Topic: feature availability
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Unlock Third-Party Assistants on iPhone With iOS 26.2
Apple will allow Japanese iPhone users to set third-party voice assistants like Gemini or Alexa as the default option for the Side Button, moving beyond Siri. This change is a direct response to Japan’s Mobile Software Competition Act, which mandates that platform holders must provide access to c...
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Strava Locks Popular Year in Sport Recap Behind Paywall
Strava has moved its popular annual Year in Sport recap behind a paywall for the first time, a significant shift that has frustrated its free-user community. Users and critics have widely condemned the decision as greedy and exploitative, arguing it monetizes user-generated data instead of adding...
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GM Ditches Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in All New Vehicles
General Motors is eliminating Apple CarPlay and Android Auto from all new vehicles, prioritizing its own infotainment system across both electric and gasoline-powered models. The transition is being implemented gradually with each new model launch and major refresh due to the impracticality of up...
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Google's 'Ask Photos' Missing in Some States Due to Face Grouping
Google's Ask Photos and conversational editing features are unavailable in Illinois and Texas due to the absence of the face grouping functionality, which relies on biometric data collection. The unavailability is linked to legal challenges under biometric privacy laws, including BIPA in Illinois...
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Google Tests Cross-Location Posts for Business Profiles
Google is testing a new feature for Business Profiles that allows administrators to share the same update across multiple locations from a single interface, streamlining content management and ensuring brand consistency. The feature includes a "Copy post" prompt after publishing an update, enabli...
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Google Shifts Google Ads API to Monthly Release Cycle
Google will introduce a monthly release cycle for the Google Ads API starting in 2026, providing more frequent updates and features for developers and advertisers. The new schedule includes three to four major releases annually, each supported for one year, along with minor updates to ensure smoo...
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Can't Find Your ChatGPT Recap? Here's How to Get It
OpenAI has launched a personalized year-end recap for all ChatGPT users, similar to Spotify Wrapped, which highlights key themes from their past conversations with the AI. To access the feature, users must have previously enabled "Reference saved memories" and "Reference chat history" settings, a...
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Google Phone Beta Adds Urgent Calls That Override DND
Google's Phone app beta introduces "Expressive Calling," a feature that allows users to mark a call as urgent, overriding a recipient's Do Not Disturb settings to ensure notification. The urgent call functionality requires both parties to use the beta app (version 203), displaying a clear "It's u...
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Meta Introduces AI-Powered Summaries for WhatsApp
WhatsApp's new AI tool in the U.S. summarizes unread messages while preserving end-to-end encryption, offering users a quick way to catch up on chats without privacy risks. The feature uses Private Processing technology to keep all data local, ensuring neither WhatsApp nor Meta accesses the messa...
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Android 16 QPR3 Brings 'Screen Automation' to Pixel 10
Android 16 QPR3 Beta 2 introduces a new "Screen automation" permission, strongly indicating Google is developing a mobile version of its Gemini AI's "computer use" feature for Pixel phones. The permission would allow approved apps, currently only the Google app, to view and interact with other ap...
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Fitbit's AI Health Coach Now Available for iPhone
Fitbit's AI-powered personal health coach, initially for Android in the US, is now expanding to iPhone users in the US and to both iOS and Android users in several other countries. The feature, powered by Google's Gemini AI, analyzes user data to provide personalized fitness guidance, routines, a...
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Google's AI Is Reshaping Your Gmail Inbox
Google is launching a new AI Inbox feature for Gmail that uses artificial intelligence to generate personalized to-dos and summaries from emails, aiming to transform the inbox into an active assistant. The feature is initially available to a select group of U.S. testers on personal web accounts, ...
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Google Pixel's UWB Tracker Flaw: Older Models Struggle
Only Google Pixel 8 Pro and newer Pro models support ultra-wideband (UWB) technology for precise item tracking, excluding older Pro devices with the same hardware. Google has not publicly explained why UWB is disabled on earlier flagship phones like the Pixel 6 Pro and 7 Pro, despite confirming t...
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Claude's New AI File Feature: Built-In Security Risks Exposed
Anthropic's new file creation tool for Claude AI enables users to generate documents like Excel and PowerPoint files but introduces significant security risks, including potential data exposure to external servers. The tool operates in a sandboxed environment with internet access, making it vulne...
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WhatsApp Now Offers AI-Powered Message Summaries
WhatsApp launched an AI-powered message summary feature, using Meta AI to generate concise bullet-point summaries of unread chats, accessible via the unread messages button. The feature is currently available in English for U.S. users, with plans to expand, and ensures privacy through Private Pro...
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Text Photos Directly to Aura Frames
Aura's digital photo frames now feature a "text to frame" function, allowing approved contacts to send photos via standard text message without needing an app or account, making sharing more accessible. Frame owners control privacy by linking their phone number and pre-approving contacts; only im...
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How to Block Grok From Editing Your Photos
X has introduced a new iOS setting allowing users to block image modifications by the Grok chatbot when it is tagged in replies, a feature created in response to past misuse for generating inappropriate images. The toggle offers limited protection, as it does not prevent other editing methods, su...
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Audible Syncs Ebooks and Audiobooks for Seamless Reading
Audible has launched an "immersion reading" feature that synchronizes audiobook narration with highlighted ebook text to enhance focus and comprehension. The tool benefits those with wandering attention and language learners by combining audio and visual input, and it supports a vast multilingual...
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Never Lose Your Place: Spotify's AI Recaps Your Audiobook
Spotify has launched an AI-powered feature called Recaps that generates summaries of audiobook content, helping listeners resume their place and encouraging book completion. The feature is currently available on iOS for select English audiobooks, requiring 15-20 minutes of listening to activate, ...
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Spotify Launches Premium Platinum with Lossless Audio
Spotify has introduced three new subscription tiers—Premium Lite, Standard, and Platinum—in India, Indonesia, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa, tailoring options to different user needs and budgets. The plans vary in features and pricing, with Premium Lite offering ad-free streaming, Stand...
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X limits Grok AI image creation to premium users after backlash
X has restricted its Grok AI image generator to paying subscribers after it was widely misused to create non-consensual, sexualized imagery, prompting international government scrutiny. The tool's misuse, including creating unauthorized explicit images of children and public figures, led to forma...
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Google Tests New "Analytics Advisor" Feature in GA4
Google Analytics 4 is introducing an AI-powered conversational interface called Analytics Advisor, which helps users get answers, find reports, and receive educational guidance directly within the platform. The feature aims to make advanced analytics more accessible by providing quick insights wi...
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iOS Beta Suggests Notifications for Third-Party Watches
Evidence in iOS 26.1 beta suggests Apple is developing a native "notification forwarding" feature to allow iPhone alerts on non-Apple wearables, a function currently limited to the Apple Watch. The feature is likely a response to the EU's Digital Markets Act, which pressures Apple to improve inte...
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Spotify's New 'Exclusive Mode' Enhances Audiophile Sound on Windows
Spotify has launched an "Exclusive Mode" for Premium subscribers on Windows, designed to deliver higher-fidelity sound by bypassing the operating system's audio processing. The feature enables "Bit Perfect playback," sending the original digital audio data directly to an external DAC, but it mute...
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Zoom Meetings Now Auto-Create Slides and Sheets
Zoom is expanding beyond video conferencing by launching AI-powered Slides and Sheets, powered by its AI Companion, to compete with major productivity suites and enhance workplace collaboration. The platform is introducing advanced security features, including real-time deepfake detection for mee...
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Google Ads Streamlines Product Campaign Tracking
Google Ads has launched a new dashboard to centralize product listing management, providing a consolidated view of campaign eligibility, issues, and trends to streamline workflow. The update enables advertisers to quickly identify critical gaps, such as products missing from key campaigns, and pr...
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Windows 11 Store Adds Ninite-Style Bulk App Installer
The Microsoft Store web version now allows Windows 11 users to create a single installer package for downloading and installing up to 16 applications simultaneously, streamlining the setup of new computers. This feature resembles third-party tools like Ninite and is currently limited to a curated...
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iOS 26.4 Release Notes: What's New and Fixed
Apple has released the final beta versions of iOS 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4, indicating a public launch is imminent and detailing the update's new features. Apple Music receives major updates, including a beta feature to create playlists from text descriptions, a new Concerts hub, and offline song rec...
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Galaxy S26 May Block Spam Calls Using Google AI
Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S26 series will be the first non-Google phones to integrate Google's AI-powered Scam Detection feature for smarter, on-device call screening. The feature will leverage Google's Gemini Nano AI model, processing calls locally on the phone's hardware to enhance user privacy...
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Google Search Console's Branded Queries Filter Now Available to All Sites
Google Search Console now provides a native branded queries filter for all eligible websites, automatically separating traffic from brand-specific searches versus general discovery, eliminating the need for manual workarounds. The filter categorizes queries as branded (including name variations a...
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ChatGPT Creates Interactive Visuals for Math & Science
OpenAI has upgraded ChatGPT with interactive visual modules that allow users to manipulate formulas and variables in real time to better understand complex math and science concepts. The feature currently supports over 70 topics, is available to logged-in users, and represents a strategic shift t...
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Twitter's AI Can Edit Anyone's Images Without Consent
Twitter has integrated a one-click AI image editing feature directly into its platform, making sophisticated image manipulation instantly accessible from any public post containing a standard static image. The tool is broadly available across all account types and feeds, but is currently limited ...
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