When first released, Snap Map made a lot of users uneasy. Beaming their location to the world at all times isn't necessarily the definition of privacy, but Snapchat's map is nonetheless intriguing, offering users a view into the lives of people across the globe. Now, you don't even need to have an account to access Snap Map — you can view it right from your web browser.
If you're an Android user, you're very likely jealous of your iPhone friends who have access to the wide, wonderful world of augmented reality thanks to ARKit.
Messaging apps can be a double-edged sword. Not only do they let you interact with other people, but they also let you go back and reminisce on past exchanges. However, that same archive can be used against you in certain situations. Luckily, Signal can be manipulated to remove any record of past messages.
After devoting a number of resources toward developing VR content to modernize the delivery of its news content in recent years, The New York Times is expanding its capabilities to include augmented reality as well, a mission outlined in a manifesto published on Thursday.
For parents that have an iPhone X, things are about to get a lot easier for you in iOS 11.3, which finally lets you approve app and media downloads on your child's iPhone using Face ID instead of typing in a password.
Stop me if you've heard this one before: scan an image with your iPhone's camera and augmented reality content shows up.
On Wednesday, Apple released a new batch of Animoji characters that gives iPhone X users more virtual masks to play around with, but what many have been waiting for is an app that lets you put on a virtual mask of another person, not an animated emoji. Well, that day has finally arrived.
With the release of the iOS 11.3, iPhone users have new features to both sift through and look forward to, such as increased battery health information and control, new Animoji on iPhone X, and Health Records in the Health app. A smaller change with the update, however, is also a useful one — a new way to sort App Store reviews.
When Apple unboxes the next major update to its mobile operating system this spring, iPhones and iPads will gain some significant new features for augmented reality experiences: verticality.
As expected, Apple began pushing out the final version of iOS 11.2.5 to all iPads, iPhone, and iPod touches today after 41 days of beta testing. Highlights include a fix for the ChaiOS vulnerability, a persistent Now Playing bar in Music, and some signs of AirPlay 2 just in time for the HomePod launch on Feb. 9.
Apple didn't invent the concept of photos with videos embedded (that credit goes to HTC and their Zoe feature), but they sure did popularize this functionality when they came out with Live Photos. If you're jealous of iPhone users, you certainly don't need to be — there are several great ways to recreate Live Photos on Android.
Okay, yes, 2018 has only just begun — but it's not our fault that Sony dropped some of the ugliest new phones on us since ... their last ugly phone in 2017. According to Evan Blass (@evleaks on Twitter), Sony will be "refreshing" their low- to mid-range phones (Xperia XA1, XA Ultra, and L) by debuting the Xperia XA2, XA2 Ultra, and L2 at CES next week.
While there aren't as many ways to customize your iPhone like there is on Android, there are still a lot of apps out there that can help streamline and enhance your experience beyond Apple's own default options — and we've hand-picked over 100 essentials.
Whether you're new to Android or you just haven't kept up on the app scene lately, we hand-picked over one hundred essential apps that are all designed to improve your experience. From custom launchers and icon packs to weather apps and file explorers, there's something for everyone in this list.
If you ever thought the Snorlax in Pokémon Go should be taller, and you have an iPhone compatible with ARKit, get ready to look up.
Mozilla baked an easily missed feature into their Firefox Browser for Android called the "tab queue," which you should definitely be using if you find yourself opening links a lot from emails, texts, and other link-heavy apps. With tab queuing enabled, you can save links as new tabs in Firefox without ever leaving the current app you're in.
There are over 3 million apps in the Google Play Store, all optimized for the small screen in your hands. While that number sounds staggering, there are still many online tools and websites that require you to use a mobile browser since app development is expensive. However, that's where Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) come into play, a cost-effective way to turn websites into mobile apps.
Mozilla's Firefox has always been a highly praised internet browser. Since it's open-source, users know what they're getting without any secrecy. It's got plenty of features that are unmatched by any of its competitors on mobile. However, speed and performance have always been a pain point for Firefox, but Mozilla went back to the drawing board to solve this problem with the release of Firefox Quantum.
For every cool new thing Android Oreo brought to the table, Android 8.1 adds a bit of polish. After a brief but successful beta period, Google started rolling out the official 8.1 update to its Pixel and Nexus devices today, and it's everything Android 8.0 should have been.
Next to millennials, one of the groups most coveted by brand marketers is "Generation Z," the consumers of tomorrow who were born between 1996 and 2010. On Monday, Facebook established a beachhead with that demographic in the realm of augmented reality by launching Facebook Messenger Kids.
WhatsApp is a great app to keep in touch with friends and family across phone brands and countries, but sharing a post on Instagram hasn't always been as easy as it should have been considering Facebook owns both companies. Now, whether you have Android or iOS, all it takes is a few taps.
Apple released the iOS 11.2 update for the iPhone to the masses early morning on Dec. 2, and here are all the new features and important bug fixes you need to know about.
Samsung's latest Oreo Beta update for the Galaxy S8 brings an impressive number of new customization features. On the lock screen, we've seen the introduction of new colorization options for the clock and transparent notifications. Not to be forgotten, the Always On Display is getting some new clock styles and colors.
So you're thinking about downloading the Galaxy S8 Oreo beta, but you're not sure if it's stable enough to use. It is a beta, of course, so you might want to wait for others to give it a try. Over the past ten days I've used the Galaxy S8+ running Android Oreo as my daily driver, running down the best new features. Let's take a look at the bugs, the performance, and the battery life.
While millions eagerly await the stable Android 8.0 release for the Galaxy S8, the beta is already in the wild and readily available. Notable improvements include notification channels and the revamped Samsung keyboard. One aspect often overlooked are new customization options, a huge part of Android. Let's take a look at what's new for customization on the S8's home screen in Oreo.
The bandwagon for NFL teams using augmented reality to engage fans isn't exactly full, but it is starting to get a bit crowded.
As if Amazon didn't already make it easier to buy things from home than in a store, the company has now given shoppers yet another reason to avoid the holiday rush with an ARKit update to its iPhone app.
Face ID is possibly the iPhone X's make-it-or-break-it feature. Apple is asking previous iPhone owners to put a lot of faith into their home button replacement, and so far, the results seem pretty good. That is until CNN tested the security feature with identical twins.
Animoji, short for animated emoji, was a focal point of the iPhone X presentation at the Sept. 12 Apple event. The reactions were split, to be sure, as some considered the attention to this feature on a $1,000+ smartphone to be a bit, well ... too much. As goofy as Animojis may seem at first, the tech behind them is undeniably impressive. In fact, it's possibly the most technically advanced feature of the iPhone X.
It's finally that time. Stranger Things 2 dropped today, just days before Halloween. And to get you in the mood, Snapchat has quietly launched a spooky new filter that lets you immerse yourself in the world depicted in the hit Netflix series.
Typos are a constant annoyance that we all deal with thanks to the cramped touchscreen keyboards on smartphones. For many, nothing beats the feel of a good old physical keyboard when it comes to typing fast with minimal errors. Fortunately, WhatsApp has an awesome feature which lets you use their messaging service right on your computer.
Taking a cue form Snapchat, WhatsApp Status lets you share updates that come in the form of GIFs, photos, videos and good old text. This awesome feature is available for both iPhone and Android users, and it even lets you choose which contacts to share with while disappearing after 24 hours.
Apple Music, Apple's answer to Spotify, has many interesting features packed in to make that $9.99/month price tag as attractive as possible. One of those features is geared towards social listeners — those who want to follow other Apple Music users and who want to be followed back. But here's the thing: how do you know if your account is public or private?
Out of the box, when you shoot a photo on your iPhone using the stock Camera app, it will either shoot a normal or HDR photo. That's because Apple's high-dynamic-range setting is set to automatic by default. However, there's a button in the app so you can turn HDR on or off manually. While this HDR toggle persists in iOS 11 on the iPhone 7 models and older, it's not visible on the iPhone 8 or 8 Plus.
Most Android launchers limit you to three choices: Icons, widgets, and folders. It's better than nothing, but it's still pretty hard to find the best look without overcrowding your home screen. You could fill everything up with icons, but then you'd have an iPhone. You could toss everything into folders, but that would always require an extra tap. You could mix in some widgets, but that would take up valuable space. So what do you do? Action Launcher has the answer.
While the Mail app didn't get as much love from Apple in the iOS 11 update as Maps, Photos, Safari, Siri, Camera, Messages, Notes, and the App Store did, there are still a few new features you need to know about when emailing on your iPhone.
When you're flashing a custom ROM with TWRP recovery, it's almost never just one ZIP. Instead, you have to flash the ROM file, the Gapps, a custom kernel, and maybe even Xposed or Magisk, which results in a lot of back-and-forth. Thankfully, it doesn't have to be this way.
Developers in the augmented reality space are sitting on the bleeding edge of a hot technology. With the intense interest, especially in the tech circles, there are a large number of people working on potential solutions and uses for the technology. There is also a lot of time, money and effort being put in the tools and infrastructure for the technology. For better of for worse this also means constant changes.
Back in 2009, largely due to the sheer number of users demanding it, Spotify added an amazing little feature — the ability to disable volume normalization. While the feature is nothing more than a toggle on the visual front, the audible difference is far superior and moons apart.
Road trips almost always include unforeseen pit stops, which can take you way off track from your destination and end up causing massive delays. But if you rely on Waze for navigation, however, this issue is totally covered.
