Today a new program from Facebook was released in order to combat the sharing of intimate images without shared consent. This is sometimes referred to as "revenge porn" and it's become a major problem across all forms of social media in the past half-decade. Today Facebook's pilot program revealed over a year and a half ago live in a new security-aimed hub called "Not without my consent."
After months of talking about it, it seems that dark mode is finally rolling out to Facebook Messenger users. Facebook is playing a little game with this release, as dark mode isn't initially available as a toggle in settings. Instead, users need to unlock the feature through an emoji Easter egg before they can turn it on.
Google once adopted an Apple-like strategy that put Allo forward as its instant messaging app and Duo as its FaceTime rival. Allo, however, has been officially declared dead but Google Duo remains in the running. In fact, Google has very silently pushed a new feature that puts it above Apple FaceTime and many similar services. Now you can use Duo to make calls from your web browser, including video calls if your computer has the hardware for it.
Bokeh, the effect of blurring of objects around the subject, has become a popular feature in mobile photography. It's made possible with two cameras but even a single camera can do it with some software tricks. But while that's relatively easy to do with still shots, it's harder to pull off when your subject is less stationary. And that is why Microsoft is resorting to some Artificial Intelligence to implement background blur in Skype video chats on desktops.
Remember last year when Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg purged some of his messages from various Messenger conversations? There was a bit of an uproar at the time, and Facebook later said that Zuck's disappearing messages were part of an "unsend" feature the company was testing. Now, nearly a year later, that feature is rolling out to Messenger users.
Although Google has never really been known for its expertise in photography, it is starting to make a name for itself in that area, particularly on mobile. Its work on software-based photography with the Pixel phones’ lone camera has been impressive and its recent Night Sight turns night into day. Not everyone has a Pixel phone though so it’s mildly reassuring to find out that Google might be working on something similar for its Google Duo video chat app. Plus, it’s also working on something for lovers this month.
Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram messaging will be joined together, as the social network pulls together the various apps and services it owns. The shift will present a considerable architectural challenge for Facebook engineers, though the expectation is that - at least initially - end-users won't necessarily see any difference.
As with Twitter, Reddit, and other services before it, Facebook is finally working on a dark mode for its messaging app. Earlier this year, a leak revealed that Facebook's team was internally testing a Messenger dark mode, and now that same mode is showing up publicly as a test for some users. As the name suggests, the dark mode changes the appearance of Facebook Messenger to a dark color scheme.
Facebook Messenger's camera is getting a pretty significant update today. This update adds a handful of new features to the app, including a new selfie mode and support for AR stickers. Messenger is also adding native support for Boomerang today, which was launched by Instagram a couple of years back.
Facebook has updated Messenger Lite to provide a "richer" experience while retaining the same <10MB size that makes it so appealing. Among the changes is improved support for GIFs, which were previously supported but not animated. This time around, Facebook has enabled Messenger Lite users to send and play animated GIFs, an arguably vital part of the modern chat experience.
Facebook's anticipated Messenger "unsend" feature is finally rolling out to users. The feature was promised seven months ago following a report revealing that Facebook had quietly removed some private messages sent by Mark Zuckerberg. The company was quiet about the project until recently; screenshots of the "unsend" option surfaced a few weeks back followed by an update preview last week.
Facebook's Portal and Portal+ smart displays are on sale, but the big "should I buy one?" question is about more than just the technology on offer. The social network raised more than a few eyebrows when it announced the two video calling-focused smart displays earlier this year, while still in the shadow of a data privacy controversy.