Apps

Google’s Hold for Me feature will kill annoying delivery jingles

Published

October 1, 2020

Luigi Leonardo

If you were like us during this tempestuous lockdown season, you love (and still love) getting stuff delivered, whether it’s food or something new for the house. Unfortunately, despite our love for new things, one thing we still hate is an unending delivery hotline call. Yes, we mean those annoying-but-needlessly-catchy marketing jingles. (In fact, Sarah Geronimo’s Jollibee jingle is still ringing in my ears as I write this.)

Finally, Google has a solution for this work-from-home nightmare. Announced earlier today, the company is introducing a new functionality for calls on hold. The new Hold for Me feature will place Google Assistant in line for you whenever a hotline places you on hold. You don’t need to listen through 40 loops of hold music anymore.

Using Google’s Duplex AI, the Hold for Me feature will alert you — through a sound, a vibration, or a notification — when the call is ready for you. According to Google, Duplex technology can accurately detect if the hotline finally responds with either a recorded message or a human representative. Despite the need for AI processing, Google assures users that the company isn’t storing call data. All call data will remain inside the phone.

The feature is launching inside Google’s Phone app. Users can toggle the feature on or off through the Settings and activate it manually during calls.

For now, Google is launching the feature through an early preview in the new Pixel 5 and Pixel 4A 5G. Both smartphones will launch sometime in October and November.

Apps

Strava is suing Garmin over alleged patent infringements

They want Garmin to stop selling its watches.

Published

October 3, 2025

Luigi Leonardo

It’s always awkward when two of your close friends start to fight. For the fitness-minded, Strava and Garmin are what you might call close friends. And yes, they just got into a fight. In an odd change of heart, Strava is suing Garmin for alleged patent infringement.

The fitness segment in tech has one of the most tight-knit collections of companies. Despite how many of them there are, it’s highly likely that one will work with the other. Strava, for example, works well with Garmin’s smartwatches. The two giants were formerly adamant about working together.

Now, the situation has mysteriously changed. Strava is suing Garmin over patent infringements involving the latter’s segments and heatmaps features. The case also alleges that Garmin violated a Master Cooperation Agreement when the company developed its own heatmap technology.

For compensation, Strava is asking the courts to stop Garmin from selling any of its smartwatches which include the infringing features. That’s pretty concerning when most of Garmin’s devices have those features.

According to an official post on Reddit, the proverbial straw the broke the camel’s back is Garmin’s new policies. Partnered software must now include Garmin’s logo in activity posts. Otherwise, Garmin will reportedly revoke access to its API.

Curiously, as some commenters pointed out, Strava has done the same thing in the past. And, according to DC Rainmaker, who first spotted the case, Garmin doesn’t, in fact, require the logo.

It’s still up in the air whether the litigation will result into anything substantial. However, speculation says that Strava might eventually drop the case since Garmin can definitely retaliate.

Apps

Adobe Premiere now available for free on iPhone

Powerful, fast, and easy video editing for content creators on the go

Published

October 2, 2025

GadgetMatch

In a major development, Adobe has announced that Adobe Premiere is now available for free on Apple iPhone devices.

Optimized into a powerful new app built natively for iOS, Adobe Premiere for iPhone empowers creators to make pro-quality video on the go for free. Upgrades are available for additional generative credits and storage.

The Adobe Premiere mobile app makes it fast and intuitive for creators to edit videos with precision edits, crystal clear voiceovers, and AI effects.

They can likewise access millions of free multimedia assets and send work directly to Premiere desktop for further fine tuning on a larger display if needed.

Naturally, the mobile app is tailor-made for shortform content creation for YouTube (and Shorts), TikTok, Instagram, and more apps.

Meanwhile, streamers can select their best live moments for posting online. Podcasters can likewise clean up dialogue and add studio-quality sound effects on the go.

Among the Adobe Premiere mobile app’s powerful editing capabilities are:

4K HDR editing
frame-accurate editing
bold, animated captions
smooth speed and motion effects
background removal
AI audio tools for studio-quality sound, including Enhance Speech and Generative Sound Effects
free creative assets
one-tap exports to every major social platform

What about Android?

Android device user? Don’t worry. Premiere on Android is currently in development.

Apps

The cheaper YouTube Premium Lite finally enters the Philippines

Get rid of ads for a cheaper price.

Published

October 1, 2025

Luigi Leonardo

As it stands, YouTube Premium might be one of the most bang-for-your-buck subscriptions out there. Besides getting rid of ads on the main platform, a subscription also gives users access to YouTube Music Premium. But what if you don’t care about YouTube’s music services? For that, here comes YouTube Premium Lite.

At only PhP 109 per month, YouTube Premium Lite offers only one thing for subscribers: ad-free viewing. Well, mostly.

While the original subscription will keep all videos ad-free, the new tier offers “most videos ad-free.” Users won’t get ads on ads on videos across “gaming, comedy, cooking, learning, and more.” However, they might still see some ads on music content and Shorts.

The subscription also won’t give users access to YouTube Music Premium. It also won’t allow downloads or background play. As the name says, it’s a Lite subscription.

YouTube started experimenting with the lighter subscription tier early this year. At first, the platform introduced the tier to a few countries. Now, after experimenting with the tier, it is coming to more countries just as it was advertised in the past.

The finalized version of the tier looks pretty much identical to the experimental version. Except, of course, the version in the Philippines is much cheaper than the one abroad.