MacRumors

Facebook today announced a dedicated segment of its popular iOS and Android app will find a renewed focus on both live and pre-recorded videos, taking the place of the Messenger button which sent users to that separate private messaging app. The social network's main focus in the new hub will be on starting up your own live videos, or joining in on another, but Facebook hopes the new feature makes it easier to find videos in general rather than just scrolling across them in a feed, which has been the case in the past.

The company launched Facebook Live late last summer through its Mentions app, only to a handful of celebrities, and is now ready to begin a widespread rollout in the proper Facebook app. Facebook has introduced a few new features in the launch, as well, including the ability to launch a live video within a specific Facebook Group or Event.

"Live in Groups" lets users begin a live video that will only notify the people in a specific group, "so you can go live in your family group, or share a workout plan in a fitness group." Alternatively, "Live in Events" means those part of an RSVP event can get exclusive live video from a performer ahead of the scheduled event, or a user could share video from a party to those who couldn't make it. The company is also introducing a new metric analyzing feature, aimed at publishers and media companies, that lets broadcasters parse the fluctuating statistics of viewers during a video with various charts and graphs.

With the new update, Facebook will accommodate the growing popularity of interactive comments and filters into its live videos, much like Periscope and Snapchat. When someone begins a live video, viewers can use the company's six new "Reactions," and post written comments, to show how they feel about a video, which will pop up and disappear Periscope-style at the bottom of the video. The initial rollout will introduce five "Live Filters," but future updates will implement the ability to doodle on your video in real-time, as well.

All of these video features will be found in the new hub on the central tab at the bottom of the Facebook app, where users will be able to invite friends to live videos, start their own broadcast, and browse video content posted by friends and pages they follow. The social network is going one step further on its desktop experience, with a new Facebook Live Map that gives an overall visual summation of Facebook Live broadcasts happening live around the world. The live video feature will be available in more than 60 countries after its first rollout.

No specifics were given regarding the size of the population of Facebook users who might see the update beginning today, but the company mentioned that the Live Video discovery tab will be available to all users on iOS and Android "over the coming weeks."

WhatsApp has enabled full end-to-end encryption for all users of the mobile instant messenger app.

The Facebook-owned service started implementing end-to-end encryption to standard chat messages in 2014, but has now completed rollout to all forms of communication within the app, such as photos, videos and calls.

WhatsApp co-founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton officially announced the rollout on the company's blog:

From now on when you and your contacts use the latest version of the app, every call you make, and every message, photo, video, file, and voice message you send, is end-to-end encrypted by default, including group chats.

The idea is simple: when you send a message, the only person who can read it is the person or group chat that you send that message to. No one can see inside that message. Not cybercriminals. Not hackers. Not oppressive regimes. Not even us. End-to-end encryption helps make communication via WhatsApp private — sort of like a face-to-face conversation.

If you’re interested in learning more about how end-to-end encryption works, you can read about it here. But all you need to know is that end-to-end encrypted messages can only be read by the recipients you intend. And if you’re using the latest version of WhatsApp, you don’t have to do a thing to encrypt your messages: end-to-end encryption is on by default and all the time.

Encryption has become a hot topic in recent weeks following Apple's high-profile dispute with the FBI, which attempted to compel the company to unlock San Bernardino shooter Farook Syed's iPhone. On March 28 the Justice Department announced it had found an alternate method to gain access to the iPhone in question and dropped the lawsuit.

While the FBI has not shared how it was able to unlock the iPhone, nor shared details on what was found, it is believed Israeli mobile software developer Cellebrite, a company that offers "mobile forensic solutions," was enlisted to break into the device. The FBI is still working on analyzing the information found on the iPhone but says it's too early to tell if the data on the device is useful.

Last month, Swiss software developer and civil liberties outfit Proton Technologies released its end-to-end encrypted email app ProtonMail for iOS. Meanwhile, Apple is working to further harden iCloud security so that even it won't be able to access user information stored on its data servers.

WhatsApp Messenger is a free download for iPhone on the App Store. [Direct Link]

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Kik Messenger for iOS officially opened a dedicated bot store yesterday that allows anyone to create chat bots for use within the app.

Chat bots are automated chat accounts that are programmed to deliver specific content or services when users interact with them, sidestepping the need to download a separate app to access the service or content in question.

The popular teen messaging app Kik has been host to a handful of commercial bots offering services with limited interaction since 2014, but the launch of its 'Bot Shop' opens the door for third-party developers to build bots for the platform with genuine two-way interaction.

Currently the store is host to 15 bots including games and services from established companies such as Vine and The Weather Channel. Kik users can access the store via the tab used to create new chats, while developers can get everything they need to start building bots at dev.kik.com.

Bots are increasingly gaining traction in the mobile communication space, thanks to advances in natural language processing that allow artificial intelligence-based services to be baked into existing chat apps.

Last week Facebook Messenger gained an airline information bot that allows users to receive booked flight information updates, while Facebook is expected to announce its own bot store for Messenger at its annual developer conference next week. Meanwhile, Microsoft announced the introduction of Skype bots including Bing Music, Bing News, and Bing Images, with the promise of more to come.

Kik is a free download on the App Store for iPhone and iPad. [Direct Link]

As of today, Apple has stopped signing iOS 9.2.1 for compatible iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch models, meaning users can no longer upgrade or downgrade to that version of iOS using iTunes. Apple is now signing iOS 9.3 and iOS 9.3.1 only.

iOS 9.3 was released to the public on March 21, and iOS 9.3.1 was released 10 days later on March 31.

iOS 9.3 has suffered from several bugs since it was released, which may have prompted some users to downgrade to the more stable iOS 9.2.1 release. An Activation Lock issue on some older devices caused Apple to temporarily pull the iOS 9.3 update for some users shortly after iOS 9.3 launched, and the iOS 9.3.1 update was released to fix a second major bug that caused apps to crash or freeze after tapping or long pressing on a web link. Both issues have now been solved.

In March, Reddit released an updated version of its Alien Blue app for iOS, which included a free four-year Reddit Gold subscription gift for all Alien Blue users with Pro accounts. At the time, Alien Blue users were able to redeem the gift in the app, with Reddit promising to send the Reddit Gold credit at a later date.

As of today, Alien Blue users have begun receiving private messages informing them that their Reddit Gold subscriptions are activated, so all Redditors who used Alien Blue to redeem their free Gold subscription should be getting access to Gold features in the near future.

Reddit Gold is a membership program that allows Reddit users to turn off ads, activate themes, create custom alien avatars, highlight new comments, sync read links across computers, and more. Reddit Gold is normally priced at $3.99 per month or $29.99 per year.

For those unfamiliar with Alien Blue, it is one of the most popular apps for browsing Reddit on iOS devices. It was purchased by Reddit in October of 2014 and while Reddit initially planned to improve the app with new features, the company ultimately decided to nix its plans for an update and go with a fully revamped Reddit app.

In the Reddit Gold message sent to Alien Blue subscribers, Reddit says that its new iOS app will launch on Thursday, April 7. Reddit hasn't shared many details on the new app, but it is believed that features included in the Pro version of Alien Blue for iOS will now require a Gold subscription to activate, hence the free Reddit Gold for those who previously owned the Pro version of the app.

Reddit has said that once its new iOS app launches, Alien Blue will be removed from the App Store. Customers who have already downloaded the app will be able to continue to use it, but the development team that worked on Alien Blue has moved on to the new Reddit iOS app.

On April 1, Apple celebrated its 40th anniversary, marking four decades since Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne co-founded the company.

To mark the occasion, Apple shared a 40th anniversary video, flew a pirate flag at its Cupertino headquarters, held a beer bash, and launched an Apple Music playlist filled with songs that have been used in past Apple advertising spots.

Apple's playlist includes 40 tracks from a wide range of genres, featuring artists and bands from The Rolling Stones to Adele to Coldplay. Songs from Apple ads highlighting a number of products are included, like Paul McCartney's Dance Tonight, used in a well-known iPod commercial, and Alabama Shakes' Sound & Color, used in a recent iPad Pro commercial.

Apple's "Apple 40" anniversary playlist is available to all Apple Music subscribers and can be accessed under the "New" section under Hot Playlists. It can also be accessed through this link.

Twitter today announced the addition of a new "Message" button to the Twitter apps for iOS and Android, giving users a simpler method for sharing tweets through Direct Messages to start private conversations.

Sending a tweet to a user through a Direct Message is a feature that was originally implemented in 2014, but using the feature required long pressing on a tweet in the timeline and choosing the correct option, a method that wasn't intuitive, especially to new users.

Today's change will add a Message button directly adjacent to the standard Reply, Retweet, and Like buttons, making it more accessible.

Every day, millions of people send Direct Messages to communicate privately with friends, family, experts, brands, and anyone else they find interesting on Twitter. In fact, we've seen the number of messages sent grow over 60% in 2015. And the number of Tweets shared privately has grown even faster, at 200% in just the second half of last year.

With all this interest, we've also heard from many of you that it could be easier to share a Tweet using Direct Message. So now -- in just a few taps -- you can share unique Twitter content from your timeline right into your private conversation.

Twitter plans to make the Message button available through an update that will be released later today. The Twitter app for iOS can be downloaded through the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Apple Maps has been updated with all-new transit data in Montréal, providing users with bus, subway, and train routing in Canada's second most populous city. The public transit information is supplied by the city's public transport agencies Agence métropolitaine de transport (AMT) and Société de transport de Montréal (STM).

Montreal Metro subway and STM bus directions are available throughout Greater Montreal, including the main island and throughout the suburbs of Blainville, Boucherville, Brossard, Châteauguay, Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Laval, Longueuil, Repentigny, Saint-Jérôme, Saint-Lambert, and Terrebonne.

Montreal is the second Canadian metro area to support Apple Maps transit after Toronto. However, as we reported last June, transit data actually extends to many cities throughout Southern Ontario, including Barrie, Mississauga, Oakville, Oshawa, Peterborough, Burlington, Hamilton, Guelph, KWC, York Region, and Niagara Region.

Other cities with Apple Maps transit directions include Baltimore, Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Sydney, and multiple Chinese metro areas. Transit mode was added to Apple Maps as one of the headline features of iOS 9 last year.

(Thanks, Olivier!)

Paid-cable network Starz today announced a new standalone monthly streaming service that will be available to users as an app on iOS, Apple TV, and Google Play stores. Starz's entry into the standalone service market follows fellow networks HBO ($14.99/month) and Showtime ($10.99/month), but will come in at a cheaper price of $8.99/month.

The new Starz app can be authenticated as a companion to users who have traditional cable packages, but won't offer live streaming, unlike Showtime's service. The network did say that one unique feature will be that users can download full episodes of any show to watch offline. The Apple TV version of the Starz app will support the universal search function of the new Siri Remote, as well.

Starz CEO Chris Albrecht said, “Starz has entered the market today with an enormous value proposition for consumers. Our programing will now be more widely available to the 20 million broadband only homes of cord nevers, cord cutters and cord shavers, including Millennials and other underserved consumers who need other viable subscription service options.

To celebrate its launch, the network will make the first episode of the second season of Outlander available on April 7 (two days before its official premiere) to any of the app's users. Starz said that the service will give subscribers access to more than 2,400 selections every month, including original programming like Outlander and the anticipated premiere of American Gods, as well as feature-length films like Avengers: Age of Ultron and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

The Starz app is available to download today on the fourth-generation Apple TV and iOS App Store [Direct Link] for free.

T-Mobile announced today that its free unlimited music and video streaming programs Music Freedom and Binge On now support an additional sixteen services.

Binge On is a free incentive that enables T-Mobile customers on a qualifying Simple Choice plan to stream unlimited 480p video from dozens of partnered services, including Netflix, HBO NOW, Hulu, and YouTube, without any of the data consumed counting towards their plans. Music Freedom works the same way for streaming music services including Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora, and Google Play Music.

Update: T-Mobile is also offering up to $200 off any new iPad with the purchase of any new iPhone financed with an Equipment Installment Plan. In addition, the carrier is offering 4 lines with unlimited talk, text, and data, and up to 10GB of LTE data per line, for $35 a line. Both promotions start on April 6 and run for a limited time.

Pebble owners that link the smartwatch to an iPhone on the Verizon network can now use the iOS app's Text Reply feature to respond to text messages that show up on their wrist.

Previously the feature was only available to users on AT&T, but the newly released version 3.11 update to the Pebble app brings the same functionality to Verizon users as well. After enabling the option via the updated app, Verizon customers can now send emoji, customizable canned responses, and voice replies, although the latter is limited to Pebble Time owners.

Other improvements brought by the update include more accurate sleep tracking, additional support for daytime naps longer than an hour, a snooze feature that offers up timeline alerts closer to the actual time of an event, and additional vibration patterns for Time-series Pebble owners.

The smartwatch company has also seen fit to rename its accompanying iOS app, from 'Pebble Time' to simply 'Pebble', indicating that all Pebble devices will be able to run firmware 3.0 and later.

Pebble is a free download for iPhone on the App Store. [Direct Link]

Facebook has introduced a new accessibility tool to its iOS app for blind and visually impaired people to help identify images posted on their social feed.

The function, called Automatic Alternative Text, works via VoiceOver and generates descriptions of photos that are spoken out loud as a user swipes past photos in the Facebook app.

Previously, people using VoiceOver would only hear the name of the person who shared the photo, followed by the term "photo", when they came upon an image in the News Feed.

Thanks to the new function – made possible by advancements in object recognition technology – a richer description is now available. For example, a user may hear, "Image may contain three people, smiling, outdoors."

Facebook is free on the App Store for iPhone and iPad. [Direct Link]