Google's Notebook LM is going global! Now available in 200+ countries, including Sri Lanka.

Try it here: notebooklm.google.com

For those who haven't heard about this before this tool basically lets you create your own personalized chat bot based on the documents and links you feed to it which is really good for research and so on.

Google Magic Editor is rolling out for older devices (Pixels and Samsungs) and free tier Google Photos users.

WhatsApp Changelog May 2024: All new features and changes spotted in WhatsApp Android.

• Events
• New text editor
• New call screen
• Favorite contacts
• 1 min status

Read more...
https://www.appdate.lk/apps/whatsapp-changelog-may-2024/

WhatsApp is testing a new feature to help you choose the right audience for your status updates before posting.

This way, you won't accidentally post birthday wishes for your girlfriend where your parents can see them 😉.

Apple Event Summary

Google testing a new "Summarize this email" feature which will use Gemini to creat a summary of emails.

For more: https://news.1rj.ru/str/appdate_lk

Twitter (X) likes are now private: No one else can see who liked a post and what are the posts you liked.

This is a welcoming change imo for privacy. I want every other social media to follow this and at least give the option to the user to hide their likes.

For more: https://news.1rj.ru/str/appdate_lk

WhatsApp calls got a boost with MLow codec which improves call reliability and Calls made on mobile devices benefit from improved noise and echo cancellation.

Improvements to Group calls in all devices including desktops:
- Speaker spotlight (Highlight the one who talks automatically).
- Screen sharing with audio.
- 32 person group calls.

Google launched a "look up" feature for the Pixel device which will let users quickly check for an unknown number.

PS: This is not a Truecaller alternative like a Google search of that number.

WhatsApp is testing a new "Create channel" shortcut in the updates tab.

Just noticed that you can rearrange your #WhatsApp stickers to the top of your favorite sticker view with this "Move to top" option.

Long press on a favorite sticker to see this option.

🚨 SCAM ALERT !

There are ongoing scams happening where scammers claim to have a special beta version invites to apps like WhatsApp, YouTube and etc.

They operate on Telegram Channels and X.

TLDR; WhatsApp only offers beta builds via Play store and App store everything else is a scam or mod.


Official Beta links 👇🏼

Android: https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.whatsapp/join?hl=en-US

iOS: https://testflight.apple.com/join/8sLvv90R

No individual has access to VIP access as scammers claim.

Thanks WABeta for bringing this to my attention.

Just noticed that users can skip to the next or previous video in PIP mode.

Not sure if it's a new YouTube feature or Android 15 feature.

I went through the Android documentation and figured out that this has been there since Android 12 it seems.

But, it's up to the developers to use custom PIP controls so it's safe to say YouTube is implementing it for shorts now.

Source: https://developer.android.com/design/ui/mobile/guides/home-screen/picture-in-picture

Google Launched Gemini App to India some more countries (Including Sri Lanka) with 9 more languages such as Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu.

Play store link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.bard&pcampaignid=web_share

For iOS you can use the same Google App with Gemini tab.

Google Deepmind announced a new Video-to-audio research uses video pixels and text prompts to generate rich soundtracks.

In future this will also be paired with Google text to video model Veo to generate synchronized audiovisual.

For more: https://news.1rj.ru/str/appdate_lk

Microsoft testing a start menu integration for Phone Link.

This will lead users to quickly access all their phones within the start menu itself.

Availability: Being tested within some users.

If you don't know before:

Yes, TikTok recently launched a new App/Platform which is quite similar to Instagram.

And of course they share the same privacy policy as TikTok.

WhatsApp adapting to the new file format Lottie for animated stickers.

Earlier the WebP file format for sticker comparatively Lottie format provides smoother, detailed animations while being smaller size.

In short: Animated stickers in WhatsApp are getting better.

Claude AI recently got a new update with a new model called Sonnet 3.5 along with a feature called "Artifacts" that can basically show a preview of codes, documents etc.

In the below demo it created a fully functional snake game with React and it can show preview.

LinkedIn getting a revamp on Android. Here are some noticeable changes:

- Games tab.
- Post button.
- Sidebar with cover photo and minor changes.