Month: August 2023

AI-powered BeFake is a real app, not a BeReal parody…and it has $3M in funding | TechCrunch

image via techcrunch.com
image via techcrunch.com

BeFake, a social networking app that combines concepts from popular Gen Z app BeReal along with AI technology has netted itself $3 million in seed funding to create an AI-augmented social network. The app’s name, a clear reference to BeReal’s authentic photo sharing among friends, is meant to suggest it does the opposite. Instead of showing what you’re up to right now, BeFake users also snap photos with both the front and back cameras, but then customize their photos using AI technology using either in-app presets or custom prompts.

https://techcrunch.com/2023/08/31/ai-powered-befake-is-a-real-app-not-a-bereal-parody-and-it-has-3m-in-funding/

In Threads’ dwindling engagement, social media’s flawed hypothesis is laid bare

image via techcrunch.com
image via techcrunch.com

Merely weeks after emerging as the apparent heir to address social media’s woes and generating over 100 million users in less than five days, Threads appears to be, well, fraying at the edges already with a recently reported 80% drop in daily active users since launch. The platform — celebrated early on for its “combination of the ridiculous, the lighthearted, and a little cringe” — has quickly become another example of the expeditious cycle by which innovation in social media operates and burns out users.

https://techcrunch.com/2023/08/30/in-threads-dwindling-engagement-social-medias-flawed-hypothesis-is-laid-bare/

Snapchat is jumping on the AI selfie train with ‘Dreams’

image via theverge.com
image via theverge.com

Snapchat is now jumping on the AI selfie bandwagon with a new feature called Dreams. The first pack of Dreams is free to make and each additional one costs $1 as an in-app purchase. Snapchat users in Australia and New Zealand are getting access to Dreams starting today, followed by access opening up to the rest of the world over the coming weeks.

https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/29/23849611/snapchat-releases-ai-selfie-feature-dreams

Hell freezes over as Apple supports right-to-repair bill

image via arstechnica.com
image via arstechnica.com

In a letter dated August 22, Apple showed its support for California's right-to-repair bill, SB 244, after spending years combatting DIY repair efforts. The bill requires vendors of consumer electronics and appliances to make sufficient documentation, parts, and tools for repairs available to customers and independent repair shops. The big exceptions are video game consoles and alarm systems.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/08/hell-freezes-over-as-apple-supports-right-to-repair-bill/

Safari’s bottom nav bar on iPhone is coming to Chrome

image via 9to5mac.com
image via 9to5mac.com

Apple broke the internet, or at least some people’s muscle memory, when it moved the search bar on Safari in iOS 15. Fast-forward a couple years, and now Chrome is adopting the same design change. For Chrome, Google is including the setting to choose between a top or bottom address bar. A touch and hold gesture will also fling the address bar from the top or bottom.

https://9to5mac.com/2023/08/23/chrome-bottom-nav-bar/

Threads: Meta to launch web version of flagging Threads app

image via bbc.com
image via bbc.com

Meta is releasing a web version of Threads, as it attempts to revive the social media platform. The rival to X, formerly known as Twitter, enjoyed meteoric growth when it launched in July. However, users then abandoned it just as rapidly, partly due to its limited functionality. Meta says the web version is part of a drive to deliver new features but experts warn more needs to be done to rebuild customer interest.

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-66574762