As has been expected for quite a while, Facebook has started taking the Messenger part out of its official app for iOS and Android this week, prompting those who want to use the feature to install the standalone Messenger. To say that this hasn’t gone well with users would be an understatement.

Facebook Messenger is now the No.1 app in the iTunes App Store for iOS, but it has a paltry one-star rating. It’s unclear if something like this has ever happened before – for the most downloaded app in the App Store to have such dismal reviews. Read more »

VSCO has updated their VSCO Cam app for Android to version 3.0. The update was released on iOS months ago but it took them quite a while to bring it to Android.

The main feature in this update is the ability to find and follow other users of VSCO Grid. VSCO Grid is a social network where you can upload images from the VSCO app. So far, the only way to view and follow the profiles of other VSCO users was from the website or the iOS app but now you can do it from within the Android app as well. Read more »

After unlinking Hangouts from Google+ in the recent past, it seems Google is now planning on doing the same with its photos service. Currently available as part of the Google+ social network, the Photos service will soon become independent, according to Bloomberg.

After it becomes an independent service, users can access it separately without needing to have a Google+ account. It would still continue to be available to Google+ users. Read more »

We talked about the Bolt service a few days back. The app is now officially available on iOS and Android, but only in New Zealand, Singapore, and South Africa for now.

Bolt lets you have a group of close friends that you can instantly send photos or videos to. Just tap on their contact name and it takes a photo and sends it. You can press and hold on the contact name to send a video. Just like with Snapchat, the photos and videos are not sent and are removed from your device when you swipe them away. Read more »

Facebook has been pushing its Messenger application pretty zealously, and there’s even been talks of the social networking giant monetizing the app.

Well it looks like Zuckerberg and company are making the installation of Facebook Messenger a mandatory affair for anyone who wants to communicate with their Facebook friends from their mobile device. Read more »

Snapchat’s incredible popularity has its competitors scrambling to come up with an equivalent service to engage the masses. Despite several attempts, no one has really managed to match Snapchat’s success.

After failing to acquire Snapchat, Facebook came up with the godawful Slingshot app, which I’m sure even Facebook employees aren’t using at this point, leave alone the average users. But Facebook has an ace up its sleeve in the form of Instagram, and so now they are using Instagram’s popularity to take on Snapchat. Read more »

Google has been known to snatch up any and every type of business, that’s why it doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone that the internet search giant is interested in purchasing the online game-streaming service, Twitch.

What might come as a surprise is the price that Google is willing to pay: $1 billion. Read more »

If you have Facebook installed on your phone, then you’ve been harassed, at least once, to install the Facebook messenger application.

After you’ve caved in and gotten used to the intrusive chat heads feature, prepare for Facebook’s eventual monetizing of its popular app. Read more »

Just a few days after outing another new feature, Facebook today has announced the Save functionality. This basically allows you to save anything you see on the social network – to read later.

So yes, it’s clearly a competitor to standalone services such as Pocket, Instapaper, or Readability. There are certain differences, though, chief among which is the fact that Facebook’s Save lets you store any content you come across on the social network – including links, places, movies, TV and music. Read more »

Facebook has launched a new application exclusive to those with a verified account. Called Mentions, it helps all those celebrities on Twitter to keep track of all the replies they receive.

Other than being available only for verified users, the app is currently only available in the US and only on the iPhone. Read more »

Guess what – Google+ isn’t Google’s first go at a social network. Back before social networks were as popular as today, around the same time when Facebook was just getting started after Myspace paved the way, there was Orkut. The social network didn’t really leave a big mark in its 10 year tenure but has been used widely in Brazil and India.

Now that Google’s Google+, YouTube and Blogger are moving forward and luring users by the quarter Google, and Father Time, have finally caught up to Orkut. The service will be shutting down on September 30 of this year and effective today isn’t accepting new registrations. Read more »

Twitter annoucned that its users can now share and view animated GIFs. The social networking giant delivered the word from its official support account.

The new functionality works on desktop devices, as well as iOS and Android. Read more »

Twitter may still be growing its user count, but the growth is slowing compared to the past few years. The social network that focuses on brevity has seen growth declines in both its international as well as US-based monthly active users.

This is happening at a pretty quick pace, which means Twitter may have achieved peak growth a while back. The best growth it’s seen over the past three years was 140%, yet for the fourth quarter of 2013 that’s down to 40%. Read more »

Instagram for iOS and Android got treated to a major update. Version 6.0 of the popular app brings new image editing tools which are certain to appeal to the photo sharing crowd.

With the latest version of the app, Instagram users for iOS and Android can adjust brightness, contrast, saturation, warmth, and other aspects of their photos. Read more »

Twitter is a great way to keep in touch with people and all that goes around in the world. But often, you may be following someone whose tweets you may not want to read on occasions but don’t want to unfollow them either. Muting, a functionality offered by many third party Twitter clients, enabled users to mute these people so that their tweets would be hidden from your timeline without their knowledge and without you having to unfollow them.

Not a lot of people use third party clients, however, and those who use the website or the official app have been asking for an official mute functionality from Twitter for a long time now. After years of requests, Twitter has finally obliged. Read more »