Apps
Instagram Finally Launches The Much Anticipated ‘Restrict Mode’ Feature
Just as WhatsApp plans to incorporate a ‘self-destruct’ feature for secret chats, its sister company – Instagram also embeds a new component termed the ‘Restrict Mode’ to shadow ban Toxic Users. This recent development comes as a result of a 2018 research conducted by Pew Research Center indicating that fifty-nine percent (59%) of US teens were been subject to cyberbullying, according to CNN.
Hence the company’s Head – Adam Mosseri, disclosed in a statement earlier this year establishing that Instagram would “lead the fight against online bullying”. Afterward, that statement was eventually confirmed on Wednesday, in a press release by the leading social platform. Where it was explicitly stated that;
“Restrict is designed to empower you to quietly protect your account while still keeping an eye on a bully.”
The Head of the social media network also announced the birth of this new tool in a tweet earlier today. Having that this new feature has been in the testing phase since July, the ‘Restrict Mode’ functionality at present provides Users with the options to restrict another User either by simply swiping left on their comment – a similar procedure used to report Users on Facebook, through their ‘profile page’ or at best from the Subscriber’s settings privacy tab – which is in semblance to ‘Blocking a Number’ on WhatsApp.
Subsequently, a ‘Restricted’ User’s comment on your posts would only be visible to them and nobody else. Additionally, notifications become deactivated whereas direct messages from banned Users enter into a pool of message requests. And in the case where these messages are approved and read, the banned Users won’t be duly notified. Also such Users won’t be able to see the ‘active status’ of any User that had earlier banned them.
While the ‘Restrict Mode’ does not actively block the User thus the phrase ‘Shadow Ban’. However, it conveniently refrains such Users from certain access to your page or posts without subsequent permissions. The feature extensively borrows Twitter’s ‘Muted Reply’ approach. And as such comments from banned Users can still be visible but not readable to the general public as it would bear a ‘Restricted Comment’ tag. Granting the Account Owners the opportunity to either approve, delete or ignore the comment.
Even though the introduction of this neoteric tool is intended to inspire teenagers to stand up against online bullying, some experts still fear that this new instrument could turn out to be detrimental instead of its purposed use. As is the argument presented by Jennifer Grygiel – A Social Media Expert and Assistant Professor at Syracuse University and Dr. Sameer Hinduja – Co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center and a professor at Florida Atlantic University. Both of them called out to Instagram to publish the results of these ‘anti-bullying’ measures. Dr. Hinduja further postulated that;
“We need to see how it plays out at scale, and whether a critical mass of Instagrammers employ the feature.”
According to another Social media Analyst, Randi Priluck – A Professor and Associate Dean on Social Media and Mobile Marketing at Pace University, Instagram is implementing a great tool, nonetheless, the success of this new development is dependent on a number of factors. In his words;
“The fact that Instagram is doing something is better than nothing, But the question is: How much will this help?”
Apps
Spotify Subscribes to Apple’s SiriKit API to Embed Siri’s Advanced Functionality Into its App
Imagine a music app that allows you to play songs just by ‘calling out the song title’ from your playlist. Awesome right?
Well, that becomes the case with the new upgrade on the Spotify app on Apple’s IOS 13.1. Following the recently added features on Siri such as the ability to launch an app with the voice command, advanced guidance on the map, tuning in to a radio station among many others. On Friday, the digital music service providers disclosed that it would be incorporating ‘Siri Support’ specifically for its Users on IOS in the nearest future.
Eventually making Spotify the foremost third-party app that could be operated with ‘Siri’s Voice Assistant’. According to an interview conducted by Verge with a Spotify Associate who refused to comment in details but confirmed this development with a statement adding that;
“At Spotify, we routinely conduct a number of tests in an effort to improve our user experience, Some of those tests end up paving the path for our broader user experience and others serve only as an important learning. We aren’t going to comment on specific tests at this time.”
Evidently, the Siri support comes as part of the update on Apple’s IOS 13 and by means of the SiriKit API, Spotify developers were able to embed Siri’s functionality into the Spotify app. Consequently with this new added ‘Siri’ functionality, Users would be able to not only launch the Spotify app but also navigate through and play songs from playlists, albums, and podcasts on the app just by voice commands.
Although this feature was embedded extensive to work on all Apple devices having IOS 13.1 excluding the Apple Watch since IOS wearable devices does not fraught with a devoted Spotify app. Given that the Siri Support on Spotify is currently in its beta testing phase, this innovation would only be available on the latest beta version of Spotify and as such still ships in with a few bugs. Such as trying to play a podcast which always defaults to playing music.
This Siri on Spotify functionality would grants Users an advanced music experience on the go. Subsequently placing the Spotify music app on the same spot as the Apple Music in terms of competing for Siri’s Media player Support.
Apps
Samsung Releases Its PlayGalaxy Game Streaming App For Note 10
At the eve of numerous companies debuting their latest products in the gaming sphere such as Google Stadia, Apple Arcade, Sony RemotePlay as well as the soon to be launched Google Play Pass. And Following a deal with Epic Games to make Fortnite exclusively available for download on some select few Samsung devices as – Galaxy S9/S9+, Note 8, Galaxy S8/S8+, Galaxy S7/S7 Edge, Tab S3 and Tab S4.
Samsung recently enlists a new software on the Galaxy App Store that enables PC game lovers to stream the games they love to play right onto their Samsung Note10 series with the best streaming experience. This Gaming Trajectory App termed the ‘PlayGalaxy’ is at present available for download on Android and Windows PC.
PlayGalaxy System Requirement
Although similar to the Sony – RemotePlay that casts everything from a Playstation 4 console onto any screen provided (either an Android, PC or Mac). However, the PlayGalaxy app expects more advanced resources because establishing a connection between the Note 10 device and a PC requires a steady Internet connection as well as a sturdy PC architecture.
Designed by developers from the New-York based Technology firm – Parsec, the PlayGalaxy App begs for more advanced system features before a successful connection terminal can be initiated.
Such as a processor requirement of Intel core i5 and above, a Windows 10 OS or later, an updated graphics driver along with a graphic card of Nvidia GTX 1060 or AMD Radeon RX 550 built or better, an 8G DDR4 RAM and a Gigabit router Access point. On the other hand, the PlayGalaxy app on Note 10 can be powered over WiFi or a 4th and 5th Generation (4G & 5G) mobile network.
The Samsung Glap Controller.
Another notable discrepancy resides around the smartphone gaming handling. Traditionally this defaults to on-screen controls, nonetheless another alternative is by means of a Bluetooth wireless controller like the Samsung Glap. The Glap device is a handy gaming tool well fitted for the Samsung Galaxy Note series with a battery life of 10 hours per single charge.
Similarly, Samsung suggests that a Bluetooth mouse and Keyboard could suffice for the PlayGalaxy App in the event of the absence of an option. Evidently, Samsung has been carving a niche in the mobile gaming sector since the launch of Fortnite for Android particularly on Samsung devices.
And by porting these PC games to next-generation Samsung Galaxy devices, this becomes a major advancement in both the Smartphone and Gaming industry by the Seoul head-quartered conglomerate. Even though the PlayGalaxy link is only currently made available in the US and South Korea, future plans are underway towards making this app available in more countries.
-
Cryptocurrency5 years ago
Ripple Sends $26 Million Worth of XRP to Jed McCaleb, XRP Army Fears Another Dump in Price
-
Cryptocurrency5 years ago
China Is Set To Launch A Legal Cryptocurrency In The Second Half Of 2019
-
Cryptocurrency5 years ago
HODLers Plead With Ripple Inc. Not To Dump XRP Tokens Anymore
-
Blockchain5 years ago
The Future Of Publishing With Blockchain, Steemit vs. Publish0x
-
Cryptocurrency5 years ago
Intel’s 10th Generation Processors: A Hard Pick From a Buyer’s Point of View
-
Cryptocurrency6 years ago
How to Exchange and Withdraw Digibyte to Bitcoin/Ethereum on any exchange platform
-
Cryptocurrency5 years ago
Why Bitcoin Is Better Than Other Cryptocurrencies
-
Cryptocurrency5 years ago
40% Of Bitcoins Are Stored On Wallets With A Balance Of Over 1000 BTC