Facebook has become the latest company to offer a cloud gaming service on iOS, only once again you won't access it through the App Store. Starting today, you can visit the Facebook Gaming website to add a Progressive Web App (PWA) that acts as a shortcut to the service on your iPhone or iPad. To do so, visit the platform's website and tap the "Add to Home Screen" option from the Safari share sheet.

It's not an elegant solution, but it's the same one employed by Amazon and Microsoft. When Apple tweaked its guidelines last September to allow for cloud gaming clients on iOS, it said games offered in a streaming service had to be individually downloaded from the App Store. That's a requirement both Microsoft and Facebook said was not congruent with how every other platform treats cloud gaming services.

"We've come to the same conclusion as others: web apps are the only option for streaming cloud games on iOS at the moment," Vivek Sharma, Facebook's vice-president of gaming, told The Verge of today's launch. "As many have pointed out, Apple's policy to 'allow' cloud games on the App Store doesn't allow for much at all. Apple's requirement for each cloud game to have its own page, go through review and appear in search listings defeats the purpose of cloud gaming."

The process of adding the web app is complicated enough that Facebook includes a short how-to when you first visit its Gaming website on Safari. You also have to know to navigate to the company's website in the first place. The reason for that is the App Store guidelines prohibit developers from using their applications to direct individuals to websites that feature alternative payment systems to those offered by Apple, and you pay for the in-game purchases offered in Facebook Gaming titles through Facebook's Pay platform.

Outside of your phone, your PC is likely the one piece of technology you use the most. If for no other reason than that, you should take care of it. Not only will it last for longer, but it will also work better over the time that you keep it. In this how-to, we'll share some tips on how to take care of your PC. Of course, it's impossible to cover this topic from every angle, so think of this guide as an introduction more than anything else.

How to clean your computer and peripherals

Will Lipman Photography for Engadget

Windows PCs, especially desktops, come in various shapes and sizes, but the tips we're about to go through here will help you clean your computer whether you bought it prebuilt or put together yourself. If you own a laptop, look at our recent Mac organization guide. All the steps we detail there will work just as well for a Windows portable.

Before cleaning the inside of your computer, start with your display and peripherals. At this stage, all you'll need is some distilled water in a spray bottle and a microfiber cloth. You can buy the former at a grocery store or make it yourself. And if you don't already own any microfiber cloths, Amazon sells affordable 24-packs you can get for about $15. Once you have those in hand, spray the water onto a clean cloth and wipe down your computer's display before moving to the mouse and keyboard. You want to start with your screen to avoid transferring dirt and residue to the panel.

It’s possible to write an entirely separate guide on how to clean keyboards, but the short version is you'll want to pick up a keycap puller and use that to give you unobstructed access to any debris and gunk that has been building up under your keys. If the keycaps have a lot of dirt and residue on them, your best option is to soak them in warm water and use a toothbrush to scrub away the buildup. Give them plenty of time to dry before reinstalling them on your keyboard.

Will Lipman Photography for Engadget

Once you’re done with those, turn off your PC and unplug everything that's connected to it. You'll also want to switch off the power supply unit (PSU) by flipping the toggle on its outside to the "O" position. Next, push down on the power button a couple of times to discharge any static electricity that you might be carrying around.

If at all possible, do most of the steps we're about to describe outside. The last thing you want to do is go through the trouble of cleaning your computer and then let it pull in all that dust again.

Once you've moved your computer, start by removing the side panels. Most modern cases allow you to do this without any tools, but you'll need at least one screwdriver for most of the work we'll detail in a moment. When it comes to most screws inside your computer, a 4-inch Phillips screwdriver should be all you need. Some components, such as your GPU, may include Torx screws and the like, but don't worry about those for now since we won't be taking them apart. If you don't already own a decent set of screwdrivers and have something of a DIY streak in you, a driver kit from iFixit is your best bet. The 16, 32 and 62-bit kits it sells are an excellent starting point, and they'll come in handy with more than just your computer.

If your PC has any dust filters, remove those now and give them a rinse at the sink before setting them aside to dry. Depending on how long your computer has been collecting dust, you may want to remove some components such as the GPU to make it easier to clean everything. If that's something you feel comfortable doing and it's your first time removing any of the internals, use your phone to take photos of the interior. The images will help you put all the parts in their original place at the end. That's important to do since there's an optimal way to install many of the components in your computer. For instance, you always want to install your GPU in the fastest available PCIe lane. When it comes to removing any PCI cards, first unscrew its mounting bracket and then push the corresponding release on your motherboard before pulling the card out.

Will Lipman Photography for Engadget

Whether you decide to keep all your computer's internals in place or not, you'll need something to blow all that dust away. A can of compressed air is one option, but I like to use a Giottos Rocket Blower. It was designed for cleaning camera sensors and won't damage any of your components. It's also a one-time purchase. Whatever you have at hand, use it to blow away the dust that's been building up on your computer's internal components, fans and grills. Pay special attention to the heatsinks attached to your PC’s CPU, GPU, chipset and voltage regulators. They will likely have most of the hardest to remove dust in your system thanks to their tight fin stacks. What’s more, especially bad buildup can make them ineffective at cooling those components, which will, in turn, affect their performance.

When cleaning any exposed PCB, use an antistatic brush (like this one from OXO) instead of a microfiber cloth. You'll avoid damaging any of the sensitive components on the board. You can go over any non-electronic part with a dampened microfiber cloth.

At this point, all you need to do is put everything back in its place. As one final tip, if there's any way you can avoid leaving your desktop on the floor, you'll end up spending less time cleaning it since it won't be near all the dust and dander that collects there. If your desk setup or living space makes that not an option, a PC tower stand is a cheap but effective way to elevate your computer off the ground and help it pull in less debris.

How to organize your PC’s storage drives

MacPaw

If it's been a while since you've done an audit of all the software you have installed on your computer, the best place to start is in the Task Manager. It's here you can see how much of its resources your computer is devoting to specific processes. Since everyone will have different software installed on their PC, it's hard to offer blanket recommendations, but using the Task Manager you can get a sense of the apps that may be slowing down your computer. For most people, there will be two main culprits: bloatware and antivirus software.

If you bought your PC from a system integrator like Dell, it will almost certainly include software your computer doesn't need to operate. So you can safely uninstall those apps to improve performance and save on space.

This next tip may be contentious for some, but I believe as long as you avoid clicking on sketchy links and stay away from the dark corners of the internet, Windows Defender is all you need to protect your computer from the majority of malware that's out there. While there are good antivirus programs like Bitdefender and Malwarebytes, the majority cost far too much for what they offer and will only slow down your computer. If you don't feel comfortable uninstalling your antivirus software, then by all means, leave it on your computer.

While you're in the task manager, you'll also want to click on the "Startup" tab to see what programs your computer is launching when you power it on. You can speed up that process simply by limiting that list to as few apps as possible. As for the actual process of deleting any software you don't need, always uninstall programs from the Control Panel as this will leave the fewest leftovers when everything is said and done. If you've used Windows for a while, you'll have errant files, folders and registry entries all over the place. It's possible to cull those manually, but doing so can be time-consuming. So we recommend using a program like Iolo System Mechanic or CleanMy PC to complete a deep clean of your system.

If you have any mechanical drives installed in your computer, it's good to get into the habit of defragging them regularly. First, launch the built-in Defragment and Optimize Drives app and click the "Optimize" button. Depending on the size of your hard drive, this process may take a while. Don't defrag your SSDs, as you'll only shorten their lifespan for little to no performance improvement.

How to organize your apps, tabs and other windows

ymgerman via Getty Images

Say what you will about Windows 10, but the fact is it comes with some of the best window management tools built right into an operating system. You don't need to download any additional software to organize your desktop, but there are some settings you can tweak to get even more out of its signature Snap functionality.

As you may already know, you can press the Windows and Tab keys at the same time to bring up the Task View pane. It's here that you can add additional virtual desktops. If you're not already using virtual desktops, they're great for organizing your active windows so that you don't have to constantly rearrange them when you're trying to find a specific one. You can quickly press the Windows key, Ctrl and either the left or right arrow keys to move between desktops. But to make things even simpler, head to the Settings app and into the Multitasking section of the System menu. Under the "Virtual desktops" heading, switch both settings to "All desktops." You can now use the Alt-Tab shortcut or taskbar to switch to any app on any desktop.

When it comes to wrangling your tabs, a lot of that will depend on the browser you use. But as a decent starting point, all the most popular ones include a feature that allows you to pin tabs. I use this to keep the websites I visit most frequently throughout a workday (in my case, Gmail, Trello and Google Drive) open at all times and at the top of my tab bar. In that way, those tabs never get lost among the countless other websites I might have open for a story I'm writing. What's more, in the case of Brave, the browser I use, I can use a handful of keyboard shortcuts to jump to those tabs quickly.

In closing, we want to highlight just how much customization Windows 10 offers you when it comes to the organization of your computer. As just one example, you can right-click on items located on the taskbar and start menu to put the apps and shortcuts you use most frequently within easy reach. However, if you want to really dig into all the options Windows 10 offers on that front, websites like Windows Central have detailed how-tos that are an excellent starting point.

Snapchat is enjoying its highest user growth in years, according to its latest earnings report. Daily active users have increased to 293 million, which is a 23 percent growth from this time last year. That’s the best Snap Inc has seen in a while; it tops the company’s prior best of 22 percent, which happened four years ago. The number even tops Twitter’s, which recently reported 206 million daily users in the second quarter.

Overall revenue also increased by a very impressive 116 percent to $982 million, which is its strongest growth rate yet. That’s faster than even that of Twitter and Facebook, at least right now.

The company also said that Spotlight, its TikTok-like feature that pays users for clips, has grown in popularity. Daily active users of Spotlight grew by 49 percent, and average daily content submissions have more than tripled.

Much of this growth can be attributed to pandemic lockdowns ending, as well as a much-improved Android app. In a prior earnings statement, CEO Evan Spiegel said that “as things began to open up in the United States in late February, we saw inflection points in key behaviors like Story posting and engagement with the Snap Map.”

Additionally, Spiegel is hopeful that the development of the app’s augmented reality platform will drive engagement even further. “We are pleased by the progress our team is making with the development of our augmented reality platform, and we are energized by the many opportunities to grow our community and business around the world,” he said.

Developing...

Google has long run an Android Auto beta program, but joining it was almost impossible before today. Those who tried to take part often got an error message that said the program was maxed out. Thankfully, that's no longer the case. Google is expanding the program, giving anyone with an Android device and a willingness to put up with bugs the opportunity to test the platform's latest features before they're available to the public.

"As a beta tester, you can help us build a better version of Android Auto. You can test how well new features work with your specific phone and vehicle in your part of the world," Google says of the initiative on a support page. "When you share your feedback, we'll use it to help plan improvements for future releases."

You can join the program by visiting the beta opt-in page Google has set up. Click the "Become a tester" button, and then download the beta version of Android Auto from the Play Store. If you eventually decide using unstable software isn't all it's made out to be, you can leave the program.

With Google inching closer to the official release of Android 12, the company likely wants to avoid a repeat of last year's Android 11 release. While the operating system was buggy as a whole at release, Android Auto suffered from some particularly rough bugs. There were numerous audio issues and missing apps. In some instances, the software was also known to 'soft-brick' devices like the Pixel 3 XL. So it's no surprise Google wants more help testing the software.

Have you ever seen a musician's GIF and heard the song in your head? You won't have to leave things to the imagination for much longer. Spotify and Giphy have partnered to effectively give GIFs a soundtrack. Find an artist's GIF on their official Giphy channel and you can tap a "listen on Spotify" button to visit that artist's Spotify page. The hope, of course, is that you'll be inspired to stream a hot new album after watching a looping animation.

A handful of artists are already using the Spotify-Giphy tie-in, including Doja Cat, The Weeknd and Nicki Minaj. You'll find it both on the web and in Giphy's mobile app.

This is ultimately about translating GIF views into money for artists. Stars may be more likely to share clips from their latest music videos if they know they'll get more plays for their latest tracks. Even so, it might be helpful if a GIF gives you an earworm that won't go away until you stream a song and get it out of your system.

The scope of Serato’s creative audio ecosystem continues to grow with the latest update to its Serato Studio digital audio workstation (DAW). Serato Studio 1.6 rolls out to the public today and most notably adds the ability to record audio directly into the app, along with some changes to the audio track tools and the addition of a built-in Virtual Audio Driver. While the update isn’t flush with a litany of new features, these few changes make a world of difference for producers, musicians and DJs alike.

To record audio, you can use an external input or even just the internal microphone. This accommodates pros and entry level creators with little to no gear beyond the laptop. When recording, even in loop mode, your contiguous session is kept whole. This lets you try different versions of a guitar lick or vocals in a single take that you can trim down to the best segment later. You can edit the recordings into clips, use different pieces throughout your project or even layer them in different keys for effect.

Serato Studio 1.6 also keeps recordings in your library for use in other projects. You can sample vinyl directly into your project and by analyzing the file, it will instantly match them to your current BPM. There's key detection for the recordings too, which can help keep your vocals on point.

Those using third-party apps or live-streaming will be happy to know that you no longer need plug-ins to make the audio available to other apps. Serato now includes its own Virtual Audio Driver for input and output channels, and even works on Big Sur.

As always, Studio is great for those using Serato DJ and a controller, but now that audio recording has been added, it has the chops to stand on its own as a production tool. It's also very intuitive and opens up plenty of opportunities for creative expression without having to jump through hurdles in the process. New users can get tracks rolling in minutes (seriously) and pros can sketch out tracks or complete full projects quickly.

Serato Studio 1.6 is available to download today and, as always, there's a limited free version for you to test drive. To open up all the capabilities and access tons of sounds and samples, you can choose from a $10 monthly subscription or buy it outright for $199 (including all updates for Version 1).

Zoom became indispensable during the pandemic, and now the company wants to ensure it stays that way when things return to some sense of normalcy. To that end, it’s adding third-party integrations, allowing you to use apps like Asana and Dropbox Spaces while in a Zoom call. As of today’s launch, there are more than 50 plugins you can add to your client, including games like Heads Up. Once you install the latest version of Zoom, a “Discover” tab under the new Apps side panel will allow you to see what’s available.

You can expand and collapse the panel as needed during a call to access the functionality of an app. As one example, the Asana plugin allows you to create, edit and assign tasks without leaving Zoom. Another way to see what’s available is through the Zoom Marketplace. If you use Zoom for work and you’re part of an organization, your admin can limit what you can install.

Zoom sees third-party integrations as a way to become a platform instead of a single-use app. Much like its new Events hub, which the company made widely available today, the idea here is to keep the service growing so it can continue on the trajectory it established during the pandemic. 

Folks who want to check out Clubhouse no longer need to join a waitlist. Sixteen months after it debuted, the audio discussion app is moving out of beta. It’s now open to everyone.

Clubhouse says users can share links with others and invite them to join. The company claims there are half a million audio chat rooms on the app each day, and that 10 million people have signed up since the Android app arrived in May. Clubhouse added a direct message system last week and it says the community has already sent 90 million messages. Meanwhile, on average, users are spending over an hour a day on Clubhouse.

While many Clubhouse users certainly seem to be hooked on the app, it’s facing stern competition from elsewhere. The likes of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Discord and Spotify have all moved into audio chat rooms in recent months. Opening up the app to everyone is an important step for Clubhouse as it looks to keep growing. 

Clubhouse plans to keep things fresh by rolling out big updates every week or two. The app also revealed a new logo. 

Google has introduced a few Maps features that could help you ease back into the world, now that COVID-19 vaccines are available. One of the most useful changes to Maps is the expansion of transit crowdedness predictions to over 10,000 cities in 100 countries. 

Companies are expecting their staff to get back to the office in the near future, and crowdedness prediction can let you know if the train or bus line you're waiting for has a lot of open seats, or if it's already crowded. That way, you can decide whether to hop on or wait for the next one in hopes that it isn't as jam-packed. Maps can make predictions by combining AI tech with contributions from people using Google Maps, along with historical location trends.

Google

If you're in New York and Sydney, you can even see a train's level of crowdedness down to transit car level in real time. Maps will mark the least crowded cars, so you can line up for one of them, thanks to data from transport agencies in the areas. It's still a pilot at the moment, but Google says the feature will be available in more cities soon. 

In addition, the tech giant has launched a new Timeline Insights tab for the Maps app. So long as you're on Android and you have Location History switched on, you'll be able to view "monthly trends about how you’re navigating the world." For instance, that's where you can see how much time you spend at different places, such as shops or airports, and the distance and time for each mode of transportation you've taken. The tech giant says it developed the feature after users told the company that they want "to be more intentional about how they spend their time" after living through the pandemic.

Finally, Trips in the Timeline tab is now available to everyone on Android, so you can relive the vacations you've had in the past. In case your favorite travel destination still isn't welcoming tourists, you can go to the section and virtually visit hotels, restaurants and other places you've previously enjoyed.

Following a beta release in December, Premiere Pro now officially supports M1 Macs. “From launch times to export, everything is faster, and editing is buttery smooth,” Adobe says of the native Apple Silicon version of its video editing software. The company adds that Adobe Sensei features like Auto Reframe feel “noticeably” faster and that the app uses significantly less battery power on M1 Macs.

While Apple has only offered computers with its own ARM-based chips since November of last year, Adobe has been quick to support the platform. In December, it came out with an Apple Silicon version of Lightroom and followed that up in March with a native release of Photoshop. With today’s announcement, you don’t need to turn to Rosetta 2 to emulate most of the company’s most popular apps. Premiere Pro’s July update also includes a handful of features you don’t need a new Mac to appreciate. Most notable among those is a speech-to-text feature that can automatically caption a video.