Thursday 12 January 2017

Transform your mobile keyboard

Transform your mobile keyboard

Find it tricky to type on your phone and tablet? Jane Hoskyn recommends apps that will make it easier, whether you use Google’s Android or Apple’s iOS

Android users recently woke up to find a brand new default keyboard on their phones and tablets. Though the thought of Google tinkering with your phone when you’re not looking is perturbing, we think Gboard is one new feature that’s well worth taking the time to get used to. And here we’ll show you how to get the very most from it.

Gboard is far from the end of the mobile-typing story though, because there are plenty of new tools that make typing on a tiny screen a pleasure (yes, really). Here we reveal the best of the bunch.

Stop using Windows security

Stop using Windows security

Our new antivirus group test reveals shocking Windows Defender deficiencies. Mike Plant reveals which free and paid-for antivirus protection you can actually trust to keep your PC safe.

There was a time when your antivirus (AV) simply had to keep your PC free of threats lurking on the internet to keep you happy. These days you have greater expectations of your AV. We receive as many letters from readers complaining that their AV is slowing their PC, as we do about how well (or otherwise) the software is protecting their computer.

We considered all these concerns when we planned our current AV test. The level of protection provided by each product is of course the main criterion, but we wanted to make sure the software runs smoothly, and that any extras - system cleaners, firewalls, etc - don’t have a negative impact on Windows and other programs. This is reflected in the ‘system-impact’ scores you’ll see throughout the feature.