Facebook

Facebook has constantly added new features to Messenger since it became a standalone chat app, and Live Location is the latest to join the list. Live Location lets Messenger users temporarily share an up-to-date location with friends and family.

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Facebook today introduced two new features for Messenger called Message Reactions and Mentions.

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Facebook has officially announced its new Messenger Day feature for iOS and Android after previously testing the Snapchat Stories clone with a limited number of users. Messenger Day is rolling out globally to Facebook’s Messenger app beginning today.

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With the release of iOS 10 last fall, Apple introduced a host of changes to the Messages app, including a new reactions feature. This feature allows users to long-press on an iMessage and add a reaction like a thumbs-up or thumbs-down to it.

Now, Facebook is apparently testing a similar feature in its Messenger app.

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Facebook is testing a City Guides feature in its iOS app. When you’re visiting a city, the feature points you to popular attractions, upcoming events and places locals visit – but with the friend focus you’d expect from Facebook. The app highlights places friends have visited, and events friends are attending …

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After announcing its plans for the app earlier this month, Facebook this evening officially released its video-centric app on the fourth-gen Apple TV. Facebook touts the new application as a prime source for the latest and greatest video content and the launch on tvOS comes a day after the app made its debut on select Samsung smart TVs.

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Just last week, Facebook confirmed that it is in the process of developing an Apple TV app that will carry a focus on video. Now, Reuters reports that Facebook is also in negotiations with Major League Baseball regarding potential streaming rights, something that could make its way to the upcoming Apple TV app.

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WhatsApp is introducing a new feature in its app called Status that uses a similar format to Snapchat Stories, TechCrunch reports. Like messaging through WhatsApp, however, Status will bring encryption to the popular format.

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Facebook will soon be available on the Apple TV for the first time, the social network confirmed today. As rumored, the upcoming Apple TV app will focus on video playback with personalization features and launch soon.

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The WSJ reports that Facebook is developing an app for the Apple TV and other set-top boxes, citing sources familiar with the matter. It appears the plan is for the videos to be ad-funded, as with existing Facebook content …

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Update: Updated with a response from WhatsApp, below.

A security researcher has found a backdoor in the end-to-end encryption system used by the WhatsApp messaging service. The vulnerability would allow Facebook to read messages sent through the supposedly-secure system, as well as making it possible for the company to comply with court orders to make messages available to government bodies.

While end-to-end encryption would normally mean that not even the company operating the service can decrypt messages, only the intended recipient, the specific implementation used in WhatsApp includes a major security hole …

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Almost a year after adding Live Video to its app, Facebook has announced that it is introducing a Live Audio feature that allows live broadcasts of audio-only content. Or, as CNET wryly described it, radio.

Initially, the company will be testing the feature with a small number of established broadcasters – including the BBC World Service and LBC – though publishers and authors will also be getting in on the action … 

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Facebook appeared to do something of a U-turn back in August, when it started collecting data from WhatsApp despite an earlier statement that its acquisition of the messaging app would not impact user privacy. It has now agreed to cease doing so in the UK after the government privacy watchdog warned it that it may be breaking the law, reports the FT.

Facebook has agreed to pause its collection of WhatsApp user data in the UK as a result of a probe by the Information Commissioner’s Office.

“We’ve set out the law clearly to Facebook, and we’re pleased that they’ve agreed to pause using data from UK WhatsApp users for advertisements or product improvement purposes,” Elizabeth Denham, the information commissioner said.

The UK is not the only country where the legality of Facebook’s actions is being questioned …

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If you’ve ever asked your Facebook friends to recommend a restaurant, a new feature rolling out should make it much easier to check out the responses.

Facebook is using a combination of AI and simple keyword recognition to identify posts asking for recommendations, and will then prompt you to turn on the Recommendations feature. When you do, it will automatically add the restaurants’ Facebook pages to the thread, as well as populating a map with their locations.

Engadget reports that the new feature is intended for use not just with restaurants, but with a range of businesses …

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Facebook today officially announced the release of their Workplace business product. Originally titled Facebook at Work, the new product is set to compete head-on with other similar services like Slack and Hipchat. Riding off the familiarity that users already have with the social network, and its competitively low price-points, Workplace looks like it can be a contender in the business communications demographic…

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While some have questioned the need for strong encryption to protect simple chats between friends, the continuing revelations of mass surveillance by governments does make the issue a matter of principle for some. Just yesterday it was revealed that Yahoo likely allowed the government to scan all of its users’ emails. And, as I’ve argued before, we all have perfectly innocent things to hide.

Facebook began testing Secret Conversations – Facebook Messenger chats protected by end-to-end encryption – back in July, promising a wider rollout later in the year. The company has now told Wired that the rollout is complete, and that the feature is now available to all Facebook users …

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Facebook has long been a convenient place to sell unwanted items, but the audience for your sales has so far been limited to your friends and followers. With the addition of a Marketplace feature on mobile, Facebook allows you to expand your audience to everyone in your local community.

Facebook is where people connect, and in recent years more people have been using Facebook to connect in another way: buying and selling with each other. This activity started in Facebook Groups and has grown substantially. More than 450 million people visit buy and sell groups each month — from families in a local neighborhood to collectors around the world.

To help people make more of these connections, today we’re introducing Marketplace, a convenient destination to discover, buy and sell items with people in your community.

Interestingly, Facebook isn’t getting involved in the transactions themselves …

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iOS 10 lets third-party developers use the standard call look and feel from the Phone app in their own apps with something known as CallKit, and Facebook’s latest update to Messenger is already taking advantage of it. Messenger for iOS has let you make calls over the Internet to your friends for a while, and now incoming calls to Messenger will behave just like standard phone calls. This improved behavior even extends to CarPlay.

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