Messages

The latest version of Google’s Messages app offers some useful additions, especially when exchanging texts with an iPhone user. Image: bugarskipavle3/Adobe Stock Mobility must-reads Your Android phone comes with a default text messaging app, which may or may not serve your purposes. As an alternative, Google provides its own dedicated Messages app that you might find more robust than the one that comes with your phone. The latest version of Messages by Google displays emojis and other…

WhatsApp beta feature that will allow group administrators to delete any specific message/ messages for everyone in the group has an update, as per a report. The feature will give more power — in addition to restricting members from sending messages to groups, and preventing members from making any information edits — to admins, which in turn could help keep the group moderated. It was introduced in December last year, and the update has been spotted on WhatsApp beta for Android. The feature is said to be available on…

Ever since Demon's Souls, the Souls games have played with various ways to include unique multiplayer elements outside of traditional co-op or PvP. Elden Ring does have both of those systems, of course, but also all the older mechanics that are more passive. Things like ghosts of other players running around the world, or bloodstains you can activate to see how another player died before moving forward, help make the world feel more alive, but the most popular mode of asynchronous multiplayer has to be the messaging…

The European Commission has proposed controversial new regulation that would require chat apps like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger to selectively scan users’ private messages for child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and “grooming” behavior. The proposal is similar to plans mooted by Apple last year but, say critics, much more invasive. After a draft of the regulation leaked earlier this week, privacy experts condemned it in the strongest terms. “This document is the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen,” tweeted…

If a person is lost in the wilderness, they have two options. They can search for civilization, or they could make themselves easy to spot by building a fire or writing HELP in big letters. For scientists interested in the question of whether intelligent aliens exist, the options are much the same.  For over 70 years, astronomers have been scanning for radio or optical signals from other civilizations in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, called SETI. Most scientists are confident that life exists on many of…

Block number on iPhone: Here is how you can block a number on your iPhone from calls and messages. Here are all the details.  Block number on iPhone: Sometimes, the best way to avoid people is to straightaway block their contact on your phone. Whether they are stalking you, or disturbing you, or you simply want to cease communications with a certain person for whatever reasons, blocking their number is an easy and effective way to achieve that. Blocking a…

As part of a lawsuit between shareholders and Elon Musk regarding his “funding secured” tweet, new text messages and emails between Musk and people involved have been released. The communications pretty much confirmed how most people saw the situation: Elon Musk took a meeting with the head of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and had early discussions about taking Tesla private, which he took as enough to say that the “funding was secured”. The whole ‘”funding secured” situation is coming back to light…

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Displaying the highway death toll on message boards is a common awareness campaign, but new research from the University of Toronto and University of Minnesota shows this tactic actually leads to more crashes. A new study in Science by University of Toronto Assistant…

witter is a popular social media platform for important conversations and announcements. Most businesses and people use Twitter to make announcements and share life updates, using its microblogging format. While Twitter lets you have open conversation threads through tweets, it also offers a direct message (DM) feature to connect with people more privately. Twitter DMs are often used to connect with business colleagues, share sly memes with friends, or just have private chats. Recently, Twitter introduced the ability to…

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued a proposal to make Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) messages free for all mobile customers in the country. USSD messages are used by many operators and banking services, often on feature phones that do not have access to the internet. The proposal seeks to bring the cost of USSD messages from a maximum of 50 paise down to zero. The regulator cited low call and SMS prices as a reason for proposing the removal of charges for mobile customers.In a…