Remember Photo Booth on Mac and iOS? It still exists, but there was a of time where everyone was using it. And why not? It was so cool to take photos with any background imaginable. Underwater? Check. On the moon? Of course. Now, Instagram wants to bring back the fun by introducing AR backgrounds for stories.
To make its services more accessible to regions with limited bandwidth, Spotify has rolled out with a leaner, stripped down version of its music streaming app. The aptly named Spotify Lite has been released for Android devices in 36 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, but you can try out the app right now thanks to a simple workaround.
Comparing the present-day states of the consumer and enterprise sectors of augmented reality is like evaluating the merits of sports car versus work trucks. Like consumer AR, sports cars are sexy and exciting, but perhaps a bit impractical at times. On the other hand, enterprise AR is utilitarian, but it gets the job done and, in the long run, pays for itself.
After showing off a prototype of the Grordbattle multiplayer first-person shooter at the Game Developer Conference, Magic Leap has added a new Shared World feature in version 0.95.0 of the Lumin OS update released this week.
Now that the NCAA Basketball Tournament is underway, 7-Eleven has decided to launch an augmented reality experience to remind basketball fans where they can quench their thirst throughout March Madness.
After some social media teasing, the Star Wars universe's Magic Leap debut has finally arrived. On Tuesday, Magic Leap announced the release of Star Wars: Project Prog, which is available for free via Magic Leap World.
Snapchat and Snap Camera aren't the only augmented reality apps available for couples to use on Valentine's Day.
Mobile augmented reality company Snapchat now has a special option for romantic message exchanging this Valentine's Day, a day which, incidentally, happens to be the first one in 116 years where Sweethearts, the original heart-shaped candy, will be unavailable for purchase.
Dark mode support has steadily made its way to mainstream acceptance, with big-name apps like YouTube, Reddit, and Twitter adopting the feature to satisfy user demands. In this regard, Facebook is lagging, yet to offer the sought-after feature for easier viewing in low-light conditions. If your iPhone is jailbroken, however, you don't have to suffer like everyone else.
Simulated training can help soldiers and sailors learn how to use their weapons safely, but simulations can sometimes lack the stressful environment of a real firefight.
It looks like the Harry Potter version of Pokémon GO won't appear in 2018 after all, as the company has decided pushed the game's release to 2019.
Apple's stock Podcasts app in iOS remains my go-to for all of my podcast-listening needs, but skipping around during an episode can be frustrating. Scrubbing audio along the timeline is often an imprecise maneuver, which is why the skip buttons can be so useful and efficient. Without customizing skip lengths, however, you may find yourself tapping far more than you need to.
Google subsidiary Owlchemy Labs has cooked up an experimental ARCore mobile app that enables smartphone users to follow along with their VR friends as they play games in a head-mounted display.
In an ongoing effort to improve its services and become more accessible to users from all regions, Facebook has released a streamlined version of its social media app. Though the leaner Facebook Lite is only officially available in Turkey for now, there's a simple workaround you can use to get the app in any country.
Four months after unveiling the latest productivity apps for the HoloLens, Microsoft now has a series of compelling real-world use case videos showing how the augmented reality device and its apps are helping oil giant Chevron.
Already one of the leaders in augmented reality for cosmetics, L'Oréal is extending the reach of its ModiFace virtual try-on platform through a partnership with Facebook.
The narrative that Magic Leap has weaved for the Magic Leap One has focused on the freedom of spatial computing versus dated modes of 2D screens.
Users on Instagram have taken the app's new "Questions" sticker and run with it — it's tough to find a story in your feed that doesn't proudly sport "Ask me a question." However, it appears there's some confusion when it comes to the anonymity of your answers to these questions. News flash — your username is attached to every response.
One of the best features in the Apple News app is the ability to save stories for later. If you see an interesting or important article but don't have time to read it right away, there's a good chance you'll never find it again unless you save it. Ever since News' birth in iOS 9, accessing these bookmarked stories was as easy as going to the "Saved" tab, but that's no longer the case in iOS 12.
Your Instagram bio could always be used to link to other websites or profiles or just to show off your witty personality. Now, you also have the ability to use this section to tag other Instagram accounts as well as add tappable hashtags. Whether you want to link out to your best friend, company, or the latest trend in your city — if it has a profile name or tag, it can be in your bio.
Snap Inc.'s dedication to augmented reality has expanded the world lenses in Snapchat to our own Bitmojis. While it's great to see our characters interacting with real environments, we haven't seen them connect to other Bitmoji in AR space. That all changes with "3D Friendmojis," a lens from Snapchat that lets you stage scenes between your Bitmoji and a friend's.
Famed musician and composer Brian Eno is giving the air guitar and drumming crowd the means to make music from their gesturing through the Microsoft HoloLens.
Augmented reality software maker 8th Wall has closed a Series A funding round of $8 million in capital to feed the growth of its development platform.
For some, going to the dentist can be a terrifying experience, but a new use of augmented reality could go a long way toward making the trip feel more like it's worth the orthodontic angst.
Sometimes I'm convinced Google has ADHD. They'll create a great product, then get distracted by the next moonshot and never put the finishing touches on their last project. Case in point, you can't just cast a playlist of your subscriptions from YouTube to Chromecast, even though that's how many people prefer to use YouTube.
What happens when somebody sends you Apple Pay Cash inside of an iMessage? Do you have to add it to your Apple Pay Cash card on your iPhone manually or does it miraculously appear there automatically?
You might be proficient at sending your family and friends money using Apple Pay Cash on your iPhone, but what about when you need some digital currency in your wallet to buy in-app purchases or to get back the money you spent on someone's lunch? Requesting some Apple Pay Cash can be done a few different ways, none of which are hard.
Now that Apple Pay Cash has arrived, you (hopefully) might end up getting sent some money right from inside an iMessage. If so, that money gets added to your Apple Pay Cash card in iOS 11.2, which you can use just like any other card in your digital wallet. If you're not so lucky, you can still add money to the card yourself without having to wait for a contact to send you money first.
From media insiders to the halls of politics, news travels fast on Twitter, making it one of the most powerful social media channels for disseminating or collecting information. Now, for better or for worse, you can immerse yourself in the data firehose of Twitter in augmented reality.
Move over Venmo, Apple Pay Cash is here, and it's built right into iMessage. If you're like us, you've been eagerly waiting to give this new feature a try on your iPhone ever since Apple announced it during WWDC 2017 back in June. While it was never released in the main iOS 11 update, it finally showed up in iOS 11.2.
On Wednesday, Snap, Inc. unveiled a revamp of its Snapchat app that draws a hard line between content from your friends and content from professional media organizations.
Augmented reality headset maker DAQRI has collaborated with the US Navy to outfit the company's Smart Helmet device for use on battleships.
Pinning a tweet to your profile is a fantastic way to get people to view and engage with your most important content on Twitter. In fact, it could very well be the best way to improve your overall Twitter strategy.
Bixby — Samsung's voice-activated digital assistant — has been delayed again because the software still can't recognize English. Although Samsung claims Bixby can execute 15,000 tasks, it appears it's inability to master English is a major obstacle that's preventing its full release in the United States.
Mobile wallet Curve just released a new feature that lets you correct past mistakes. Sounds incredible, right? Unfortunately, the mistakes you can erase aren't things like forgetting to do an assignment in school, screwing up a job interview, or, well, your ex. However, you can switch the card you want to use to pay even after you've paid with Curve, and that's still pretty cool.
The Stories feature on Instagram has a pretty great editing program, and it's one that I think is extremely undervalued. Instagram Stories goes beyond just its Snapchat-like features, but also allows you to create more creative and original content to post on your actual profile page.
If you're like me and you typically find yourself scrolling through Twitter before bed, you will be psyched about this new update for Android.
Instagram Stories is one of the most flexible ways to share creative and original content with your followers. It allows you to alter text, markup images, and add cool graphics and stickers, along with other fun ways of expressing yourself.
We are totally buggin' about Pinterest's update to their Lens. I know, I had to.
So, according to Sprout Social, mentioning an Instagram handle in the caption of your posts increases audience engagement by up to 56 percent. If true, that's pretty impressive.
