process Archives

AppWizard

June 18, 2026

There’s a new hidden way to customize your Pixel home screen. Here’s how to find it

The latest update for Google Pixel phones, Android 17, introduces a feature that allows users to hide app names on their home screens, enhancing customization options. To use this feature, devices must be updated to Android 17, which began rolling out on June 16. Users can check for updates through the Settings app. To hide app names, users need to press and hold on a blank area of the home screen, navigate to Wallpaper & style, tap Icons, toggle off Show app names, and apply the changes. App names will still be visible in the app drawer, and users can easily revert to displaying app names if desired.

Tech Optimizer

June 18, 2026

Snowflake Postgres Unifies Your Apps, Analytics and AI

Every enterprise operates in two realms: one for real-time applications that process orders and engage customers, and another for analytics platforms that extract insights and drive AI. Snowflake is introducing Snowflake Postgres to bridge these realms with two key features: 1. Data mirroring, which is an always-on replication feature between Postgres and Snowflake, set to enter public preview soon. 2. Postgres for data lakes, allowing synchronization with analytics using open formats like Iceberg, which will be generally available shortly. These features aim to simplify the connection between transactional and analytical data, reducing the need for complex ETL pipelines. Customer feedback indicates that transferring data between OLTP and OLAP databases is the most challenging infrastructure task, leading to costs and issues such as data inconsistencies and delayed decision-making. Snowflake Postgres offers a simplified integration method with low-latency data mirroring that automatically maintains target tables in Snowflake to reflect the current state of source tables in Postgres. This setup can be configured easily through various interfaces or a single SQL command.

Tech Optimizer

June 18, 2026

Why Oracle’s OCI Database with PostgreSQL matters for serious workloads

Oracle has launched the OCI Database with PostgreSQL, a managed PostgreSQL service designed for seamless deployment within the Oracle Cloud. This service includes lifecycle management, automated backups, and monitoring, allowing users to customize their database configurations easily. A key feature is the cross-region warm standby, which enhances disaster recovery by enabling users to create replica databases in secondary regions that replicate data from the primary database. The service enforces a strict 5-minute recovery point objective (RPO) and simplifies the setup process for operations teams. The OCI Database with PostgreSQL is positioned against offerings from AWS and Azure, targeting organizations that prefer a managed PostgreSQL experience. However, compliance challenges, such as the lack of FedRAMP certification, may hinder adoption for certain sectors. The product is available on OCI with usage-based pricing and is aimed at cloud teams needing managed operations and disaster recovery for PostgreSQL databases.

AppWizard

June 18, 2026

Rockstar Will Offer Free GTA 5 Upgrades From Older Console And PC Versions

Beginning June 18, players who own Grand Theft Auto V on PS4 or the digital edition for Xbox One can upgrade to the enhanced versions on PS5 or Xbox Series X/S for free. This upgrade includes significant visual enhancements and performance improvements, along with the ability to transfer save data and online progress. PC gamers can also upgrade to the Enhanced edition, which features exclusive enhancements like ray-traced ambient occlusion and global illumination. Rockstar previously discontinued GTA Online on PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2021, leading to speculation about similar support for PS4 and Xbox One. Fans are also anticipating information about Grand Theft Auto VI, with a current release date of November 19 and increased marketing efforts expected this summer.

AppWizard

June 18, 2026

‘[It] is going to change a lot about how games are made’: Epic merges Unreal Engine 5 with Unreal Engine for Fortnite to give game devs around the world Unreal Engine 6

Epic Games unveiled developments for Unreal Engine 6 at the State of Unreal event in Chicago, highlighting its evolution from Unreal Engine 5. The new engine will incorporate features from Fortnite and UEFN (Unreal Editor for Fortnite), which allows users to create game levels easily. Unreal Engine 6 will adopt open standards for tools, code, and APIs to simplify development across industries. The anticipated release is set for 2027, with early access expected by the end of that year. Verse, a new scripting language, will be central to the gameplay programming model, while C++ will remain foundational. The Scene Graph will replace the existing gameplay framework, and artificial intelligence will play a larger role, with the UE5.8 release introducing the MCP server plugin for deploying large language models.

Winsage

June 18, 2026

Microsoft confirms Windows 11 Search will find your apps, not Bing results, even if you make typos

Microsoft has released the Insider Experimental Preview Build 26300.8687 for Windows 11 on June 12, 2026, which improves the Windows Search functionality. The update allows the search tool to accurately locate applications even with misspellings, omitted letters, or partial words. For example, typing “utlook” will yield Outlook as a result. Enhancements in the ranking of settings search results ensure that the most relevant options appear at the top. The update also improves local file search, allowing users to find files like “Severance-S2E5” more effectively. A new feature is being tested that will let users turn off web results in Windows Search, focusing exclusively on local content. Currently, disabling Bing results requires navigating through the Windows Registry, but a toggle in the Settings menu is being introduced for easier access. The June 2026 update has already implemented search enhancements, including returning file results after just two characters and a feature called Search by Substring, which allows users to find files using any segment of a filename.

AppWizard

June 17, 2026

Google Might Have Finally Fixed Android Auto’s Worst Connection Issue

Issues with Android Auto related to device connections have been prevalent, particularly for Samsung Galaxy S26 series and Google Pixel devices, due to software glitches. Google released Play Services version v26.15 in April to address these problems, but it did not fully resolve them. The latest update, Google Play Services v26.22, began rolling out on June 8 and includes bug fixes for device connection issues. The changelog notes '[Auto] Bug fixes for Device Connections related services.' Users can check for this version in the Settings app under Google > All services > System Services. Version 26.23, which is also rolling out, includes performance enhancements and bug fixes for system management and diagnostics. Additionally, Android Auto has undergone a significant update in 2026, introducing support for Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader and four new features, including expanded widget support.

Winsage

June 17, 2026

Windows and Linux users: The deadline to update Secure Boot keys is near

In 2012, a novel bootkit targeting Mac OS X systems emerged, infiltrating the EFI firmware. A basic bootkit for Windows 8 also appeared, compromising the UEFI bootkit. By 2013, a more sophisticated UEFI bootkit named Dreamboat was introduced for Windows. The first documented real-world UEFI attack occurred in 2018 with the malware LoJax, linked to a Kremlin-backed hacking group. In 2020, the second known UEFI malware, MosaicRegressor, was discovered, which verified the presence of a malicious file upon each reboot. New UEFI bootkits like ESpecter, FinSpy, and MoonBounce have since emerged. In response to the threat of UEFI bootkits, Microsoft collaborated with manufacturers to implement Secure Boot, a protocol that uses cryptographic signatures to ensure the integrity of firmware during startup.

Winsage

June 17, 2026

Windows devs rerolled old code to save precious bytes

Veteran Microsoft engineer Raymond Chen shared a story about the development of an x86-32 emulator that utilized binary translation, significantly improving performance compared to traditional emulation methods. During the project, the team faced an issue where a function allocated 64 KB of memory but was optimized by a compiler into 65,536 instructions, leading to 256 kilobytes of code being used to initialize the data. In response to this inefficiency, the engineers modified the translator to replace the inefficient function with a more compact loop, highlighting their commitment to memory efficiency during a time when operating systems prioritized resource conservation.

Winsage

June 17, 2026

Windows 11 Search will soon handle typos more effectively

Microsoft is enhancing the search functionality in Windows 11, currently testing updates in beta version 26300.8687 for Windows Insiders. The new features include a typo-correction capability that allows users to input queries with minor errors and still receive accurate results. Additionally, the ranking of search results has been refined to prioritize more relevant apps and files at the top.