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Enterprise buyer’s guide: Digital whiteboard software

October 7, 2024 /

Many people think of digital whiteboards as a simple adjunct to their videoconferencing software, an online space where remote and in-office participants — often software developers — can brainstorm, post ideas, and create simple diagrams on a whiteboard “canvas” using basic text and drawing tools. But with the current crop of dedicated tools, those are table stakes.

Today’s advanced, dedicated digital whiteboard software tools can serve much broader audiences and a wider range of use cases. “Think of these as visual collaboration tools. It’s definitely filling an unmet need,” says Chris Trueman, senior principal analyst at Gartner.

In this buyer’s guide

  • What is digital whiteboard software?
  • Top trends in digital whiteboard software
  • What to look for in digital whiteboard tools
  • Before you shop: Questions to ask yourself and your stakeholders
  • Key questions to ask vendors when shopping for digital whiteboard software
  • 10 leading digital whiteboard software vendors

What is digital whiteboard software?

At their most basic, digital whiteboards provide a shared interactive space where participants collaborate by typing notes or sketching on the canvas. In addition to colored “sticky notes” you can post to the digital canvas, digital whiteboard applications can pull in rich media assets such as images, video, and audio files; offer diagramming and annotation tools; and include features that encourage audience engagement, such as reviews, voting, and crowdsourcing ideas.

Unlike notes jotted on a physical whiteboard in a meeting room, a digital canvas can be saved and later revisited, edited, expanded, and shared with additional collaborators, both inside and outside the company. Although these tools are often used for real-time collaboration, they can also be used asynchronously, a plus for organizations with employees in different time zones.

Many digital whiteboards offer APIs or integrations with other enterprise apps, including office suites and project management platforms. Some vendors offer designer or developer modes where you can hand off elements of the whiteboard based on roles at different stages of the process. “For example, developers working on a new mobile app could share their coding work with UI designers and work back and forth to show what happens when you, say, click a button,” says Trueman.

Going beyond their core collaboration function, digital whiteboards can be also used for interactive presentations with active audience participation. For example, “Some manufacturing companies in the fashion industry use these tools to lay out their upcoming lineup for, say, their spring collection,” says Trueman. When used with traditional meeting software, digital whiteboards can add freshness to online meetings, helping to avoid “Zoom fatigue,” he adds.

Canvases generally aren’t portable from one whiteboarding tool to another, which can be a problem if your organization is using more than one vendor’s software. They can, however, be exported as PDF, CSV, or image files.

Top trends in digital whiteboard software

Enterprise use of digital whiteboards escalated during the Covid pandemic. Although it has subsided a bit since then, it’s still higher than it was in 2019 due to a sustained increase in remote work, Trueman says. And many organizations have expanded their use of the tools beyond software development teams as they’ve come to realize that digital whiteboards can increase productivity for a variety of workers, such as designers, engineers, educators, operations experts, and project managers, and as an enhancement to sales and other presentations.

Pure-play digital whiteboard vendors are also beginning to introduce AI-based features into their products. Today these mostly focus on summarization and categorization of whiteboard content, but the market is rapidly evolving to include new features for text generation, insertion, replacement, and translation, says Trueman. “We’re seeing additional AI use for brainstorming activities, where you have a mind map diagram and AI will expand the tree,” he says.

In response, traditional meeting software vendors such as Zoom, Microsoft, and Cisco haven’t been standing still. Many vendors in the unified communications space have begun adding new features to their basic whiteboarding tools, and Microsoft has added templates to the Microsoft Whiteboard app in its Microsoft 365 suite to help users get started.

“As the meeting providers increase features, pure-play vendors have to focus more on verticals,” Trueman says. iObeya has responded by adding features tailored to visual management and manufacturing, while Lucid Software has added new features tuned for engineers and developers. For example, AI may enable users to generate code from natural language sentences, to generate or alter existing images, or to assist with mind mapping.

While unified communications vendors are shooting for “good enough” in their whiteboard tools, says Gartner’s Market Guide for Visual Collaboration Applications report, “…unified communications and cloud-office vendors’ visual collaboration applications trail the specialized vendors in this market by a significant margin of capabilities and may never be as complete, barring a significant acquisition for more complex needs.”

The tradeoff, says Trueman, is that the pure play tools can be relatively expensive. Prices range from under $10 per month to as much as $75 per month per seat for some enterprise licenses. Most vendors offer trial versions that are either feature or time limited.

What to look for in digital whiteboard tools

Digital whiteboard tools typically include a wide range of templates to get users started and avoid what Trueman calls “the blank page canvas problem.” They serve as “a springboard to productivity.” Review what templates are available and make sure there are examples for all your use cases, he advises. For example, is there a mind mapping template for brainstorming? Project management? Engineering? Also, check to see whether the vendor has templates that are tailored to your vertical, such as manufacturing or software development.

Compatibility with the existing digital whiteboard hardware-based systems in your conference rooms is key, and “that’s not fully addressed by vendors,” Trueman says, so review which systems will work with your hardware and what features are supported — or not supported. While many digital whiteboard software vendors work with partners to support the devices, they don’t design their own hardware. “So if you have Microsoft Surface Hub in a conference room, make sure the digital whiteboard app will work with that.”

Privacy and security features are another important consideration. Can you use the product on premises, or if in the cloud, where will your data be hosted? Some products support audit trails, support permission-based access, and can comply with data retention policies. Enterprise versions should include single sign-on, multifactor authentication, and data encryption features, as well as compliance with FedRAMP, GDPR, and other standards specific to the buyer’s industry.

AI-based capabilities in these tools are rapidly evolving, so check with prospective vendors to see what’s on offer — and what’s planned for release in the near future. New features, such as summarization and categorization, may increase productivity during whiteboarding sessions.

Before you shop: Questions to ask yourself and your stakeholders

Start by assessing your use cases. How many groups in your organization could benefit from using digital whiteboards? Be sure to include all stakeholders in a discussion before moving forward.

What features do you need to support your use cases? For software design work, for example, look for features that provide ways to write code in the digital whiteboard system as well as to review and annotate the content, says Trueman.

Where does your data need to be stored, geographically, for privacy and compliance purposes?

Do you have specific needs for your vertical market? If so, some tools may have targeted features, such as industry-specific templates, that you can use.

Are the digital whiteboarding features included in your online meeting software or office suite good enough for your organization’s needs? The cost for pure-play solutions is significant, so make sure you really need more than the whiteboarding functions that are included with software you’re already paying for.

Do your meetings include on-site conference room participants as well as remote workers? If so, be sure that your conference room systems, such as touchscreen digital whiteboards, will work with the digital whiteboard software you choose.

Key questions to ask vendors when shopping for digital whiteboard software

Once you’ve nailed down your organization’s needs and who the stakeholders are, it’s time to review what the vendors offer. Here are questions to ask about both core and extended features you may want to consider.

  • Does the tool have a web- or app-based virtual canvas that multiple remote and conference room digital whiteboard system users can access simultaneously?
  • Does it support rich media such as images, video, diagramming, graphics, flow charts, tables, etc.?
  • How do key features work? “The richness of sticky notes support, the ways for people to organize and categorize information, brainstorming, storyboarding, and diagramming features vary,” Trueman says, so dig into the details.
  • Annotation: Does it offer ways to mark up images and documents with commenting?
  • Does it support user roles, access rights/levels, and permissions for each canvas or space? You may want some participants to have view-only access, some to have editing capabilities, and some comment-only rights.
  • What are the core security features? Does it support single sign-on, multifactor authentication, and encryption? “Support for SSO is not always a given, and support for Active Directory, LDAP, or Okta varies,” Trueman says.
  • What compliance and governance features does it offer? Does it comply with GDPR? FedRAMP? CCPA? Does it support auditing? eDiscovery? Can content be set to expire?
  • Does it integrate with your online meeting software?
  • Can you export a canvas or whiteboard, as a whole or in part, as an image, PDF, comma-delimited text file, or other desired option?
  • Multi-device support: Can you access the application from mobile devices, Mac and Windows PCs, and conference room devices and synchronize between them?
  • Are features aimed at your vertical market included in the template library?
  • Does it support version control?
  • Does it have integrated voice or video capabilities, or do you need to use separate meeting software to collaborate by voice or video? Rather than juggling between applications, it may be it quicker to use basic voice capabilities in the whiteboard app, Trueman says.
  • What AI-based features are available? Does it support summarization, categorization, text generation, insertion, replacement, and/or translation?
  • Is two-way integration with Atlassian’s Jira available for engineers? Can you get live updates in the digital whiteboard canvas?
  • Does it offer similar integrations for other business applications or business process tools your organization uses?

10 leading digital whiteboard software vendors

Gartner doesn’t have a Magic Quadrant for digital whiteboard software vendors, but some names come up more often with clients, says Trueman. These include Figma, Lucid, Miro, and Mural.

The companies listed below represent a sampling of the more than two dozen digital whiteboard software tools, also called visual collaboration platforms, available today. (Digital whiteboard tools that are included as a feature in traditional online meeting software are not listed.) Here’s a quick summary of each tool.

Bluescape

Bluescape focuses on security with its on-premises and cloud-based virtual workspace tool offerings. Its drag-and-drop interface lets you bring images, graphics, videos, live streams, and documents into a shared whiteboard from local storage or file storage services such as Google Drive, Box, and OneDrive. It features “canvas carousels” for presentations and includes an API for workflow automation.

Bluescape boasts “military-grade security” with what it calls an “air-gapped communication suite” and compliance with DoD IL4 ATO, FedRamp, and ISO 270001 standards. Prices are not disclosed on the website; visitors must fill out an online form.

Collaboard

This Swiss company describes Collaboard, its eponymously named product, as a place to collect ideas, plan and execute projects. It offers an infinitely large whiteboard canvas onto which you can place text, drawings, sticky notes, images, videos, and audio. It offers more than 150 templates in areas such as agile, brainstorming, strategy and planning, diagramming, and tables. Users can pin content, vote on it, and rate it.

Administrative features include single sign-on, support for Active Directory, access controls, version control, permission management, and audit logs. The software can reside on premises or as a cloud service, with data residing in Germany, Switzerland, or the Netherlands. Its many integrations include Teams, WebEx, and Jira. Collaboard has a limited free edition, and paid versions start at $10/user/mo. Enterprise, education, and public-sector packages are also available.

Figma

Figma describes FigJam as a team collaboration tool for diagramming, brainstorming, agile workflows, meetings and workshops, and strategy and planning functions with a focus on project management, engineering, and product management. It makes prominent use of sticky notes, which can be organized into “themes.” AI features can sort and summarize information; generate templates, visualizations, and design mockups; rewrite text; and create interactive prototypes from design mockups.

FigJam supports SAML SSO, 2FA, and domain capture; encrypts data in transit and at rest; maintains SOC 2 Type II compliance; and complies with GDPR and CCPA. Pricing ranges from $0 for the starter plan up to $75/seat/mo. for the full-featured enterprise version.

iObeya

iObeya, based in France, bills itself as a “visual management platform supporting lean and agile ways of working,” with a focus on lean project management, lean manufacturing, agile, and the pharmaceuticals industry. It includes an API and supports Microsoft Power Automate, with integrations for Atlassian’s Jira and ADO, as well as Microsoft 365.

The product is ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certified; supports enterprise-grade encryption; supports SSO with Azure AD, Google, IBM Verify, Okta, and OneLogin; and is available in on-premises and single-tenant cloud versions. Pricing ranges from approximately $4/user/mo. to $40/user/mo. for a full enterprise license.

Klaxoon

The Klaxoon Work Collaboration Platform includes a wide variety of templates in areas such as HR, training, sales, agile, project management, and IT. It includes a developer platform as well as integrations for a variety of Microsoft, Google, Adobe, and Jira applications. Klaxoon offers enterprise-grade data encryption and supports SSO via Azure AD, Google, Okta, and other platforms. Prices start at $25/user/mo. A limited, free trial version is also available.

Lucid Software

Lucid Software’s Lucidspark is a popular choice for engineering and software development. It comes bundled with the company’s Lucidchart software for creating diagrams. It includes a wide range of templates covering areas such as brainstorming, project planning, research, sprint planning, kanban boards, strategic visioning, and education. The software includes AI features to ​​generate, sort, and summarize ideas that users can then vote on, and it can generate diagrams from text descriptions.

Lucidspark integrates with more than three dozen apps and platforms, including Salesforce, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Jira, and Google Workspace. Lucid offers a free starter with paid versions beginning at $13.50/user/mo.

Microsoft

Microsoft Whiteboard, included with the Microsoft 365 suite and available as a web, Windows, and mobile app, works closely with its Teams chat and meeting app. As an app in its own right, Whiteboard is more fully featured than tools built into other meeting platforms, and Microsoft has added about 60 templates for general areas such as problem solving, design and research, brainstorming strategy, project planning, and retrospectives. AI-based automatic visualization, categorization, and summarization features are available through Microsoft’s Copilot tool, which requires a separate subscription.

The basic editing tools support inserting text, sticky notes, shapes, and images. If that’s all you need and you already have the Microsoft 365 suite, look no further.

Miro

Miro markets itself as “the AI-powered visual workspace.” Its online service includes more than 100 templates that focus on mind mapping, product planning, customer journey mapping, technical diagramming, wireframing, strategy and planning, process mapping, retrospectives, and general whiteboarding. Miro’s “AI Sidekicks,” embedded into its templates, help users create documents, diagrams and images, and to build briefs and summaries from content posted on the whiteboard canvas.

Miro provides an audit trail for retention, disposition, and trash policies; offers more than 100 integrations; complies with nine security certifications; and supports encryption through the AWS Key Management Service. Miro offers a limited, free edition and a business version for $8/user/mo. Pricing for the enterprise-level licensing is available upon request.

Mural

Mural’s “visual work platform” offers both infinite and resizable canvas options, a variety of mapping and diagramming tools, flexible permissions options, and the ability to create and share custom templates. The company promotes Microsoft Copilot-enabled AI capabilities that can automatically expand mind map diagrams, generate text and categorize sticky notes by topic, and summarize content.

Mural offers a centralized admin console and supports single sign-on and two-factor authentication, encryption, audit logs, e-discovery and reporting tools, and the ability to expire links. It complies with SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001, and Microsoft 365 security certifications as well as GDPR and CCPA regulations. A free limited version lets you kick the tires. Business-grade licensing starts at $18/user/mo.

Stormboard

The Stormboard digital whiteboard offers agile teams tight integration with Jira, Rally, and Azure DevOps. Its StormAI feature can create custom templates based when the user describes the outcome and goal for a new workspace. It can summarize and group sticky tags by theme or sentiment and can export content to Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel as well as Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. Other features include idea voting and task assignments.

Stormboard includes an array of enterprise-grade security features, such as single sign-on, 256-bit SSL encryption and GDPR and SOC2 compliance. It also offers data residency options and single-tenant hosting. A free version accommodates up to five people, the business version is approximately $8/user/mo., and enterprise pricing is available upon request.

Google’s ad-tech antitrust trial: Wrapping up the case for the defense

October 4, 2024 /

And now we wait. 

Last week, Google did its best to refute the US Department of Justice’s case that the company has built a series of monopolies in the markets for ad serving, ad exchanges, and ad networks, and the DOJ made its rebuttal. Closing arguments will be heard Nov. 25, after both parties have presented their amended findings of fact.

Judge Leonie Brinkema moved the hearing along briskly: The first phase, which had been expected to take up to two months, wrapped in just three weeks. The first two weeks were mostly devoted to the DOJ’s presentation of its case that Google engaged in a “systematic campaign to seize control” of the “tools used by publishers, advertisers, and brokers to facilitate digital advertising.”

As the trial headed towards its third week, Google called its first witness, Scott Sheffer, the company’s vice president of publisher partnerships,.

As Google Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Lee-Anne Mulholland recounted in a blog post, Sheffer explained that Google offers publishers tools that the DOJ completely ignored in making its case — such as AdSense, used by more publishers than the Ad Manager product at issue in the trial.

But a reporter for the CheckMyAds campaign group attending the trial described how, on cross-examination, DOJ lawyers stripped back the tangled web of advertising products Google presented, removing those that do not allow publishers to monetize display ad inventory on their websites, leaving only “the products that form the basis of the markets in the DOJ’s complaint.”

Last look

Later in the week, Google called economist Paul Milgrom, winner of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Economics for his work on auction theory. According to Mulholland, he testified “every one of the conducts we’ve described — Google’s programs — benefited its own customers, either advertisers or publishers or both,” and said that “Google’s changes to its own auction were improvements at the time in which they occurred relative to what had come before.”

Under the DOJ’s cross-examination, according to the CheckMyAds’ reporter, Milgrom conceded that Google does have an advantage over competitors because of practices such as “Last Look” (in which Google gets a chance to outbid the highest bidder in an ad auction) and Sell-Side Dynamic Revenue Share (in which Google sits on the buy and sell sides of transactions, potentially allowing it to manipulate its margin to win auctions). Milgrom acknowledged he had not analyzed the impact of Last Look on other exchanges or on competition in his research. 

Per Bjorke, product management director of Google’s Ad Traffic Quality team, was called to testify about how Google keeps bad actors out of its ad exchanges (so publishers don’t end up paying them for fake traffic, for example). 

Judith Chevalier, a professor of finance and economics at Yale University, told the court that using Google tools takes a lower share of publishers’ revenue, and that on average it is “less expensive to use Google-to-Google than using third-party-to-third-party” tools for connecting publishers and advertisers, Mulholland wrote.

Only connect

CheckMyAds noted that a chart presented by Chevalier showed that Google Ads was the only buying tool that connected with Google Ad Exchange, a fact DOJ noted in its cross-examination. The integration of Google’s different ad technologies and the lack of openness to competitors is one elements of the DOJ’s case.

Mulholland didn’t namecheck any of the witnesses Google called in its last two days of evidence, but CheckMyAds had plenty to say about Mark Israel, an economics expert who, it came out in questioning, has done paid work for Google in the past. He sought to show that the market for online advertising is a single two-sided market and not the three separate markets (ad servers, ad networks, and ad exchanges) the DOJ says it is.

After Google wrapped up its case, this phase of the hearing concluded with the DOJ calling one last witness in a bid to rebut some of Google’s claims. It asked Matthew Wheatland, chief digital officer of British newspaper The Daily Mail, about some of the alternatives to Google that Israel had suggested publishers might use; according to CheckMyAds’ account of the session, Israel’s and Wheatland’s views did not align.

Brinkema sent Google and the DOJ away with about a month to present their amended findings of fact. After closing arguments, she may issue her opinion before the end of the year. 

That’s not going to be the end of it, though. If things go the DOJ’s way, a separate hearing will be held to determine appropriate remedies. And with its business model at stake, Google will almost certainly appeal any ruling, or part of the ruling, that goes against it.

Apple, Amkor, and TSMC ‘neath the Arizona Skies

October 4, 2024 /

It is strategically essential for the US to bring home the manufacture of key components for the technology used across government, consumer, and enterprise markets, an imperative impacting IT leadership that will generate change across the coming decade.

That’s why it matters that Apple’s chip manufacturing partner, TSMC, has inked a deal with Amkor to “collaborate and bring advanced packaging and test capabilities to Arizona, further expanding the region’s semiconductor ecosystem.” Both TSMC and Amkor are investing in major projects in Arizona. Apple is the biggest customer of both firms.

Apple, Amkor, TSMC, ‘Neath the Arizona Skies

If this news sounds familiar it’s because Apple confirmed its own deal with Amkor to package Apple Silicon at TSMC last November. This made Apple the “first and largest” customer at Amkor’s new manufacturing plant, which at that time was billed as the “largest advanced packaging facility in the US.” 

Discussing that arrangement at the time, Apple Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams said: “Apple is deeply committed to the future of American manufacturing, and we’ll continue to expand our investment here in the United States.” 

He characterized Apple as, “thrilled that Apple Silicon will soon be produced and packaged in Arizona.” Since then, TSMC has begun small-scale production of the A16 chip used in iPhone 15 and 15 Plus. 

Arizona becomes a silicon development powerhouse

The most recent announcement from Amkor and TSMC suggests the wind under this plan is blowing a little more strongly. The memorandum of understanding between the two companies means they will work together to bring “advanced packaging and test capabilities” to Arizona.

There is quite a lot more to the agreement:

  • First, the pact confirms that Amkor and TSMC have been closely collaborating to deliver high volume, leading-edge technologies for advanced packaging and testing of semiconductors to support critical markets such as high-performance computing and communications. 
  • Second, it tells us that TSMC will now contract turnkey advanced packaging and test services from Amkor in their planned facility in Peoria, AZ.
  • These services will see particular use in advanced wafer fabrication.
  • The partners believe that the geographical proximity of the two firms will accelerate product cycle times, which presumably means they’ll be able to accelerate processor design.

But what may perhaps be most important is that the companies intend to jointly define some packaging technologies, such as TSMC’s Integrated Fan-Out (InFO) and Chip on Wafer on Substrate (CoWoS). 

Chips in play

Apple watchers take note that InFO packaging features have been in chips since the A10 and also in the R1 chip inside Vision Pro. It is also notable that Google is expected to begin using chips with InFO packaging beginning in 2025. With many in tech coalescing around Arm-based processors, it’s hard not to see the strategic importance of bringing manufacturing into the US, particularly around AI.

CoWoS could also hold interesting opportunities for Apple, as it’s an advanced chip packaging tech that can efficiently link graphics processors, memory, and CPU together. There may be some implications as Apple is expected to move to 2nm chips (made by TSMC, designed by Apple’s silicon teams, and based on Arm reference designs) in 2025. 

TSMC Chairman and CEO C.C. Wei referenced this a little earlier in the year, telling Nikkei, “AI is so hot that all my customers want to put AI into their devices.” As history shows, Apple has now accomplished precisely that and Nvidia uses CoWoS chip packaging tech in its own high-performance graphics processors.

What the partners say

Speculation aside, this is what Amkor and TSMC had to say in a statement announcing the agreement: “Amkor is proud to collaborate with TSMC to provide seamless integration of silicon manufacturing and packaging processes through an efficient turnkey advanced packaging and test business model in the United States,” said Giel Rutten, Amkor’s president and CEO. “This expanded partnership underscores our commitment to driving innovation and advancing semiconductor technology while ensuring resilient supply chains.”

“Our customers are increasingly depending on advanced packaging technologies for their breakthroughs in advanced mobile applications, artificial intelligence and high-performance computing, and TSMC is pleased to work side by side with a trusted longtime strategic partner in Amkor to support them with a more diverse manufacturing footprint,” said Kevin Zhang, TSMC’s senior vice president of business development and global sales and deputy Co-COO. 

“We look forward to close collaboration with Amkor at their Peoria facility to maximize the value of our fabs in Phoenix and provide more comprehensive services to our customers in the United States.”

Designed in Arizona

It is almost certainly no coincidence these deals are all falling into place just two years after the US passed the CHIPS and Science Act to fund corporations such as TSMC and Amkor to increase investment in US semiconductor industries.

Apple last year confirmed that Amkor will invest approximately $2 billion in its Arizona project, even as Cupertino confirmed itself to be on target to invest $430 billion in the US economy by 2026. Of course, behind all of this, with the company quietly beginning iPhone manufacturing in Brazil, to what extent will future iPhones be American made?

Please follow me on LinkedIn, Mastodon, or join me in the AppleHolic’s bar & grill group on MeWe.

Open AI is testing a new interface for ChatGPT — ‘Canvas’

October 4, 2024 /

Open AI has unveiled Canvas, a new ChatGPT interface specifically crafted for developers that is now available in beta.

Canvas has been developed using GPT-4o and makes it possible, among other things, to use a separate window for code. It also provides a number of shortcuts that can be used to review code, track down bugs, add comments, and translate code to Javascript, Typescript, Python, Java, C++ and PHP. The new interface can also help make texts longer or shorter, fix grammatical errors, or add emojis at appropriate places.

The first to get access to Canvas are users of ChatGPT Plus and Team, followed next week by Enterprise and Edu users. Non-paying users have to wait until the beta testing is finished before they’ll get access.

15 advanced Android gesture actions

October 4, 2024 /

Ah, gestures. Whether we’re waltzin’ around the world or working on a touch-enabled tech toy, don’t you just love how much you can convey with a simple swish of a single finger?

While our single-fingered movements in the physical world may be more, let’s say, communicative in nature, here in the land o’ Android, a gesture is a powerful action initiator. Deploying the right finger motion at the right moment can save you time and help you accomplish all sorts of interesting things on whatever device you’re using.

The only problem is that by their very nature, gestures are invisible. You don’t see ’em or have any real signs of their existence — which means it’s up to you to remember they exist and then get yourself in the habit of using ’em. And no matter how long you’ve used Android or how intelligent of a mammal you may (allegedly) be, you’re bound to forget about some gestures over time or never even notice that they’re there in the first place.

With that in mind, I’ve been racking my brain to remind myself of all the awesome Android gesture tricks that are out of sight, out of mind for most of us.

Here are 15 of my favorite finds.

[Psst: Love shortcuts? My free Android Shortcut Supercourse will teach you tons of time-saving tricks for your phone. Start your first lesson today!]

Android gesture action #1: Quicker Quick Settings

We’ll start with one of the simplest but most effective Android gesture actions around. While it may be relatively basic, though, you’d better believe it’s all too easy to lose sight of over time.

So, for context: Android’s Quick Settings — y’know, those one-tap tiles that show up when you swipe down twice from the top of your screen — are all about saving time and making it easier to access common adjustments.

And here, for ye, is a quick time-saving gesture for getting to those Quick Settings even more quickly:

Swipe down from the very top of your screen with two fingers together, side by side — and hey, how ’bout that?!

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Two fingers, one swipe for a faster path to Android’s Quick Settings.

JR Raphael, IDG

You got exactly where you wanted to go, in precisely half the steps it’d typically take ya.

And speaking of Quick Settings…

Android gesture action #2: Hidden holds

When you see a tile or a button, like the ones in Android’s Quick Settings area, your first instinct is to tap it — right?

Well, here’s a little secret: With certain Android Quick Settings options, you can also press and hold the buttons to accomplish an extra invisible action.

The tricky thing is that there’s no real way to know when that maneuver’s possible. But, for instance, in the standard Google Android interface that’s present on Pixels and certain other devices, pressing and holding the Quick Settings tiles for Internet, Hotspot, Bluetooth, Quick Share, Dark Theme, Do Not Disturb, and even Auto-Rotate zaps you directly to the associated section of your full system settings.

Samsung handles this a bit differently and less consistently (because — well, Samsung), but you’ll find some long-press surprises within its Quick Settings setup, too, if you press and hold to see what happens.

Android gesture action #3: On-demand shortcuts

While we’re thinkin’ about that good old-fashioned long-press Android gesture, take a sec to remind yourself of this brilliantly invisible little benefit:

Pressing and holding any icon on your home screen or in your app drawer will surface a series of simple shortcuts for jumping directly to specific areas within the associated app.

So, for instance, with Google Docs, you can go straight into working on a new document without having to first open up the app and find the right options. With Google Calendar, you can create a new event with a single tap. With Slack, you can make your way immediately into any recently accessed workspace or conversation. And with Google Maps, you can fire up instant navigations to any of your favorite places right from your home screen.

Android gesture actions: App shortcuts
Android’s app shortcuts are never more than a press away.

JR Raphael, IDG

The list of useful Android app shortcuts goes on from there. (And if you really want to get wild, you can create your own custom Android app shortcuts and give yourself all sorts of step-savers specific to your own needs, too.)

Once more, all you’ve gotta do is remember.

Android gesture action #4: The Overview swift swipe

First things first, with our next nifty trick: You know about Android’s Overview interface, right?

That’s the list of recently opened apps you can access by swiping upward about an inch from the bottom of your screen and then stopping, if you’re using the current Android gesture navigation system — or by tapping one of the icons along the bottom edge of your screen, if you’re still stickin’ with the old legacy three-button nav setup. (It’s a square-shaped icon at the right in the standard Google version of Android and a three-vertical-line icon at the left with Samsung — again, ’cause Samsung.)

Once you’re in that area, take advantage of two easy-to-miss extra gesture options:

  • You can swipe up on any app’s card you see to close it and dismiss it from the list.
  • And you can swipe down on any app to open it quickly.
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Android’s Overview area has hidden gestures of its own.

JR Raphael, IDG

Whee!

Android gesture action #5: The fast app flip

When you want to zip back to the app you had opened most recently, remember this:

With the current Android gesture nav setup, you can flick your finger horizontally to the right along the bottom edge of your screen to move backwards one step in your app continuum — and then you can swipe to the left in that same area to flip back from there.

It’s basically like Alt-Tab in Windows, only on Android:

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Flick to flip for a fast app switch.

JR Raphael, IDG

If you’re still with the old three-button nav approach, double-tapping the Overview icon will accomplish something similar.

Android gesture action #6: History in a hurry

Android’s notification history is one of the platform’s most useful and underused elements. Once you activate it, you can access a list of alerts that’ve popped up on your device — even after you’ve dismissed ’em. Handy, wouldn’t ya say?

And here’s a hidden gesture few Android-appreciating animals are even aware of: In addition to the History button at the bottom of the Android notification panel — in the standard Google version of Android, at least, when you have one or more notifications present — you can press your favorite fingie onto the words “No notifications” when no notifications are showing to get to that same place in a flash.

This is one even Samsung hasn’t stripped out of the software. (Hallelujah!)

Just note that you may have to manually enable Android’s notification history option first, if it wasn’t already on by default on your device.

Android gesture action #7: The clock quickie

Pixel pals, time to teach yourself a faster way to access your Pixel Clock app:

Swipe down once from the top of your screen to open your notifications panel, then tap the time in the upper-left corner of the screen.

Good to know, no?!

Android gesture action #8: The split-screen slide

If you’re using a reasonably recent large-screen Android device, be it a tablet or a foldable, this next one’s for you:

Google’s brilliantly useful taskbar is an awesome way to switch between apps and slide into Android’s typically out-of-the-way split-screen mode especially easily.

First, to summon the taskbar, swipe up gently from the bottom of your screen — just barely, then stop. (And note that this’ll work only in a large-screen Android environment — meaning only in the fully unfolded, tablet-like state of a phone like the Pixel Fold or on a traditional tablet’s spacious display.)

Then, once you’ve got the taskbar in front of you, press and hold your finger onto any icon either in the favorites area or within the app drawer at the left of the taskbar, then drag it up into either side of the screen to start a split between that and whatever other app you already had open.

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Swipe, press, slide: Multitasking magic, as seen on Google’s Pixel 9 Pro Fold phone.

JR Raphael, IDG

And while we’re thinking about that large-screen Android experience…

Android gesture action #9: Keep’s split-screen secret

This next trick is one I just discovered during my Pixel 9 Pro Fold explorations the other day, and my goodness, is it a good’un:

When you’re looking at the Google Keep Android app on any large-screen setup, be it an unfolded foldable phone or a tablet, take note: You can press and hold your finger onto the line separating the app’s two panels — the note list and whatever individual note you’re actively viewing — and then slide your finger in either direction to change the panels’ sizes.

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Google Keep’s incredibly handy and completely invisible sliding gesture — available on any large-screened Android device.

JR Raphael, IDG

It’s the same gesture available in the standard Android split-screen interface, now possible within a single specific app’s view, too.

On a related note…

Android gesture action #10: The Calendar divide

Following that revelation last week, a thoughtful Android Intelligence reader reached out to tell me about a similarly invisible advanced gesture they’d noticed in the Google Calendar Android app — again, when it’s being used in a large-screen setup.

With Calendar, when you’re looking at any split view — showing both a full calendar interview and a specific event, in other words — you can press and then slide your finger along the line separating the panels to adjust each side’s size.

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Oh, dear Calendar: We had no idea you were so gesture-filled!

JR Raphael, IDG

Mind. Blown.

Android gesture action #11: Video vrooming

Android’s picture-in-picture system is fantastic for keeping a video or even Google Maps navigation present on your screen while you’re doing other things.

In most apps that support the function, you can start a picture-in-picture view by heading back to your home screen while the video or navigation is playing (though some apps, like YouTube, do have certain restrictions in place for when the feature can be used).

Then — here’s the fun advanced-gesture-requiring part — once that picture-in-picture box is present, with recent Android versions, you can use two fingers to pinch in or out on the box itself to make it smaller or larger.

You can also press and hold your finger onto the box to fling it around to any area of your screen — including, even, off to the side, if you want it out of the way and just barely visible for a moment — and to dismiss it entirely, too, by dragging it down to the bottommost edge of the display.

Android gesture action #12: The tab swipe

The next time you need to see your tabs in Chrome, swipe down from the address bar area.

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The Chrome Android app’s tabs are teeming with titillating gestures.

JR Raphael, IDG

From there, you can tap any tab to open it and swipe left or right on any tab in your list to dismiss and close it.

Android gesture action #13: The menu slider

Speaking of sliding, an oldie-but-a-goodie Android gesture gem that’s all too easy to forget is the slide-down gesture that’s possible in lots of app menus.

When you see a three-dot menu icon within an app, instead of pressing it, try sliding your finger downward on it. In Chrome, Gmail, and plenty of other places, that’ll open up the menu and then allow you to simply keep sliding downward and stop on the option you want.

Android gesture action #14: Camera slidin’

Before you stop slippity-sliding, take a sec to open your phone’s Camera app — then try sliding your finger up or down and left or right on the main viewfinder area.

The specifics of what happens will vary depending on who made your device, but you might just uncover some interesting possibilities you never knew existed.

That’s absolutely the case for Pixels and Samsung devices alike!

Android gesture action #15: Keyboard switchin’

Last but not least, Google’s Gboard Android keyboard is jam-packed with out-of-sight shortcuts — and one in particular stands out from the pack as an advanced-gesture-oriented goodie that fits right into this list.

It’s an easy way to use your keyboard as a trackpad of sorts and shift the on-screen cursor in any text field simply by sliding your finger around.

And here’s all there is to it: Anytime you’ve got an active text field open, just swipe your finger side to side on the Gboard space bar. You’ll see the on-screen cursor move right along with that friendly li’l fingie of yours.

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Gboard’s space bar — the cursor-moving trackpad you never knew you had.

JR Raphael, IDG

If the gesture isn’t workin’ for ya, tap the four-square menu icon in Gboard’s upper-left corner, select “Settings,” then tap “Glide typing” and make sure the toggle next to “Gesture cursor control” is in the on and active position.

And there you have it: With this and all the other advanced Android gesture actions we just went over, the power’s officially in your fingertips. Once you remember to swipe, slide, and press in all the right places, you’ll be flyin’ around your phone like never before.

Get even more advanced shortcut knowledge with my free Android Shortcut Supercourse. You’ll learn tons of time-saving tricks for your phone!

The EU wants to know more about social media algorithms

October 3, 2024 /

Via the Digital Services Regulation (DSA), the European Commission has requested information from Youtube, Snapchat and Tiktok about which parameters their algorithms use to recommend social media content to users.

The Commission then wants to evaluate the extent to which these algorithms can amplify risks linked to, for example, democratic elections, mental health and children’s well-being. The authority also wants to look at how the platforms work to reduce the potential impact their recommendation systems have on the spread of illegal content, such as the promotion of drugs and incitement against ethnic groups.

The social media companies have until Nov. 15 to provide the requested information.

What’s new for Apple Intelligence?

October 3, 2024 /

Most Apple watchers may have noticed that the company’s iPhone 16 marketing really does put Apple Intelligence front and center, even though its home-baked breed of AaI (Artificial [Apple] Intelligence) isn’t available quite yet. 

All the same, the system, which we explain in great depth here, is on the way. And in the run up to its arrival, we’re learning more about it, and when and how it will be introduced. As we wait on data about the extent to which Apple Intelligence boosts future iPhone sales, read on to learn when Apple Intelligence will come to your nation, what schedule the various tools are shipping on, and other recently revealed details concerning Apple’s hugely hyped service.

When is Apple Intelligence coming?

Apple will introduce the first of its Apple Intelligence services with the release of iOS 18.1. More tools and services will be made available later this year and across 2025, when the company will likely introduce brand new and unannounced features. You will require an iPhone 16 series device, an iPhone 15 Pro series device, or an iPad or Mac running an M1 chip or later to run the system.

What schedule are service releases on?

A Bloomberg report tells us when to expect Apple Intelligence features to appear:

iOS 18.1: 

Due in mid-October, this first set of features will include various Writing tools, phone call recording and transcription, a smart focus mode and Memories movies. Apple tells us the feature list includes:

  • Writing Tools.
  • Clean Up in Photos.
  • Create a Memory movie in Photos.
  • Natural language search in Photos.
  • Notification summaries.
  • Reduce Interruptions Focus.
  • Intelligent Breakthrough and Silencing in Focus.
  • Priority messages in Mail.
  • Smart Reply in Mail and Messages.
  • Summaries in Mail and Messages.
  • And Siri enhancements, including product knowledge, more resilient request handling, a new look and feel, a more natural voice, the ability to type to Siri, and more.

iOS 18.2: 

In December, we should see Apple make Genmoji and Image Playground services available.

iOS 18.4: 

This is when Siri will be overhauled to become more contextually aware and capable of providing more personally relevant responses. This release is thought to be coming in March and will be preceded by a more minor update (iOS 18.3).

Where will Apple Intelligence be available?

Bad news, good news. The good news is that US iPhone owners will get to use Apple Intelligence as soon as iOS 18.1 ships. The other good news is that any user anywhere willing to set their device language to US English should also be able to run the services; if you want to keep your iPhone running your language, you’ll have to wait a little while.

Apple has promised to introduce localized language support for the following English nationalities in December: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.

Throughout 2025, the company has promised to introduce Apple Intelligence support for English (India), English (Singapore), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, and Vietnamese. The company also promised support for “other” languages, but hasn’t announced which ones. For the moment, at least, Apple Intelligence will not be available in the EU.

How much storage does the system need?

An Apple document confirms that Apple Intelligence requires 4GB of available iPhone storage to download, install, and use. The company hasn’t disclosed how much space is required on iPads or Macs, but it seems reasonable to expect it’s close to the same. Apple also warns that the amount of required storage could increase as new features are introduced. 

What else to know

Apple now sees AI as a hugely important component to its business moving forward. That means the service will work on all future iPads, Macs, and iPhones (including iPhone SE). It also means the company is plotting a path to support the service on visionOS devices and Homepod and deploy it in future products, including an intelligent home automation and management system it apparently plans, along with the introduction (at last) of a “HomeOS.” There’s more information here.

Please follow me on Mastodon, or join me in the AppleHolic’s bar & grill and Apple Discussions groups on MeWe.

OpenAI continues to burn money

October 3, 2024 /

Although OpenAI’s revenues are increasing significantly, the generative AI (genAI) pioneer remains dependent on financial injections, according to Reuters. 

The maker of ChatGPT generated revenue of $300 million in September alone, sources said — an increase of 1700% compared to the beginning of 2023. And the company expects revenue to jump to $11.6 billion next year.

Nevertheless, OpenAI expects to lose around $5 billion this year despite sales of $3.7 billion.

Expenses can only be partially traced

Various factors are responsible for the high losses, reports The New York Times. This year one of the biggest increased operating costs has been increased energy consumption tied to an enormous upswing since the launch of ChatGPT at the end of 2022. The company sells subscriptions for various tools and the startup grants licenses to numerous companies for the use of large language models (LLMs) from its GPT family.

Employee salaries and office rent also have a financial impact.

AI needs more money

In order to cover existing debts and further increase growth, the genAI ​​company has for some time been aiming for another round of financing, which should also help manage energy costs.

The latest financing round — led by Thrive Capital, a US venture capital firm that plans to invest $1 billion — brought in $6.6 billion and pushed the company’s valuation to $157 billion. At the same time, OpenAI is warning investors away from rivals like Anthropic, xAI and Safe Superintelligence (SSI), a startup launched by OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever.

Microsoft on board, Apple shies away

Microsoft, which like Thrive has previously invested several billion dollars in OpenAI, also wants to participate in this round. But Apple, which was also interested in investing, has since dropped out, according to Reuters.

One reason for Apple’s change of heart could be internal turmoil caused by the board’s plans to transform OpenAI into a for-profit company. Following the announcement of those plans, there were a number of key departures at OpenAI, most notably the departure of CTO Mira Murati.

In the near term, the growth of OpenAI is likely to continue; according to analysts’ calculations, the ​​company has now achieved a market share of 30%.

OpenAI demands investors shun rivals such as Anthropic, Elon Musk’s xAI

October 3, 2024 /

OpenAI has raised $6.6 billion from investors like Thrive Capital and Tiger Global, but the AI company also sought assurances that investors would avoid funding five competing firms, according to a Reuters report.

The competitors include Anthropic, Elon Musk’s xAI, and Safe Superintelligence (SSI), a startup launched by OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever.

These companies directly compete with OpenAI in advancing large language models, a capital-intensive effort.

Additionally, OpenAI named two AI application firms — AI search startup Perplexity and enterprise search company Glean.

On Wednesday, the San Francisco-based startup announced it completed its latest funding round, reaching a $157 billion valuation — the highest in Silicon Valley’s history.

This comes after the company revealed plans to shift from its nonprofit origins to a for-profit structure amid major leadership upheavals, including the sudden departure of several top executives.

“The new funding will allow us to double down on our leadership in frontier AI research, increase compute capacity, and continue building tools that help people solve hard problems,” OpenAI said in a statement.

The investors included chipmaker Nvidia and Microsoft. Apple, which had been in discussions to invest, ultimately chose not to participate, according to Reuters.

Impact of exclusivity deal

Exclusivity agreements, while not unheard of, are relatively rare in the tech industry, particularly within the AI venture capital space, according to Thomas George, president of Cybermedia Research.

“These arrangements have traditionally been more common in fast-moving, high-stakes industries like ridesharing, where firms like Uber and Lyft sought to secure conflict-free funding during critical growth periods,” George said. However, such agreements were typically limited to defined periods, such as six or 12 months, he added.

The move could significantly reshape the venture capital landscape, potentially intensifying competition for funding among emerging AI startups and concentrating most venture capital investments around fewer, larger companies.

“OpenAI’s move could stifle innovation in the short term,” said Nitish Mittal, partner at Everest Group. “With fewer resources available, competitors might struggle to keep pace with OpenAI’s advancements. By restricting capital flow to competitors, OpenAI could consolidate more market share and talent, thus slowing down the growth of rivals.”

However, this might also incite a counter-reaction, spurring these companies to seek alternative funding sources, forge new alliances, or innovate to reduce their reliance on heavy capital, according to George.

“While this could temporarily consolidate OpenAI’s position, it also risks creating a more aggressive competitive environment, where rivals may accelerate innovation to differentiate themselves,” George said.  

Possible expansion plans

These concerns become more pronounced when considering OpenAI’s plans, particularly its possible expansion of enterprise offerings.

The inclusion of AI application developers in its portfolio suggests this direction, as the company projects revenue to rise to $11.6 billion by 2025, up from $3.7 billion this year.

“To capture deeper financial engagement, OpenAI aims to accelerate the development and rollout of enterprise-grade AI systems and large language models, making it more competitive,” George said. “This strategy appears to support OpenAI in expanding its business operations and achieving high revenue expectations sooner than anticipated.”

However, there is also the possibility of heightened regulatory scrutiny. “If successful, this strategy could boost OpenAI’s market position, but it may also provoke regulatory scrutiny or push rival firms to innovate faster through alternative funding channels,” Mittal said.