Digital Information World

According to the International Data Corporation, Google’s Android accounts for more than 85 percent of total smartphone usage across the globe, but it lacked a proper file-sharing system like Apple’s AirDrop which lets file sharing easily across all Apple devices.

So, after much consideration, Google is now launching a new feature, called ‘Nearby Share.’ With the help of this feature, your Android device will be able to detect all the compatible devices in close proximity, and this will eventually let you share files easily with other nearby Android devices.

When you will choose the recipient of the file, your phone will automatically choose the best option to share that file, whether through Bluetooth or via Wi-Fi. This means that the ‘Nearby Share’ feature will work effortlessly when your phone is offline too.

Also, another interesting thing is that you can choose whether you want to send or receive a file anonymously. There are options available and you can choose whether you want to appear as hidden or visible to some or all of your contacts.

Apple’s AirDrop works seamlessly across all Apple devices like iPhones, iPads, and Mac devices. ‘Nearby Share’ feature will be available in Chromebooks in the coming months. It will be available on all Android phones that have the Android versions 6.0 and higher installed. Some Google Pixel and Samsung phones are likely to receive the first updates of this feature soon, though. Google says that all other phones will also get this update in the coming weeks.

This feature was previously available in the Google Play Services beta for a limited audience, but now it is going to be available for everyone.

This is not the first time for Google to provide this functionality to its users. Previously, it supported an NFC technology-based file-sharing system called ‘Android Beam.’ For some unknown reason, Google removed it in 2019, and since then, the Android users were demanding a new file-sharing feature akin to Apple’s AirDrop.

Also read: Google Pay is on its way to further expansion as six-banks become partners with the tech giant to provide digital checking and saving accounts to the customers in the US

In January 2020, a technology blog had reported that Google was working on something like this, and finally, now, all those reports came back to be true and Google is officially launching the ‘Nearby Share’ feature.

While Google is launching its own feature, Chinese tech giants and phone developing companies like Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi are also bringing file-sharing features in their upcoming phone models. Even Samsung has also launched its feature called ‘Quick Share’ for its upcoming Galaxy S20 models.

This means that file-sharing is going to become extremely easy across devices from now on. And that is a wonderful thing.

Read next: Google's Live Caption Will Now Work With Voice and Video Calls Made On Pixel Phones

Worldwide player spending in smartphone gaming increased by 27% year-on-year in the second quarter of their year. Although the mobile market experienced a huge decline due to the coronavirus pandemic, smartphone gaming experienced a surge of 27% by generating $19.3 billion in revenue during the second quarter of this year, i,e. according to the recent estimate data published by Sensor Tower.

Smartphone gaming revenue for the second of this year increased by 10.3% from the first quarter of this year when the coronavirus outbreak began in China and started its spread across the world. Furthermore, worldwide player spending in smartphone gaming rose to $17.5 billion during the first quarter of 2020, a 6.7% quarter-over-quarter rise, and a 16% year-over-year rise.

The peak for the smartphone gaming revenue was witnessed in May of this year since mobile gaming generated a revenue of $6.6 billion, a 21.5% year-over-year increase. According to the report published by Sensor Tower, new smartphone game downloads experienced a huge rise in the first quarter of this year. In the first quarter, new game installs grew to 13.4 billion, a 20.7% quarter-over-quarter, and a 38% year-over-year rise. In comparison, installs increased to 15 billion during the second quarter, a 12.7% quarter-over-quarter, and 45.2% year-over-year increase.

Throughout the first six months of 2020, new game downloads peaked during April (5.5 billion), and smartphone games that help users to connect specifically benefited during the coronavirus lockdowns including titles such as Roblox and Fortnite.

In terms of new game installs, the top three countries include India, the US, and Brazil that experienced an increase in new downloads from the first quarter of this year to the second quarter. In the first quarter, India, the US, and Brazil generated 1.8 billion, 1.4 billion, and 1.1 billion game downloads, while during the second quarter, India generated 2.7 billion game downloads, and the US generated 1.4 billion. Lastly, Brazil generated 1.2 billion downloads in the second quarter.

Also read: Social Media vs. TV: Consumers Reveal their Preferred Channel for Interacting with Brands!

Although Roblox and Fortnite were among the most popular games during the lockdowns, PUBG Mobile was the top gaming tile in terms of revenue during the second quarter since the title generated nearly $621 million in revenue. During the first six months of this year, the US remained the leading market in terms of revenue, and the country generated over $10 billion mobile gaming revenue. Discussing the player spending, the United States witnessed a 24.4% quarter-over-quarter increase during the second quarter with $5.6 billion. In the first quarter of this year, user spending in the US was $4.5 billion.

Read next: The Most Popular Non-US Cities for Tech Students

According to a recent report published by The Guardian, current as well as former Facebook moderators have called for the massive ad boycott campaign to be extended to prove that its is more than a PR stunt. A current Facebook moderator told The Guardian that without long-term commitments, the ad boycott would be a PR stunt that will eventually fade away.

The Facebook ad boycott campaign in which several companies participated including Adidas, Coca-Cola, and Starbucks, was organized from mid-June as a response to the company’s perceived inaction over hate speech on Facebook’s platform. It has become the largest ad boycott in the history of Facebook and was due to finish by the end of July of this year.

According to a former Facebook moderator, Chris Gray, Facebook CEO does not care. Last month, another current moderator told The Guardian that the company is not going to care about the boycott and the company has not lost ad revenue. He added that it is like 5% of the company’s lost revenue.

Facebook reported a better-than-expected user expansion as well as revenue growth in Facebook’s most recent earnings report. The social networking site earned $18.69 billion in revenue during the second quarter of this year, an 11% year-over-year increase. On the other hand, the number of daily active users grew to 1.79 billion. It is worth noting that the expected revenue of the company for the second quarter of 2020 was $17.31 billion.

According to The Guardian’s report, other Facebook moderators said that demands to act faster on hate speech can put more burden on moderators. However, another moderator said that the workload will remain the same on them, but they would be pressing different buttons when they will see the content on the platform.

Also read: Facebook's New Algorithm Can Play Poker And Beat Humans At It

A company’s spokesman told media houses that Facebook respects the decision of any brand, and the company remains focused on removing hate speech content from Facebook’s platform. Civil rights organizations asked marketers to boycott the company after Facebook decided not to take any action against Trump’s post regarding the police killing of a Black individual- George Floyd. President’s post on Facebook included a phrase that states that when the looting starts, shooting starts.

The company’s decision even prompted some workers to speak out or even resign in protest. However, the company has not cited that the ad boycott is having a significant impact on the ad revenue across its platform.

The coronavirus pandemic has been accompanied by a worldwide spread of misleading information, and this misinformation can be shared through any media, however, there is a reason to be specifically concerned about the role of social media platforms such as Twitter, and Facebook in spreading disinformation. Now, Misinformation Review published a new study, which indicates that your medium of news determines whether you believe misleading information or not.

According to this study, those people who get their news from social networks such as Twitter or Facebook are more likely to believe fake information about the coronavirus. The research also finds that people who get their news from social media are also less likely to practice social distancing or to think the coronavirus is a threat.

On the other hand, individuals who get news from traditional news media are likely to practice social distancing and follow public health recommendations. An associate professor at McGill University, Taylor Owen, who is the co-author of this study, states that there is increasing evidence that misleading information circulating across social media platforms poses serious public health issues.

The researchers analyzed millions of tweets as well as thousands of news articles and found that fake or incorrect information related to the virus is far more likely to be circulated across social platforms as compared to traditional news media.

Co-author Aengus Bridgman who is a Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science at McGill University states that social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter are becoming the primary sources of news and ‘misleading information’ for individuals across the globe.

Mothers connect and support each other through social media platforms. Currently, parents in America are contemplating the return of their kids to school during the pandemic, and it is necessary for kids to wear masks and practice social distancing. However, social media is filled with posts claiming that wearing masks can cause lung damage. This news is fake and is scaring people about one of the most powerful tools against the virus.

Wearing a mask is important and masks are our first line of defense against the virus since they protect people. They do not impair the breathing of people, and doctors have even used social platforms to post images of their workouts wearing masks and their perfect oxygen readings. However, scary misleading information spreads much faster on social networking sites as compared to the good news.

Photo: Katemangostar / Freepik

Read next: Economy Is In The Ruins – And Technology May Not Be A Savior!

Facebook has been making efforts to make it easier for business owners to leverage the Messenger service on their sites. Now, the company has introduced a new update to Facebook’s Messenger chat plugin that makes it convenient for businesses to connect to their consumers even if they are not signed into their Facebook account or don’t use Facebook. Additionally, Facebook has added a new intuitive design to the plugin. This feature was first appeared back in May of this year.

The company first introduced a new consumer chat plugin back in November of the year 2017, which made it easier for people to chat with businesses. But the adoption was limited since Facebook required users to log into their Facebook account if they wanted to use the plugin.

The new version of the Messenger chat plugin released today no longer requires users to use their Facebook accounts. Due to the requirement to log in using a Facebook account, several people could not remember their login credentials or were visiting the website of the business from a different smartphone that their own device, would not have been able to connect with the business. Some may also have wanted to submit their queries more anonymously.

This plugin incorporates Facebook’s Messenger experience into a website allowing consumers to chat directly with that business. The updated version of the Messenger chat plugin allows users to chat with businesses without being signed in, the company said. Instead, customers can now ‘continue as a guest,’ and the company hints that the requirement around being signed in may have limited the adoption of this tool.

Also read: Social Media vs. TV: Consumers Reveal their Preferred Channel for Interacting with Brands!

For instance, developers who create sites for customers claim that the chat plugin was not always an easy sell since the tool required businesses to provide an alternative for those users who are not logged in with their Facebook account.

Founder of Recart, Soma Toth, said that being a developer, it is much easier to convince businesses to use a live chat feature that is available to all consumers. Facebook claims that during the testing of the updated plugin, the redesigned look of the plugin had resulted in a 45% rise in consumer chats with businesses. Although this plugin has the benefit of being tied to the world’s largest social media network, the tool is still facing several chat software competitors such as Live Chat, Zoho, HubSpot, and more. Now, businesses can either choose to install the updated chat plugin themselves, or they can also work with partners such as ManyChat, WooCommerce, and Haravan to have the Messenger chat plugin installed.

In spite of the fact that Facebook has desperately been trying to destroy Snapchat because of the fact that this social media platform has become a very intrinsic part of the culture of the younger demographics, Snapchat has managed to live on and grow. With all of that having been said and out of the way, it is important to note that the growth rate Snapchat is seeing is definitely a lot less than it could have been due to the reason that Facebook used its own platform as well as Instagram to destabilize it.

However, the growth seen by Snapchat in the past year is quite interesting. Snapchat has seen a 17% increase in total users from this same quarter last year, bringing its total count up to 238 million. This year Snapchat also gave some regional insights which can prove to be useful to marketers. These insights revealed that Snapchat is most popular in the USA where it has 108 million people that an ad can reach over the course of a few days.

The US is followed by Europe where Snapchat is used by around 77 million people that an average ad could potentially end up reaching with the right kinds of resources. The Middle East comes next with 55 million, followed by South America with 32 million. India is also a big market for Snapchat with 30 million reachable addresses. Coming in last was Australia with six million reachable addresses, although Australia has quite a small population so proportionally this is still enormously significant.

These figures can be instrumental for anyone that is trying to create a specific kind of marketing campaign, one that is based on a variety of essential factors. International marketing through Snapchat is on the rise and it is certainly going to get even better from here based on these numbers.

Hat Tip: SMT.

Read next: Snapchat Introduces TikTok-Like Music Feature

Featured photo: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty

Many people love to put their pets on social media. And it makes sense, after all we love our little furry friends dearly. Of course, they’re also great for those who are looking to get more outreach for their business or online presence. Read on for some great reasons to make sure an animal is featured front and center on your next post!

1. Animal People Are Everywhere

It seems that humans are hard-wired to love animals. While there’s always love for dogs and cats, those who aren’t familiar with social media groups might be surprised to know that there are groups dedicated to everything.

We’re talking from jumping spiders to frogs to deer. And… each has a relatively stable demographic if you’re willing to learn about them.

That means you can target the animal people in your target audience with a little bit of animal addition. Go dig a bit and see what you can find, there’s a group for everything and animals are an easy way to engage your audience.

Speaking of which...

2. Animal Posts Receive More Engagement

Animal posts tend to receive more engagement.

And while an “aw…” over the office cat may not seem relevant to your business, it does increase your overall social media signals. A signal boost is never a bad thing and if you’re clever you may actually have people happy to see your ads.

Boosted visibility is never a bad thing, and the truth is that animals are always going to start bringing in an audience for you. Just make sure that it’s the right one for your product.

3. Tie-in to a Rescue for Social “Points”

It’s very easy to contact a rescue and see what you can do to help through your advertisements. Even if it’s just the occasional link, you’ll be helping animals in a big way.

On top of that, it will raise visibility both online and in the local area. The more people who know who you are(and that you’re saving animals!), the larger your potential customer base. It may not generate as many leads immediately, but the social credit that comes from helping out animals can get more eyes on you.

Just make sure to treat the subject properly. Doing this in a blatant, shady way can spark a social media storm.

4. They’re Uncontroversial

Animals aren’t really the host to any controversy. They’re a safe bet, and in these divided times it’s not a bad idea to tread a little carefully. Entire businesses have been ruined by a bad post.

On the other hand, no one is going to hate a long boi or a sassy tabby.

Indeed, the love of animals seems to be one of the few things that still bring people together. You can use that fact to get eyes on your project without risking controversy. You can just post them without worry.

5. A Broader Audience

While some groups of animal lovers are a specific demographic, the truth is that posts that contain animals are able to reach an exceptionally broad audience.

The truth is that they appeal to everyone, and that’s never a bad thing. As long as you’re slick about implementation you’re in good hands with posting animal-related content.

It’s never a bad idea to see who else might be interested in what you’re posting. And if you tie things in properly, you may be just who the person thinks of when they need your service.

Dogs and cats are the best for this sort of outreach, which brings us to...

6. Your Pets Can be Stars

Animals have a way of garnering fame on the internet, and your pets could be the recipient.

All it takes is a solid social media strategy combined with some shots of your little guy or gal. The potential is nearly endless, some animal stars are even businesses on their own!

Tying your pet to your brand can be a winning combination. It may not be applicable in every industry, but getting your animal out there is a surefire way to get people going on social media. The lasting power will depend on you or your social media manager.

7. They’re Shareable

If there’s one thing we’ve learned from social media, it’s the fact that people love to share content. Animals are among the most frequently shared, there’s just something about them that makes people want their friends to see.

Building shareable posts centered on animals is easier than most things.

Sharing isn’t just great for getting your name out there either. It’s an excellent social signal booster. Any kind of engagement is a good thing, and animals make sharing more likely than nearly anything else.

Social Media is Better with Animals

It doesn’t matter what route you choose to go: animals are a great win on social media. If you’re planning on running a campaign they definitely bear some consideration, so keep that in mind as you plan out your content. Fuzzy posts lead to better engagement, it’s a simple(and fun) boost for your social media channels.

Read next: Why Online Reviews Matter and How Businesses Can Improve Them (Infographics)

Google Chrome is currently the top internet browser in terms of usage, and also the favorite browser to several people. Chrome has become one of the best browsers in the world since Google keeps introducing useful new features and tools to make it more effective. Currently, the company is working on several new features, for instance, Google is developing a new feature that will allow you to search for tabs that you have already opened on the browser, and this is one of the most useful features that the company will soon release.

While you may use the Chrome browser with only a handful of tabs open at a given time, it looks like a lot of users actually keep hundreds of websites loaded at the same time. According to a new commit, as spotted by Techtsp, the browsing giant is set to soon roll out a new feature that will allow you to search for tabs that you have already opened on the Chrome browser. Called the Tab Search, the feature will be available behind a flag in Chrome. For example, you have too many tabs open in the Chrome browser at the same time, and it can sometimes be difficult to find and switch to the correct tab. The Tab Search feature will make it easier for you to work with several tabs opened in the Chrome browser.

The flag is called #Enable-Tab-Search, and (when available) you will have to enable it in order to use the new feature. If you want to enable this feature, you will first need to visit the chrome://flags page.

The feature displays a popup bubble that allows you to search over the tabs that you have currently opened on the Chrome browser. The source code also indicates that the feature will first be made available in Chrome OS. Then, the feature will be made available on Android, Linux, Mac, Windows, and iOS versions of the Chrome browser. However, it is yet not clear when the feature will be made available. Once the #Enable-Tab-Search flag is made available, users will be able to enable the feature in the Canary build of the Chrome browser.

Read next: Google Chrome is testing a new ‘search term chip’ in its tab switcher interface

Microsoft will reportedly pay an estimated amount of up to $30 billion to acquire the United States operations of TikTok from the Chinese company- ByteDance. On Wednesday, CNBC reported that Microsoft is planning to finish the company’s acquisition talks with ByteDance-owned TikTok within the upcoming three weeks. This deal could be worth between $10 billion and $30 billion.

ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, is holding discussions with several United States tech companies including Microsoft, as the company scrambles to find a company that could purchase the operations of TikTok in the United States. TikTok’s parent company needs to hammer out a deal to sell the company’s United States operations by September 15 of this year. If the company fails to meet the Sep 15 deadline, Donald Trump, the United States President, states that he will instate a nationwide ban on the TikTok application.

Last week, news broke that President Donald Trump was weighing an executive order to ‘divest’ the Unites States operations of TikTok. Microsoft has emerged as the frontrunner in ByteDance-owned TikTok discussions, and the company has confirmed over the weekend that Microsoft was looking to acquire the operations of TikTok in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. Microsoft is considered the leading candidate to acquire TikTok, and it is the only company that has publicly announced its interest to purchase TikTok. On Sunday, the company confirmed in a blog post that Microsoft has talked with ByteDance to purchase the company’s business in the United States, New Zealand, Australia, and Canada.

Only a few tech companies could afford to purchase TikTok since the app has been valued as a whole from $30 billion to $50 billion, reports claim. The United States is one of the largest markets of TikTok.

Also read: Study: People Are More Likely To Believe Fake News Related To the Coronavirus If They Get Their News from Social Media Platforms

According to the report published by CNBC, Microsoft has already agreed with the United States government to migrate over all of ByteDance-owned TikTok’s engineering and backend code within the next year. It is worth noting that the majority of TikTok’s engineering and backend code is based at the China headquarters of ByteDance.

Microsoft, the second-most valuable tech company across the world, also stated as part of the deal that it is considering to invite other US investors to purchase minority stakes in the portion of the TikTok business.

Photo: Solen Feyissa

Read next: Trump’s remarks on getting a ‘cut’ from the sale of TikTok has infuriated the Chinese media as they call it an open robbery

After facing a massive breach last month, Twitter announced on Wednesday that the company has discovered a new security bug that may expose the DMs of users who use the Twitter app on Android smartphones. The vulnerability which was patched in Oct of the year 2018 has also been fixed, and it affected versions 8 and 9 of the Android operating system, Twitter said. The micro-blogging app also explained that there were no evidences that the security bug was ever exploited by hackers.

Twitter stated in a blog post that the security vulnerability could allow a bad actor to access Android users private Twitter data through a malicious application that was installed on the device of the victim.

A company’s spokesman told media outlets that a security researcher reported this security vulnerability through HackerOne platform. It was reported a few weeks ago, and the company has been working to keep Twitter accounts secure since then. The spokesperson also added that now that the bug has been fixed, the company is letting people know about this Android security bug.

The company explained that it did not disclose the vulnerability to prevent hackers from learning about the bug and taking advantage of the situation before the company could fix the security vulnerability.

Twitter said that 96% of people who use the app on Android have updated the application and are protected from the vulnerability. On the other hand, Twitter also said that nearly 4% of users have not still updated the app and are vulnerable. The company said Twitter will notify those users to update the Twitter application as soon as possible.

Although the company could not find any evidence that the security vulnerability was ever exploited by hackers, Twitter said that the company cannot be entirely sure so the company fixed the vulnerability to ensure that third-party applications could not access the in-app data. Twitter has now added more safety precautions beyond standard protections. The security bug also did not affect the Twitter application for iOS or the web version of the app.

The news comes just weeks after the platform was hit by a massive crypto scam in July of this year. The massive Twitter hack spread a Bitcoin giveaway scam by hacking high-profile Twitter accounts of celebrities and politicians. The hacker gained access to internal tools and systems of Twitter. The United States Department of Justice has now charged three persons including one juvenile allegedly responsible for the Twitter breach.

Photo: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Read next: Twitter Tests Much Needed Feature to DM Requests

The “related hashtags” feature has just been disabled by Instagram after a recently found bug in the option has limited the hashtags to specific phrases on the platform. The related hashtags had stopped appearing on tens of thousands of pages with hashtags at first which further also resulted into a hindrance for users to take advantage of the information available which one obtains by clicking on any hashtag that they see on a video, picture or by doing their own search with keywords.

First revealed in a Tech Transparency Project (TTP) report, the part of the problem was bigger than one could think. While presenting the issue hidden in the report, BuzzFeed News made it public that the bug was directly affecting Joe Biden’s related hashtag, whereas the one trending on the name of Trump were still appearing well. Instagram’s disparity became even more obvious when there were derogatory hashtags like #creepyjoebiden, #joebidenpedophile, and #neverbiden - which may be an indication that Instagram was ready to support Trump aggressively in this election.

However, when Instagram was asked about the issue, the company’s spokesperson has said that it was a bug which was available on the platform in its current form since 2018. But to make the situation better and fix the issue of related hashtags, Instagram immediately disabled the feature and will do their investigation regarding how the bug got implemented to this point. The company has also made the claim that #democrats were also directly affected by the bug.

While Instagram didn’t give any clear answer on the source of the bug or why it remained active for only a few of the hashtags, there hasn’t also been any official confirmation on how long will the company take to fix the issue and bring back the “related hashtags” feature.

Read next: Instagram is Planning to Add a New Countdown Feature to Reels Clips

Jane M. Wong is an app researchers, she examines different hidden features and security vulnerabilities in plethora of applications from a young age to mark her discoveries. She still keeps on hunting several widely used applications to discover what's new.

Her announcement in the latest tweet of revealing an innovative feature of Twitter, which is still unknown, is the newest discovery. She has tweeted this finding of a new component of Twitter on her Twitter account that amazes people and various journalists as a whole.

Wong has mentioned in the recent tweet that this tool can help the Twitter Moderators to mark replies, messages, and tweets as misleading, harmful or spam probably based on some already set guidelines, or observations and experience. However, there are chances of mishandling of such features as the micro-blogging platform was in the hot water for its internal tools being misused by contractors to spy on and track celebrities.

Moderators can flag the tweets, mark it spam, and can even write a few extra notes about they think this marked tweet is misleading or dangerous.

Also read: Twitter Might Introduce Employer Badges and "Undo Send" Button As A Part of Paid Subscription

A recent report also highlights that Twitter employees and moderators have a system that can enable them to suppress and control tweets, messages, and user's posts to ensure security and safety. That system manifests similar qualities to the new unrevealed feature by Wong. Twitter has also recently worked over the testing system that has been made for politicians and high profiled personalities to monitor their accounts.

Additionally, Twitter has also updated its terms of service part that includes shadowbanning, which signifies the provision of full control and limiting the user's activity to counter the information. It proves that Wong's discovery is accurate. Yet, the considerate development, launching, and arrival are still hidden under the veil by Twitter.

Twitter is working on a moderation tool to monitor misinformations on Twitter

Moderators can flag tweets, vote on whether it is misleading, and add a note about it

(I made up my own note to show what it currently looks like) pic.twitter.com/YIa6zt58Fj
— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) August 5, 2020

While it may well again be a very controversial decision but Google has again decided to start the practice of making its human employees listen to the voice recordings of users in order to evaluate the audio transcribing ability of its line of products.

However, this time Google has things under control as they have shut down the particular service for all users and will only listen to the audios from users who have chosen to opt-in beforehand.

Google sent an email on Wednesday to all the users who have been using the company’s products that are based on voice commands including Google Maps and the extremely popular Assistant now. The email told the users that all of them have been automatically opted out from the option of letting Google listen to their personal audios and therefore if anyone wants to participate in audio sharing, Google further gave a link where people could register.

According to a spokesperson from Google, the search engine has updated its settings and are now in the process of improving its products like Google Assistant. So, to add up more features and make the interaction more human-like, the developers are required more audio recordings for which the company has chosen to ask for preference.

Till last year, Google was relying on the bad option of third-party human listeners who kept on listening to audio recordings on behalf of Google to evaluate the AI transcribed audio. But after the widespread backlash, the company was forced to stop the practice in last September. Hence, this time Google though to add every little detail for the users who are opting in to contribute so that they don’t have to face any problem in the near future.

Google is not alone that has been continuing with this kind of privacy breach for quite a long time now. Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon faced the similar criticism on the issue last year.

In the email, Google has openly stated that people who are ready to opt-in will have their audio recordings connected to the account for 18 months. After that, the recordings will vanish and be submitted for human review.

H/T: TheVerge.

Read next: Google’s new Chrome extension gives some insights about ads to the users

Instagram has announced that it is bringing four new fonts for the Instagram Stories, including stencil and serif options. But what is causing quite a stir amongst the Instagram users is that one of those fonts suspiciously resembles the infamous Comic-Sans font from the early 90s for Microsoft.

It is not exactly Comic-Sans, but the uncanny resemblance to the most humble, friendly, and sadly the most hated fonts in the world is not making people of this generation very comfortable with it.

Ｕ𝓟ｄ𝓪𝓉𝔢:

ℕεฬ ғ𝐎ｎ𝐭𝔰 ｉｎ ⓢŤό𝓡เєｓ

ţ𝓇ㄚ 𝓣ℍ𝔢м ｎ𝕆w https://t.co/XqrnTRiJRV
— Instagram (@instagram) August 3, 2020

Comic-Sans was designed by typographer Vincent Connare in 1994 and it was intended to be used for speech bubbles in animated cartoons. Connare was of the opinion that animated cartoons needed a comic book style, friendly, and playful font with a handwritten look, and it was supposed to be used for children.

However, this font became excessively famous amongst the users in that era, so much that they started applying it in official documents, assignments, advertisement billboards. Thus, there came a time when Comic-Sans was everywhere, and that turned off many people. A movement began in 2002 intended to impose a ban on Comic-Sans, and later on, more and more people came forward, and sadly, the once most famous font turned into the world’s most hated font in no time.

Now, it is hardly used and for Instagram to bring up something like that has caused some kind of an uproar amongst many people! While many users are extremely against it, some people have also pointed out that regardless of the public sentiment, Comic Sans is considered as a very easily readable font for dyslexic patients and people with other reading disabilities. So, if Instagram is bringing this Comic-Sans-like font for the same reason, their thoughtfulness is actually commendable and not a matter to mock Instagram for.

Secondly, if someone does not like that font, they can always choose some other font. Instagram is not imposing anything on anybody, so this ‘whining and complaining’ attitude of several users is beyond comprehension.

Users can check out all these new fonts easily by writing something in a Story and then use the interface element appearing above the keyboard to switch between the fonts.

Since people are overly sensitive to this font, so, it is advised to use it with a little caution. Unless you own an Instagram account that posts comic images or memes, or if it is not meant for children, then you should probably avoid using it.

On the other hand, it is YOUR Story, and YOU have all the right to use whichever fonts you wish. So, go ahead and write Stories with whatever pleases your heart and yourself!

Here's how some users are reacting on social media platforms regarding the update:

When I find out that Comic Sans is now an available font on Instagram stories. pic.twitter.com/roY71rdYra
— Alex Heathcock (@DiagonAle_) August 4, 2020

INSTAGRAM ADDED COMIC SANS??? pic.twitter.com/Sh2uhEPIJC
— ᴠɪx ⧖ (@vixisvaporub) August 4, 2020

Instagram adding comic sans as a story font is very 2020. Have we not already suffered enough?
— Lesley-Anne Kelly (@L_A_Kelly) August 5, 2020

Polite reminder that comic sans is an accessible font and Instagram introducing it is actually a v good thing 🤗🤗🤗
— Tasmin 💫 Freelance Digital Marketer (@GrandioseDays) August 4, 2020

Instagram proving they can be just as toxic as Facebook by adding Comic Sans to their font options.
— Jamie B. Golden (@jamiebgolden) August 4, 2020

Why have Instagram added a comic sans-like font to be used on Instagram Stories? Is it ironic?? Why would they do that???
— Abbie Dobson (@AbbieSarahhh) August 6, 2020

People using Comic Sans on Instagram. pic.twitter.com/6Dt9ljOUCE
— Catrin Newman (@catrinnewman) August 4, 2020

I’m SO pleased Instagram stories introduced this comic-sans-y font to our stories. pic.twitter.com/TNpATO5Pk8
— HeatHer Buchanan (@heatherfuture) August 5, 2020

Read next: New Data Reveals Users Spend More Time on TikTok Than on Instagram

On Wednesday, TikTok announced a series of new steps to better detect and delete misleading information from its platform as the United States tech companies weigh a possible takeover offer for the popular video-sharing application. The short-video sharing app is also working with experts from the United States Homeland Security Department to protect against foreign influence. It is interesting to note that some experts identify ByteDance-owned TikTok as a distribution platform for pro-China propaganda since the parent company, ByteDance, is based in China. Obviously, the company is very keen to pushback against it.

According to TikTok, the company has already placed measures to combat misleading information that could cause harm to its community. With these new rules, the company aims to better clarify what type of content is allowed on TikTok’s platform and what is not allowed, broaden the fact-checking partnerships of the applications ahead of the United States presidential election, and ban deepfakes.

Furthermore, the company has also introduced an in-app reporting option for election disinformation. This feature will allow people to quickly report content or TikTok accounts for review. The company claims to have worked with several experts including the CFITF (Countering Foreign Influence Task Force, run by the DHS, to help tackle the foreign influence threat on the upcoming US presidential elections.

The company also notes that TikTok doesn’t accept political advertisements, as the company stated that the nature of these ads do not fit with the experience people expect on the TikTok application.

The company also revealed that TikTok is expanding its partnerships with organizations such as Lead Stories and PolitiFact to better fact-check misleading information about the 2020 United States Presidential election. Previously, these organizations were focused to fact-check other types of content such as those related to misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic or climate change.

But the ability of these fact-check organizations to actually find and fact-check misinformation can be challenging since users frame much of this type of content as ‘just my opinion.’ This issue is not unique to TikTok since social platforms in general struggle with the line between misleading information and free speech.

Also read: Following The Twitter Security Breach, Hackers Are Now Hijacking High-Profile YouTube Channels to Promote Bitcoin Giveaway Scams

TikTok’s recent announcements are in line with what most other social media platforms are implementing and make sense, however, it is slightly different in the case of TikTok because of the position it is in concerning the company’s connections with China.

Since TikTok is a Chinese owned business, it is bound by the cybersecurity laws of China to share the platform’s data with CCP on request. Although the company has repeatedly said that it does not share data with CCP, TikTok cannot state that it will not have to provide data in the future, because it will share data if requested. This is the reason why the United States government is pushing for TikTok to be separated from its Chinese roots.

As Google finished conquering the Western Hemisphere, the tech giant set its sights on the East with India in particular being a major territory that Google is currently trying to create special services and products for. One of these services was the Files app, an app that is designed specifically for the kind of usage that people in countries like India can usually end up finding themselves looking into. This app has now been updated with the beta version now having the option to offer you a “Safe Folder”, one that can only be accessed through a pin or password.

A big part of the reason why that is the case has to do with the fact that Google has noted that Indian users tend to use their phones very differently from American users. In Asia, it is not uncommon for a mother or a father to give their child their phone to play with instead of buying them their own phone. Children using their parents devices to study and the like is also a lot more common than you might think, and with all of that having been said and out of the way it is important to note that this update can be useful in situations such as these.

Parents can keep files in the secure folder and make sure kids can’t access them. This can also really boost privacy. Screenshots can’t be taken of anything inside the folder, and once you have navigated away from it you will find it secured. This is not just useful for parents but for all kinds of people as well. It can give you a sense of confidence that your personal information can’t be compromised by someone that might be attempting to access your phone in some way, shape or form, and a lot of users would be glad to have a feature like this.

According to WABetaInfo, WhatsApp is testing a new and very exciting feature for Android users. This is going to be called ‘expiring messages,’ and it basically will have the functionality of self-deleting messages.

As we all know, end-to-end encryption (E2EE) is the foundation of safe and secure messaging, and any messenger service or app that does not have E2EE is not reliable and should not be used.

WhatsApp is one of the leading messaging platforms and it is used in the entire world. To keep up with other highly competitive and challenging messaging apps like Signal and Telegram, WhatsApp keeps on testing and introducing new features. Some of them are focused on security, like encrypted multiple device access, encrypted cloud backups, Secure video calls, etc., while some features are based on less important communication factors like stickers, QR codes, web-based search for forwarded messages, etc.

This recent update about the ‘expiring messages’ feature is more focused on the extended security of chat messages. Another benefit that it can provide is that self-deleting messages will not clutter the chat history. And it does not stop the users from storing screenshots or other media attachments.

This feature is already available on Signal and Telegram, and the user there can set the messages in chats and conversations to automatically disappear within few seconds to 1 week, depending on whatever option the user chooses.

This same flexibility in the duration in which messages will self-delete is most likely not going to be provided in WhatsApp. According to WABetaInfo, ‘expiring messages’ will delete after a fixed period of one week. Also, this feature will be available for all chats, and any member of the chat can apply these settings in their WhatsApp, however, for groups, only admins will be able to use this feature.

It is not known yet that when this feature will officially roll out. But it surely has made people very excited and now they are highly anticipating it to be launched soon.

Also read: Report: Smartphone Gaming Generated $19.3 Billion in Revenue during the Second Quarter Of 2020

Users are not only excited for this feature, they are looking forward to other features that are currently in the beta testing phase. When WABetaInfo reported about the ‘multiple linked devices’ feature, a wave of happiness washed over millions of loyal WhatsApp users.

Then there is going to be a ‘mute for lifetime’ option for chats and messages, and that is going to make life easy for a lot of people!

Recently, Whatsapp introduced a new feature that lets users search the web to verify claims in forwarded messages. This is going to put a stop on misinformation causing messages that go viral and remain un-checked!

So, all these features sound to be pretty interesting and something to look forward to.

A couple of years ago, Google tested out games in its search results. These games weren’t exactly high end, they were more like trivia games that you could answer and they often had something or the other to do with the results for the search query that you had entered. It turns out that this was a test drive for a much wider rollout, and as spotted by Brian Freiesleben, Google has added a lot more games into the mix now many of which are going to be quite useful for people that are trying to learn a thing or two.

These games involve trivia questions to which you can choose one of a few multiple choice answers. A score is also calculated, and the great thing here is that Google will remember your score once all has been said and is now out of the way. This means that you can keep trying to beat your score, and this would have a number of other positive effects as well. For one thing, people are going to start learning a lot more than might have been the case otherwise, and this can lead to education becoming a lot easier for a number of people that are out there.

The main reason why Google has introduced these games is so that it can boost engagement. It wants you to stay on the search results page, and a big part of the reason why that is the case has to do with the fact that this would mean that you might end up seeing a lot more ads. The longer you spend on the results page looking at ads, the more likely you will be to click on them. Google tries a lot of things to keep users engaged and this is just one of them, and it has a lot of added advantages as well.

Microsoft has been improving its Your Phone application, gradually adding more capabilities so users can chat, answer calls, and browse images on their smartphone from the comfort of their PC. Microsoft is increasing the seamless connection between smartphones and PCs and has added the ability to run Android applications on Windows 10 PCs through Microsoft’s Your Phone application.

Users can now access a list of Android applications in the Your Phone app and launch those smartphone applications accordingly. These mobile applications will run in a separate window outside Microsoft’s Your Phone application mirrored from the smartphone of a user.

The new Android application support also enables Windows 10 PC users to multitask with other Windows 10 applications with the alt+tab support. Furthermore, users can even pin these Android applications to the taskbar or Start menu of the Windows 10 PC.

The ability to open applications directly from the Your Phone application indicates that users will no longer need to search around on a mirrored experience of their smartphone. They can simply pin their favorite applications to the taskbar or Start menu of Windows 10 and run those pinned Android applications as if these apps are regular Windows applications.

The new feature is something that a lot of Android smartphone users would excitedly embrace. It comes about due to the company’s partnership with the South Korean smartphone manufacturing company- Samsung. This new capability will be useful for a lot of users since they will be able to run smartphone applications within Windows 10 without having to install an emulator or complicated software.

Microsoft explained in a post on the Windows blog that the Your Phone application and Link to Windows integration on select Samsung smartphones allow users to stay in flow by letting them answer calls, text, check notifications, and browse images, all from a Windows 10 computer. Currently, users can access and run smartphone applications on their Windows 10 computer via Microsoft’s Your Phone application on Samsung Galaxy Note 20.

It is not surprising to see that this integration debut on Samsung Galaxy Note 20 as the integration is the result of the partnership between Microsoft and Samsung. However, it is impossible to tell at this stage whether this capability will remain exclusive to select Samsung smartphones or not. Microsoft also revealed that the company is working with Samsung to bring this PC/smartphone integration to other devices as well.

Read next: Microsoft Could Reportedly Purchase TikTok from $10 Billion to $30 Billion within few Weeks, Ahead Of the September 15, 2020 Deadline

Snapchat is offering its users a treat by adding a new feature on its application. This new feature is known as Cameo video editing, regarded as an alternative to the Bitmoji. It enables people to convert their photos and videos into an animated video or Gif, by using deepfake to outline human images and recordings to make a Snapchat Cameos following the likings of the user.

In an interview, the Snapchat spokesperson has claimed that since the past few months, Snapchat has gained significant growth soon after revealing this new feature.

It has reported that Snapchat company is developing this new favorite filter to attract its users back that have lost their interest as TikTok and other video recording applications have upgraded their apps to the whole next level. However, this new feature is yet only available to map human faces to make human animations of different moods and doesn’t support animals or any other creatures.

Moreover, this feature is simple to use and a perfect solution for online entertainment with friends and family. It lets its users animate themselves with Cameo filter and leads to enjoying a particular face on different animated videos, expressions, or emojis.

It proffers you to feed in your face directly into your favorite or required animation in seconds, and it is ready to send. You can express your moods, expose your motions like crazily dancing, sleeping, flinching, to name some. You barely have to open a cameo filter on your Snapchat, select a relatable sticker or video, and it will apply your face in it. This filter has made Snapchat engaging to use.

Notedly, after the addition of the Cameo feature, Snapchat has now decided to extend it. Along with sending animated GIFs only in an inbox, it has allowed the users to send the Cameo animated snaps directly either as a cameo sticker or GIF. Additionally, Snapchat adds new stickers and GIFs every week in their already made stock, which is recognizable.

Cameo filter is both for a person himself, or you can animate yourself with your friend; it is totally up to you! Although this filter is being regarded as an alternative to the Bitmoji feature, it is slightly different but exercising the same purpose.

So, if you are bored from using the same bitmoji emojis and want to experience anything new, then you can now use these innovative Cameo filters. These animations are also shareable in other social media applications.

Snapchat has proven itself as a loving friend to its users.

Google introduces a new file sharing feature for Android users and it is much similar to the AirDrop by Apple

Report: Smartphone Gaming Generated $19.3 Billion in Revenue during the Second Quarter Of 2020

Facebook Moderators Call for Ad Boycott against the Company to Be Extended, a Moderator Said That the Campaign Would Be a PR Stunt That Will Pass

Study: People Are More Likely To Believe Fake News Related To the Coronavirus If They Get Their News from Social Media Platforms

Facebook rolls out a New Version of Messenger’s Chat Plugin That Allows Businesses to Communicate With Non-Facebook Consumers

Snapchats New Insights With Regional Statistics Can Help Mold Your Next Marketing Campaign

7 Reasons to Include Animals in Your Social Media Posts

1. Animal People Are Everywhere

2. Animal Posts Receive More Engagement

3. Tie-in to a Rescue for Social “Points”

4. They’re Uncontroversial

5. A Broader Audience

6. Your Pets Can be Stars

7. They’re Shareable

Social Media is Better with Animals

Google Will Soon Roll Out A Flag To Let Users Search for Tabs That They’ve Opened in Chrome

Microsoft Could Reportedly Purchase TikTok from $10 Billion to $30 Billion within few Weeks, Ahead Of the September 15, 2020 Deadline

Twitter Disclosed an Android Security Bug That May Allow Hackers to Access Users Direct Messages

Instagram Has Disabled Related Hashtags Feature Due To A Bug That Favored Trump's Camping On The Platform

Wong’s fascinating discovery of Twitter's unrevealed feature

Google Is Again Making Human Employees Listen To Users' Voice Recordings - But With Their Consent

Instagram is bringing four new fonts to the Stories and one of them is irritating a lot of social media users

TikTok Announces New Policies to Combat Misleading Information on Its Platform, Ban Deepfakes, and Flag Election Disinformation

Google’s Files App Rolls Out Password Protected Safe Folder

WhatsApp tests the most anticipated feature ‘expiring messages’ for privacy savvy users, and to avoid history build-up in chats and groups

Google Adds More Quiz Games to Search Results

Microsoft Now Allows Users To Run Android Applications On Windows 10 PCs

Cameo Filter, A Snapchat feature to make your life fun and more enjoyable