Apps

Twitch made a surprise appearance on the Nintendo Switch eShop this week, becoming one of the few media apps available on the platform. The addition of Twitch continues this slow, seemingly random drip release of media apps for the Switch that we've seen since launch. Unfortunately, there are a large number of media apps that could be on the Switch but aren't - a fact that's brought back to the forefront whenever a new media app makes its way to the eShop.

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Even though Microsoft has been supporting PC with day-and-date releases of first-party games, the Microsoft Store hasn't been the most convenient way to buy and install PC games. However, that may be changing, as a new report today claims that Microsoft is removing some folder restrictions associated with game installs from both the Microsoft Store and the Xbox Game Pass app. This, in turn, could give PC users more flexibility in how they access, store, and mod their games.

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Samsung's entry into the Wear OS world helped reinvigorate Google's wearable platform, especially as it was timed with the launch of Wear OS 3. The situation is hardly perfect, though, since there is still no other smartwatch running the least Wear OS version other than Samsung's Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic. There is also the matter of Samsung's Tizen apps coming to Wear OS while remaining exclusive to Samsung, though that might not remain true for long if the company's Internet browser smartwatch app is any indication.

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Facebook, or rather Meta now, and Instagram have recently come under fire for how the company allegedly prioritized profits through network traffic over users' mental health, especially younger users. Although Facebook naturally denied the accusations, Instagram promised that it would implement features that will at least try to get users to stay mentally sane. The first of those features is now rolling out to a few users to remind them to stop scrolling through the feed from time to time.

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There are several medical conditions and diseases that can impact a person's ability to communicate with others through speech. Google is working to make its apps more accessible to people with impairments and disabilities while helping them to communicate better with people around them. Millions of people in the US and around the world suffer from conditions that impair speech, including stroke, ALS, Cerebral Palsy, traumatic brain injury, and Parkinson's disease.

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When Facebook announced it would be called Meta forevermore (or at least until the next rebranding), it wasn't just renaming the company. It was also broadcasting its bigger and somewhat more worrying ambitions to take over the world through a metaverse platform. It did also announce that it would unify some of its brands, especially those revolving around its money-related services under Novi. Now the effects of those changes might be coming soon to WhatsApp, and it could have some repercussions for the messaging service's users.

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Robinhood, which has already found itself at the center of some controversy in 2021, announced today that it has suffered a security breach. The breach dates back to November 3rd when it says that an "unauthorized third party obtained access to a limited amount of personal information for a portion of our customers." The good news is that Robinhood doesn't think more delicate data, such as social security numbers and credit/debit card numbers have been compromised.

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For some Windows users, the ability to install and run Android apps directly is perhaps the biggest pull of the Windows 11 release. It doesn't have its caveats, though, the biggest of which is the very limited selection of officially supported apps from Amazon's Appstore. That catalog will grow over time, of course, but that still leaves a lot of Android apps out of the party. Fortunately, Windows' new Subsystem for Android is an open system, at least for now, and a new tool has popped up to help less tech-savvy users to get the most out of that Android apps support.

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Whether or not you see Epic Games as a champion or just another business with an ulterior motive, there is no denying that its high-profile efforts to make changes happen in the app marketplace are having some positive effects. Pressure, both legal and social, has forced the likes of Apple, Google, and even Valve, to make some changes, though not always in the ways that developers would have preferred. Case in point is what happened in South Korea, where Google is finally allowing third-party billing systems in its Play Store while still taxing developers as if they were using Google Pay anyway.

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In recent years, Apple has painted itself as a staunch defender of people's security and privacy. It has taken that hardline stance, even in the face of public opinion often tied to the investigation of heinous crimes that involved the use of an iPhone. The company also likes to highlight its track record in keeping its App Store a safe place for users, even when that is built on what some have alleged to be anticompetitive and monopolistic business practices. On a technical level, a key element in its armor is the inability of iPhone and iPad owners to install apps outside the Apple App Store, ironically a feature that could actually reveal how weak iOS' security framework might be.

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It's that time of year again where people start to collect and create lists that look back at the past few months. From retrospectives to "Best of" lists, we'll soon be inundated with pieces that will try to point this rather messy year in a more positive light. It's also the time for app stores to reveal their best wares, and Google is asking users to vote on this year's top apps and games. Unfortunately, Google's list, while notable, does throw a bit of attention on one of Android's most ironic problems: apps.

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With music streaming now a staple in modern life, service providers have moved on to finding new ways to pull in and keep subscribers. Podcasts, which predate this media streaming industry, seem to be coming back to the forefront, with Spotify and Apple taking jabs at each other over their new audio offerings. Amazon Music, however, isn't keeping silent and is making a lot of noise that it believes will put it ahead of the competition with its synchronized transcripts feature.

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