Messaging

Android Auto overrides your car’s native infotainment system with a familiar, smartphone-like interface. It’s easy to set up and straightforward to use, but you’ll want to add third-party Android Auto-compatible apps to get the best experience. Android Auto is a controller for your Android phone that makes it easier and safer to use while you’re driving. Android Auto apps are available for devices running Android 6 through Android 11. Beginning with Android 12, Google no longer supports the Android Auto app. People…

The U.S. has no clear vision of how to reach a postpandemic world. Over the past two years, we have developed extraordinary scientific tools for the mitigation, treatment and prevention of COVID. But we’ve stumbled badly in implementing them. Many of these failures happened because our public health messages were not clear about how to use those tools, which include vaccines, masks, tests, antiviral drugs and temporary activity restrictions. The result is confusion among the public that has left us vulnerable to the…

Google has announced that it is shutting its instant messaging service Google Talk on Thursday.Google Talk offered both text and voice communication."We are winding down Google Talk. On June 16, 2022, we will end our support for third-party apps, including Pidgin and Gajim, as we announced in 2017," the company said in a blogpost."To continue to chat with your contacts, we recommend using Google Chat. You can more easily plan with others, share and collaborate on files, and assign tasks with Chat's enhanced Spaces…

Ben Goggin / NBC News: Experts say Amazon's encrypted messaging app Wickr Me is full of child sex abuse images and the company is not taking basic safety measures to prevent sharing — Court records show that Wickr Me has become part of a toolkit used by people who exploit children. Ben Goggin / NBC News: Experts say Amazon's encrypted messaging app Wickr Me is full of child sex abuse images and the company is not taking basic safety measures to prevent sharing — Court records…

There are a lot of instant messaging apps available these days, and we’re here to check out some of the best ones. Instant messaging became normal a long time ago, and not that many people use SMS anymore. We’re constantly connected to the Internet with our smartphones, which makes sending messages a breeze. Unlike SMS messages, you can send images, videos, voice messages, stickers, GIFs, and so much more.In the list below, you’ll find 10 applications. All of these apps are available via the Google Play Store, and all of…

SoftBank-backed social messaging unicorn IRL (In Real Life) which is very popular among the teenagers in the US, has announced to lay off 25% of its team citing market dynamics.In a memo to employees, IRL CEO and co-founder Abraham Shafi said that "we have all seen the state of the market.""The world is going through a collective struggle of inflation, higher cost of goods, layoffs, school shootings, and many experiencing loneliness and depression," said Shafi."Exercising discipline and adaptation to our current…

A direct message from someone you don't follow on Instagram or who isn't in your contact list appears in the Message requests section. Message requests must be accepted before they appear in your chat list. Messages from people you follow on Instagram, on the other hand, go straight to your chat list.Instagram introduced the message blocking feature to prevent unknown parties from sending messages to other users. Potential stalkers frequently send explicit or demeaning messages or react to stories to harass users, and…

Discord is allowing you to send text messages in voice channels, finally. You can now share a link, send GIFs, or type in any other message in previously voice-only chatrooms. This new ability is rolling out to users on all platforms, including Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, Linux, and the web client, starting this Wednesday, June 1. It will be enabled for all Discord servers by June 29th.According to the company’s official announcement, servers that haven’t turned on community features will have text messaging support in…

Discord is enabling a new dedicated text chat feature for voice channels. Users of the platform can take advantage of the new feature, aptly named Text Chat in Voice Channels, by clicking on a new chat bubble icon for the voice channel they are participating in. The feature is a welcome quality of life change, similar to the chat window in Zoom calls that many are used to in this day and age. All non-community servers have Text Chat in Voice Channels enabled by default, while servers that have community enabled (under…

Lauren Goode / Wired: Messaging apps should consider reviving AIM's Away Message to create better social boundaries around people's time, as people treat the apps like live chats — The live chats of the past are now in our pockets and inescapable. We need better boundaries. — In the beginning, there was AOL Instant Messenger. Lauren Goode / Wired: Messaging apps should consider reviving AIM's Away Message to create better social boundaries around people's time, as people…