Apps

Dotpict is a fun app to start making pixel art

Or make pixel chicken scratch

Published

January 21, 2019

Leez

Dotpict is a pixel art painting app by Masaki Mitsuyama that makes the tedious job of working pixel by pixel a little bit easier. The app features a pen tip you can navigate to fill every pixel with your color of choice, an easily accessible and customizable palette below your pixel canvas, and a push button to select the pixel you want to work with.

Here come excuses

I’ve been ill for about two weeks with the flu and I was trying to find some way to feel less like a vegetable in bed having absolutely nothing to contribute. So, I went on Google Play looking for a game or an app to fill the time. I quickly found dotpict on my recommended apps. I installed it and quickly lost interest.

Attempts at pixel drawing

Alright, dotpict looks like a ton of fun and it can be. When I first began, it was daunting. I was decent at doodles and all, but creating pixel drawings was a little, if not significantly, different. It demands a ton of your attention and it doesn’t really help when you have the attention span of a goldfish.

Either way, the other works posted on the app are a mix of silly attempts and gorgeous creations which can tear through you with the reality that you may never be able to make works the likes of these amazing artists. For example, my first work:

My first attempt: not too bad?

As you can see, mistakes were made. I’m not too proud of this piece if I’m being honest. I was a little too ambitious on making pixel characters I grew up playing — to which I’d obviously not done a great job. From this point on, I ignored the app for a couple of days. I couldn’t quite grasp how to create pixel art.

I tried again and managed to draw this!

My second attempt

This was about a week into my flu. I’d gotten absolutely nothing done and I was tantalizingly close to bashing my head to scare the flu off its depressed host. I know, it is quite morbid, but being sick isn’t fun when you have tasks you want and need to get done. I was just at wit’s end and thought I’d give dotpict another try before I gave it a hard pass. To which, I’m happy I did because I did quite alright.

Features that help beginners

The app isn’t quite forgiving when it comes to making it easier for you if you want to design detailed pieces. It does help you with all the items you need to get started though. For starters, if you’re bored and want to fill the time, you can doodle on dotpict. Secondly, the bucket tool is a lifesaver — nobody wants to fill 20 pixels one by one. Thirdly, the palette lets you switch colors easily so you don’t have to have to spend a ton of time working with one color at a time.

From chicken scratch to this! This is my favorite and most tedious work yet: a pixel art of a scene in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

A ton of squinting?

Dotpict is a fun app — if you’re the type to obsess over details. It takes a bit of squinting sometimes when you’re eyeing the tiniest details and can’t seem to see the bigger picture. If that’s not you, it’s the perfect app to challenge you to be patient and precise. It lets you take your time and if you need a break, it autosaves your work so you can come back worry-free. If you want to give dotpict a try, it’s free for both Android and iOS.

Apps

Meta quietly launches Forum app for Facebook Groups

The app highlights discussions from Facebook Groups.

Published

May 22, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

Since the rise of other platforms, Facebook Groups haven’t enjoyed as much popularity anymore. Despite this (or maybe even to help with this), Meta has unleashed an all-new app called Forum.

Designed specifically with Facebook Groups in mind, Forum collates discussions from Groups that the user might be interested in. Much like the websites of the same name from the 2000s, the app wants to feature conversations, rather than canned content that the algorithm shoves towards users on the main Facebook feed.

Users can also ask questions. Forum will sift through real discussions to find an answer. The closest analog today is searching Reddit for troubleshooting questions to get answers based on human experience. The main feed of the new app, however, feels more in tune with Quora’s concept.

That said, it’s a refreshing way to bring social media back to human-made feeds. It’s also a stark admission that the main Facebook feed (and, frankly, Instagram too) is just too inundated with content that users are not interested in.

Lately, Instagram also made the same admission by launching its own “lightweight” app called Instants. Like Forum, Instants was made to recapture the essence of Instagram before the rise of the almighty algorithm.

Forum, however, was launched with much less fanfare than Instants. There was no announcement. Rather, it’s just a casual drop from out of nowhere. The app is available now on the App Store and the Play Store.

Apps

Apple Sports: Free app expands globally ahead of World Cup

Personalized, intuitive experience to get fans ready for the World Cup

Published

May 20, 2026

GadgetMatch

Apple has expanded the availability of its free Apple Sports iPhone app to more than 90 new countries and regions.

This brings the app’s total global footprint to over 170 markets. The massive expansion comes just weeks before the kickoff of the 2026 FIFA World Cup this June.

It only means the standalone app is positioned as the primary real-time tracking fan for millions of football fans worldwide.

The rollout shifts Apple’s strategy toward global sports integration by providing the utility completely free of charge on the App Store.

A massive influx of international users are expected to use the app, as it provides a more direct experience — eliminating the need for third-party score tracking platforms.

As part of the personalized, real-time FIFA World Cup coverage, the app is introducing dedicated tournament features.

This includes allowing users to explore group stage standings, follow specific national teams, and view the current bracket through tournament bracket view.

In addition, visual formations for each team’s starting lineup will be provided ahead of every match.

Apple Sports is also tailored for those who have an entire ecosystem of Apple devices. The app can deliver real-time updates directly to a user’s iPhone Lock Screen and Apple Watch.

Fans can further add widgets to their iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Home Screens, and jump easily into the Apple TV app with a single tap to find live matches.

Apps

Netflix expands its cheaper ad-supported tier to Southeast Asia

This also includes more countries in Europe and South America.

Published

May 15, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

If you don’t care about seeing a deluge of ads on your platforms, you’re an incredibly rare breed these days. That same skill will come in handy for those nicely priced subscription tiers that comes with ads. Netflix, for one, has one of those tiers, and it’s now coming out in more countries.

As is prevalent in other platforms today, an ad-supported subscription tier lowers the price you have to pay every month. The catch, however, is that there will be an occasional sprinkling of ads here and there.

Netflix offers this service, which allows subscribers to get the service for cheap at the expense of their time. Currently, it is limited to only a few major markets in the world. However, the platform is expanding the tier’s reach to more countries in Europe, South America, and Southeast Asia.

Starting in 2027, Netflix’s ad-supported tier will expand to 15 countries: Austria, Belgium, Colombia, Denmark, Indonesia, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, and Thailand.

Netflix says that the ad-supported tier is a popular option for subscribers. Currently, the tier has around 250 million subscribers worldwide. Since some of the new countries have a more budget-conscious attitude when it comes to purchasing services, this number will likely go up after the expansion in 2027.