Apps and Software

Facebook Dating, the social network’s competitor to Tinder and other dating apps, launches today in Europe after a long delay from its planned Valentine’s Day debut. The dating service offers the same features in Europe as it does in the US, using the existing profile you’ve created on Facebook to find potential matches. Facebook tailors … Read more Facebook Dating launches in Europe after February delay

Apple continues to have trouble with its new default app settings in iOS 14 and iPadOS 14. After it was discovered that power cycling devices would flip the defaults for email and web browser back to Apple’s own apps, the company quickly patched that issue. But now it’s been reported — and The Verge has … Read more iOS 14 resets default email and browser apps after App Store updates

Adobe is releasing Illustrator for the iPad today, delivering a streamlined version of its desktop vector graphics app that’s been redesigned to work with touch controls and a stylus. Just about everything you’d expect from a mobile version of Illustrator is here, from the pen, pencil, and brush tools, to layers, properties, and grid options, … Read more Adobe Illustrator for the iPad is now available

Google will discontinue its emergency location sharing app Trusted Contacts in December, and has already yanked it from the Google Play Store. Instead, it’s directing existing users to try similar but less helpful features in Google Maps. That’s a shame, because while Trusted Contacts could let you find a family member even if they don’t … Read more Google kills off app that let you find loved ones’ location during an emergency

A judge in San Francisco said Thursday she’s not likely to lift a temporary block on the US government’s attempts to ban WeChat. US Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler responded to the Trump administration’s request for a stay of her September 20th preliminary injunction, which prevents the government from halting new downloads of WeChat in the … Read more Judge in WeChat case appears unlikely to allow US ban to move forward

Google detailed a host of new improvements at its “Search On” event that it will make to its foundational Google search service in the coming weeks and months. The changes are largely focused on using new AI and machine learning techniques to provide better search results for users. Chief among them: a new spell checking … Read more Google search is getting new AI tools to decipher your terrible spelling

Twitter has been experiencing an outage that began in the early evening on Thursday, with some users reporting problems sending tweets and refreshing their timelines starting shortly after 5:30PM ET. Just after 7PM ET, tweets began to cross our timelines, and things may be returning to normal. “We have no evidence of a security breach … Read more Twitter’s massive outage may be over, company says ‘no evidence’ of hack

Microsoft is making some firm commitments to the future of app stores on Windows today. The software giant has published 10 principles it’s adopting as promises to app developers, including that it won’t block competing stores on the platform or block specific business models an app may use to make money. The principles also cover … Read more Microsoft hits out at Apple with its new Windows app store policies

After an escalating series of viral stunts, internet collective MSCHF is taking on advertising itself. On Monday, the collective posted a series of jingles on TikTok aimed as a broadside against the primary source of funding for social networks. Some of the jingles call out the general concept, while others take on specific brands the … Read more MSCHF is going to pay people to hate on brands using viral TikToks

Panasonic has released an official Lumix webcam app, as first spotted by PetaPixel. The software, still in beta since its quiet release late last month, lets you plug your camera into your Mac or Windows machine and have it recognized as a video source in apps like Google Meet and Zoom. Panasonic’s official software replaces … Read more Panasonic’s new Lumix tool turns your camera into a webcam