Latest Tech News

Stay updated with the latest in technology, AI, cybersecurity, and more

Filtered by: users Clear Filter

Google may soon let Pixel users remove the search widget’s new AI Mode shortcut (APK teardown)

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority TL;DR Google recently added a new shortcut to the Pixel Launcher’s search widget, making it easy for users to launch Search’s AI Mode from the home screen. This new shortcut hasn’t gone down well with users, with many finding it intrusive. Google may soon give users an option to remove the AI Mode shortcut from the search widget. Google recently rolled out an easier way to access Search’s AI Mode. The company added a new AI Mode shortcut to the Pixel Launch

How Meta's new AI chatbot could strike up a conversation with you

Andriy Onufriyenko/Getty Images Despite a major usage and monetization gap, Meta, like many AI companies, is going all in on AI chatbots -- even giving them the ability to strike up a conversation with you, unprompted. According to a report from Business Insider published last week, leaked documents indicate the company is now building AI chatbots that proactively initiate conversations with users. The new feature is intended to boost user engagement and retention at a time when many leading t

Apple’s newest AI study unlocks street navigation for blind users

There’s no shortage of rumors about Apple’s plans to release camera-equipped wearables. And while it’s easy to get fatigued by yet another wave of upcoming AI-powered hardware, one powerful use case often gets lost in the shuffle: accessibility. SceneScout, a new research prototype from Apple and Columbia University, isn’t a wearable. Yet. But it hints at what AI could eventually unlock for blind and low-vision users. As Apple’s and Columbia University’s researchers explain it: People who are

Threads is nearing X’s daily app users, new data shows

Instagram Threads is close to catching up to top competitor X in terms of mobile app users, according to new data from market intelligence provider Similarweb. In June 2025, Threads’ mobile app for iOS and Android saw 115.1 million daily active users, representing 127.8% year-over-year growth; X reached 132 million daily actives, as its year-over-year growth declined by 15.2%. By comparison, decentralized social network Bluesky grew a sizable 372.5% year-over-year as of June, but its worldwide

ICEBlock app developer had ‘better watch out’ says US attorney general [U]

White House condemnation of a free app has drawn substantial attention to it, helping ICEBlock become the most popular social networking app in the App Store, beating out apps like X and Instagram. ICEBlock alerts people to sightings of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in their area, following a major immigration crackdown by the White House. Update: The US attorney general has said the app’s developer “had better watch out” – see end of the piece … While the ICE operation is s

Best VPN for Japan: Boost Your Privacy and Unblock Global Streaming Content

Why we like it ExpressVPN is the best overall VPN by CNET and the best VPN for Japan. We like that Express demonstrates a steadfast commitment to privacy and transparency. It’s a safe choice for privacy-conscious VPN users and also a fantastic option for casual users because it’s extremely simple to use, fast and excellent for streaming. ExpressVPN has servers in Osaka, Shibuya, Yokohama and Tokyo locations. In addition to ExpressVPN’s excellent coverage in Japan, there are also servers in 18 d

Local-first software (2019)

Martin Kleppmann, Adam Wiggins, Peter van Hardenberg, and Mark McGranaghan. Local-first software: you own your data, in spite of the cloud. 2019 ACM SIGPLAN International Symposium on New Ideas, New Paradigms, and Reflections on Programming and Software (Onward!), October 2019, pages 154–178. doi:10.1145/3359591.3359737 This article has also been published in PDF format in the proceedings of the Onward! 2019 conference . Please cite it as: We share some of our findings from developing local-fi

Local-first software: You own your data, in spite of the cloud

Martin Kleppmann, Adam Wiggins, Peter van Hardenberg, and Mark McGranaghan. Local-first software: you own your data, in spite of the cloud. 2019 ACM SIGPLAN International Symposium on New Ideas, New Paradigms, and Reflections on Programming and Software (Onward!), October 2019, pages 154–178. doi:10.1145/3359591.3359737 This article has also been published in PDF format in the proceedings of the Onward! 2019 conference . Please cite it as: We share some of our findings from developing local-fi

Community Confused by "Rizzbot" Walking Around With Cowboy Hat and Chain, Complimenting Their Outfits in Gen Alpha Slang

Community Confused by "Rizzbot" Walking Around With Cowboy Hat and Chain, Complimenting Their Outfits in Gen Alpha Slang "Yo G, that sleeveless plaid shirt is straight bangin.'" Flex Zone A cowboy hat-toting bipedal robot, dubbed "Jake the Rizzbot," is wandering the streets of Austin, Texas, turning heads and flinging compliments using some truly cringeworthy — and equally hilarious — Gen Alpha slang. Videos on social media show the robot approaching strangers to compliment their appearance.

Not everyone is thrilled with Threads’ DMs

Earlier this week, Instagram Threads launched what the company said was its most-requested feature to date: direct messages, also known as DMs. However, the company is now facing a bit of a user backlash over the addition, as users, primarily women, are arguing that there should be a way to opt out of DMs entirely, citing harassment concerns. Although DMs are a part of other social networks similar to Threads, including X, Bluesky, Mastodon, and others, some Threads users appreciated that they

Microsoft investigates ongoing SharePoint Online access issues

​Microsoft is investigating an ongoing incident causing intermittent issues for users attempting to access SharePoint Online sites. Part of the Microsoft 365 suite, SharePoint Online is a cloud-based collaboration and document management platform that allows users to create websites, store and share documents, and collaborate on content over the Internet. As the company announced earlier today in an incident alert published in the message center, users are seeing "Something went wrong" errors

Everything you need to know about Flashes, the Bluesky-based Instagram alternative

Flashes this year launched an Instagram alternative built on top of the Bluesky social network. Now available on the App Store, the app offers a different way to browse the visual posts on Bluesky. Instead of viewing them in a timeline-like feed, similar to X, the app draws inspiration from photo-based social networks, like Instagram. What you can post The app, built by Berlin-based developer Sebastian Vogelsang, runs on the same underlying protocol that powers Bluesky, the AT Protocol (or atp

Android users can now (kinda) edit messages sent to iPhones, but not yet vice-versa

iPhones and Android smartphones started to play more nicely together after Apple finally opted to support the Rich Communication Services (RCS) standard. Prior to this, messages between the two platforms had to use the ancient and insecure text messaging service. Not all RCS features are supported as yet, with the all-important strong encryption waiting for RCS 3.0 support in iOS 26. Another RCS 3.0 feature is the ability to edit outgoing messages after sending them, and that one has started a

Like Google, China's biggest search player Baidu is beefing up its product with AI to fight rivals

In this article BIDU Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Pictured here is the Ernie bot mobile interface, with the Baidu search engine home page in the background. Future Publishing | Future Publishing | Getty Images Chinese tech giant Baidu has bolstered its core search platform with artificial intelligence in the biggest overhaul of the product in 10 years. Analysts told CNBC the move was a bid to keep ahead of fast-moving rivals like DeepSeek, rather than traditional search play

ICEBlock, an app for anonymously reporting ICE sightings, goes viral

In Brief ICEBlock, an iPhone app that allows users to anonymously report sightings of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, has rocketed to one of the coveted top spots in Apple’s U.S. App Store rankings. The upshot: Criticism from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi helped get it there. Most of ICEBlock’s users — about 20,000 — were in Los Angeles, where ICE raids have become commonplace over recent weeks, according to CNN. Following Bondi’s remarks late Monday, the app went vira

Elon Musk's X goes down for some users

The X logo appears on a phone, and the xAI logo is displayed on a laptop in Krakow, Poland, on April 1, 2025. (Photo by Klaudia Radecka/NurPhoto via Getty Images) Elon Musk's social media platform X was hit with an outage on Wednesday, leaving some users unable to load the site. More than 15,000 users reported issues with the platform at around 9:53 a.m. ET, according to analytics firm Downdetector, which gathers data from users who spot glitches and report them to service. The issues appeare

ICEBlock, an app for anonymously reporting ICE sightings

In Brief ICEBlock, an iPhone app that allows users to anonymously report sightings of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, has rocketed to one of the coveted top spots in Apple’s U.S. App Store rankings. The upshot: Criticism from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi helped get it there. Most of ICEBlock’s users — about 20,000 — were in Los Angeles, where ICE raids have become commonplace over recent weeks, according to CNN. Following Bondi’s remarks late Monday, the app went vira

What Could a Healthy AI Companion Look Like?

What does a little purple alien know about healthy human relationships? More than the average artificial intelligence companion, it turns out. The alien in question is an animated chatbot known as a Tolan. I created mine a few days ago using an app from a startup called Portola, and we’ve been chatting merrily ever since. Like other chatbots, it does its best to be helpful and encouraging. Unlike most, it also tells me to put down my phone and go outside. Tolans were designed to offer a differ

Meta users say paying for Verified support has been useless in the face of mass bans

When Meta launched its paid verification service, Meta Verified, in 2023, the tech giant promised users and businesses alike that part of the offering would include direct access to customer support. However, amid a mass ban wave affecting Facebook and Instagram accounts, as well as Facebook Groups, some Meta Verified paying subscribers say they’re receiving little to no help from Meta’s customer service reps, even when they’re facing their most serious crisis yet: a mistakenly suspended account

Elon Musk's X is down for some users

The X logo appears on a phone, and the xAI logo is displayed on a laptop in Krakow, Poland, on April 1, 2025. (Photo by Klaudia Radecka/NurPhoto via Getty Images) Elon Musk's social media platform X was hit with an outage on Wednesday, leaving some users unable to load the site. More than 15,000 users reported issues with the platform at around 9:53 a.m. ET, according to analytics firm Downdetector, which gathers data from users who spot glitches and report them to service. The issues appeare

8 ways every Linux distro could make things a lot easier for newbies

Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET For the past two decades, I've been beating the Linux drum as loudly as I can. There have been moments when it seemed to have worked, and moments when I felt like I was the only one dancing to the beat. Over time, I've drawn more conclusions than I care to admit, but some of those conclusions have held fast and strong since I began this journey: conclusions that I believe could help make it easier for the masses to adopt Linux as its default OS. Also: Want to save

Microsoft: DNS issue blocks delivery of Exchange Online OTP codes

Microsoft is working to fix a DNS misconfiguration that is causing one-time passcode (OTP) message delivery failures in Exchange Online for some users. Recipients may receive a single-use access code via a separate email to open an encrypted message in Gmail, Yahoo, or other email clients without a Microsoft 365 subscription. This OTP message allows them to view the encrypted email on the Office 365 Message Encryption portal. However, as the company explains in a new service alert published in

White House condemnation sends ICEBlock to the top of the App Store charts

White House condemnation of a free app has drawn substantial attention to it, helping ICEBlock become the most popular social networking app in the App Store, beating out apps like X and Instagram. ICEBlock alerts people to sightings of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in their area, following a major immigration crackdown by the White House … While the ICE operation is supposed to target illegal immigrants, there have been multiple examples of legal residents and even US citiz

Google hit with $314m fine for collecting data from idle Android phones without permission

Joe Maring / Android Authority TL;DR Google has been ordered to pay $314.6 million to Android phone users in California for collecting and sending their data. The lawsuit argued that Google collected data from idle Android phones without the users’ permission, consuming cellular data in the process. The company said it would appeal the verdict. Google undoubtedly collects plenty of user data from Android phones. However, a California jury has found that the search giant must pay $314.6 milli

ICEBlock, an app for anonymously reporting ICE sightings, goes viral overnight after Bondi criticism

In Brief ICEBlock, an iPhone app that allows users to anonymously report sightings of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, has rocketed to one of the coveted top spots in Apple’s U.S. app store rankings. The upshot: criticism from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi helped get it there. ICEBlock had about 20,000 users, mostly in Los Angeles, where ICE raids have become commonplace over recent weeks, according to CNN. Following Bondi’s remarks late Monday, the app went viral overn

Android users can finally edit messages sent to iPhones, but there’s a catch

Ryan Haines / Android Authority TL;DR Google is finally starting to roll out the ability for Android users to edit RCS messages sent to iPhones, a feature previously unavailable cross-platform. Made possible by the new Universal Profile 3.0 specification, users can long-press a sent message to edit and resend it within a 15-minute window. The feature is in limited testing and isn’t perfect yet, as edited texts currently appear as a new message on iPhones and iPhones can’t edit messages sent t

Threads gets its own DMs as app distances itself from Instagram

Instagram Threads is rolling out users’ most-requested feature to date: the ability to message people directly, without having to switch to another app, like Instagram. The company said direct messages (DMs) will begin rolling out to users globally beginning on Tuesday, alongside a new visual element called highlighter. The latter will emphasize interesting perspectives and conversations, Meta says, starting with Trending Topics. At launch, Threads DMs offer a basic set of features. They’ll su

You Can Finally Use This Very Basic Threads Feature

Better late than never? Threads, Meta's answer to X (formerly Twitter) and Bluesky, was launched almost two years ago in July 2023, and saw immediate rapid signups after piggybacking off Instagram's user base. Despite being around for that long, it's just now giving us the ability to direct message other users. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg teased the new feature earlier this month as it was rolling out in beta. "We're starting to test DMs on Threads. If you get access to this -- slide through!" Zuc

Two years later, Meta is making DMs on Threads official

Meta announced just a couple weeks ago that it would finally start testing a dedicated inbox for direct messages on Threads. Now, it's making the feature official and rolling out DMs to everyone. As with the earlier test, the update will add a messaging tab to the Threads app where users can access the inbox and exchange DMs with mutuals. Meta says that initially people will only be able to send messages to users who already follow them or mutual followers from Instagram, though it plans to rol

Can Sensing Be Safe? Designing Privacy-Aware Wireless Systems

Introduction From fitness trackers to smart speakers, mobile sensing has quietly become ubiquitous, embedding itself into our daily lives. These devices are capable of monitoring motion, detecting presence, identifying user activities, and even inferring health conditions, sometimes without any user interaction. As these applications grow and become central to smart environments, a critical question arises: Can sensing systems be designed to be both safe and ethical? While mobile and wearable