Some might never have purchased Echelon equipment if they knew the machines might one day fail to work without a web connection or Echelon account.
Third-party app connections severed
For some owners of Echelon equipment, QZ, which is currently rated as the No. 9 sports app on Apple’s App Store, has been central to their workouts. QZ connects the equipment to platforms like Zwift, which shows people virtual, scenic worlds while they’re exercising. It has also enabled new features for some machines, like automatic resistance adjustments. Because of this, Viola argued in his blog that QZ has “helped companies grow.”
“A large reason I got the [E]chelon was because of your app and I have put thousands of miles on the bike since 2021,” a Reddit user told the developer on the social media platform on Wednesday.
However, Echelon’s firmware update likely seeks to regain some of the revenue opportunities that overlap with the capabilities that apps like QZ enable. Echelon’s subscription-based app, which starts at $40 per month, also offers “guided scenic rides,” for example. QZ can allow people to watch Peloton classes from their Echelon device, but Echelon sells its own fitness classes. The Tennessee-headquartered company has been investing in ways to get customers more engaged with its personalized workout platform, too, which requires the machines to be online.
There’s also value in customer data. Getting more customers to exercise with its app means Echelon may gather more data for things like feature development and marketing.
Echelon is a private company, and we don’t know how much money it is making, but it’s likely that its financial goals hinge on subscription sales, which can generate more revenue than expensive equipment purchases. Meanwhile, Echelon is competing with other tech-centric companies offering gym equipment and classes, like the Peloton.
Viola runs QZ, which costs $7 to $8 to download, alone, offering users a lot of support via online communities. He told Ars that revenue from app purchases covers his costs “more or less.”
“It was never my intention to damage anyone’s business. This is just competition. The best product should prevail,” Viola said. “I never created QZ to get rich; I just wanted users to have a great hour of fitness when they choose, without connection issues, subscriptions, or [other limitations].”
In terms of QZ, the user community is “working on a fully open-source Echelon controller to unlock bikes that have already received this update,” per Viola. It’s in the very early stages, he said.
Logophiles are “devastated” after Dictionary.com deleted their logs of favorited words that they carefully crafted for years. The company deleted all accounts, as well as the only ways to use Dictionary.com without seeing ads —even if you previously paid for an ad-free experience.
Dictionary.com offers a free dictionary through its website and free Android and iOS apps. It used to offer paid-for mobile apps, called Dictionary.com Pro, that let users set up accounts, use the app without ads, and enabled other features (like grammar tips and science and rhyming dictionaries) that are gone now. Dictionary.com’s premium apps also let people download an offline dictionary (its free apps used to let you buy a downloadable dictionary as a one-time purchase), but offline the dictionaries aren’t available anymore.
Accounts axed abruptly
About a year ago, claims of Dictionary.com’s apps being buggy surfaced online. We also found at least one person claiming that they were unable to buy an ad-free upgrade at that time.
Reports of Dictionary.com accounts being deleted and the apps not working as expected, and with much of its content removed, started appearing online about two months ago. Users reported being unable to log in and access premium features, like saved words. Soon after, Dictionary.com’s premium apps were removed from Google Play and Apple’s App Store. The premium version was available for download for $6 as recently as March 23, per the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.
A Reddit user who described themselves as a premium customer said they reached out to Dictionary.com’s support email and received a response saying, in part:
After careful consideration, user accounts within the Dictionary.com app have been discontinued. As a result, users are no longer able to sign in to their accounts, and any saved word lists are no longer available.
Unfortunately, since the coding technology that was used in the previous app version is different from what is used in the new app, it is not possible to recover word lists.
This change was part of our recent app update to improve the design, speed, and functionality of the Dictionary.com app. While we understand that this changes how you use Dictionary.com, we are hopeful that you will find the overall improvements provide faster search, additional content, and a better design.
Another person online supposedly received a similar message. Some people said they were unable to get in contact with Dictionary.com. Ars Technica tried contacting Dictionary.com through multiple messages to its support team, the press office of parent company IXL Learning, and The Dictionary Media Group, which IXL launched after acquiring Dictionary.com in 2024 and includes websites like Vocabulary.com, Multiplication.com, and HomeschoolMath.net. We didn’t receive any response.
With decades of online life behind us, many people are using years-old email addresses. Those inboxes are probably packed with subscriptions you’ve picked up over the years, and you probably don’t need all of them. Gmail is going to make it easier to manage them with a new feature rolling out on mobile and web. Google’s existing unsubscribe prompts are evolving into a one-stop shop for all your subscription management needs, a feature that has been in the works for a weirdly long time.
The pitch is simple: The aptly named “Manage subscriptions” feature will list all the emails to which you are currently subscribed—newsletters, promotions, updates for products you no longer use, and more. With a tap, you’ll never see them again. This feature in Gmail will be accessible in the navigation drawer, a UI feature that is increasingly rare in Google’s apps but is essential to managing inboxes and labels in Gmail. Down near the bottom, you’ll soon see the new Manage subscriptions item.
The page will list all email subscriptions with an unsubscribe button. If you’re not sure about letting a newsletter or deal alert remain, you can select the subscription to see all recent messages from that sender. As long as a sender supports Google’s recommended one-click unsubscribe, all you have to do is tap the Unsubscribe button, and you’ll be done. Some senders will redirect you to a website to unsubscribe, but Gmail has a “Block instead” option in those cases.
The maker of a phone app that is advertised as providing a stealthy means for monitoring all activities on an Android device spilled email addresses, plain-text passwords, and other sensitive data belonging to 62,000 users, a researcher discovered recently.
A security flaw in the app, branded Catwatchful, allowed researcher Eric Daigle to download a trove of sensitive data, which belonged to account holders who used the covert app to monitor phones. The leak, made possible by a SQL injection vulnerability, allowed anyone who exploited it to access the accounts and all data stored in them.
Unstoppable
Catwatchful creators emphasize the app’s stealth and security. While the promoters claim the app is legal and intended for parents monitoring their children’s online activities, the emphasis on stealth has raised concerns that it’s being aimed at people with other agendas.
“Catwatchful is invisible,” a page promoting the app says. “It cannot be detected. It cannot be uninstalled. It cannot be stopped. It cannot be closed. Only you can access the information it collects.”
The promoters go on to say users “can monitor a phone without [owners] knowing with mobile phone monitoring software. The app is invisible and undetectable on the phone. It works in a hidden and stealth mode.”
But that was then, and this is now. Today, an increasing number of mobile apps are functionally identical to the mobile websites they are intended to replace, and developer uptake of Instant Apps was minimal. Even in 2017, loading an app instead of a website had limited utility. As a result, most of us probably only encountered Instant Apps a handful of times in all the years it was an option for developers.
To use the feature, which was delivered to virtually all Android devices by Google Play Services, developers had to create a special “instant” version of their app that was under 15MB. The additional legwork to get an app in front of a subset of new users meant this was always going to be a steep climb, and Google struggles to incentivize developers to adopt new features. Plus, there’s no way to cram in generative AI! So it’s not a shock to see Google retiring the feature.
This feature is currently listed in the collection of Google services in your phone settings as “Google Play Instant.” Unfortunately, there aren’t many examples still available if you’re curious about what Instant Apps were like—the Finnish publisher Ilta-Sanomat is one of the few still offering it. Make sure the settings toggle for Instant Apps is on if you want a little dose of nostalgia.
Adobe has spent years releasing mobile apps that aren’t Photoshop, and now it’s finally giving people what they want. Yes, real Photoshop. After releasing a mobile version of Photoshop on iPhone earlier this year, the promised Android release has finally arrived. You can download it right now in beta, and it’s free to use for the duration of the beta period.
The mobile app includes a reasonably broad selection of tools from the desktop version of Adobe’s iconic image editor, including masks, clone stamp, layers, transformations, cropping, and an array of generative AI tools. The app looks rather barebones when you first start using it, but the toolbar surfaces features as you select areas and manipulate layers.
Depending on how you count, this is Adobe’s third attempt to do Photoshop on phones. So far, it appears to be the most comprehensive, though. It’s much more capable than Photoshop Express or the ancient Photoshop Touch app, which Adobe unpublished almost a decade ago. If you’re not familiar with the ins and outs of Photoshop, the new app comes with a robust collection of tutorials—just tap the light bulb icon to peruse them.
Photoshop on Android makes a big deal about Adobe’s generative AI features, which let you easily select subjects or backgrounds, remove objects, and insert new content based on a text prompt. This works about as well as the desktop version of Photoshop because it’s relying on the same cloud service to do the heavy lifting. This would have been impressive to see in a mobile app a year ago, but OEM features like Google’s Magic Editor have since become more widespread.
After several years of escalating AI hysteria, we are all familiar with Google’s desire to put Gemini in every one of its products. That can be annoying, but NotebookLM is not—this one actually works. NotebookLM, which helps you parse documents, videos, and more using Google’s advanced AI models, has been available on the web since 2023, but Google recently confirmed it would finally get an Android app. You can get a look at the app now, but it’s not yet available to install.
Until now, NotebookLM was only a website. You can visit it on your phone, but the interface is clunky compared to the desktop version. The arrival of the mobile app will change that. Google said it plans to release the app at Google I/O in late May, but the listing is live in the Play Store early. You can pre-register to be notified when the download is live, but you’ll have to tide yourself over with the screenshots for the time being.
NotebookLM relies on the same underlying technology as Google’s other chatbots and AI projects, but instead of a general purpose robot, NotebookLM is only concerned with the documents you upload. It can assimilate text files, websites, and videos, including multiple files and source types for a single agent. It has a hefty context window of 500,000 tokens and supports document uploads as large as 200MB. Google says this creates a queryable “AI expert” that can answer detailed questions and brainstorm ideas based on the source data.
Google announced last year that it would deploy safety tools in Google Messages to help users avoid unwanted nudes by automatically blurring the content. Now, that feature is finally beginning to roll out. Spicy image-blurring may be enabled by default on some devices, but others will need to turn it on manually. If you don’t see the option yet, don’t fret. Sensitive Content Warnings will arrive on most of the world’s Android phones soon enough.
If you’re an adult using an unrestricted phone, Sensitive Content Warnings will be disabled by default. For teenagers using unsupervised phones, the feature is enabled but can be disabled in the Messages settings. On supervised kids’ phones, the feature is enabled and cannot be disabled on-device. Only the Family Link administrator can do that. For everyone else, the settings are available in the Messages app settings under Protection and Safety.
To make the feature sufficiently private, all the detection happens on the device. As a result, there was some consternation among Android users when the necessary components began rolling out over the last few months. For people who carefully control the software installed on their mobile devices, the sudden appearance of a package called SafetyCore was an affront to the sanctity of their phones. While you can remove the app (it’s listed under “Android System SafetyCore”), it doesn’t take up much space and won’t be active unless you enable Sensitive Content Warnings.
The Internet might look a bit different on Android soon. Last month, Google announced its intent to make Chrome for Android a more immersive experience by hiding the navigation bar background. The promised edge-to-edge update is now rolling out to devices on Chrome version 135, giving you a touch more screen real estate. However, some websites may also be a bit harder to use.
Moving from button to gesture navigation reduced the amount of screen real estate devoted to the system UI, which leaves more room for apps. Google’s move to a “dynamic bottom bar” in Chrome creates even more space for web content. When this feature shows up, the pages you visit will be able to draw all the way to the bottom of the screen instead of stopping at the navigation area, which Google calls the “chin.”
Credit: Google
As you scroll down a page, Chrome hides the address bar. With the addition of the dynamic bottom bar, the chin also vanishes. The gesture handle itself remains visible, shifting between white and black based on what is immediately behind it to maintain visibility. Unfortunately, this feature will not work if you have chosen to stick with the classic three-button navigation option.
Zipcar’s rep declined to specify how many people were affected by the outage.
A warning against total app reliance
Zipcar’s app problems have not only cost it money but also traumatized some users who may think twice before using Zipcar again. The convenience of using apps to control physical products only exists if said apps are functioning and prepared for high-volume time periods, such as Thanksgiving weekend.
Despite Zipcar’s claims of a “small percentage” of users being affected, the company’s customer support system seemed overwhelmed. Long wait times coupled with misinformation regarding things like fees make already perturbed customers feel more deserted.
Those are the pitfalls of completely relying on apps for basic functionality. There was a time when Zipcar members automatically received physical “Zipcards” for opening doors. Now, they’re not really advertised, and users have to request one.
Zipcars also used to include keys inside of locked cars more frequently. Reducing these physical aspects may have saved the company money but effectively put all of Zipcar’s eggs in one basket.
Nightmarish app problems like the one Zipcar experienced can be a deal-breaker. Just look at Sonos, whose botched app update is costing it millions. Further, turning something like car rentals into a virtually app-only service is a risky endeavor that can quickly overcomplicate simple tasks. Some New Zealand gas stations were out of luck earlier this year, for example, when a Leap Day glitch caused payment processing software to stop working. Gas stations that needed apps for payments weren’t able to make sales, and drivers were inconvenienced.
Apps can simplify and streamline while delivering ingenuity. But that doesn’t mean traditional, app-free measures should be eliminated as backups.
Speaking a foreign language often comes with a fear of performance. What if you pronounce words wrong? What if your mind freezes? Undoubtedly, confidence in speaking a language other than your native one takes time to build, but the first step to getting there is actually simple: practice.
In the world of language apps, Babbel is launching two speech-based tools to help its users exercise their oral skills, overcome that fear, and feel comfortable while speaking.
The first new feature uses AI-powered speech recognition to provide users with support during vocabulary-based lessons and help them with pronunciation.
To evaluate the speaker’s pronunciation, Babbel’s AI model was trained on millions of data points from the company’s audio bank, using both correct and incorrect pronunciations, different voice ranges, and diverse accents and dialects — for example, Spanish from Argentina, Columbia, and Spain.
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With the AI speech recognition tool, users can check their pronunciation. Credit: Babbel
When activating the feature, users are asked to speak directly into their device when prompted. The AI tool analyses the recording and compares it to thousands of samples of phonemes (distinct sounds that make up a langugae) to assess the accuracy of the pronunciation. It then provides users with tailored, visual feedback.
“[It] works by comparing one attempt with several possible positive outcomes, with a preciseness that can be fine-tuned according to the learner’s level (we can be stricter with more advanced learners for example),” Amin Abbasi, a backend engineer at Babbel, told TNW.
The feature also offers pronunciation tips. Credit: Babbel
The app’s second new speech-based tool is Everyday Conversations, which is designed to help learners independently practice dialogues with the goal to reduce speaking anxiety.
“Part of the difficulty [in learning a language] comes down to confidence when speaking,” Molly Thompson Zeugner, VP of Product at Babbel, told TNW.
“The problem is that everyone wants to understand and be understood by who they are talking to, but it takes practice to feel comfortable enough to do so. This is a bit of a catch 22 and is why we have launched the Everyday Conversations feature.”
Everyday Conversations simulates short dialogues between speakers in different real-life scenarios, such as “introducing yourself,” “ordering food,” or “talking to friends after work.”
Example of an Everyday Conversations dialogue. Credit: Babbel
Users first listen to the conversation to get acquainted with it and then they can mimic it independently. According to the company, this creates a safe practicing space, where learners can feel comfortable to speak and enhance their verbal skills.
Both features can be used individually or as additional support for learners who attend Babbel’s live classes, in line with the company’s holistic approach to language learning.
The AI speech recognition is currently available on the web app in five languages: English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish (Castilian and Latin American), with plans to reach a wider audience in the coming months. It will be soon rolled out on iOS too.
Meanwhile, Everyday Conversations is available on Android and iOS for learners of English and Spanish (Castilian and Latin American). French will be added later in November — in case you’ve always dreamt of ordering a croissant like a pro.
The reasons you’ll want to stay connected while traveling are pretty obvious: unless you’re planning an Into the Wild style off the grid experience, you’ll probably want to be able to use your data to find your way around, buy tickets, upload photos onto social media, fire up that local dating app, or whatever you like to do while abroad.
But, international data and calling rates can place a hefty burden on your travel budget, not to mention roaming fees which vary with every border you cross. That’s why buying physical SIM cards has been the option of choice for many travellers, until now.
Today, we’re finally entering the age of electronic SIM cards, better known as eSIMs, that store your phone’s data in the cloud and can be installed and switched virtually. Basically an eSIM is a SIM card that’s embedded directly into your device and can connect to any operator offering eSIM services. For travellers, this is good news because it means you can also buy prepaid cards for any country or region you plan to visit online before your trip. And there are now a number of options available such as Holafly eSIM.
We’ve compiled this handy guide with everything travellersneed to know about eSIMs in 2023:
The pros of eSIMs vs physical SIM cards
1. Convenience
First and foremost, the biggest benefit to eSIMs is that you don’t have to go to a physical store or even be in the country to purchase your data. Instead, you can shop online, choose a provider, and install it directly onto your phone (more on that later). This means that the moment you hit the ground you’ll be connected, making it easier to order an Uber, find your way through a complex tube system, or just find the nearest bar with a happy hour.
Then, once you’re back home, you can just switch back to your local eSIM in a few clicks (don’t worry, we’ll share tips on that too).
2. You can use multiple eSIMs
This is also a convenient option if you travel between countries often. iPhones that support eSIM allow you to have multiple cards and even use Dual SIMs, meaning you can have two activated at the same time.
For example, if you’re crossing borders back and forth on a regular basis, having Dual SIMs activated would allow you to automatically use whichever SIM is locally connected, without having to change your settings. You can also buy an eSIM for an entire region, for example, buying an eSIM for Europe will cover a number of different countries.
3. A future without SIM trays?
iPhone 14 is planning to axe its SIM tray in the US, meaning iPhones now and in the future won’t be able to carry physical SIMs.
Although, of course, Apple isn’t the only brand for devices, it won’t be surprising if others follow suit and slim down future smartphone models even more. So, cutting SIM trays could become a wider market trend.
4. Don’t lose your data
With an eSIM, there is no physical SIM card that can be lost or damaged. So if your phone does get stolen, lost, or broken while on vacation, you can still access your data via the cloud and transfer it to your new phone.
5. Sustainability
Finally, if you’re looking to cut down on plastics as much as possible, why bother with physical SIM cards?
And yes, SIM cards are super tiny, but it’s like quitting the use of plastic straws: every bit counts.
The cons of eSIMs vs physical SIM cards
Of course it’s not all sunshine and daisies in eSIM land. There are some drawbacks to consider before going for this option:
1. Compatibility
Although eSIMs are a growing trend, not all devices or cellular carriers are up to speed yet. While most carriers have adopted eSIM, some still haven’t or don’t support all devices yet.
For example, if you’re headed to Spain, keep in mind that Yoigo doesn’t support eSIMs for Apple Watch. However, as mentioned before, it seems the general trend is moving towards eSIMs so we’ll see more carriers introduce plans to adopt this technology in the near future.
2. Location tracking
As eSIMs are installed virtually onto your phone, you can’t remove them from your device like a physical SIM. This means you also can’t avoid the possibility of being tracked by mobile carriers/governments. If this is a concern for you in the country you’re traveling to, then you might want to avoid this option.
How to check your phone’s compatibility with eSIM
Before making any decisions, you first need to check if your phone is compatible with eSIM. Follow these steps:
Check the phone’s specifications or manual to see if it supports eSIM.
Check if your phone has an eSIM tray or if it has an embedded eSIM chip.
Check if your phone’s operating system supports eSIM technology. For example, iPhones running iOS 12.1 or later support eSIM.
Confirm with your carrier if they offer eSIM service and if your phone is compatible.
Or simply check out this eSIM supported phones list which is regularly updated with all eSIM compatible phones and devices.
One thing you need to keep in mind is that, just like with physical SIM cards, your phone also has to be unlocked to use an eSIM. If you’ve bought your device directly from the producer, it’s likely it’ll be unlocked. But, if you bought it from a carrier, it might not be.
If you have an iOS 14 or later, here’s how you can check if its unlocked:
1. Going to Settings
2. Click “General”
3. Go to the “About” section
4. Scroll to “Carrier Lock” or “Network Provider Lock.” If you see “No SIM restrictions,” your iPhone is unlocked. If not, then it most likely means your phone is tied to a specific carrier.
If you don’t have an iPhone, try putting a SIM card in and seeing if it works. This will tell you if your phone is locked. Last but not least, give your provider a ring and they can tell you whether your phone is locked.
Ok, if you’re still reading, it seems you’re sold on getting an eSIM. The question now is, just how easy is it to set it up on your phone?
The first thing you’ll need to do is add the new data plan by going to:
Settings > Mobile Data > Add data plan (steps may be different depending on your device)
Most eSIM providers will send you a QR code which will guide you through a number of steps. Here are some guides to setting up an eSIM on the most popular devices:
Note: If you buy a temporary eSIM plan for your travels, it’s best to set it up just before you leave as your plan will start on the day you activate it.
Want an even easier option for your upcoming trips? The European provider Holafly eSIM recently launched an eSIM app that allows you to install, activate, and verify data consumption in more than 130 countries around the world. Unfortunately, the installation app is only available for iOS at the moment, but non-Apple users can still use Holafly’s eSIM services.
The company offers regular data plans in over 130 countries and unlimited data plans in over 45 destinations for less than $1,50 per day including region-wide plans for Europe. They also have 24/7 support in more than 5 languages.
How to switch between eSIMs and share data
Remember, if you’re traveling around the world, you can use multiple eSIMs but you can only have one or two (for iOS) activated at a time. To switch between eSIMs when entering a new country, use the following steps:
1. Go to: Settings > Cellular/Mobile Data
2. Select the eSIM you want to use (under “Cellular Plans”)
3. Click “Turn on this line”
Wanna share data between different devices or with your travel companions? Just go to:
Settings > Mobile data/Cellular
Then select: Personal Hotspot
Selecting local providers and unlimited data options
Most of the major carriers now offer eSIMs, so you’ll likely have plenty of options to choose from, however, local carriers often charge high roaming fees while you’re abroad. To avoid that, another option is to choose a prepaid international eSIM which may offer more affordable prices.
If you take that route, you’ll need to consider how many GB you’ll need to last you the length of your stay. Of course, this totally depends on how much you’ll be using your data. If you just plan to use it for Google Maps and the occasional search for local restaurants, you may not need as much as a newbie travel influencer looking to upload videos and stream content everyday.
Here’s a handy table by Holafly with some calculations on average data usage to help you out:
The good news is, there are also some unlimited data options, particularly if you’re traveling to the US. Just keep in mind that you won’t be able to share or transfer data with others on this type of plan.
So if you’re ready to take off on your next trip, getting an eSIM can be a hassle-free option to keep you connected, whether you’re going on a multi-country adventure or a simple business trip abroad.
