Coleman Technologies Blog

Windows 10

In Windows 10, Microsoft has built a complete and secure operating system. Users can do about anything they’d like inside of Windows 10. The platform was initially built to support three levels of devices, from smartphones to other mobile productivity machines, to your traditional productivity machines, your PCs. After Microsoft pulled the plug on their smartphone division, the subsequent changes they’ve made to the OS have been with the PC user in mind. 

Microsoft had a solid strategy to get their Windows 10 software on as many devices as possible: they gave it away. For a year they provided any user that had Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 8.1 the ability to upgrade for free. Since then, it has been available as other versions of Windows have been, for digital download.

Windows-as-a-Service

Since the software giant has retired support for the hugely-popular Windows 7, and Windows 8.1 was kind of a flop, Windows 10 becomes the development priority for Microsoft. They seem to be extremely invested in the OS, hinting that it might very well be the last Windows title ever developed. Microsoft has made many huge changes to Windows 10 over the past five years and looks to continue to develop the software more as a service than a product. 

Like many other software, Windows--or, Windows-as-a-Service, if you will--will continue to be one of the leading names in computing. It just won’t be replacing Windows 10 the way Windows 10 replaced Windows 8.1. In fact, Microsoft is now offering Azure-hosted Windows 10/Office 365 platforms for one monthly fee. In doing so it is changing the way that people access, and pay for their computing. 

If you would like to know more about Windows 10, Microsoft 365 platforms, or any other way that business computing is innovating, call the IT professionals at Coleman Technologies today at (604) 513-9428. 

New Gestures
The latest version of Android OS contains a built-in new gesture navigation system, but it might not be turned on automatically. To turn this on, go to Settings > System > Gestures. Then you must tap on Swipe on Home Button and press the on-screen toggle switch. You will see the change propagate almost immediately--the three-icon setup will change to a singular pill-shaped icon.

Navigation isn’t much different from the other builds, either. Tap the pill icon to bring back the homescreen and long press it to bring up your Google Assistant. You can then swipe up twice or long-swipe from the home icon to bring up your app drawer.

Another change that needed to occur is that Android 9.0 Pie removes the dedicated button for recent applications. Users now need to singular short swipe up from the bottom of the screen to open up a carousel gallery that shows all recently opened apps. You can then navigate by swiping between apps or using the home icon to swipe fast-left or right to move through the apps more quickly. To clear the apps, swipe up on the specific app window. To clear all of the apps, just scroll all the way to the left and tap the Clear All button to exit out of all running applications.

Android 9.0 Pie actually tries to predict what you’re likely to need next. These commands are within the apps. If you find it useful, you can drag these suggestions, found at the top of your app drawer, onto the screen. You can then find the shortcuts offered by each app by long-pressing the specific application’s icon. This includes opening an application in split-screen mode, a considerable improvement from Android 8.0 Oreo.

Device Notes
One extremely useful feature for smartphone users is the ability to open your device using a fingerprint scanner, but an even better one is when you can use the scanner on devices that don’t feature an in-display fingerprint reader to keep your screen from turning off.

The alarm clock in Android 9.0 provides some additional functionality. When your notification panel is open (swipe down from the top), you only need to tap on the clock in the system tray to open your clock app and manage the alarms.

What do you think about Android 9.0? What are your favorite features? Let us know in the comments.

Anyone who wants to prioritize their privacy should be aware of the role the cache plays in such a thing. Your Google web browser—even on your smartphone—will store information about what you search so it can personalize your ads and recommendations, but if you would rather not have it do this all the time, you can clear your Android device’s Google search cache and set it up to auto-delete after a set amount of time has passed.

Manually Delete Your Google Search Cache

First, make sure your Android device is connected to your Google account. From your Android’s app drawer, open up the Google app. When the window opens, tap your profile image in the top-right corner. From here, you should see an option for Search history. Select which deletion option you would prefer from the list, keeping in mind that you might have to verify your identity before proceeding.

Once you have verified your identity, you should see the Delete drop-down menu unlock. In addition to the default 15 minutes, there are options for today, custom range, or all time, so pick the one that best suits your needs.

Set Up Auto-Delete

If you’d rather not mess with manual deletion, you can set your cache to automatically delete after a set amount of time has passed. You’ll see on the above drop-down menu that, under Auto-delete, it says Off by default. You can change this by tapping on the option and adjusting a couple of settings.

After you tap Auto-delete, you’ll be brought to another page where you can set the cache to Auto-delete activity older than a set amount of time. There are options under the drop-down menu for three months, 18 months, or 36 months. Tap Next and confirm your choice to complete the process.

Privacy is a serious challenge for both individuals and businesses, which is why we like to bring you tips that help you get the most out of your technology, be they consumer or otherwise. To learn more about how you can make the most out of technology for your business, be sure to contact Coleman Technologies at (604) 513-9428.