Apps & Services
Google Chat Gets Major Makeover for Android and iOS
Google Chats announced a major revamp is going to roll out on Android and iOS devices, which is going to better complement its new icon. With the introduction of a new visual layout and navigation system, the latest update brings a new bottom navigation bar with four distinctive sections and tabs.
Meanwhile, in the earlier version, there were only two tab sections, including Chats and Spaces, respectively, within its mobile version. With correspondence to the newest update, the four tabs include a Home tab, Direct messages, Spaces, and Mentions.
To begin with, the first tab is the Home tab, which helps users get a much better and more unified view of their conversations, along with a new filter that helps to access all unread messages. Next is the Direct Messages tab, which allows users to view their 1:1 as well as group messages by also including their pinned conversations.
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Coming to the third tab, Spaces, which helps users see a streamlined list of their spaces with all their pinned conversations, Apart from this, there’s a last Mentions tab that allows users to conveniently find their messages as well as conversations where they have been mentioned.
By sharing how exactly the recent update will look within the integrated Gmail mobile app, Google states that now there will only be a single Chat tab among the email and Google Meet, rather than two tabs, Chats and Spaces, in the bottom bar.
While the above-mentioned four new tabs will now appear in a floating pill-shaped container placed just above the bottom bar, with a new FAB, or floating action button, moved towards the right side, Whereas in the bottom bar, you will now see an unread badge for every tab, along with a unified count for each.
However, Google is yet to clear the exact design for the standalone Google Chat app and whether it will adopt the same structural revamp to the Gmail integration or whether it will retain just a conventional bottom bar as well as FAB.
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Additionally, this revamp of Google Chat comes soon after the platform released the Chat Bubbles feature, and it will gradually roll out the major revamp on Android and iOS users in the coming weeks, available for all the Google Workspace customers and the users having their personal Google Accounts.
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.