Tag: #houseparty

The Mobile Apps Helping Us to Cope with Lockdown Revealed. #Apps

With the introduction of the COVID-19 lockdown seeing nearly all aspects of our lives migrating to our home, our dependence on digital connectivity has never been more prevalent. Thankfully, there has been no shortage of apps that can help us through this strange time – from keeping in contact with family and friends to connecting with colleagues and customers. 

New research from Carphone Warehouse used a social media listening tool to discover which apps are helping us to cope with the lockdown. From learning a new hobby, keeping connected or sharing your own lockdown experience on social media, many of us are using apps to keep us going: 

 

  • Houseparty

 

A relatively new app that has made a name for itself during lockdown, Houseparty has increased in popularity since social distancing has become the new norm. It allows you to make video calls with friends and family while challenging them to a variety of different games. Recent research has revealed that the app is most popular at 10pm on Wednesdays, proving it to be the go-to for a mid-week gathering. 

 

  • Zoom 

 

Another video-based app, Zoom is perfect for both professional and social calls. It is used for business meetings and webinars and can accommodate up to 10,000 viewers through its presentation feature. On the social side, it is also great for hosting virtual pub quizzes or birthday parties. You can also jazz up a Monday morning meeting or Friday night drinks with a variety of fun backgrounds. 

 

  • Headspace 

 

With radical changes to our lifestyles, many of us have had to wave goodbye to well-honed routines – and this can be stressful and mentally draining. Mental health app Headspace focuses on mental wellbeing and relaxation, while providing access to resources such as anxiety-reducing meditation and sleep exercises that help keep users’ mental health in tip top shape. 

 

  • Disney+ 

 

Wondering what to do with all this extra time on your hands? You can binge all your favourite Disney movies and programmes, from princesses to Jedis and everything in between. In fact, the new movie streaming service has proven a threat to streaming giant Netflix, as millions of users have signed up after its launch in the US, Canada, UK and the majority of Europe. 

 

  • Stand Up! 

 

Working from home is the reality for many of us, and being cooped up at home can make it difficult to find the motivation to keep active. It can be easy to slip into sedentary behaviour, but sitting for too long can come with some serious health risks. Stand Up! is an app that prompts you to stand up and move around every so often so you can stretch and get those muscles moving. 

 

  • Duolingo 

 

Many people are using self-isolation as an opportunity get a new language under their belt – and Duolingo has been popular for this. It makes learning French, Greek or even High Valyrian easy and fun with games and tests against the clock. Why not fulfil your wanderlust by attempting to grasp the language of a country you’d love to travel to once this is all said and done?

 

  • MasterClass 

 

If a language doesn’t interest you, you can get to grips with a new skill instead. MasterClass offers the help of a leading professional in their field so you can come out of lockdown with a new hobby. Whether it’s cooking classes with Gordon Ramsay or tennis lessons with Serena Williams, it’s as close as you can get to a private lesson with these professionals. 

In today’s digital landscape, there are a plethora of apps that you can use to help keep you entertained and connected during this time at home. 

A cyber security expert on @houseparty app. #Houseparty #Apps #Hacks

With everyone working from home and in self-isolation, the Houseparty app has rocketed to number 1 of the download charts.
But there’s a lot of hysteria (and scaremongering) out there about it stealing all your data and being ‘hacked’, so cyber security expert Jonny Pelter, founder of internet safety membership site  SimpleCyberLife wanted to set the record straight with a quick app review..

What is Houseparty?

Know the game ‘Fortnite’? Sure you do. The same guys (Epic Games) created this app. In short, it is a multi-person video calling app. Friends and family, or, even strangers (if you’d like) can connect with you and chat face-to-face much like Skype or FaceTime.

Is Houseparty safe?

1. I’ve Been Hacked – on Monday there were numerous rumours circulating on social media that the app has been hacked but all of these have been unjustified, with no evidence and Houseparty themselves have confirmed there hasn’t been a breach of any kind.
In fact, these claims that the app had been hacked were all so similar in nature to be honest it felt like a commercial smear campaign (probably by a competitor) and low and behold, about 30 minutes ago the BBC posted that the owner of Houseparty is now offering a $1 million reward for evidence that it is indeed a smear campaign.
In short, it hasn’t been hacked. Ignore the rumours, they are wholly unfounded.
2. Privacy – again, many on social media have claimed that Houseparty steals all your personal data. Houseparty does not access third-party apps like Netflix or Spotify, though it does ask for access to user’s contacts and connections on Facebook and Snapchat. This is basically to help them grow by inviting your friends to the app too – loads of apps do this. You can of course turn this off.
3. Gate-Crashers – yes it is true that friends-of-friends (so in effect, strangers) can gate-crash on your video calls. Yes, this is a little creepy especially if adults are crashing on your kids conversations. This is easily turned off in the settings by ‘locking rooms’ so that people have to be invited to ‘rooms’ in order to enter. Easy.
4. Cyber Bullying & Inappropriate Content – as the video chats are unmoderated, as with all social media there is of course a possibility for people to be nasty to one another or kids seeing inappropriate stuff. We suggest parents try to for themselves to assess this. With the settings below which restrict your chats to friends only, this shouldn’t be too much of an issue.
Our Recommendation
1. Use Houseparty! In a covid-19 world in self-isolation, it’s a great way of catching up with the whole family all at once and you can even play some pretty fun games. Resist the scaremongering!
2. Turn Private Mode On…so strangers can’t walk into your or your kids’ chats.
When in the app, click the white smilie in the top left of your screen and then click the red cog icon in the top left of the screen.
3. Update Your Settings. Review settings and ensure you’re happy. Definitely turn location off. Camera and Mic is the only one that is absolutely necessary. The notifications can be highly irritating so you may want to turn them off too.
4. Reject Friends Requests From People You Don’t Know. Ensure your kids know that they should be denying requests from strangers too (even if they are a friend-of-a-friend).