stickers
Latest
How to create stickers on the iPhone using your photos in iOS 17
Creating stickers from photos is an easily overlooked feature tucked into iOS 17. Using Apple’s machine learning algorithms that quickly separate a subject from its background, it extracts pictures of you, your friends or pets, transforming them into digital decals.
Instagram rolls out new customizable Story templates
Instagram is rolling out a feature that allows users to create their own templates for Stories using text, GIFs and images. Other users will be able to riff on and add to someone else's template.
Tile now offers $1 QR code stickers as a low-tech way to recover lost items
Tile has just launched "Lost and Found" QR labels that are a essentially a low-tech way to get your stuff back.
Paid Telegram features appear in latest beta
The messaging app may soon charge for some reaction emoji and stickers as part of a premium option.
WhatsApp on the web lets you create your own stickers
WhatsApp's web version now has a sticker creator that makes your images chat-friendly.
Now Twitter lets you add stickers and GIFs to fleets
Twitter has updated fleets with the ability to embellish them with fun stickers without having to use another app.
Facebook is testing sticker ads in Stories
It’s giving creators more ways to monetize their audiences.
WhatsApp lets you use custom wallpapers for each chat
Now that it has launched disappearing messages, WhatsApp is trying to make regular ones more memorable. It has not only launched a selection of new wallpapers and stickers, but made it possible to customize chats for groups and individuals
Discord adds stickers to liven up chats
Discord has added sticker packs to spice up chats, although you'll need to pay for at least some of them.
Instagram's new Story camera makes it even more like Snapchat
Ever since its arrival in 2016, the Instagram Stories feature has had a very familiar look and feel compared to Snapchat. Today Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced that it's rolling out an updated camera with easier to browse effects and filters that are easier to sort through -- apparently they still have energy left after killing the "Following" feed and adding Dark Mode. It still looks a lot like Snapchat, although maybe you'll find it more unique than we did. There are other new features too, like a "Create" mode where you can play around with the interactive stickers without taking a picture first, and you can even use a GIF as the background for your next Story post. The features are live now, so make sure you're the first one on your timeline to use them.
Apple Pay will support NFC stickers on scooters and parking meters
Apple is reportedly working on a new NFC feature that will allow iPhone users to make Apple Pay purchases by tapping special, NFC-equipped tags. That means retailers won't need bulky terminals, and iPhone users won't need to download a third-party app before, say, buying clothes or adding miles to their scooter rental. According to 9to5mac, Apple is partnering with Bonobos clothing store, PayByPhone parking meters and Bird scooters on the initial roll out.
Instagram can turn question stickers into live Q&As
Instagram's question stickers have at least one main problem: you have to be patient while awaiting the answer. Now, however, you might just get some instant gratification. The social network is introducing an option to respond to a question in a Story by going live. This could be most helpful for creatives who want to start an impromptu Q&A (say, a beauty blogger offering makeup tips), but it should also be handy for answering deep questions or anything else where a Story would be too short. Broadcasters can share photos and videos from their camera roll, too.
Giphy offers easy access to GIFs with iOS keyboard extension
Giphy announced an update to its iOS app that will give users the ability to quickly share GIFs from the Giphy Keyboard extension within any app that supports multimedia. The company responsible for providing GIFs in Instagram DMs is also launching a new animated sticker tool only available for the line of iPhone X devices. The update should start rolling out to users starting today.
Google Gboard creates emoji-style stickers that look like you
Emoji are more expressive than ever, but the odds are that you'll never be completely represented no matter how many new characters there are. Google, however, has a simple solution: create your own emoji. It's expanding Gboard's Minis with stickers that recreate your face in a range of emoji-style expressions. If you dye your hair, pierce your nose or wear a stylish hat, you can share that look when you send someone a "hug" or "yum."
WhatsApp finally adds support for stickers
Sure, WhatsApp has GIFs and emoji, but for some users, those may not be enough to fill the void meant for stickers. Now, messaging app has finally announced that it's adding support for stickers and releasing sticker packs created by its own designers and a handful of other artists. To make sure that its sticker store will continue to grow, the Facebook-owned application has also released APIs and interfaces that will allow third-party creators to design their own packs.
Path is closing its private social network for good
Path, the Facebook rival and sticker pioneer that gained a million users a week at its peak, is officially dead. "It is with deep regret that we announce that we will stop providing our beloved service," the site announced. Founded by ex-Facebooker Dave Morin, along with Dustin Mierau and Shawn Fanning from Napster, the site is probably best known for its more private nature and helping to pioneer "sticker"-style emojis.
Google is resurrecting blob emoji again
Fans of Google's now-dead blob emoji have a reason to be happy today. The company announced that it's resurrecting its cute, flatly designed characters, albeit as a sticker pack for Gboard and Android Messages. What's the occasion? Well, it's World Emoji Day, of course. This isn't a direct replacement for the standard circular emoji Google adopted after unceremoniously killing its own version off, but if you're feeling nostalgic for a time before Android O it should do the trick.
Apple lets you create your own personalized Animoji
Animoji were a surprisingly fun part of the iPhone X experience, and Apple just stepped things up significantly with the announcement of Memoji. As you might expect, this lets users create their own Animoji characters based on your own look. It's a pretty huge addition that users will likely have a blast with.
Facebook's Avatars sure look a lot like Snapchat's Bitmoji
Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly said that visual communication is replacing text, hence the arrival of Facbook Reactions in 2016, and GIF comments last year. Next on the agenda appears to be Facebook Avatars, which will let you build a personalized, illustrated version of yourself to use as a sticker in comments and Messenger.
Multitouch 'skin' makes your body the controller
Having a sophisticated computer interface on your body might seem like the stuff of science fiction, but a group of scientists at Germany's Saarland University have announced exactly that. Called Multi-Touch Skin, the material can be inkjet printed onto a plastic sticker and register a touch from multiple points at once, much like your phone or tablet does.
