Iran’s state television urged people to delete WhatsApp, saying without evidence that the app was sending user information to Israel.
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برچسب: Users
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Iran Urges Users to Delete WhatsApp
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Engage users on Google TV with excellent TV apps
Posted by Shobana Radhakrishnan – Senior Director of Engineering, Google TV, and Paul Lammertsma – Developer Relations Engineer, Android
Over the past year, Google TV and Android TV achieved over 270 million monthly active devices, establishing one of the largest smart TV OS footprints. Building on this momentum, we are excited to share new platform features and developer tools designed to help you increase app engagement with our expanding user base.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OosLbRBM9dA
Google TV with Gemini capabilities
Earlier this year, we announced that we’ll bring Gemini capabilities to Google TV, so users can speak more naturally and conversationally to find what to watch and get answers to complex questions.
After each movie or show search, our new voice assistant will suggest relevant content from your apps, significantly increasing the discoverability of your content.
Plus, users can easily ask questions about topics they’re curious about and receive insightful answers with supporting videos.
We’re so excited to bring this helpful and delightful experience to users this fall.
Video Discovery API
Today, we’ve also opened partner enrollment for our Video Discovery API.
Video Discovery optimizes Resumption, Entitlements, and Recommendations across all Google TV form factors to enhance the end-user experience and boost app engagement.
- Resumption: Partners can now easily display a user’s paused video within the ‘Continue Watching’ row from the home screen. This row is a prime location that drives 60% of all user interactions on Google TV.
- Entitlements: Video Discovery streamlines entitlement management, which matches app content to user eligibility. Users appreciate this because they can enjoy personalized recommendations without needing to manually update all their subscription details. This allows partners to connect with users across multiple discovery points on Google TV.
- Recommendations: Video Discovery even highlights personalized content recommendations based on content that users watched inside apps.
Partners can begin incorporating the Video Discovery API today, starting with resumption and entitlement integrations. Check out g.co/tv/vda to learn more.
Jetpack Compose for TV
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Last year, we launched Compose for TV 1.0 beta, which lets you build beautiful, adaptive UIs across Android, including Android TV OS.
Now, Compose for TV 1.0 is stable, and expands on the core and Material Compose libraries. We’ve even seen how the latest release of Compose significantly improves app startup within our internal benchmarking mobile sample, with roughly a 20% improvement compared with the March 2024 release. Because Compose for TV builds upon these libraries, apps built with Compose for TV should also see better app startup times.
New to building with Compose, and not sure where to start? Our updated Jetcaster audio streaming app sample demonstrates how to use Compose across form factors. It includes a dedicated module for playing podcasts on TV by combining separate view models with shared business logic.
Focus Management Codelab
We understand that focus management can be challenging at times. That’s why we’ve published a codelab that reviews how to set initial focus, prepare for unexpected focus traversal, and efficiently restore focus.
Memory Optimization Guide
We’ve released a comprehensive guide on memory optimization, including memory targets for low RAM devices as well. Combined with Android Studio’s powerful memory profiler, this helps you understand when your app exceeds those limits and why.
In-App Ratings and Reviews
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Moreover, app ratings and reviews are essential for developers, offering quantitative and qualitative feedback on user experiences. Now, we’re extending the In-App Ratings and Reviews API to TV to allow developers to prompt users for ratings and reviews directly from Google TV. Check out our recent blog post detailing how to easily integrate the In-App Ratings and Reviews API.
Android 16 for TV
We’re excited to announce the upcoming release of Android 16 for TV. Developers can begin using the latest beta today. With Android 16, TV developers can access several great features:
- Platform support for the Eclipsa Audio codec enables creators to use the IAMF spatial audio format. For ExoPlayer support that includes previous platform versions, see ExoPlayer’s IAMF decoder module.
- There are various improvements to media playback speed, consistency and efficiency, as well as HDMI-CEC reliability and performance optimizations for 64-bit kernels.
- Additional APIs and user experiences from Android 16 are also available. We invite you to explore the complete list from the Android 16 for TV release notes.
What’s next
We’re incredibly excited to see how these announcements will optimize your development journey, and look forward to seeing the fantastic apps you’ll launch on the platform!
Explore this announcement and all Google I/O 2025 updates on io.google starting May 22.
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Breathe In, Breathe Out, Good Night: TikTok Invites Users to Meditate
Facing allegations that it knowingly lures young users into late-night scroll sessions, the company unveiled a new guided-meditation feature in the app.
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What the Changes in Apple’s App Store Mean for iPhone Users
A federal judge created a path for app makers like Spotify and Patreon to avoid paying Apple hefty commissions. Is this a win for consumers? It’s complicated.
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Spotify announces meaningful new features for all users
Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Spotify has rolled out new features for both Premium and free users.
- Premium users get a revamped Queue, a more powerful Hide button, and a new 30-day Snooze feature.
- Meanwhile, the Spotify app now surfaces new “Add,” “Sort,” and “Edit” tools at the top of playlists.
- There’s also a new Create button for quick access to several features.
Spotify has just rolled out a series of meaningful updates aimed at giving users, both Premium and free, greater control over their listening experience. These updates, some of which are still experimental, enhance playlist management, track selection, and social collaboration.
What’s new for Spotify Premium users?
Spotify Premium subscribers are getting several upgraded tools, starting with a revamped Queue. Located via the three lines at the bottom of the Now Playing screen, the updated Queue now includes new controls like Shuffle, Smart Shuffle (which suggests personalized tracks), Repeat, and Sleep Timer. Spotify will also show you suggested songs after your queued tracks, helping you decide what to listen to next. If you’d rather not see these suggestions, you have the option of disabling them by turning off Autoplay and Smart Shuffle.
Another enhancement for Premium users is a more powerful Hide button. Tapping it now removes a song from that playlist across all your devices. If you’d prefer a temporary break from a track, Spotify is also testing a new “30-day Snooze” feature. This experimental option removes the song from your recommendations for a month and may roll out to all users in the future.
New features for all Spotify users
In addition to Premium-specific updates, Spotify is introducing broader improvements across its app. All users will now see new “Add,” “Sort,” and “Edit” tools at the top of their playlists. These tools make it easier to customize tracklists, change playlist titles, design custom cover art, and reorder songs to your liking.
In selected countries, including the US, you can now turn your Liked Songs into a playlist. Simply filter them by genre and tap “Turn into playlist.”
The mobile app is also getting a new Create button (+) in the bottom-right corner. This gives all users quick access to playlist creation, collaboration features, and Spotify’s social listening tool, Blend. Premium subscribers get bonus features here, including direct access to Jam for real-time group listening and AI Playlist, which builds playlists with the help of AI.
Lastly, Spotify has slightly reorganized its navigation. Your Library now appears as the third tab at the bottom of the screen.
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Garmin users should start bracing for more subscription-only features
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Garmin recently conducted an earnings call for the first quarter of 2025.
- In the earnings call, CEO Cliff Pemble explains why the company decided to launch Connect Plus.
- Pemble also mentions reserving features for the subscription service.
Since the launch of Connect Plus in March, Garmin users have been worried about the future of their devices. These users aren’t just upset about the mere introduction of a subscription service; there’s a palpable concern about what this paywall could mean for new features going forward. A recent earnings call appears to show that there may be some substance behind these fears.
Garmin recently conducted an earnings call for the first quarter of 2025. During this call, the company announced an 11% improvement year on year, netting earnings of $1.54 billion. On top of that, Garmin reached a record $330 million in operating income. Around the 16:30 minute mark, the call was opened up for questions.
When asked about the launch of Connect Plus and why the decision was made, CEO Cliff Pemble stated:
I think we’ve been saying for a while that we are evaluating opportunities to have a premium offering on Garmin Connect. I think the developments of AI and particularly around AI-based insights for our users was one of those things that we felt was important to recognize the value for the investment that it takes to do.
Pemble went on to mention that the company “felt like it was the right time” and added that they have not taken away any previously free features. Although the smartwatch maker may not have any plans to take away previously free features, Pemble seemed to confirm what users have been worrying about over the last few weeks.
While discussing the various features Garmin offers, Pemble says “certain ones, we will likely reserve for premium offerings.” Meaning that the company may focus on making Connect Plus a more robust offering by working on features that will be hidden behind the subscription.
Considering that one of the biggest complaints about Connect Plus is how underwhelming it is, Garmin wanting to build out its service doesn’t come as a big surprise. Unfortunately, if Connect Plus is to become a service worthy of a subscription, such a move is necessary. However, knowing this doesn’t exactly ease the sting that comes with realizing more and more features may become exclusive to Connect Plus.
Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at news@androidauthority.com. You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it’s your choice. -
Is Zoom Down? Tens of Thousands of Users Report Outage
Zoom is down for tens of thousands of people, according to Downdetector. Users have been reporting outages since 2:38 p.m. ET.
More than 60,000 Zoom customers had logged issues with the video conferencing service by 3:08 p.m. ET. Nearly half of users reporting problems (46%) experienced issues with the website, while 38% encountered problems with the app.
Zoom’s status page also appears to be down at the time of writing. The company previously indicated through the page that it was aware of the outage for Zoom meetings and was working to resolve it.
Zoom’s investors page also appears to be down at press time.
Related: Amazon Is Replacing Chime, Its Proprietary Video Conferencing Software, With… Zoom
Zoom has 300 million daily active users and 192,600 business customers as of the fourth quarter of 2024. Companies like Capital One, Glassdoor, and Dropbox all use the company’s videoconferencing service.
With Zoom down, users turned to social media. Some X users asked if Zoom was down for anyone else. Others expressed joy, frustration, and panic through GIFs.
Is Zoom down for anyone else? pic.twitter.com/G0ohPTb0ld
— Benji Hyam (@benjihyam) April 16, 2025
Zoom appears to be down? pic.twitter.com/K7tySTCcya
— Kristen Soltis Anderson (@KSoltisAnderson) April 16, 2025
Zoom’s down.
Remote employees everywhere: pic.twitter.com/As0Yx93oGH
— JSONP （╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻ (@palmerj3) April 16, 2025
