WhatsApp is the messaging app most of your contacts already use. The phone install is an easy call, while the Windows desktop app is where the real tradeoff sits.
Development on Baidu Browser stopped years ago, leaving a Chromium browser that still launches on Windows with a decade of security fixes missing from it.
Instead of stacking privacy extensions onto Chrome, Avast Secure Browser bundles Bank Mode, Web Shield, and a password manager, from a company with a real data-selling history.
Password manager, VPN, and email alias: normally three extensions. Maxthon bundles them into one browser, from a developer with a China data-sharing history.
Webmail tabs and the built-in Mail app fall short once you're juggling several accounts. Mailspring answers with a native client and unlimited free accounts.
Cryptomator adds client-side encryption to any cloud folder you already sync. Free and complete on desktop, read-only on phones until you pay once.
1.1.1.1 with WARP is the free VPN for people who want encryption on every network and never needed to fake their location. Everyone else should keep looking.
LastPass is a familiar password manager with an unlimited free tier, a one device-type ceiling, and a security record worth weighing before you download it.
Bitwarden is a free, open source password manager that stores unlimited logins across unlimited devices. One real question decides whether Premium is worth adding.
Every entry in a password manager carries more than the password: a site name, a username, sometimes a note. Most managers leave that part unencrypted. Proton Pass does not.
One long read on the week's biggest shift, every Sunday.
