Category: Social Networking

Instagram has a nice new feature in the latest build of their app for Android.  The new 10.2 version has a save feature that allows you to save posts in a private area of your account for viewing later.  The new version is rolling out from the Play Store now so everyone should see it in the next day or two.  Once you do have it, the new save feature is easy to use.  Just open up Instagram on your phone and below each photo, on the right, you will see a bookmark-like icon.  That’s the save feature.  When you see a photo or video you want to save for later, just tap that icon and it is bookmarked to your account.  It is quick and simple to use and a great way to save those posts that you want to remember or reference later.

Twitter has announced changes to their app and policies with the specific aim of cutting down on online abuse and bullying.  The changes will be rolling out over the course of the next few days and will bring a much enhanced mute feature.  This new feature will not only allow you to mute a particular account (which you can already do) but also allow you to block keywords and emoji too.  Notifications can also be muted after this update so if you are a victim of bullying or abuse on the service, you can quite literally turn that person or those words completely off in the app – and make your life a little bit easier.

Bullying and abuse has been a seemingly constant problem for Twitter.  Many individuals have left the service for a wide range of abuse issues from gender, orientation and political views.  Twitter in their update today stated that they know these changes won’t end it overnight but is working to try to cut it down.

Twitter looks set to be changing the way it counts the 140 characters in your Tweets.  In a report by the Verge, it looks like the micro-blogging site is going to stop counting things like your username, images, polls and GIFs which will give users more characters for actual content on their posts.  While a firm date was not formally indicated by Twitter to the Verge, they are referencing two sources that the day all this starts is September 19th.

Beginning September 19th, the company will cut down on exactly which types of content count toward the platform’s 140-character limit. Media attachments (images, GIFs, videos, polls, etc.) and quoted tweets will no longer reduce the count.

If September 19th is the date or not, this is a fundamental change to how Twitter works and it could have big implications.

The official Twitter app for Android is getting a major makeover today that brings a full-on Material Design makeover along with improvements in the overall user interface of the app.  The update is rolling out now in the Play Store so if you have it installed, you should be seeing the OTA update over the course of the next day or so.  Once you have it, you will have a vastly improved Twitter experience on your phone or your tablet.

The Google Plus app for Android has yet another update rolling out today, the ninth such update this year.  Version 7.8.0 brings mostly refinements to the community centric app for Android and brings back quick access to other Google apps you may have installed on your phone.  In all, there are 22 bugs fixed in this update according to Google’s Luke Wroblewski as well as Quick access to Google Photos, Hangouts and Search within the app. If this seems like a blast from the past, it should.  Before Google decided to decouple other services and apps from G+, you had quick access to other Google apps before the whole Google Plus is Dead, Long Live Google Plus era we are in now.  This is back now and frankly is a great touch that has needed to come back to the new and improved app.

As the revamp and rebirth of Google Plus continues, another update has been made to the site to improve the user experience.  News of the update came from Luke Wroblewski, a Googler who is working on the project and follows up an announcement he made earlier in the week around the Android app update for the social & community site.

The updates to Google Plus that Luke announced includes 37 bug fixes but also some streamlined features and added features.  For example, you can now pin posts to your Profile and the update brings an easy way to move your posts into a Collection.  Lastly, there is an improved and simpler invite to a Community feature in the update.