filters
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Facebook tests the ability to block certain words on your wall
If you're looking to keep certain content from ever appearing on your Facebook wall, there might be a feature in the pipeline for you. Computer science student Jane Manchun Wong discovered code on Facebook that appears to show the company is testing the ability to ban certain words, phrases and emoji from appearing on your personal timeline. Engadget reached out to Facebook for confirmation of the feature but has not received a response.
Twitch streamers are getting Snap's AR selfie filters
As part of its Snap Camera announcement, Snap Inc. has revealed a partnership with Twitch that will bring augmented reality Lenses to users of the video-streaming site. This will give Twitch streamers access to thousands of Snapchat-style selfie filters, including those made by Snap and independent Lens Studio creators. There's no need for users to have a Snapchat account, though the company is hoping to drive Twitch viewers to its mobile app by letting them unlock Lenses that their favorite streamers are "wearing" during a stream. You just have to scan a Snapcode that shows up on the big screen.
Snap is bringing augmented reality Lenses to the desktop
Fresh off its Q3 2018 earnings report, in which it broke a revenue record, Snap Inc. is making another major announcement. Meet Snap Camera, a standalone application that will bring the company's popular augmented reality filters, aka Lenses, to the desktop. Interestingly enough, the new app won't require a Snapchat login, a move Snap says is part of its vision to expand the Lens ecosystem beyond mobile.
Selfies are shifting our definition of beauty
Selin Pesmes says she uses selfie filters because they smooth out her skin and present a "better-quality version" of herself. That's likely the same thinking for the millions of other people who regularly post edited pictures of themselves on social media, which are often created using selfie-enhancing tech from apps like Instagram, Snapchat and FaceTune. While some of these filters are fun or creative (for example: They can give you dog or bunny ears), many of them are simply there to make you look prettier. With a quick swipe, they can get rid of blemishes, fix the nose you don't perceive as perfect or give you lips that resemble Kylie Jenner's expensive fillers. Some people love these selfie filters so much that they're going to plastic surgeons and asking for cosmetic procedures that'll make them look like a software-enhanced version of themselves.
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.
Instagram allows you to post to Stories from other apps
Today, Instagram announced a new way to share your favorite moments to Stories. You can now post to your Instagram Story directly from a third-party app, so you can easily share what you're doing, what you're enjoying or what you're listening to without having to leave the app you're in. Instagram will automatically pull the image into its camera, at which point you can edit or tweak it. The feature will debut with Spotify and GoPro, with more on the way, and will go live today on Instagram and later on Facebook.
Snapchat's latest AR trick turns Lenses into games
Snapchat's augmented reality Lenses are clever, but not particularly engaging. You probably won't use them outside of the occasional moment when they help express what you're feeling. Snap may have a clever way to keep you coming back, though: add a game-like element. It's unveiling Snappables, or Lenses that let you play AR games (and other interactive experiences) with friends. You can fight aliens, blow up virtual bubble gum, or jump into a world like a nightclub. You'll even get a score in some of these experiences, in case you want to challenge a friend.
Snapchat's Lens Studio now allows anyone to create a face filter
Snapchat's Lens Studio allows anyone to create custom lenses for the popular social networking app. Now, the company has announced some new features. Most importantly, Snapchat has finally opened face filter creation to everyone; before this, the only lenses available for custom creation were world lenses.
Snapchat lets you create personalized Lenses for parties
If you post to Snapchat without a dancing hotdog or puppy face, did you even Snapchat? The platform already offers a baffling range of filters and AR novelties to play with, and now it's getting even more. From today, users will be able to create their very own personalized face lenses for events and celebrations, and have access to a whole bunch of new caption styles.
NVIDIA adds Instagram-like filters to your games
NVIDIA is diving into curious new territory with its next GeForce Experience update: filters. With a new beta feature called Freestyle, you can spice up your gameplay with 15 different filters. Because who wouldn't want to play Grand Theft Auto V in sepia tones? While it doesn't seem particularly useful, there's likely a crowd of gamers who might actually enjoy re-experiencing their favorite titles in new ways. So far, Freestyle supports 100 games, and it'll likely get even more come its official release.
Snapchat's new filters make your photo backgrounds look surreal
Snapchat is rolling out some new filters today that go beyond your face. Now, any time the app detects a sky in your picture, "Sky Filters" will show up in the filter carousel. They'll allow you to switch the real sky out for something entirely different including a starry night, a sunset, one with a brewing storm or a sky with rainbows. The filter options will rotate daily.
Instagram's face filters are now available during your livestreams
The face filters that Instagram swiped from Snapchat are now available on Instagram Live. Starting today, you can add filters before your Live feed airs or during with options that include various crowns and animal ears as well as pilot getup and and nerd glasses. Also, for the next week, a sunglasses filter will be available only through live video and it allows users to tap on the glasses to change what scenery is reflected off of them.
FaceApp changes your race with its latest selfie-editing filters (update)
FaceApp uses neural networks for realistic-looking changes to your selfie photos. Originally, it had filters to add smiles, change your age, change gender or "beautify" your face. Unlike Snapchat's overlays, FaceApp uses deep learning technologies to change the photo itself. Now, a new update adds race to the mix, with an update to enable users to make themselves look Asian, Black, Caucasian or Indian.
YouTube kills the video editing tools you never used
Unless you're a YouTube power user, you may not have known that the site had the Video Editor and Photo slideshow tools to create finished video projects. Now that you've learned that, I'm afraid to say that those tools are about to get the axe. If you're currently cutting a project, you have until September 20th to finish and publish it, Google notes on its YouTube support pages.
Microsoft Pix Camera imitates Prisma with its AI-powered filters
Microsoft Pix Camera uses artificial intelligence to make your pictures of people better. It uses algorithms behind the scenes to analyze the 10 frames it snaps for every picture you take, looking for sharpness, exposure and even facial expressions to make sure you get the very best shot. It even takes good data from the pictures it doesn't use to enhance the photos it chooses. The app, launched last summer and just updated, now offers new filters that can help you make your photos look like real works of art.
WhatsApp adds photo filters and albums to make chats more visual
Just a few months after WhatsApp added Snapchat-style image updates and Siri-integration, the Facebook-owned messaging app is evolving again on iOS. With a new update, available now, WhatsApp gets even more visual, adding filters, albums and reply shortcuts to make it easier to communicate with your buddies.
Snapchat adds augmented reality emoji to your videos
Snapchat has offered a variety of silly, weird (and sometimes racist) filters for a while now. Today, though, Snap is rolling out a few new "world lenses" that have a new trick. You can now place a small group of 3D objects right in your scene and move around them as if they're real-life objects. This expands on the world lenses that the company first revealed back in the fall last year.
Prisma lets you create your own photo filters
If you like to use filters in photo apps, you've probably had that moment where the available filters weren't quite what you were looking for. Wouldn't it be nice if you could craft your own? Prisma thinks so. It's updating its service with an option to create your own styles -- specifically, you're training the machine learning system to generate what you want. It's not the same as making a filter in-app, but it could go a long way toward giving your photos a personal touch.
Tumblr's mobile apps finally have photo filters and stickers
In a move possibly inspired by Snapchat, or even Instagram, Tumblr is bringing photo filters and stickers to its iOS and Android apps. But that's not it: The feature will also work with GIF posts, which is going to let you spice up your feed even more than you already are. Tumblr says you can choose from over 100 "extremely relevant" stickers, so you shouldn't have a problem finding one that fits the message you're trying to get across. And fret not if you don't see these in your Tumblr app yet, as the update just started rolling out today to the App Store and Google Play.
Prisma app improves photo quality and breaks out of the square
The app that uses algorithms to tweak your photos into artistic masterpieces, Prisma, spent the six months since it debuted in June applying its filters to videos and Facebook Live in early November. Though the social titan soon shut down the latter, the app continues to release features. The latest: A location-based GeoFeed and ditching the square image format, adding a free aspect ratio to your converted photos.
