How to – Page 6 – TickTechTold

play-video-stream-URL-address-ending-m3u8-extension

How to Play Video Stream using URL address [.m3u8 extension]

How to / November 29, 2022 November 29, 2022

You encounter a video streaming URL address that ends with a .m3u8 extension and wonder which media/video player you should use.

Examples of URL addresses ending with .m3u8 are;

https://mueitydjcsj231.s3.amazonaws.com/sports.m3u8

https://d3asorthfszay.cloudfront.net/out/v1/b841c5c8d6/index.m3u8

Some video streaming URL addresses have an index.m3u8 extension instead.

Usually, URL addresses ending with .m3u8 extension are likely to be a live video stream, such as streaming a live sports event or broadcasting a live TV channel.

Here is the summary of the media/video player you can use, depending on your operating system.

S/no	Name of Media Player	Platform
1	QuickTime	Windows and macOS
2	Video Player All Format (XPlayer)	Android
3	X Player – Mobile Video Player	iOS

This article will show you how to add your URL address to these video players so that you can watch your video streams online.

Table Of Contents

How to Play Video using URL address ending with .M3U8 extension

How to Play Video using URL address ending with .M3U8 extension

Here are the three (3) video players you can play on Windows, macOS, Android and iOS devices.

Method 1. QuickTime

quicktime-player-apple-play-m3u8-URL-address

QuickTime is a media player developed by Apple and is supported by both Windows and macOS operating systems.

Once installed, open the QuickTime player.

Select <File> and <Open location>.

quicktime-player-open-url-address-location-play-m3u8

Paste your URL address as shown above and click <Open>.

Your video stream will start playing once it has done buffering.

Method 2. Video Player All Format (XPlayer)

download-Xplayer-video-player-all-format-m3u8

Commonly known as XPlayer, this Android video player can play network streams by adding URLs to it.

After installing Video Player All Format from the Google Play Store, open it and click on the menu button (3 dots) on the top-right of the screen.

Click <Select>.

xplayer-play-index.m3u8-file-format-type

The video player will prompt you to enter your network URL.

Copy and paste your URL link here.

Click <OK>, and your video stream will start once it has buffered a portion of it.

Method 3. X Player – Mobile Video Player

Like the XPlayer for Android devices, X Player for iOS plays video streaming URL addresses ending with the .m3u8 extension.

Download X Player from the Apple App Store and open it.

You will see four (4) bottom tabs, namely <Playlist>, <Transmit>, <Files> and <More>.

Select the <Files> tab.

X-Player-video-play-m3u8-file-format-URL-address

Click on <Play URL>

Copy and paste your video stream URL address and click <Enter> on your keyboard.

X-Player-play-m3u8-file-format-URL-address

Your video stream will start playing once it has buffered the content.

Acquire-Forensic-Image-Using-Command-Line

3 Methods to Acquire Forensic Images Using the Command Line

How to / November 17, 2022 November 17, 2022

In digital forensics, you can use the command line to acquire forensic evidence images in several formats, such as the Expert Witness Format (EWF) files, the EnCase Evidence Files E01, dd (RAW), SMART and AFF.

This article will show you how to use the command line in Windows, Mac and Linux to acquire forensic images.

Table Of Contents

How to Acquire Forensic Images in E01 and dd formats using the Command Line?

How to Acquire Forensic Images in E01 and dd formats using the Command Line?

Here are the three (3) different ways you can use the command line to perform forensic image acquisition.

Method 1. Acquire E01 format using the command line

Using Linux and Mac, you need to install the libewf and ewf-tools to acquire E01 evidence files.

Type the following to install from APT;

sudo apt install libewf-dev ewf-tools

Begin E01 acquisition

Once installed, you can acquire a disk image in E01 format using the following command;

sudo ewfacquire -t /Cases/001/001_2022_USB_folder /dev/sdc

-t option here allows us to specify a destination folder.
/Cases/001/001_2022_USB_folder refers to our destination folder where we store our E01 evidence files.
/dev/sdc refers to the target disk we want to acquire.

Change all the options and parameters according.

Once you hit <Enter>, you may be asked additional questions like inputting a case number and specifying a segment size for each evidence file.

You can use –S 4G to have the segment size of the evidence size to be 4 gigabytes per file.

Verify E01 acquisition

Verifying your E01 is essential to ensure that you got the forensic imaging process done correctly.

The acquisition hash must match the verification hash. Both hash values must be the same.

This can be checked using the following command.

ewfinfo /Cases/001/001_2022_USB_folder.E01
ewfverify /Cases/001/001_2022_USB_folder.E01

You must point to the first E01 file, which will automatically verify the subsequent evidence files.

Method 2. Acquire dd (RAW) format using the command line

Using Linux and Mac, you can acquire the raw dd image format.

Note that this raw image does not require additional installation as it is built-in onto Linux and Mac operating systems.

Begin dd (RAW) acquisition

sudo su

Before you acquire any drives, always list the drives using this command;

df- h

As the dd (raw) format does not contain any computation hash in its header, it is important that you need to hash the drive first, so you can verify it after the forensic image is done.

md5sum /dev/sdb1  > /media/originalMD5

Start the forensic acquisition process

dd if=/dev/sdb1 of=/media/diskImage.img bs=1k

if refers to the input file. This is the target disk
of refers to the output file. This is your destination drive/folder
bs refers to block size. You can leave it as 1K default.

Verify dd (RAW) acquisition

Once the acquisition is completed, verify your forensic evidence file by hashing it again to ensure it matches the original hash.

md5sum /media/diskImage.img  > /media/verificationMD5

Method 3. Acquire RAW, SMART, E01 and AFF formats using FTK Imager Command Line

Using Windows, you can use the FTK Imager command line version, a popular forensic image acquisition tool to acquire forensic images.

The command line imager can be run on an external USB flash drive and plugged into the target machine.

Type the following to see the Help manual.

ftk imager --help

Begin forensic acquisition

Before you acquire any drives, always list all the attached physical drives in the target machine first. Use the following command;

ftkimager --list-drives

Begin forensic acquisition using;

ftkimager.exe C:/ F:\path\to\destinationfile\image001 --e01

C:/ is the target disk you want to image
F:\path\to\destinationfile\image001 is the destination drive/folder you want to image onto
-e01 is the E01 evidence file format you want as the output. You can change this into dd, SMART or AFF.

Verify forensic acquisition

Verify the forensic evidence files using the following;

ftkimager --verify F:\path\to\destinationfile\image001

Once completed, you will get the message that says, “Image verification complete”

Make sure that the computed hash and the verification hash match.

Speed-Up-Android-Modify-Animation-Scale-Speed-Faster

How to Make Android Run Smoother [Speed Up Animation Scale]

How to / November 13, 2022 November 13, 2022

One of the easiest and fastest ways to tweak your Android device to make it run faster and operate smoother is by modifying your Animation Scale settings under Developer Options mode.

Doing so will affect the speed of transitions and animation on your device, and you will experience a boost in terms of performance.

Why adjust the Animation Scale in Android Settings?

Every time you open an app or switch between different apps, transitions and animations are played, and your device needs to process them constantly.

By reducing the speed of the animation, your Android device can run faster and perform operations smoother.

Table Of Contents

Why adjust the Animation Scale in Android Settings?
How to Speed Up Your Android by Modifying Animation Scale?

How to Speed Up Your Android by Modifying Animation Scale?

Here are the three (3) steps to do so.

Step 1. Enable Developer Options (hidden)

android-enable-developer-options-mode-build-number

To enable the hidden Developer Options on your Android device, go to Settings > About Phone.

Tap on the <Build Number> several times until it says Developer options have now been enabled.

To access the Developer Options, go to Settings > System, and you will see it there. Alternatively, you can do a search on the Settings page using the word “developer” (see the image below).

search-developer-options-android-settings

Step 2. Scroll to the Drawing section

android-developer-options-drawing-section-animation-scales

In Developer Options mode, scroll down until you see the Drawing section.

You need to adjust the scale speed for the following three (3) animation settings;

Window animation scale (default 1x)
Transition animation scale (default 1x)
Animator duration scale (default 1x)

Their default speed is 1x, which is the normal animation speed for all Android devices.

Step 3. Reduce the Animation Speed

modify-adjust-android-animation-scale-speed-developer-options-mode

By reducing the animation speed by half, you can speed up all the transition effects on your phone, making it run smoother and faster.

Reduce all three (3) animation settings to .5x (which is half of 1x).

To do this, tap on each of them and choose <Animation scale .5x>.

Restart your phone, and you will experience a faster and smoother Android device.

Conclusion

Speeding up Android animations will make your device run faster and have a smoother operating system experience.

If you want to go further, you can choose <Animation off>. This will speed up the transitions and animations the fastest. Depending on your device, some have reported a loss of smoothness in the operating system. Of course, you can always test the speed scale to your preference.

If any changes made in Developer Options are causing some problems, you can always revert back by resetting all changes or simply turning Developer Options mode off.

export-download-youtube-watch-history-data

How to Download and Export YouTube Watch History [and More]

How to / November 11, 2022 November 11, 2022

When watching YouTube videos, your watch history is, by default, stored in your Google account (unless otherwise excluded by you via Settings). In addition, you can download and export your YouTube activities to an offline HTML or JSON file format.

You will only have watch history if you are logged in using your Google account (Gmail) while watching YouTube videos.

Table Of Contents

How to export YouTube Watch History?
- 1. Export via Google Takeout
- 2. Export via YouTube History Page

How to export YouTube Watch History?

Here are the two (2) different ways you can use to export your YouTube watch history.

1. Export via Google Takeout

Google Takeout is a feature from Google that allows users to export their information when it comes to using Google’s services, such as YouTube, Chrome web browser, Google Maps, etc.

For YouTube, you can have the option to export all or selected YouTube data, such as comments, likes, subscriptions, and many more.

To download your YouTube data using Google Takeout, follow the steps below.

Ensure you are logged into your YouTube account and go to the Google Takeout page.

Scroll down the list and select <YouTube and YouTube Music>

There are some optional export configurations you can make here.

youtube-watch-history-google-takeout-html-json

You can choose your export output as HTML or JSON format under the <Mutiple formats> setting.

google-takeout-export-youtube-watch-history-select-history

You can exclude most YouTube data, such as subscriptions, playlists, etc. and include only the history. This can be found in the <All YouTube data included> setting.

Click <Next step> and choose <Send downlink link via email>.

Click <Create Report>. You will receive the download link in your Gmail inbox (check your Spam) and on the actual Google Takeout webpage.

google-takeout-ready-to-download-via-email

You have now successfully downloaded your YouTube watch history (and any other Google data you have selected) offline in HTML or JSON format.

2. Export via YouTube History Page

YouTube provides a single webpage called “History Page” that displays the list of your watched history. You can export this page.

To access it, follow the steps below.

Go to the YouTube homepage and ensure you are logged in to your Google account.

On the left pane, click on <History> to display your list of previously watched videos.

Now click on <Manage all history> on the right pane.

youtube-history-page-export-save-as-pdf-webpage-complete.webp

You will now see the <Youtube History> page.

To export the list of watched videos, you can right-click anywhere on the page and choose;

Select <Print> and save as PDF document format or
Save as Webpage Complete as HTML webpage format.

Reveal-see-check-URL-shortener-links-unshorten

7 Ways to Safely Reveal URL Shortener Links BEFORE Clicking

How to / November 10, 2022 November 10, 2022

Before you click on a URL shortener link, you need to check and expand it to show you the original URL address. It would be best if you transformed the short URL to show you its real destination URL address and ensure that the webpage is safe to visit.

This article will focus on all the proven and tested methods to reveal a URL shortener link to its correct URL address.

Table Of Contents

How to Un-Shorten and Reveal the Actual URL from a URL Shortener Link?

How to Un-Shorten and Reveal the Actual URL from a URL Shortener Link?

Here are seven (7) different ways you can use to check.

1. UnShorten.me

When using UnShorten.me, you can have a big snapshot of the destination URL homepage, the destination domain and, of course, the actual destination URL.

The snapshot helps get a glimpse of the website you intend to click on and is clear enough to read some of the content there.

The site supports revealing URL links from URL shorteners such as FB.me (Facebook), t.co (Twitter), bit.ly, TinyURL, ow.ly and others.

You can even use their API to un-shorten various URLs in XML, JSON or simple RAW format.

2. Link UnShortener

linkunshorten-reveal-link-shortener-check

Not only does LinkUnShortener shows you the destination URL, but you can also check if the destination URL is safe to visit through its security checks.

When you expand the URL, you will get the following details;

The site info – typically the title of the page (if any)
Domain Info – WHOIS information such as the owner of the domain, the domain registrar, the creation and the expiration of the domain name
Security Checks – Check the reputation and security of the destination URL

There are links to VirusTotal, SSL Checker, Web of Trust and many others for security checks that you can use to check destination URLs’ safety and security.

3. CheckShortURL

checkshorturl-reveal-url-shortener-links

CheckShortURL provides a screenshot of the destination URL page, the actual URL and the followingvaluablel details;

Title of the page
Description of the page (as per shown on search engines)
Author of the page
Security checks on Web of Trust, SiteAdvisor, Norton and others.

sdfdsfsdf

4. URL Expander

URL Expander is useful when you have a batch of URL link shorteners to un-shorten.

You can instantly input a batch of URLs (limited to 100 requests per day) and see the page’s destination URLs (results), or you can download the results as a CSV file format.

To go over 100 requests, you will have to use the paid version. API access is also available for paid users.

URL Expander supports almost all URL shortening services: t.co, bit.ly, amzn.to, tinyurl.com, ow.ly, youtu.be and many more.

5. WhereGoes

WhereGoes provides the free service using a URL Redirect Checker that follows the path of a URL link shortener to enable troubleshooting of link issues and perform internet marketing intelligence.

Besides revealing and showing you the destination URL, you can see all the links being redirected through, for example, PHP redirects, htaccess redirects, NGINX redirects and JavaScript redirects, before reaching the destination URL.

6. UnShorten.It

UnShorten.It is a straightforward free online service that reveals andun-shortensn the URL link shorteners you have by showing you the destination URL and providing you with safety ratings on the URL page.

You can get the safety ratings in terms of Trustworthiness and Child Safety. This is provided by the Web of Trust community.

7. Preview Mode

Some URL shorteners come with a built-in preview feature that gives users a sneak preview of the actual URL before clicking on it.

For TinyURL, you can add the word “preview.” in front. See the example below.

https://tinyurl.com/3wa5rn4x

https://preview.tinyurl.com/3wa5rn4x

For Bitly, you can add the plus “+” sign at the end of the URL. See the example below.

bit.ly/2xTleYF

bit.ly/2xTleYF+

Featured_[Ho-to-tell-if-someone-copied-files]

7 Ways to Tell If Someone had Copied Files On Your Computer

How to / November 8, 2022 November 8, 2022

You suspect someone has accessed and checked on your laptop or desktop computer and probably copied files from it. You want to prove if your files are actually copied and if tracing of the person involved is possible.

This article will list down all the ways, signs and evidence to determine if your files are being copied.

Table Of Contents

How to Tell that Someone had Copied Files on Your Computer?

How to Tell that Someone had Copied Files on Your Computer?

Here are the seven (7) tell-tale signs to tell (and prove) that someone has copied files on your computer.

1. Check the history list of attached USB devices

Whenever a USB device is plugged into a computer, the Windows operating system keeps a list of USB device history. These can be USB flash drives, USB portable hard drives, memory cards using USB adapters, etc.

This method is frequently used in the field of digital forensics by examiners who need to prove the existence of a particular device, as it can show the unique serial number of the USB device attached.

USB Detective is a digital forensics software tool that extracts USB device information, such as serial numbers, last connected timestamp, first connected timestamp, etc.

You should download the USB Detective Community version, which is free to use, and you can export the findings in an Excel format.

2. Check the Timestamp of the File

file-properties-timestamp-created-accessed-modified

If you suspect a particular file or files within a folder have been copied, you can check the file’s properties, especially on the <Date Created> and the <Date Accessed> attribute values.

To check, right-click on the file and select <Properties>.

<Date Created> attribute can prove that a file is newly copied or created on the computer. <Date Accessed> attribute can prove that someone had opened a file previously.

You should be looking for files that had been accessed or created in the time frame that you are not using the computer.

3. Check Recent Files

Windows keep a history of recently-accessed files in the Windows menu for convenience when we need to open them again.

This feature is useful and provides a quick glance if any files have been opened while you are away.

For Windows, press the keyboard “Windows + R” to open the Run dialog box and type in “recent“.

A folder will appear to show you a list of all your recent files.

For Mac, it is called <Recents>. You can find them in your Finder app and on the left-hand pane.

4. Check the CCTV camera

cctv-camera-check-person-access-computer

Is this a residential home or a workplace environment? Does it have a CCTV camera looking at the angle of your computer?

Looking through the video footage is a sure way of identifying the person who had physical access to your computer and copied your files.

Be wary that CCTV footage recordings usually do not store for long due to overwriting and storage capacity constraints. So go in and retrieve the videos at the earliest time possible.

5. Check the Movement of Peripherals

keyboard-mouse-moved-shifted-person-using-your-computer

Sometimes the most obvious signs can be where your keyboard, mouse and monitor screen are shifted.

The person may accidentally move/shift your keyboard or any other peripherals while copying files at your computer.

If you have a keen eye for where you usually place your hardware, you may notice it immediately.

6. Check Keylogger Logs

keylogger-check-file-copy-access-computer

If you had previously installed a keylogger on your own computer, you could now check your logs to see all activity records, including the file copied activity.

A keylogger is commonly installed on someone’s computer to monitor keystrokes, folder access and visited websites.

But you can also install a keylogger on your own computer if you suspect someone is frequently accessing and copying your files.

You can use a keylogger like Refog to monitor all activities on your computer, take periodic snapshots, and send the images to your email address.

7. Check Audit Logs

This method requires you to check audit activity logs, and it only applies if you have previously installed and configured auditing software on your computer, probably on a company’s server.

If you have not done so, you can refer to this setup guide to enable the File and Folder Access Auditing feature in Windows Server configurations, for file copied activities.

You can also try Filesure for Windows to track who and which system process is accessing your files and what they are doing with them.

5 Ways to Download and Export Youtube Comments on any Video

How to / November 5, 2022 November 6, 2022

When watching Youtube videos, you can also download and export all the Youtube comments that come with them, usually in Excel (XLS) or CSV file format.

There are several different ways to do so, each having its own strengths and limitations.

Depending on your preference and needs, this article will list down all the methods you can use to export Youtube comments from its video.

Table Of Contents

How to download Youtube Comments
Why can’t some Youtube Comments be downloaded and exported?

How to download Youtube Comments

Here are the five (5) different methods you can use, depending on your preference,

1. ExportComments

exportcomments-export-youtube-comments-download

As long as it is a public Youtube video, you can copy the URL and paste it into ExportComments, and it will export out all the available comments.

ExportComments is free to use and is limited to a maximum of 500 comments. To increase the limit, three (3) different paid versions allow users to export up to a maximum of 250,000 comments per export.

Users can export for output in Excel or CSV file format.

Key Features

Include exporting of nested comments (comments within comments)
Support exporting of most international languages
Support Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tiktok, Discord and many more.

2. Youtube Comments Downloader

Youtube Comments Downloader is a straightforward tool that automatically expands all the nested comments to display for you.

Copy and paste the URL of the Youtube Video, and this online extraction tool removes all videos, images and ads and displays only all the Youtube comments in their raw form.

From there, you can either print it and save as PDF format, print it out as physical printouts, or save it as a webpage HTML file.

3. Coberry

coberry-export-comments-youtube-download

Coberry is an online service that helps you export Youtube comments, add Youtube videos as campaigns, and add tags to those campaigns to monitor a group of assets for statistical reporting.

After exporting comments, Coberry allows users to export as CSV files or in Plain Text format.

Key Features

Analyze sentiments to know the tone of the audience
Sort by chronological order, most like or most commented order
Filter by keyword
Filter by commentor (author)

4. Sudota Comment Tool

export-download-youtube-comments-sudota-social-tool

If you are the owner of your Youtube channel, Instagram business page or Facebook business page, then Sudota Comment Tool is suitable for you.

This Google Sheet extension tool allows you to export Youtube comments on your Google Sheets instantly, and you can also reply to those comments from there.

Key Features

Auto-stream Facebook / Instagram comments or reactions to your Google Sheets
You can search posts with post links or select from your published post
Refresh new comments to the downloaded sheet

5. Botster Youtube Comment Scraper

Botster is an online service that runs a variety of custom bots, including a bot for extracting Youtube comments.

The maximum number of comments it can extract and download is capped at 500,000. Botster is free for the first try and subsequently runs on paid credits model. Depending on the extraction volume, users may have to pay for more extraction.

Extracted Youtube comments can be in the form of Google Sheets, Excel, CSV or JSON file format. The output will also include specific details such as user nickname, comment date, comment upvotes and more.

Why can’t some Youtube Comments be downloaded and exported?

Here are the three (3) main reasons why some Youtube comments cannot be downloaded and exported.

Comments from Private Users

Youtube comments made by private users cannot be exported out. This is due to Youtube’s security policy.

Spam Comments

When Youtube comments are filtered and marked as spam, these comments cannot be exported and downloaded as well.

Suspended or Disabled Accounts

When a Youtube account has been suspended or disabled, all the previous comments made from this account will also be affected.

5 Ways to Edit, Remove (or Hide) Metadata in MS Word & Excel

How to / November 3, 2022 November 3, 2022

Depending on your needs, there are several ways to edit, change and remove metadata from your Microsoft Word and Excel document.

In this article, we will consider all possible scenarios that you may need to;

Edit and change a portion of the metadata
Remove it entirely (Clean up)
Hiding your document’s metadata from others while Preserving it

Table Of Contents

How to edit and change Metadata from MS Office documents (Word/Excel/Powerpoint)?

How to edit and change Metadata from MS Office documents (Word/Excel/Powerpoint)?

Here are the five (5) different ways you can do so, depending on your needs and requirements.

1. Use ExifTool by Phil Harvey

ExifTool by Phil Harvey is probably the most popular lightweight EXIF metadata viewer and editor. It is an easy-to-use command-line interface application that supports Windows, macOS and Linux operating systems.

ExifTool can remove metadata from both MS Word and PDF files.

Install your OS version from their official website, and always check your file metadata before removing it.

To view the metadata of your file, use this;

exiftool <filename>

To remove all metadata, use the following command;

exiftool -all= -overwrite_original <filename>

If you prefer the graphical user interface (GUI) of ExifTool, there is one that is based on the original ExifTool application.

2. Use Microsoft Built-in Metadata Editor

You can easily edit the metadata within the Microsoft Word/Excel document’s settings.

edit-metadata-using-microsoft-built-in-properties

If you are using Office for Mac, open your Word or Excel document, go to the <File> tab, choose <Properties> and select <Summary>.

You can add or remove metadata such as author, company, comments, etc.

If you are using Office for Windows, open your Word or Excel document, click on the <File> tab, choose <Info> and select <Remove> or <Edit> on the metadata values.

3. Use Online Metadata Removal

online-metadata-word-excel-removal-service

If your document is not sensitive and you do not want to manually remove document metadata through Settings or use third-party tools, then uploading your Word/Excel to an online metadata removal service is suitable.

Aspose Online Metadata Editor is an online service that requires you to upload your Word document. It will allow you to remove all the metadata values or edit and change a portion.

You can edit metadata in docx, doc, docm, dotx, dot, rtf, and pdf formats. After editing, you can save them to PDF, JPEG or HTML formats.

For security reasons, all edited output files are deleted from the company’s servers after 24 hours, and the download links will not work anymore.

4. Convert/Print to PDF

If you want to convert your document to PDF format and remove its metadata, then this solution is for you.

When you print a Word or Excel document as a PDF, the original metadata changes and most metadata values are removed.

If you are using Office for Mac, open the document file, click <File> and select <Print>. Next, you should be able to see the <PDF> menu. Choose <Save as PDF> and click <Save>. A PDF version of the original Word/Excel document is now created.

If you are using Office for Windows, you can install CutePDF Writer to print any document in PDF format.

5. Encrypt it with a password

When you encrypt your Word or Excel file with a password, all its metadata are hidden and cannot be seen by anyone.

Depending on your preference, you may find this solution the best way, as you may want to preserve its original metadata but do not want others to view it.

To encrypt your Word/Excel file, open it, go to <Tools>, and select <Protect Document>.

encrypt-office-word-excel-remove-metadata

The encryption dialog box will appear (shown above). Enter your password to confirm.

Under the <Privacy> option below, you can have the option to remove personal information automatically. This means removing all personal identifier-related metadata values, such as name, author and company.

How to Install Orion Browser by Kagi on Mac [macOS Ventura]

How to / November 1, 2022 November 1, 2022

Orion browser, by Kagi, is a macOS and iOS web browser that is a privacy-respecting, true zero-telemetry browser and aims to be lightning fast in terms of the web browsing experience.

Currently, in the beta version, the web browser aims to be version 1.0 ready by the end of 2023.

Table Of Contents

How to Install Orion web browser on Mac?

How to Install Orion web browser on Mac?

Here are the five (5) easy steps to install and ensure that the Orion web browser is ready to be used.

Step 1. Go to the official Orion website

orion-web-browser-homepage-official-website

The first thing you need to do is to go to the official website of the Orion Browser by Kagi.

Click on <Download Orion beta> on the homepage to go to the downloads page.

Step 2. Choose your macOS/iOS version

On the downloads page, you will choose and download the version based on your Mac operating system version.

The Orion web browser supports the following Mac versions;

macOS 13.0 Ventura
macOS 12.0 Monterey
macOS 11.0 BigSur
macOS 10.15 Catalina
macOS 10.14 Mojave

You can get your Orion web browser directly from the Apple App Store for iPhone and iPad.

Click on the version and download it onto your Mac.

Step 3. Install the dmg

install-orion-web-browser-by-kaji-on-mac-macOS

Double-click the <Orion.dmg> file, and the installation dialog box will appear.

Drag the <Orion.app> icon to the <Applications> folder so the installation can begin.

Step 4. Ensure Installation is Successful

ensure-orion-web-browser-is-installed-finder-applications-mac

Open the Finder.app and go to the Applications folder (on the left pane) and scroll down to ensure that Orion.app is present.

If it is there, this means the Orion web browser is installed successfully,

To finish the whole installation process, eject the Orion installer, found at the bottom left-hand side of the Finder.

eject-orion-installer-application-mac-macOS

Step 5. Open Orion Web Browser

Lastly, it would be best to open the Orion web browser to ensure everything is installed and working fine.

On your Mac, click on the magnifying glass icon on the top right (Spotlight Search) and type in the word “Orion“.

search-orion-magnifying-glass-spotlight-search-web-browser

You will see <Orion.app> appear on the list. Click <Enter> to open it.

Click <Open> if you want to open the app.

On your first startup of the Orion web browser, click on the address bar on top to choose a default search engine, for example, manually, https://www.google.com.

view-open-AVIF-file-image-format-windows-mac-android-ios

How to Open & View AVIF Image Format [PC, Android, iOS, Mac]

How to / October 30, 2022 October 30, 2022

Opening a AVIF image file format is fairly easy, depending on the type of operating systems you are using.

In this article, we will address all the solutions you need to view AVIF images, regardless if you are using a Windows PC, a Mac computer, using Android or iOS mobile device.

What is an AVIF Image?

Developed by the Alliance for Open Media with participating members such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft, the AVIF Image File format (.avif) is a compressed image file that competes with the likes of JPEG and WebP formats.

Below is a summary of all the methods to open AVIF images, depending on your operating system.

S/no	Open With	Operating System
1	Google Chrome	All OS
2	ImageGlass	Windows
3	qView	macOS
4	AVIF Image Viewer & Converter	Android
5	Use latest iOS & macOS versions	iOS
6	PhotoKit AVIF Image Viewer	All OS / Cloud service

How to Open and View AVIF Image File Format?

Here are the six (6) ways to open AVIF image files for all operating systems and devices.

1. Open with your Web Browser

Several web browsers now have support for the AVIF image format.

At the time of this article, you can use Google Chrome, Brave browser and Firefox browser to view AVIF images.

Currently, the Safari browser does not support opening AVIF format, but this may change in the near future.

open-avif-image-file-format-using-web-browser-google-chrome

To view the AVIF format using your web browser, do the following;

Right-click on the AVIF file, choose <Open With> and select <Other>
Select <All Applications> from the drop-down menu in the Enable option.
Choose Google Chrome on the left pane and click <Open>
You can now view your AVIF image file using the Chrome browser.

2. Install ImageGlass for Windows

ImageGlass is a lightweight, versatile and simple open-source Windows application that supports opening over 80+ image formats, such as AVIF, SVG, HEIC, RAW and many more.

Appearance-wise, it has a minimalist design look that comes with image editing features. Some of the main features include;

Losslessly rotate/save the viewing image.
Drag-n-drop viewing image supported.
Ability to view/extract multi-page image files (TIF, ICO) separately.
Six zoom modes
Conversion to 10 different formats

3. Install qView for Mac

qview-for-Mac-view-open-AVIF-image-file-format

qView is a lightweight and minimalist image viewer for Mac that instantly opens up AVIF file formats and other image files. It runs on low memory and requires low CPU usage.

qView also has additional features, such as file history, rotation/mirroring and animated GIF controls.

The free and open-source software supports all standard image formats, including BMP, GIF, JPG, PNG, TIFF, and WebP image formats.

4. Install AVIF Image Viewer for Android

Android-AVIF-Image-Viewer-Converter-app-open-view

AVIF Image Viewer & Converter is a lightweight Android mobile app that recognises and opens AVIF image file formats.

For a start, users can view AVIF images using the app and have the option to save them to the Gallery in JPG, PNG or WebP format.

With the new encoding feature, users can convert images to AVIF format.

5. Use the latest iOS / macOS version

apple-devices-latest-version-view-open-AVIF-image-file-format

For Apple iPhone, iPad mobile devices and macOS computers running iOS 16, iPadOS 16 and macOS 13 Ventura, there will be the automatic built-in capability to support AVIF images through Preview, Finder and Image viewing features.

If you are not on the latest macOS or iOS version, you can also try to open AVIF files using Google Chrome or Opera web browsers. Both web browsers are tested to be able to display AVIF images.

Safari web browser version 16.0 is also said to be able to support AVIF image file formats natively.

6. Use an Online AVIF viewer

Photokit AVIF Image Viewer is an online AVIF image viewing and editing service that runs on the web browser side and not on the site’s server.

You upload your AVIF file and preview them through your web browser. Then, you can edit the image file using a wide range of tools, such as adjusting exposure, correction, using the palette, inserting sketching or even adding cartoons.

After editing, you can save them in jpg or png format.