latest
Look out Twitter, Threads is adding a Following tab
The new chronological feed mirrors Twitter's, making it more tempting to switch
Threads is the new competition for Twitter, but it's missing a lot of the features that come standard on the older platform, like the ability to search by hashtag or subject. However, as time has gone by, the app has added more features and is starting to feel like a real contender. One such addition is a newly announced Following tab, which is a staple that Twitter keeps trying to bury.
Google Chat remembers it exists on the internet, decides to support hyperlinks
Google Chat users can now hyperlink words with links
Google Chat is a great communication tool, but it has had a major flaw in regard to sharing links. Without being able to hyperlink a word, users have had to type out the entire URL or copy-paste it. It can really clutter a chat, making an unprofessional atmosphere, especially if it's a longer URL. Finally, Google has implemented a new feature that many chat systems — from Discord to Slack — have by default, the ability to hyperlink words in your messages.
A couple of weeks ago, Twitter started testing Google account sign-ins through a beta version of the Android app, giving hope to many of the holdouts waiting for Google account integration. Today, the long-awaited feature has finally gone live inside of the Android app as well as across the web. This means you can now log on or create a fresh Twitter account with your Google details, directly in your browser or the official app, and even Apple users have something to celebrate today since Apple ID sign-in support is coming to the web soon.
Here's a nice (if not overdue) quality-of-life update if you're head-first into Google Sheets: you'll be able to commit actions on multiple tabs of a spreadsheet.
Read update
You've almost certainly said something you regretted in a chat, whether it was because you were tired, angry, or just looking at the wrong conversation — but Facebook Messenger could soon get a feature that'll let you take those misguided statements back. Evidence has been found that an "unsend" option is in the works.
Two years ago Google introduced extensions for Google Docs and Sheets. These third-party add-ons expanded on what the browser-based word processor and spreadsheet could do, often integrating them with online services. Now that functionality has made its way to Android.
Uber is currently working on a way for family and friends to share a single payment method. The feature is called Family Profiles.
A recent Google Maps update introduced a feature that makes upcoming turns and exits easier to follow. Rather than leaving you trying to reconcile the street names at the top of the screen with the direction of the blue path below, Maps has started to insert bubbles onto the map that mark the location for you while also showing you which road you're on.
Instagram is a social network built around sharing photos. In 2015, the service introduced the ability to share video clips. Now it's about to implement another way of determining how popular those videos are becoming.
Do you like to frequent places when they're at their busiest or do you prefer to slip in when no one else is around? No matter. Google Search will now help you do both. When you search for certain establishments, Google will show you which times of the day are the most popular.
Beep. Hmm, someone's messaging me on Facebook.
Twitter can be intimidating to new users. The same can be said for experienced users. A timeline is only as good as the content you follow, and even then, you may miss the good bits over the course of a day unless you commit to scrolling through every single tweet.
Google has taken the lid off of Android 5.1, a minor update packed mostly with bug fixes, but that does little to remove the excitement that comes from seeing the 0 at the end of 5.0 turn into a 1. But some tweaks are included that edge over towards the new feature side of things. One such change is the ability to adjust alarm volume levels from inside the stock clock app.
The Smart Lock feature that has been slowly cooking in the Chrome OS dev and beta channels has made its way into the latest stable release, version 40. Now anyone with a phone running Android 5.0 or later (sorry, no tablets) can automatically unlock their Chromebook just by keeping the two devices within 100 feet of each other.
With its latest feature, Feedly is going after Google. The company has introduced Power Search, an improvement to its searching mechanism that's reserved for pro accounts. It lets you search for content around the web that isn't saved in your feed without having to fire up a separate tab.
They grow up so quickly. Just this summer, Pushbullet learned how to let its users respond to SMS messages via EvolveSMS. Then a few months later, it extended this functionality to all texting apps. Now the service is ready to give its users more than the ability to reply to text messages, but the power to start conversations from their computers as well.
Say what you will about Facebook (seriously, go ahead, that's what our comments section is for), there comes a time when the social network fills a role better than anyone else. When bad things happen, a quick status update can inform friends and family of your safety much more quickly than calling everyone individually. The last couple of times a school shooting or freak accident took place near a college campus, I know I turned to Facebook to make sure the students I knew there were okay.
Wunderlist now has another nice feature under its belt. The company behind the popular to-do list manager has announced the addition of Dropbox integration. Users can utilize this to attach files of any size or type to their Wunderlists.
Aviary is one of the more popular mobile image editors out there, and now it's added a feature that, if you haven't used the app before, will probably blow your mind to hear is only just now getting added. Ahem, without further ado, the latest version of Aviary allow users to undo.
Google is continuing to shine a brighter light on Hangouts users who are currently online. A few months ago the company brought back the green dot that used to mark online contacts in the days of Google Talk (which was replaced with a subtle green line in Hangouts). Going forward, the messenger in the web version of Gmail will contain a new tab that puts online contacts at the top. It's still possible to message friends who are offline, they're just tucked at the bottom where they're out of the way.