Apps & Services
WhatsApp Channels launch globally, bringing new ways to connect with people and communities
Following the announcement of WhatsApp channels in June, the service has now begun to roll out in 150 countries worldwide. In an effort to broaden its range of services for users, WhatsApp, which is owned by Meta, shared an announcement on September 13 that it will roll out its broadcast-based messaging feature channels to more than 150 other countries over the coming weeks. The functionality allows individuals and groups to communicate with followers of their accounts by sending them text, images, videos, stickers, and polls. These channels feature famous people, athletic groups, creative individuals, and influential people.
The launch of the update was announced by Mark Zuckerberg on his brand new WhatsApp channel, adding that he is thrilled to bring a private method to get information from the individuals and organizations that users follow and from Mark’s own channel for disseminating news and updates about Meta. WhatsApp also brings in other enhancements, such as the ability to find channels to subscribe to that are automatically filtered depending on your country in the enhanced directory. Users may also browse the most recent, active, and well-liked channels. Emojis can be used as reactions to express opinions and to keep track of how many people have done so.
Followers cannot see how you respond, but the number of reactions and their type are visible. Soon, admins will be able to make changes to their updates for up to 30 days before WhatsApp automatically erases them from their servers. When you forward an update to chats or groups, a link back to the channel is included so that people may learn more. In order to preserve user privacy, the channel owner’s phone number won’t be made public. The Indian Cricket Team, Diljit Dosanjh, Netflix, Billboard, and Mark Zuckerberg are some of the first groups of channels that will be made available to WhatsApp users.
Instagram has brought several new stickers for the stories that will give users more creativity in creating stories. Whether you want to share your favorite song of the day or create your own custom stickers from your photos or videos, the new stickers will give more options to highlight the stories. Let’s explore all the new stickers and understand how we can use them.
Customize Music
Music stickers bring the utility of adding your favorite song to the stories, and now, to make it more interesting, they have grabbed the new ability for your followers to add their music to the same stories shared by you.
Highlight your stories with a new frame sticker
When you share precious memories or want to bring any special moment into the spotlight, you can use the new frame sticker that turns it into instant print. To reveal the content inside, your followers will have to shake their phones to develop the image.
Get more engagement with the new reveal sticker
Instagram users can post a hidden photo on the Instagram story and attach the reveal sticker to it. This will provide an interesting way for followers to uncover the stories by just messaging and tapping on the sticker. These tools will work as the ultimate attention grabber and will play an important role in gaining engagement.
Add cutouts to stories to make them more interesting
With the new cutout feature, users can easily make a cutout of their own photos and add it to any casual photos, which will provide a new way to make the stores more interesting and reveal the creativity they share with their friends and followers.
Availability of new stickers
Meta has officially rolled out all the stickers for Instagram users, but if you haven’t received them yet, it is advised to install them to update the application to the latest version. If you don’t revise the changes even after updating the application to the latest version, then you should wait some more time as it serves it with other features.
Samsung is preparing to introduce its new’smart forward’ service, which will leverage SmartThings to continuously update its SmartThings-connected smart home devices.
For your information, Smart Forward Service aims to provide regular and continuous software updates and offers fresh features to the products, irrespective of their debut in their market, whether they are new or old.
The latest development, the new smart forward update, brings some new features to several smart home-based devices, including the Bespoke refrigerator, 4-door family hub, Bespoke air dresser, and dehumidifier.
For the Family Hub refrigerators that were released after 2017, the latest 2024 model of the bespoke family hub was applied, including the functionality to quickly view photos and videos saved on your smartphone through the ‘Quick Share’ function on the refrigerator’s screen. Along with this, you can also run the ‘YouTube’ app right away to enjoy the content you want. Apart from this, it also gives the functionality to continue watching on the internet while the refrigerator screams from the smartphone.
The dehumidifier devices released last year now feature a “custom dying” function that automatically dries the interiors, making it more convenient to remove humidity regardless of the weather.
Meanwhile, the Bespoke Air Dressers released last year will take advantage of the ‘AI saving mode’ option. This feature will optimize Air Dressers’ energy consumption and help users save up to 15% of energy. However, it is worth noticing that when you use the AI saving mode, it may increase the drying time.
Samsung has released a new update for the “Samsung Core Services” application, version 3.1.01.1. With the latest update, the company has brought many significant changes to its applications, but they will surely improve their functionality.
According to the changelog, the latest update for the Samsung Core Services application includes new improvements, minor bug fixes, and some device performance enhancements.
For your information, Samsung Core Services is an application that provides the primary features used by Samsung applications quickly and easily through application updates, as opposed to software updates.
If you want to get the constant service of the Korean giant’s original application, then you should keep the “Samsung Core Services” application up-to-date. To do that, simply go to the Galaxy Store, select the menu option, then tap on the update option. If the update is available, tap the update button.
For starters, the Samsung Core Services application gives several utility options, such as Samsung Search. It provides a device search engine platform that enhances the functionality of various Samsung applications, including Contacts, Settings, and Finder. Along with this, the application also offers query suggestions to users, manages the incoming message, and extracts the verification to provide inline suggestions in the keyboard.