Apps

WhatsApp copies Snapchat

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There’s a saying that goes “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” but Snapchat may not be feeling all too flattered after another blatant move to copy one of the app’s more popular features.

The feature, Snapchat Stories — a public compilation of snaps from a user’s day.

The culprit, Facebook. Yep, following Snapchat Stories clones finding their way to Instagram and Messenger (both Facebook properties), the world’s largest social network is bringing Snapchat’s bread and butter over to WhatsApp.

That’s some fine kage bunshin no jutsu work by Facebook. ?

Whatsapp Status

The WhatsApp Status will appear in a new tab on the app.


Using the feature is a lot like Snapchat. Simply fire up the in-app camera then take a photo or video. You can then add text, drawings, and emojis. The photo or video appears on the new status tab and is visible to your contacts for 24 hours.

The feature has begun rolling out globally to all WhatsApp users on Android, iPhone, and Windows Phone.

WhatsApp, on its blog post, claims the move is a gift to its users for its eighth birthday, noting it was time to update the status feature. However, we all know what’s going on here.

Massive users

Facebook’s move is clearly geared towards stunting Snapchat’s growth.

The numbers support Facebook’s decision to clone the feature. In less than six months, the number of people using Instagram stories daily quickly rose to 150 million, closing in on Snapchat’s 158 million daily active users.

Snapchat, who’s Initial Public Offering is scheduled on March 2nd, now has another app to worry about.

[irp posts=”11261″ name=”The LG G6 camera features are built for Instagram”]

Apps

YouTube improves guidelines against medical misinformation

Taking the fight to the next level

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Google is taking its fight against medical misinformation on its streaming platform to the next level.

YouTube has started streamlining its existing medical information guidelines, categorizing them into “Prevention”, “Treatment”, and “Denial” for a solid foundation for developing guidelines as other medical data arises.

Prevention will remove any information that contradicts prevention and transmission of health conditions.

This includes content around harmful substances, practices, or prevention methods, as well as claims that there is guaranteed protection against diseases like COVID-19 or other cases such as videos saying that MMR vaccines cause autism.

Treatment, meanwhile, deletes content that contradicts treatment of health conditions. For example, a video that promotes the use of caesium chloride (cesium salts), Hoxsey therapy, and coffee enema, among others, for cancer treatment shall be banned.

Lastly, Denial erases content that disputes the existence of a health condition. A popular instance would be videos denying that there is COVID-19, or that people have not died from the contagious disease.

Apart from these improved guidelines, YouTube plans to make playlists of cancer-related videos, partnering with Mayo Clinic for informational content.

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WhatsApp might soon let you chat with Telegram, other apps

Beta is ongoing

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The European Union’s effect on Apple is well documented. The region is forcing the company to adopt USB-C as a standard. However, Apple isn’t the only target of the European Union’s ire. It is also targeting companies that it deems a “gatekeeper” in the world of technology. Meta is one of those companies. In response to the European Union, Meta is working on a WhatsApp update which allows cross-platform messaging.

Currently, WhatsApp does not allow users to interact with users on other messaging platforms like Telegram and WeChat. According to an ongoing beta spotted by WABetaInfo, Meta’s messaging app might soon allow users to message these third-party platforms straight from the app. Recipient users won’t need a WhatsApp account to use the feature.

After naming the world’s biggest tech companies as gatekeepers, the European Union is forcing them to enable interoperability with competing brands. WhatsApp’s new beta is an effort to comply with these new rules. Meta is required to implement the update by March next year.

The report does not reveal much about how the third-party chats will work. For example, will chats between platforms have the same features as chats between those on the same platform. If anything, WABetaInfo believes that WhatsApp will still retain the end-to-end encryption enjoyed by the main platform.

There is no word on when WhatsApp plans to implement the feature for all users.

SEE ALSO: WhatsApp now lets users share photos in HD

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Pick.A.Roo Wholesale announced for small, medium businesses

Improving the supply chain

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Pick.a.roo Wholesale

Pick.A.Roo is introducing an innovative feature called Pick.A.Roo Wholesale which shall help the supply chain for small to medium-sized enterprises, including independent restaurants and bars.

This will let such business owners have direct access to the industry’s biggest suppliers and outlets, like S&R Wholesale, SuySing, Tiptop Distribution Inc., Farmer’s Market, Boozy, and more.

The collaboration between Pick.A.Roo and suppliers will allow the app to deliver to 40 key cities from a catalogue of about 400,000 stock-keeping units (SKUs), improving the way small and medium businesses can conveniently access supplies.

The streamlined approach eliminates the challenges of supply and stocking while giving owners flexibility for their orders, which can be delivered in a matter of hours.

Pick.A.Roo is available on the App Store and Google Play.

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