Social

How to block strangers from messaging you on Vine

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 26, 2015

Some of our past tutorials have provided step-by-step instructions for saving Vine videos, hiding other people's revines in your feed, deleting Vine accounts and blocking users. This how-to mini-series continues with the topic of preventing people you don't follow from messaging you on the service.

Since Vine's 2.0 update, the app has gained the ability to send instant messages to other Vine members. This has quickly generated an influx of unwanted messages that in many cases is classed as pure spam.

This tutorial will teach you about a toggle you can switch to tell Vine to block strangers from messaging you on the service.

How to block users on Vine, report abuse and flag sensitive content

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 8, 2017

If you're a Vine fan, chances are you have, or will encounter unwanted comments on the videos you post to the service. This can be especially worrisome if your vines are set to public, as anyone can read NSFW language in comments.

Of course, you can delete comments posted through Vine's iPhone app at any time. But if someone is repeatedly showing abusive behavior toward your followers and spamming you in comments, you should block them.

Though this won't block the user from commenting on your posts when they're viewed through searches or hash tags, it will prevent them from following or messaging you on Vine. In this post, you are going to learn how to block a user on Vine, report abusive behavior and flag sensitive media.

Facebook pulls Slingshot, Riff and Rooms apps from App Store

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 5, 2018

Happy app removal day! After Dropbox announced plans to wind down its ill-fated Mailbox and Carousel apps, Facebook just pulled a Dropbox by confirming it, too, is shutting down a few apps of its own that have failed to gain much traction with users: Slingshot, Riff and Rooms.

In addition, the company will be closing down the Creative Labs shop, an initiative formed in January 2014 with the noble goal of giving its teams creative freedom to conceive and build apps outside the core Facebook experience.

Facebook brings photo collages to iPhone app, starts testing Periscope-like video broadcasts

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 9, 2016

Facebook today announced that its main iPhone client in the App Store has been updated with two new features: Live Video and Collages.

Collages, automatically created from the photos and videos taken together, are presented as a moving carousel within the app and on the web.

More important than that, implementing live video broadcasting on Facebook has been prioritized in the wake of the Periscope phenomenon. Starting today, a small percentage of people in the United States can begin testing the live video feature on their iPhones.

Twitter announces Digits-based logins coming to Apple TV apps

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 16, 2018

Hot on the heels of Facebook's release of an SDK for tvOS which lets developers create apps with Facebook Login based on eight-digit security codes, Twitter today announced bringing a similar feature of its own to the set-top box.

Digits, Twitter's own login and verification system based on phone numbers and verification codes, is coming to tvOS. This means that developers can now start writing Apple TV apps that users can log into by entering a short alphanumeric code in Safari on iPhone, iPod touch or iPad.

How to delete your Vine account

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated December 20, 2015

I think you'll agree with me that Vine has become quite a phenomenon. A short-form video sharing service owned by Twitter, Vine is the place where many people go to share and watch six-second looping video clips, some of which are quite amusing and engaging.

But if you've watched one too many vines and have decided that you won't be active on the service going forward, it might be a good idea to deactivate your account.

In this post, you'll learn how to deactivate your Vine profile through the mobile app and permanently delete all its underlying data.

How to hide revines from users you follow

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 26, 2015

If you use Vine, sooner than later your feed will become polluted with reposts (revines, in Vine talk) from those you follow on the service. Besides, it's really annoying having to scroll through a hundred or more revines from a user before getting to one of their own clips.

Thankfully, reducing information overload on Vine isn't as hard as it sounds as the app lets you block revines from a person and show only their original posts.

In this tutorial, we'll teach you how to hide revines from anyone you follow on the service with just a few taps. This should help make your Vine experience a little more focused and less cluttered.

Facebook to let you hide posts from your ex, without blocking or unfriending them

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 19, 2015

Most of us have been there before. You break up with your girlfriend or boyfriend, and maybe choose to unfriend or even block them on the service, but traces of your relationship are still all over the place on your Timeline, for everyone to see. So, what do you do? Do you block them outright, which will remove all their posts and also hurt their feelings?

There's got to be a better way to handle this first-world problem, don't you agree? Facebook though about that, too, and it seems they've come up with an interesting solution.

Google+ for iOS gets a facelift and new features in latest update

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 19, 2015

Following yesterday's overhaul of Google+ Communities and Collections on the web, today Google+ for iOS gets bumped to version 5.0 and thoroughly redesigned.

The new-look Communities and Collections are now accessible through the new Google+ 5.0 for iOS app. This edition of the software includes other improvements, too, including switching between multiple accounts and expanded options for sharing with folks outside Google+.

Facebook deep links will begin to soon surface in Google search results

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 16, 2015

As reported by The Wall Street Journal this morning, your Google search results will soon start to serve deep links based on content from Facebook's mobile app which, when clicked, will take you straight to the relevant part of the Facebook app.

A spokeswoman for Google parent Alphabet has confirmed the feature will begin to roll out soon.

Last month, the Internet giant announced integration between its search engine and iOS 9 apps via so-called App Indexing feature and today's announcement delivers on that promise.

How to delete your WhatsApp account directly from your iPhone or Android phone

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated August 27, 2025

Learn how to permanently delete your WhatsApp account from your iPhone or Android phone if you no longer need to use this Facebook-owned messaging service.