Microsoft Teams is a live meeting platform and virtual collaboration space.Microsoft first launched teams as a direct competitor to Slack.Here's what to know about Microsoft Teams and how to use various features.If you need to set up a remote meeting wherein you can conduct video calls, swap notes, share files, align calendars, and much more, the Microsoft Teams just might be the right platform to use. A part of the Microsoft 365 subscription service that includes programs like Word, Excel, Outlook, and more, Teams easily integrates with much of the software and many apps you are likely already using.Teams was first created because Bill Gates was against buying Slack, the workflow management platform.Microsoft almost made an $8 billion bid for Slack, but the company's founder and former CEO was opposed to the move.Satya Nadella, Microsoft's CEO, agreed with Gates, and the offer was never made. Instead, Microsoft would develop Teams as a competitor to Slack, releasing it the next year.Let's take a closer look at Microsoft Teams and what it allows its users to do.What is Microsoft Teams?Microsoft Teams is a collaboration app that allows users to communicate and work together in real time. It's designed to help users stay organized and connected, and can be used for a variety of purposes, including meetings, during which people can use features like PowerPoint Live, Microsoft Whiteboard, and AI-generated meeting notes.Teams can also be used as a phone call platform. Users can make group calls, send voicemails, and transfer calls to others.It's also a chat platform, letting users message individuals or groups, and access features like emojis and suggested replies.Teams users can share files and share apps, and can use the program to help align and manage their calendars and schedules. Microsoft Teams offers features like phone calls, calendar management, and AI-generated meeting notes. Thiago Prudencio/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Is Microsoft Teams still free?There is a free version of Microsoft Teams that offers many of the same functions as the paid version, albeit in scaled down form. Called "Teams for personal life," the free version limits video calls to 60 minutes, but it allows chat, file sharing, and up to five gigabytes of cloud file storage. The free version limits participants in a single session to 100 users.How to join a Teams meeting even without an accountYou don't need to install Microsoft Teams join a meeting. You can join a meeting using your browser, or you can download the Windows app. On your computer, you need to use Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome as your browser to join a Teams meeting.You can also join a Team's meeting even if you don't have a Microsoft Teams account, and that's true on a smartphone or tablet or on a computer.To join without an account, first find the meeting invite in your email or on your calendar, then select "Join Microsoft Teams Meeting." On a computer, choose "Join on the web," whereas on a mobile device, you will be prompted to download the Team app. Enter your name, allow the device to use your camera and microphone, then hit "Join now."The meeting organizer will then be notified that you've joined, and someone in the meeting can admit you.Which is better: Teams, Zoom, or Google Meet?Each better serves different users and use cases, so it's not a matter of which platform is better, but rather which is better for a given situation. Google Meet is a stripped-down and easy-to-use platform ideal for more casual meetings, as among friends or small groups of coworkers. Zoom allows for a high number of participants, so it's good for major presentations or remote conferences.And Microsoft Teams offers a robust suite of features, as discussed here, making it ideal for ongoing use by groups that need to regularly collaborate in productive ways.

Marvel Rivals what lessons should Sony and others learn? (NetEase Games)After a year of live service flops how is it that Marvel Rivals has become such a massive hit? GameCentral talks to the games director to find out.Marvel Rivals has been a huge success since it was released in early December. The Overwatch-esque hero shooter has carved out a place for itself in the crowded world of live service games and the initial signs right now suggest that it will have staying power. Thats a minor miracle, given how many high profile failures there have been recently, including last years Concord and Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League.)That success has been solidified by the recent launch of Season 1, which sees the game get a new map and the introduction of the Fantastic Four, to keep that momentum rolling. Its undeniably an exciting time for NetEases new hit. Thats why we jumped at the chance to speak to the games director, Guangyun Chen.In our interview with him, we reflect with him on the games launch, the undying role lock conversation, and how often heroes will be added to the game. Please bear in mind this interview was conducted just before Christmas, so the specifics of Season 1 werent known at that time.PD: For you guys, how has the launch been? How pleased are you with the community response?GC: Our whole team has felt the passion of the community and everyone. We would use all of that to fuel us and continue to develop great stuff for everyone.PD: Youve been pretty clear about not wanting to enforce role lock [which sets hard limits on how many class types can be in a single team to try and create an even spread of healers, tanks, etc.] prior to release. That said, the community conversation around the topic right now is really loud. If that conversation becomes loud enough, would you be willing to change your stance?GC: Yeah, so we totally get that the community is discussing role lock and role queue. At its core, its really about the game balance. So, what we want to offer is more line-up or more team comp possibilities through our hero design and our team-up mechanic. So, well be taking a little bit more of a Marvel-inspired approach.Its all about giving the players the freedom to experiment and find their unique strategies, as weve seen in many games and streams. Post-launch, people have been exploring an indefinite amount of team compositions, and were excited about whats coming, we believe no role queue will lead to a richer gaming experience for everyone.PD: In terms of gameplay, is there anything thats surprising you? Anything the player-base is doing that you didnt expect?GC: Theres actually been a lot of cool stuff happening from social media. Weve seen, for example, Jeff is blowing up on socials. Weve also seen players share epic clips of Spider-Man using his web swing to block Iron Mans ult. Its totally wild. Not to mention, you know, theres the team-up between Hulk and Wolverine, so they use that insane fastball special team-up to take Iron Man down right from the sky.Yeah, its really amazing seeing all these clips from socials, and it really shows us that the players and the community love our game, and really were just really grateful for everything.PD: How important is game balance to you? With patch notes, how quickly do you want to put them out? Do you want to mess with metas and strong heroes that become outliers quickly or give them time?GC: After the launch, weve been keeping a close eye on the games environment and balance. Moving forward, we will be looking at hero pick rates and win rates in different scenarios. Once we have some more detailed analysis and through thoughtful consideration, well definitely make necessary balances and adjustments.Its all about creating a good experience for our players. It hasnt been that long since our launch, so were going to continue to monitor everything and make sure everything feels right.PD: Whats your philosophy on game balance? Do you think making changes to heroes who are strong with the best players is best? Base it on what is strong in tournaments? Or do you want to preserve the casual player experience?GC: The team generally wants every kind of player to enjoy the game in their own way. So instead of just zeroing in on either tournament results or quick play, were going to take a broader look at the overall balance data on all the heroes in all the modes.Additionally, weve also introduced a ban/pick system in higher tier ranked matches and in tournaments. So, this adds another layer of strategy for competitive players, giving them more choices in how they want to approach every single game. Marvel Rivals you can no doubt expect more movie tie-ins in the future (NetEase Games)PD: How do seasonal bonuses work? Are they meant to be on all the time, and I assume they will change next season?GC: So let us break down the team-up mechanic first. First off, each team-up involves two to three heroes, with one acting as the core team-up, which is the one who received the seasonal bonuses. So, when theres one core hero on the field, any other hero from that specific team-up would activate the whole team-up mechanics.And you really only need two heroes to trigger one team-up, which specifically means that a team can easily activate three sets of team-ups in one game and that further adds a whole new layer of strategy and depth to team compositions.So on one hand, we want to encourage players to use these core heroes by giving them additional season stat bonuses, which helps to then activate more team-ups potentially in one game. So, we believe by doing all this, we would have more freedom, but we let players choose the heroes that they want to play.Looking ahead as we move on to seasonal updates, well be introducing new heroes and will also be refreshing the team-ups every season. That includes adding new team-ups, as well as breaking down and reshaping the existing ones to keep the experience dynamic and engaging for everyone.PD: Why did the game launch with such a disproportionate amount of Duelists? Do you prefer to take a hero you want to make and decide the role after, or is the wider roster composition important? Do you plan to try and make the roles more even, or do you not think it matters?GC: Our choice of heroes will be guided by the overall gameplay experience or theme that we want to create for each season. So itll revolve around the season and right now, at post-launch, we have eight Vanguards and seven Strategists at launch. The team believes that it gives the players a solid variety for tactical match-ups or team composition. Having more Duelists at the moment will definitely enhance the Duelist experience, letting players dive a little bit deeper into that aspect.So lastly, big shout out to our community, as weve seen a lot of feedback as we look ahead to future seasons, starting with Season One, we would definitely keep this in mind when introducing new heroes, and we would make want to make sure that everyone feels heard and excited.PD: This might be a little cheeky of me, but have you spoken about the cadence players can expect new heroes to join the game? Are you aiming for a couple a year, or as many as possible?GC: Every season well be rolling out fresh seasonal stories, new maps, and new heroes. Well actually be breaking down each season into two halves. The length of one season is three months. And for each half of the season, we will introduce a new hero. We just eventually want to continue to enhance the experience, and, you know, keep everyone excited in our community.PD: Whats your philosophy on Vanguards? For you, what is the job of a tank, and what makes a good Vanguard? How do you find new characters to make around that idea?GC: So, right now, our gameplay primarily focuses on single-objective modes. As a Vanguard, your primary role is to stand at the forefront of that objective, be that a capture point or payload, and creating space for Duelists and Strategists in your team to set up their formations. That really sets the base stage for our two-sided combat model, where two teams are going head-to-head against each other.So, from there, we also believe that Vanguards will have the strongest survivability in the game. There are many ways to express that. For example, we have Doctor Stranges magical shield. We have Groots wood walls. We have Hulk and Venoms high mobility. This all leads to a diverse range of gameplay styles for our Vanguards, which is fundamentally a core part of our design philosophy.Since we are also a Marvel superhero game, we dont want Vanguards just to soak up damage. We also want them to contribute more to the team, so thats why weve designed some really cool mechanics to go along with them. For example, we have the famous Doctor Strange portals. We have Peni Parkers web traps and web zones. We also have Magnetos ultimate ability that actually absorbs enemy projectiles and turns them into a powerful counterattack.You know, all these mechanics enable Vanguards to create some epic moments where you truly enjoy that unparalleled superhero experience. This is a crucial part of how we approach designing our Vanguards. And lastly, when were designing new Vanguards, we also tie in the core concept of their character IPs and the Marvel Universe, ensuring that we take all of these elements into account when designing them.PD: Are you happy with the map variety currently in the game?GC: Yeah, we are actually very happy about all the diversity in our maps we have right now in-game, and also all the destructibility. In the future, we will also be planning to introduce even more map diversities, so stay tuned for that.PD: Jeff the Land Sharks ultimate is very large and hard to avoid. Can we expect any tweaks there?GC: We actually have an interesting tip for how to avoid Jeffs ultimate. Make sure you keep your formation spread out and as soon as you hear Jeff saying Nom, Nom, Nom before he unleashes the ultimate, you want to scatter away. And dont hesitate to use your Mobility skills if you need to.And, if you have a teammate or two who unfortunately gets swallowed by Jeff, and youve also done a good job spreading out your whole team beforehand, it means that only a few teammates will get caught.More TrendingSo, in that case, theres still a chance to take him down and rescue your buddy before he drags them to the end of the map. Its all about that teamwork and timing. Hitting all these specific timings will really help turn the tide.PD: Marvel Rivals is excelling because of the fun, casual experience, but you have already started tournaments and have some esports aspirations. How will you make the game competitive in those areas, while trying to retain that fun chaos that the game is enjoying right now?GC: Weve actually been thinking about this on a broader scale, looking at the picture as a whole. We really hope that when we do the competitive modes or tournaments, they will co-exist with our quick play. Thats because weve been seeing a lot of other successful titles being able to pull off a competitive environment and a quick play environment both healthily at the same time. Well be taking a lot of references from them to ultimately let both player pools thrive.Formats: PlayStation 5 (reviewed), Xbox Series X/S, and PCPrice: Free-to-playPublisher: NetEase GamesDeveloper: NetEase GamesRelease Date: 6th December 2024Age Rating: 12 Marvel Rivals is in better health than the MCU (NetEase Games)Emailgamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below,follow us on Twitter, andsign-up to our newsletter.To submit Inbox letters and Readers Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use ourSubmit Stuff page here.For more stories like this,check our Gaming page.GameCentralExclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. 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After Electric State, Netflixs upcoming sci-fi action flick starring Stranger Things Millie Bobby Brown and Avengers: Endgames Chris Pratt, the Russo Bros. are coming back to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Endgame was supposed to be a launchpad for the directing duo to shift into more non-franchise film fare, but that vibe has now obviously changed. In an interview alongside Joe Russo and screenwriter Steven McFeely with Empire, Anthony Russo explained, Endgame was the end, and it took a little time for us to begin to think about it as something other than an end. Their slate post-Endgame featured streaming releases Cherry (with Tom Holland) and The Grey Man (with Chris Evans), which eventually led them back to Marvel for the next two Avengers moviestheatrical-release, critic-proof blockbusters. He continued, Were very close with [Marvels] Kevin [Feige] and Lou [DEsposito] and the entire Marvel team and weve had conversations through the years. Weve talked about a lot of ideas, Anthony Russo said about stepping in to take up the space after the planned Kang versus the Avengers arc fell apart. About the timing, he explained, Really what happened was, we ended up stumbling upon an idea that activated all of us. The idea occurred as prospective Avengers: The Kang Dynasty director Destin Daniel Cretton shifted gears to focus on other Marvel projects, such as the highly anticipated Wonder Man and Sonys upcoming Spider-Man sequel film with Tom Holland. He also has Naruto, for Lionsgate, on his list of upcoming films.The idea the Russos had to change the expected upcoming phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe was revealed to fans with Robert Downey Jr. at last years San Diego Comic-Con. You couldnt see it coming until it came, and once it came it was like, Well, thats a story we need to tell. Former Iron Man portrayer Downey will be back as a Doctor Doom variant with the face of one Tony Starkat least, thats our theory unless hes mask-on the whole time. Imagine the enemy having the face of the (likely) anchor being the Avengers lost when Iron-Man sacrificed himself to save the universe.There were ideas that we were trying to wrap our heads around that preceded this one, and we just never found the story, Joe Russo added. I remember calling Steve and said, Hey, crazy idea. What do you think if we all go back and do Secret Wars? He said the Captain America: Civil War co-writer responded Fuck no. Absolutely not. And then you hung up. But after giving it some time, McFeelywho thought they were done with Avengers team-ups after Infinity War and Endgame hit them back up with, All right, I have an idea.Avengers: Doomsday is slated to open May 1, 2026 and Avengers: Secret Wars will follow on May 7, 2027. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, whats next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

Check out my Marketplace Asset Full Pack - https://www.fab.com/listings/cf5e9bb4-51dc-4b20-adec-7e505fa467cd Mele https://www.fab.com/listings/f5462a75-5941-4da8-a1b5-8f85b95fea7e Ranged - https://www.fab.com/listings/b753efb2-ebdd-4308-8827-40cf33996ee2 Magic - https://www.fab.com/listings/06b4257d-dd86-401a-8573-838fa9634675 Basic -https://www.fab.com/listings/40d402ad-0b0d-42c5-ab14-fffe458f6308 Come join the Team Beard Discord If you're a game developer and looking to join a friendly game dev community which ranges from expert to professional, be sure to hop into the discord! We're always looking for more awesome people to join! https://discord.gg/6TUS5cBrkv Ways to Support The Channel Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/JonBeardsell?fan_landing=true Buy Me A Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/JonBeardsell All support will go towards helping me produce YouTube content and tutorials full time.Music from #InAudio: https://inaudio.org/ Infraction - Cooking Food Happy

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A bookshelf is a multi-functional block that's used far more in the mid-late game of Minecraft. However, even if you're building your first base, you still need to know how to make one so you can take full advantage of its purposes. To see how to make a bookshelf in Minecraft, keep reading the guide below.Making a Bookshelf in MinecraftThere are two primary ingredients in the crafting recipe for the bookshelf. One of the resources needed is extremely common, while the other will take some time to add to your inventory.At a crafting table, place six wood planks of any kind across the top and bottom rows.In the middle row of the table, place three regular books to complete the bookshelf recipe.The crafting recipe for a bookshelf in MinecraftObviously, the most difficult aspect of the bookshelf recipe is the books required. Wood planks can be crafted within the first two minutes of Minecraft, but the books are a different story.Continue Reading at GameSpot

The Steam Deck is one of the best handheld gaming consoles that has come out in recent years. Besides supporting many popular titles, the Steam Deck can also be a desktop PC. However, even though the Steam Deck is packed with features, there are times when those features may prove to be a nuisance.

Hi everyone! Time to level up this Lunar New Year! Purchase a new PlayStation5 and stand to win prizes such as PS5 Digital Edition 30th Anniversary Limited Edition Bundle, PlayStation Portal Remote Player, PlayStation Store gift cards, Sony Bravia TV and more.View and download imageDownload the imagecloseCloseDownload this imageFrom 17th January to 2nd February, there will be discounts on PlayStation 5, PS VR2, DualSense wireless controllers, PULSE Elite Wireless headset and PULSE Explore wireless earbuds, applicable in participating retailers (https://www.playstation.com/local/retailers/).View and download imageDownload the imagecloseCloseDownload this imageFrom 17th January 17th February 2025, purchase a PS5 console, submit the entry form and stand to win rewards in participating countries/regions* including the grand prize of a Sony Bravia TV. Additionally, entrants who own PS Plus Membership during campaign period will qualify for special prizes that include PS5 Digital Edition 30th Anniversary Limited Edition Bundle, DualSense Wireless Controller Monster Hunter Wilds Limited Edition and PlayStation Portal Remote Player.You can find more details of the campaign here: https://www.playstation.com/en-sg/local/campaigns/level-up-new-years-play. * Participating Countries/Regions means South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand).Please see below for full details of Level Up New Years Sale 2025.SingaporePlayStation 5 ConsolesOriginal SRPPromotion SRPPlayStation5SGD 799SGD 735PlayStation5 console Digital EditionSGD 669SGD 605PeripheralsOriginal SRPPromotion SRPPlayStation VR2SGD 869SGD 599.00DualSense wireless controller (White, Midnight Black, Cosmic Red, Nova Pink, Galactic Purple, Starlight Blue, Gray Camouflage)SGD 107.00SGD 82.90DualSense wireless controller (Volcanic Red, Cobalt Blue, Sterling Silver, Chroma Pearl, Chroma Indigo, Chroma Teal)SGD 114.00SGD 89.90Pulse Elite Wireless HeadsetSGD 199.90SGD 173.90Pulse Explore Wireless EarbudsSGD 295.90SGD 256.90

Roselia, the thorn Pokmon from Hoenn, can be found in the wild in Pokmon Go. Yes, Roselia can be shiny in Pokmon Go!Roserade is actually a really good grass- and poison-type attacker, so its worth grabbing a powerful one if you can. If you already have a shiny Roselia (or any of its family members), its likely from a previous Roselia Community Day event that happened in February 2021.What is the shiny rate for Roselia in Pokmon Go?As per old research by the now-defunct website The Silph Road (via Wayback Machine), the shiny rate for Pokmon on a regular day is approximately one in 500. Roselia is not a confirmed Pokmon that gets a permaboost (meaning that its a rare spawn and thus gets a boosted shiny rate).What can I do to attract more shiny Pokmon?Not much, unfortunately. It appears to be random chance. Shiny Pokmon catch rates are set by developer Niantic, and they are typically only boosted during special events like Community Days or Safari Zones, or in Legendary Raids. There are no consumable items that boost shiny Pokmon rates.Where can I find a list of available shiny Pokmon?LeekDuck keeps a list of currently available shiny Pokmon. Its a helpful visual guide that illustrates what all of the existing shiny Pokmon look like.For more tips, check out Polygons Pokmon Go guides.

The deadline is nearly here: Unless the Supreme Court steps in to save it, TikTok will be legally banned in the United States on Jan. 19. If you're one of the 170 million Americans who use TikTok every day, you might be a bit upset by the situation. Here's the good news: Even if the U.S. bans TikTok in this country, that won't stop you from being able to access it. Sure, it might make it much more difficult to access, but with a little preparation, you'll be able to keep scrolling on Jan. 19 as you had the day beforeat least, for a while.Why is the U.S. trying to ban TikTok?We've broken the situation down in our explainer here, but here's a brief summary. The U.S. has long had concerns about TikTok, going back to the first Trump Administration. The issue is largely based around national security: TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese-based company, that must comply with Chinese law. As such, there are concerns that ByteDance could hand the Chinese government data on the platform's millions of American users, as well as manipulate the infamously addictively algorithm to control what content Americans specifically see.It's not necessarily the app itself that Congress and the President are focused on: It's the Chinese government. That's why the "ban" is only part of the law President Biden signed back in April. The language gave ByteDance nine months to find an American-based buyer for TikTok in the U.S. If it had, ByteDance could have divested its stake in TikTok, and the app could have continued to without interruption. The company decided not to do that, however, insisting TikTok (and its proprietary algorithm) was not for sale. So, here we are.Regardless of your opinion on the matter, if the Supreme Court doesn't interfere, the ban is happening. What you can control, however, is your ability to access TikTok in a post-ban American. Here's how:Make sure you have TikTok on your phoneIf the ban does indeed go through, it seems very likely companies like Apple and Google will remove TikTok from their app stores in the U.S. When that happens, the app will no longer be available to download through official channels: If you try to search for TikTok on the iOS App Store or Google Play Store, you'll probably just find a bunch of similar social media apps, or apps built for TikToknot TikTok itself. That's not surprising: It wouldn't be much of a ban if the government couldn't force companies to remove apps from their marketplaces. However, while the forces at be can ensure apps like TikTok are barred from app stores, they can't actually remove apps from your device itself. If you already have TikTok on your iPhone or Android device, it's staying thereuntil you delete it yourself.If you already have TikTok on your phone, great. If not, and you want to make sure you can keep using the app after Jan. 19, download it now. Here are some links to various marketplaces to get you started:iOS App Store (also available on iPadOS, iMessage, and visionOS)Google Play StoreAmazon AppstoreMicrosoft StoreSideload TikTok (Android only)If you forget to download the app before the takes effect, don't worry: You can still download it, at least on Android. Unlike iOS (in the United States, anyway), Android allows you to sideload apps, or, in other words, install apps from unofficial sources. This has long been a perk of Android over iOS, and although Apple has opened up sideloading for users in the EU, it remains Android-only for most of the world. As such, if you really wanted to, you could download the latest version of TikTok to your Android device even if it is no longer available on the Play Store. You'll want to be careful here, though: Sideloading offers few protections that the app you're installing is legit. That's why it's always better to go through official channels when possible. Google doesn't always catch the malicious apps, but it does find a lot of them. Going rogue, you run certain risks, especially since the world will know that Android users in the U.S. are looking for unofficial TikTok downloads. If you do go down this path, use APKMirror rather than a cursory Google search. The site is trusted, and is a popular destination for sideloading. Just make sure to download TikTok itself, and not one of the other variations of the app that you might see in a search.Get a VPNWhile no one can take TikTok off your phone, they can break it. Again, it's not clear exactly what's going to happen if the ban goes into effect, but one strong possibility is ByteDance will simply block network access to the app for users in the U.S. After the 19th, you may open TikTok, but instead of a login screen or your FYP, you'll be greeted by a message informing you why TikTok is banned in your country. (Perhaps we'll see something cheeky about the First Amendment in the "Land of the Free.")That'll be enough for many (if not most), who will then continue on to American-based short form videos apps, but not you: Instead, you will be able to keep using TikTok, as if there was never a ban at all, because you will have installed a VPN on your device.A VPN (virtual private network) lets you access parts of the internet your country or government wouldn't otherwise permit. It works by encrypting your connection and routing it through servers outside your country. If the U.S. doesn't allow connections to TikTok, for example, a VPN could make it look like you're accessing the internet from, say, Portugal. You can watch TikTok in Portugal without issue, so if TikTok's servers think you're in the westernmost country in Europe, it'll connect you. Ban avoided.There are a ton of VPNs out there to choose from, but you don't need to get fancy (or even spend any money) to access TikTok post-ban. All you need is a VPN that actively routes your traffic to a country that hasn't banned the app, as well as a service that will route traffic within appsnot just within your web browser. Otherwise, you'll only be able to access TikTok in your browser. While that's fine on something like a Mac, accessing TikTok through the app is a much better experience, and one most of us likely want to use anyway. As such, it's worth prioritizing with your VPN.Proton VPN, for example, has a great free tier, and should work within the TikTok app on both iOS and Android. I just tested it on Tubi, which blocked me from using it: Proton VPN routed my traffic through Amsterdam, a country Tubi doesn't support, and since Tubi thinks I'm trying to access it from Amsterdam, no Tubi for me. The opposite, then, should be the case when trying to access TikTok in the U.S. Don't use the app foreverI know I just said that TikTok's app is the best way to experience the platform, but if the U.S. does ban TikTok next week, you really shouldn't use it forever. Here's the deal: TikTok is staying on your iPhone or Android if you installed it already. But if the developers are no longer supporting the app in the U.S., that means there will be no new features added for your app, nor any fixes for bugs that may appear. So, you might encounter some weird glitches or crashes the longer you use the app following the ban, and you won't see any of the changes that TikTok makes to the app in supported parts of the world. But that's not my concern here. If the only issue was an unstable TikTok experience, well, whatever. But, eventually, the app becomes a security liability. Just as TikTok developers won't be able to push new features or bug fixes for the app, they also won't be able to patch any security vulnerabilities they discover down the line. And there will be security vulnerabilities down the line: That's just an inevitability of software. Eventually, flaws will appear that TikTok will patch for the app in countries it supports, but because it'll be cut off from the U.S., you won't see those updates. Instead, you'll use an app with a growing list of security flaws that bad actors will exploit for their own gain. It probably won't happen overnight, but after some time, the app becomes a real risk to keep on your deviceespecially when malicious users know that a country as large as the United States has people using an app without security patches.Ironically, in banning the app for national security reasons, the U.S. government will have turned it into a security risk of a different making. But will you want to keep using TikTok anyway?The major question in a world in which the U.S. successfully bans TikTok is this: Will you actually want to keep using the app? Sure, at first, everything will likely seem the same, but as the app gets buggier and less secure, the experience will undoubtedly lose its luster. But it goes beyond that, too. American creators are likely not going to bother posting to an app that is banned in their country, and will switch full-time to other established platforms like Instagram and YouTube. As more and more creators leave, you'll see less of the content you're used to engaging withcontent you could find on apps that aren't banned. Must of the rest of the world will still be posting to TikTok, of course, but it will be interesting to see if any ripple effects come out of this potential ban. Will the loss of hundreds of millions of users inspire creators outside the U.S. to focus on platforms Americans can use? If so, will TikTok start to lose even more content? There are simply too many unknowns at this point. For all we know, the Supreme Court is going to save TikTok, and this entire post will be full of useless advice. However, there's a very real chance this ban does go through, and, with it, a likely seismic shift in the future of short-form video. If you do follow the advice here, you'll at least get a front row seat to TikTok's futurewhatever it may be.