Have you ever watched a movie without sound or music? And did you like it? It probably sounded weird as a soundtrack is essential to any movie and as of today, will most likely become key to your Instagram Stories.
Instagram announced the 400 million people who use Stories every day will now be able to add music to their Stories from a library of thousands of songs. Instagram added a new music icon and when you tap on it, you get access to a music library from which to browse by mood, genre or what's popular. Of course, songs can be previewed.
Once you've found the song you like and that fits your Story, you can go even further and rewind or forward to the part of the song that best fits your Story. Instagram recognizes "that music can play an important role in how you share your moments and express yourself with friends and we're working hard to bring it to the global community in the future."
Music is available on Instagram version 51 in "select countries". However, the ability to choose a song before capturing a video is only available in iOS only, but the company says this feature is coming to Android soon. If you live in one of those "select countries", look for version 51 in Google Play Store.
Telegram for Android has been updated today to version 4.8.10 with a bunch of useful features and improvements. The popular messaging app is adding the ability for users to replace media that was sent by mistake. Up until now, users were able to correct such mistakes by deleting the message outright. This update improves on that and will let users simply change the photo or video right away. All they need to do is to start editing the message and tap the paperclip button to replace the attached media with the correct one. You can see that in action in the Gif below. It works so well you'll want to make mistakes on purpose :).
Telegram is also letting users share more than just a phone number as vCards. Currently, sharing a contact will send the main phone number only. Thanks to this update, users will get to select the data they want to share and that includes several phone numbers, birth dates, homes address, etc.
The rest of the changelog is also useful. Telegram added a 'create link' feature in the formatting menu so users can add URLs to text. Users will be able to preview chats with a tap and hold on profile pictures. And finally, messages can be canceled before they are sent.
This update definitely introduces some nifty features. Grab the update in Google Play Store. Happy messaging.
Microsoft added a "Block External Images" feature in Outlook for Android. This feature, once activated, will prevent images in emails sent by people, not in your contacts from downloading automatically. Microsoft says "Block external images setting will not block images that are embedded in the email as attachments, including most emails sent from friends and family."
While not a security threat, blocking images in emails protects users privacy as these emails can sometimes include references to images hosted on the internet and can be used to track whether someone has read an email. All in all, this blocking feature is a welcome addition if you value your privacy.
By default, the image blocking setting is disabled. In order to activate, tap the hamburger menu - the three horizontal bars at the top left - then tap the settings icon at the bottom left. Tap your email account or any other email if you have several accounts and toggle the blocking setting. It turns blue when activated.
Apple Music for Android received a few improvements today that the company calls minor. the first improvement will let users skip back to play a song again when listening to a radio station. A nice addition if you want to listen to a song you liked again. This update also lets users "adjust how your music sounds with the included Equalizer."
Yahoo Mail has a treat for football fans around the world in the latest update for Android devices. Users of Yahoo Mail will now be able to follow games scores live in their Inbox. Yahoo added a band at the top of the Inbox that shows the teams, games schedule of the day and scores. The band can easily be minimized. The word 'Live' appears in red for ongoing games.
If users need more info, a tap on each of the games - live or not - takes them to Yahoo Sports page for more details. There, users will get info such as game statistics, game stream and join the conversation with other football fans. A little envelope icon at the top right of the page takes the user back to Yahoo Mail.
I'm watching the game between Egypt and Uruguay as I write this and I'm just curious whether Yahoo Mail will notify me if the score evolves. I'll update this post if it does. The update also includes the following:
Now you can see your messages separated by date.
You can also select all messages from a particular date range and delete, archive, or organize at once.
Find messages faster with suggestions as you search.
We're hours from the official launch of the 2018 FIFA World Cup with the host country, Russia, playing against Saudi Arabia and if you are of the betting type and needs some precog before shelling out money, I strongly recommend you must check with Babushka first. Confused? Let me explain.
Remember Paul the Octopus back at World Cup 2010 who accurately chose the winners of each game and Paul became a star - maybe not for bookies. This year's official soothsayer for the World Cup is Achilles, a deaf, Russian white cat. He will be presented with bowls marked with playing teams' flag and Achilles first prediction for tonight's inaugural game is naturally Russia. Now, back to Babushka.
Since Paul the octopus, each sports event have had their own animals trying to predict games results, but none have matched Paul's record. Well aware of that fact, SofaScore - my favorite Android sport's app - is bringing in a human predictor called Babushka. According to the SofaScore, "She has lived through almost all of the championships (missed only the first 2), and this will be her 22nd World Cup. So if there's anyone who knows how it's gonna go down - then that's Babushka!" Unlike the 'official' World Cup's animals, Babushka will not only make predictions but also give daily tips and some witty analysis on her YouTube Channel. Her first video has been published and, like Achilles the cat, Babushka predicts a Russia win against Saudi Arabia. Whether she gets this right or not, Babushka is just adorable and her pre-games analysis are well thought out. Something animals can't do.
The English Premier League has updated their Android app for the next season already. The app now shows the three newly promoted teams for the upcoming 2018/19 season: Wolverhampton Wanderers, Cardiff City, and Fulham. The updated app also brings the highlights of the 2017/18 season.
Additionally, "you can also explore all-time Premier League club, player and manager record-holders through the new 'Records' section in the Stats area."
That being said, download the update free in Google Play Store to prepare for the new season.
"Starting today, when someone mentions you in their story, you'll be able to share that photo or video into your own story." Instagram is bringing this new feature to its app today on Android and iOS. They announced this in a blog post yesterday. Users that get mentioned will receive a notification in their Direct messages thread and will see an option to add that content to their own story. In addition, the user will be able to "rotate and position it and add creative tools like text or stickers on to it as well." Followers who see the story will also see the original poster's username and get the possibility to follow them. Instagram says this feature only works for public accounts.
This seems to be a server-side update. However, make sure you grab the latest version of the app in Google Play Store.
The days when Skype was the de-facto messaging and video app are long gone with the advent of WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, but that's not stopping Microsoft from bringing new features to catch up with the fierce competition. In an update published today, the software giant is finally letting users access their phone contacts within Skype through the app's dialpad. Start typing a phone number and Skype will retrieve a matching number and name from your device's contacts.
This update also includes the usual stability and performance improvements.
If you still Skype, grab the update in Google Play Store on your Android device.
WhatsApp for Android just made it easier for users to record voice messages on their devices. Before today's update, users were required to press and hold on the microphone to record a message. This has never been a comfortable experience for me, as I found it hard to keep my finger in place.
With today's update, WhatsApp is making that a tad easier. Users will still need to tap and hold on the microphone icon to record short messages. However, they will now have the ability to swipe up to "lock recording" and record both short or long messages. Personally, that's a great addition.
Head over to Google Play Store to grab this update to enjoy this new voice recording feature.
