Apps

Shopee’s 3.15 Consumer Day is the first mega sale of the year

Exciting deals await!

Published

March 10, 2022

GadgetMatch

The first mega sale of the year is here! Shopee decks out 3.15 Consumer Day to bring more value and joy to all shoppers.

Happening on March 15, the mega sale event will feature the widest variety of products. On top of it, the event will offer Free Shipping with zero minimum spend, PhP 1 deals, and 10 percent off daily.

Meanwhile, new users can enjoy a 100 percent discount voucher with PhP 90 minimum spend at PhP 90 maximum discount. There’s also a free shipping voucher with zero minimum spend, exclusive PhP 1 deals, and free welcome gifts from Shopee and brand partners.

Discovering new brands

This 3.15 Consumer Day, Shopee Mall will offer a sampling counter starting March 15. Try sample-size products from best-selling brands like Johnson & Johnson, Uni-care, COSRX, Trizie, and AHC Philippines — and even get a free voucher if you decide to purchase the regular-sized product.

There will also be the Midnight Brand Parade and hourly branded price drops. During the first two hours of the event, shoppers can look forward to storewide discounts from their favorite brands such as Pampers, realme, OPPO, adidas, Unilever Beauty, and Deerma.

To know more about the hourly price drops, regularly check the Shopee app where top brands will offer limited-time flash deals on their best-selling products.

Exclusive discounts for new buyers and loyalists

Curious consumers can look forward to welcome vouchers on their first purchase from their favorite brands on Shopee Mall. This is Shopee’s incentive so more customers discover the wide assortment of brands under its platform.

Loyalists, on the other hand, get to enjoy a more rewarding shopping experience if they sign up for the Brand Membership Program of their choice. Currently, over 80 brands under the program will offer its members double the rewards point for purchases made at the event.

Exciting deals with ShopeePay

This month, there are more reasons to use ShopeePay! For instance, you can enjoy 20 percent cashback when you scan to pay at ShopeePay’s partner merchants such as Potato Corner, Puregold, National Bookstore, The Generics Pharmacy, and more.

You can also checkout PhP 1 deals and redeem discounts in stores. On 3.15 Consumer Day, you can take advantage of 50 percent off on load across all networks and up to 100 percent cashback on bills payment.

Further, you can get a chance to win PhP 100,000 when you send money to any bank or to any Shopee user.

Lots of celebrations waiting

Shopee also launches its #ShopeeCelebratesYou campaign, surprising and delighting its biggest fans on social media. Users stand a chance to win big prizes by taking part in various activities and contests across Shopee’s official platforms. Moreover, Filipino Primetime Queen Marian Rivera has joined Shopee as its newest brand ambassador.

For more information about Shopee 3.15 Consumer Day, visit shopee.ph/m/consumer-day. Download Shopee for free on App Store or Google Play Store.

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.

Apps

Google might limit free storage to only 5GB

The change will affect new users.

Published

May 15, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

Google One is a monthly subscription that gives you at least 200GB of cloud storage for your files and photos. For most people, a Google One subscription starts when Google inevitably tells them that their free storage space is running out and will soon stop backing up files. Starting today, new users might get that warning sooner rather than later as Google tests a lower limit to free storage.

Historically, Google offers users 15GB of free storage as a start. However, especially these days, 15GB can run out rapidly, prompting a Google One upgrade. Still, despite how “little” it is, Google’s free storage is generous compared to its contemporaries.

Now, Google is reportedly going to be more at par with the rest. As spotted on Reddit (via 9to5Google), new users will receive only 5GB of free storage. Based on Wayback Machine, the company changed its policy sometime between February to March.

Notably, 15GB is still available as an option, but users have to link their phone numbers to their accounts first.

According to Google, the policy change is meant to encourage users to upgrade their security. However, critics will point out that it just enables the company to collect more data about their users. Of note, the platform is already pushy about linking phone numbers before the change, but this adds another layer to entice people.

Also, Google confirms that the new policy is only a regional test for now. They have not announced when (or if) the change comes out for real.

Apps

Instagram takes on Snapchat yet again with new Instants feature

Posts disappear after they’re viewed once.

Published

May 14, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

The popularity of Snapchat’s competitors is as fleeting as their disappearing messages. However, despite how volatile the market is, Instagram wants to try again with a new feature (and app) called Instants.

Pardon me if you’ve heard this premise before. Instants is a feature that lets users share disappearing photos. However, unlike the 24 hours allotted for Stories, Instants will disappear right after a friend views them, but they can still react and reply to them.

The idea of Instants is to trim the excess fat from what Instagram is these days. Instagram’s Adam Mosseri admits as much when he said users want as easier way to shoot content.

As such, users won’t have access to Instagram’s editing tools. They also can’t upload pre-shot content from their camera roll. Like its contemporaries like BeReal, the new Instants feature is about living in the moment and sharing exactly what users see.

Despite disappearing after a single view, Instants will be automatically archived, so they can be reuploaded as normal Stories later on.

It isn’t the Wild West, though. Even if it pares down all the extra features, Instants will still use the safety features available to all of Instagram. Users, especially young ones, can mute and block others’ Instants. Likewise, parents will have control over when and how their young children interact with the feature.