Google Contacts app for Android received its initial Material You makeover last year but now the developers are updating some more parts of the app to be in line with the current design guidelines of Google. Now Contacts app has got Material You bottom bar by replacing hamburger menu.
According to the reports the new interface is rolling out as a server-side switch that the avid developers might be able to activate manually for themselves.
It looks like the new design is part of Google’s larger plan to eradicate hamburger menu as it is getting out of reach at a very rapid rate. The transition is making lots of sense but the overall strategy of Google on this is a bit muddy at the moment. It seems that Google Messages app is bound to receive ham hamburger menu after removing it recently plus it has also been spotted that Google Photos app is also experimenting with the one too.

Instragram introduced IGTV’s standalone app four years ago. Instagram went all out to promote IGTV app after the popularity of vertical video with prompts and previews. By the year 2020, Instagram acknowledged that IGTV is not getting the required attraction. The company tried once again to rebarnd the app but it also did not worked out and now Instagram has announced that they will not support the app anymore.
Instagram is intending to simplify the video creation and discovery by merging everything at one place i.e. the main app. The company is now working on new ways to share the additional options for ad revenue with the addition of “new ad experience” rolling out in near future. Instagram has its main focus on Reels and they are planning to achieve the goal of becoming a one-stop social media and entertainment site.

The average length of YouTube video has increased greatly over last few years. No more 10 minute clips as most of the videos now a days are well over half an hour these days with video essays and podcast uploads. With such lengthy videos finding your favorite quotes or sections can be very difficult. Transcriptions make your job very easy in order to search out a specific part of the video and now it has been headed to the mobile.
Until now you have to stick to the YouTube’s desktop site in order to see a transcription of your selected upload. With this new feature you don’t have to sit in front of your PC and scroll through a script. Once it is live all you have to do is to click on the “Show Transcript” button found just below the expanded description of the video sandwiched between the provided chapters and other suggested uploads from the channel.
The transcript options are very much similar to what has been available on the desktop for a while now but transposed to mobile friendly UI. You can scroll through full script on your phone either to read along with your video or to jump directly to a timecode. At the moment the transcripts on Android are coming through server-side update so one may not access it on his/her Android device.

Apple has just concluded its Peek Performance event of this year by announcing Mac Studio which is the most powerful desktop computer from Apple yet. Mac Studio is quite bigger this year in order to fit Apple’s M1 Max processor and its new flagship M1 Ultra processor.
The newly announced Mac Studio is 9.5cm high and 19.7cm wide and deep making it a portable version of desktop computer. When it comes to build quality, the Mac Studio is manufactured from a single piece of aluminum which is fitted with a massive thermal system of heat dissipation. When it comes to port selection, there are numerous options provided on the back. It includes four thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports, two USB-A ports, a 10 Gbit Ethernet, a 3.5mm audio jack, one HDMI and a power connector. Mac Studio provides two choices of processors which includes either M1 Max or M1 Ultra. The M1 Ultra-powered Mac Studio provides 90% better CPU performance than a Mac Pro with 16-core Xeon processor and it is 60% faster than a 28-core Mac Pro.

There will come situations when you are required to ask others for their answers or opinions. Like you are planning a trip with your friends and want to decide for a location from various suggestions. This is where WhatsApp’s new feature could be useful. The Meta owned app is working on the ability to allow the users to create polls in group chats.
The latest version of WhatsApp lets the users to make polls within the group chats. A screenshot has also been shared by WABetaInfo which gives a glance at the upcoming feature. When you will create a poll, the app would ask you to input a question. Then you will have to enter a couple of answers for the users to vote. The report also mentions that only group members would be able to see polls and results. Though the ability to create polls on WhatsApp’s iOS app only but soon it will be available for the Android as well. WhatsApp is also working on various new features as well as updates which include a pause and resume function for voice messages, message reactions and addition of search shortcut.

Twitter now a days is experimenting with various new format content formats. After the introduction of Fleets, Twitter is reaching out to audio. They come up with audio chat rooms in Spaces. Now in order to buold up the feature, the company bought the podcast app Breaker.
At teardown expert Jane Manchun Wong shared a screenshot which was recently posted on Twitter. The microphone icon is at the bottom menu bat that appears to lead to Podcasts page when tapped. The rest of the screenshot is just a blank canvas so it is still not clear how podcasts would be integrated with the platform.
Spaces is also like a collection of podcasts as it allows the users to create chat rooms and record the conversation for others to listen later. Though they last only for a month but still it makes temporary podcasts and Twitter could easily turn those to permanent, letting the users to select from and listen to their favorite selections. Twitter will go head-to-head with similar offering like Apple and Spotify. Twitter has got a huge user base to support its podcast.

After the escalation on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, several countries and corporations enacted sanctions and blocked goods as well as services completely. After Microsoft and Apple, Samsung is also stopping its products from entering Russia.
According to some reports, Samsung is ceasing the shipments of phones and chips to Russia. It is a big decision taken by Samsung as they manufacture 34% of the phones in Russia ahead of other rivals like Apple, Xiaomi and Realme etc. The move from Samsung came just days after Apple announced that it will stop all the sales in the country in reply to Russia invasion in Ukraine. Microsoft also followed the suit earlier on Friday by announcing that they are freezing the products and services in Russia. Google on the other hand has restricted the map data by disabling the live traffic reports and user-submitted data.