WhatsApp and similar mobile-first (or mobile-only) messaging apps have pioneered the concept of using your phone number to log in years ago. But so far Facebook’s Messenger has required people to have a Facebook account in order to use it. Not anymore.

Starting today, you can sign up for Facebook Messenger even if you don’t have a Facebook account. After you install the Messenger app, when you run it for the first time, you’ll see the screen above. You can choose “Not on Facebook?” to be able to sign up using your phone number. Read more »

After launching it first on Android and the later bringing it to iOS, WhatsApp has finally brought over its voice calling feature to the Windows Phone version. You can now finally call your buddies using Android or iOS devices on WhatsApp, instead of Viber, or Skype, or any of the other dozen services.

Along with voice calling, the update also brings with it the ability to send voice notes, which is only available on devices running 8.1 and above. Other than that there is not much else new in this update. Read more »

The Android version of popular messaging app WhatsApp now allows you to search across all your conversations. According to an Android Police report, the feature was possibly added in the version 2.12.134 of the app.

Previously, you could only perform a text search in a single WhatsApp conversation, but now when you start a search in the app’s Chats tab, you are also presented with results from within various conversations in addition to your contacts. Read more »

Instagram 7.0 for iOS and Android has been made official today, and it should become available in both the iTunes App Store and the Google Play Store within the next few hours. The newest version of the popular photo sharing app comes with some pretty big changes, though unfortunately one of them is US-only for now.

The Explore page inside the app has been completely revamped. It now shows trends as they emerge, making it easy for you to follow current events and conversations through Instagram. You will see trending tags as well as trending places. Read more »

Clearly meant as a response of sorts to the launch of Apple Music, Google has today announced it’s adding a free tier to its Play Music streaming service. Previously, this was accessible only through a subscription.

From this point on, however, it also has a free, ad-supported radio version. Unfortunately it’s only going to be available in the US for the foreseeable future (Google has yet to announce when it will go international). Read more »

The Android version of Twitter’s live video streaming app Periscope – which was launched last month – has scored yet another update. It bumps the application to version 1.0.2, and brings along several new features as well as bug fixes.

The updated app now not only lets you edit your profile information, including your photo, display name, and description, but also allows you to watch your personal broadcast history. In addition, it brings along improved comment synchronization for replays, as well as new sound/vibrate/silent notification settings (see image above). Read more »

Here Maps (still owned by Nokia, but that’s something that may change soon) has announced a new milestone today. The service now has live, real time traffic information in 50 countries across the globe. In the map below, every territory that’s blue is covered.

The light blue places are the newest additions, joining the other 44 countries from today. So, starting now you’ll also get live traffic coverage in Bahrain, Bulgaria, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Romania. Read more »

Here are the best apps and games that came out this week. Read more »

Just days after Facebook released Moments – a private photo-sharing app that uses facial-recognition technology to identify people in images, the company has said that the app won’t be available in Europe.

According to the company’s European policy chief Richard Allan, the decision was taken in the wake of concerns raised by European regulators over the facial-recognition technology used by the app. Read more »

For whatever reason, Google decided that today would be a good day to add another one of its apps to the Play Store. In this case, we’re talking about Clock, in its most recent iteration that is.

You can now install Google’s Clock if you so wish, and you’ll get an app that is heavily infused with the Material Design language that the search giant has been in love with since last year. Read more »

Over a couple of months after there were reports that Nokia is contemplating a sale of its HERE maps business, Bloomberg is reporting that the unit might be sold to a group of German carmakers.

The report, however, notes that Nokia isn’t satisfied with the price being offered, and wants the group – which includes Audi, BMW, and Daimler – to increase their offer. Read more »

Remember Pulse? Once a very well regarded news reading app for mobile, it got acquired by LinkedIn back in 2013, and we haven’t heard much about it since. Until today, that is. LinkedIn is now relaunching the app in both the iTunes App Store and the Google Play Store.

The new Pulse has been rebuilt from the ground up to deliver personalized news that’s based on your LinkedIn connections. Or, as the company puts it, “your professional world”. Read more »

Gameplay streaming and commentary have always been trendy with PCs and consoles – so much so, that quite a few people are making good money doing just that on media platforms, such as Twitch and YouTube. Yet, recording from mobile devices is still kind of a hustle and Samsung has realized the need to simplify the whole process releasing the appropriately named Game Recorder+.

The app is pretty straightforward – it can capture gameplay footage from your games as well as audio and video from your device’s front-facing camera for on-the-fly commentary. Once you have the said footage, Game Recorder+ allows you to quickly trim it and even upload the final creation to YouTube. Read more »

Pushbullet introduced a new Portal app that allows transferring files from a computer to the target Android device directly over Wi-Fi. So if you have some large files on your PC or Mac, you can use Portal app to transfer them to the Android phone or tablet without having to connect it physically with the computer.

Portal app from Pushbullet functions very similarly to popular AirDroid, which offers more features than simple files transfer. To get started, you have to use the Portal app to scan the QR code at the Portal web page as it appears on a PC or Mac. Read more »

BitTorrent has released a new app that the company claims allows you to share files directly between mobile devices without going through the cloud. Dubbed Shoot, the app is based on BitTorrent Sync technology, and is compatible with Android, iOS, as well as Windows Phone devices.

“If you’ve ever experienced a situation where you’re on iOS and a friend next to you has an Android phone, sending something like a big batch of photos or a long video is a challenge,” the filesharing company said in a blog post. “The Shoot app was developed to make this easy.” Read more »