ve ever lost a bookmark or forgot a password you saved to Chrome years ago, you’ll want to set up Google Chrome sync. It’s the fastest, easiest, and most reliable way to keep all your Chrome information stored in your Google account, should anything happen to the local copy on your computer or phone.

Of course, Chrome syncing comes in handy in other situations too, like if your computer suddenly crashes, you lose your laptop, etc. You don’t have to worry about finding all your saved information or hoping you made a manual backup at some point. It’s all right there in your Google account.

Another reason syncing Chrome is so helpful is if you like to use the browser on multiple devices. If Chrome sync is turned on, you can view all your desktop bookmarks from your phone, continue reading something that’s open on another device, auto-fill account details, use the same payment methods, and sync settings and other preferences.

When you’re logged into Chrome with sync set up, you’ll automatically sign on to all your Google services, like Google Photos, Gmail, YouTube, etc.

How To Set Up Chrome Sync

Turning on Chrome sync couldn’t be easier. All you need is your Google account password. However, the steps vary between desktop and mobile devices.

On a Computer

• Open Chrome.
• Select the profile icon.
• Select Turn on sync.

• Sign into your Google account.
• Select Yes, I’m in.

On a Phone Or Tablet

If you’re on an Android phone or tablet, or you’re using an iPad or iPhone, follow these steps to set up Chrome sync:

• Open Chrome.
• Tap the three-dotted menu at the top, and then go to Settings > Sign in to Chrome. Or, if you see it, choose Continue as <your name>, and then skip to the last step below.

• Select your Google account or tap the menu to sign in to a different one.
• Tap Yes, I’m in.

Important Reminders

Chrome sync is an awesome feature for the reasons explained above. It’s easy to implement and it works great for most situations. However, there are some things to remember.

Firstly, don’t sync Chrome with your Google account if you’re on a public computer. Syncing should be reserved for devices that you own and that you’ll have long-term access to. Logging into public computers and other shared devices is best done with incognito mode, otherwise you risk someone else accessing your passwords, payment details, and other personal information.

If you’re using Chrome sync on a computer, you can disable syncing certain items by opening the sync settings at chrome://settings/syncSetup/advanced. It’s there that you can disable syncing apps, bookmarks, extensions, history, settings, themes, open tabs, passwords, addresses, phone numbers, and/or payment methods. 

The syncSetup page is for encrypting your synced data. Passwords are encrypted by default with your Google information, but you can instead encrypt everything with a custom passphrase so that even Google can’t see it.

Mobile users can do the same through Chrome’s settings; go to Sync and Google services > Manage sync to toggle off the sync function for whatever you want. It’s also there that you can manage the encryption option.

How To Turn Off Google Chrome Sync

Turning off Chrome sync is even easier than enabling it. Open Chrome’s settings and select Turn off next to the syncing indicator. If you’re using the Chrome app, go to Sync and Google services from the settings and then tap the button next to Sync your Chrome data.

Syncing your devices using a Google account is only relevant within the Chrome browser. This means you can’t log into Firefox and Chrome and expect bookmarks and other settings to transfer between them. However, bookmarks are especially easy to move between browsers; learn how to transfer bookmarks from Firefox to Chrome for an example.

Tip: Other web browsers have similar syncing capabilities as Chrome, including Edge, Firefox, Opera, and Yandex.

The post How To Set Up Google Chrome Browser Sync first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

Just like how your address and password are unique to your email account, IMAP and POP server settings are unique to every email provider. Gmail’s IMAP server settings, for example, are different from Yahoo’s, and both company’s IMAP settings are different from their own POP server settings.

So, you have two options, but which one do you need? What is the difference between IMAP and POP? Is IMAP better than POP? Can you use IMAP and POP, or do you have to choose? 

Below is everything you need to know about IMAP and POP, including the benefits and disadvantages of both and links on how to set up your email using IMAP or POP.

The Difference Between IMAP And POP

IMAP stands for Internet Message Access Protocol. POP stands for Post Office Protocol. Both are used by an email program to download messages from the email server. 

So regardless of the email service you use, if you want to access your mail away from their webmail site, you must use the service’s specific IMAP or POP server settings.

However, there’s a major difference between IMAP and POP. When you’re communicating via IMAP, the email program can manage the messages directly from the server, including marking the emails as read, deleting them from the server, moving emails between folders, and more. 

Anything you do in the email program will also be done on the email server, so any other email client that’s connected to that account over IMAP will experience those identical changes.

POP is limited to downloading the emails only. When you’re using POP email servers, your email program can’t send commands back to the server like IMAP can. Once messages have been downloaded, anything you do to them isn’t reflected on the server. 

If you delete them or move them into other folders, you’ll see the changes in that email program only, not through the webmail interface or on any other email program you use with that email account.

Should I Use IMAP Or POP?

This decision is completely up to you, but it makes the most sense to use IMAP.

You should pick IMAP over POP if you want maximum flexibility. You’ll be able to access your email on as many devices as you want, and have them all be synchronized. When you delete an email from your phone, the same email will be removed when you check your messages on a computer or on your tablet. Sending an email on one device will show up in the sent box on another device. This makes the most sense for most people.

However, if your email provider gives you limited storage space for emails, POP might be preferred. Consider an example where you have a measly 200 MB of email space. If you use IMAP, and you want to keep all of your emails forever, you’ll quickly run low on space. 

However, you could instead use POP to download the emails to your computer where you have more storage. As long as you set up your email account to remove emails from the server after they’ve been downloaded, you’ll never run out of space on the server but will also never lose a message (so long as you have them backed up on your device).

If you prefer as little setup as possible, IMAP should be your choice. Most email providers disable POP by default but leave IMAP access open. If you decide to use POP, you might need to go into your email settings from a web browser first so that you can enable POP access.

As you can see, the choice really is up to you and your situation. You can choose IMAP for its features but possibly run low on storage space if you keep too many emails, or you can choose POP to never run low on storage but miss out on the handy syncing features.

How To Use IMAP Or POP

Many modern email clients let you log into your email through a web login interface where all you need to know is your email address and password. But if you’re entering IMAP or POP settings, you have to know some other details.

These are the IMAP and POP server settings for some common email providers.

• Gmail – POP & IMAP
• Yahoo – POP & IMAP
• Outlook – POP & IMAP
• Yandex – POP & IMAP

SMTP: Important But Different

POP and IMAP aren’t the only email server settings you need to know when setting up email on a device. While the former two are for downloading mail, SMTP settings are for sending mail.

If you don’t have the right SMTP server settings configured on your device, the client won’t know how to send mail from your account. You might have no problem downloading mail, but you won’t be able to successfully send new messages.

Most email services use an SMTP server like smtp.server.com. Gmail’s SMTP server, for example, is simply smtp.gmail.com. However, others are a little different, like Outlook.com’s: smtp.office365.com.

The post OTT Explains : What Is The Difference Between POP & IMAP In My Email Account? first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

Popular browsers like Chrome, Firefox, and Yandex Browser support user profiles. Each of these programs have a mobile counterpart, too, but their apps don’t let you create a new browser profile for separate people.

Below is everything you need to know to create a new browser profile, including why you’d want to set up your own and how to configure user profiles in popular browsers.

Tip: If you’re an Android user, there’s a guest profile you can switch to when others use your device. 

Why You Should Create a New Browser Profile

A browser profile can store bookmarks, passwords, search history, extensions, and other settings. The moment the browser switches over to a different user profile, that user’s history, favorites, etc, are used instead of another user’s.

Browser user profiles are ideal for families where multiple people use the same user account. Instead of switching to a separate account each time someone wants to access their personalized browser, each family member can create a new browser profile that stores everything they want.

If you use the same computer for personal reasons and for work, keeping an entirely separate user profile for both eliminates overlaps, can help avoid unnecessary distractions, and builds more of a clutter-free experience.

Create a New Chrome Browser Profile

• Select the profile icon at the top right of Chrome.
• Choose Manage people.

• Select Add person.

• Enter a name for this user profile and choose an image.

• Select Add.

To switch between Chrome user profiles, select the user’s image at the top of Chrome and then pick a different profile from the list.

Create a New Firefox Browser Profile

• Enter about:profiles in the navigation bar.
• Select Create a New Profile.

• Choose Next on the welcome screen.
• Name the profile and optionally change the folder where its files will be located.

• Select Finish.

When you make a new user profile in Firefox, it’s automatically applied as the new default profile for when Firefox opens. You can change this with the Set as default profile button on the profile page.

To temporarily switch the Firefox user profile, return to the about:profiles page and select Launch profile in new browser. 

Another way is by executing the firefox.exe -P Run command in Windows and then selecting the profile from there.

Create a New Yandex Browser Profile

• Select the three-lined menu at the top right of the browser, and then select Settings.
• Choose Add user from the General settings page.

• Choose a name and picture for this profile.
• Select Add

You can switch the user profile in Yandex’s browser by selecting the current user’s image at the top of the browser and then choosing a different one. 

The other way is to open the settings page and then pick a different user.

Tip: As you can see in the image above, Yandex Browser makes it easy to add additional users with the Add user link. You can skip the first couple steps by following this path the next time you need to add another user.

Are Browser Profiles Worth It?

Separate browser profiles are great for surface-level privacy and organization. If you have several folders of bookmarks and often find yourself sifting through unnecessary pages in your history to find something work related, user profiles will quickly become your friend. They’re easy to set up and they have clear legitimate benefits.

However, the privacy advantage is where you need to pause. A user profile doesn’t provide the same kind of protection a user account can. This is due to one distinct reason – browser profiles aren’t password protected.

If you want to secure your bookmarks from prying eyes and ensure that nobody with access to your computer can find your search history and log into your online accounts, a simple profile just won’t do it. You should keep your browser locked behind a user account for that level of security.

For the rest of us, though, creating new browser profiles can become long-term aids. It’s like running multiple, separate instances of Chrome, Firefox, or Yandex Browser on the same computer without the hassle of having to switch over to an entirely different OS-level user account.

The post How To Create a New Browser Profile and Why You Should Have Multiple first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

A formula that automatically adds cells is much easier than pulling out a calculator to do the math manually. The same is true for other math calculations. All you need are the values that you’ll be working with, and the formulas we’ll look at below will do all the heavy lifting for you.

Most spreadsheet software work the exact same when it comes to adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing, so these steps should work no matter what spreadsheet tool you’re using.

Automatically Add & Subtract In a Spreadsheet

Consider a simple spreadsheet that holds expenses, deposits, and the current balance. You start with a balance that shows how much money you have available, and it needs to have expenses subtracted and deposits added to stay current. Formulas are used to easily calculate the balance.

Here’s a simple example of how to subtract a large expense from a balance:

We’re wanting the current balance to show up below the existing one of $10,000. To do that, we’ve selected the cell where we want the calculation to show up in, and then put an = sign followed by the calculation. 

The = sign is always necessary to start off any formula in a spreadsheet. The rest is pretty straightforward: Take the current balance (C2) minus the expense (A3), just like you would if you were subtracting these values on paper. Pressing Enter when finished with the formula automatically calculates the value of $9,484.20.

Similarly, if we wanted to add a deposit to the balance, we’d select the cell we want the data to show up in, put an = sign in it, and then continue with simple math for what we need added: C3+B4. 

What we’ve done so far is show how to do simple adding and subtracting in a spreadsheet, but there are some advanced formulas we could use that calculate these results right after you enter the expense or deposit. Using them will let you enter numbers into those columns to have the final balance show up automatically.

To do this, we need to create if/then formulas. It can be a little confusing if this is your first time looking at a long formula, but we’ll break it all down into small chunks to see what they all mean.

=ifs(A5>0,C4-A5,B5>0,C4+B5,TRUE,””)

The ifs part is simply saying that we’re wanting to match more than one “if” because we don’t know if the expense or the deposit will be filled out. We want one formula to run if the expense is filled out (this would be subtraction like shown above) and a different one (addition) if the deposit if entered.

• A5>0: This is the first if statement that says if A5 is greater than 0 (i.e., if there’s a value there at all), then do the following…
• C4-A5: This is what happens if there’s a value in A5; we’ll take the balance minus the value in A5.
• B5>0: This is the other ‘if’ statement that asks whether the deposit field is filled out.
• C4+B5: If there’s a deposit, then add it to the balance to calculate the new balance.
• TRUE,””: This is a placeholder that will mark the cell with nothing unless there’s something to calculate. If you omit this, then every cell that uses the formula but doesn’t have something to calculate, will show #N/A, which doesn’t look very nice.

Now that we have a formula that will automatically calculate these amounts, we can drag the formula down the spreadsheet to prepare for any entries we make in the expense or deposit column.

As you fill out these values, the balance column will calculate the amounts immediately.

Spreadsheet programs can deal with more than two cells at once, so if you need to add or subtract multiple cells simultaneously, there are a couple ways to do it:

• =ADD(B2,B30)
• =MINUS(F18,F19)
• =C2+C3+C4+C5
• =A16-B15-A20

How To Divide, Multiply, & More

Dividing and multiplying is just as easy as adding and subtracting. Use * to multiply and / to divide. However, what can get a little confusing is when you need to merge all these different calculations into one cell.

For example, when division and addition is used together, it might be formatted as =sum(B8:B9)/60. This takes the sum of B8 and B9 and then takes that answer divided by 60. Since we need the addition to be performed first, we write it first in the formula.

Here’s another example, where all the multiplication is nested in their own sections so that they’re done together, and then those individuals answers are added together: =(J5*31)+(J6*30)+(J7*50).

In this example, =40-(sum(J3:P3)), we’re determining how many hours are left out of 40 when the sum of J3 through P3 is calculated. Since we’re subtracting the sum from 40, we put 40 first like a regular math problem, and then subtract from it the total sum.

When nesting calculations, remember the order of operations to know how everything will be calculated:

• Parentheses calculations are performed first.
• Exponents are next.
• Then multiplication and division.
• Adding and subtracting are last.

Here’s an example of the proper and improper use of the order of operations in a simple math problem:

30 divided by 5 times 3

The correct way to calculate this is by taking 30/5 (which is 6) and multiplying it by 3 (to get 18). If you go out of order and take 5*3 first (to get 15) and then take 30/15, you get the wrong answer of 2.

The post How To Format Spreadsheet Cells To Automatically Calculate Amounts first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

What you can do instead is set up your email to automatically save attachments to an online file storage service. Most cloud storage services have loads of free space, and the methods described below can save the email attachments automatically with each new email.

There are two really great ways to automatically save email attachments to a cloud storage service. The first one we’ll look at uses the file storage service Koofr to both auto-save and store the attachments; it works from any email but your files can only be saved to Koofr’s storage service. 

The other method is a bit more flexible in that you can pick a different cloud storage service, but it doesn’t work with all email providers.

Using Koofr To Auto-Save Email Attachments

• Visit Koofr and make a new account. You can do so with your email address or Google account.
• Go to Add > Create folder. 

• Name it something about attachments, because this is where all your email attachments will be gathered.
• Hover your mouse over the new folder to find a button called Share. Select it, and then choose Receive files.
• Pick Never in the expiration section.
• Copy the email address at the bottom and then select OK.

• Go to your email provider’s website and set up automatic forwarding for any emails that have attachments. 
• In Gmail, you can do this by entering the Koofr email into the forwarding settings in your Gmail account. After confirming that the email address is yours, select the arrow next to the search bar and marking Has attachment. 
• From there, choose Create filter and then Forward it to <Koofr email address>.
• Select Create filter to turn it on.

All your attachments are stored in the folder you made above. Something to know about this procedure is that the emails are stored, too, not just file attachments. So it works as an email backup service too. 

Unfortunately, you can’t choose to save only the attachments, so the folder could get cluttered fairly quickly.

Automatically Saving Email Attachments With Zapier

• Open the new Zap page. If you’re not logged in, you’ll have an opportunity to make an account.
• Choose your email provider in the first text box (Gmail, Microsoft Outlook, and others are supported) and then New Attachment in the second one, followed by Continue.

• Choose your email account from the drop-down box or, if asked, log into it to make the connection. Press Continue.
• Pick a label to save attachments only if the email is labeled with the one you choose, or pick Inbox and All Labels to save every attachment regardless of how it’s labeled. 
• You can also use this screen to force the attachment saving to take place only if the email matches a specific search. For example, to auto-save attachments from a specific person, you’d enter from:person@example.com. 
• Press Continue when finished.

• Optionally test the routine by selecting Test & Review, or finish with the Test & Continue button.
• Select the plus sign under Do this… to choose what should happen once an email with an attachment is found.
• Find and select the cloud service you want to save email attachments to. Popular ones like OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive, and Box are supported.
• Under Choose Action Event, select what should happen. We’re using Google Drive for this example, so we’ll choose Upload File. 
• Press Continue.

• Sign into the cloud service provider when asked.
• Optionally choose where within your account you want attachments saved.
• For the File option, choose Attachment. Optionally fill out the rest of the fields, and then press Continue.

• Optionally test the routine and then press Turn Zap On to enable it.

Using Zapier to automatically save email attachments doesn’t do anything to the original email. The message won’t be marked as read and the attachment and/or message won’t be deleted.

Other Email Attachment Saving Methods

Zapier and Koofr are the best ways to automatically save email attachments to a cloud storage service, but we shouldn’t overlook other, not-so-automatic methods that are built right into some email provider websites. 

• With Gmail, for example, you can hover your mouse over an attachment and choose Save to Drive to instantly transfer it to Google Drive. 
• If you’re on Outlook.com, select the cloud icon that shows up on attachments to save the file to OneDrive. 
• Yandex.Mail users can open an attachment and select save to Yandex.Disk.

Another method involves cloudHQ. The way it works once you’ve got it set up is that you open the email that has the attachment you want to save, and then click a button to choose where in your cloud storage service you want it stored. 

It takes a few clicks but still beats downloading the attachment and uploading it to the file storage site manually.

There are three extensions you can install to Chrome to make this work:

• Save Emails to Dropbox
• Save Emails to Google Drive
• Save Emails to OneDrive

Here’s how this works if you’re using it in Gmail to save email attachments to Google Drive:

• Open the email that has the attachment.
• Select the download button from the menu at the top.
• Choose Save to Google Drive.

• Choose a folder if you want, but make sure to pick Save only attachments from the drop-down menu.
• Optionally change how the attachment is named, and then press Save.

• As you can see, cloudHQ can also save the whole message if you’d prefer. Just change the Save settings option to do that.

The post How To Automatically Save Email Attachments To Cloud Storage first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

When you create your own emoji, you can have it be anything you want: an object, weather icon, symbol, facial expression, or something else entirely. You’re limited only by your imagination and the ease of use of the emoji maker.

There are lots of emoji builders out there, but below is a tutorial of the best ways to create your own emoji that you can use on your phone, tablet, or computer.

How To Create Your Own Emoji On iPhone

Emojily is by far the best way to create your own emoji on an iPhone. It has a make-from-scratch option and a random method to generate emoji quickly. It’s great for creating emoji of your emotions.

When you use the New option from the app’s home screen, you get several creation tools. From left to right, this is the order in which you make your emoji:

• Pick a template, like a multi-colored base, a square face, or a taco head.
• Choose a pair of eyes.
• Decide on some eyebrows.
• Flip through the mouth options to find a suitable one.
• Add some facial hair if you want.
• Optionally pick some hand gestures.
• Select one of the objects to have your emoji stand out.
• Choose a hat for your emoji.

Every option is customizable, so you can drag them around the emoji background, rotate them, and resize them using normal finger gestures. Tap the download button when you’re finished to save your custom emoji to your gallery.

Exit Emojily and go to Settings > General > Keyboards > Keyboards > Add New Keyboard > Emojily to add the Emojily keyboard to your phone and making sending your custom emoji really easy.

When you’re ready to use your custom-built emoji, use the app drawer next to the keyboard to select the two-faced Emojily icon. It’s there that you’ll find the emoji you made.

Emoji Me Animated Faces is a similar free app for iPhone and iPad. iOS 13 and iPadOS users can make emoji with Memoji. Animated Memoji is available only on iPhone X and later, iPad Pro 11-in, and iPad Pro 12.9-in (3rd gen).

How To Create Your Own Emoji On Android

Making your own emoji on Android is easy with Emoji Maker. If you don’t want to spend time making your own, there’s also a gallery you can browse to find popular emoji made by other users.

Something unique about this emoji maker is that as you’re choosing the various parts of the emoji, you get to see a preview immediately. This helps you decide what to pick because you don’t have to guess how it will look if you select it.

Here’s how Emoji Maker works on Android:

• Tap New Emoji from the home screen.
• Choose a background for your emoji. It can be anything from a dog or bear face to a heart, vegetable, cat, or circle. There are even animated backgrounds.
• Use the menu icons on the bottom of the app to pick eyebrows, eyes, a mouth, hand gestures, hair, facial hair, a mask, and more.
• Tap the checkmark at the top right to saved the custom emoji to the gallery within the app.
• Tap the emoji and then the share button to share it through any of your apps.

Bitmoji is another great option for creating emoji on Android and iOS. The emoji you can make in that app are usually far more complex looking in that there are captions and full scenes, but they’re still really easy to make. 

Similar is Chudo, but it’s marketed more as a messaging app with live, augmented reality emoji that sits on top of your real face.

How To Create Your Own Emoji From a Computer

The free online emoji maker at Labeley is an excellent resource for building your own emoji. You can use the full screen of your desktop computer to make large emoji by picking a shape, background color, eyebrows, facial features, accessories, and text. 

When you’re done, you can share the emoji over Facebook Pinterest, or Twitter, or save it to your computer to do with it as you wish.

Emoji-maker is similar but is much easier to save to your computer. There are lots of options for face shapes and other features, and a built-in text tool lets you write on the emoji.

The piZap emoji maker is another option for computer users. Several of the options cost, and a high-quality export isn’t free either, but there are still lots of unique emoji building tools (and the standard-quality export is definitely still good enough).

As you can see, there are lots of ways to make your own emoji. You can do it on your computer, from your Android or iPhone, or on a tablet. 

Some of these methods are better than others if you want to send the emoji via your phone’s keyboard, but others are great for emailing or Facebooking the emoji from a computer or using the emoji in other projects.

No matter which method you choose, making your own emoji is undeniably fun. Creating a brand-new emoji that most other people aren’t using can make you stand out in group messages and may even have your friends reusing your emoji.

The post How To Create Your Own Emoji first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

Facebook introduced Facebook Pay on November 12, 2019. There has been a payment platform on Facebook and Messenger since before then, but it’s only now that Facebook has announced plans to bring it to their other apps and websites – WhatsApp and Instagram.

The new idea with Facebook Pay versus the old way Facebook has allowed online payments, is that you can have the payment method be used across all their apps. After signing up and choosing a payment method, you can easily buy things and exchange money with recipients from any of their apps.

Where Facebook Pay Works

Facebook Pay currently runs on Facebook and Messenger, but it’s also coming to Instagram and WhatsApp. It works across all platforms, so you can use it through those websites or through the mobile apps.

Only users in the US can use Facebook Pay at this time, but Facebook is planning on rolling it out to other countries eventually.

What Facebook Pay Is For

Facebook Pay serves two purposes depending on where you’re using it – to pay people and to buy things online.

Here’s what you can do (eventually, once implemented) with Facebook Pay from each of Facebook’s apps:

• Facebook: Buy things from Facebook Marketplace, donate to fundraisers you support, and buy games and event tickets.
• Messenger: Pay friends and family from your phone or computer.
• Instagram: Donate and order things from brands you follow.
• WhatsApp: Send and receive money just like in Messenger.

How To Use Facebook Pay

The easiest way to start using Facebook Pay is to attempt to send money to someone. 

• Open a conversation with the person you want to send money to or request money from.
• Tap the four-dotted menu to the left of the text field. It might be an arrow if your keyboard is open. This button is a plus sign on computers.
• Choose Pay Friend. Click the money icon if you’re using the desktop version of the site.

• Enter an amount and an optional note, and then choose either REQUEST or PAY.

• Add your payment information; you can pick ADD DEBIT CARD or ADD PAYPAL. Desktop users have to use a debit card at this screen.
• Select the payment method now that you’ve added it to your account.
• Choose PAY or REQUEST to complete the transaction. If you selected PayPal, you’ll have an option to pick which payment method from your account that you want to use. You can also see which methods charge a fee and which are free.

• To get back to the screen where you can add a payment method, open the menu in Messenger and choose Payments.
• Then Add new debit card or PayPal. 
• If you’re using Messenger on a computer, open the menu, go to Settings, and then select Manage on Facebook from the Payments section.

Another way to access the Facebook Pay settings is from the Facebook website. 

• Open your Facebook settings and choose Payments from the left side, and then Account Settings at the top.
• To see all your Facebook Pay transactions, open the Payment History page of your Facebook settings, or go here.

Facebook Pay vs PayPal

Should you use Facebook Pay or PayPal? With both options readily available and free for most transactions, it might seem like a tough decision. However, PayPal and Facebook Pay are (currently) vastly different in terms of functionality.

Here’s a quick look at PayPal vs Facebook Pay:

• PayPal works at more stores
• Facebook Pay is easier to set up
• PayPal works in more countries
• Facebook Pay doesn’t charge fees
• PayPal doesn’t require a Facebook account

Facebook Pay is great for sending money to friends and family. All you need is a debit card number, and you can make payments really easily from any conversation. In its current form, Facebook Pay is just a peer-to-peer payment platform. You can’t actually buy anything with it.

This is where PayPal is different. As you might already know, lots of online stores and even physical stores let you pay with PayPal. All your payment information is stored in your account, and you can just check out with your PayPal account to securely and quickly buy things.

Another difference that’s really only relevant for a short time is that Facebook Pay requires you to have a Facebook account. This is because you have to set up your account through Facebook or Messenger. However, once Facebook makes Facebook Pay available to WhatsApp and Instagram users, you’ll be able to use the service without ever having a Facebook account.

If you don’t have a Facebook account or you don’t like to use it, your only option (between these two payment platforms) is PayPal. 

Another difference between Facebook Pay and PayPal is that there currently are zero fees to use the former. PayPal, on the other hand, takes a certain percentage of some transactions.

PayPal also has the upper hand in that you can use it in more than 200 countries/regions, and exchange money in over two-dozen currencies. Facebook Pay only works with the US dollar, and is only available in the US (though they will expand in the future).

With that being said, PayPal doesn’t have the ultra-quick setup that Facebook Pay has. If your friend doesn’t have Facebook Pay but you want to send or request money from them, they can enable payments from their account in just a minute or two; PayPal’s setup procedure isn’t that fast.

The post What Is Facebook Pay and How to Use It first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

Using Android guest mode is like having an entirely separate phone within your primary one. Much like a separate user account on a computer or website, guest mode can have different apps, files, home screen widgets, emails, etc. Guest users can still make calls, install apps, and download their own files, but nothing collides with your account.

Let’s look at how to enable Android guest mode so that you can get this neat alternate account for your friends or family to use when they want your phone. Switching to guest mode is easy, but before we start, let’s dive a bit deeper into why you’d use guest mode.

Why You Should Use Android Guest Mode

Anyone who wants to share their phone temporarily might like guest mode. Maybe you’re letting a stranger borrow your phone to make a private call and you don’t want them snooping through your texts or bank information? Or maybe you have a child who likes to watch videos on your phone, but they have a habit of messing around in other apps like Facebook or Messages?

Android guest mode is also helpful if you want a distraction-free phone for a while. Turn over to guest mode (with calls enabled in case of emergencies) and enjoy zero app notifications. Since your regular apps aren’t installed in guest mode, you won’t be tempted to open games during work or browse social media when out with friends.

How To Set Up Android Guest Mode

Turning on Android’s guest mode is really easy. 

• Go to Settings > System > Advanced > Multiple users and enable multiple users if it isn’t already turned on. 
• Tap Add guest or Guest (whichever one you see) to switch over to guest mode.

• On the multiple users screen, tap the settings button next to the guest option if you want to turn on phone calls. Otherwise, the guest user won’t be able to make or take phone calls.
• Another way to quickly switch in and out of Android guest mode is by swiping down from the top of the screen to view the notifications panel. Expand it fully to view all options, and then choose the avatar button to pick Guest.

• When you’re finished in guest mode, but before you choose a different account to switch over to, the Guest button changes to Remove guest. 

This is an easy way to erase all that you’ve done in guest mode so that the next time you go in there, it’s a brand-new, fresh account. If you don’t erase guest mode, you can still do it the next time you open it.

What Gets Shared Between Accounts

Every account on your phone shares updates made to apps and settings like Wi-Fi network details and paired Bluetooth devices. 

This means when one user updates an app, it’s updated for all users. The same goes for wireless devices. Whether you or the guest user joins a wireless network, you’ll both have access to the network since the password is shared between both accounts.

However, texts, files, emails, music, videos, documents, photos, and data stored within apps aren’t shared between the guest account and primary account. You can open email accounts, download documents, take pictures, etc., and the other account won’t see them unless they switch over to yours.

Guests vs Users On Android Phones

When switching over to Android guest mode or turning on the multiple users feature, you may have noticed an option to add users. Users and guests are really similar accounts, but with one major difference: it’s easier to erase and restart the guest account.

Every time you switch over to guest mode, you’re asked if you want to continue the session with the same changes made to it the last time it was used, or if you want to start over. This isn’t a prompt you see when switching over to a user profile. This is because Android views guest mode as temporary, where you might want to wipe it before each new use, while user accounts are meant for long-term use with their own apps and files.

Another difference is that you can’t send or receive texts in Android guest mode. Phone calls can work if you enable them, but there isn’t an option to turn on texting. If you want another user account that’s separate from your primary one, and you want it to be able to text, you’ll have to use another user account instead of guest mode (and then enable texting for it).

To recap, these are the primary differences between user mode and Android guest mode:

• Only user mode can send and receive texts from the Messages app (these are still shared with the primary account).
• Guest mode is easier to erase after use (but you can still delete user accounts fairly easily).

Both have their own benefits and disadvantages, so it’s entirely up to you which one you use.

The post How to Set Up Android Guest Mode and Why You Should first appeared on Online Tech Tips.

If you want to make WhatsApp video calls from your computer, you can’t use the WhatsApp Web interface. What you can do instead is put WhatsApp on your computer and run it there as if it were on your phone.

The only problem with that is that there isn’t a WhatsApp desktop version that supports webcams! The solution is to install the WhatsApp mobile app within an Android emulator so your computer thinks that the app is the mobile version. This will enable the video calling feature.

Here’s how to fool your computer into thinking you’re on your phone so that you can make video calls from WhatsApp using your computer’s webcam. The method we’ll use involves a completely free Android emulator that fully supports WhatsApp and has been tested to work almost as good as using the real mobile app.

How To Make WhatsApp Web Video Calls From a Computer

To make video calls with WhatsApp on a computer, we have to avoid the WhatsApp Web option and go straight into using the Android app.

• Download BlueStacks, a free Android emulator for Windows and Mac.
• Open BlueStacks and install the WhatsApp mobile app.

Note: You should be asked for your Google login information at some point during this whole process. Provide it when asked so that you can proceed with the WhatsApp installation.

• Select Open when WhatsApp finishes installing.
• Open WhatsApp from your computer by following the on-screen directions: select Agree and Continue, enter your phone number, and so forth. 
• Once you see your list of contacts, select the one you want to make a video call with.
• Just like when you use the WhatsApp app to start a video call from your phone, select the video icon at the top right corner of the conversation to start a WhatsApp video call from your computer.
• Select Call to confirm.
• Choose Continue to give WhatsApp access to your mic and camera, and allow the other prompts about recording audio and accessing pictures.
• The call will start immediately and look exactly how it does from the mobile app on your phone.

Tip : Maximize the screen to take advantage of your monitor’s size during the video call.

Other WhatsApp Web Video Calling Options

You should be aware that BlueStacks isn’t the only Android emulator out there. Some other options include NoxPlayer, Remix OS Player, and Andy. We’ve reviewed a few of the better Android emulators in the past.

It’s important to note that not all Android emulators have a built-in app store like BlueStacks. That’s the easiest way to install WhatsApp on your computer; otherwise, you have to find the WhatsApp APK file and install it manually, which doesn’t always work well.

WhatsApp also isn’t the only video calling app. There are lots to choose from, some of which fully supports web video calls without the need to jump through hoops like you have to do with WhatsApp.

Facebook Messenger and Skype are two examples of apps that have web versions that can make video calls. Just visit Messenger.com or web.skype.com to make video calls from your computer without WhatsApp.

The post WhatsApp Web Video Calls: A Simple Android Hack first appeared on Online Tech Tips.