Facebook

WhatsApp Text Status Updates Returning Next Week

Mar 16, 2017 By

With over a billion active users, WhatsApp is among the most popular chat applications in the world. Owned by Facebook, the app brings forward a number of innovations from time to time. After the Facebook acquisition, the number of updates started increasing and it moved from a traditional chat app to a full blown communications tool. WhatsApp introduced a new feature a couple of weeks ago, which was rather polarizing. We are talking about the change made to WhatsApp status updates becoming a visual medium instead of a text based medium. However, WhatsApp text status updates are now returning.

Those who miss the WhatsApp text status updates need to wait another week till they make a comeback. The text based updates will return in the form of the ‘about’ tab that the app is about to introduce. The feature has already been rolled out to the WhatsApp Beta users. The feature comes with the good old default options such as Busy, Available, At the Movies, etc.

WhatsApp recently issued a statement saying they have heard from their users that people missed the ability to set a persistent text-only update in their profile. Following this intense feedback from the users, the app has now integrated this feature into the ‘About’ section in profile settings. Now, the update will appear next to profile names anytime the users view their contacts.

WhatsApp text status updates are returning, and it is a massive relief to those who did not want another platform to showcase a day in their life. Facebook has been attacking Snapchat by introducing the stories feature in some form in all their apps. It was introduced as the Instagram Stories, followed by the WhatsApp Status update, and then the Facebook Messenger Day. All three of them offer the same feature, and it is clear attack from Facebook on to Snapchat. The update will begin rolling out next week, and it will come to the iOS users earlier than the Android users.

Facebook Slideshow is Coming Soon, Developers Already Testing it for iOS

Dec 23, 2016 By

Many Facebook users can’t shoot appealing videos and static photography is quite boring. May be that’s why the social media giant decided to launch Facebook slideshow.

Many Facebook users can’t shoot appealing videos and static photography is quite boring. May be that’s why Apple Memories and Google Movie Assistant were launched to compensate for poor video quality. Next in line is Facebook. The company is all set to launch Facebook Slideshow for iOS users around the world. The app is already in its testing stage.

How does Facebook Slideshow Work?

This June, Facebook launched its ‘Slideshow movie maker’ under ‘Moment’s app for iOS. The feature let you make slideshow consisting of photos, music and video clips. Now, they’re testing it for Android beta app. The earlier version of Facebook Slideshow was a premade content that could be customized by users. This custom-tailored slideshow used 5 photos or video clips published by a user in last 24 hours. In short, Facebook suggested you to create a slideshow by hitting the ‘Try it’ button.

Even though the slideshow is automatically composed by the site, users were given limited choices in terms of personalization. Though you can add or remove images, but you cannot add more than 5 items at a time. Also, you can choose only one out of ten predefined themes (music and background appearance) for the video including Night Out, Nostalgic, Playful, Thankful, Birthday, Epic, Bollywood, Amped and Tropical.

Once you create it, you can store it up to 24 hours (like Snapchat Stories) and publish them in chronological narrative. This is how they were able to get at par with Snapchat.

Why did Facebook Introduce this Option?

In last few months, Facebook experienced a drop in personal content sharing. This may be possible due to tough competition by Instagram and Snapchat. Additionally, the news articles started dominating the News Feed. Therefore, to revive the lost interest of the users, they introduced Facebook Slideshow.

Even though we love Snapchat stories, analytics say Facebook Slideshow transitions and movies is something worth watching. Users can transform the eye-catching images into something worthwhile with this feature. It’s worth a try!

Facebook to Launch a Split Screen Video Chat Function With Room For 6 People At A Time:

Dec 19, 2016 By

Facebook,(NASDAQ:FB) has been on a constant rise. Ever since it bought WhatsApp, the company has been carrying out acquisitions like no other. This aggressive marketing policy has further chosen a new application to demolish – Houseparty.

The Houseparty app has been really popular amongst the teenagers these days. Of course, with Facebook, there has always been one big problem – it never likes the limelight to be on any other company but itself. To combat Houseparty, the social network has now come up with a brand new feature. It has introduced a video calling system in which a person can do a video chat with, not one, but 6 people at the same time.

6 people is not the upper limit for the chat though – Facebook has allowed for 6 people to be a part of the video feed, while up to 50 people can be together in the voice chat at the same time. Not just this, all those who are on the video chat, can goof around with each other by donning special filters like in snapchat, to get funny pictures.

As of now, this chat can be used in iOS, Android and the Web. Just like in skype, where apart from audio and video chats, you can send Emojis or animated Emojis, same way, in this this chat as well, you will be able to send emojis to all your near and dear ones, in cases where feelings cannot be expressed merely by words.

With the kind of track record that Facebook has been able to maintain, with all the top rivals being side tracked one after the other, has changed the way people look at these applications. Famous names of a few of them are FaceTime/iMessage, Google Duo, and Snapchat.

Facebook, (NASDAQ:FB) founded by Mark Zuckerberg, is an application that connects billions of people across the globe. They bought WhatsApp and Instagram and now, they are giving all the competitors a run for their money . Financial experts around the globe have predicted that this would be a company that could beat its earnings in the following financial year. It is definitely a great time to invest in Facebook stock if you are looking to make some profit too!

Facebook Messenger Camera Updated with Special Effects and Shapchat-like Features

Dec 16, 2016 By

When you’re great at something, even the best of best will try and be like you. Facebook has effectively proven this notion. Though Facebook has a reputation for adding new features to its browser and mobile app every now and then, this time they’ve copied Snapchat! Yeah, this juicy gossip is actually true. Facebook messenger was slowly losing its significance and a part of its business to Snapchat. To get back in the game, the multi-billion social media giant cleverly copied its photo sharing feature. Thus, the Facebook messenger camera was upgraded with cool features to attract younger generations.

Why is the New Facebook Messenger Camera so Cool?

Centralized Camera Button, Filters, Stickers and Messenger Day. Brand new Facebook messenger camera has won our hearts!

Ease of Accessibility!

The brand new Facebook messenger camera is easier to access. Developers have put the big, circular camera icon in the center of your Messenger window. With a single tap, it’ll display your camera screen, like other camera apps such as Beauty Plus, WeCam etc. If you press it for a long time, it’ll start recording videos. Cool, isn’t it?

Plenty of Filters and Stickers to make it More Fun

One thing that we absolutely loved about Snapchat was cute filters and funny stickers that were displayed on our pictures. Even Zuckerberg has fallen in love with them. Consequently, the new messenger cam will feature animations, stickers, facial apps and other special effects. The company has been working on this project since October and they’ve managed to deliver it this month.

Swipe Left and Right like Tinder

Wait a second, you don’t have to swipe left and right to express your ‘likes and dislikes’. Instead, you’ve to swipe the camera icon to the left to share your video and photos with your friends. Quite convenient it is!

Messenger Day

This one totally resembles the ‘Snapchat story’ feature where you can add graphics, videos and pictures that disappear within a day. This feature appears on top of your chat list.

Other than this, the company is also working on ‘M suggestions’. Sadly these updates are available in selected countries only. Nevertheless, we’re sure that the trend will gradually spread across the world! With Snapchat upgrading to group chats now, it’ll be interesting to see how they fare. We smell tough competition!

Facebook Vulnerable to Malicious Malware Attacks?

Dec 9, 2016 By

Hackers can bypass Facebook security to deliver malicious Malware through image files.

Our beloved Facebook Messenger is vulnerable to ‘malware infections’. Yep, that’s true. Recently, a group of hackers have found a temporary way to breach Facebook security system. They can bypass Facebook filters to deliver harmful Chrome extensions to users. The worst part is this extension downloads harmful Trojan and malware programs on your desktop. Unsuspecting Facebook users download such files by mistake, which can cause potential harm to their system.

How Did Facebook Get Involved in this Vicious Cycle of Malware?

According to security researchers, these malicious files have .svg extension. Being a new extension, these can easily bypass online filters. Moreover, hackers can experiment with the new file format to create potential harmful files.

Why can’t FB recognize it? Since Facebook allows dynamic file exchange and .svg files are XML-based files, it gives hackers an opportunity to embed harmful Javascripts inside an image file.

Malware can attack your computers via .svg file formats.

How does it work? Well, when you click on a malicious image, it diverts you to a fake YouTube page that will ask you to add a codec so that you can view this video on Google Chrome browser. While doing so, it’ll prompt you to allow it access to your browser history. Once you grant it required permission, the link will start downloading malware on your system.

The exact cause or intent of downloading such files is not clear. There are no reports of data theft or locky malware being downloaded on systems.

In case you happen to download it by mistake, you should immediately disable JavaScript on your browser to prevent it from causing any harm. Block the Wscript and change the settings to open .jse, .se or .svg files in notepad format only. When you set it on Notepad view, it will prevent the code from running on your browser.

So this is how you can prevent it from harming your system. Avoid downloading suspicious image files to avoid this hassle. This is best way to protect your privacy in the virtual world.

Instagram Introducing Live Video And Ephemeral Messaging In Its Latest Updates

Nov 21, 2016 By

If you thought that Instagram was done with going after Snapchat, then you are absolutely wrong! This photo application has just started, with introducing the live video and some impressive new messaging features which will allow the users to share some private messages which will be disappearing outside of stories. This was announced by the company on Tuesday. The new and upcoming features for messaging inside the app, you will be able to send messages to your friends or a group of friends which will disappear once they read it. You will be able to do this with the Stories camera. The disappearance of the messages or media will be identical to that of Snapchat and you will be notified if someone takes a screenshot.

In order to help you differentiate between direct messages and the normal chat, Instagram will be using outlines around the icons. Besides the Ephemeral messaging, the photo app company is also introducing the live video feature which will be rolled out in the next couple of weeks. You will find the live videos in two places in Instagram, in the new section of “explore and in Stories as well. Anyways, the video will only be available to watch during the broadcast. Once the broadcaster takes the video down, the video will disappear from the app altogether.

The camera for the live video is very much similar to the Facebook Live or Periscope. You will be able to see who is watching you and the viewers will be able to comment and hearts will also be available. This looks like Instagram is going after the Facebook Live audience but the ephemerality of the app’s live video is directed towards robbing the Snapchat audience instead of Facebook’s. Instagram has not hidden the fact that it is directly going after Snapchat and after every update is emulating Snapchat more and more, even Facebook has also tried to emulate it on its main app.