Tag: instagram

Meta Allows EU Users to Access Instagram, Facebook, Messenger Separately to Comply With Regulations

Facebook parent Meta will allow users in the European Union, European Economic Area, and Switzerland to prevent information from being shared across the company’s apps. As a result, people who live in these regions will be able to use Instagram and Facebook separately, even if they are connected on the platform. Meanwhile, Meta will also allow users to create a Messenger account that is not linked to their Facebook account while changing how messaging on the company’s Marketplace platform works.

In a detailed post explaining the changes being made to comply with regulations — the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) — that Meta and other firms must comply with, the company says that users in the EU, EEA, and Switzerland who have already linked their Facebook and Instagram accounts can continue to operate these accounts, or unlink their accounts “so that their information is no longer used across accounts”.

Meta’s announcement comes a month after Instagram-Messenger cross app chats were shut down. Three years after CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Meta would allow users to chat across its services, the company limited messaging to each platform. It also turned on support for end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) chats on Messenger in December.

Meanwhile, the company is also changing how users in these regions can use Messenger — while you can continue to chat using your Facebook account, Meta will also let you sign up for a new Messenger account that operates independently of your existing account. You’ll be able to send messages and call your contacts, but some features won’t work as expected.

For example, Messenger features for Marketplace that allow sellers to chat with buyers will be replaced with an option to use email, if their accounts are unlinked. Similarly, users who unlink their accounts from Facebook Gaming won’t have access to multiplayer features and targeted recommendations, according to the company.

Just like Meta’s optional ad-free subscription for Facebook and Instagram that was introduced two months ago, these changes will only be available to users in the EU, EEA, and Switzerland. The company could also bring the same functionality to other regions if legislation similar to the DMA is passed, allowing users in more countries to operate their accounts independently.

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Instagram Now Allows Users to Share Short, Looping Video Notes; Said to Be Testing New Privacy Feature

Instagram is introducing a feature for users to share video Notes. Notes was unveiled by Instagram a year back, as a feature similar to statuses on WhatsApp. Previously, users could only upload text or emojis to their status update. Now they can share a two-second looping video Note, which the users will be able to share with mutual followers or with their Close Friends list. Another leak suggests that the social media platform is testing a new privacy feature that will let users decide who can view their Likes on posts and reels.

In an Instagram support page, the platform noted that users can now share small, looping video Notes. This was first spotted by TechCrunch. The feature currently supports video captured only from the front-facing camera. Although different from Instagram Stories, the video Notes will also be visible for 24 hours, just like Stories. You cannot use existing videos in your camera gallery, therefore, the only option is to record a video in real time. Gadgets 360 was able to verify this update.

Before sharing the video Note, you can choose to add a text caption and music. You can also customise who sees your Notes, by choosing between your Mutual Followers or the Close Friends list. Notably, since the Notes are visible in Direct Messages, any video Note you share will change the thumbnail of your profile on the viewer’s page from your profile picture to that of the video shared, the report claims.

Users can now also reply to a Note using not just text, but also audio, photos, video, gifs, and stickers, according to the report. When someone reacts to a person’s Notes, the text, sticker, audio, etc. will be sent to the user as a DM.

Meanwhile, Instagram may also introduce a new privacy feature soon that may allow users to choose who can view their Likes on posts and Reels on the platform. Screenshots shared by X user Hammod Oh (@ihammod_oh) show the feature that is likely being tested. Users are presented with the options for – “allow everyone to see likes,” “allow people that you follow to see likes,” “allow close friends to see likes,” and “don’t allow anyone to see likes.” Nothing about this feature has been announced officially yet.

Will the Nothing Phone 2 serve as the successor to the Phone 1, or will the two co-exist? We discuss the company’s recently launched handset and more on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
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Apple Announces App Store’s Top Apps and Games of 2023: WhatsApp, JioCinema, BGMI, and More

Apple has revealed the year-end charts for the most popular apps and games on the App Store in over 35 countries and regions. Consequently, the iPhone maker has announced the most downloaded apps and games of 2023 in India, as well. Unsurprisingly, WhatsApp has emerged as the top free iPhone app, while the DSLR Camera app, which provides users professional-grade camera controls, is the top paid iPhone app of the year. Earlier this month, Apple also revealed its 2023 App Store Award winners.

The 2023 year-end charts, which can be seen on the App Store’s Today tab, feature the top free and paid apps and games of the year, along with the top Apple Arcade games. WhatsApp was followed by the usual suspects, Instagram and YouTube, as the most downloaded free iPhone app of the year. Surprisingly, streaming platform JioCinema claimed the fourth spot, beating Google, Snapchat, and Google Pay.

Productivity-focused apps, including pdf Scanner, Slow Shutter Cam, Forest: Focus for Productivity emerged as the top downloaded paid apps on iPhone. On the gaming side, Battlegrounds Mobile India, popularly known as BGMI, was the most downloaded free game on iPhone. Hitman Sniper, on the other hand, was the top paid game. Ludo King and Subway Surfers rounded out the top three free iPhone games, while Minecraft and Real Flight Simulator made the top three list on the paid side.

On iPad, JioCinema was the most downloaded free app in 2023, while illustration app Procreate was the top paid app on the Apple tablet. BGMI emerged as the top free game on iPad as well, with Minecraft as the most downloaded paid game. Over on Apple Arcade, NBA 2K23 Arcade Edition, Asphalt 8: Airborne+, and Angry Birds Reloaded were the top three most downloaded games of the year.

Earlier this month, hiking and biking app AllTrails was crowned as the best app on iPhone for 2023. The App Store awards also recognised apps like digital makeup sketch pad app Prêt-à-Makeup and photo editing software Photomator across Apple devices. miHoYo’s latest RPG gacha title Honkai: Star Rail was named as the iPhone Game of the Year, while souls-like action RPG Lies of P emerged as the best game on Mac.

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WhatsApp Rolls Out Instagram-Style Reply Bar for Status Updates to Beta Testers on iOS, Android: Report

WhatsApp might have started out as a simple messaging platform, but the app, now owned by Meta, has added multiple features over the years that have brought it closer to being a social media platform, a payments app, a business portal and much more. With features like status updates, channels, and more, WhatsApp resembles a lot more like Meta’s other social platforms. The messaging app is now reportedly replicating yet another feature from Instagram Stories by rolling out a reply bar for status updates on both Android and iOS devices.

According to WhatsApp feature tracker WABetaInfo, the popular messaging platform has released a reply bar feature for status updates to beta testers on Android and iOS. The reply bar, which shows up at the bottom of status updates, just like the one present on Instagram Stories, is meant to make responding to statuses easier. Currently, WhatsApp users can swipe up on a status update to reply using a text message or emojis. With a dedicated reply bar, however, they could directly type in their responses to status updates.

The feature is reportedly rolling out to some beta testers as part of WhatsApp beta for iOS 23.15.10.72 update from the TestFlight app, and WhatsApp beta for Android 2.23.26.3 update from the Google Play Store. It should release for more users in the coming days.

The reply bar feature for status updates on WhatsApp
Photo Credit: WABetaInfo

The WABetaInfo report included a screenshot of the feature, showing a reply bar at the bottom of a status update for quick interaction. The feature would eliminate the need to swipe up on status updates to send in a response. Visually, the reply bar looks near identical to the one present in Instagram stories.

Earlier this month, WhatsApp was spotted working on a feature that would allow users to share their WhatsApp statuses to Instagram. The messaging platform already lets users share WhatsApp statuses on Facebook. The options to share status updates on other Meta platforms like Facebook and Instagram were seen listed together under the Status Privacy tab in WhatsApp settings.

WhatsApp is also said to be developing a feature that would allow searching for other users on the app by their username, thus eliminating the need to share phone numbers with strangers to communicate on the platform. This privacy-focussed Telegram-style search by username feature would help find users by their unique usernames on the app.

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Threads Gets Tags Feature That Lets Users Link Phrases, Emojis in Posts, Rolling Out Globally

Threads is now rolling out a new Tags feature globally on the platform. The Meta-owned platform was introduced earlier this year to rival Elon Musk’s X. Meta announced a few weeks back that it was testing the use of tags on Threads posts. This feature, also known as hashtags, has been popular across social media sites for years and it is available on several platforms including Threads-rival X, formerly Twitter. However, Thread’s version of hashtags comes with some limitations and alterations.

Instagram Head Adam Mosseri announced in a Threads post that users can now tag a topic in a post. He confirmed that the feature is rolling out to all users globally. The feature is said to help users categorise their posts and make them easier to find and engage with. Although the feature is similar to the hashtag feature available on other platforms that have become largely popular in the past few years, Threads tags come with some visible changes and a few functional alterations.

Mosseri explains that in a Threads tag, the “#” symbol will not be shown, and users can tag more than one word even if they are spaced out, and most importantly only one tag can be added per post. As per Mosseri, this take on tags is aimed at making conversations more focused on communities and less on “engagement hacking.”

To use a tag on Threads, you can use the “#” key on your keyboard or the new # button in the post composer. You will be presented with a list of existing topics to choose from or you can opt to create your own. You will be able to use spaces between words and include special characters within a tag.

Since the “#” symbol does not appear on the post, the Tag on a Threads post appears in blue, similar to a link. You can click on the tag to follow other conversations on the same topic. An Instagram Product Designer also added that emojis can also be used as or included in a tag.

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Meta Brings Standalone Text-to-Image Generation Tool to Web; AI Enhancements to Instagram, Facebook

Meta unveiled a host of new enhancements for its AI experiences across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp on Wednesday. The company’s virtual assistant, Meta AI, which was launched in September, will now give more detailed and accurate responses to queries. The Facebook parent is also expanding its text-to-image generation tool, Imagine, as a standalone AI experience on Web, outside of chats.

In its Newsroom post announcing new AI updates, Meta detailed a standalone Imagine tool for image generation. Initially only embedded within Meta’s messaging platforms, Imagine can now be accessed on the Web for free. “Today, we’re expanding access to imagine outside of chats, making it available in the US to start at imagine.meta.com,” Meta said in the blog. The image creation tool runs on the company’s image foundation model, Emu. The tool will initially be available in the US.

Imagine with Meta is free to use on the Web
Photo Credit: Meta

Meta is also bringing new updates and capabilities to core AI experiences on its platforms. The Meta AI virtual assistant is now more helpful, the company claims, generating more detailed responses on mobile and more accurate summaries of search results. “We’ve even made it so you’re more likely to get a helpful response to a wider range of requests,” the blog said. A Meta AI interaction can be triggered by starting a new message and selecting “Create an AI chat” on Meta’s messaging platforms, or by typing “@MetaAI” in a group chat followed by the query.

Outside of chats, Meta AI’s large language model will bring new experiences on Facebook and Instagram like options for AI-generated post comment suggestions, community chat topic suggestions in groups and more.

Imagine with Meta, the text-to-image generation tool, is also getting a new ‘reimagine’ feature on Messenger and Instagram that lets your friends riff on a Meta AI-generated image shared by you in messages and create entirely new images. Additionally, the company is also rolling out Instagram Reels in Meta AI chats, wherein the AI assistant will recommend and share reels for relevant video requests. AI-powered improvements are coming to Facebook, too. Meta is working on AI features that would draft birthday greetings, edit feed posts, write up a dating profile, or set up a new group.

Meta will also roll out invisible watermarking to its new Imagine with Meta AI image generation tool to boost AI transparency and curb misleading AI-generated content in the coming weeks. “The invisible watermark is applied with a deep learning model. While it’s imperceptible to the human eye, the invisible watermark can be detected with a corresponding model,” the blog said. The watermark will withstand image manipulation like cropping, editing or screenshotting.

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Threads Expands Keyword Search Feature to Users Globally in All Languages

Threads, the microblogging platform from Instagram, is now expanding its keyword search feature. The feature was previously available in select regions but will now be offered to all users, according to information shared by the platform’s head. This, however, is different from the tags feature that the company is currently in testing in Australia which is said to help find posts related to a specific interest or theme and is similar to the hashtag feature on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Instagram Head Adam Mosseri on Thursday confirmed that the keyword search feature is now expanding and will be available to all Threads users and in all languages. The feature was initially tested in some English-speaking countries and then rolled out to more English and Spanish-speaking countries.

Mosseri added that the search action will get more improvements soon but did not share details of what features would be added. Responding to a user’s query about support for viewing search results in chronological order on Threads, Mosseri said that it would “create a substantial safety loophole”.

The keyword search feature is expected to be the stepping stone for Threads to add support for trending topics — a feature that is available on the platform’s rival X. The inclusion of post counts while adding interactive tags to posts hints at the arrival of support for trending topics.

Last month, Threads also rolled out the ability to delete profiles without deleting the linked Instagram account. This functionality was not available when the microblogging platform was launched in July — users could only temporarily disable their Threads profile in the past, as the company had revealed that the profile was closely tied to the original Instagram account. 

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Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Trailer: Anya Taylor-Joy Takes on Chris Hemsworth in Post-Apocalyptic Wasteland



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Facebook, YouTube Said to Be Warned Against Misuse of Deepfakes by Indian Government

India’s government on Friday warned social media firms including Facebook and YouTube to repeatedly remind users that local laws prohibit them from posting deepfakes and content that spreads obscenity or misinformation, two sources told Reuters.

The warning was conveyed by deputy IT minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar in a closed-door meeting where he said many companies had not updated their usage terms despite 2022 rules that prohibit content “harmful” to children, obscene or that “impersonates another person”.

It comes amid growing concerns over deepfakes — realistic yet fabricated videos created by artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms trained on online footage — which a top minister this week said this week India is drawing up rules to address.

Chandrasekhar said the companies must raise awareness of the rules by reminding users every time they log in that they cannot post such content, or by issuing reminders. 

He said otherwise he will issue directions forcing them to do so, said the two sources, who declined to be named as the meeting was private.

The minister described it as a “non-negotiable” demand of the Indian government during the meeting, said one of the sources.

India’s IT ministry said in a press statement all platforms had agreed to align their content guidelines with government rules.

Facebook and Chandrasekhar did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Alphabet’s Google, which owns YouTube, said in a statement it was committed to responsible AI development and has robust policies and systems to identify and remove harmful content across its products and platforms.

The Indian government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have raised concerns over deepfakes in recent days. 

During a virtual summit of G20 nations on Wednesday, Prime Minister Modi called on global leaders to jointly work towards regulating AI, and raised concerns over the negative impact of deepfakes on society.

Countries across the world are racing to draw up rules to regulate AI. India has been tightening regulations of social media companies, which count the South Asian nation as a top growth market. 

Last year, the government privately criticized the companies for not removing what it described as fake news on their sites, which it said had forced it to order content takedowns.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

Is the iQoo Neo 7 Pro the best smartphone you can buy under Rs. 40,000 in India? We discuss the company’s recently launched handset and what it has to offer on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
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