Go darkinthe
WikipediaBeta app
forAndroid 10
FireFoxNightlyletsyoubanishannoying
notificationpop-upsforgood
TestFlight
puts you
firstinthe
queueto
test iOS
betas
Getone-click writingsuggestions with
Google Docs’new SmartCompose
Getearly access to software
Discuss beta programmesat http://www.facebook.com/webusermagazine 27 Dec 2019-7Jan 2020 49
Killall notificationpop-ups
inFirefoxNightly
Firefoxalsohasseveralpre-release
versions,theearliestbeingNightly
(bit.ly/nightly4 91 ), whereyoucan
enabletentativetoolsat‘about:config’.
Startbybrowsingthelistatbit.ly/
ffox 491 ortheplain(er)-EnglishNightly
blog(blog.nightly.mozilla.org),soyou
knowwhattosearchfor.
Nightly’scurrentbetatoolsinclude
configurableblockingofirritating
‘Thissitewantstodisplaynotifications’
pop-ups(seescreenshot,below),
crypto-miningblockersandaMegabar
searchbarwithenhancedinfosnippets.
Forupdates,andtosendfeedback,visit
theGetInvolvedpage(bit.ly/
involved 491 ).
There’salsoaFirefoxNightlyAndroid
app(bit.ly/nightapp4 91 )andmore
stableFirefoxPreview(bit.ly/
preview4 91 ),whosetestfeaturesinclude
selectivesync,controllablemedia
autoplayandanavigationbaryoucan
movearoundthescreen.
HelpshapeWikipedia’s
mobileapp
WikipediaBetaforAndroid(bit.ly/
wikibeta4 91 )hasleaptaboardthe
dark-modebandwagon,butonlyin
Android 1 0–whichitselfhasjustleft
betatesting(google.com/android/beta).
IfyouhavethenewOS,you’llfindanew
‘Matchsystemtheme’toggleunder
‘Apptheme’inWikipediaBetasettings.
Enableittokeeptheapp’sdark-mode
settinginl inewith
your device’s.
Thebetaapp is
also nowtesting
Wikipedia Zero,
which lets you
browse online
forfreeonsome
mobilenetworks.
Dependingon
feedback,itm ay
soon follow other
beta-tested features
–suchas
Wiktionary
definitionsandacustomisableExplore
feed–forinclusiononthemainapp
(bit.ly/wikiapp4 91 ).
There’sabetaprogrammeforiOS,
too,butyou’llneedthemainWikipedia
app(bit.ly/wikibios4 91 )plusTestFlight
(bit.ly/test 491 ,seebelow).
Usescreenshotstoshape
futureiPhoneapps
TheGooglePlayStoreissopackedwith
betaappsthattheyhavetheirown
section(tap‘Earlyaccess’inthePlay
Storeapp),butiOSisadifferentstory.
TojoinaniOSbeta,youhavetogovia
Apple’sTestFlightapp(bit.ly/testf4 91 ),
whichgivesappmakerstheopportunity
totesttheircreationsfor 9 0daysbefore
bootingthemoff.
TheupsideforusersisthatTestFlight
makesfindingandtestingbetasa
doddle.Nomessingaroundwithflags
and“configs”,justbrowsethelistsof
currentbetas and choose what to join.
Thelatest versionofTestFlight
automaticallyenables user feedback,
and even lets youoffer comments by
sendingannotatedscreenshotstothe
developer.Theappthenkeepsyou
updatedwithbuildsandchangelogs,
andsavesarecordofyourpreviously
testedapps.
JoinGoogle’ssecretoffice
betas
ThereareumpteenGoogleDriveand
Docsbetaschemesfortestingideas
thatmayormaynotmakeittothe
publicreleases.Thesecurrentlyinclude
SmartCompose,ascaled-upversion
oftheAIassistantthatoffers
stockresponsesinGmail(bit.ly/
gdocsbeta4 91 );OriginalityReports,
whichdetectsplagiarismindocuments
(bit.ly/orig 49 1);and‘OfflineforBinary
Content’,whichaddsofflineDrive
supportforPDFsandphotos(bit.ly/
drivebeta 491 ).
Thecatchisthatthesebetasareonly
opentoGSuiteaccountholders(from
£4.14per month, gsuite.google.c o.uk)
and they oftenfill up quickly. However,
morecomealong justasfast, so keep
an eye on theGSuites bl og fornews
(gsuiteupdates.googlebl og.com).
BetaList(betalist.com):Appsfrom
“tomorrow’sstartupstoday”,
includingbook-publishingtoolInterior
Builderandweb-basedvideoeditor
RecastStudio.BetaListhasagreat
trackrecord–itgaveIFTTTand
Pinteresttheirfirstplatform.
Betabound(www.betabound.com):
ClickBetaTypesforcategories
includingiOSAppBetas,SteamEarly
AccessandWebAppBetas.
Sourceforge(bit.ly/source 49 1):
Mostlydevelopertools,butexplore
thefiltersonthelefttofindmedia
andmobilegemssuchasaudio
converterMP3 Decoder,churchmusic
synthesiserByzorganandfantasy
mapcreatorMapographer.
WHERETOFIND THE BESTNEW BETAS
TestFlightReddit(reddit.com/r/
TestFlight):Alivelysourceofbetas
foriPhoneandiPad,withindie
developerssharinginvitationsto
theirbetassuchasGIFcreator
5SecondApp(bit.ly/5secs4 91 )
andrecipesappBeCook(bit.ly/
becook4 91 ).