social

57 'social' stories January 2012 - March 2016

Snapchat update adds new voice and video features, stickers, and more for messaging

Zac Hall Mar 29 2016 - 9:36 am PT

Snapchat is changing how you communicate with friends in a major way through what it’s calling Chat 2.0. The social network says it focused two years ago on making chatting more like face-to-face conversation with features like letting you know when your friends were present and “listening” to what you were typing, and the latest Snapchat update refocuses on the 1-to-1 chat aspect of the app with new features around voice and video calling plus stickers and more. How you watch Stories is also getting a change in the new update.

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Vine for iPhone gains 3D Touch shortcuts, new video sort order options

Zac Hall Feb 9 2016 - 9:49 am PT

1 Comment

Twitter-owned Vine for iOS, which lets you create and share short video loops, received a new update today that adds new shortcuts from the Home screen on the latest iPhones. Users can press the updated Vine icon firmly on the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus to jump directly into making a short Vine clip or viewing the explore section of the app.

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Share your personal Snapchat URL with new feature from latest update

Greg Barbosa Jan 28 2016 - 8:34 am PT

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There’s a new little feature tucked away in the latest Snapchat update that allows users to share their own Snapchat URL with others. The new URL is much more user-friendly as it is something you could easily copy and paste directly into messages and profile bios all around the web. Previously, Snapchat heavily relied on username search and QR code-based cards for this purpose.

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Adobe Post debuts on iPhone, lets anyone create memorable graphics on-the-go

Zac Hall Dec 17 2015 - 6:29 am PT

2 Comments

Adobe is out today with its latest iOS-first app for mobile creatives. Adobe Post joins the free suite of other easy-to-use mobile apps for sharing that includes the Slate and Voice iPad apps. Where Voice lets you combine recorded storytelling with visuals and Slate lets anyone create magazine-quality stories from iPad, Adobe Post makes creating good-looking, sharable graphics from the iPhone as easy as picking the right image, font, and words.

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Tumblr for iOS now supports sharing Live Photos & 3D Touch

Zac Hall Dec 10 2015 - 9:32 am PT

1 Comment

Apple has allowed developers to support sharing Live Photos in their own apps since iOS 9.1, and Tumblr appears to be the first major social network to take advantage of the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus feature Tumblr 5.0 for iOS was released today and supports sharing the new animated photos, 3D Touch within the app, and a few other goodies.

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Tweetbot for Mac now works in full screen and split view on OS X El Capitan

Zac Hall Nov 18 2015 - 8:09 am PT

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Tweetbot for Mac has learned a handy new feature with the latest update just released. Tweetbot for Mac now supports OS X’s full screen mode, including El Capitan’s new Split View feature that lets you run two full screen apps side-by-side. This works a lot like the split view multitasking features on the iPad Pro, iPad Air 2, and iPad mini 4. Tweetbot 2.2 also brings a few other changes to the Mac…
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Snapchat update adds slow-mo, fast forward, & rewind video effects + 3D Touch support

Zac Hall Oct 28 2015 - 10:04 am PT

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Snapchat has updated its iPhone app with a new set of fun video filters to try out plus 3D Touch support on the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. Adding to the existing set of video filters, Snapchat now lets you turn videos into slow-mo clips, quickly paced videos with fast forward, and backward-moving movies with rewind. Snapchat users with the latest iPhone models can press firmly on the updated app icon to start new chats or easily add new friends within the app right from the Home screen as seen above.
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Facebook experimenting with letting friends easily send “Happy Birthday!” videos, new reactions beyond ‘like’

Zac Hall Oct 8 2015 - 9:25 am PT

2 Comments

One of the many things Facebook does well is make it nearly impossible to miss when one of your friends turns another year older. On the web, birthday reminders are placed prominently near the top right with links to easily wish your pal a happy birthday, and on mobile Facebook has experimented with alerts and other ways to help you not forget someone’s big day.

Now Facebook appears to be testing an even more personal way to make your birthday wish stand out: video messages. The Next Web reports that some mobile users have seen a new ‘birthday video’ option appear under Facebook’s Birthdays section (although don’t worry if you don’t see it yet, I don’t have it either).
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Snapchat update adds new selfie Lenses + paid extra Snap Replays

Zac Hall Sep 15 2015 - 11:12 am PT

47 Comments

Snapchat is out with its latest update bringing new features and tricks to the photo messaging app. The release notes are short: Before you take a selfie, press and hold on your face for a surprise! That’s referencing the new selfie Lenses trick, which lets you apply some pretty wild effects to your face before sharing with friends. To use Lenses, just tap and hold on your selfie before taking a Snap. A facial outline appears as well as seven effects including that dramatically change up your selfie.
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Instagram enhances its Direct messaging feature w/ chat threads, giant emoji, more

Zac Hall Sep 1 2015 - 10:31 am PT

6 Comments

After mostly letting it sit stagnant for nearly two years, Instagram is ready to show its Direct messaging feature some love. Instagram Direct, which lets you share photos, videos, and messages privately with other Instagram users, was seen as a play at Snapchat and similar apps when it launched in 2013, but it’s so far experienced limited appeal within the photo sharing app. Now Instagram hopes to change that with new features including message threads, giant emoji, sharing from your timeline, and more.
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Apple promoting Apple Music in Snapchat with sponsored geofilter

Mark Gurman Aug 24 2015 - 2:49 pm PT

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Apple has once again distanced itself from its past efforts in order to market its new Apple Music streaming service. The company has begun promoting the service using a unique geofilter in the popular Snapchat messaging application. The geofilter has showed up in select areas of Los Angeles, including at The Grove mall where an Apple Store is located.

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Twitter rolling out landscape support to iPhone 6 Plus users

Mark Gurman Aug 4 2015 - 1:26 pm PT

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In yet another staggered feature rollout, Twitter has begun enabling full landscape support for its iOS app on the iPhone 6 Plus. Like with many of Apple’s bundled applications, Twitter app users on the larger, 5.5-inch iPhone can navigate their Timelines, Tweet, and Direct Message in landscape mode…

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Viber iOS app updated with easier video calling, rich links, lower data usage & more

Ben Lovejoy Aug 4 2015 - 6:50 am PT

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Viber has updated its iOS app to add a range of improvements based on user requests, says the company. Version 5.5 allows you to start a video call directly from your recent calls list, rich links now display content previews when links are posted into text chats – and Viber says more efficient data compression has allowed it to improve the quality of both audio and video calls while reducing data usage.

Users can also now share contacts within both one-to-one and group chats, and invite an entire group to follow a public chat.

Viber is a free download from iTunes.

Via TNW

Snapchat no longer requires holding Snaps & Stories to View

Zac Hall Jul 1 2015 - 9:40 am PT

4 Comments

We told you earlier this year that Snapchat was considering changing a major part of how its app works, and today the social network has officially introduced that change: viewing Snaps and Stories now works with a single tap. Previously, part of Snapchat’s signature user experience included holding a finger over a Snap or Story to view it; lifting the finger meant going back to the contact list. Aside from the new Tap to View feature for Snaps and Stories, the update includes a few other changes as well…
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President Obama borrows iPhone for first tweet, avoiding BlackBerry embarrassment

Zac Hall May 18 2015 - 12:04 pm PT

16 Comments

Last week potential Republican Presidential Candidate Jeb Bush made headlines when he was spotted wearing an Apple Watch on the still-exploring-but-definitely-running campaign trail, using the press opportunity as a chance to dish out the zinger that its health apps were better than Obamacare.

The White House has given its own endorsement of Apple today, however, as President Obama launched his own personal Twitter account (not to be confused with the OFA-ran @BarackObama account) with a tweet that originated from an iPhone.
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Tim Cook opens account on Chinese social network Weibo during Beijing trip

Ben Lovejoy May 11 2015 - 6:34 am PT

1 Comment

With Apple now selling more iPhones in China than in the USA, and much of Apple’s Q2 earnings call focused on the country, it’s no great surprise that Tim Cook has today opened an account on the Chinese equivalent of Twitter known as Weibo. There is, though, a certain amount of irony involved, Weibo being one of the main sources of leaked information on Apple products.

Cook is in Beijing to announce Apple’s new environmental programs in the country, the topic of his first post.

At the time of writing, the verified account already had over 300,000 followers, with almost 50,000 likes on his first post …
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Tumblr for iOS adds blog creation, trending tags widget, quick video embedding, more

Zac Hall Apr 15 2015 - 10:10 am PT

3 Comments

Tumblr is out today with a brand new version of its blogging and community app for iPhone and iPad. Version 4 adds several new features like the ability to create new blogs from your iPhone or iPad and create video posts quickly by pasting YouTube or Vimeo URLs into a new post. The update adds a new widget for the Today section of Notification Center on iOS 8 for quickly seeing which tags are trending on Tumblr when you’re not using the app and much more.
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TweetDeck Mac app adds Group DMs, Teams account sharing, in-line GIFs, more

Jordan Kahn Apr 1 2015 - 8:25 am PT

1 Comment

The TweetDeck Mac app today received an update with a handful of new features including the ability to share account access with others, direct messages to groups, support for in-line GIFs and videos, and much more.
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Skype for iPhone updates the dialer, reintroduces URI support for other apps

Zac Hall Feb 9 2015 - 6:33 am PT

2 Comments

Microsoft is out today with its latest version of Skype for iPhone, version 5.10, as it continues to add refinements and features to the overhauled version of its app first released last year.

The new version of Skype for iPhone highlights the ability to save contacts from the app’s phone dialer just like the native Phone app on iOS. You can also save contacts to Skype from the recent call list starting with this version, and Microsoft touts improved chat notification reliability as well.

Finally, Microsoft is reintroducing support for Skype URIs which let other developers include interactions with Skype directly in their own apps including features like calling and messaging.

As long as the Skype app is installed on an iPhone, when a user taps on a Skype name or phone number, the URI will open the Skype app to connect a call or send a message*, making it faster than ever to reach friends, family or businesses.

For example, if you’re browsing restaurant options on an app or mobile website that utilizes Skype URIs, tapping on the phone number would launch Skype so you could call and make a reservation.

If you heavily rely on communicating with Skype frequently, this means you should see deeper Skype integration in other third-party apps in the future.

Skype for iPhone version 5.10 is available now for free on the App Store.

Twitter for iPhone rolling out Tweet sharing via Direct Messages

Zac Hall Nov 20 2014 - 12:49 pm PT

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Last week, Twitter announced a list of improvements coming to the service including enhancements to Direct Messages and video capabilities slated for next year, and today the social network started rolling out its new features as promised. With the latest version of Twitter for iPhone, you can now share public Tweets privately over Direct Messages with native embedding. You can see the new feature in action below…
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Dropbox’s Carousel photo & video gallery app arrives on iPad & web

Jordan Kahn Nov 20 2014 - 10:05 am PT

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First launched on iPhone earlier this year, Dropbox announced today that it’s launching its Carousel photo and video gallery app for iPad users. The company is also bringing the experience to the web at carousel.dropbox.com.

Part of making the best home for your photos is giving you a fast, simple, beautiful way to engage with your pictures, however and wherever you want. Today, we’re excited to announce big steps towards that goal: Carousel for web, iPad, and Android tablet.

In addition, the iOS apps add the ability to share to Instagram and WhatsApp with today’s update.

The Carousel app offers easy sharing of one or multiple photos to contacts or email addresses and allows users to get around many of the upload limitations usually associated with sharing photos. With everything backed up in full resolution directly to Dropbox, the app is essentially a standalone experience for managing to photos and videos stored in Dropbox.

A look at the Carousel UI for web is below:

The Carousel for iPad app is available on the App Store now for free.

What’s New in Version 1.7

We’ve updated Carousel with one of your most requested features: support for iPad! Now, view your photos and continue conversations on a bigger screen.

Plus, we’ve added support for posting to Instagram and WhatsApp!

Twitter says improvements to Direct Messages coming next week, native video features coming in 2015

Zac Hall Nov 12 2014 - 11:56 am PT

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Twitter today shared a few details about its plans for the social network in 2015 including some new features around video, improvements to communicating with Direct Messages on the service, and changes to the timeline to help keep up with relevant content.
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EFF: Apple’s iMessage most secure “mass-market” messaging, lacks complete protection from targeted surveillance

Jordan Kahn Nov 5 2014 - 12:43 pm PT

14 Comments

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today released a report examining three dozen messaging services and ranking them based on what it deemed are seven “security best practices.” While Apple scored the best among what the EFF called “mass-market options”, it didn’t do as well when compared to all 36 messaging services included in the report. Specifically, EFF noted Apple’s iMessage and FaceTime services failed to offer “complete protection against sophisticated, targeted forms of surveillance.”
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