Facebook has announced two new Messenger related features at its F8 event. The first is Messenger Platform. Facebook has turned its messaging service into a platform, that allows integration with third party applications.

For example, you can now have the Giphy app integrated into the Facebook Messenger app on your phone, which lets you access Giphy content from within the Messenger app. Giphy now integrates within the Messenger app, allowing you to choose a GIF, which you can then send to your friends on the Messenger app. The person on the other end receives the GIF in their Messenger app. Messenger shows them the app that you used to send the GIF and then can click on the handily available Install button to install the app if they don’t have it. Read more »

Facebook has introduced a new feature, called On This Day. As its name implies, it’s all about giving you reminders of stuff you’ve shared on Facebook on that particular date in the past.

On This Day is supposed to make it easier for people to look back at old photos and memories they’ve added to the social network. On This Day works both with the content you posted, as well as things you’re tagged in. Only you can see your On This Day page, but you can choose to share the stuff in there with your friends. Read more »

Facebook’s strategy for the mobile apps is full of surprises. With free Voice Calls in the Messenger app, the company decided to compete with the likes of Skype. Now it is testing out a diaper app called Phone to compete with the likes of Truecaller.

A random trial message showing up in the Facebook app for Android talks about installing a Phone app meant for Facebook only. Read more »

Twitter is testing an internal browser for its Android app, which has been enabled for those on the beta channel. It’s a server side change that will automatically be enabled without having to update the app.

The current stable version of the Android app includes an optional quick read mode, that strips the page of its usual formatting and presents a simplified text and image view optimized for mobile reading. This new update will put the browser in your Twitter app, so links will look exactly like they do in Chrome. Read more »

Google’s social network may not be doing so well, but the company hasn’t given up on connecting people. The latest venture is Google Contacts – an online address book. It’s still in the preview stages but you can try it out today (unless you are a Google Apps user).

Contacts pools together info from your phone’s contact list and your contacts’ Google profiles. Read more »

Dating app Tinder will soon be announcing its monetization plan with the launch of Tinder Plus. The updated app will bring two new feature for those who don’t mind paying for them.

One of the features is something that has been requested a lot, and that is undo for dislikes. When you dislike someone, that person is removed forever and won’t be shown again, unless maybe you reinstall the app. With the undo button, you can bring back accidentally disliked cards back with the press of a button. Read more »

Facebook, which already offers 58 gender identity options, has now given users control over the words describing their gender. “Now, if you do not identify with the pre-populated list of gender identities, you are able to add your own,” the world’s largest social network said.

If you choose a custom gender, you can also choose the pronoun you prefer: he/his, she/her or they/their. As before, you can also control the audience with whom you would like to share your custom gender. Read more »

After quite a few months since Google first unveiled its Material Design guidelines, Facebook has decided to follow them somewhat. The world’s biggest social network is now testing a slightly enhanced look for its Android app, one that has been infused with a few Material Design elements.

As you can see, a big blue floating action button is present. Once you tap that a few options show up, which were previously available to you through a floating blue bar at the bottom of the screen. This bundled the “Take a photo” and “Upload a photo” items together, while “Where I am” used to be known as “Check in”. The old “Status” option from the floating bar is now replaced with “Write a post”. Read more »

Facebook has added a new feature today, and it’s already rolling out to accounts in the US. Basically, you can now add a “legacy contact” in the Security section of your account. This will be the digital ‘heir’ to your Facebook presence after you die.

Once someone lets Facebook know that you’ve passed away, the company will ‘memorialize’ the account and starting at this point the legacy contact will be able to do certain things with it. Read more »

According to a report in Bloomberg, Google Search will soon include tweets. Google and Twitter have apparently reached and agreement, which will include the social network’s posts in its search results.

The feature is allegedly set to launch in the first half of this year. Read more »

Instagram has updated its video feature, ensuring that video clips shared to the service now loop continuously, meaning they’ll start automatically and repeat continuously until you scroll past them.

Apparently, the feature is designed to please advertisers, who are always keen to get as many views for their ads as possible. As for the users, they probably won’t be happy given that the feature cannot be disabled altogether. For those who are fearing high data bills, the company has explicitly said that the feature won’t affect how much data the app uses. Read more »

Just a few months after adding support for the larger displays of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, Facebook has updated its Paper app for iOS to version 1.2.5, bringing improvements to Camera Roll and photo sharing, as well as faster performance.

Photos and videos are now organized by the date they were taken, making it easy for you to find what you’re looking for while selecting media to share. In addition, the updated app also introduces the ability to share photos from the new Favorites album introduced in iOS 8. Read more »

Snapchat has added a new feature in the latest update of the app for iOS and Android, which is called Discover. With this, you can now access content from service such as Yahoo News, ESPN, National Geographic, MTV, Daily Mail, and Snapchat’s own network.

Snapchat has been working with media companies to be able to deliver content that fits into Snapchat’s format. With the latest update, you can now choose from any of these services, and then see the content within the app. The content appears in the form of short video clips, and you can swipe up to either see a full video, like on, say, National Geographic or MTV, or read the associated article, like on Yahoo News. Snapchat also has its channel, where you can get updates from events happening around the world, such as the current winter storm Juno happening in the western hemisphere. Read more »

Twitter is mostly a public social network, but it improved its private messaging experience with Direct Messages for groups. Another change today is the ability to record, edit and share short video clips publicly.

The new features will be rolled out gradually to all users, but you can view videos and be invited into conversations by people who have already gotten access to the features. Read more »

If you are particularly addicted to your Facebook, Instagram, or Tinder social life, you may have noticed by now that none of the services are currently available.

The exact cause of the outage is unknown, but I assume whatever took down Facebook took down Instagram as well. Both services are not available on both, the web as well as the mobile apps, although WhatsApp, another Facebook owned property is working fine. Read more »