Instagram is testing a 'New Posts' button on Android that gives users control on their feed. New posts will automatically appear at the top.

Hey Instagram, you're not Apple. Take a minute to digest this fact. The other fact you need to take in is that users are always right and no matter how long it takes, in the end, you have no choice but to bend to users' will - which you call feedback. These changes you made will make users happy and that means more money for you.

In an update that is rolling out today, Instagram is giving users more control over their feeds. Instead of having the feed refresh automatically and take you to the top, Instagram is testing a "New Posts" button that lets users choose when to refresh their feed and go to the latest post at the top of the feed. The social network "...hope this makes browsing Instagram much more enjoyable." We hope so too Instagram.

In addition, and based on users feedback, the new version will make new posts appear first in users' feed. Instagram says, "that with changes, your feed will feel more fresh, and you won't miss the moments you care about."

Thanks a bunch Instagram for these most welcome updates. If you're an Instagram user, grab the update in Google Play Store to take back control of your feed.

Yahoo Mail now supports Android 8.0 Oreo, photos and documents Smart Views.

Back in June Yahoo Mail for Android introduced Smart Views, a new feature that gave users easy access to Smart Views and their recent searches right beneath the Search bar. The app made it easier to filter the searches by category without having to manually navigate to the default folder category: People, Travel, Shopping, Social, Finance. Today’s update adds more features to Smart Views.

Users will now be able to see every photos and documents they sent as attachment right in Smart Views. This applies to all attachments sent and received within the app. A nice addition which will avoid having to hunt down the email with a particular attachment. The change log does say anything about the number of attachments that will be listed in Smart Views and for how long they will remain there. But this feature is very helpful. There’s a similar feature in Outlook 2016 on the PC and I use it quite often.

This update also makes Yahoo Mail compatible with Android Oreo 8.0. Here again, Yahoo does not say to what extent, but I assume users will see features like group notifications, for example.

If you’re a Yahoo Mail user, make sure you get the update in Google Play.

Tumblr for Android introduces Safe Mode and will stop providing updates for Android Jelly Bean.

Tumblr describes itself as “a place to express yourself, discover yourself, and bond over the stuff you love.” The platform lets you express yourself with photos, GIFs, text, videos, live videos and audio. Basically, share about anything you like.

In today’s update, Tumblr is adding safe mode, a tool that lets users control what they see and what they don’t want to see. A Safe Mode switch has been added in the General Settings of the app, more precisely under Filtering.

Tumblr also announced that owners of Android Jelly Bean devices, that’s Android version 4.1 to 4.3 will stop getting updates from now on. The app will still work on these devices, but no new features will be added. If you still use Jelly Bean on your device, you should seriously consider upgrading. Running such an old version of Android is a security risk, as Google is not providing security patches for it anymore.

Tumblr is available free in Google Play Store.

Instagram makes it easier to follow users and accounts with hashtags.

Instagram just made it easier to follow whatever you like on Android, Apple devices and the web. As usual there’s nothing for Windows 10 PCs. What’s a PC anyway? But I digress. As of today, Instagram users on the aforementioned platform will be able to follow whatever they like thanks to hashtags.

According to Instagram, millions of users share photos, videos and tag them every day. With the update rolling out today, users will be able to tap on a hashtag to follow other Instagram users, similar to following a friend. Users can search for a topic of interest or tap a hashtag in a post and they will see related posts. Users will then see a follow button on their screens that they can tap to follow the topic or the account with the ability to unfollow later.

Instagram is also making it easier to find hashtags from other users’ account and Instagram says that “hashtags you follow respect your privacy settings.” Setting the hashtags to private will only be visible to your followers.

Instagram said that the update has started rolling out today. It may not be available to you today, but do check out on Google PlayStore as from now on.

Instagram update lets you remix photos and control photos & videos replays.

Today Instagram is releasing an update that will let you ‘remix’ pictures you received via direct message from your friends. In simple terms, you will be able to edit, resize, move, draw and add stickers to the picture. And there is more to it.

Once you receive the picture via direct message, tap and hold the camera in the message to snap a picture to add to your reply. The original picture will also be included in the reply, thus giving you the ability to edit both using the methods mentioned above.

In addition to ‘Remix’, Instagram also now lets you control replays. You decide whether your friends can view your messages once with “One View” or several times with “Allow Replay”. Instagram says that “photos and videos sent with “Allow Replay” loop automatically and your friends can tap and hold to pause.”

Both features are available starting today in Instagram version 24 which is available for download in Google Play Store.

Source: Instagram

Telegram for Android groups photos & videos into albums; adds saved messages & improves search.

Some new features are making their way into Telegram 4.5, the latest iteration of the messaging app for Android. The update allows users to send multiple photos and videos grouped into albums with each album able to support up to 10 photos or videos. Telegram will automatically arrange the photos and videos “in the chat as elegantly proportioned thumbnails.” The recipient will be notified once, instead of ten times. In addition, Telegram also let users choose the order photos are sent. Still on the photo front, Telegram 4.5 adds multiple profile photos. This comes in handy if you can’t choose which photo is best for your profile.

This update will also allow users to “bookmark important messages” by forwarding them to Saved Messages. These messages can be saved to users’ personal cloud storage. “Each saved message has a “go to” button that takes you to the right place in the chat where it was originally posted.” Telegram will display Saved Messages at the top of the in the sharing and forwarding menus.

Search has also been improved thanks to a new search algorithm. Users will be able to search “for public channels and bots by their titles, and most popular items will always be displayed first.”

All in all, Telegram version 4.5 introduces some nice features. Check the update in Google Play Store. It may not be available right away. So, be patient.

Source: Telegram

Instagram let users add 24 hours old photos and videos to their stories.

Starting today, Instagram is gradually rolling out a much requested update to its Android app that will let users pick photos and videos from their devices to add to their stories no matter when they were taken. Prior to this update, Instagram allowed using photos and videos taken within the last 24 hours to create stories.

Instagram will also add a sticker to photos and videos more than 24 hours old. But rest assured, those can be easily removed, rotated and resized.

As stated above, this is a gradual update, so you may not see it right away on your device. Check it out on Google Play Store.

Source: Instagram

View Instagram Stories in mobile web browsers.

Instagram Stories lets you "share all the moments of your day, not just the ones you want to keep on your profile." Basically, you're sharing multiple photos and videos in a slideshow format and they will disappear after 24 hours. Up until today, Stories were only visible through the Instagram app on mobile devices. Well no more.

According to Instagram, 250 million users use Stories every day. Instagram will, in the coming weeks, make Stories available to users who use Instagram on the web. Stories is indeed coming to mobile web browsers. Another thing. Stories will be available for viewing only in mobile browsers. But Instagram said in a blog post that users will be able to post Stories from mobile web in coming months.

Until then, point your favorite mobile browser to instagram.com to view Stories when they become available. Otherwise, use Instagram for Android in Google Play Store.

Source: Instagram

New Skype update for Android lets you change app language and share panoramic photos.

Skype for Android picked up an interesting update today, with Microsoft now letting users switch languages within the app settings. By default, Skype will use the default language that users initially chose for their phone and with this update, they will be able to select from an extensive list of language, independent of the phone’s default language. 

As stated above, users can make the change in the app settings by tapping their avatar at the top, then the gear icon at the top right corner of the screen. Scroll down to language and select one from the list. This feature is nicely implemented as it does not require a restart of the app. Should you want to revert to the default system language, go back to the list and tap the first option, which in English is “Reset to system language”.

This update also let users share panoramic photos with friends via chat or highlights and contains the usual performance and reliability improvements.

Head over to Google Play Store to download this update.

Microsoft OneDrive for Android makes viewing photos faster.

Microsoft OneDrive was updated today. In version 4.15 of the app, the company improved the scan feature. The change log says all scans “will be cropped, cleaned up and polished thanks to the power of Office Lens.” Microsoft also improved performance and that results into viewing of photos faster. 

Get this update to Microsoft OneDrive for Android in Google Play Store.

WhatsApp adds support for sending documents of any type and text formatting in latest update

If you are not in the WhatsApp beta program, you should check the latest update that was published to the store earlier today. As a member of the beta program, I have been using these new features for a while now and it is great to see WhatsApp finally bringing them to the masses. And if you want to be among the first to try these new features, I strongly advise you join the beta program. You can do that in the apps page in Google Play Store. Let’s see what’s new in this update.

WhatsApp will now let you send files of any type as attachment by tapping the attach icon within the app. Prior to this update, and if I’m not mistaken, WhatsApp only supported PDF files. With this update, WhatsApp supports any file type you have stored on your device.

WhatsApp also improved the camera feature in that users will be able to swipe up to see all their photos and videos on the device. A quick and easy way to attach these files to a message with less navigation.

Since WhatsApp is all about messaging that involves mainly text, users will be able to format text to make them bold, strikethrough or italicize. To do this, users must tap and hold to select a word or more and select whichever format they want from the contextual menu.

Finally, WhatsApp made some design improvements for voice and video calls. 

Make sure to update WhatsApp on your device to enjoy these new features. It is a free update in Google Play Store.

Google Photos AI-powered archiving is rolling out now.

Google just made archiving photos a tad easier with a feature update rolling out now for Android, iOS and the web version of Google Photos. We take pictures of memorable moments and also of receipts, notes and other file types. However, we don't necessarily want to see them all mix up together. The new Archive feature will help handle all that and put some order in Google Photos.

The manual archiving is still there should users want to remove some pitures out of the main display. The new feature will use machine learning to find those photos you most likely would want to archive. Of course, users will still be able to review the suggestions and remove any photos they don't want archived. Archived photos can still be found under Archive in the app or on the web or when searching for them.

The feature is already available for Android in Google Play Store. Give it a try and keep your Google Photos main display neat.

Source: Google Photos

Adobe Photoshop Express gets social and improves performance with an updated core imaging engine.

Recently, Google added photo enhancement capabilities to Google Photos. A welcome addition but features like auto white balance and cropping, while useful, is pretty much limited if you want something more powerful to edit your photos for applying effects and filters. Adobe Photoshop Express may be the app you need for on-the-go photo editing.

With Adobe Photoshop Express, you will be able to do basics things like crop, straighten, rotate, flip your photos, as well has remove pet eye, get rid of blemishes and much much more.

Adobe Photoshop Express has been updated with new features that enables opening additional RAW files types. Once you're done polishing your chef-d'oeuvre, Adobe Photoshop Express will let you share it directly to popular social networks like Facebook, Line, Instagram, WeChat, and WhatsApp. 

Here's the full change log. Check out it out before heading to Google Play Store to download or update Adobe Photoshop Express.

• Updated the core imaging engine, improves performance and enables opening additional RAW files types.

• Automatically straighten your images.

• Remove noise from low light images using the new Color Reduce Noise correction.

• Save your images now directly into Lightroom.

• Share directly to popular social networks like Facebook, Line, Instagram, WeChat and WhatsApp.

• Custom control for size and quality of saved images.

• Reduced the app size, now it’ll take less space on your device.

Google Photos for Android now has the tools built-in to correct and enhance your photos.

If, like me, you suffer from a severe lack of artistic talent, then this update that Google has started rolling out to Google Photos will be most welcome. From now on, Google Photos will come bundled with tools to correct exposure and saturation and at the same time automatically fix the White Balance of the selected photo(s). For me, this is amazing, even if my Samsung Galaxy Edge already does a great job handling my photos. I'm also a heavy user of Google Photos on my devices. Google adds that "if you want to tweak it even more, just go into Color and adjust the Warmth and Tint". You bet I'm going to do that. But in case your DNA has the right artistic gene, you will be able to enhance your photos with these tools built right into Google Photos.

Check the Google Play Store for the update as it may not be available right way, but Google has announced that the roll out will start this week.

Source: Google

Select multiple items in Microsoft OneDrive with hold and drag gesture.

Microsoft OneDrive was updated today with a pretty neat feature. In version 4.8 of the app, you can hold and drag to select multiple items in the Photos and tiles view. A very convenient feature that lets you quickly select multiple photos with a simple gesture. And should you need to select non-contiguous photos, simply repeat the same hold and drag gestures on the next photos. A cool feature you can start using by downloading or updating Microsoft OneDrive for Android in Google Play Store.

Instagram on Android will now translate your follower's bios and feed posts.

The last time I blogged about Instagram goes back to October 2015. It's not that I deliberately ignore it, but Instagram rarely publishes a detailed change log when they post an update to the store. Today is one of the rare occasions when they do so. Even f it's a minor update, it is worth mentioning, especially if you have among your followers friends or unknowns that speak foreign languages. 

In my opinion it is a feature you expect to see in any modern apps, but not all apps are equal. Thankfully, and finally Instagram chose to bring some modernity after recently redesigning their app icon. In this update, Instagram added the ability to translate profile bios and feed posts written in different languages. They invite you to "see translation" without giving any details about support languages.

Check out the update in Google Play Store.

Instagram adds private post sharing as messages.

Depending on your geographic location, some of you may have received this update already. But for those who, like me, are in the same timezone, you may want to check the latest update to the popular Instagram which adds a nice feature to Instagram Direct. The latter lets you send photos privately to your friends and delete the photos a la Snapchat. Let's see what is new in Instagram version 7.9.2.

As I said above, the new feature that will pique your interest, is the ability to share posts from your timeline as messages, which makes it very convenient to say establish a discussion with your friends on particular topics. Instagram added an arrow under each post and a simple tap will pull up the messaging interface for you to add the recipients. In case some of you maybe wondering, this does not replace a regram. The latter lets you share a post for all to see on your timeline whereas sharing post as messages is private.

This update also include the following features:

• Send photos, videos and text messages back and forth to keep conversations going.
• Name group conversations so they're easy to find.

Head over to Google Play Sore to download the update.

Assign ringtones to contacts and forward photos in new Skype 5.10 for Android.

Skype picked up an update today that will let users assign a ringtone to contact, similar to contacts on a phone, Skype users will also be able to identify the caller if they happen to be away from their Android device. Assigning a ringtone to a contact is quite straight forward. Tap the lower right in a conversation and select "Ringtone options" then "Set custom ringtone" and browse your phone ringtone repertoire. And there is more.

Skype has made it very easy to share photos with friends and family who are not in the conversation. Say you shared a photo with your Skype friend during a conversation. You then say to yourself that it's a photo worth sharing with someone else not in the conversation. A simple tap and hold will bring up a contextual menu from which you will be able to forward your photo without ending your conversation or having to wait for the latter to end.

Finally, this update which also includes the usual fixes and improvements, includes the ability to change the color of "avatars for group chats so you can easily tell one conversation from another".

Head into the Google Play Store to download Skype 5.10 for Android.

Source: Skype

Photo Editor for Android by Dev.macgyver is a simple & easy photo manipulation app you should try.

If you're in the Play Store looking for a decent photo editor, I heartily recommend Photo Editor by dev.macgyver. The app, like its name, is very simple and easy to use. Photo Editor is in my opinion the best photo app in the store as it does not try to complicate things with useless features and make the photo manipulation flow smooth. 

Photo Editor has been designed to easily adjust color, add effects, rotate, crop, resize frame, clone and draw on your photos. It also bundles a large variety of effects to help you create your masterpiece. Once installed, Photo Editor becomes available for editing photos from the gallery and camera.

Photo Editor has reached more the 10 million downloads in Google Play Store. The latest update brings the app to version 1.7.1 with the following new features and fixes:

• Text/Image: Alignment guides.
• Text/Image: Shape improvements.
• Batch: Correction.
• Bug fixes.

Download: Google Play Store

View photos by tags in latest OneDrive for Android update.

OneDrive is pretty good at handling and storing our precious photos in the cloud. Equally very important is how these photos is presented in the app to easily find the photos we're looking for. I am very bad at categorizing my photos and I let the app handle that for me, which it does well. OneDrive for Android has made a step further to help me more than it actually does by letting me view photos by tags that the app automatically added or that I added myself. The latter is very unlikely in my case, so it's convenient that OneDrive handles that for me. 

That's the only feature Microsoft added to this update that raises the app version to 3.3.0 which is available for download in Google Play Store.