Author: Manuel Bosque

{ "social": { "email": "", "facebook": "", "twitter": "", "linkedin": "" }, "ja-JP": "", "de-DE": "Manuel Bosque schreibt bei Softonic über Software: Desktop-Programme, Produktivitätswerkzeuge und kleine Tools, die ein Problem wirklich lösen. Sein Maßstab ist praktisch — was ein Programm tatsächlich leistet, was es dafür verlangt und für wen es sich lohnt —, deshalb misstraut er Funktionslisten und testet lieber selbst. Er gehört zum Team, das festlegt, wie Software auf der Seite behandelt wird, und arbeitet täglich mit KI-Werkzeugen in der redaktionellen Produktion.", "en-US": "Manuel Bosque covers software at Softonic: desktop programs, productivity tools and the small utilities that solve one problem well. His approach is practical — what a program actually does, what it asks in return and who it is for — which is why he distrusts feature lists and prefers to test. He is part of the team that decides how software gets covered on the site, and works daily with AI tools applied to editorial production.", "es-ES": "Manuel Bosque se ocupa de la cobertura de software en Softonic: programas de escritorio, herramientas de productividad y utilidades pequeñas que resuelven bien un solo problema. Su criterio es práctico —qué hace realmente un programa, qué pide a cambio y a quién le sirve—, y por eso desconfía de las listas de funciones y prefiere probar. Forma parte del equipo que decide cómo se cuenta el software en la web y trabaja a diario con herramientas de IA aplicadas a la producción editorial.", "fr-FR": "Manuel Bosque couvre les logiciels chez Softonic : programmes de bureau, outils de productivité et petits utilitaires qui résolvent bien un seul problème. Son approche est pratique — ce qu'un logiciel fait vraiment, ce qu'il demande en échange et à qui il s'adresse —, d'où sa méfiance envers les listes de fonctionnalités et sa préférence pour l'essai. Il fait partie de l'équipe qui définit la manière de traiter le logiciel sur le site et travaille au quotidien avec des outils d'IA appliqués à la production éditoriale.", "it-IT": "Manuel Bosque si occupa di software su Softonic: programmi per il desktop, strumenti di produttività e piccole utility che risolvono bene un solo problema. Il suo criterio è pratico — cosa fa davvero un programma, cosa chiede in cambio e a chi serve — e per questo diffida degli elenchi di funzioni e preferisce provare. Fa parte del team che decide come si racconta il software sul sito e lavora ogni giorno con strumenti di IA applicati alla produzione editoriale.", "nl-NL": "Manuel Bosque schrijft bij Softonic over software: desktopprogramma's, productiviteitstools en kleine hulpprogramma's die één probleem echt oplossen. Zijn maatstaf is praktisch — wat een programma werkelijk doet, wat het daarvoor vraagt en voor wie het nuttig is — en daarom wantrouwt hij functielijstjes en test hij liever zelf. Hij maakt deel uit van het team dat bepaalt hoe software op de site wordt behandeld en werkt dagelijks met AI-tools in de redactionele productie.", "pl-PL": "Manuel Bosque zajmuje się oprogramowaniem w Softonicu: programami na komputer, narzędziami do pracy i niewielkimi aplikacjami, które dobrze rozwiązują jeden problem. Jego kryterium jest praktyczne — co program naprawdę robi, czego wymaga w zamian i komu się przyda — dlatego nie ufa listom funkcji i woli sprawdzić sam. Należy do zespołu, który decyduje, jak pisać o oprogramowaniu w serwisie, i codziennie korzysta z narzędzi AI w produkcji redakcyjnej.", "pt-BR": "Manuel Bosque cobre software na Softonic: programas para desktop, ferramentas de produtividade e pequenos utilitários que resolvem bem um problema só. Seu critério é prático — o que um programa realmente faz, o que pede em troca e para quem serve — e por isso desconfia de listas de recursos e prefere testar. Faz parte da equipe que define como o software é abordado no site e trabalha diariamente com ferramentas de IA aplicadas à produção editorial." }

Apple names John Ternus CEO: his 2027 pay tops Tim Cook’s

Apple’s leadership and compensation filings lay out a clean succession plan: John Ternus will become CEO on September 1, 2026, and Tim Cook will move into the executive chairman role after 15 years as CEO. Those same filings put Ternus’s 2027 target pay at about $58 million, made up of a $3 million salary and a $55 million equity award. Cook’s target is lower, roughly $47 million, with a $2 million salary and $45 million in stock.

Cook could still end up realizing more if Apple stock disappoints. The filings show that 50% of his award is performance-based, compared with 75% of Ternus’s. Taken together, that looks like a pretty direct board message: the new Apple CEO is being paid on shareholder returns, while Cook is being kept close as a source of stability.

Cook’s chairman role won’t be ceremonial. Apple’s compensation filings show that its last non-executive chairman, Art Levinson, made about $560,000, and Cook is expected to stay active on oversight and on Apple’s relationships in Washington and China. That matters as the company faces supply-chain pressure, tighter regulation, and a broader reset.

If you follow Apple, keep an eye on this handoff. Cook’s visibility alone will keep governance questions alive. Supporters will see him as a safety net; critics will warn that he could overshadow Ternus. Ternus’s expected debut of a folding iPhone at Apple’s next launch should offer the clearest early read yet on what the post-Cook era actually looks like.

WhatsApp is testing account-free calls: join from a secure web link

WhatsApp is testing a guest calling feature built around secure web links. The idea is simple: people could make or receive WhatsApp voice and video calls without setting up an account, downloading the app beforehand, or running into a signup screen before they can join.

WhatsApp Download

The feature grows out of guest chats, but it goes further than what WhatsApp currently allows without an account. Right now, account-free chats are limited to text. Guests can’t share media, can’t send voice notes, can’t place calls, and their chat history may disappear after a period of inactivity. Guest calling would change that by letting someone jump into a one-off conversation straight from a browser, in the kind of situation where a quick call makes more sense than a long message thread.

Meta hasn’t opened public testing yet, and it also hasn’t given any timeline for a release. Even so, the expectation is that WhatsApp guest calling would still use end-to-end encryption, that every guest would need approval from the host before joining, and that browser-session encryption keys would handle the privacy side of the interaction.

For businesses that use WhatsApp for customer service, support, bookings, or high-consideration purchases, this could matter quite a bit. Guest calling would make it easier to connect with customers who don’t have the app, smooth out the experience, and likely help conversions too. It could also make link-based, ad hoc calling more practical, while giving WhatsApp another way to compete with Zoom and Google Meet in places like India, Brazil, and Indonesia. That’s a meaningful audience: WhatsApp already has 3.3 billion monthly users and processes more than 150 billion messages every day.

WhatsApp itself is already available on iOS, Android, desktop, and the web. Guest calling, though, is still being developed, and you can’t use it yet.

Google Photos now adds Virtual Wardrobe and Manual Photo Stacks on Android

Google Photos is rolling out two new features on Android: Virtual Wardrobe and Manual Photo Stacks. One turns your photo library into a closet that more or less builds itself. The other gives you a lot more say over how similar photos get grouped.

Google Photos Download

Virtual Wardrobe looks through your Google Photos library, spots clothing items, and builds a searchable closet from what it finds. It can also suggest outfit pairings and generate preview images, which means you don’t have to upload every shirt, jacket, or pair of shoes yourself. The feature also fits neatly into Google’s broader push around shopping, visual search, and styling. That’s happening in a category some forecasts say could grow from roughly $1.8 billion in 2025 to $9.7 billion by 2034.

Manual Photo Stacks has already been on Google Photos for iPhone for almost a year, and now it’s coming to Android too. You pick several photos, tap Stack Photos, and group near-duplicate shots, burst sequences, or event pictures yourself when Google’s automatic stacking doesn’t quite nail it.

If Google Photos is something you use a lot, Manual Photo Stacks seems like the kind of feature you’ll actually use for regular cleanup. Virtual Wardrobe may have even more upside, simply because Google already has billions of photos sitting in its system to work with. Still, having Google analyze personal images that closely is going to make some people uneasy, and fairly so.

You can get both features in Google Photos on Android, though Virtual Wardrobe is only available right now to users in the US, Brazil, and India who are on select paid Google One plans. A wider rollout in the US is reportedly in progress, iPhone support is expected later, and even among eligible Google Photos users, the features won’t show up for everyone at the same time.

0patch extends Office 2021 security fixes into late 2029

0patch says it will keep shipping critical security micropatches for Microsoft Office 2021 until late 2029, after Microsoft confirmed that every edition of the one-time-purchase suite hits end of support on October 13, 2026.

Once that date passes, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and the rest of Office 2021 will still open and run. What stops is the support around them: no Microsoft technical help, no bug fixes, and no security updates. Microsoft also says there won’t be an Extended Security Updates program for Office 2021, which means any new vulnerability discovered after that point could leave users more exposed to malware, ransomware, or data theft, especially in workplaces where Office files move back and forth all day.

0patch says it plans to cover that gap with critical security micropatches for at least three more years, taking support into late 2029, and maybe beyond that if enough people keep using it. That gives Office 2021 users another option besides moving to Microsoft 365 or buying Office 2024. Acros Security says its fixes are injected directly into memory instead of altering files on disk, so they can often be applied without restarting the machine. 0patch already does the same kind of coverage for Windows 10, Office 2016, and Office 2019.

If you’ve been putting off an upgrade because of the price, compatibility problems, line-of-business add-ins, or because you just don’t want another subscription, this looks like a practical stopgap. Running an unsupported copy of Microsoft Office can also turn into a compliance issue, cause trouble in audits, and complicate cyber-insurance coverage.

0patch Pro from Acros Security costs €24.95 a year, plus tax.

Huawei unveils Mate XT 2: its tri-fold phone lands just before Apple’s foldable iPhone

Huawei just unveiled the Huawei Mate XT 2, its latest tri-fold phone, and the timing wasn’t subtle. It landed two days before Apple is expected to show off its first foldable iPhone. Huawei is trying to seize the foldables story with a more complicated design, though who actually gets access to it will still depend on Huawei’s regional rollout, along with the software and trade restrictions that continue to shape the company’s reach.

By sticking with a three-section design instead of the book-style foldables and flip models Samsung, Motorola, and others keep polishing, Huawei is making the same bet again: that people want a phone that can open into a much larger screen for video, multitasking, and work. That three-part approach gives Huawei an early win in the news cycle, and it sends Apple a pretty direct message. Foldables have already moved past the stage of niche Android experiments. They’re thinner now, larger, and mechanically more ambitious, even if Apple is expected to take the safer path and concentrate on polish, software integration, and durability.

If you keep a close eye on premium phones, the Huawei Mate XT 2 is worth watching. Even so, tri-folds still look like products aimed first at early adopters , power users, and buyers willing to spend for a halo device rather than something built for the mass market. For everyone else, the bigger question is practicality, because foldables remain one of the few parts of the phone market where brands can still deliver real visual novelty now that yearly smartphone upgrades have started to flatten into one another.

Huawei is still strongest in China and still dealing with international software and trade limits, but the Mate XT 2 makes the company’s position pretty clear: Huawei isn’t stepping away from big hardware bets or from the fight to define where foldables go next. Whether that matters outside its core markets will depend on how far Huawei can actually roll this one out.