The best apps download superpowers to your smartphone. The Verge covers the new and noteworthy Android apps, iPhone apps, and games, highlighting great design, impressive utility, and novel features. If it belongs on your phone, you’ll find it on The Verge.
You can finally save posts for later using the new bookmark icon that’s now available on Bluesky’s mobile app and web. And, if you’ve been using the “pushpin” emoji to save posts, there’s a tool you can use to migrate them to the new bookmarks tab.
Wabetainfo says the WhatsApp for iOS beta 25.24.10.72 update adds support for Live Photos in chats, groups, and channels, after rolling out similar support for motion photos on Android last month. Users can decide whether to send them as a still image or the original dynamic clip.
Takeout on demand first expanded to groceries, and then to other retail, but the branding hasn’t always kept up. With Uber Eats now delivering from Best Buy, that opens the door to some pretty strange dinner orders,
jackcousteau:
Not confusing at all. I’m going to grubhub my next network appliance.
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Ableton Live 12.3 is now available as a public beta with a number of new features, including for the Push 3. But the headlining updates are stem separation courtesy of Music AI (makers of Moises) and Splice integration, which greatly streamlines workflows for producers that rely heavily on samples.
Now, users with 100,000 followers or more can narrow down DMs with the addition of new filters and the ability to create folders. Creators can also customize shortcuts to navigate to certain categories of messages, such as requests.
Maybe this will help solve T-Pain’s missing messages problem.
In a blog post, Google addresses several recent reports that incorrectly state it sent out a widespread security notification about Gmail, calling them “entirely false:”
Our teams invest heavily, innovate constantly, and communicate clearly about the risks and protections we have in place. It’s crucial that conversation in this space is accurate and factual.
The Meta-owned app announced a new AI-powered writing tool that can help you compose messages. Like some of WhatsApp’s other AI features, the writing tool is also built on the platform’s Private Processing technology, which is supposed to shield your AI interactions from Meta and WhatsApp.
Google says the Gemini app is better at performing more advanced image editing requests, such as blending two photos, performing multiple edits on the same image, combining different designs, or giving you an outfit change while preserving your appearance.
The government is forcing the state-backed, Telegram-like messaging service Max onto new gadgets as of September 1st. There’s also a new iOS requirement for the RuStore app store (despite Apple exiting Russia in 2022), matching Android, and next year, all smart TVs will need the Lime HD TV app.
Steph “kepano” Ango on why productivity tools need community more than they need AI.
The platform has already rolled out age verification in the UK in response to local laws, and now its updated terms say:
In some locations, we may be required to restrict access to certain features or content unless you complete an age assurance process and demonstrate that you are an adult.
Bluesky has also updated its community guidelines, which go into effect on October 15th.
[Bluesky]
404 Media reports how ICE officials added a random person to a “Mass Text” chat, where they discussed plans to find an individual “seemingly marked for deportation.” The messages exposed sensitive information about ICE’s target, including their criminal record, Social Security Number, and driver’s license number.
The country’s communications regulator claims people use the messaging apps to “deceive and extort money,” as well as involve Russians in “terrorist activities,” the Associated Press reports. In June, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed off on the creation of a state-backed messaging app as part of efforts to exercise more control over the internet.
The new tab will house AI editing tools that let you remix your pictures or transform them into videos. You’ll also find options to create GIFs from your photos, add a 3D effect, create collages, and make highlight videos.
That’s possible thanks to the Discord Social SDK, which is launching now following a closed beta.
Android Authority managed to get an early version of the new Practice feature up and running, and it looks even more AI-centric than Duolingo.
A 2019 lawsuit from the FTC claimed Match.com promised a free six-month subscription to customers who didn’t “meet someone special” without disclosing the “onerous requirements” needed to fulfill this guarantee. As part of the settlement, Match Group must make its policies more transparent, as well as make it easier to cancel subscriptions.
[Federal Trade Commission]
The head of Notion on productivity, LEGO, and what he learned from Kyoto’s craft tradition.
Today I learned about comparesffpc.com, which effortlessly lets you compare small-form-factor cases on a virtual 3D desk, in your browser, using this impressive public dataset. It isn’t the only comparo tool, but it’s the cleanest and easiest I’ve used yet. (I’m thinking about swapping my Ncase, any desk-friendly recommends?)
The new Instagram Maps request to enable location services (feeding Meta valuable ad targeting data from your Android or iPhone) has spawned incredulous reactions, along with claims it’s on by default, despite Adam Mosseri’s denials.
Still, he says, “We’ll get out a few design improvements as quickly as possible.”
