Siri can now read out your WhatsApp messages; along with other minor updates

Image: AFP

WhatsApp is not taking it slow with the pace of updates for its Android and iOS apps. The company is working on a number of small tweaks along with new feature additions for both the platforms. The Siri update being a major one, which gives Siri the ability to read out your messages.

The small tweaks are limited to user interface optimisation where the company can streamline and improve the existing interface. These features were uncovered by WABetaInfo, a pretty reliable source for all the new WhatsApp features

We have compiled a list of small changes that the company is working on and categorised them according to the operating system so that it is easier for you check that features that you can expect on your smartphone.

iOS

WhatsApp developers have added support for SiriKit which allows Siri to read and reply to your WhatsApp message on your behalf. Now you can ask Siri for any new messages on WhatsApp and Apple’s digital assistant will read them for you. The developers are working rigorously on revamping parts of the app in terms of UI design to be consistent with the system level apps. The developers have revamped the Contact details screen on WhatsApp to appear consistent with the logos corresponding to the test label of the setting. They have added a new ‘Chat History’ button in the contact details along with ‘Groups in common’ option.

Image Credit: WABeta Info

The developers have also added the ability for users to view and edit the contact information. This section has also gained shortcuts to quickly send a message, make a video and an audio call from the screen. The Calls section on the app now shows WhatsApp profile pictures along with, call type and a ‘+’ icon on the top right corner that can be used to make audio and video calls. Developers have also added shortcuts to quickly make video and audio calls. The next change allows users to select multiple statuses and forward them or delete them.

Image Credit: WABeta Info

WhatsApp is also testing a ‘Contact Cards’ section for the users who are not in your contact list. You can check all the contact cards sent in from others in this section. The company has also improved the app’s ability to download media directly from URLs without leaving the app. Most of these features are available in the iOS beta update and will roll out for everyone in the coming updates to the stable version of WhatsApp on the AppStore.

Android

WhatsApp developers have been working on the ‘Live Location sharing’ feature that was reported previously. The company has updated the feature for the location thumbnail to continuously update your location without the need to tap on the message and open the maps interface. The developers also tweaked the previously reported chats ‘Pin’ feature.

Image Credit: WABeta Info

The app no longer highlights the pinned Chats or Groups. They have improved another feature where if you exit a group that you have pinned on the top, the app will prompt you to unpin the group as you confirm the exit from the group. The interesting thing to note here is that both the features are hidden by default for the Beta users on Android.

Image Credit: WABeta Info

WhatsApp usually hides some features from the beta users so that the internal group can use the features and verify that the new features do not interfere existing functionalities in the app. The beta app gained a new UI for editing videos before you send the video.

Publish date: April 25, 2017 10:07 am| Modified date: April 25, 2017 10:32 am

WhatsApp to introduce photo albums, updates to text status and live location feature

Whatsapp is working on introducing an ‘Album’ feature for its users on Android and iOS, there is no word on the feature coming to Windows Phone. The ‘Album’ feature’ collapses all the photos to make them seem like the ‘Album’ post on Facebook where you can see the first four images at once. All other images are bundled inside with a numbered overlay on the fourth image informing about the number of images bundled inside.

Image Credit: WABetaInfo

Once you tap the Album, it will open to show you all the images that are part of the album. This feature will greatly reduce the flood of images in the conversation or groups if a person shared more than five images at once. This feature is hidden at the moment in the beta Android and iOS versions of the app but it is expected that this feature will be enabled soon as reported by WABetaInfo.

Image Credit: WABetaInfo

The second feature that the company is working on is the introduction of ‘Text statuses’ in the ‘Status’ tab. This comes as a welcome addition for users who would not want to post photos on their statuses. Currently, this feature allows you to change the background colour of the status updates and you can reply to the messages as usual.

Image Credit: WABetaInfo

Image Credit: WABetaInfo

The developers have also improved ‘Live Location’ sharing option so that you can see the locations of your WhatsApp contacts on a map. The interface also shows the speed of your contacts are they are moving. These new features come days after WhatsApp added support for SiriKit that allowed users to use Siri to check their new messages.

Publish date: April 25, 2017 12:48 pm| Modified date: April 25, 2017 12:57 pm

WhatsApp is working on a lot of minor changes for its Android and iOS apps

Image: AFP

WhatsApp is not taking it slow with the pace of updates for its Android and iOS apps. The company is working on a number of small tweaks along with new feature additions for both the platforms. The small tweaks are limited to user interface optimisation where the company can streamline and improve the existing interface. These features were uncovered by WABetaInfo, a pretty reliable source for all the new WhatsApp features

We have compiled a list of small changes that the company is working on and categorised them according to the operating system so that it is easier for you check that features that you can expect on your smartphone.

Android

WhatsApp developers have been working on the ‘Live Location sharing’ feature that was reported previously. The company has updated the feature for the location thumbnail to continuously update your location without the need to tap on the message and open the maps interface. The developers also tweaked the previously reported chats ‘Pin’ feature.

Image Credit: WABeta Info

The app no longer highlights the pinned Chats or Groups. They have improved another feature where if you exit a group that you have pinned on the top, the app will prompt you to unpin the group as you confirm the exit from the group. The interesting thing to note here is that both the features are hidden by default for the Beta users on Android.

Image Credit: WABeta Info

WhatsApp usually hides some features from the beta users so that the internal group can use the features and verify that the new features do not interfere existing functionalities in the app. The beta app gained a new UI for editing videos before you send the video.

iOS

The developers are working rigorously on revamping parts of the app in terms of UI design to be consistent with the system level apps. The developers have revamped the Contact details screen on WhatsApp to appear consistent with the logos corresponding to the test label of the setting. They have added a new ‘Chat History’ button in the contact details along with ‘Groups in common’ option.

Image Credit: WABeta Info

The developers have also added the ability for users to view and edit the contact information. This section has also gained shortcuts to quickly send a message, make a video and an audio call from the screen. The Calls section on the app now shows WhatsApp profile pictures along with, call type and a ‘+’ icon on the top right corner that can be used to make audio and video calls. Developers have also added shortcuts to quickly make video and audio calls. The next change allows users to select multiple statuses and forward them or delete them.

Image Credit: WABeta Info

WhatsApp is also testing a ‘Contact Cards’ section for the users who are not in your contact list. You can check all the contact cards sent in from others in this section. The company has also improved the app’s ability to download media directly from URLs without leaving the app.

Last but not the least, the company has also added new functionality to Siri which allows it to read and reply to your WhatsApp message on your behalf.

Publish date: April 21, 2017 12:44 pm| Modified date: April 21, 2017 12:44 pm

A lot of 32-bit apps will stop working after Apple iOS 11 launches in September

We have heard of Apple killing support for 32-bit apps lately. This became clearer after the launch of iOS 10.3 where Apple put out clear warnings through pop-up messages hinting that older apps will not work with future versions of iOS. Now there’s more news on this front and it even includes speculation about future Apple processors not including 32-bit support altogether.

9to5mac reports that Apple will be making a drastic change this fall. A prominent developer Steven Troughton-Smith put out tweets explaining that this Apple will cease to support these older apps. While hundreds of 32-bit apps continue to work right now (with the warning pop-up) these may no longer work or show up on the App Store after iOS 11 come out in September this year.

8 Apr

Steve T-S 

✔ @stroughtonsmith

Devs: I'm hearing very clearly iOS 11 won't have 32bit app support at all. Update legacy apps now if you want them to survive past September

 Follow

Steve T-S 

✔@stroughtonsmith

(…and it sounds like future A-series chips won’t even include 32-bit support. Wonder if that’ll free up any performance/die space?)

10:37 AM - 8 Apr 2017

 
•  1616 Retweets
 
•  2727 likes

Smith puts it out clearly that developers either need to upgrade of they will be chucked out of the iOS ecosystem once users upgrade to iOS 11.

Additionally, Smith also speculated that A-Series chips from Apple in the future may not even include support for 32-bit instructions. With these missing at the hardware level in upcoming iPhones, there is literally no future for these 32-bit apps.

Indeed, the move comes as no surprise as Apple has been warning users about coaxing their app developers to upgrade their apps. The move comes as Apple seems on a warpath to remove older, problematic and abandoned apps (ones that haven’t been updated for years) from its App Store in a bid to maintain higher app quality standards over quantity. Since the announcement in September, Apple has managed to purge about 50,000 such apps from the App Store. iOS 11,l with its new standards, is expected to reveal a better kill rate for abandoned apps.

If you are unsure about which apps on your iOS device are 32-bit, you can simply head to Settings> General> About> Applications. If you are able to open the ‘applications’ page, then you do have one or more 32-bit apps running on your device and they’ll be listed there. If not, you will simply not be able to open the Applications section, which means that you have nothing to worry about.

If you do find some 32-bit apps that you can’t live without, you’d better hope that the app’s developer will listen to your piteous pleas for an update. If not, tough luck.

Publish date: April 10, 2017 1:50 pm| Modified date: April 10, 2017 1:50 pm

Apple updates Apple Music for Android with a new UI to remove the clutter

Apple has revamped the Android version of Apple Music to bring “greater clarity and simplicity” to the app. The new update revamps the user interface of the app while bumping the version number to 2.0 for the app.

It is unclear if the revamp is limited to cosmetic changes that just changes the UI elements to remove the clutter or if it extends to the backend and how the services are executed in the app.

Here is the detailed changelog that came with the update:

• Now Playing. Read lyrics for songs as you listen.
• Library. Navigate your music easily and see the Downloaded Music you can play offline.
• For You. Get recommendations for playlists, albums, and more—based on music you love.
• Browse. Listen to new music first, plus playlists for any mood or activity.
• Radio. Tune in to Beats 1 shows or listen to stations for any genre.

The new version seems to have far lesser menus than the older menus and the scolling has reduced significantly.

According to a report by Android Police, the app seems to be more responsive and faster. One thing to note here is that Apple Music costs significantly cheaper in India than in United States.

In comparison, Apple Music subscription costs about Rs 120 per month for individuals, Rs 190 per month for family up to six members and Rs 60 per month for students in contrast to $9.99 it costs for individuals per month in United States.

Publish date: April 5, 2017 11:00 am| Modified date: April 5, 2017 11:00 am

Facebook is testing a second news feed with ‘Rocket’ icon; show users content that may interest them

Image: Reuters

Social networking giant Facebook recently added a new icon – that of a rocket – on selected users’ home screens without any hint about what to do with it or what it means, said a media report on Tuesday. On clicking on the rocket, it leads the user to an altered version of the News Feed while the traditional one also exists alongside it.

“The test was a way of trying out a complementary feed of popular articles, video and photos customised for each person based on content that might be interesting to them,” the Independent quoted a Facebook spokesperson as saying. “It was intended as a way of giving people an easy way to explore new content they haven’t connected with yet,” the spokesperson added.

The rocket icon is appearing for selected users on iOS and Android at the bottom of the app’s view. Facebook often secretly tests out potential new features on a selected number of users and the button appears to be part of such a test. “Many of those features don’t make it to the public version of the app and this might never be seen by normal users,” the report added. The icon appears to be similar to Instagram’s ‘Explore tab’ which shows posts that the company’s algorithms have determined to be relevant to users’ interests.

Publish date: April 4, 2017 5:13 pm| Modified date: April 4, 2017 5:27 pm

Old WhatsApp status makes a return as ‘WhatsApp Info’, ‘Revoke’ feature renamed to ‘Unsend’

Image: AFP

By Rehan Hooda /  28 Feb 2017 , 13:21

WhatsApp has faced a considerable amount of backlash and criticism from users ever since it rolled out the new ‘WhatsApp Status‘ feature. The company has been panned by users to copying Snapchat and Instagram and removing the old WhatsApp ‘Status’.

Keeping the customer feedback in mind, the company is planning to bring the old version of ‘Status’ back but one thing to note is that this does not mean that WhatsApp is removing the new Snapchat-like disappearing ‘Status’ update feature.

The ‘Info’ section is available as a hidden feature on the beta version of WhatsApp and has been introduced in the extended menu above the ‘Settings’ option on Android. Tapping that will bring the users to the all familiar ‘Status’ menu which has been renamed to ‘Info’.

The changes have been added to the ‘Profile’ section too and the ‘Info’ has been added back to the profile. One thing to note is that the company had previously renamed the Old status to ‘Tagline’ as reported by WABetaInfo. Another interesting thing is that the company seems to have rolled out the message ‘revoke’ feature that we previously reported.

WhatsApp developers have renamed the feature to ‘Unsend’ from the previous name of ‘Revoke’. This option is available in the three dot menu on the top right-hand centre when you long press to select a message. On tapping the ‘Unsend’ message, WhatsApp asks you to confirm if you want to ‘Unsend this message?’ On confirmation, the message that you sent turns to ‘This message was unsent’.

The feature is not enabled from WhatsApp servers so this does not reflect on the other side, but this points out that the feature is set to rollout for everyone in near future.

Apple WWDC 2017 is set to be hosted from 5-9 June in San Jose, California

Image Credit: Apple

By tech2 News Staff /  17 Feb 2017 , 09:58

Apple has announced the dates for WWDC 2017 to host and celebrate the developer community. WWDC 2017 is set to start at 5 June and will go on till 9 June 2017 at McEnery Convention Center in San Jose. WWDC or World Wide Developers conference 2017 is its 28th annual conference where Apple will announce future Apple devices and software updates powering Apple products.

The main aim of the conference is to celebrate and host developers while releasing new and updated tools for the community to take leverage from while inspiring them to unleash their creativity in code. One interesting thing to note is that the new Apple headquarters in Cupertino is located just minutes away from WWDC 2017 venue thereby enabling developers easier access to about 1000 Apple engineers to interact with, share ideas or better understand the nuances in programming for Apple products.

Image Credit: Apple

The company will hold keynote address, get-togethers, sessions and labs for developers. Another significant thing the company is doing is to work with local businesses in San Jose to celebrate the return of WWDC. People who want to attend the conference can apply for tickets in coming weeks around Spring.

The entire event will be live-streamed through Apple Developer website and the WWDC app for Apple TV, iPhone and iPad.

We can expect details around the next major iPhone launch, the iPhone 8 or iPhone X or whatever Apple will choose to call its 10-year anniversary device, next big update to iOS and something regarding the Apple streaming service.