Cyclists can the only creatures on the planet who still ask for directions. That’s because there’s a bunch of bike-specific essential knowledge that you can only get from other cyclists. How steep is the hill? What are the bike lanes like on this route? An app usually can’t tell you those things.
The current, Google adding some New features for Maps that will tell you those things. Improved cyclist view including more data on bike routes (when available) showing bike lane location, traffic congestion traffic and whether the route you have selected includes steep hills. It can also warn you of steps along the route or let you know that you have some gravel to look forward to. Maps will also provide bike-only turn-by-turn directions.
Cyclists will now have to find some other reason to talk to each other. Maybe they can complain about the lack of investment in transport infrastructure.
Google is also adding realistic 3D views of landmarks and more nuanced tools to share your location with others. Earlier this year, the company introduced a feature of Maps it called Immersive View, an improved Street View setting that lets you zoom and pan around the world with unprecedented freedom. Google’s new landmarks aren’t exactly that, and the company has yet to say when the feature will actually launch, but it looks like a step in that direction.
With the Map update, a few changes Coming soon on the Google Play store, the official app store on Android devices. The updates aim to remove some of the more annoying app practices on the store. That includes banning apps that look like they’re trying to trick people into downloading them, removing vaccine misinformation, and limiting in-app full-screen ads. While the company’s changes may make ads less annoying, Google still not ready to remove tracking cookies total. Nearly all Play Store updates will take effect by August 31.
TikTok’s Got Game
Apparently, no social platforms are interested stay in its lane anymore. While every other app is busy trying to be TikTokChinese platform has wanted shake everything its own. The app started entering the game last November, when it announced partnership with game developer Zynga. (You know, out of Farmville infamous.) Now, like Discovered by TechCrunch, TikTok seems to have quietly launched a few games on its platform. They were made by a few different developers, none of them Zynga — at least for now. The game is a small part of the TikTok platform, available if a user looks through videos posted by someone who has attached the game to their upload. You play the game right there “inside” the person’s video.
TikTok has not officially announced the feature or commented on whether it will roll out more widely. But an expansion is certainly possible, even if TikTok has a history of shedding somewhat promising experiments like Shop tab.
Yes, YouTube wants to be TikTok too
In September 2020, YouTube launched the Shorts feature, allowing users to create quick videos that can be played in an endless scroll. it gets a enough effort to succeed by the video launcher, although it didn’t capture the zeitgeist like TikTok did. Now, YouTube is trying to make posting Shorts even easier. On Thursday, YouTube posted an update on their support page that they have allowed users to convert parts of longer YouTube videos into 60-second clips instead of just creating a short Video themselves. Creators can embed links that take viewers to a longer version of the video, gaining more attention on the platform.
In other news “everything is TokTok now”…
Instagram Gets Reel
Even if you’re not on Instagram much, you’ve probably heard of its controversial Reels feature. It’s a tab filled with streaming videos, usually from accounts you don’t follow. It’s a blatant deception of TikTok, even using some of the same songs and sound effects you’ll find on the hugely popular social platform. And now Instagram has said that it plans to play the entire video looping full screen.
Last week, Meta, the parent company of Instagram, said it would change the algorithm of its websites to be more like TikTok. Now, that has been carried over to Instagram and Reels. The backlash from users was very quick. Reels have proven to be uncommon and have even managed to annoy the Kardashians or two. Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg both defended the TikTokification of their apps, telling users that the company’s usage data shows the experience is what they really want. (In the earnings call, Zuckerberg said he expects AI-powered recommendations to make up half of your Instagram feed next year.)
Mosseri travel some his statement just a day later. In an interview with journalist Casey Newton at MinerMosseri said Instagram will “take a long step back, regroup and figure out how we want to move forward”. That doesn’t seem to lead to any major changes in plans, though, and will most likely result in a slight slowdown in deployment — just enough for the uproar to end.
