Luxembourgish on computer and Internet

The menu of Windows 10

Computers and the Internet have the power to keep languages alive, especially in written form. The example of Luxembourgish shows where a language of a few hundred thousand speakers can be found in the world wide web and in operation systems.

Despite most of its written documents are in French or German - Luxembourgish itself was a more spoken language. But there was a change over the last years and the Moselle Franconian language showed more presence in written form - especially on the Internet. 

A big online source of the language is surely Wikipedia which has included lots of articles in tons of tongues. In terms of total articles Luxembourgish is currently listed on position 78 with 45,000 entries ahead of tongues like Afrikaans, Islandic or Irish.

Even Microsoft started with downloadable language packs for their Office versions. And since Windows 8 a switch to another language has become much easier, it also counts for Luxembourgish to change the whole operation system to that language like any other.

Available, but not everywhere yet...

Not on Google yet

On the smartphone it didn't go that fast: The iOS 9 version has Luxembourgish now included with a few other minority languages and dialects. On Android there's only a CyanogenMod version with the Luxemburgish language - no official inclusion yet.

Same goes with Google: No possibility for Google Translate or even for changing your Google account to Luxembourgish.

Another big topic and a big wish is the addition to Facebook: Even a petition was started on Change.org  to include Lëtzebuergesch on the most popular social network. Unfortunately it hasn't accomplished anything by now - only 2700 of 5000 supporters yet.

Adding minority languages or even dialects to these big platforms is a step which is needed to be done in the future in order to keep these languages alive for the further development and the next generations. 

In my view it's only a matter of time when these tongues are going to be added to Google and Facebook - and not just because Microsoft has already done it.

Finally: Watch YouTube videos in a loop!

You saw a great YouTube video, most likely your new favourite song and you wanted to see it again and again - everytime you had to press play manually or you were looking for a tool which is able to show it in an endless loop. And now after all these years it's finally on YouTube!

As you see on the screenshot on the left by right-clicking the video you can see now the entry 'Loop'. One click and you can see the whole video again and again.

It's funny. Over the years opened a lot different web sites only for that feature. Or even apps. Other people had the idea of making a long playlist with the same video.

Also pretty famous: Watch 10 hours of a specific song. A phenomenon I noticed quite often in terms of anime theme songs. Maybe it's now over with that, as long as people are informed that this new feature is now available.

But I ask myself: Why did it take them so long? Not too long ago they included the procedure that the next related video starts shortly after finishing a clip. Maybe then they thought: Why not finally adding the loop? I have absolutely no clue, but I'm glad that it's finally done.

It's not added on the smartphone apps yet, but hopefully soon.

Seven things WhatsApp should improve in 2016 and beyond

WhatsApp is getting more and more users and the app has experienced a lot of improvement over the years, but there's still room for more - and these are my thoughts about what can be done and about features which are likely already in the making...

1: A better backup

I liked that they included the backup in the cloud like with Google Drive on Android devices. But unfortunately you can't see the database copy after opening the cloud folder, because it's hidden.

On the other hand you can simply just copy the database from the phone with USB, but you can't use it anywhere else. A (secured) way to open it on the computer would be great - for example something like a 'WhatsApp Database Manager', where you can add old chat histories to the current one or extracting a specific year from the database. Just a better way to manage it.

2: Video calling

Applications like Skype or FaceTime on Apple devices show how it's done. Even Facebook included it for a while. After the Whats App phone calls were introduced last year it's known that video calls will probably be added in the future.
In my view WhatsApp has a big advantage comparing to other applications: Most of the users want it simple and that's surely a part of the success of WhatsApp: No email registration and it just works with the phone number. Via Skype for example you have to find a Skype name and so on. In the 'green messenger' it'd be just one button more and the ordinary user doesn't need much explanation. That's why I fear WhatsApp video calls can be a threatening thing for the Skype phone apps...

3: More independent from the phone

The introduction of WhatsApp Web was a way in the right direction. With this new feature you are now able to use the messenger from a web browser, but it's still depending from the smartphone because it needs internet connection.
Anyway, it's a huge advantage if you want to sent files which are only found on your computer via WhatsApp. You don't have to photograph something on your PC - you can actually send it.
But I think in the future it should be less depending from the phone. For example like having the opportunity to log in via email and use it from any place. What about using the WhatsApp app on multiple devices like?
Ok, the account should still be connected with the phone number, just for having an alternate way to log in. There'll be cases where you can't use the WhatsApp-depending phone number.
Example: You know you are in a foreign country for like two months and you just want to use a prepaid card there. Now everyone needs your number, instead you were able to just add the new number to your account and communicate like before. Ok, you can convert your account to the 'new' number, but than it's just connected with that number.
Long story short: One account and the opportunity to log in via multiple ways:
Your email address, your phone number, your temporary phone number. Or even Facebook (see below).

4: Sending more different file types

WhatsApp is still limited in terms of which kind of files can be sent. Like PDFs can't be transferred at all or pictures will be comprized in a lower resolution. Both examples show room for improvement. So: Adding an option for document files would be nice- same goes for Office stuff like docx or xlsx. And about sending pictures in higher resolution they can keep the current way as standard but adding the option to sent in full resolution via checkbox would be a cool thing.
Another example: You can't sent video files properly via WhatsApp Web, you had to copy them to phone and sent them that way. Could have been easier, but WhatsApp Web is still young... :)

5: WhatsApp chat within Facebook

Many people were concerned by the time it was announced that Facebook would buy WhatsApp in terms of data privacy. Since then the user couldn't see much difference and it didn't actually happen that much. But I expect that Facebook and WhatsApp will slowly merge! Things like selecting an image in WhatsApp and an appearing option like"Share it on Facebook". Or seeing the Facebook name in the WhatsApp account information and vice versa. Will it that be wished and can give us advantages? I think at first lots of people will complain but are going to continue using it anyway. I already see the benefit of using WhatsApp as an alternate way to chat and sent things within Facebook which would be WhatsApp Web unnecessary.Will it replace the Facebook Messenger? Maybe after WhatsApp had a successful introduction of alternate ways to log in and both account information have eventually merged...

6: Better chat history export

Currently you can export the chat history as a simple txt-file via email. It's pretty colorless comparing to the app with all the different smiley badges. The images are added in the attachment of the mail.
There are third party apps where you can get a proper export as an html files, which are of course way better. But for that you have to root your phone and you need the database in a preferable older version - the current one should be in the crypt9-format. For the usual user impossible. Anyway, I hope that they are going to add this html export option soon.

7: Advanced options for Chat groups

Groups of WhatsApp chats are a great way to communicate with multiple people in a closed area, but it becomes a problem if it's overused and you have to go back to a specific date to find something - there's no clear structure. I'd like to have an option where you can select a month or even a date to go back. By now it takes a lot of time scrolling. And how about working with hashtags? Twitter started it and other platforms like Instagram or Facebook also use it by now. It would be revolutionary for WhatsApp, but it could improve searching for special messages. Also, how would it be to make polls in WhatsApp groups? For certain things, you don't have to write an answer - just select an answer about e.g. 'Who'd like to go to the cinema on Sunday night?'

What are your thoughts about these improvements? Which kind of things you'd like to change or add? Or would you prefer to keep it as it is? Let me know in the comments.