Web User - UK (2019-12-27)

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 ).