Facebook Local is the social network's latest app feeding from its plethora of information. However, instead of allowing you to publish pictures of babies that your other half didn't want you posting, or lending data to Cambridge Analytica, Local lets you search for things to do in your vicinity. Facebook's events section has always seemed an excellent but underdeveloped section of the network, but this new app gives it its own space and chance to become something more than just an addon. Facebook Local is actually a rebranded version of its Events app. It was relaunched in November 2017, but this...
Throughout my relatively brief stint as a smartphone reviewer, I've noted a bit of a pattern in my own workflow. Whenever I get a new Android phone to review, there are a set list of apps I download almost immediately. Without fail. I'm not talking about common apps like WhatsApp, Instagram and Google's host of products either. These apps -- a combination of free and premium wares -- form the basis of my workflow, the visual experience of my phone, and the backbone of my excessive smartphone usage habits. Enjoy, and let us know which apps you can't quite live without...
After Google announced plans to sprinkle its Play Music offering into YouTube's video cauldron to create YouTube Music, you'd think the company would continue the trend of rolling similar apps into singular entities. But you'd be mistaken. On Tuesday the company announced Google Podcasts, its app for Android phones and lovers of pods. It's a standalone app but uses the Google app's host of permissions. So if you're already letting Google Assistant do your bidding on a daily basis, you only need allow the app access to "Storage" to download episodes. Notably, you can also request Assistant to continue an episode you started...
Uber Lite is now a thing, but it's not a new offering from the ride-hailing service. Instead, it's a new app, keeping up with tech companies' recent trend of developing low bandwidth, low footprint apps for emerging markets. "Uber Lite is a simple version of the rider app that saves space, works on any network, and on any Android phone," said Shirish Andhare, the company's head of product for emerging markets, in an announcement. Uber Lite weighs in at around 5MB, notably slimmer than the 40.4MB required to install the traditional Android app. Visually, it sheds the default initial map overlay on...
A slew of Twitter's swanky primary app features are finally hitting Twitter Lite, Twitter for Windows, and the mobile website. This week, the company's set to bring night mode, real time updates on parameters, and an updated tweet composition box to the above platforms. Each will bolster the user experience across the company's less important platforms. We are rolling out the following features to https://t.co/AIUgyCj4rs, Twitter Lite, and Twitter for Windows to provide more consistency across platforms. See what’s new. 👇 ✔️ night mode ✔️ real time updates on reply, Retweet, and like counts ✔️ updated Tweet compose box — Twitter (@Twitter) May 22, 2018 "Night owl?...
An update to WhatsApp on iOS brings with its a nifty new feature. Users who send one another Instagram or Facebook videos can now play said videos within WhatsApp. This means that you needn't leave the chat app, to visit Facebook, watch that viral video of a lemming, and return with thoughts to the aforementioned chat app. This now fits alongside its already established YouTube, audio and GIF playback support. It's a small tweak, but tells of a more integrated Facebook ecosystem we'll likely see in the future. The update, labelled as 2.18.51, is live in the US, but it's not clear if...
Swedish call filtering service Truecaller today announced that it has more than 100-million active daily users (DAUs). According to the company, it grew to its current figure from 100-million monthly active users less than a year ago. "There are only a handful of mobile-only services that impact as many users each and every day and we are humbled to be able to join this exclusive group," expresses Alan Mamedi, the firm's CEO and co-founder. Truecaller reveals the top spam callers in South Africa Spam calls are part of daily life for most with a cell phone in South Africa, but which industry is...
Finding something to watch on Netflix is the most difficult thing any human has ever done. Ever. But a new addition coming to the iOS app could solve this crisis once and for all. The streaming service is today adding Instagram Stories-like "mobile previews" to its iOS app. "Mobile previews present members with a fun, simple, and easy way to learn about all the new content on Netflix -- and find something great to watch even faster," explains Cameron Johnson, Netflix's director of product innovation. Inspired by Netflix's own video previews on televisions, the mobile previews will each be around 30 seconds...
Chrome 66 now blocks autoplaying content with sound by default. The new version of Google's web browser was granted stable status this morning and brings a host of changes and tweaks for developers and users alike. But the autoplay filter addition, initially scheduled for Chrome 64's release in January, is the most relevant for casual netizens. According to Google Chrome's autoplay policies, muted content will automatically load and play, but content with sound will not, unless certain conditions are met. "As announced earlier autoplay is now allowed only when either the media won't play sound, after the user clicks or taps on the site, or (on desktop)...
If the standard Google app is proving too bloated for your device, the company has today made its lightweight Google Go app available in South Africa, and other African territories. Google's Go apps -- much like Facebook Lite and Twitter Lite -- require less storage space on device and can function more efficiently on slower networks. Although Google Go has been available on Android Go devices for a while across the world, from today anyone can download the app for standard Android versions newer than 4.3 Jelly Bean. "Users come to us to experience the web and access accurate information quickly. Unfortunately...
In our series App of the Week, we showcase our favourite organised lines of code from the world of mobile and desktop computing. In today’s edition, we profile an app that allows people to build their CVs and resumes without a computer -- CV Engineer. Looking for a job can be a job in itself. While frantically darting from one interview to the next, stressing about your choice of attire, or second-guessing whether your salary expectations were realistic, your CV should be the least of your worries. And it's even more complicated if you don't have regular access to a PC,...
2018 has been the best year ever for apps -- in terms of downloads and spend -- on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store, according to a new report by AppAnnie. The app analytics and data firm revealed that both Apple's iOS app and Google's Android app downloads grew by a combined 10% year-over-year. More 27.5-billion apps have been downloaded between the two stores in the first three months of 2018 alone. Google Play continues to lead Apple's App store in this metric, with more than 19.2-billion apps grabbed during this period. Apple sees 135% fewer downloads, with just...
Non-profit and creator of the Firefox web browser Mozilla this week announced a new addon that will separate your Facebook life from the rest of your browsing activity. Dubbed the Facebook Container Extension, the addon is a tweaked version of the "multi-account containers" addon, which allowed users to log in to a number of different accounts -- say two Google accounts -- simultaneously in the same browser. The Facebook Container Extension however, has a slightly different purpose. "This extension helps you control more of your web activity from Facebook by isolating your identity into a separate container. This makes it harder for...
Human Rights Day is nearly upon us, but do you know your rights fellow South African? If you don't, now is the perfect time to familiarise yourself with them all while planning for your holiday. Here are four nifty apps which will help you with both. South African law and Constitution You know the Constitution? The document that dictates South Africans' extensive list of rights? It might be a good idea to keep it handy, don't you think? There are a slew of apps on the Google Play Store and Apple iOS App Store, but we're picking this particular gem. It has advertisements --...
When Google Play Instant launched on the Play Store last year, users could experience apps without installing them to their devices. It's a novel idea, and saves users the time and space usually needed when installing apps. But now, the feature just got even more useful. Google this week announced that Google Play Instant is now available for a select number of games listed on Google Plays. "With Google Play Instant, you can just tap and try a game without having to download it first -- whether you’re looking to storm a castle on Clash Royale or become a wordmaster with Words with Friends 2,"...
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