Software & Apps News - Page 1

WhatsApp, the meta-owned instant messaging platform, has been testing support for passkeys for some time now and the feature is already available for Android users - in fact, it has been since October. Now though, WhatsApp has started to roll out passkey support for those who also happen to have an iPhone for the very first time.

The news was first reported by Engadget which reported that iPhone owners now have the option to use passkeys. It's rolling out to WhatsApp users right now, but it could take a few weeks for it to become available to everyone because of the way that WhatsApp tends to make these new features available.

In a statement provided to Engadget, Alice Newton-Rex, WhatsApp's head of product said that the support for passkey verification will make signing into WhatsApp easier and more secure. It's seen as an additional layer of security, she continued.

X is preparing to make the jump to your home TV, or any smart TV that is capable of downloading a new app, with the company preparing to release its own TV app dedicated for X video.

As part of Elon Musk's intention to create the "Everything App" X is now making the jump to TV's with a new separate app that will bring X video content to your couch. X's likely hoping the impact of bringing X to TVs will at least slightly shift the brand into being recognized as a video app as well - something Musk and X have been working on since the Tesla CEO purchased the company.

X CEO Linda Yaccarino, took to her personal X account to announce the X TV App and what it will entail. According to the X CEO the new app will come with a "trending video algorithm" that will enable users to stay updated with popular video content, AI-powered topics that will create a personalized user experience, cross-device support that will let users start a video on their phone and continue you it on your TV through casting, and an advanced video search.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has shared new insights into the number of users on Threads, the company's direct competitor to X, formerly Twitter.

Zuckerberg revealed during a recent earnings call that Threads has gained more than 28 million daily users in the US, beating Elon Musk's X, according to Apptopia's VP of Research Thomas Grant to Business Insider. Notably, reports indicate that Threads has gained 20 million users since December and is currently sitting in third place in the App Store for the most popular app, while Threads is in position 41.

X has definitely had a turbulent experience since being acquired by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, with the current battle being fought against the Australian government for refusing to remove a piece of video content the nation's online safety agency deemed a "terrorist attack". X responded by locking all Australian users out of that content, which the agency said wasn't enough, and demanded the video content be removed completely from the platform.

Windows 10 users can look forward to a small but nonetheless welcome change in that the monthly cumulative updates for the OS are set to get smaller in the future.

This more streamlined update size is being achieved by Microsoft leveraging a feature it has already developed and successfully used with Windows 11, namely reverse update data generation technology.

It sounds a bit of a mouthful, but as Windows Latest, which flagged this up, points out, this should decrease the size of Windows 10 updates substantially - shrinking upgrades by up to 40%. This move is going to be in place from next month, we're told, so the May cumulative update will benefit from being more compact.

The saga of Microsoft jamming more nudging and prodding into Windows 11 continues, with a fresh rumor now indicating that future plans might just involve outright ads in the Start menu.

As regular Microsoft leaker Albacore highlighted on X (formerly Twitter), there's been a telling addition to the option to enable recommendations and tips (or app promotions) to include a specific mention of "ads."

Windows Latest, which spotted the above post, also noted that they've observed this change in testing in the Canary channel (build 26200 to be precise).

Microsoft has removed another piece of functionality from the Control Panel in Windows 11, redirecting folks heading to the Fonts section to its equivalent in the Settings app.

The old-style Control Panel still lurks in the background of Windows 11, making for an untidy contrast to the new Settings app - the problem being that there are so many settings in Windows that a bunch of legacy stuff is still yet to be migrated to the latter.

That process is happening, very slowly, but surely, and as Windows Latest spotted, the latest move is that when going to the Fonts page in the Control Panel, you'll be redirected to the revamped version of Fonts in the Settings app (which is already in place). Windows Search will also push you to Settings instead (whereas it currently highlights the old Control Panel when you search for Fonts).

Microsoft is charging full steam ahead with a Windows 11 update that will put advertisements for apps within the Start menu's "Recommended" section.

Microsoft began testing this new feature within its Insider program early this month, and now it appears as the latest optional update for Windows 11 version 22H2 and version 23H2. For those that don't know, Microsoft's latest move will introduce new applications to Windows 11 users within the "Recommended" section of the Start menu. According to Microsoft these apps will come from a "small set of curated developers" that will meet Microsoft's quality standards.

Many users aren't complaining about the Recommended apps themselves, but for the decision by Microsoft to put any advertisement within the Start menu at all. Luckily, previous reports that cite Insiders testing Windows 11 preview builds, users will be able to turn off advertisements within the Start menu by following these steps: Settings > Personalization > Start. Then switching "off" for "Show recommendations for tips, app promotions, and more."

The latest build of Windows 11 has reduced the total number of CPUs that Microsoft's latest operating system can run.

According to reports, the latest version of Windows 11 will not boot on PCs that have a CPU that doesn't support the SSE4.2 instruction set, which is a way for Microsoft to reduce the number of ancient PCs using old hardware from running the latest Windows operating system. Notably, the SSE4.2 instruction set arrived in the first generation of Core i5 and i7 processors, which was more than 15 years ago.

Microsoft's Windows 11 hardware requirements list does reveal a long list of supported CPUs, but this move has made that list smaller. Why does Microsoft do this? There are several reasons, some hardware may have limited security capabilities that don't meet Microsoft's current security standards for its latest operating system, while another reason could be an architectural limitation of the microchip itself, as Windows 11 may require a more advanced architecture to precisely draw resources from.

Windows 11 is getting a new feature called AI Explorer - or at least, AI PCs running the OS will be - and some fresh clues have been spotted that give us a hint of what it might do.

As you can see in the above and below tweets, a couple of regular leakers on X (formerly Twitter) have pointed out a few strings and hidden bits of code pertaining to AI Explorer that they've dug up in recent Windows 11 preview builds.

PhantomofEarth highlights some strings relating to 'screen understanding' being either on or off, and the following dialog: "Screen understanding is paused. Models are not available and need to be downloaded."

Windows 11 just had its latest update pushed out in preview form, and the bad news is that this is carrying additional adverts.

Yes, Microsoft has been more broadly experimenting with ads here and there in Windows 11 of late - as you may have noticed - and the preview update for April (KB5036980), which will be the Patch Tuesday release for May, comes with fresh adverts in the Start menu.

What kind of ads and where? Microsoft explains: "The Recommended section of the Start menu will show some Microsoft Store apps. These apps come from a small set of curated developers. This will help you to discover some of the great apps that are available."