Apps
Spotify integrates with Google Maps for better navigating experience
Because driving without music is so boring

If you’re driving, you probably have a handy playlist to accompany you, especially for road trips and while stuck in traffic. However, switching between your music and navigation app can be a little difficult. But there’s now a more convenient way to play your favorite songs on the road!
Spotify just announced that they’re integrating their app to Google Maps, allowing you to control what you’re listening to through the navigation app. Just connect your Spotify account so you’re ready to “jam through the traffic jam.”
Through Google Maps, you can enable playback controls and become your own DJ while navigating; stream your own playlists, play your favorite album on shuffle, listen to Spotify’s featured playlists like Daily Lift or Morning Commute, and drive to the rhythm you enjoy.
Now you can make your long trips and boring drives more fun than ever! This integration will be rolling out to all Google Maps users over the next few days, and will be enjoyed by millions of users across countries where Spotify is available.
Make sure you have the latest version of Spotify and Google Maps. Both apps are available on the iOS App Store and Google Play Store.


When I search for “food porn” in Google, I’m looking for enticing photos of food to whet my appetite for dinner. Sometimes, Google has other plans and shows me more than what I bargained for. Finally, the search engine is implementing a way to save us from those awkward moments. Google will soon blur explicit images from search results.
For Safer Internet Day, Google has announced the feature to help protect users from accidentally seeing graphic images — including both gore and pornography — from a search. The feature, which will start rolling out in the coming months, will turn on by default. Instead of showing the images directly, users will face the blurred version and a prompt to view the image despite the warning.
If you don’t mind an accidental shower of NSFW imagery, you can turn the feature off at any time. Alternatively, as always, users can also choose to filter out all explicit search results, blurred or otherwise.
Though the feature is easily adjustable, Google will not offer the same flexibility to supervised accounts. Any accounts supervised by a parent or a school will not be able to change how they view explicit content. Parents can add supervision to the accounts of their children.
SEE ALSO: Google is working on a ChatGPT competitor called Bard

ChatGPT is taking the world by storm. Amid all the controversy of the technology’s capabilities, the language learning software has everyone talking about it. ChatGPT isn’t the only player out in the market, though. After enjoying a few months of unrivaled dominance, the software now has competition. Google is officially working on its own ChatGPT alternative called Bard.
Today, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced Bard, an “experimental conversation AI service.” Powered by Google’s own Language Model for Dialogue Applications (or LaMDA, for short), Bard aims to leverage a gap in ChatGPT’s framework: the lack of connection to the web.
Unlike ChatGPT, Google’s software will connect to the internet. Besides offering uncannily realistic conversations, Bard will likely use information available on the web to complement output with up-to-date results. Since it’s a Google product, that should come as no surprise.
Now, Google’s history with language learning software is interesting. Even before Bard’s introduction, Google was already a huge proponent in AI and language learning. The company is even instrumental in developing GPT-3.5, the underlying technology behind ChatGPT. Currently, Google’s AI is also at the forefront of the Pixel’s camera, especially through the Magic Eraser tool.
Though the announcement seems definitive already, Google is holding an event on Wednesday, presumably to unveil more information about the software.
SEE ALSO: Google is working on a way to read a doctor’s handwriting

Twitter got the internet into an uproar after implementing a way to pay for a coveted blue checkmark. Despite the controversy, other social media platforms are potentially introducing similar systems soon. As spotted in new code, Instagram has started referencing paid badges, hinting at a similar feature in the future.
First noticed by developer Alessandro Paluzzi (who spotted other unannounced developments in the past), Instagram’s coding includes mentions of an “IG_NME_PAID_BLUE_BADGE_IDV,” via TechCrunch. Additionally, Paluzzi found references to a Facebook version of the same code. To cap things off, he also discovered a few references to an upcoming subscription product from the current code.
A word of caution, though: Small references inside code might not mean much for the platform’s future plans. Paluzzi himself says that the feature is essentially unconfirmed for now, especially without a prototype.
Given the controversy surrounding the paid blue checkmark, it’s likely that Facebook and Instagram are waiting if Twitter’s experiment translates to better revenue in the long run. Though the initial Twitter Blue brouhaha simmered down for now, the new feature — along with Musk’s other changes to Twitter — are still experiments to test the new ownership’s vision for the platform.
For their part, both Facebook and Instagram have experimented with additional features to expand their offerings to their users. It’s not unheard of for either platform to draw inspiration from the winning features of other social media platforms.
SEE ALSO: Twitter reverses Facebook, Instagram ban
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