Learn how to clear cached media and other temporary files in the X app on your iPhone or Android phone to free up storage space or troubleshoot issues.
How to free up space on your iPhone by clearing X’s cache and media files
App Store Apps
Viber rolls out self destructing Secret Chats
Messaging service Viber today rolled out a new Secret Chats feature. Not to be confused with Secret Messages, a similar feature introduced in February 2017 that lets you define how long your photos, videos and texts are available after the recipient has opened them, Secret Chats use Viber's end-to-end encryption let you set a timer on individual messages so they disappear after a few seconds, get an alert when a screenshot is taken and be sure no messages get forwarded.
ZenScreen, Chroma, Flyr, and other apps to check out this weekend
Looking for some new apps to try this weekend? iDB has you covered. In this week's edition of our Apps of the Week roundup, we've selected some great new apps including a wallpaper-maker, an adult coloring book, and an interactive video platform. And as always, we've also picked two great new games for you to check out.
WhatsApp to bring back its original text-only status feature
WhatsApp's longstanding text-based status feature was recently supplanted by Snapchat-esque slideshows containing auto-vanishing images, photos, emoji, drawings and other multimedia items. Our tutorial explains how to use this new feature, but it seems many users are unhappy with the overhauled status. If you count yourself in this group, you'll be delighted to learn that Facebook is working on bringing back the original status feature, called About.
Twitter starts censoring profiles that publish potentially sensitive content
Twitter recently introduced several features in its mobile app that give users the option to filter out anonymous and “egg” accounts, as well as mute words, phrases, mentions and hashtags in their timelines (be sure to read our tutorial for step-by-step instructions on the new filtering options).
In its continuing mission to fight trolls on the service, the company is taking additional steps to make the platform a safer place, as Mashable reported Friday.
In a nutshell, the service has now begun censoring profiles that post “potentially sensitive” content even if the implementation seems a bit heavy-handed at the moment.
Google is bringing Safari-like Reading List feature to Chrome for iPhone and iPad
Safari for iPhone, iPad and Mac has long included a tremendously useful Reading List feature that allows you to save your favorite webpages and access them easily between devices—even without an Internet connection. Google has been working on its own version of Reading List and it's slated to arrive in an upcoming update to Chrome for iOS, as reported by 9to5Mac. Like with Reading List on Safari, this nifty new addition will let Chrome users save articles and webpages for offline reading at a later date.
Cortana 2.0 for iPhone brings overhauled interface and faster performance
Microsoft today rolled out a major update to its Cortana personal assistant app for iPhone, with enhancements like faster page transitions, improved app responsiveness and overhauled user interface all part of the update. The new version arrived three months after its release on Android. Design improvements in Cortana 2.0, a free download from App Store, include a fresh new look with an improved user experience, immersive full-page answers and overhauled calling, texting and reminders.
Developers required to submit a new app version before updating App Store descriptions [U]
Developers could refresh App Store's meta data for their apps at any time, but not anymore. According to 9to5Mac, which first spotted the change, Apple's iTunesConnect tool for developers used for editing metadata now requires that a new version of the app be submitted for review before its description, release notes and other metadata can be edited. Any changes made to an app's metadata won't go live on App Store until the new binary has been approved by Apple's editorial team.
UPDATE: Several developers we talked to have confirmed that this was indeed a glitch in the system, saying they're now able to update an app's description and other meta data without submitting a new binary for approval.
Facebook Messenger now lets everyone post status updates that disappear after 24 hours
Facebook announced Thursday that a feature in its mobile Messenger app that allows people to post auto-disappearing photos and videos has now begun rolling out globally following a previous soft launch in select countries like Poland and Australia. They're calling it Messenger Day because anything you post there disappears automatically after 24 hours, just like with Instagram Stories or those auto-vanishing status updates on WhatsApp.
You're in full control of the scope of your Messenger Day and can choose to share it with everyone on the service, people you're friends with or cherry-picked contacts.
Google Photos picks up auto white balance editing feature in latest update
Google Photos for iPhone and iPad has picked up a brand new editing feature—auto white balance. Requiring Google Photos for iOS version 2.11, the app's improved Auto Enhance tool now includes white balance correction that adjusts the white tone of your images to make them pop and given them a more natural look. Launch Google Photos on your device, select a look and the app will now correct not only exposure and saturation, but also automatically correct the white balance of the image.
Neverthink takes cues from TV era, plays videos in place of programs
If you sampled a bunch of people and asked them about their favorite downtime activities, chances are there would be a fairly even split in numbers between respondents choosing a good book over other forms of entertainment and those drawn to the audiovisual media instead. Folks of the latter segment know best for themselves where to get their daily dose of videos from, but places such as Netflix, Youtube or Hulu are generally speaking a solid bet. Internet empowered services aside, there is credible chatter that in the shadows of society, some renegades continue to resort to a traditional TV set for their spate of mindless diversion.
Whether you find yourself all too often hunting for new videos to watch during lunch break or you identify with the dwindling TV crowd, a brand new app called neverthink could be for you. That’s because it marries the old-fashion convenience of always-on programming with the excitement of the sometimes mercurial internet. Neverthink wants you to never again think about what videos to dig up next and their way of going about it is unique enough to potentially strike a chord with you.
Instagram launches geostickers in Stories
Instagram has aped Snapchat all over again, this time by launching geostickers which I'm sure you know are location-based stickers originally popularized by Snapchat. This cool feature is live in just two cities, for now, but you can bet they'll be aggressively rolling it out in additional markets as rapidly as humanly possible. If you happen to live in Jakarta or New York City, use geofilters to spice up your Instagram Stories with visual accessories representing your present location, down to the neighborhood.