#for now let's try deleting the app and hoping it has a positive impact

[tsuyu-season]

If you can't make your own self-discipline, store-bought is also fine :)

#i am wasting too much time on this hell site/app and mostly mobile app as it stands #so I'm gonna delete the app for now. my thesis final deadline is december 10th and I need to get DOWN and GET. STUFF. DONE. #i throw almost everything in my queue but if you notice me being really active for a long time period don't be afraid to kick my ass #and if I still spend to much time on this hell site I might need some assistance aka store-bought self-discipline #aka I give someone the info needed to log in on my account and then they change the password effectively locking me out #but like. not forgetting that new password... I don't want to lose access forever... to all my sideblogs... #for now let's try deleting the app and hoping it has a positive impact

[mini-moongi]

Notification [REVAMPED] || 1

Taehyung x Reader

Genre: Fluff

Story prompt: What if you got an alert on your phone every time someone thought of you? They tell you their thoughts in the form of text messages.

Summary: Alert!AU, School!AU; A mysterious app appeared on your phone and you can’t get rid of it?? It texts you people’s thoughts. One day, you accidentally send the star basketball player, Min Yoongi, to the nurse’s office.

A/N: I got the sudden urge to revamp this old fic of mine bc it has SO MUCH POTENTIAL I just sucked at writing :,)) Anyways it’s been a good few years since my last written fanfic so--

Chapters: 1 || 2 || 3 || 4 || 5 coming soon!

series masterlist

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

You tapped tirelessly on your phone; your eyes so dry you can hear yourself blink. It’s 3 am and you have school tomorrow, but you just have to download this new album you found whilst “studying.” After it finishes loading into your playlist, a notification popped up. You thought that maybe your years of illegally downloading music has finally caught up with you.

“ALERT: Unauthorized app: E C H O downloaded. [ERROR_606_RESET] LOG DELETED.”

You panicked, what if it’s a virus?? Going onto your home screen, you find an app called E C H O. Nothing else was out of the ordinary, except for the cryptid new app. After that fateful night, you’ve learned that it texts you the thoughts that people have about you. You couldn’t delete it, no matter how hard you tried, and you tried for weeks. Not many people think of you anyways, so it’s no biggie.

Thinking that was your first mistake.

Your friend, Byeol, was chasing you down the hallway with a dead roach she found on the floor. “Ew look, it’s guts are oozing out!!” She’s never been afraid of icky things, and will not hesitate in poking a dead organism with her bare hands. She’s a madman, and she knows you’re about to gag when she squeezes the guts of the roach between her fingers.

You’re running away from the horrifically explicit roach Byeol is holding, and as you turn your head to spew out an insult, you crash into another body. It sends you tumbling on top of them with no support to stop the fall. He lets out a deep guttural groan from the impact, and a loud “Fuck!” escapes the stranger’s lips.

Bumping into him was your second mistake.

You don’t even look at them, too scared to make eye contact as you blurt out,” I’m so sorry!!” You hastily try to recollect yourself and offer your hand to the poor victim. When you finally glance at him, you almost freeze up. You just whammed yourself into the school’s best basketball player, Min Yoongi™.

Min Yoongi is one of the seven guys at the top of the High School tier class. Some fan club even started the name, “Bangtan Boys” to address the seven handsome guys. He’s an excellent pianist, a fantastic composer, a basketball star, and unmistakably a bad boy. Guys and girls swoon over him, but he’s given them all the the cold shoulder. You recalled a friend of yours who said that his glare was so piercing, you literally feel your body tense and freeze up. You also happen to remember that he had to sit out on the last basketball game because he sprained his ankle. Ouch.

You look back over your shoulder, and of course, Byeol was pretending not to know who you were. She picked up conversation with a nearby stranger, hoping that they didn’t see the cause of this destruction. You didn’t blame her though, no one wants to get on Yoongi’s bad side. You were sure your phone had a ton of messages from ECHO, even though you’ve put it on “Do Not Disturb.”

Your guilt sinks in and it weighs heavy on your shoulders at the thought of you being the reason he’s in pain. “..Are you alright? Here, let me take you to the nurse.” You help him up and wrap his arm around your shoulder. “You can lean on me, it’s okay.” On the inside, it was definitely not okay. He accepted your offer, but he hasn’t said a single word to you this whole time. The air was thick and the silence was fueling your uneasiness.

You check him into the nurse’s office and explain the incident. Good thing it’s your lunch period, or your teacher would’ve chewed you out for being late. You check ECHO while the lady logs Yoongi into the records.

[11:37pm] Woah!! Did that girl just slam into Min Yoongi? She’s got balls..

[11:37pm] Should I pretend I don’t know her? Y/n will forgive me, right?

[11:38pm] What the fuck was that??? Why am I on the floor? And in pain??

[11:45pm] ...now what am I going to do? Who is she?

The nurse lady sets him up on one of those bed thingies, and you take this opportunity to apologize again. “I’m so sorry Yoongi, I should’ve been paying attention. If there’s anything I can do to make it up to you, just let me know.” The desperation must’ve been obvious in your voice.

“...What’s your name?” Yoongi stares at you. His eyes don’t waver when you look at him in surprise. He stays unmoving, waiting for your answer.

“My name? Oh, uhm... it’s Y/n. L/n Y/n,” You were not expecting a response from him, since he seemed uninterested when you tried conversing earlier. Yoongi asking for someone’s name is considered to be something really honorable; people would pay anything to have him say that to them. But then again, they would also pay Yoongi to step on them...

“I have a request for you then, Y/n.” He lulls his head to the side, thinking his decision over. “I want you to...” He looks at you with a gaze that you just can’t shake. Your breath is caught in your throat at his stare. What is he going to say? “Be my substitute.”

“Like a substitute teacher? I’m sorry but--” You try to quickly intervene. Does he think you’re an old hag?? You didn’t think you looked that old.. or maybe he means something else? “Or did you mean a substitute as in like for your basketball game because I don’t even know how to play basketball I just--”

“No, calm your tits. I meant you’ll act as my replacement for school and go where I usually go. I need you to be my eyes and ears while I’m stuck here and at home.” He draws out a long sigh,” You just need to collect my assignments and give them to me everyday after school until I get better. If you can, fill me in on what that day was like. It’s not that hard to do, right?”

You let out a sigh of relief. Just then, you hear a knock at the door. Three boys shuffle into the clinic, giving a casual greeting to the nursing staff. Your eyes widen, how could you forget? Of course the other Bangtan Boys would come check up on him. Kim Taehyung, Park jimin, and Jung Hoseok smile to acknowledge you and turn their eyes to Yoongi.

“Are you alright?” Hoseok asks him. He’s bubbling with energy as he speaks. “We were wondering where you went. I almost had a heart attack when they said you were here!!” Hoseok grabs at his chest like he’s in more pain than Yoongi.

Jung Hoseok is known for his positive energy and “legendary” hip work. He’s a street dancer who knows everybody, and everybody knows him. He’s also in medical class for vets, and he does charities in his free time. He’s super sweet and will sometimes send flowers to the fan club.

“Are you still eating lunch with us?” Jimin pipes up. He’s leaning on the nursing bed as he drapes himself dramatically across Yoongi’s shoulders. He whines,”What will we do without you? Please tell me you’re eating with us today..”

Park Jimin is also a dancer, but he does contemporary work. When he dances, he’s graceful, like a mythical creature. He’s shy and shorter than the rest of the guys, which makes people want to dote on him. If he dances with Hoseok though, he flips like a coin. He’ll act like a playboy and tease his audience when given the chance.

“Yah, You know I can’t.” Yoongi gestures to his ankle, and his inability to move due to the immense pain. “The nurse said I should stay in here for at least an hour or two.”

You don’t know if you should leave or stay. You were about to excuse yourself because your conversation with Yoongi ended a while ago. You shouldn’t expect them to talk to you when they don’t know who you are or why you’re there. You pick up your bag and sling it over your shoulder.

Taehyung mentions you, stopping you from escaping so easily. “Who is that?” He points to you. Leave it to Taehyung to point out the elephant in the room...

He’s popular for his charming personality and ethereal looks. Taehyung is in agriculture, and he often helps Hoseok out with the animals. He plays the saxophone, which combined with theatre class, drives the fans nuts. Taehyung also seems to be super observant, and he will point out small details other people seem to miss. If he was doing a police report, he’d probably be able to tell you the exact time the incident happened and what colored crocs the perpetrator was wearing. 

As if Yoongi just remembered that you were still here, he makes another request.” Oh, as the new Yoongi, can you also keep an eye on these guys? They’ll cause chaos if I’m not there.” 

“New Yoongi?” Jimin looks incredulously at you. “What do you mean--”

Yoongi retorts,” She’s my stand in, my understudy, my alternative, my stunt double, ecetera. Need I say more?” His cold demeanor doesn’t hesitate with the response. He talks as if it was a natural request, but what part of this is natural?

"How would I...” You trail off. You find yourself stammering, unable to voice your concerns. All of the guys, attractive ones at that, were staring at you.”..How would I even do that?”

“Isn’t it obvious? For starters, we all have the same lunch period, so just eat lunch with them or something.” Yoongi shrugs his shoulders,” Do I need to plan everything out for you?”

You’re quick to object,” No!! I’m.. I’m fine. It’s okay.” It’s bad enough that he’s injured, so you shouldn’t worry Yoongi anymore.

Taehyung’s eyes light up. He speaks as if he had a eureka moment. “We have the same forensics class, don’t we? No wonder I recognized you..” You were really hoping he wouldn’t have remembered that. If people see you hanging around these guys, they’ll get the wrong idea. 

“Well I guess that settles it. I’ll sit next to you in class, and we can be partners for that new project he’s assigning.” He takes you by the hand. His touch was so sudden and warm that it takes you a minute to realize you’re in the cafeteria already. He looks down at you and smiles. “This is our spot.”

Only when you part from him to grab your bag that you realize he held your hand this entire time. You start to miss his warmth, but you shake out any of those thoughts from your head. What were you thinking? Your heart pounds in your chest, and your cheeks grow hot. You breathe out a shaky breath, trying to calm down. Anyone would feel this way if they were you. You go from being an average joe to suddenly sitting next the the Bangtan Boys? It’s almost like you’re in a fanfiction. You shouldn’t fall in love with one of them, that would be too cliché and very, very dangerous.

You finished settling down your things and find that Taehyung was still waiting for you. Hoseok already rushed to the pizza line, and Jimin was swarmed by girls who made him bento boxes. He smiles politely to them all, unsure of how to decline. His eyes glance at you like a plead for help, but a girl starts to scold him so he looks away.

“What did you want to eat? Noodles?” It was pretty loud in the cafeteria, so Taehyung walked closer. He leaned down and whispered in your ear. “..Or do you want to eat me?” His hot breath tickled your ear. It was a deep and husky voice, one that sent shivers down your spine.

Shocked at his words, you jumped back. “W..What?” You never thought Taehyung was so bold. You’ve heard of him being flirty, but this was cutting it close. It was like dirty talking, but you’ve barely met him!!

He tried to suppress his laugh as he looked at you. “I said: Or do you want to eat meat?” He raises an eyebrow at you. He knows you’re flustered, and feigns innocence. “There’s a rice with two meat deal today. What did you think I said?”

You could’ve sworn he said “me” and not “meat,” but maybe you were thinking into it too much. You decided which one you wanted and Taehyung walks to the line with you. Whilst waiting for your turn, you check ECHO.

It was what you expected. Many of them were like:

[12:03pm] Wtf??? Who is that girl?

[12:03pm] Is she their girlfriend? No-- it has to be a cousin, right? But she’s so plain looking...

[12:04pm] Why is she holding Kim Taehyung’s hand? Don’t tell me--

[12:05pm] Y/n?? What did that girl do now.. ((((゜д゜;))))

Oh yeah, you should probably tell Byeol that you kind of have to sit with Bangtan during lunch now. Good to know that everyone is gawking at you now, I guess. There are hundreds of messages screaming about “who is that girl!1!1!!!!” so you scroll past most of them. One however, catches your eye.

[12:10pm] She’s so cute lol

You don’t think ECHO has ever sent you a compliment like this before. Someone thinks you’re cute? The thought warms your heart. This is the first time you’ve had an admirer.

“Hey, what are you looking at on your phone?” Taehyung rips you to reality. “How do you have so many messages?” He starts to lean over your shoulder to get a glimpse.

Antsy, you turn off your phone and press your hand to his chest to give some distance. “It’s.. It’s my online friends! They wanted to play the new game with me.” 

He stands back up, no longer breathing on your neck. “Oh? The one that was released just last week? What was it called...” He ponders for a minute,” Animal Crossing?” 

You nod. Conversation starts from there, and you let out that breath you’ve been holding in. You both pay for your meals and head over to the table. You could see Hoseok stuffing his face with pizza and sprite while he scribbles down answers to a worksheet. Jimin is desperately trying to get him to eat some of the bento boxes, but all of his attempts were futile. 

“...So I know you’re the New Yoongi or whatever, but what’s your real name?” Hoseok asks you. “If you don’t know me already, I’m Jung Hoseok, but you can call me Hobi!” 

Jimin and Taehyung look at each other. You hadn’t even thought to introduce yourself earlier, how much more embarrassing can this day be? Quick, be cool!!

“I’m L/n Y/n, but just Y/n is fine.”

“You probably know us already, but you can call me Tae or any various nickname you can conjure up,” He laughs,” The more creative the better.”

Jimin nudges his shoulder,” Like Spoiled Yogurt Kid?” It’s hard for the smaller one to contain his laughter.

“It was one time!!” Taehyung playfully shoves him away, clearly embarrassed. “It’s not my fault my sleep paralysis demon told me to eat the 3 month old yogurt at like 2 am.” He grumbled,”Ugh, it’s not like I tell everyone about your weird impulses..”

You couldn’t help but stifle a laugh. Hobi notices and adds fuel to the fire,”Yeah, get a load of this guy. He’s blaming all of his mistakes on his sleep paralysis demon. Poor demon, honestly.”

Jimin continues to mock Taehyung teasingly, getting him worked up.“You know what??” Taehyung growls as he whips his head around to face you. His soft brown hair falls over his eyes, and his jaw is clenched as he looks at you with an emotion you can’t quite read. His face is flushed, but he tilts his head up in a cool manner. If you didn’t know any better, you’d say he was serving up some bedroom eyes. 

He runs his fingers through his hair and speaks with a voice that oozes sex appeal without meaning to,“If you don’t know what to call me, just say Oppa.” Taehyung’s eyes widen as if he realized what came out of his mouth. He covers his lips with the palm of his hand and instinctively looked at how you’d react.

 It was your turn to flush from embarrassment. Before your brain could process what just happened, the words croak out,”..o..okay?” 

Hobi is choking on his sprite,”Damn, what the--” He continues to try and suppress his coughs,” Who the hell taught you that? Namjoon? Jin?” Hoseok shakes his head in disappointment. You thought it was because he ruined his drink, but then he said,” Ah, I told them to stop doing stuff like that.. If Yoongi were here he probably wouldn’t even know how to scold you.”

Jimin’s mouth is agape in shock. He suddenly doubles over the table, unable to contain the fit of laughter inside of him. “Wha- that was so smooth!” He’s holding onto his stomach for dear life, and his shoulders shake up and down. He gives suggestive eyebrows to Taehyung, whose ears are scorching red. “I didn’t know Taehyung was such a player.”

Taehyung is trying to hide himself with the sleeves of his hoodie. He’s silent at first, but eventually he speaks barely above a whisper. “...I don’t know what came over me..” His words tremble and tread lighter than a feather so scared it might step on another bomb.

"Was it your sleep paralysis demon?” You make a witty remark despite the blush dusted across your face. 

Tae sinks farther into his chair,” Oh my god...” He can’t help but laugh a little at your joke. “..Please forget about what I said today.” 

Jimin’s laughter dies down as he looks at you. His smile is soft and reassuring. “Don’t worry, Y/n. He’s usually not like this. I swear, we’re all gentlemen.” The bell suddenly rings, signaling that lunch was over. Jimin starts to clean up his spot, stuffing the unfinished bentos into his bag for later. “Ah, Taehyung, you’re saved by the bell this time, but next time you have got to show me some moves.” He winks before leaving for his next class.

Hoseok waves to you and Taehyung,” I’d walk with you two if I could, but my next class is across campus. I gotta dash, but good luck with Forensics!”

You’d almost forgotten about Forensics with Taehyung. Unfortunately, Tae seems to stay unmoving from his spot. You would be like that too if you were him, but you really can’t be late for class. It’s better if you approach him now rather than later, so it’s not as awkward during class. 

“Hey...” You start out. He doesn’t respond as his head is till buried in his arms. You hesitate at first, but you put your hand on his shoulder. “...Taehyung Oppa?” 

Immediately he shoots up, his eyes are wide and he’s as stiff as a board. He brushes your hand softly away and grabs his bag. He avoids your gaze as he packs up, but he returned his gaze when you started walking in the hallway. His eye’s remain forward, but he speaks to you,“...I didn’t think you’d actually call me that.” He chuckles. 

“Oppa?”

He rubs his hand across his face and he licks his lips,” Yeah, that.” He sneaks a glance at you, but since you were already looking at him, he turns his face away. 

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

-A/N-

oof it’s been AGES since my last bts fic. If y’all are following me bc of my text au, I’m going to try and update that soon too! I... did not expect to have such a flirtatious Taehyung,, but honestly I’m kinda into it. (  ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

#bts #bts x reader #bangtan #bangtan x reader #kim namjoon #kim seokjin #min yoongi #jung hoseok #park jimin #kim taehyung #jeon jungkook #bts v #bts jimin #bts jungkook #bts jhope #bts suga #bts rm #bts jin #kim taehyung x reader #taehyung x reader #bts fanfic #kpop #kpop x reader #v x reader

[idkayeme]

Morning Mantra: I’m getting stronger everyday

Hello to all!!! It is me your girl LONG FUCKING TIME! Thank you for those who checked on me I really do appreciate it more than you know as well as the positive feedback about posts..was thinking of deleting this...... anyways I had to step back and re-evaluate I know I talk about it a lot but it really is easy to get sucked into internet/social media/likes/follows etc... And as much as I would like to think that it wasn’t having some impact on my actions it was....WITH THAT SAID! I had to take a step back! 

I am happy to say that I am back because for one I like talking to you guys, a lot of you who I’ve had the pleasure chatting with are really cool neat to say the least! And also I think its super neat and cool to hear about different views/opinions/comments on topics and also I hope or like the thought of making a small impact on someones day one way or another  from my rambling posts... yah know? help put a smile on one of your faces or help get through a hard moment? (I’m not trying to sound corny or anything but you can go ahead and judge....I’ve said what I said) 

But I am happy to be back playing on the tumblr playground and I hope everyone has been well!! 

My time away was nice, I re-organized my thoughts and I applied myself at new skills meaning I mentioned how I am a coder and am into CS|CIS so I am learning more about Python and I cleaned up my portfolio and I’m looking into a new job! There is a rotational job opportunity and I want it so bad! Been listening to new podcasts whether it has to do with coding, mindset, self love, finance it’s been nice! I’ve gotten into reddit more and joined a couple of threads which I found is a great resource/community for a ton of things. 

Long story short I recommend taking at least a week or (x) amount of days away from if not all at least 1 or 2 social media platforms that you use or find yourself scrolling....because you would be amazed what you can get out of it! Like the first couple days I found myself opening and closing the app so I ended up just deleting the app all together, and it was kind of weird/hard at first and I didn’t know what to do with myself and I think it’s because in todays generation we’re always doing something on our phones, computer, tablets etc... or we’re always busy...we don’t ever experience that “bored” feeling. There’s this great TED talk that talks about being bored and how some of the most brilliant ideas come up when you’re bored and also a challenge you can try out!! (so if you’re reading this and make it this far and are interested let me know) And I believe it! 

I truly feel refreshed and it feels fucking good my friends! 

I’ll stop blabbing now, hope you all are having a great Monday and are staying healthy staying sane!

Go after your desires, wants and goals and fuck shit up. 

Happy Monday  

Q: If you read posts what types of things interest you?

♡ Idkayeme

#post #radiate positivity #morning #happymonday #fuck shit up #my post

[meeedeee]

Cancel Culture: The Internet Eating Itself RSS FEED OF POST WRITTEN BY FOZMEADOWS

As social media platforms enter their collective adolescence – Facebook is fifteen, YouTube fourteen, Twitter thirteen, tumblr twelve – I find myself thinking about how little we really understand their cultural implications, both ongoing and for the future. At this point, the idea that being online is completely optional in modern world ought to be absurd, and yet multiple friends, having spoken to their therapists about the impact of digital abuse on their mental health, were told straight up to just stop using the internet. Even if this was a viable option for some, the idea that we can neatly sidestep the problem of bad behaviour in any non-utilitarian sphere by telling those impacted to simply quit is baffling at best and a tacit form of victim-blaming at worst. The internet might be a liminal space, but object permanence still applies to what happens here: the trolls don’t vanish if we close our eyes, and if we vanquish one digital hydra-domain for Toxicity Crimes without caring to fathom the whys and hows of what went wrong, we merely ensure that three more will spring up in its place.

Is the internet a private space, a government space or a public space? Yes.

Is it corporate, communal or unaffiliated? Yes.

Is it truly global or bound by local legal jurisdictions? Yes.

Does the internet reflect our culture or create it? Yes.

Is what people say on the internet reflective of their true beliefs, or is it a constant shell-game of digital personas, marketing ploys, intrusive thoughts, growth-in-progress, personal speculation and fictional exploration? Yes.

The problem with the internet is that takes up all three areas on a Venn diagram depicting the overlap between speech and action, and while this has always been the case, we’re only now admitting that it’s a bug as well as a feature. Human interaction cannot be usefully monitored using an algorithm, but our current conception of What The Internet Is has been engineered specifically to shortcut existing forms of human oversight, the better to maximise both accessibility (good to neutral) and profits (neutral to bad). Uber and Lyft are cheaper, frequently more convenient alternatives to a traditional taxi service, for instance, but that’s because the apps themselves are functionally predicated on the removal of meaningful customer service and worker protections that were hard-won elsewhere. Sites like tumblr are free to use, but the lack of revenue generated by those users means that, past a certain point, profits can only hope to outstrip expenses by selling access to those users and/or their account data, which means in turn that paying to effectively monitor their content creation becomes vastly less important than monetising it.

Small wonder, then, that individual users of social media platforms have learned to place a high premium on their ability to curate what they see, how they see it, and who sees them in turn. When I first started blogging, the largely unwritten rule of the blogsphere was that, while particular webforums dedicated to specific topics could have rules about content and conduct, blogs and their comment pages should be kept Free. Monitoring comments was viewed as a sign of narrow-minded fearfulness: even if a participant was aggressive or abusive, the enlightened path was to let them speak, because anything else was Censorship. This position held out for a good long while, until the collective frustration of everyone who’d been graphically threatened with rape, torture and death, bombarded with slurs, exhausted by sealioning or simply fed up with nitpicking and bad faith arguments finally boiled over.

Particularly in progressive circles, the relief people felt at being told that actually, we were under no moral obligation to let assholes grandstand in the comments or repeatedly explain basic concepts to only theoretically invested strangers was overwhelming. Instead, you could simply delete them, or block them, or maybe even mock them, if the offence or initial point of ignorance seemed silly enough. But as with the previous system, this one-size-fits-all approach soon developed a downside. Thanks to the burnout so many of us felt after literal years of trying to treat patiently with trolls playing Devil’s Advocate, liberal internet culture shifted sharply towards immediate shows of anger, derision and flippancy to anyone who asked a 101 question, or who didn’t use the right language, or who did anything other than immediately agree with whatever position was explained to them, however simply.

I don’t exempt myself from this criticism, but knowing why I was so goddamn tired doesn’t change my conviction that, cumulatively, the end result did more harm than good. Without wanting to sidetrack into a lengthy dissertation on digital activism in the post-aughties decade, it seems evident in hindsight that the then-fledgling alliance between trolls, MRAs, PUAs, Redditors and 4channers to deliberately exhaust left-wing goodwill via sealioning and bad faith arguments was only the first part of a two-pronged attack. The second part, when the left had lost all patience with explaining its own beliefs and was snappily telling anyone who asked about feminism, racism or anything else to just fucking Google it, was to swoop in and persuade the rebuffed party that we were all irrational, screeching harridans who didn’t want to answer because we knew our answers were bad, and why not consider reading Roosh V instead?

The fallout of this period, I would argue, is still ongoing. In an ideal world, drawing a link between online culture wars about ownership of SFF and geekdom and the rise of far-right fascist, xenophobic extremism should be a bow so long that not even Odysseus himself could draw it. But this world, as we’ve all had frequent cause to notice, is far from ideal at the best of times – which these are not – and yet another featurebug of the internet is the fluid interpermeability of its various spaces. We talk, for instance – as I am talking here – about social media as a discreet concept, as though platforms like Twitter or Facebook are functionally separate from the other sites to which their users link; as though there is no relationship between or bleed-through from the viral Facebook post screencapped and shared on BuzzFeed, which is then linked and commented upon on Reddit, which thread is then linked to on Twitter, where an entirely new conversation emerges and subsequently spawns an article in The Huffington Post, which is shared again on Facebook and the replies to that shared on tumblr, and so on like some grizzly perpetual mention machine.

But I digress. The point here is that internet culture is best understood as a pattern of ripples, each new iteration a reaction to the previous one, spreading out until it dissipates and a new shape takes its place. Having learned that slamming the virtual door in everyone’s face was a bad idea, the online left tried establishing a better, calmer means of communication; the flipside was a sudden increase in tone-policing, conversations in which presentation was vaunted over substance and where, once again, particular groups were singled out as needing to conform to the comfort-levels of others. Overlapping with this was the move towards discussing things as being problematic, rather than using more fixed and strident language to decry particular faults – an attempt to acknowledge the inherent fallibility of human works while still allowing for criticism. A sensible goal, surely, but once again, attempting to apply the dictum universally proved a double-edged sword: if everything is problematic, then how to distinguish grave offences from trifling ones? How can anyone enjoy anything if we’re always expected to thumb the rosary of its failings first?

When everything is problematic and everyone has the right to say so, being online as any sort of creator or celebrity is like being nibbled to death by ducks. The well-meaning promise of various organisations, public figures or storytellers to take criticism on board – to listen to the fanbase and do right by their desires – was always going to stumble over the problem of differing tastes. No group is a hivemind: what one person considers bad representation or in poor taste, another might find enlightening, while yet a third party is more concerned with something else entirely. Even in cases with a clear majority opinion, it’s physically impossible to please everyone and a type of folly to try, but that has yet to stop the collective internet from demanding it be so. Out of this comes a new type of ironic frustration: having once rejoiced in being allowed to simply block trolls or timewasters, we now cast judgement on those who block us in turn, viewing them, as we once were viewed, as being fearful of criticism.

Are we creating echo chambers by curating what we see online, or are we acting in pragmatic acknowledgement of the fact that we neither have time to read everything nor an obligation to see all perspectives as equally valid? Yes.

Even if we did have the time and ability to wade through everything, is the signal-to-noise ratio of truth to lies on the internet beyond our individual ability to successfully measure, such that outsourcing some of our judgement to trusted sources is fundamentally necessary, or should we be expected to think critically about everything we encounter, even if it’s only intended as entertainment? Yes.

If something or someone online acts in a way that’s antithetical to our values, are we allowed to tune them out thereafter, knowing full well that there’s a nearly infinite supply of as-yet undisappointing content and content-creators waiting to take their place, or are we obliged to acknowledge that Doing A Bad doesn’t necessarily ruin a person forever? Yes.

And thus we come to cancel culture, the current – but by no means final – culmination of previous internet discourse waves. In this iteration, burnout at critical engagement dovetails with a new emphasis on collective content curation courtesies (try saying that six times fast), but ends up hamstrung once again by differences in taste. Or, to put it another way: someone fucks up and it’s the last straw for us personally, so we try to remove them from our timelines altogether – but unless our friends and mutuals, who we still want to engage with, are convinced to do likewise, then we haven’t really removed them at all, such that we’re now potentially willing to make failure to cancel on demand itself a cancellable offence.

Which brings us right back around to the problem of how the modern internet is fundamentally structured – which is to say, the way in which it’s overwhelmingly meant to rely on individual curation instead of collective moderation. Because the one thing each successive mode of social media discourse has in common with its predecessors is a central, and currently unanswerable question: what universal code of conduct exists that I, an individual on the internet, can adhere to – and expect others to adhere to – while we communicate across multiple different platforms?

In the real world, we understand about social behavioural norms: even if we don’t talk about them in those terms, we broadly recognise them when we see them. Of course, we also understand that those norms can vary from place to place and context to context, but as we can only ever be in one physical place at a time, it’s comparatively easy to adjust as appropriate.

But the internet, as stated, is a liminal space: it’s real and virtual, myriad and singular, private and public all at once. It confuses our sense of which rules might apply under which circumstances, jumbles the normal behavioural cues by obscuring the identity of our interlocutors, and even though we don’t acknowledge it nearly as often as we should, written communication – like spoken communication – is a skill that not everyone has, just as tone, whether spoken or written, isn’t always received (or executed, for that matter) in the way it was intended. And when it comes to politics, in which the internet and its doings now plays no small role, there’s the continual frustration that comes from observing, with more and more frequency, how many literal, real-world crimes and abuses go without punishment, and how that lack of consequences contributes in turn to the fostering of abuse and hostility towards vulnerable groups online.

This is what comes of occupying a transitional period in history: one in which laws are changed and proposed to reflect our changing awareness of the world, but where habit, custom, ignorance, bias and malice still routinely combine, both institutionally and more generally, to see those laws enacted only in part, or tokenistically, or not at all. To take one of the most egregious and well-publicised instances that ultimately presaged the #MeToo movement, the laughably meagre sentence handed down to Brock Turner, who was caught in the act of raping an unconscious woman, combined with the emphasis placed by both the judge and much of the media coverage on his swimming talents and family standing as a means of exonerating him, made it very clear that sexual violence against women is frequently held to be less important than the perceived ‘bright futures’ of its perpetrators.

Knowing this, then – knowing that the story was spread, discussed and argued about on social media, along with thousands of other, similar accounts; knowing that, even in this context, some people still freely spoke up in defence of rapists and issued misogynistic threats against their female interlocutors – is it any wonder that, in the absence of consistent legal justice in such cases, the internet tried, and is still trying, to fill the gap? Is it any wonder, when instances of racist police brutality are constantly filmed and posted online, only for the perpetrators to receive no discipline, that we lose patience for anyone who wants to debate the semantics of when, exactly, extrajudicial murder is “acceptable”?

We cannot control the brutality of the world from the safety of our keyboards, but when it exhausts or threatens us, we can at least click a button to mute its seeming adherents. We don’t always have the energy to decry the same person we’ve already argued against a thousand times before, but when a friend unthinkingly puts them back on our timeline for some new reason, we can tell them that person is cancelled and hope they take the hint not to do it again. Never mind that there is far too often no subtlety, no sense of scale or proportion to how the collective, viral internet reacts in each instance, until all outrage is rendered flat and the outside observer could be forgiven for worrying what’s gone wrong with us all, that using a homophobic trope in a TV show is thought to merit the same online response as an actual hate crime. So long as the war is waged with words alone, there’s only a finite number of outcomes that boycotting, blocking, blacklisting, cancelling, complaining and critiquing can achieve, and while some of those outcomes in particular are well worth fighting for, so many words are poured towards so many attempts that it’s easy to feel numbed to the process; or, conversely, easy to think that one response fits all contexts.

I’m tired of cancel culture, just as I was dully tired of everything that preceded it and will doubtless grow tired of everything that comes after it in turn, until our fundamental sense of what the internet is and how it should be managed finally changes. Like it or not, the internet both is and is of the world, and that is too much for any one person to sensibly try and curate at an individual level. Where nothing is moderated for us, everything must be moderated by us; and wherever people form communities, those communities will grow cultures, which will develop rules and customs that spill over into neighbouring communities, both digitally and offline, with mixed and ever-changing results. Cancel culture is particularly tricky in this regard, as the ease with which we block someone online can seldom be replicated offline, which makes it all the more intoxicating a power to wield when possible: we can’t do anything about the awful coworker who rants at us in the breakroom, but by God, we can block every person who reminds us of them on Twitter.

The thing about participating in internet discourse is, it’s like playing Civilisation in real-time, only it’s not a game and the world keeps progressing even when you log off. Things change so fast on the internet – memes, etiquette, slang, dominant opinions – and yet the changes spread so organically and so fast that we frequently adapt without keeping conscious track of when and why they shifted. Social media is like the Hotel California: we can check out any time we like, but we can never meaningfully leave – not when world leaders are still threatening nuclear war on Twitter, or when Facebook is using friendly memes to test facial recognition software, or when corporate accounts are creating multi-staffed humansonas to engage with artists on tumblr, or when YouTube algorithms are accidentally-on-purpose steering kids towards white nationalist propaganda because it makes them more money.

Of course we try and curate our time online into something finite, comprehensible, familiar, safe: the alternative is to embrace the near-infinite, incomprehensible, alien, dangerous gallimaufry of our fractured global mindscape. Of course we want to try and be critical, rational, moral in our convictions and choices; it’s just that we’re also tired and scared and everyone who wants to argue with us about anything can, even if they’re wrong and angry and also our relative, or else a complete stranger, and sometimes you just want to turn off your brain and enjoy a thing without thinking about it, or give yourself some respite, or exercise a tiny bit of autonomy in the only way you can.

It’s human nature to want to be the most amount of right for the least amount of effort, but unthinkingly taking our moral cues from internet culture the same way we’re accustomed to doing in offline contexts doesn’t work: digital culture shifts too fast and too asymmetrically to be relied on moment to moment as anything like a universal touchstone. Either you end up preaching to the choir, or you run a high risk of aggravation, not necessarily due to any fundamental ideological divide, but because your interlocutor is leaning on a different, false-universal jargon overlying alternate 101 and 201 concepts to the ones you’re using, and modern social media platforms – in what is perhaps the greatest irony of all – are uniquely poorly suited to coherent debate.

Purity wars in fandom, arguments about diversity in narrative and whether its proponents have crossed the line from criticism into bullying: these types of arguments are cyclical now, dying out and rekindling with each new wave of discourse. We might not yet be in a position to stop it, but I have some hope that being aware of it can mitigate the worst of the damage, if only because I’m loathe to watch yet another fandom steadily talk itself into hating its own core media for the sake of literal argument.

For all its flaws – and with all its potential – the internet is here to stay. Here’s hoping we figure out how to fix it before its ugliest aspects make us give up on ourselves.

          from shattersnipe: malcontent & rainbows https://ift.tt/2V13Qu4 via IFTTT

#IFTTT #shattersnipe: malcontent & rainbows #RSSFeed

[ritu-singal-blog]

Tips for Modern Parent Children Relationship by Ritu Singal

Time is changing day by day in today's digital world everything is gonna changing day by day as compared to the last 15 to 20 years. Our kids become more technology adoptive from the beginning. They are sharper and tech enthusiastic.

We all saw that our little child’s using their parent’s Smartphone just like a toy on their fingertips. They are smart but still; they are the child, they could click anything and I literally mean anything. But it doesn’t mean you will stop them from using smart phones or Computers.

Today we’ll discuss how technology is changing the relationship of parents and child and how to become smart, modern Parents a detailed guide by the best family counselor Ritu Singal

Social Media influence on Parent Children Relationship

We all are connected with online stuff, life online shopping, online gaming but the most things that How affects the brain is on social media.

If you use it properly you could be healthy, wealthy, and intelligent. But somehow you went in the wrong direction it could destroy there and the whole family. There are many incidents happen day by day.

This is not it. There are going worst. Recently a girl died because of the ban of TikTok in India. June 26, a 22 year old guy committed suicide because it was addicted to PUBG in Maharashtra’s Yavatmal district. And they are around the globe.

It doesn’t mean these games and social media are bad, no. Without guidance, the ways they use is and think these things more than their life, that bad.  The reason behind happening these incidents lack of communication and guidance in children from their parents. It is necessary to establish a better parent-children relationship.

Solution

Be their mentor, guide them properly. Try to fit in their world. Give them privacy, but at the same time to improve this modern Parent Children Relationship, in the evening or once a day makes them comfortable to talk to them about their personal life like a friend.

Everything has their pros and cons if we talk about the pros of games and social media power let’s check these examples.

Many online gamers make millions of dollars by just playing games and feed their family. Many TikTokers and YouTubers are acting on the music video and web series and some have shown on Bollywood, movies, that’s appreciated.

So be easy on them, make them comfortable and show interest in there talk. 

Only then you will make such better Parent and children relationship bond that you will see what kind of video they are watching. Is it increasing their brain or just wasting time? What the moral of the clip they watch. Is that making fun of some personal life or promoting violence? 

Make them feel that you are proud of how much you are happy by watching their effort but make them correct that is bad for you. Don’t watch the thing, what somebody does this with me or copy my picture on that clip. Make them realize the consequences of what they are doing. How can that impact others?

It’s easier to keep track of their kids

Tracking your children could lose the relationship bonding but it’s important that you make them understand that it’s important for their safety.

Keeping track of their location has now become easy, with the help of technology. That is positive in terms of safety. It offers a particular peace of mind for folks who worry about their kids.

There are many tracking applications on the internet that you can use. I would suggest you Google Map.

Pay more attention

It’s important for every parent to need to understand in this digital world has its dark face eg; cyber bullying. Parents didn’t experience this once they were growing up. They need to check the things that their kids are being exposed to. With the many benefits of social media and technology, this is often one of the pit falls that oldsters got to overcome.

For little children

Little children use Smartphone but they don’t know where they can go.

A recent example a teenager spends 16 lakh (father’s life’s savings, kept for medical expenses) on PUBG mobile game.

Now you tell me whose mistake is? Is it a game mistake or boy or those parents? It's the mistake of making the poor relationship between parents and children.

What something happens to you? So this Relationship with child and parents is so important and hence Family Counselor in Delhi Ritu Singal helps with it.

Importance of Privacy 

Some social media apps are ban because of privacy concerns.

Children are don’t know what is the privacy policy of any social media app they use. This also important to aware your children about this.

Teens don’t know which type content shared with others; they cannot delete it or get rid of it entirely. This includes texting with inappropriate images. They should also know how to configure privacy options, and I should warn them that sexual predators frequently use social media, chat rooms, emails, and online games to contact and exploit children.

How to be techy parents

I know some parents don’t familiar with social media. But it is not impossible for them.

The best way is by yourself, I mean you can start using any platform and if you stuck somewhere, you can Google it about. Or you can search it on YouTube.

You can start by creating your own account and start using it. When you think now, you can use to send them a friend request and never forget to like and leave a positive and modern comment with some slang.

Thanks for reading the article, I hope you’ll boost your knowledge of how technology is becoming the part of our life and how is be useful to make a good relationship of parents and children in this digital world

#Parents children relationship #parents #family #love #children #education #parenthood

[must-be-mythtaken]

Not a Moment But A Movement

(I wrote this a year ago but it’s still relevant and I’m too tired to write something new)

I've been trying to write this post for a while, trying to put my thoughts into some sort of order rather than funneling my rage, disappointment, fear, and sadness into an incoherent jumble of sound and fury. If I'm going to scream, I want it to signify something. I can't promise that it will, but I think I'm ready to try.

Now, I've never been the most patriotic of people. I grew up in a hippie stronghold in the middle of a consistently Democratic state, and while my parents are about as American as they come, we were never the sort of people to chant USA! USA! well...ever. When my family asks if I'll ever move back to the states, my stock reasons against it usually boil down to "but my country hates me". However, despite all that, there have always been so many things to love about the USA. While it could be better, the diversity and opportunity are real, especially compared to a homogeneous place like South Korea.

As so many have said, fuck 2016 (2017 as well). For a while I even had to delete the Facebook app from my phone, because the constant bombardment of depressing news was just too much for me. It all came to a head two last month. Watching the election was not unlike that meme, which goes like this.

me (to america): hoe don't do it. america: *does it* me: omg

While 99% of me was sure there was no way the American people could be stupid enough to elect that cheeto man to office, there was a small part of me that was entirely unsurprised when it happened. A resigned, hopeless, almost nihilistic part of me even thought...good. You get what you asked for, people. You wished on the monkey's paw, don't be surprised when everything falls apart. Let's just scrap the country and start over. We're only 200 years in, that's barely past the tutorial! Or maybe...did you have autosave turned on? A backup? No?

But this isn't a game. This is real life, real people. This is my queer sister and her trans partner. This is the lives of my friends and family. This is a country that has abandoned so many of its own people. If I feel hated as a cis, white, bisexual woman, how must immigrants, people of color, and all those people who have it even worse than me, feel right now? If I am disappointed and hurting, how must they feel?

More than ever, I feel my privilege, and it leaves me torn. There's an entire ocean between me and Tronald Dump (I hope to keep it that was as much as possible) and it would be so, so easy to just ignore it all. My friends and most of my family back the US live in very liberal areas and are comparatively safe. A treacherous part of me wants to keep my head down, focus on the day to day of my job, and leave the fighting to someone else. But I hate that part.

The bigger, better part of me wants to fight, and simultaneously makes me feel incredibly guilty for being an ocean away, unable to be on the front lines. It takes more than a blog post, a tweet, a donation. I tell myself that teaching kids to be better people in any country adds to the global non-shittiness quotient, but it's hard to believe when the shit has so dramatically hit the fan in my own country. Sure, it feels as if my country hates me, but have I already abandoned my country? Is it my responsibility as a teacher to go home?

Admittedly, a big part of this is that ongoing existential crisis I've been grappling with for the past few months. What am I doing with my life? Am I really accomplishing anything? What will my legacy be? I blame Lin-Manuel Miranda for that last one. His quotes are haunting me.

On the one hand, being an American abroad gives me a better perspective on the global impact of American politics. It's often surreal to live in a country that has such a generally positive opinion of the US. Just like the US, Korea's political system is rife with corruption and nepotism, college graduates are unable to find jobs, and women are still fighting for many rights that they should have without question. However, many of the people I talk to seem genuinely surprised to find out that America isn't the shining city on the hill it claims to be. They believe in the American dream as much as I wish I could.

I'm doing the best I can. I may not be strong, or loud; my voice can reach only a few. I want to believe in an America that is everything we like to say it is. So I'm going to keep fighting, in the small things I can do. I'm going to teach my students. I'm going to call out racism and inequality and shittiness when I see it. I'm not going to keep my head down, even when I want to.

“You're gonna miss each and every shot you can't be bothered to take. That's not living life--that's just being a tourist. Take every shot, Kate. If it's worth caring about, no matter how impossible you think it is--you take the shot.”

-Hawkeye, Matt Fraction

#politics #current events #I'm doing my best yall #trump #activism

[etechwire-blog]

The best antivirus in August 2018: the software to stay safe and secure online

New Post has been published on https://www.etechwire.com/the-best-antivirus-in-august-2018-the-software-to-stay-safe-and-secure-online/

The best antivirus in August 2018: the software to stay safe and secure online

You probably don’t actually need us to tell you just how important it is these days to download the best antivirus software possible for your computer and mobile devices. Cybercriminials and the viruses, malware, Trojan Horses and phishing scams they try to con us with aren’t going anywhere soon.

In fact, protecting yourself and ensuring your laptop is virus free is possibly even more crucial in 2018, owing to how much information we now store online – that’s why we’ve created this handy list of the best antivirus in the world.

Hackers are always coming up with new ways to gain access to your PC and other internet enabled devices (with your mobile phone and tablet included). Luckily the best antivirus companies are constantly updating their security software packages. We’re already starting to see their 2019 packages come to market, with user experience tweaks and the latest protection against phishing scams, ransomware and all other types of viruses and malware – we think that Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2019 is the best that your money can buy right now (or head here for UK pricing) and you can read more about what it offers below.

You want to make sure you get a complete suite of security tools that the best antivirus software can provide. If you’re looking for all-round protection against the latest cyber threats, then investing in the best antivirus download is the best solution you can hope for in 2018. That doesn’t mean you have to start spending big money either, as our guide also gives you the best available prices for your PC’s protection.

Bitdefender Antivirus Plus offers the most accurate and reliable protection around and has received several awards 

1. BitDefender Antivirus Plus 2019

Rock-solid and reliable protection

Accurate

Password manager

Cheap subscription

Can be resource-hungry

In a world packed with free security software, Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2019‘s annual fee may look expensive, but there’s plenty of bang for your buck. Plus, we’ve secured a 35% discount exclusive to TechRadar readers so you can be sure that the prices you see on this page won’t be lower anywhere else.

Take a look at any rankings of big independent antivirus testers and Bitdefender’s premium security products always rise to the top.

It tends to be reliable and accurate in its virus vanquishing, featuring web filtering to blocks access to malicious sites, a secure browser that keeps your online banking ans shopping transactions safe, and there’s a password manager which auto-completes credit card details in web forms. It also scores high for its excellent anti-phishing module, which alerts you to malicious links in your search engine results and blocks access to dangerous sites.

New for the 2019 version of Antivirus Plus are multi-layer ransomeware protection the learns the behaviour of such threats to keep you safe as well as the ability to scan all your linked devices via the Bitdefender Central mobile app. 

There are one or two issues – it grabs more resources than average, and might conflict with some programs – but Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2019 is still a likeable package which offers excellent detection rates, great performance, and more than enough bonus features to justify the price.

Bitdefender Internet Security 2019 builds on AVP 2019 and triples the number of devices covered plus offers anti-spam, firewall, parental advisor and file encryption features.

For a little bit more you can purchase the Total Security 2019 edition. It adds all of the above and covers up to five PCs, Macs, Android and iOS devices.

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Norton AntiVirus Basic 2018 will protect your PC without being a system hog

2. Norton AntiVirus Basic 2018

Great value protection that won’t slow you down

Norton AntiVirus Basic 1 Year

Blocks even brand new malware

Low impact on system resources

Browser extension extras can be unreliable

Norton AntiVirus Basic 2018 is a top quality malware hunter which can automatically protect your PC all on its own – that’s a given. But one of the main reasons we’ve boosted it to number two in our best antivirus software rankings is because it’s also one of the very best value paid-for security software solutions on the market in 2018. You can get it at a rock bottom price.

Norton offers plenty of tweaks, options and settings for those who need them, as well as features like a handy URL blocker that keeps you away from malicious websites. If that misses something, an excellent file reputation service recognises suspect downloads immediately. And if malware still finds a way through, intelligent behaviour monitoring kills it at the first sign of trouble.

If you’re a more hands-on type, you can easily run scans on demand. Maybe set up and save custom scans to check just the areas you need. Even schedule them to run at a particular time, but only if your system is idle, and it’s not running on battery power.

There can be problems with some of the browser extensions. The bundled Norton Identity Safe is a capable password manager when it’s running properly, but we’ve found the Chrome version sometimes stops working for no apparent reason. We’ve seen plenty of reviewers reporting similar problems, so there does seem to be a real issue here.

Still, you don’t have to use Identity Safe at all, and Norton AntiVirus Basic’s main functions deliver on all fronts: it’s easy to use, has the configuration options experts need, comes highly rated by the testing labs, and is carefully designed to have the least possible impact on your system performance.

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Webroot SecureAnywhere AntiVirus is extremely undemanding without compromising on protection 

3. Webroot SecureAnywhere AntiVirus

The most lightweight antivirus around

Extremely light on system resources

Lightning fast

No testing data from the top labs

Just about every antivirus tool claims to be ‘lightweight’, but Webroot SecureAnywhere AntiVirus is the only one to really deliver on this front. Installation takes seconds, the program files barely grab 2MB of your hard drive, RAM footprint is tiny, and there are no bulky signature updates to tie up your bandwidth.

There’s no compromise on features, though. Along with the core antivirus protection, there’s smart behaviour monitoring, accurate real-time antiphishing, a firewall and network connection monitor, enhanced anti-ransomware, and other interesting extras.

It’s not easy to compare Webroot’s accuracy with the competition, as the big testing labs rarely evaluate the company’s products. But when they are reviewed, they generally score well, and our own tests show solid and reliable protection.

There’s a lot to like about SecureAnywhere AntiVirus, and Webroot’s 70-day 100% money-back guarantee suggests it’s confident in the product, too. If you’re tired of overly complicated and bloated antivirus engines, Webroot must be on your shortlist.

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ESET NOD32 Antivirus 2018 Edition might lack in features but it offers power antivirus protection

4. ESET NOD32 Antivirus 2018 Edition

Expert-level antivirus for the more experienced user

Highly configurable

Device access control

Relatively expensive

Not for beginners

If you judge an antivirus on the length of its feature list, ESET NOD32 Antivirus 2018 Edition might be a disappointment. There’s no firewall, password manager, file shredder, vulnerability scanner or any of the bundled extras you’ll often find elsewhere.

This doesn’t mean the package is short on power, it’s just more focused on the antivirus fundamentals. ESET NOD32 Antivirus 2018 Edition comes with real-time malware protection, an anti-ransomware layer, exploit protection, URL filtering to block malicious websites, and modules to prevent attacks using PowerShell and malicious scripts.

A Device Control module limits the risk of infection from other devices by controlling access to USB sticks, external hard drives, optical storage media, even devices connecting by Bluetooth and FireWire. It’s an unusual extra, but could make a difference if others are regularly plugging devices into your PC.

ESET NOD32 Antivirus 2018 Edition isn’t aimed at beginners. The interface is clumsy sometimes, some features are very advanced, and even the Help isn’t always exactly helpful.

Experienced users will appreciate ESET’s power and configurability, though. Above-average protection does a good job of keeping you safe, and a lightweight design ensures the package won’t slow you down.

One of the new features in the 2018 Edition is the UEFI Scanner which protects you from threats that attack your PC before Windows has even started.

ESET Internet Security builds on NOD 32 and triples the number of devices covered plus offers firewall, botnet protection, webcam protection, antispam and more.

Alternatively, you can purchase the ESET Smart Security Premium edition for not much more. It adds all of the above as well as password management and secure data.

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F-Secure Antivirus SAFE is an easy to use, good value option to protect your PC

5. F-Secure Antivirus SAFE

Very user-friendly

Good value

Prone to false positives

F-Secure Antivirus SAFE is a great collection of antivirus software tools, and while it’s a bit more expensive than some of the other antivirus software on this best of list, the amount of features you get makes the cost worthwhile.

With F-Secure Antivirus SAFE, you get the brilliant antivirus software from F-Secure, along with banking protection for safe online shopping, family safety tools and a device finder that lets you track your lost Android or iOS device, and if needs be remotely lock or delete it as well.

The package typically receives maximum marks for protection from AV-Test, and generally scores highly with AV-Comparatives, too. They also say it can generate significantly more false positives than most of the competition, but how that affects you will vary depending on how you use your computer.

The interface is a major plus. It’s extremely easy to use, lightweight, and for the most part you can just leave the app alone to look after your PC. The program has minimal effect on your system performance, and if you do need to intervene then you can generally solve any issues in a couple of clicks.

In 2018, F-Secure Anti-Virus SAFE remains an appealing package: fast, lightweight, and able to run alongside many other security tools without conflict. 

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Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2018 is comprehensive and easy to use without alienating more expert users

6. Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2018

Trustworthy security for beginners and experts alike

Kaspersky Anti-Virus 1 Year

One of the best performing security packages

Supremely easy to use

Kaspersky’s full suites are better value

Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2018 is a stripped-back security package which focuses on the core security essentials: web filtering blocks dangerous URLs, an accurate antivirus engine detects and removes threats, smart monitoring technologies track and reverse malicious actions, and that’s about it.

Fortunately, what you do get works well. Very, very well. We’ve consistently found Kaspersky to be amongst the best at blocking malware, and removing it from an infected system, plus it’s regularly top-rated at sites like AV-Comparatives.

The program is easy to use, too. A well-designed interface has just the right number of buttons and options – not too basic, but not complicated or intimidating, either – and there are plenty of on-screen instructions to explain how everything works. Even a beginner will be at home right away.

If you just need accurate, reliable and consistent malware protection, Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2018 will serve you well.

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Trend Micro Antivirus+ Security offers solid protection but has strong demands

7. Trend Micro Antivirus+ Security

Trend Micro AntiVirus+ 1 Year

Affordable pricing

Might slow you down

Higher than average false positives

Trend Micro Antivirus+ Security is a capable antivirus package that’s simple to use with above average antispam and an effective ‘Folder Shield’ module to block ransomware.

How good is it? The top testing labs all rate it highly for protection, although there’s some disagreement on the details. In particular, AV-Comparatives says it gives a high number of false positives, which could be a real nuisance. But AV-Test reports high levels of accuracy and no issues with false positives at all.

If there’s a problem here, it’s likely to be performance impact. PassMark’s March 2017 Performance report assessed 15 security products on various performance-related benchmarks, and Trend Micro came bottom of the list.

Our experiences with the product are a little more favourable: protection levels appear similar to Bitdefender, false positives are only marginally higher, and it doesn’t slow down our system noticeably more than anything else.

We’d recommending running the trial for its full 30 days before you buy, then, to see if you notice any problems. But if you’re unaffected, its high levels of detection and excellent bonus features make Trend Micro a good choice.

US Prices:

UK Prices:

Panda Dome Antivirus Pro comes with plenty of features and an interface optimised for Windows 10

8. Panda Antivirus Pro

A user-friendly and very well-featured antivirus solution

Lots of features

Easy to use

Limited firewall

Real-time malware detection, speedy cloud-based scanning, URL filtering to block malicious websites: Panda Antivirus Pro has all the goodies you’d expect from the best antivirus software.

That’s just the start. A simple two-way firewall helps to keep your system secure. An application control system can define exactly what runs on your PC, stopping even some brand new and undiscovered malware. A virtual keyboard helps you enter confidential data without it being intercepted by keyloggers. There’s even a tool to build a bootable USB rescue disc, ready to remove even the most stubborn threats.

Some of these bonus features are relatively basic. The Panda firewall does its job and can make you more secure, for instance, but it doesn’t compete with the standalone firewall competition. Experienced network users will probably want more.

The simplicity does at least keep everything very easy to use. Options are organised in a straightforward Windows 10-like interface, with all the main modules just a click or two away. Even the firewall doesn’t need to know anything more than your current network location: Home, Work or Public Place.

There’s not a lot of Panda test results from the independent labs around right now, but the figures we’ve seen show the company delivers above average protection, and overall Panda Antivirus Pro does a good job of keeping malware at bay.

US Prices:

UK Prices:

You may also be interested in…

Apple user? Then you can head to our bespoke best Mac antivirus guide

We’ve also looked at the best secure messaging apps

Buying for business? Check out our listing of best business antivirus packages

Check out the best Android antivirus for your phone in 2018  

Plus, we also have the best free antivirus software of 2018

What’s the difference between free and paid-for antivirus?

With so many free antivirus products out there, you may be wondering what’s the point of paying for protection. Just about every single major vendor out there offers a free version of its service, promising to protect you from all the cyberthreats out there.

By releasing a free version of their software, developers gain access to more devices from which they can collect data from and therefore improve their knowledge and security platforms. It also might tempt more users to upgrade. Therefore it’s not in their interest to reduce the amount of protection provided by the free version.

However paying for a premium service means you get more features, such as spam filters, parental controls, system scans and advanced firewalls. This makes them more suitable for power users, those who want a bit of extra security and anyone who wants their system to run as smoothly as possible.

It also means you avoid annoying pop-ups that try and tempt you to upgrade to the full version – and it doesn’t even cost that much per year for the best antivirus software that we’ve highlighted above.

#antivirus #August #online #safe #secure #software #stay

[technicalsolutions88]

“This is going to be a never-ending battle” said Mark Zuckerberg. He just gave the most candid look yet into his thoughts about Cambridge Analytica, data privacy, and Facebook’s sweeping developer platform changes today during a conference call with reporters. Sounding alternately vulnerable about his past negligence and confident about Facebook’s strategy going forward, Zuckerberg took nearly an hour of tough questions.

You can listen to the entire call here:

The CEO started the call by giving his condolences to those affected by the shooting at YouTube yesterday. He then delivered this mea culpa on privacy:

We’re an idealistic and optimistic company . . . but it’s clear now that we didn’t do enough. We didn’t focus enough on preventing abuse and thinking through how people could use these tools to do harm as well . . . We didn’t take a broad enough view of what our responsibility is and that was a huge mistake. That was my mistake.

It’s not enough to just connect people. We have to make sure those connections are positive and that they’re bringing people together.  It’s not enough just to give people a voice, we have to make sure that people are not using that voice to hurt people or spread misinformation. And it’s not enough to give people tools to sign into apps, we have to make sure that all those developers protect people’s information too.

It’s not enough to have rules requiring that they protect the information. It’s not enough to believe them when they’re telling us they’re protecting information. We actually have to ensure that everyone in our ecosystem protects people’s information.”

This is Zuckerberg’s strongest statement yet about his and Facebook’s failure to anticipate worst-case scenarios, which has led to a string of scandals that are now decimating the company’s morale. Spelling out how policy means nothing without enforcement, and pairing that with a massive reduction in how much data app developers can request from users makes it seem like Facebook is ready to turn over a new leaf.

Here are the highlights from the rest of the call:

On deleting Russian trolls: Not only did Facebook delete 135 Facebook and Instagram accounts belonging to Russian government-connected election interference troll farm the Internet Research Agency, as Facebook announced yesterday. Zuckerberg said Facebook removed “a Russian news organization that we determined was controlled and operated by the IRA”.

Facebook and the endless string of worst-case scenarios

On Zuckerberg calling fake news’ influence “crazy”: “I clearly made a mistake by just dismissing fake news as crazy — as having an impact . . . it was too flippant. I never should have referred to it as crazy.

On the 87 million number: Regarding today’s disclosure that up to 87 million people had their data improperly access by Cambridge Analytica, “it very well could be less but we wanted to put out the maximum that we felt it could be as soon as we had that analysis.” Zuckerberg also referred to The New York Times’ report, noting that “We never put out the 50 million number, that was other parties.”

Facebook admits Cambridge Analytica hijacked data on up to 87M users

On users having their public info scraped: Facebook announced this morning that “we believe most people on Facebook could have had their public profile scraped” via its search by phone number or email address feature and account recovery system. Scammers abused these to punch in one piece of info and then pair it to someone’s name and photo . Zuckerberg said search features are useful in languages where it’s hard to type or a lot of people have the same names. But “the methods of react limiting this weren’t able to prevent malicious actors who cycled through hundreds of thousands of IP addresses and did a relatively small number of queries for each one, so given that and what we know to day it just makes sense to shut that down.”

On when Facebook learned about the scraping and why it didn’t inform the public sooner: This was my question, and Zuckerberg dodged, merely saying Facebook had looked more closely at it in the last few days.”

On implementing GDPR worldwide: Zuckerberg refuted a Reuters story from yesterday saying that Facebook wouldn’t bring GDPR privacy protections to the U.S. and elsewhere. Instead he says, “we’re going to make all the same controls and settings available everywhere, not just in Europe.”

Zuckerberg says Facebook will offer GDPR privacy controls everywhere

    On if board has discussed him stepping down as chairman: “Not that I’m aware of” Zuckerberg said happily.

On if he still thinks he’s the best person to run Facebook: “Yes. Life is about learning from the mistakes and figuring out what you need to do to move forward . . . I think what people should evaluate us on is learning from our mistakes . . .and if we’re building things people like and that make their lives better . . . there are billions of people who love the products we’re building.”

On the Boz memo and prioritizing business over safety: “The things that makes our product challenging to manage and operate are not the tradeoffs between people and the business. I actually think those are quite easy because over the long-term, the business will be better if you serve people. I think it would be near-sighted to focus on short-term revenue over people, and I don’t think we’re that short-sighted. All the hard decisions we have to make are tradeoffs between people. Different people who use Facebook have different needs. Some people want to share political speech that they think is valid, and other people feel like it’s hate speech . . . we don’t always get them right.”

The real threat to Facebook is the Kool-Aid turning sour

On whether Facebook can audit all app developers: “We’re not going to be able to go out and necessarily find every bad use of data” Zuckerberg said, but confidently said “I actually do think we’re going to be be able to cover a large amount of that activity.

On whether Facebook will sue Cambridge Analytica: “We have stood down temporarily to let the [UK government] do their investigation and their audit. Once that’s done we’ll resume ours … and ultimately to make sure none of the data persists or is being used improperly. And at that point if it makes sense we will take legal action if we need to do that to get people’s information.”

Cambridge Analytica denies accessing data on 87M Facebook users…claims 30M

On how Facebook will measure its impact on fixing privacy: Zuckerberg wants to be able to measure “the prevalence of different categories of bad content like fake news, hate speech, bullying, terrorism. . . That’s going to end up being the way we should be held accountable and measured by the public . . .  My hope is that over time the playbook and scorecard we put out will also be followed by other internet platforms so that way there can be a standard measure across the industry.”

  On whether Facebook should try to earn less money by using less data for targeting “People tell us if they’re going to see ads they want the ads to be good . . . that the ads are actually relevant to what they care about . . On the one hand people want relevant experiences, and on the other hand I do think there’s some discomfort with how data is used in systems like ads. But I think the feedback is overwhelmingly on the side of wanting a better experience. Maybe it’s 95-5.”

Facebook rewrites Terms of Service, clarifying device data collection

On whether #DeleteFacebook has had an impact on usage or ad revenue: “I don’t think there’s been any meaningful impact that we’ve observed…but it’s not good.”

On the timeline for fixing data privacy: “This is going to be a never-ending battle. You never fully solve security. It’s an arms race” Zuckerberg said early in the call. Then to close Q&A, he said “I think this is a multi-year effort. My hope is that by the end of this year we’ll have turned the corner on a lot of these issues and that people will see that things are getting a lot better.”

Overall, this was the moment of humility, candor, and contrition Facebook desperately needed. Users, developers, regulators, and the company’s own employees have felt in the dark this last month, but Zuckerberg did his best to lay out a clear path forward for Facebook. His willingness to endure this question was admirable, even if he deserved the grilling.

The company’s problems won’t disappear, and its past transgressions can’t be apologized away. But Facebook and its leader have finally matured past the incredulous dismissals and paralysis that characterized its response to past scandals. It’s ready to get to work.

from Mobile – TechCrunch https://ift.tt/2Jmxzbp ORIGINAL CONTENT FROM: https://techcrunch.com/

#Technical Solutions #SEO #Online Earning #Youtube Marketing #Android Developer

[sheminecrafts]

Highlights and audio from Zuckerberg’s emotional Q&A on scandals

“This is going to be a never-ending battle” said Mark Zuckerberg . He just gave the most candid look yet into his thoughts about Cambridge Analytica, data privacy, and Facebook’s sweeping developer platform changes today during a conference call with reporters. Sounding alternately vulnerable about his past negligence and confident about Facebook’s strategy going forward, Zuckerberg took nearly an hour of tough questions.

You can listen to the entire call here:

The CEO started the call by giving his condolences to those affected by the shooting at YouTube yesterday. He then delivered this mea culpa on privacy:

We’re an idealistic and optimistic company . . . but it’s clear now that we didn’t do enough. We didn’t focus enough on preventing abuse and thinking through how people could use these tools to do harm as well . . . We didn’t take a broad enough view of what our responsibility is and that was a huge mistake. That was my mistake.

It’s not enough to just connect people. We have to make sure those connections are positive and that they’re bringing people together.  It’s not enough just to give people a voice, we have to make sure that people are not using that voice to hurt people or spread misinformation. And it’s not enough to give people tools to sign into apps, we have to make sure that all those developers protect people’s information too.

It’s not enough to have rules requiring that they protect the information. It’s not enough to believe them when they’re telling us they’re protecting information. We actually have to ensure that everyone in our ecosystem protects people’s information.”

This is Zuckerberg’s strongest statement yet about his and Facebook’s failure to anticipate worst-case scenarios, which has led to a string of scandals that are now decimating the company’s morale. Spelling out how policy means nothing without enforcement, and pairing that with a massive reduction in how much data app developers can request from users makes it seem like Facebook is ready to turn over a new leaf.

Here are the highlights from the rest of the call:

On Zuckerberg calling fake news’ influence “crazy”: “I clearly made a mistake by just dismissing fake news as crazy — as having an impact . . . it was too flippant. I never should have referred to it as crazy.

Facebook and the endless string of worst-case scenarios

On deleting Russian trolls: Not only did Facebook delete 135 Facebook and Instagram accounts belonging to Russian government-connected election interference troll farm the Internet Research Agency, as Facebook announced yesterday. Zuckerberg said Facebook removed “a Russian news organization that we determined was controlled and operated by the IRA”.

On the 87 million number: Regarding today’s disclosure that up to 87 million people had their data improperly access by Cambridge Analytica, “it very well could be less but we wanted to put out the maximum that we felt it could be as soon as we had that analysis.” Zuckerberg also referred to The New York Times’ report, noting that “We never put out the 50 million number, that was other parties.”

Facebook admits Cambridge Analytica hijacked data on up to 87M users

On users having their public info scraped: Facebook announced this morning that “we believe most people on Facebook could have had their public profile scraped” via its search by phone number or email address feature and account recovery system. Scammers abused these to punch in one piece of info and then pair it to someone’s name and photo . Zuckerberg said search features are useful in languages where it’s hard to type or a lot of people have the same names. But “the methods of react limiting this weren’t able to prevent malicious actors who cycled through hundreds of thousands of IP addresses and did a relatively small number of queries for each one, so given that and what we know to day it just makes sense to shut that down.”

On when Facebook learned about the scraping and why it didn’t inform the public sooner: This was my question, and Zuckerberg dodged, merely saying Facebook had looked more closely at it in the last few days.”

On implementing GDPR worldwide: Zuckerberg refuted a Reuters story from yesterday saying that Facebook wouldn’t bring GDPR privacy protections to the U.S. and elsewhere. Instead he says, “we’re going to make all the same controls and settings available everywhere, not just in Europe.”

Zuckerberg says Facebook will offer GDPR privacy controls everywhere

On if board has discussed him stepping down as chairman: “Not that I’m aware of” Zuckerberg said happily.

On if he still thinks he’s the best person to run Facebook: “Yes. Life is about learning from the mistakes and figuring out what you need to do to move forward . . . I think what people should evaluate us on is learning from our mistakes . . .and if we’re building things people like and that make their lives better . . . there are billions of people who love the products we’re building.”

On the Boz memo and prioritizing business over safety: “The things that makes our product challenging to manage and operate are not the tradeoffs between people and the business. I actually think those are quite easy because over the long-term, the business will be better if you serve people. I think it would be near-sighted to focus on short-term revenue over people, and I don’t think we’re that short-sighted. All the hard decisions we have to make are tradeoffs between people. Different people who use Facebook have different needs. Some people want to share political speech that they think is valid, and other people feel like it’s hate speech . . . we don’t always get them right.”

The real threat to Facebook is the Kool-Aid turning sour

On whether Facebook can audit all app developers: “We’re not going to be able to go out and necessarily find every bad use of data” Zuckerberg said, but confidently said “I actually do think we’re going to be be able to cover a large amount of that activity.

On whether Facebook will sue Cambridge Analytica: “We have stood down temporarily to let the [UK government] do their investigation and their audit. Once that’s done we’ll resume ours … and ultimately to make sure none of the data persists or is being used improperly. And at that point if it makes sense we will take legal action if we need to do that to get people’s information.”

Cambridge Analytica denies accessing data on 87M Facebook users…claims 30M

On how Facebook will measure its impact on fixing privacy: Zuckerberg wants to be able to measure “the prevalence of different categories of bad content like fake news, hate speech, bullying, terrorism. . . That’s going to end up being the way we should be held accountable and measured by the public . . .  My hope is that over time the playbook and scorecard we put out will also be followed by other internet platforms so that way there can be a standard measure across the industry.”

On whether Facebook should try to earn less money by using less data for targeting “People tell us if they’re going to see ads they want the ads to be good . . . that the ads are actually relevant to what they care about . . On the one hand people want relevant experiences, and on the other hand I do think there’s some discomfort with how data is used in systems like ads. But I think the feedback is overwhelmingly on the side of wanting a better experience. Maybe it’s 95-5.”

Facebook rewrites Terms of Service, clarifying device data collection

On whether #DeleteFacebook has had an impact on usage or ad revenue: “I don’t think there’s been any meaningful impact that we’ve observed…but it’s not good.”

On the timeline for fixing data privacy: “This is going to be a never-ending battle. You never fully solve security. It’s an arms race” Zuckerberg said early in the call. Then to close Q&A, he said “I think this is a multi-year effort. My hope is that by the end of this year we’ll have turned the corner on a lot of these issues and that people will see that things are getting a lot better.”

Overall, this was the moment of humility, candor, and contrition Facebook desperately needed. Users, developers, regulators, and the company’s own employees have felt in the dark this last month, but Zuckerberg did his best to lay out a clear path forward for Facebook. His willingness to endure this question was admirable, even if he deserved the grilling.

The company’s problems won’t disappear, and its past transgressions can’t be apologized away. But Facebook and its leader have finally matured past the incredulous dismissals and paralysis that characterized its response to past scandals. It’s ready to get to work.

from iraidajzsmmwtv https://ift.tt/2qc8hVJ via IFTTT

#IFTTT #iraidajzsmmwtv

[gabrielcollignon]

Highlights and audio from Zuckerberg’s emotional Q&A on scandals

Highlights and audio from Zuckerberg’s emotional Q&A on scandals

“This is going to be a never-ending battle” said Mark Zuckerberg . He just gave the most candid look yet into his thoughts about Cambridge Analytica, data privacy, and Facebook’s sweeping developer platform changes today during a conference call with reporters. Sounding alternately vulnerable about his past negligence and confident about Facebook’s strategy going forward, Zuckerberg took nearly an hour of tough questions.

You can read a transcript here and listen to a recording of the call below:



The CEO started the call by giving his condolences to those affected by the shooting at YouTube yesterday. He then delivered this mea culpa on privacy:

We’re an idealistic and optimistic company . . . but it’s clear now that we didn’t do enough. We didn’t focus enough on preventing abuse and thinking through how people could use these tools to do harm as well . . . We didn’t take a broad enough view of what our responsibility is and that was a huge mistake. That was my mistake.

It’s not enough to just connect people. We have to make sure those connections are positive and that they’re bringing people together.  It’s not enough just to give people a voice, we have to make sure that people are not using that voice to hurt people or spread misinformation. And it’s not enough to give people tools to sign into apps, we have to make sure that all those developers protect people’s information too.

It’s not enough to have rules requiring that they protect the information. It’s not enough to believe them when they’re telling us they’re protecting information. We actually have to ensure that everyone in our ecosystem protects people’s information.”

This is Zuckerberg’s strongest statement yet about his and Facebook’s failure to anticipate worst-case scenarios, which has led to a string of scandals that are now decimating the company’s morale. Spelling out how policy means nothing without enforcement, and pairing that with a massive reduction in how much data app developers can request from users makes it seem like Facebook is ready to turn over a new leaf.

Here are the highlights from the rest of the call:

On Zuckerberg calling fake news’ influence “crazy”: “I clearly made a mistake by just dismissing fake news as crazy — as having an impact . . . it was too flippant. I never should have referred to it as crazy.

Facebook and the endless string of worst-case scenarios

On deleting Russian trolls: Not only did Facebook delete 135 Facebook and Instagram accounts belonging to Russian government-connected election interference troll farm the Internet Research Agency, as Facebook announced yesterday. Zuckerberg said Facebook removed “a Russian news organization that we determined was controlled and operated by the IRA”.

On the 87 million number: Regarding today’s disclosure that up to 87 million people had their data improperly access by Cambridge Analytica, “it very well could be less but we wanted to put out the maximum that we felt it could be as soon as we had that analysis.” Zuckerberg also referred to The New York Times’ report, noting that “We never put out the 50 million number, that was other parties.”

Facebook admits Cambridge Analytica hijacked data on up to 87M users

On users having their public info scraped: Facebook announced this morning that “we believe most people on Facebook could have had their public profile scraped” via its search by phone number or email address feature and account recovery system. Scammers abused these to punch in one piece of info and then pair it to someone’s name and photo . Zuckerberg said search features are useful in languages where it’s hard to type or a lot of people have the same names. But “the methods of react limiting this weren’t able to prevent malicious actors who cycled through hundreds of thousands of IP addresses and did a relatively small number of queries for each one, so given that and what we know to day it just makes sense to shut that down.”

On when Facebook learned about the scraping and why it didn’t inform the public sooner:  “We looked into this and understood it more over the last few days as part of the audit of our overall system”, Zuckerberg declining to specify when Facebook first identified the issue. [Update: Facebook later specified that the sophisticated scraping had been picked up in the past few weeks during the audit, recently confirmed, and that the company disclosed the situation as soon as it had details ready.]

On implementing GDPR worldwide: Zuckerberg refuted a Reuters story from yesterday saying that Facebook wouldn’t bring GDPR privacy protections to the U.S. and elsewhere. Instead he says, “we’re going to make all the same controls and settings available everywhere, not just in Europe.”

Zuckerberg says Facebook will offer GDPR privacy controls everywhere

On if board has discussed him stepping down as chairman: “Not that I’m aware of” Zuckerberg said happily.

On if he still thinks he’s the best person to run Facebook: “Yes. Life is about learning from the mistakes and figuring out what you need to do to move forward . . . I think what people should evaluate us on is learning from our mistakes . . .and if we’re building things people like and that make their lives better . . . there are billions of people who love the products we’re building.”

On the Boz memo and prioritizing business over safety: “The things that makes our product challenging to manage and operate are not the tradeoffs between people and the business. I actually think those are quite easy because over the long-term, the business will be better if you serve people. I think it would be near-sighted to focus on short-term revenue over people, and I don’t think we’re that short-sighted. All the hard decisions we have to make are tradeoffs between people. Different people who use Facebook have different needs. Some people want to share political speech that they think is valid, and other people feel like it’s hate speech . . . we don’t always get them right.”

The real threat to Facebook is the Kool-Aid turning sour

On whether Facebook can audit all app developers: “We’re not going to be able to go out and necessarily find every bad use of data” Zuckerberg said, but confidently said “I actually do think we’re going to be be able to cover a large amount of that activity.

On whether Facebook will sue Cambridge Analytica: “We have stood down temporarily to let the [UK government] do their investigation and their audit. Once that’s done we’ll resume ours … and ultimately to make sure none of the data persists or is being used improperly. And at that point if it makes sense we will take legal action if we need to do that to get people’s information.”

Cambridge Analytica denies accessing data on 87M Facebook users…claims 30M

On how Facebook will measure its impact on fixing privacy: Zuckerberg wants to be able to measure “the prevalence of different categories of bad content like fake news, hate speech, bullying, terrorism. . . That’s going to end up being the way we should be held accountable and measured by the public . . .  My hope is that over time the playbook and scorecard we put out will also be followed by other internet platforms so that way there can be a standard measure across the industry.”

On whether Facebook should try to earn less money by using less data for targeting “People tell us if they’re going to see ads they want the ads to be good . . . that the ads are actually relevant to what they care about . . On the one hand people want relevant experiences, and on the other hand I do think there’s some discomfort with how data is used in systems like ads. But I think the feedback is overwhelmingly on the side of wanting a better experience. Maybe it’s 95-5.”

Facebook rewrites Terms of Service, clarifying device data collection

On whether #DeleteFacebook has had an impact on usage or ad revenue: “I don’t think there’s been any meaningful impact that we’ve observed…but it’s not good.”

On the timeline for fixing data privacy: “This is going to be a never-ending battle. You never fully solve security. It’s an arms race” Zuckerberg said early in the call. Then to close Q&A, he said “I think this is a multi-year effort. My hope is that by the end of this year we’ll have turned the corner on a lot of these issues and that people will see that things are getting a lot better.”

Overall, this was the moment of humility, candor, and contrition Facebook desperately needed. Users, developers, regulators, and the company’s own employees have felt in the dark this last month, but Zuckerberg did his best to lay out a clear path forward for Facebook. His willingness to endure this question was admirable, even if he deserved the grilling.

The company’s problems won’t disappear, and its past transgressions can’t be apologized away. But Facebook and its leader have finally matured past the incredulous dismissals and paralysis that characterized its response to past scandals. It’s ready to get to work.

#Tech

[adventuretomyself-blog]

Entry #1

Place: My bedroom in my hometown.

Time/Date: 11/11/2017, 11:05 pm.

Well, for starters, hello, I️ guess. My name is Paige and welcome to my Adventure to Myself.

It honestly sounds very clichè and so overdone, but what else can you expect from someone like me? I’ve tried so many times to figure out how to have the right thing to say and it never comes, so I’ll stick to whatever comes to mind first.

In this blog, I️ will be addressing my days, addressing some personal topics, and simply using it as my outlet for life. I️ don’t know what exactly will become of it or even if I️ will write every day, but I️ know I’m going to try to make this something I️ can see my adventure on.

Now, the reason this blog is called “Adventure” and not “Journey” is because a journey implies a final destination with set directions, whereas an adventure has multiple options: it could have an ending, you could this way, you could go that way. And the way I️ see it, finding myself won’t be set in stone, and I️ want it to be a memorable experience where I️ am able to grow and figure things out, not have them done for me. So here we begin on our adventure.

The purpose of this blog is simple. I️ am taking a year to find myself, all in the midst in work and school. I️ do not have the option (though I️ wish I️ did and am incredibly jealous of those who do) to take off from school or work to work on myself. However, I️ feel like going on my Adventure while doing these things and balancing life will make me even stronger and make it more realistic when I️ try and rush things.

During this year, I️ will try and blog a lot of the time. I️ will be talking about my days, sharing pictures, sharing experiences, etc. I️ have set some ground rules for myself during my Year of Adventure, as I️ am going to call it. They obviously may change with time, or circumstance, but for now, this is where I️ stand.

1. NO SOCIAL MEDIA. This means Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat or Twitter. Social media has ruined me as a person and has jaded me to a certain point, so I️ refuse to keep it in my life. This is about getting better, and in order to move forward, you have to let some things of, and social media will not allow me to do that. However, I️ will be keeping Tumblr and YouTube simply for creative purposes, but even they will have limits. I️ will not have the Tumblr app, I️ will only post from my laptop. I️ am keeping YouTube because I️ post videos on it because I️ enjoy making them, and I️ also use it for my spoken meditations.

2. Try and write every day.

3. Try and learn something new every day.

4. Let yourself grow naturally, force nothing.

So there are the four basic rules. I️ may add or delete some, depending on circumstance. I️ have a few other rules that I️ may not be as strict on such as bedtimes, diets, what I️ share with people, how I️ behave, time management, etc.

But some of the things I️ hope to learn in my Year are forgiveness, letting go, kindness and love. I️ aim to be a better person not only for me but for others around me so I️ may bring positive impacts on everyone that I️ meet.

I’m doing this for me. I’m doing this because I️ do not like who I️ have become and I️ want to change it. I️ do not necessarily want to become the old me, because she has qualities I️ did not like, but more so a new version, a better one, with better habits and morals and inner peace. A mix of old and new, forming something totally amazing.

There’s an old Chinese proverb that says, “The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is now.” So, I️ am all in, and here goes nothing.

[wexpertyst]

How has Covid-19 impacted the on-demand apps

Covid-19 has not only seeped into society and has left lakhs of people infected all over the world, but it has also had some adverse effects on some businesses and their mobile applications. Several features of mobile apps were left to rot in some corners of everyone’s device and faced the wrath of this deadly disease.

Consumer behavior has been affected due to the spread of coronavirus, and this has led to severe losses of some businesses. From the taxi services, to travel apps, food delivery apps, and on-demand service apps, all have come under the rage of this disease.

How were the app users impacted by COVID-19?

1. Industries like car rentals, on-demand service, hospitality, and travel came to a standstill, and people completely cut off from their mobile applications during the times of COVID-19. However, there was an increasing demand for online services for fitness. One of the best fitness apps that saw a sharp rise in its installs, 8Fit (Berlin-based) saw a rise in its users with each passing week and became one of the top-rated applications on the app store in no time. They provided free services to users.

2. Another app to hit the roof with the increasing number of installs is the meditation app 7Mind. Apart from the user activity, which was higher in the initial months of 2020, the app also saw a higher number of installs on various devices.

3. Gaming apps did tremendously well in most countries at this time. Similarly, the Compettia (Atrivity) app which is known as a gaming platform, also witnessed a growth during this period.

4. Babble, is another app that witnessed growth during Covid-19. It is a subscription-based language app that has 14 pre-installed languages in it.To make these types of apps, contact Xpertyst for android app development services

Categories of apps that have seen a decline:

Travel

Finance

On-demand apps

Taxi

Food delivery

Let us talk about each industry in detail.

Taxi industry

This is one industry that has faced the adverse effects of Coronavirus all across the globe. Since people are asked to stay inside their houses and refrain from going out, no one is availing the services of taxis, as they don’t have to commute anywhere. Along with this, another issue to add up to the fall of demand for taxis is the concept of work from home. Companies and offices have emptied out and asked their staff to work from their homes so that they refrain from contaminating the virus. This has resulted in less demand and loss of jobs.

Let’s talk about China, where the virus originated. The cab services went down by 50 percent in the country. Yellow cabs in the U.S. dropped their fares by two-thirds, but still didn’t see any ray of hope. Some other major hailing companies Uber and Lyft also saw a downward trend in the bookings made through their apps. The use of the apps reduced invariably.

The overall drop in the app session

There has been a significant drop in the app sessions of the Onde client. On average an iOS user’s time spent on the taxi apps has dropped down by 70 percent. Comparing the usage of these apps in February and March, the use of app decreased by a total of 70 percent. Well, this is an aggregate figure, however, the usage of each app country-wise has some other figures to display. While the usage of some has decreased by 50 percent, some have witnessed a major downfall with a decrease in the usage by 90 percent.

As per the government instructions, people should use a minimum of the public transport, therefore the use of taxi apps has diminished, however, people haven’t permanently deleted these applications and might start using these once it is done dealing with the pandemic, and things start falling into place.

Users are on a break

It is not that the users have deleted apps like Uber, Ola, and other car rentals, they are just taking a hiatus from their services and will resume taking the services once things get back to normal.

Uber has been a top favorite app for local commuting in most countries. As seen in the graph above, the app has tried to retain its position of either number 1 or number two. However, in the early months of 2020, it saw a fall in position as it became the 17th app from the top, and going further it witnessed another major fall to the 84th position in the overall app ranking. This proves how on-demand apps have been affected. There are no new installs of the app and the app has come to a standstill as people have stopped using the app.

Impact of Covid-19 on travel apps

The travel industry has been gravely affected by the current situation. People have been laid off as the industry isn’t able to recover all the money spent and are not in a position to pay to their employees. Therefore, the last resort for them was to lay off people. With very little new bookings, there is no scope for them to do any better in the near future. The industry will take time to recuperate. Most travelers wanted the traveling apps to provide prominent tips and travel guidelines according to the latest details of Covid-19.

According to a report in statista, following points were determined:

1- Travel related smartphone applications reduced considerably by the end of month April.

2- There were only eight percent of app users who actually used the app to make bookings from January 13, 2020 to February 2, 2020.

3- By April, 2020, there were only 2 percent of the users left to use the app.

Take a look at the Statista graph to explain the numbers:

The tourism industry was the worst affected during the lockdown as the flights came to a standstill and people weren’t allowed to leave their houses without a pass and proper information submission. The hotel and travel sectors went into shudders which lead apps like MakeMyTrip and TravelTriangle run in huge losses, laying off its employees as it made no revenue through new bookings.

In a note written to Finance Niramala Sitharama, co-chairman of Ficci national tourism council and secretary, Hotel Association of India, J K Mohanty, “While the industry has received the moratorium for three months, however, it needs a minimum of one year moratorium on all working capital, principal, interest payments, loans and overdrafts. Collateral and interest free loans up to five years for SMEs (small and medium enterprises) in tourism, which will help them, sustain and rebuild.”

While this was the scenario in India, most other nations like Italy, Spain, U.S., U.K., were among other the face the wrath of Covid-19.

Impact of Coronavirus on Food delivery apps

The third major sector to be hit by the Covid-19 pandemic is the food sector. The food delivery applications soon saw a decline in users and sales as the country entered lockdown. People started becoming more sceptical about ordering food from outside as the delivery boys might be corona carriers or be infected themselves. With some cases of these delivery people becoming affected with coronavirus came forth, people become all the more scared to order food online.

Along with the behavioural changes among the users, the food delivery apps came to a standstill with the government imposing strict restrictions on any sort of movement in the country.

There has been a considerable fall in the food delivery apps, and let’s take Instacart for example. It retained the 229th position, which was a huge fall from the 25th position, which it enjoyed before the economy was hit by Covid-19.

Now take a look at the revenue growth drivers of the food delivery business:

1- Number of customers they have on their application. This one explains the number of orders placed by the customers on the apps.

2- orders placed by each customer.

3- Take rate: These are the commission rates for each restaurant.

4- The gross merchandise value.

How has Covid-19 impacted the on-demand apps

The on-demand app was not far from suffering an economic crisis during these trying times. Many on-demand apps have lost. A large number of their regular customers stopped using their services during the lockdown and later, as they were scared of catching the virus from the service providers.

One of the most popular on-demand service apps Urban Company also came to standstill when people stopped using their services. Take a look at the services provided by Urban Company:

1- Spa

2- Beauty

3- Grooming

4- Repairs

5- Cleaning

6- Painting

7- Electricians

8- Plumbers

9- Health training

10- Yoga instructors

The major sectors that got unpleasantly affected during the Covid-19 pandemic include the likes of:

– Auto: There has been a tremendous amount of loss of jobs, that have led to incomes hitting the rock bottom, which has resulted in the reduced demand of automobiles and its part. People no more bought new cars as there was no need for them to get out of their houses.

– Hospitality: With no guests coming to stay in hotels and no new bookings, there was a downfall in the sector, resulting in layoffs and releasing of hospitality and staff that was not required. Lack of staff and the compulsory lockdown triggered a downfall in this sector.

– Aviation and tourism: As the lockdown was imposed by the governments of most of the countries, traveling and the aviation industry came to a standstill. There was a restriction on air travel and people were not allowed to book hotels or travel to other cities. These leisure travel restrictions caused a major setback to this sector.

– Apparel: Because of the lockdown there was a restricted demand in the industry of apparel and the sector also suffered low availability of labor and raw materials. This is the reason why the online sale so of apparel came to a standstill. There were no means of getting products delivered to the customers, therefore the clients refrained from making any new orders. This leads to restricted online orders and purchases.

– Building and construction: Another major sector that has been facing challenges like a lack of sales and a low supply of resources is the building and construction industry. There is no labor available at this time and the government did not allow the labor to work at this time.

The world has come to a halt and big game players of each industry have also come under the hammer. It’s time to ponder over ways to get the workflow back on track with the available resources.

Changes in the ad spent industry

Just like the apps that started down performing, the ad spent also reduced to a great extent, leading to some of the biggest players in the app industry suffering losses. Take a look at the amount spent by companies on ads:

If you examine the graph closely, you will witness a growth trend in the games segment, whereas, the productivity and entertainment categories seem to be diminishing. Looking at the segregation of apps country wise, there has been a significant rise and fall in the apps of countries in Asia. Productivity apps topped the ranks in December and January. Let’s look at the apps that took over the productivity apps in certain countries:

1- In Korea, the productivity apps were replaced by lifestyle and Health and Fitness applications in the month of March.

2- Japan saw a rise in the game apps in February, which broke the track record of all productivity apps.

3- Europe was a continent which again saw a rise in the games category for two quarters, however, it was only in France that the Productivity apps outperformed the rest in February, but it was also dominated by games and entertainment in the following month.

4- Germany saw a rise in the rank of entertainment apps throughout January. It was put on rank 2, while the productivity apps ranked number 3. The apps that suffered the biggest loss of all time in Germany were the weather apps.

5- The book’s apps were ranked last in France in the past few months, whereas the news and shopping apps ranked above the rest.

6- North and South America saw a rise in the installs of news apps in February and March, however the games apps are still on top.

On the contrary, there are several applications that have witnessed significant growth during this time.

Take a look at the new ideas people have come up with to keep the ball rolling:

1- Since we have friends that are now long lost, apps have come up with ideas to arrange house parties on video apps, where you can connect with a number of people at the same time and enjoy their company. From virtual wedding to virtual baby showers and birthday parties, everything has become a part of the digital world. Social distancing has brought everyone close on social media.

2- Job interviews are no more held in person, as people are now applying for jobs like as they used to before, but are being interviewed on video apps. Video conferencing has also become the new big deal in the industry.

3- Movies are now being live-streamed for movie buffs as they cannot step out, or go to the theatres like old times to enjoy a movie.

4- Even the celebrities are coming close to their fans as they are doing live concerts from home, which is being viewed by millions of people from the comfort of their homes.

Take a look at the new ideas people have come up with to keep the ball rolling:

1- We have relatives and friends that we want to get in touch with every now and then. Several apps have come up with ideas to arrange house parties on video apps, where you can connect with a number of people at the same time and enjoy their company. From virtual wedding to virtual baby showers and birthday parties, everything has become a part of the digital world. Social distancing has brought everyone close to social media.

2- Job interviews are no more held in person, as people are now applying for jobs like as they used to before, but are being interviewed on video apps. Video conferencing has also become the new big deal in the industry.

3- Movies are now being live-streamed for movie buffs as they cannot step out, or go to the theatres like old times to enjoy a movie.

4- Even the celebrities are coming close to their fans as they are doing live concerts from home, which is being viewed by millions of people from the comfort of their homes.

Wrapping up

Covid-19 has come as a warning to most apps that things are not permanent and there should always be a plan B in time of crisis. However, these app companies and industries are always thriving to compete with others and find a way through. Although there are several industries that have been adversely affected by the virus, they have their ways of coping up in the times to come. Every app is ready to take this as a challenge and offer something new to its customers so that they are back in action and in competition once the pandemic is over.

Xpertyst is a Mobile app development company and is developing different types of mobile applications from last few years and have extensive knowledge of domain features, if you are looking for app development services, write us at [email protected]

[wexpertyst]

Impact of Covid-19 on travel apps

Covid-19 has not only seeped into society and has left lakhs of people infected all over the world, but it has also had some adverse effects on some businesses and their mobile applications. Several features of mobile apps were left to rot in some corners of everyone’s device and faced the wrath of this deadly disease.

Consumer behavior has been affected due to the spread of coronavirus, and this has led to severe losses of some businesses. From the taxi services, to travel apps, food delivery apps, and on-demand service apps, all have come under the rage of this disease.

How were the app users impacted by COVID-19?

1. Industries like car rentals, on-demand service, hospitality, and travel came to a standstill, and people completely cut off from their mobile applications during the times of COVID-19. However, there was an increasing demand for online services for fitness. One of the best fitness apps that saw a sharp rise in its installs, 8Fit (Berlin-based) saw a rise in its users with each passing week and became one of the top-rated applications on the app store in no time. They provided free services to users.

2. Another app to hit the roof with the increasing number of installs is the meditation app 7Mind. Apart from the user activity, which was higher in the initial months of 2020, the app also saw a higher number of installs on various devices.

3. Gaming apps did tremendously well in most countries at this time. Similarly, the Compettia (Atrivity) app which is known as a gaming platform, also witnessed a growth during this period.

4. Babble, is another app that witnessed growth during Covid-19. It is a subscription-based language app that has 14 pre-installed languages in it.To make these types of apps, contact Xpertyst for android app development services

Categories of apps that have seen a decline:

Travel

Finance

On-demand apps

Taxi

Food delivery

Let us talk about each industry in detail.

Taxi industry

This is one industry that has faced the adverse effects of Coronavirus all across the globe. Since people are asked to stay inside their houses and refrain from going out, no one is availing the services of taxis, as they don’t have to commute anywhere. Along with this, another issue to add up to the fall of demand for taxis is the concept of work from home. Companies and offices have emptied out and asked their staff to work from their homes so that they refrain from contaminating the virus. This has resulted in less demand and loss of jobs.

Let’s talk about China, where the virus originated. The cab services went down by 50 percent in the country. Yellow cabs in the U.S. dropped their fares by two-thirds, but still didn’t see any ray of hope. Some other major hailing companies Uber and Lyft also saw a downward trend in the bookings made through their apps. The use of the apps reduced invariably.

The overall drop in the app session

There has been a significant drop in the app sessions of the Onde client. On average an iOS user’s time spent on the taxi apps has dropped down by 70 percent. Comparing the usage of these apps in February and March, the use of app decreased by a total of 70 percent. Well, this is an aggregate figure, however, the usage of each app country-wise has some other figures to display. While the usage of some has decreased by 50 percent, some have witnessed a major downfall with a decrease in the usage by 90 percent.

As per the government instructions, people should use a minimum of the public transport, therefore the use of taxi apps has diminished, however, people haven’t permanently deleted these applications and might start using these once it is done dealing with the pandemic, and things start falling into place.

Users are on a break

It is not that the users have deleted apps like Uber, Ola, and other car rentals, they are just taking a hiatus from their services and will resume taking the services once things get back to normal.

Now take a look at the sales and apps usage impacted to a really high extent by the new novel coronavirus (Covid-19)

Uber has been a top favorite app for local commuting in most countries. As seen in the graph above, the app has tried to retain its position of either number 1 or number two. However, in the early months of 2020, it saw a fall in position as it became the 17th app from the top, and going further it witnessed another major fall to the 84th position in the overall app ranking. This proves how on-demand apps have been affected. There are no new installs of the app and the app has come to a standstill as people have stopped using the app.

Another example we can take is that of Air China, which has seen a huge downfall again. Take a look at the ranking of the airlines:

Impact of Covid-19 on travel apps

The travel industry has been gravely affected by the current situation. People have been laid off as the industry isn’t able to recover all the money spent and are not in a position to pay to their employees. Therefore, the last resort for them was to lay off people. With very little new bookings, there is no scope for them to do any better in the near future. The industry will take time to recuperate. Most travelers wanted the traveling apps to provide prominent tips and travel guidelines according to the latest details of Covid-19.

According to a report in statista, following points were determined:

1-      Travel related smartphone applications reduced considerably by the end of month April.

2-      There were only eight percent of app users who actually used the app to make bookings from January 13, 2020 to February 2, 2020.

3-      By April, 2020, there were only 2 percent of the users left to use the app.

Take a look at the Statista graph to explain the numbers:

The tourism industry was the worst affected during the lockdown as the flights came to a standstill and people weren’t allowed to leave their houses without a pass and proper information submission. The hotel and travel sectors went into shudders which lead apps like MakeMyTrip and TravelTriangle run in huge losses, laying off its employees as it made no revenue through new bookings.

In a note written to Finance Niramala Sitharama, co-chairman of Ficci national tourism council and secretary, Hotel Association of India, J K Mohanty, “While the industry has received the moratorium for three months, however, it needs a minimum of one year moratorium on all working capital, principal, interest payments, loans and overdrafts. Collateral and interest free loans up to five years for SMEs (small and medium enterprises) in tourism, which will help them, sustain and rebuild.”

While this was the scenario in India, most other nations like Italy, Spain, U.S., U.K., were among other the face the wrath of Covid-19.

Impact of Coronavirus on Food delivery apps

The third major sector to be hit by the Covid-19 pandemic is the food sector. The food delivery applications soon saw a decline in users and sales as the country entered lockdown. People started becoming more sceptical about ordering food from outside as the delivery boys might be corona carriers or be infected themselves. With some cases of these delivery people becoming affected with coronavirus came forth, people become all the more scared to order food online.

Along with the behavioural changes among the users, the food delivery apps came to a standstill with the government imposing strict restrictions on any sort of movement in the country.

There has been a considerable fall in the food delivery apps, and let’s take Instacart for example. It retained the 229th position, which was a huge fall from the 25th position, which it enjoyed before the economy was hit by Covid-19.

Take a look at the graphical representation for the same:

Take a look at the revenue drivers of the food delivery applications:

Now take a look at the revenue growth drivers of the food delivery business:

1-      Number of customers they have on their application. This one explains the number of orders placed by the customers on the apps.

2-      orders placed by each customer.

3-      Take rate: These are the commission rates for each restaurant.

4-      The gross merchandise value.

How has Covid-19 impacted the on-demand apps

The on-demand app was not far from suffering an economic crisis during these trying times. Many on-demand apps have lost. A large number of their regular customers stopped using their services during the lockdown and later, as they were scared of catching the virus from the service providers.

One of the most popular on-demand service apps Urban Company also came to standstill when people stopped using their services. Take a look at the services provided by Urban Company:

1-      Spa

2-      Beauty

3-      Grooming

4-      Repairs

5-      Cleaning

6-      Painting

7-      Electricians

8-      Plumbers

9-      Health training

10-  Yoga instructors

The major sectors that got unpleasantly affected during the Covid-19 pandemic include the likes of:

–          Auto: There has been a tremendous amount of loss of jobs, that have led to incomes hitting the rock bottom, which has resulted in the reduced demand of automobiles and its part. People no more bought new cars as there was no need for them to get out of their houses.

–          Hospitality: With no guests coming to stay in hotels and no new bookings, there was a downfall in the sector, resulting in layoffs and releasing of hospitality and staff that was not required. Lack of staff and the compulsory lockdown triggered a downfall in this sector.

–          Aviation and tourism: As the lockdown was imposed by the governments of most of the countries, traveling and the aviation industry came to a standstill. There was a restriction on air travel and people were not allowed to book hotels or travel to other cities. These leisure travel restrictions caused a major setback to this sector.

–          Apparel: Because of the lockdown there was a restricted demand in the industry of apparel and the sector also suffered low availability of labor and raw materials. This is the reason why the online sale so of apparel came to a standstill. There were no means of getting products delivered to the customers, therefore the clients refrained from making any new orders. This leads to restricted online orders and purchases.

–          Building and construction: Another major sector that has been facing challenges like a lack of sales and a low supply of resources is the building and construction industry. There is no labor available at this time and the government did not allow the labor to work at this time.

The world has come to a halt and big game players of each industry have also come under the hammer. It’s time to ponder over ways to get the workflow back on track with the available resources.

Changes in the ad spent industry

Just like the apps that started down performing, the ad spent also reduced to a great extent, leading to some of the biggest players in the app industry suffering losses. Take a look at the amount spent by companies on ads:

If you examine the graph closely, you will witness a growth trend in the games segment, whereas, the productivity and entertainment categories seem to be diminishing. Looking at the segregation of apps country wise, there has been a significant rise and fall in the apps of countries in Asia. Productivity apps topped the ranks in December and January. Let’s look at the apps that took over the productivity apps in certain countries:

1-      In Korea, the productivity apps were replaced by lifestyle and Health and Fitness applications in the month of March.

2-      Japan saw a rise in the game apps in February, which broke the track record of all productivity apps.

3-      Europe was a continent which again saw a rise in the games category for two quarters, however, it was only in France that the Productivity apps outperformed the rest in February, but it was also dominated by games and entertainment in the following month.

4-      Germany saw a rise in the rank of entertainment apps throughout January. It was put on rank 2, while the productivity apps ranked number 3. The apps that suffered the biggest loss of all time in Germany were the weather apps.

5-      The book's apps were ranked last in France in the past few months, whereas the news and shopping apps ranked above the rest.

6-      North and South America saw a rise in the installs of news apps in February and March, however the games apps are still on top.

Now take a look at the ranking of the smartphone apps in France according to a statista report:

Most downloaded apps on the Google Play store after the Covid-19 outbreak France 2020

Published by Statista Research Department, May 25, 2020:

On the contrary, there are several applications that have witnessed significant growth during this time.

Take a look at the new ideas people have come up with to keep the ball rolling:

1-      Since we have friends that are now long lost, apps have come up with ideas to arrange house parties on video apps, where you can connect with a number of people at the same time and enjoy their company. From virtual wedding to virtual baby showers and birthday parties, everything has become a part of the digital world. Social distancing has brought everyone close on social media.

2-      Job interviews are no more held in person, as people are now applying for jobs like as they used to before, but are being interviewed on video apps. Video conferencing has also become the new big deal in the industry.

3-      Movies are now being live-streamed for movie buffs as they cannot step out, or go to the theatres like old times to enjoy a movie.

4-      Even the celebrities are coming close to their fans as they are doing live concerts from home, which is being viewed by millions of people from the comfort of their homes.

Take a look at the new ideas people have come up with to keep the ball rolling:

1-      We have relatives and friends that we want to get in touch with every now and then. Several apps have come up with ideas to arrange house parties on video apps, where you can connect with a number of people at the same time and enjoy their company. From virtual wedding to virtual baby showers and birthday parties, everything has become a part of the digital world. Social distancing has brought everyone close to social media.

2-      Job interviews are no more held in person, as people are now applying for jobs like as they used to before, but are being interviewed on video apps. Video conferencing has also become the new big deal in the industry.

3-      Movies are now being live-streamed for movie buffs as they cannot step out, or go to the theatres like old times to enjoy a movie.

4-   Even the celebrities are coming close to their fans as they are doing live concerts from home, which is being viewed by millions of people from the comfort of their homes.

Wrapping up

Covid-19 has come as a warning to most apps that things are not permanent and there should always be a plan B in time of crisis. However, these app companies and industries are always thriving to compete with others and find a way through. Although there are several industries that have been adversely affected by the virus, they have their ways of coping up in the times to come. Every app is ready to take this as a challenge and offer something new to its customers so that they are back in action and in competition once the pandemic is over.

Xpertyst is a Mobile app development company and is developing different types of mobile applications from last few years and have extensive knowledge of domain features, if you are looking for app development services, write us at [email protected]

#web develop #web development #webdesign #website #web design #mobile application development #Mobile Development #mobile app development #mobile app #mobile #React Native developers #reactnative #react #android developer #react native #reactjs

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Impact of Coronavirus on Food delivery apps

Covid-19 has not only seeped into society and has left lakhs of people infected all over the world, but it has also had some adverse effects on some businesses and their mobile applications. Several features of mobile apps were left to rot in some corners of everyone’s device and faced the wrath of this deadly disease.

Consumer behavior has been affected due to the spread of coronavirus, and this has led to severe losses of some businesses. From the taxi services, to travel apps, food delivery apps, and on-demand service apps, all have come under the rage of this disease.

How were the app users impacted by COVID-19?

1. Industries like car rentals, on-demand service, hospitality, and travel came to a standstill, and people completely cut off from their mobile applications during the times of COVID-19. However, there was an increasing demand for online services for fitness. One of the best fitness apps that saw a sharp rise in its installs, 8Fit (Berlin-based) saw a rise in its users with each passing week and became one of the top-rated applications on the app store in no time. They provided free services to users.

2. Another app to hit the roof with the increasing number of installs is the meditation app 7Mind. Apart from the user activity, which was higher in the initial months of 2020, the app also saw a higher number of installs on various devices.

3. Gaming apps did tremendously well in most countries at this time. Similarly, the Compettia (Atrivity) app which is known as a gaming platform, also witnessed a growth during this period.

4. Babble, is another app that witnessed growth during Covid-19. It is a subscription-based language app that has 14 pre-installed languages in it.To make these types of apps, contact Xpertyst for android app development services

Categories of apps that have seen a decline:

Travel

Finance

On-demand apps

Taxi

Food delivery

Let us talk about each industry in detail.

Taxi industry

This is one industry that has faced the adverse effects of Coronavirus all across the globe. Since people are asked to stay inside their houses and refrain from going out, no one is availing the services of taxis, as they don’t have to commute anywhere. Along with this, another issue to add up to the fall of demand for taxis is the concept of work from home. Companies and offices have emptied out and asked their staff to work from their homes so that they refrain from contaminating the virus. This has resulted in less demand and loss of jobs.

Let’s talk about China, where the virus originated. The cab services went down by 50 percent in the country. Yellow cabs in the U.S. dropped their fares by two-thirds, but still didn’t see any ray of hope. Some other major hailing companies Uber and Lyft also saw a downward trend in the bookings made through their apps. The use of the apps reduced invariably.

The overall drop in the app session

There has been a significant drop in the app sessions of the Onde client. On average an iOS user’s time spent on the taxi apps has dropped down by 70 percent. Comparing the usage of these apps in February and March, the use of app decreased by a total of 70 percent. Well, this is an aggregate figure, however, the usage of each app country-wise has some other figures to display. While the usage of some has decreased by 50 percent, some have witnessed a major downfall with a decrease in the usage by 90 percent.

As per the government instructions, people should use a minimum of the public transport, therefore the use of taxi apps has diminished, however, people haven’t permanently deleted these applications and might start using these once it is done dealing with the pandemic, and things start falling into place.

Users are on a break

It is not that the users have deleted apps like Uber, Ola, and other car rentals, they are just taking a hiatus from their services and will resume taking the services once things get back to normal.

Now take a look at the sales and apps usage impacted to a really high extent by the new novel coronavirus (Covid-19)

Uber has been a top favorite app for local commuting in most countries. As seen in the graph above, the app has tried to retain its position of either number 1 or number two. However, in the early months of 2020, it saw a fall in position as it became the 17th app from the top, and going further it witnessed another major fall to the 84th position in the overall app ranking. This proves how on-demand apps have been affected. There are no new installs of the app and the app has come to a standstill as people have stopped using the app.

Another example we can take is that of Air China, which has seen a huge downfall again. Take a look at the ranking of the airlines:

Impact of Covid-19 on travel apps

The travel industry has been gravely affected by the current situation. People have been laid off as the industry isn’t able to recover all the money spent and are not in a position to pay to their employees. Therefore, the last resort for them was to lay off people. With very little new bookings, there is no scope for them to do any better in the near future. The industry will take time to recuperate. Most travelers wanted the traveling apps to provide prominent tips and travel guidelines according to the latest details of Covid-19.

According to a report in statista, following points were determined:

1-      Travel related smartphone applications reduced considerably by the end of month April.

2-      There were only eight percent of app users who actually used the app to make bookings from January 13, 2020 to February 2, 2020.

3-      By April, 2020, there were only 2 percent of the users left to use the app.

Take a look at the Statista graph to explain the numbers:

The tourism industry was the worst affected during the lockdown as the flights came to a standstill and people weren’t allowed to leave their houses without a pass and proper information submission. The hotel and travel sectors went into shudders which lead apps like MakeMyTrip and TravelTriangle run in huge losses, laying off its employees as it made no revenue through new bookings.

In a note written to Finance Niramala Sitharama, co-chairman of Ficci national tourism council and secretary, Hotel Association of India, J K Mohanty, “While the industry has received the moratorium for three months, however, it needs a minimum of one year moratorium on all working capital, principal, interest payments, loans and overdrafts. Collateral and interest free loans up to five years for SMEs (small and medium enterprises) in tourism, which will help them, sustain and rebuild.”

While this was the scenario in India, most other nations like Italy, Spain, U.S., U.K., were among other the face the wrath of Covid-19.

Impact of Coronavirus on Food delivery apps

The third major sector to be hit by the Covid-19 pandemic is the food sector. The food delivery applications soon saw a decline in users and sales as the country entered lockdown. People started becoming more sceptical about ordering food from outside as the delivery boys might be corona carriers or be infected themselves. With some cases of these delivery people becoming affected with coronavirus came forth, people become all the more scared to order food online.

Along with the behavioural changes among the users, the food delivery apps came to a standstill with the government imposing strict restrictions on any sort of movement in the country.

There has been a considerable fall in the food delivery apps, and let’s take Instacart for example. It retained the 229th position, which was a huge fall from the 25th position, which it enjoyed before the economy was hit by Covid-19.

Take a look at the graphical representation for the same:

Take a look at the revenue drivers of the food delivery applications:

Now take a look at the revenue growth drivers of the food delivery business:

1-      Number of customers they have on their application. This one explains the number of orders placed by the customers on the apps.

2-      orders placed by each customer.

3-      Take rate: These are the commission rates for each restaurant.

4-      The gross merchandise value.

How has Covid-19 impacted the on-demand apps

The on-demand app was not far from suffering an economic crisis during these trying times. Many on-demand apps have lost. A large number of their regular customers stopped using their services during the lockdown and later, as they were scared of catching the virus from the service providers.

One of the most popular on-demand service apps Urban Company also came to standstill when people stopped using their services. Take a look at the services provided by Urban Company:

1-      Spa

2-      Beauty

3-      Grooming

4-      Repairs

5-      Cleaning

6-      Painting

7-      Electricians

8-      Plumbers

9-      Health training

10-  Yoga instructors

The major sectors that got unpleasantly affected during the Covid-19 pandemic include the likes of:

–          Auto: There has been a tremendous amount of loss of jobs, that have led to incomes hitting the rock bottom, which has resulted in the reduced demand of automobiles and its part. People no more bought new cars as there was no need for them to get out of their houses.

–          Hospitality: With no guests coming to stay in hotels and no new bookings, there was a downfall in the sector, resulting in layoffs and releasing of hospitality and staff that was not required. Lack of staff and the compulsory lockdown triggered a downfall in this sector.

–          Aviation and tourism: As the lockdown was imposed by the governments of most of the countries, traveling and the aviation industry came to a standstill. There was a restriction on air travel and people were not allowed to book hotels or travel to other cities. These leisure travel restrictions caused a major setback to this sector.

–          Apparel: Because of the lockdown there was a restricted demand in the industry of apparel and the sector also suffered low availability of labor and raw materials. This is the reason why the online sale so of apparel came to a standstill. There were no means of getting products delivered to the customers, therefore the clients refrained from making any new orders. This leads to restricted online orders and purchases.

–          Building and construction: Another major sector that has been facing challenges like a lack of sales and a low supply of resources is the building and construction industry. There is no labor available at this time and the government did not allow the labor to work at this time.

The world has come to a halt and big game players of each industry have also come under the hammer. It’s time to ponder over ways to get the workflow back on track with the available resources.

Changes in the ad spent industry

Just like the apps that started down performing, the ad spent also reduced to a great extent, leading to some of the biggest players in the app industry suffering losses. Take a look at the amount spent by companies on ads:

If you examine the graph closely, you will witness a growth trend in the games segment, whereas, the productivity and entertainment categories seem to be diminishing. Looking at the segregation of apps country wise, there has been a significant rise and fall in the apps of countries in Asia. Productivity apps topped the ranks in December and January. Let’s look at the apps that took over the productivity apps in certain countries:

1-      In Korea, the productivity apps were replaced by lifestyle and Health and Fitness applications in the month of March.

2-      Japan saw a rise in the game apps in February, which broke the track record of all productivity apps.

3-      Europe was a continent which again saw a rise in the games category for two quarters, however, it was only in France that the Productivity apps outperformed the rest in February, but it was also dominated by games and entertainment in the following month.

4-      Germany saw a rise in the rank of entertainment apps throughout January. It was put on rank 2, while the productivity apps ranked number 3. The apps that suffered the biggest loss of all time in Germany were the weather apps.

5-      The book's apps were ranked last in France in the past few months, whereas the news and shopping apps ranked above the rest.

6-      North and South America saw a rise in the installs of news apps in February and March, however the games apps are still on top.

Now take a look at the ranking of the smartphone apps in France according to a statista report:

Most downloaded apps on the Google Play store after the Covid-19 outbreak France 2020

Published by Statista Research Department, May 25, 2020:

On the contrary, there are several applications that have witnessed significant growth during this time.

Take a look at the new ideas people have come up with to keep the ball rolling:

1-      Since we have friends that are now long lost, apps have come up with ideas to arrange house parties on video apps, where you can connect with a number of people at the same time and enjoy their company. From virtual wedding to virtual baby showers and birthday parties, everything has become a part of the digital world. Social distancing has brought everyone close on social media.

2-      Job interviews are no more held in person, as people are now applying for jobs like as they used to before, but are being interviewed on video apps. Video conferencing has also become the new big deal in the industry.

3-      Movies are now being live-streamed for movie buffs as they cannot step out, or go to the theatres like old times to enjoy a movie.

4-      Even the celebrities are coming close to their fans as they are doing live concerts from home, which is being viewed by millions of people from the comfort of their homes.

Take a look at the new ideas people have come up with to keep the ball rolling:

1-      We have relatives and friends that we want to get in touch with every now and then. Several apps have come up with ideas to arrange house parties on video apps, where you can connect with a number of people at the same time and enjoy their company. From virtual wedding to virtual baby showers and birthday parties, everything has become a part of the digital world. Social distancing has brought everyone close to social media.

2-      Job interviews are no more held in person, as people are now applying for jobs like as they used to before, but are being interviewed on video apps. Video conferencing has also become the new big deal in the industry.

3-      Movies are now being live-streamed for movie buffs as they cannot step out, or go to the theatres like old times to enjoy a movie.

4-   Even the celebrities are coming close to their fans as they are doing live concerts from home, which is being viewed by millions of people from the comfort of their homes.

Wrapping up

Covid-19 has come as a warning to most apps that things are not permanent and there should always be a plan B in time of crisis. However, these app companies and industries are always thriving to compete with others and find a way through. Although there are several industries that have been adversely affected by the virus, they have their ways of coping up in the times to come. Every app is ready to take this as a challenge and offer something new to its customers so that they are back in action and in competition once the pandemic is over.

Xpertyst is a Mobile app development company and is developing different types of mobile applications from last few years and have extensive knowledge of domain features, if you are looking for app development services, write us at [email protected]

#mobile application development #mobile app development #mobile app #Mobile Development

[wexpertyst]

How were the app users impacted by COVID-19?

Covid-19 has not only seeped into society and has left lakhs of people infected all over the world, but it has also had some adverse effects on some businesses and their mobile applications. Several features of mobile apps were left to rot in some corners of everyone’s device and faced the wrath of this deadly disease.

Consumer behavior has been affected due to the spread of coronavirus, and this has led to severe losses of some businesses. From the taxi services, to travel apps, food delivery apps, and on-demand service apps, all have come under the rage of this disease.

How were the app users impacted by COVID-19?

1. Industries like car rentals, on-demand service, hospitality, and travel came to a standstill, and people completely cut off from their mobile applications during the times of COVID-19. However, there was an increasing demand for online services for fitness. One of the best fitness apps that saw a sharp rise in its installs, 8Fit (Berlin-based) saw a rise in its users with each passing week and became one of the top-rated applications on the app store in no time. They provided free services to users.

2. Another app to hit the roof with the increasing number of installs is the meditation app 7Mind. Apart from the user activity, which was higher in the initial months of 2020, the app also saw a higher number of installs on various devices.

3. Gaming apps did tremendously well in most countries at this time. Similarly, the Compettia (Atrivity) app which is known as a gaming platform, also witnessed a growth during this period.

4. Babble, is another app that witnessed growth during Covid-19. It is a subscription-based language app that has 14 pre-installed languages in it.To make these types of apps, contact Xpertyst for android app development services

Categories of apps that have seen a decline:

Travel

Finance

On-demand apps

Taxi

Food delivery

Let us talk about each industry in detail.

Taxi industry

This is one industry that has faced the adverse effects of Coronavirus all across the globe. Since people are asked to stay inside their houses and refrain from going out, no one is availing the services of taxis, as they don’t have to commute anywhere. Along with this, another issue to add up to the fall of demand for taxis is the concept of work from home. Companies and offices have emptied out and asked their staff to work from their homes so that they refrain from contaminating the virus. This has resulted in less demand and loss of jobs.

Let’s talk about China, where the virus originated. The cab services went down by 50 percent in the country. Yellow cabs in the U.S. dropped their fares by two-thirds, but still didn’t see any ray of hope. Some other major hailing companies Uber and Lyft also saw a downward trend in the bookings made through their apps. The use of the apps reduced invariably.

The overall drop in the app session

There has been a significant drop in the app sessions of the Onde client. On average an iOS user’s time spent on the taxi apps has dropped down by 70 percent. Comparing the usage of these apps in February and March, the use of app decreased by a total of 70 percent. Well, this is an aggregate figure, however, the usage of each app country-wise has some other figures to display. While the usage of some has decreased by 50 percent, some have witnessed a major downfall with a decrease in the usage by 90 percent.

As per the government instructions, people should use a minimum of the public transport, therefore the use of taxi apps has diminished, however, people haven’t permanently deleted these applications and might start using these once it is done dealing with the pandemic, and things start falling into place.

Users are on a break

It is not that the users have deleted apps like Uber, Ola, and other car rentals, they are just taking a hiatus from their services and will resume taking the services once things get back to normal.

Now take a look at the sales and apps usage impacted to a really high extent by the new novel coronavirus (Covid-19)

Uber has been a top favorite app for local commuting in most countries. As seen in the graph above, the app has tried to retain its position of either number 1 or number two. However, in the early months of 2020, it saw a fall in position as it became the 17th app from the top, and going further it witnessed another major fall to the 84th position in the overall app ranking. This proves how on-demand apps have been affected. There are no new installs of the app and the app has come to a standstill as people have stopped using the app.

Another example we can take is that of Air China, which has seen a huge downfall again. Take a look at the ranking of the airlines:

Impact of Covid-19 on travel apps

The travel industry has been gravely affected by the current situation. People have been laid off as the industry isn’t able to recover all the money spent and are not in a position to pay to their employees. Therefore, the last resort for them was to lay off people. With very little new bookings, there is no scope for them to do any better in the near future. The industry will take time to recuperate. Most travelers wanted the traveling apps to provide prominent tips and travel guidelines according to the latest details of Covid-19.

According to a report in statista, following points were determined:

1-      Travel related smartphone applications reduced considerably by the end of month April.

2-      There were only eight percent of app users who actually used the app to make bookings from January 13, 2020 to February 2, 2020.

3-      By April, 2020, there were only 2 percent of the users left to use the app.

Take a look at the Statista graph to explain the numbers:

The tourism industry was the worst affected during the lockdown as the flights came to a standstill and people weren’t allowed to leave their houses without a pass and proper information submission. The hotel and travel sectors went into shudders which lead apps like MakeMyTrip and TravelTriangle run in huge losses, laying off its employees as it made no revenue through new bookings.

In a note written to Finance Niramala Sitharama, co-chairman of Ficci national tourism council and secretary, Hotel Association of India, J K Mohanty, “While the industry has received the moratorium for three months, however, it needs a minimum of one year moratorium on all working capital, principal, interest payments, loans and overdrafts. Collateral and interest free loans up to five years for SMEs (small and medium enterprises) in tourism, which will help them, sustain and rebuild.”

While this was the scenario in India, most other nations like Italy, Spain, U.S., U.K., were among other the face the wrath of Covid-19.

Impact of Coronavirus on Food delivery apps

The third major sector to be hit by the Covid-19 pandemic is the food sector. The food delivery applications soon saw a decline in users and sales as the country entered lockdown. People started becoming more sceptical about ordering food from outside as the delivery boys might be corona carriers or be infected themselves. With some cases of these delivery people becoming affected with coronavirus came forth, people become all the more scared to order food online.

Along with the behavioural changes among the users, the food delivery apps came to a standstill with the government imposing strict restrictions on any sort of movement in the country.

There has been a considerable fall in the food delivery apps, and let’s take Instacart for example. It retained the 229th position, which was a huge fall from the 25th position, which it enjoyed before the economy was hit by Covid-19.

Take a look at the graphical representation for the same:

Take a look at the revenue drivers of the food delivery applications:

Now take a look at the revenue growth drivers of the food delivery business:

1-      Number of customers they have on their application. This one explains the number of orders placed by the customers on the apps.

2-      orders placed by each customer.

3-      Take rate: These are the commission rates for each restaurant.

4-      The gross merchandise value.

How has Covid-19 impacted the on-demand apps

The on-demand app was not far from suffering an economic crisis during these trying times. Many on-demand apps have lost. A large number of their regular customers stopped using their services during the lockdown and later, as they were scared of catching the virus from the service providers.

One of the most popular on-demand service apps Urban Company also came to standstill when people stopped using their services. Take a look at the services provided by Urban Company:

1-      Spa

2-      Beauty

3-      Grooming

4-      Repairs

5-      Cleaning

6-      Painting

7-      Electricians

8-      Plumbers

9-      Health training

10-  Yoga instructors

The major sectors that got unpleasantly affected during the Covid-19 pandemic include the likes of:

–          Auto: There has been a tremendous amount of loss of jobs, that have led to incomes hitting the rock bottom, which has resulted in the reduced demand of automobiles and its part. People no more bought new cars as there was no need for them to get out of their houses.

–          Hospitality: With no guests coming to stay in hotels and no new bookings, there was a downfall in the sector, resulting in layoffs and releasing of hospitality and staff that was not required. Lack of staff and the compulsory lockdown triggered a downfall in this sector.

–          Aviation and tourism: As the lockdown was imposed by the governments of most of the countries, traveling and the aviation industry came to a standstill. There was a restriction on air travel and people were not allowed to book hotels or travel to other cities. These leisure travel restrictions caused a major setback to this sector.

–          Apparel: Because of the lockdown there was a restricted demand in the industry of apparel and the sector also suffered low availability of labor and raw materials. This is the reason why the online sale so of apparel came to a standstill. There were no means of getting products delivered to the customers, therefore the clients refrained from making any new orders. This leads to restricted online orders and purchases.

–          Building and construction: Another major sector that has been facing challenges like a lack of sales and a low supply of resources is the building and construction industry. There is no labor available at this time and the government did not allow the labor to work at this time.

The world has come to a halt and big game players of each industry have also come under the hammer. It’s time to ponder over ways to get the workflow back on track with the available resources.

Changes in the ad spent industry

Just like the apps that started down performing, the ad spent also reduced to a great extent, leading to some of the biggest players in the app industry suffering losses. Take a look at the amount spent by companies on ads:

If you examine the graph closely, you will witness a growth trend in the games segment, whereas, the productivity and entertainment categories seem to be diminishing. Looking at the segregation of apps country wise, there has been a significant rise and fall in the apps of countries in Asia. Productivity apps topped the ranks in December and January. Let’s look at the apps that took over the productivity apps in certain countries:

1-      In Korea, the productivity apps were replaced by lifestyle and Health and Fitness applications in the month of March.

2-      Japan saw a rise in the game apps in February, which broke the track record of all productivity apps.

3-      Europe was a continent which again saw a rise in the games category for two quarters, however, it was only in France that the Productivity apps outperformed the rest in February, but it was also dominated by games and entertainment in the following month.

4-      Germany saw a rise in the rank of entertainment apps throughout January. It was put on rank 2, while the productivity apps ranked number 3. The apps that suffered the biggest loss of all time in Germany were the weather apps.

5-      The book's apps were ranked last in France in the past few months, whereas the news and shopping apps ranked above the rest.

6-      North and South America saw a rise in the installs of news apps in February and March, however the games apps are still on top.

Now take a look at the ranking of the smartphone apps in France according to a statista report:

Most downloaded apps on the Google Play store after the Covid-19 outbreak France 2020

Published by Statista Research Department, May 25, 2020:

On the contrary, there are several applications that have witnessed significant growth during this time.

Take a look at the new ideas people have come up with to keep the ball rolling:

1-      Since we have friends that are now long lost, apps have come up with ideas to arrange house parties on video apps, where you can connect with a number of people at the same time and enjoy their company. From virtual wedding to virtual baby showers and birthday parties, everything has become a part of the digital world. Social distancing has brought everyone close on social media.

2-      Job interviews are no more held in person, as people are now applying for jobs like as they used to before, but are being interviewed on video apps. Video conferencing has also become the new big deal in the industry.

3-      Movies are now being live-streamed for movie buffs as they cannot step out, or go to the theatres like old times to enjoy a movie.

4-      Even the celebrities are coming close to their fans as they are doing live concerts from home, which is being viewed by millions of people from the comfort of their homes.

Take a look at the new ideas people have come up with to keep the ball rolling:

1-      We have relatives and friends that we want to get in touch with every now and then. Several apps have come up with ideas to arrange house parties on video apps, where you can connect with a number of people at the same time and enjoy their company. From virtual wedding to virtual baby showers and birthday parties, everything has become a part of the digital world. Social distancing has brought everyone close to social media.

2-      Job interviews are no more held in person, as people are now applying for jobs like as they used to before, but are being interviewed on video apps. Video conferencing has also become the new big deal in the industry.

3-      Movies are now being live-streamed for movie buffs as they cannot step out, or go to the theatres like old times to enjoy a movie.

4-   Even the celebrities are coming close to their fans as they are doing live concerts from home, which is being viewed by millions of people from the comfort of their homes.

Wrapping up

Covid-19 has come as a warning to most apps that things are not permanent and there should always be a plan B in time of crisis. However, these app companies and industries are always thriving to compete with others and find a way through. Although there are several industries that have been adversely affected by the virus, they have their ways of coping up in the times to come. Every app is ready to take this as a challenge and offer something new to its customers so that they are back in action and in competition once the pandemic is over.

Xpertyst is a Mobile app development company and is developing different types of mobile applications from last few years and have extensive knowledge of domain features, if you are looking for app development services, write us at [email protected]

#React Native developers #react native #web development #webdesign #mobile app development #mobile application development

[wexpertyst]

LIST OF POPULAR MOBILE APPLICATIONS THAT HAVE BEEN SEVERELY HIT DURING COVID-19

Covid-19 has not only seeped into the society and has left lakhs of people infected all over the world, but it has also had some adverse effects on some businesses and their mobile applications. Several features of mobile apps were left to rot in some corner of everyone’s device and faced the wrath of this deadly disease.

Consumer behavior has been affected due to the spread of coronavirus, and this has led to severe losses of some businesses. From the taxi services, to travel apps, food delivery apps and on-demand service apps, all have come under the rage of this disease.

How were the app users impacted by COVID-19?

1. Industries like car rentals, on demand service, hospitality, and travel came to a standstill, and people completely cut off from their mobile applications during the times of COVID-19. However, there was an increasing demand for online services for fitness. One of the best fitness apps that saw a sharp rise in its installs, 8Fit (Berlin based) saw a rise in their users with each passing week and became one of the top rated applications on the app store in no time. They provided free services to users.

2. Another app to hit the roof with the increasing number of installs is the meditation app 7Mind. Apart from the user activity, which was higher in the initial months of 2020, the app also saw a higher number of installs on various devices.

3. Gaming apps did tremendously well in most countries at this time. Similarly, the Compettia (Atrivity) app which is known as a gaming platform, also witnessed a growth during this period.

4. Babble, is another app that witnessed growth during Covid-19. It is a subscription-based language app which has 14 pre-installed languages in it.

Categories of apps that have seen a decline:

Travel

Finance

On-demand apps

Taxi

Food delivery

Let us talk about each industry in detail.

Taxi industry

This is one industry that has faced adverse effect of Coronavirus all across the globe. Since people are asked to stay inside their houses and refrain from going out, no one is availing the services of taxis, as they don’t have to commute anywhere. Along with this, another issue to add up to the fall of demand for taxis is the concept of work from home. Companies and offices have emptied out and asked their staff to work from their homes so that they refrain from contaminating the virus. This has resulted in less demand and loss of jobs.

Let’s talk about China, where the virus originated. The cab services went down by 50 percent in the country. Yellow cabs in the U.S. dropped their fares by two-thirds, but still didn’t see any ray of hope. Some other major hailing companies Uber and Lyft also saw a downward trend in the bookings made through their apps. The use of the apps reduced invariably.

Overall drop in the app session

There has been a significant drop in the app sessions of the Onde client. On an average an iOS user’s time spent on the taxi apps has dropped down by 70 percent. Comparing the usage of these apps in February and March, the use of app decreased by a total of 70 percent. Well, this is an aggregate figure, however, the usage of each app country wise has some other figures to display. While the usage of some has decreased by 50 percent, some have witnessed a major downfall with a decrease in the usage by 90 percent.

As per the government instructions, people should use a minimum of the public transport, therefore the use of taxi apps has diminished, however, people haven’t permanently deleted these applications and might start using these once it is done dealing with the pandemic, and things start falling into place.

Users are on a break

It is not that the users have deleted apps like Uber, Ola and other car rentals, they are just taking a hiatus from their services and will resume taking the services once things get back to normal.

Now take a look at the sales and apps usage impacted to a really high extent by the new novel coronavirus (Covid-19)

Uber has been a top favourite app for local commuting in most countries. As seen in the graph above, the app has tried to retain its position of either number 1 or number two. However, in the early months of 2020, it saw a fall in position as it became the 17th app from the top, and going further it witnessed another major fall to the 84th position in the overall app ranking. This proves how the on demand apps have been affected. There are no new installs of the app and the app has come to a standstill as people have stopped using the app.

Another example we can take is that of Air China, which has seen a huge downfall again. Take a look at the ranking of the airlines:

Impact of Covid-19 on travel apps

The travel industry has been gravely affected by the current situation. People have been laid off as the industry isn’t able to recover all the money spent and are not in a position to pay to their employees. Therefore, the last resort for them was to lay off people. With very little new bookings, there is not scope for them to do any better in the near future. The industry will take time to recuperate. Most travellers wanted the traveling apps to provide prominent tips and travel guidelines according to the latest details of Covid-19.

According to a report in statista, following points were determined:

1-      Travel related smartphone applications reduced considerably by the end of month April.

2-      There were only eight percent of app users who actually used the app to make bookings from January 13, 2020 to February 2, 2020.

3-      By April, 2020, there were only 2 percent of the users left to use the app.

Take a look at the Statista graph to explain the numbers:

The tourism industry was the worst affected during the lockdown as the flights came to a standstill and people weren’t allowed to leave their houses without a pass and proper information submission. The hotel and travel sectors went into shudders which lead apps like MakeMyTrip and TravelTriangle run in huge losses, laying off its employees as it made no revenue through new bookings.

In a note written to Finance Niramala Sitharama, co-chairman of Ficci national tourism council and secretary, Hotel Association of India, J K Mohanty, “While the industry has received the moratorium for three months, however, it needs a minimum of one year moratorium on all working capital, principal, interest payments, loans and overdrafts. Collateral and interest free loans up to five years for SMEs (small and medium enterprises) in tourism, which will help them, sustain and rebuild.”

While this was the scenario in India, most other nations like Italy, Spain, U.S., U.K., were among other the face the wrath of Covid-19.

Impact of Coronavirus on Food delivery apps

The third major sector to be hit by the Covid-19 pandemic is the food sector. The food delivery applications soon saw a decline in users and sales as the country entered lockdown. People started becoming more sceptical about ordering food from outside as the delivery boys might be corona carriers or be infected themselves. With some cases of these delivery people becoming affected with coronavirus came forth, people become all the more scared to order food online.

Along with the behavioural changes among the users, the food delivery apps came to a standstill with the government imposing strict restrictions on any sort of movement in the country.

There has been a considerable fall in the food delivery apps, and let’s take Instacart for example. It retained the 229th position, which was a huge fall from the 25th position, which it enjoyed before the economy was hit by Covid-19.

Take a look at the graphical representation for the same:

Take a look at the revenue drivers of the food delivery applications:

Now take a look at the revenue growth drivers of the food delivery business:

1-      Number of customers they have on their application. This one explains the number of orders placed by the customers on the apps.

2-      Orders placed by each customer.

3-      Take rate: These are the commission rates for each restaurant.

4-      The gross merchandise value.

How has Covid-19 impacted the on-demand apps

The on-demand app was not far from suffering economic crisis during these trying times. Many on-demand apps have lost. A large amount of their regular customers stopped using their services during lockdown and later, as they were scared of catching the virus from the service providers.

One of the most popular on demand service apps Urban Company also came to standstill when people stopped using their services. Take a look at the services provided by Urban Company:

1-      Spa

2-      Beauty

3-      Grooming

4-      Repairs

5-      Cleaning

6-      Painting

7-      Electricians

8-      Plumbers

9-      Health training

10-  Yoga instructors

The major sectors that got unpleasantly affected during the Covid-19 pandemic include the likes of:

–          Auto: There has been a tremendous amount of loss of jobs, that have led to incomes hitting the rock bottom, which has resulted in the reduced demand of automobiles and its part. People no more bought new cars as there was no need for them to get out of their houses.

–          Hospitality: With no guests coming to stay in hotels and no new bookings, there was a downfall in the sector, resulting in layoffs and releasing of hospitality and staff that was not required. Lack of staff and the compulsory lockdown triggered a downfall in this sector.

–          Aviation and tourism: As the lockdown was imposed by the governments of most of the countries, travelling and aviation industry came to a standstill. There was a restriction on air travel and people were not allowed to book hotels or travel to other cities. These leisure travel restrictions caused a major setback to this sector.

–          Apparel: Because of the lockdown there was a restricted demand in the industry of apparel and the sector also suffered low availability of labor and raw materials. This is the reason why the online sale so of apparel came to a standstill. There were no means of getting products delivered to the customers, therefore the clients refrained from making any new orders. This lead to restricted online orders and purchases.

–          Building and construction: Another major sector that has been facing challenges like lack of sales and low supply of resources is the building and construction industry. There is no labour available at this time and the government did not allow the labour to work at this time.

The world has come to a halt and big game players of each industry have also come under the hammer. It’s time to ponder over ways to get the work flow back on track with the available resources.

Changes in the ad spent industry

Just like he apps that started down performing, the ad spent also reduced to a great extent, leading to some of the biggest players in the app industry suffering loses. Take a look at the amount spent by companies on ads:

If you examine the graph closely, you will witness a growth trend in the games segment, whereas, the productivity and entertainment categories seem to be diminishing. Looking at the segregation of apps country wise, there has been a significant rise and fall in the apps of countries in Asia. Productivity apps topped the ranks in December and January. Let’s look at the apps that took over the productivity apps in certain countries:

1-      In Korea, the productivity apps were replaced by lifestyle and Health and Fitness application in the month of March.

2-      Japan saw a rise in the game apps in February, which broke the track record of all productivity apps.

3-      Europe was a continent which again saw a rise in the games category for two quarters, however, it was only in France that the Productivity apps outperformed the rest in February, but it was also dominated by games and entertainment in the following month.

4-      Germany saw a rise in the rank of entertainment apps throughout January. It was put on rank 2, while the productivity apps ranked number 3. The apps that suffered the biggest loss of all time in Germany were the weather apps.

5-      The books apps were ranked last in France in the past few months, whereas the news and shopping apps ranked above the rest.

6-      North and South America saw a rise in the installs of news apps in February and March, however the games apps are still on top.

Now take a look at the ranking of the smartphone apps in France according to a statista report:

Most downloaded apps on the Google Play store after the Covid-19 oubreak France 2020

Published by Statista Research Department, May 25, 2020:

On the contrary there are several applications which have witnessed a significant growth during this time.

Take a look at the new ideas people have come up with to keep the ball rolling:

1-      Since we have friends that are now long lost, apps have come up with ideas to arrange house parties on video apps, where you can connect with a number of people at the same time and enjoy their company. From virtual wedding to virtual baby showers and birthday parties, everything has become a part of the digital world. Social distancing has brought everyone close on social media.

2-      Job interviews are no more held in person, as people are now applying for jobs like as they used to before, but are being interviewed on video apps. Video conferencing has also become the new big deal in the industry.

3-      Movies are now being live streamed for movies buffs as they cannot step out, or go to the theatres like old times to enjoy a movie.

4-      Even the celebrities are coming close to their fans as they are doing live concerts from home, which is being viewed by millions of people from the comfort of their homes.

Take a look at the new ideas people have come up with to keep the ball rolling:

1-      We have relatives and friends that we want to get in touch with every now and then. Several apps have come up with ideas to arrange house parties on video apps, where you can connect with a number of people at the same time and enjoy their company. From virtual wedding to virtual baby showers and birthday parties, everything has become a part of the digital world. Social distancing has brought everyone close on social media.

2-      Job interviews are no more held in person, as people are now applying for jobs like as they used to before, but are being interviewed on video apps. Video conferencing has also become the new big deal in the industry.

3-      Movies are now being live streamed for movies buffs as they cannot step out, or go to the theatres like old times to enjoy a movie.

4-     Even the celebrities are coming close to their fans as they are doing live concerts from home, which is being viewed by millions of people from the comfort of their homes.

Wrapping up

Covid-19 has come as a warning to most apps that things are not permanent and there should always be a plan B in time of crisis. However, these app companies and industries are always thriving to compete with the others and find a way through. Although, there are several industries that have been adversely affected by the virus, but they are have their ways of coping up in the times to come. Every app is ready to take this as a challenge and offer something new to their customers so that they are back in action and in competition once the pandemic is over.

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