WhatsApp Web to Soon Get Username Search Feature Without Sharing Phone Number to Increase Privacy: Report

WhatsApp is reportedly working on a new feature that is expected to allow users to exercise more privacy. The firm is reportedly attempting to develop a feature for its WhatsApp Web clients that will allow users to search for others on the platform by their usernames, without sharing their phone numbers.

Microsoft Copilot App Now Available for iPhone and iPad Users With Free GPT-4 Access

Microsoft Copilot is now available for iPhone and iPad users via the App Store. The standalone app comes days after the release of Copilot for Android. It is available for free and uses the latest GPT-4 large language model along with DALL-E 3 for both text and image generation.

WhatsApp Web to Soon Get Username Search Feature Without Sharing Phone Number to Increase Privacy: Report

WhatsApp is reportedly working on a new feature that is expected to allow users to exercise more privacy. The firm is reportedly attempting to develop a feature for its WhatsApp Web clients that will allow users to search for others on the platform by their usernames, without sharing their phone numbers.

WhatsApp Begins Testing Ability to Share Status Updates From Web Interface, Companion Devices

WhatsApp Web is adding support for sharing photos and videos or text status updates, according to a feature tracker. Users will soon be able to post status updates from the web version or from linked 'companion' devices. WhatsApp currently allow users to send and receive messages, place calls, and view status other users' updates via companion devices.

WhatsApp Working on a Revamped Dark Interface, Sidebar for Web Users: Report

WhatsApp is reportedly bringing a new background colour for its Web version's dark theme along with a new tweaked sidebar. The new design and colour upgrades are expected to reduce eye strain in low-light environments. The sidebar could offer an improved messaging experience.

Apple, Google May Have to Allow Third-Party App Stores, Payments in Japan: Report

Japanese government is reportedly preparing laws that will require Apple and Google as well as other similar companies to allow users to download apps outside their official app stores and let alternative payment methods for any apps.

WhatsApp Begins Testing Ability to Share Status Updates From Web Interface, Companion Devices

WhatsApp Web is adding support for sharing photos and videos or text status updates, according to a feature tracker. Users will soon be able to post status updates from the web version or from linked 'companion' devices. WhatsApp currently allow users to send and receive messages, place calls, and view status other users' updates via companion devices.

Paytm Announces Job Cuts in India to Save Costs

One 97 Communications, parent of fintech firm Paytm, confirmed a "slight reduction" in its workforce on Monday as part of cost-cutting measures without specifying the number of jobs. A company spokesperson, however, denied recent media reports that have suggested the non-bank lender could cut more than 1,000 roles.

Telecom Bill 2023: OTT Apps Not Covered Under New Bill, Telecom Minister Reportedly Says

OTT apps or services will not be under the ambit of the newly passed Telecommunications Bill 2023, according to telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. Days after Parliament passed the new telecom bill that replaces three older laws, concerns were raised related to increased scrutiny and interference from the government, if OTT communication apps like WhatsApp and Signal w...

Beeper Says Its Efforts to Bring iMessage to Android Is ‘Unsustainable’ After Providing Jailbroken iPhone Fix

Beeper, the messaging platform that has fought hard to bring Apple’s iMessage to Android phones, seems to have released a final update for its service. After multiple attempts at making iMessage work on Android devices reliably, with workarounds that involved users accessing a Mac, Beeper has said its efforts to bring the popular messaging service on Android are “...

Elon Musk to Upgrade X With Payment Features Soon; No Word on User-Requested Crypto Integration

Elon Musk, in a recent interview, confirmed that digital payments were coming to X soon. Musk did not mention support for cryptocurrency-based payments while speaking about the upcoming functionality, a much-requested feature by users on the platform.

X Restores Access After Thousands of Users Report App, Website Not Working

X (formerly Twitter) is down and users have reported that they cannot access posts on the microblogging platform. The outage appears to have started at 11am on Thursday and users cannot see posts on the website or mobile apps.

WhatsApp Developing Video and Music Audio Sharing Feature for Android Smartphones: Report

WhatsApp video and music audio sharing feature has been spotted in development on Android, days after it was found by a feature tracker by a feature tracker on iOS. Users will reportedly be able to share audio only on video calls — not audio-only calls, or video calls where the video is turned off. There's no word from WhatsApp on when the video and music audio shar...

Google Play Store Update Adds Remote App Uninstall Feature: How it Works

Google Play Store for Android smartphones has been updated with a new feature that allows you to uninstall applications on one device from another smartphone. With the latest Play Store version, the feature will be available for smartphones, computers, smart TVs, automotive systems, and smartwatches.

One Piece Is Getting an Anime Remake From Netflix, Wit Studio

One Piece is getting an anime remake from the producers of Attack on Titan. Dubbed ‘The One Piece,’ the series will pick up from the very beginning of the manga — East Blue Saga — and use modern animation technology to cater to a new audience. Currently, there is no release window for the same, and it seems to be part of Netflix’s ongoing efforts at expandin...

Google Maps to Get Live View Walking, Support for Mumbai Local Trains, More Features in India

Google announced a bunch of new regional features for Google Maps at its Building for India event in New Delhi on Thursday. The search engine giant is bringing improvements to Google Maps Street View, introducing live view walking, Lens in Maps, and more soon. Maps will also get enhancements for train travel and public transport in the country, with the Where Is My Tr...

FM Sitharaman Says Google Took Down Over 2,500 Loan Lending Apps From Play Store: Report

Google took down over 2,500 fraudulent loan apps from its Play Store between April 2021 and July 2022, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reportedly claimed in a written reply to a query in the Lok Sabha Monday. The minister also said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had shared ‘whitelist’ of betting apps with the government to separate applications that oper...

One Piece Is Getting an Anime Remake From Netflix, Wit Studio

One Piece is getting an anime remake from the producers of Attack on Titan. Dubbed ‘The One Piece,’ the series will pick up from the very beginning of the manga — East Blue Saga — and use modern animation technology to cater to a new audience. Currently, there is no release window for the same, and it seems to be part of Netflix’s ongoing efforts at expandin...

The Creator, Starring John David Washington, Is Set to Release on Disney+ Hotstar on December 20

The Creator will release on Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar on December 20. The John David Washington-led sci-fi movie comes to streaming 82 days after its theatrical release in September, during which it collected $104 million (about Rs. 866 crore) at the global box office. Unfortunately, in India, it will only be available in the original English language dub.

Google Assistant’s Quick Phrases Comes to Pixel Buds Pro: Here’s How to Use It

Google Assistant’s Quick Phrases can now finally be used on its Pixel Buds Pro TWS earbuds. The feature was launched last month with a support page for the same appearing on Google’s support site, but Google’s now made it available for all.

Instagram Now Allows Users to Share Short, Looping Video Notes; Said to Be Testing New Privacy Feature

Instagram is introducing a feature for users to share video Notes. The Notes feature was unveiled by Instagram a year back, and is similar to statuses on WhatsApp. Meanwhile, a leak suggests that the social media platform is testing a new privacy feature that will let users decide who can view their Likes on posts and reels.

Oppo Find N3 Flip Review: Building on Basics

Oppo’s Find N3 Flip is its second foldable to arrive in India and comes with plenty of upgrades in the camera department. While its overall design remains mostly unchanged, Oppo has attempted to inject better functionality into its vertically laid out cover display, which somehow ends up falling short of expectations.

Nokia 110 4G, Nokia 106 4G Get Support For YouTube Shorts, More Cloud Apps

Nokia 110 4G and Nokia 106 4G were launched in India earlier this year. The former handset was introduced in the country in July alongside a 2G-supported variant, while the latter was unveiled in May. Now, HMD, the Nokia parent company, is extending support for YouTube Shorts and several other cloud application features to the 4G-supported phones.

Google Working on Anti-Phishing Scanning for Deceptive Apps, May Arrive With Android 15: Report

Google is developing a feature that will inspect app activity to check for phishing and deceptive behaviour, according to a report, The phishing app detection service is said to run locally on Android phones, but will reportedly send some detection-related details that the company will use to inform other users who are also facing a similar threat.

Apple Announces App Store’s Top Apps and Games of 2023: WhatsApp, JioCinema, BGMI, and More

Apple has revealed the year-end charts for the most popular apps and games on the App Store in over 35 countries and regions. Consequently, the iPhone maker has announced the most downloaded apps and games of 2023 in India, as well. Unsurprisingly, WhatsApp Messenger has emerged as the top free iPhone app, while the DSLR Camera app, which provides users professional-g...

Apple Blocks Beeper Mini's iMessage Service Citing Security Concerns; Beeper Tries to Get App Running Again

Beeper Mini was recently released as an Android application that helped users access Apple's iMessage service for a small monthly fee. But soon after its launch, the app faced an outage. Apple confirmed that it blocked the service citing privacy and security concerns. Beeper, however, claims that the service is safe and is working towards getting the app up and runnin...

Meta to Drop Support for Instagram-Messenger Cross App Communication Chats

Instagram and Facebook Messenger cross app chat support will soon be discontinued, according to the company. Users will not be able to message users across apps when support for cross-app communication chats is turned off, according to the company. Here's everything you need to know about when Meta will turn off support for this feature that was introduced in 2020.

Beeper Mini Resumes iMessage Service on Android Phones With Some Changes

Beeper Mini was released last week to allow Android users to access Apple's iMessage service for a small monthly fee. Three days after its launch Apple blocked the service citing privacy and security concerns. Now Beeper said that its services have now resumed, although it comes with some considerable changes.

Fortnite Maker Epic Games Wins Antitrust Case Against Google Over Play Store Monopoly

Fortnite maker Epic Games has prevailed in its high-profile antitrust trial over Alphabet's Google, which alleged the Play app store operated as an illegal monopoly, in a ruling that if it holds could upend the entire app store economy.

Apple Blocks Beeper Mini's iMessage Service Citing Security Concerns; Beeper Tries to Get App Running Again

Beeper Mini was recently released as an Android application that helped users access Apple's iMessage service for a small monthly fee. But soon after its launch, the app faced an outage. Apple confirmed that it blocked the service citing privacy and security concerns. Beeper, however, claims that the service is safe and is working towards getting the app up and runnin...

Hackers Bypass Apple's Checks to Deliver Malicious Keyboards Used to Spy on Users: Report

iPhone can reportedly be targeted by third-party keyboards created by hackers to bypass Apple's stringent security checks and spy on user activity. These third-party keyboards are installed via Apple's TestFlight platform to discreetly spy on a user and collect their sent messages, passwords, browsing history, bank credentials, and any other text entered on the phone....

Elon Musk’s xAI Begins Rolling Out Grok AI Chatbot to X Premium+ Subscribers in the US

Grok, an AI chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s xAI, has begun rolling out to X (formerly Twitter). The ChatGPT rival, which takes a witty tone in contrast to existing chatbots, will be available to Premium+ subscribers of X. It is rolling out to users on the web, as well as the iOS and Android apps.

WhatsApp Announces 'View Once’ Voice Messages to Send Disappearing Audio Messages

WhatsApp introduced View Once messages for text, photos, and videos back in 2021. Now, the Meta-owned instant messaging platform is expanding this feature to voice messages. With the latest update, users will be able to set voice messages to disappear after their recipient listens to them.

Threads Gets Tags Feature That Lets Users Link Phrases, Emojis in Posts, Rolling Out Globally

Threads is now rolling out support for the long-awaited Tags feature globally on its site. The microblogging platform, announced by Meta-owned Instagram earlier this year to rival Elon Musk's X, revealed a few weeks back that it was testing the use of tags on its posts. However, Thread's version of hashtags comes with some limitations and alterations.

Hackers Bypass Apple's Checks to Deliver Malicious Keyboards Used to Spy on Users: Report

iPhone can reportedly be targeted by third-party keyboards created by hackers to bypass Apple's stringent security checks and spy on user activity. These third-party keyboards are installed via Apple's TestFlight platform to discreetly spy on a user and collect their sent messages, passwords, browsing history, bank credentials, and any other text entered on the phone....

WhatsApp Announces 'View Once’ Voice Messages to Send Disappearing Audio Messages

WhatsApp introduced View Once messages for text, photos, and videos back in 2021. Now, the Meta-owned instant messaging platform is expanding this feature to voice messages. With the latest update, users will be able to set voice messages to disappear after their recipient listens to them.

Threads Gets Tags Feature That Lets Users Link Phrases, Emojis in Posts, Rolling Out Globally

Threads is now rolling out support for the long-awaited Tags feature globally on its site. The microblogging platform, announced by Meta-owned Instagram earlier this year to rival Elon Musk's X, revealed a few weeks back that it was testing the use of tags on its posts. However, Thread's version of hashtags comes with some limitations and alterations.

WhatsApp Might Soon Let You Post HD Videos, Photos in Status

WhatsApp rolled out support for HD (high definition) photos and videos in August this year. Now, the Meta-owned instant messaging platform is reportedly testing a new feature that allows users to share images and videos in high-quality resolution to their Status. The upcoming feature has been spotted in WhatsApp for Android beta version 2.23.26.3, which is available v...

Facebook Messenger Turns End-to-End Encryption on by Default for Individual Chats

Facebook Messenger chats will now be protected by end-to-end encryption (E2EE) by default for individual chats and calls, according to Meta. Existing conversations will be protected by E2EE and new chats will also be protected by the technology. The rollout is expected to take place over time, according to the company.

Google’s December Pixel Feature Drop Arrives, With AI Features Reserved for Pixel 8 Pro

Google’s feature-heavy December Pixel Feature Drop is finally here. And it brings several new features, some of which are driven by AI. While not all AI-features will be enabled as soon as you download the update, it’s easy to tell that the Pixel 8 Pro gets the lion’s share of it (compared to current and older Pixel devices) for obvious reasons.

Google Launches Gemini AI Models to Power Bard and AI Features on Pixel Phones; to Compete With OpenAI's GPT-4

Google Gemini was announced on Wednesday as the company's most powerful AI model to date. Gemini is available in Nano, Pro, and Ultra variants. While Gemini Nano is available on Pixel 8 Pro models, Gemini Pro will be available on Google Bard, the company's chatbot that competes with ChatGPT. The company hopes Gemini will compete with OpenAI's GPT-4 model and a white p...

SpyLoan Malware Apps Used to Blackmail, Extort Users Using Personal Data Detected on Play Store

SpyLoan malware has been spotted on the Play Store over the course of this year and removed by Google, according to details shared by ESET researchers. They are designed to collect vast amounts of information from a user's device when they borrow money, only to blackmail and extort them into repaying the sum with high interest amounts within a short period of time. Th...

Xbox Chief Phil Spencer Says Company in Talks With Partners to Launch Mobile Store on iOS, Android: Report

Microsoft has reportedly been developing an Xbox mobile storefront that would allow users to bypass Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store and download games off its own application. Earlier this year, Microsoft's gaming chief Phil Spencer, too, had revealed ahead of the annual Game Developer Conference that the company intended to launch its own app store for ...

Beeper Mini Brings iMessage Support to Android Phones, Works Without Apple ID: How It Works

Beeper Mini was launched on Tuesday as a new messaging app bringing iMessage to Android smartphones. The new app from Beeper seems to avoid most of those privacy issues as it works locally on a user's smartphones and can even function without an Apple ID, according to the company.

iOS 17.2 RC, macOS Sonoma 14.2 RC With New Features Rolled Out to Testers

iOS 17.2 RC and macOS Sonoma 14.2 RC have been released to beta testers. Apple's upcoming operating systems for iPhone brings the Journal app on iOS while both iOS and macOS will get Contact Key Verification for iMessage along with two new features for Apple Music. The final versions of these updates are expected to roll out on the stable channel later this month.

Meta to Drop Support for Instagram-Messenger Cross App Communication Chats

Instagram and Facebook Messenger cross app chat support will soon be discontinued, according to the company. Users will not be able to message users across apps when support for cross-app communication chats is turned off, according to the company. Here's everything you need to know about when Meta will turn off support for this feature that was introduced in 2020.

Redmi 13C 5G First Impressions: Plenty of upgrades!

Xiaomi’s Redmi 13C 5G is the much-awaited upgrade to the Redmi 12C. It basically takes what was essentially an entry-level device and gives it a much-needed hardware refresh. But will Xiaomi retain the 12C’s entry-level pricing? Or will the new phone delve deeper into the budget segment, where there are already some interesting options like the Redmi 12 5G waiting...

Fallout Trailer Gives a Glimpse of Irradiated Wasteland Filled With Ghouls, Giant Roaches, More

The Fallout TV show trailer is out, offering a glimpse at its irradiated post-apocalyptic world and its retro-futuristic vibe. The series largely follows a young Vault dweller Lucy, who heads out into the nuclear wasteland in search of answers, in addition to a mutated cowboy and a wannabe soldier Maximus. HBO’s Westworld creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy helm th...

WhatsApp Update to Bring Telegram-Style Search by Username Feature on Android: Report

WhatsApp was said to be working to bring usernames to the app earlier this year. Beta version of the popular messaging platform on Android was spotted with a feature that would allow users to set a username for their profile. The Meta-owned app is now working on a new feature that will allow searching for other users on the app by their username. The feature is report...

Airtel Launches Prepaid Plan With Free Disney+ Hotstar Subscription, Unlimited 5G Data: See Price, Validity

Airtel has launched a new prepaid plan in India that includes a free Disney+ Hotstar subscription offer. This comes a few days after it introduced a prepaid Netflix bundle plan. Similar to the Netflix plan, this new Hotstar bundle also offers unlimited 5G data alongside a few other perks and benefits.

Government Bans Use of 'Dark Patterns' on E-Commerce Platforms; Guidelines Issued

The government has banned the use of "dark patterns" on e-commerce platforms and a gazette notification was issued on November 30 by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA). The rules are applicable to all platforms offering goods and services in India related to online commerce, and will also apply to advertisers and sellers. Dark patters are used to deceive...

Google Chrome Update Fixes High-Severity Zero-Day Vulnerability That Was Actively Exploited

Google Chrome has been updated with security patches that fix a flaw allowing malicious users to run dangerous code on a user's computer. Windows, macOS, and Linux computers running Chrome were affected by the flaw, but users who have opted to receive updates automatically should already be protected — others will have to manually check for updates on their computer...

These Three iPhone Features Make Technology More Accessible for Persons With Disabilities

Apple recently introduced new accessibility features as part of the iOS 17 update, allowing users to utilise on-device machine learning technology to create a copy of their voice or access a much more simplified interface an iPhone or iPad. Ahead of International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we take a look at how iOS 17 can simplify the use of your smartphone whi...