Maps has gradually evolved from being a simple navigation app to a Yelp competitor. Thanks to the ability for users to share photos and ratings, Google's service has turned into a social platform. These are used to identify popular places and surface them to people through the Explore feature. The company has recently put a stronger emphasis on the latter by making it easier to use and more visible. It's now testing a new functionality, allowing users to follow Local Guides for even more personalized recommendations.
Read MoreYouTube announces new tools to customize your video recommendations
With billions of videos available about every topic you can think of and then some, YouTube is, statistically, filled almost entirely with content you don't want to watch. The platform has always tried to narrow what it suggests to each user down to videos they're likely to click — and today, the platform announces several new ways of doing just that.
Read MoreYouTube is trying to recommend fewer scummy, deceptive videos
YouTube is by far the world's largest video sharing site—people upload hundreds of hours of video to the service every minute. Sifting through all those videos to provide recommendations had proven to be a minefield for the company. It's dealt with clickbait, repeat recommendations, and more. Now, YouTube says it's working on improving recommendations to get rid of content that doesn't technically violate YouTube policies but is still offensive or irresponsible.
Read More[Update: New look hits Desktop, plus metadata news] Lens is coming to Google Images, 'featured videos' in search cards, and more
Google continues the day's deluge of announcements. Next up with a pile of new features is Google Images, with changes including Lens integration, image ranking tweaks, and expanded captions for context. A new "featured videos" card for automatically played results will also appear for some queries.
Read MorePopular
Google Maps to get more personal with new 'For you' tab, place recommendations
Google wants to make Maps a more personal experience. The platform is getting some new features focused on highlighting places and activities Google's algorithms think you'll like, including a new "For you" tab that's an automatically-populated list of spots you might want to check out.
Read MorePlay Movies & TV v4.2 switches to bottom nav bar, adds Certified Fresh ratings, and hints at all-new Guide screen [APK Teardown]
The latest version of Google Play Movies & TV is making the rounds, and this one has quite a bit to discuss. There are several surface-level changes, including a new bottom nav bar, improved support for Rotten Tomatoes, and even some rearrangements to the screens in the app. Digging a bit deeper, we can also see there's a new Guide screen in development, some degree of support for external content providers, and even a rating system for content.
Read MoreVSCO's new Discover feature is powered by really cool AI with a really pretentious name
VSCO might not be as popular (or ego-driven) as Instagram, but it's made a comfortable name for itself among photography circles. Rather than dig through piles of low-effort content rated by likes or votes, VSCO strips things down to the just the basics: photos, messages, and you. Now the app is making it a bit easier to find the types of photos you might like, too, with a novel Discover feature that is advertised as being able to match emotional and aesthetic content, all powered by VSCO's pretentiously named "Ava" AI.
Read MorePinterest adds new features for recipe discovery, filters, and recommendations
Pinterest has just added a bunch of new food-specific features to its service and Android app. If you're searching for something to cook up tonight, the Pinterest Android app can give you a ton of new ways to find something. There is a new filter page when searching for recipes, so if you're craving a particular ingredient, or have certain dietary restrictions, you can ensure that the results only show what you need. The Lens tool can also find recipes for dishes you point it at, or ingredients you have on hand. For example, if you have a bag of fruit that's getting ready to turn, Pinterest can take a quick look and see what you can do with it.
Read MoreSoundCloud introduces a new way to discover music with The Upload
Some of us actively look forward to Monday for one reason: Spotify's Discover Weekly playlist. Every week on that day I get a new playlist tuned to my preferences based on what I've been listening to (you can check out this week's glory here). The rush of Monday news is that much easier with adequate tunes. Now SoundCloud is getting in on the action with their own personalized playlists.
Read More[Update: APK Added] Google Play Music is getting a smarter recommendation engine, new home screen, and automatic music caching for offline play [APK Download]
Google is doing a big upgrade to Play Music this week, enabling a smarter and more contextually aware recommendation engine, an easier to use interface, and a more streamlined caching system for offline playback. You'll notice some big changes to the look of the Play Music home screen on both the web and mobile devices, and hopefully some better music suggestions.
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