Ever since the controversy arose surrounding Google training its voice recognition technology using human contractors, barely a week goes by without another company admitting to the same. While the practice doesn't come as a surprise to many familiar with the underlying technology, no company thought of clearly stating what they were doing, which is not a good idea considering rising privacy awareness among customers and regulators. Bloomberg found out that the same is true for Facebook Messenger, affecting users who turned on voice-to-text for audio messages.
Read MoreWhatsApp's fingerprint unlock feature arrives on Android in latest beta [APK Download]
Despite its enormous user base, WhatsApp can often be slow to introduce the most hotly-anticipated new features. A Dark mode is still in the works, but fingerprint unlocking already came to iOS a few months ago. It's now finally available in the latest beta channel update to the Android app.
Read MoreFacebook is working on a dark mode for its Android app
In a world where apps are constantly getting whiter and brighter, it's no surprise to see more and more people clamoring for dark modes. Facebook added one earlier this year to its Messenger app, and it's now working on a less blinding version of its primary Facebook app as well.
Read MoreFacebook is one of the first ad networks to sue against click fraud
Fraudulent advertising is a big issue all around the web. Particularly click injection fraud is on the rise: Malicious developers create apps or programs that automatically click on invisible ads in their own products. Ad providers think users interacted with the provided content, and thus, they pay out money to said developers. While Google has been cracking down on these practices in the Play Store, Facebook is one of the first companies to file a lawsuit against two developers engaging in click injection fraud.
Read More[Update: App description, not name] Facebook wants the world to know it owns Instagram and WhatsApp
Even though Facebook acquired both Instagram and WhatsApp several years ago, the two services have operated fairly independently for a while. There has been some limited integration between the three in the form of friends and Story sharing across services, without being taken any further. Back in January, though, the company announced it's working on a unified backend for its messaging apps, and even considering cross-platform chat. But before doing so, Facebook needs everybody to know Instagram and WhatsApp are part of the company, as it wants to append its name to both services.
Read MoreGoogle Assistant can now read and reply to messages from WhatsApp, Google Voice, others
Google Assistant has always been able to read SMS texts sent to you over the native Messages app or Hangouts. But billions of users around the world rely on other messaging services for their daily communication, and those apps, as far as we know, were off-limits for Assistant's reading ability (some let you send but not read). That's no longer the case now.
Read MoreFacebook is reportedly working on a media streaming box with video chat for TVs
Facebook released its Portal smart displays back in October 2018 and is now reportedly working on expanding its ecosystem to TVs. Indeed, according to rumors, the social media network has approached steaming companies to discuss a potential partnership to bring their services to a new device made for TVs.
Read More
The Best Of AP
Facebook’s Portal and Portal+ are down to $80 and $230 (both $120 off)
Smart Displays are a convenient way to place video calls while you're busy doing other things. Unfortunately, they often require people to have a compatible device or use specific software, making it less convenient to reach loved ones. Most people have a Messenger account, though, and Facebook is using this as a selling point for its Portal smart displays against Amazon's Echo Show. If you were thinking of getting an intelligent screen in your household, now is the right time to do so, as both the Portal and the larger Portal+ are currently $120 off at Best Buy.
Read MoreFacebook Messenger Lite passes 500 million installs on the Play Store
Facebook's Messenger has grown from being a simple texting solution to an independent messaging and video chatting software. Because of its numerous features, the company separated Messenger into a dedicated app, which ended up being quite heavy. However, Facebook released Messenger Lite in 2016 to offer a less resource-hungry alternative for more limited devices. The lighter app has become so successful that it just passed 500 million downloads on the Play Store.
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