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Twitter is testing a way for users to limit their mentions
Twitter is testing out the ability to control who mentions you.
Apple's revamped Messages focuses on groups
As part of its WWDC 2020 reveals, Apple announced that it is revamping Messages with new group messaging features in iOS 14.
Facebook makes it easier to control large Messenger groups
Facebook's Messenger app is on its way to becoming a social network in its own right, thanks to new group chat features rolled out today. Like regular groups (the app for which Facebook killed last year), group chats now come with admin privileges. Anyone with admin status can add someone else to the chat, and also has the power to remove members, or promote or demote them as an admin.
Snapchat now lets you tag other users in Stories
It's usually the Facebook-owned Instagram aping Snapchat, adding features like Stories and face filters from the social selfie platform to the photo-sharing one. This time, however, it's Snapchat that's "borrowing" a hallmark from Instagram: now you can add @ replies to your Snaps and make it easier to tag your friends in posts.
Facebook adds more familiar features to Messenger chats
Facebook has a habit of copping features from other apps and dropping them into Messenger, so the addition of message reactions and @-mentions in the social network's marquee messaging app was probably inevitable as the company slowly merges features across it's products. Like iMessage, Slack and regular old Facebook comment threads, you can now react to individual messages or tag a friend to get their attention in group chats.
Facebook Live adds a bunch of features for famous people
Mentions is the behind-the-scenes tool that public figures use to keep track of their brands on Facebook, and today it's getting three new features aimed at improving the Live video experience. New tools rolling out over the next few weeks include the ability to blacklist certain words or phrases from the comments, fresh customization options for live videos and the option to trim videos after the broadcast has ended.
Instagram adds Boomerang clips, mentions and links to Stories
Instagram has been making regular tweaks to its Stories feature since it debuted a few months ago. Today, the social network is adding a trio of tools to the collection of photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours. First, you can now choose to use Boomerang to capture clips for Stories. All you have to do is swipe right from your feed to access the Stories camera. Under the record button there will be an option for Boomerang mode. Once selected, simply tap record to shoot the short burst of photos that will play forward and backward in your Story.
WhatsApp adds user mentions so you can't ignore group chats
Anyone who has been included in a group chat knows how annoying they can be. You end up muting the thread to keep the notifications from driving you crazy. Sometimes you do need to see a message and WhatsApp is adding a new tool that will make it a little more difficult to ignore group chats. The app now has user mentions so you can make sure whoever you need to see a message gets a notification about it.
Don't worry, Twitter isn't going to broadcast all your replies
Twitter just announced substantial changes to how tweets work -- namely, removing photos, video links and mentions from the 140-character limit, to help give posts some creative breathing room. Some changes to the way "@" replies work mean you're going to see even more tweets in your feed from people you follow. Most important, the company wants to reduce confusion for new users -- which it sorely needs more of.
Celebrities outside of the US can now get Facebook's Mentions app
If you didn't already know, Facebook is targeting the celebrity set with a new iPhone-only app called Mentions. However, when it launched in July, it was only available to musicians, actors, athletes and government officials in the US. Today, the company has lifted one restriction, making it available to socially important people in over 40 countries worldwide, including the UK. The bad news is that you're probably not a big enough deal to use it. Mentions is designed to help VIP's interact with fans via their verified Facebook page, allowing them to post updates, host live Q&A sessions and identify if they're trending. Tyrese Gibson supposedly used it to share news of Apple's Beats acquisition with the world, but really it's the overworked PAs trying to keep on top of their employers' social lives who will be secretly rubbing their hands following today's expansion.
Vine for Android update brings mentions, autocompleting hashtags
Vine proved you can do a lot with six seconds of video, and thanks to its latest Android update you can do even more. Version 1.3.4 brings a couple of usability fixes to help the world see your valiant attempts at short-form comedy, including @ mentions in posts and comments and autocompletion for hashtags. The changelog notes "other bugs fixes and improvements" too, but the takeaway here is that the Google version is just about on par with the iOS one. Now, could you please hurry along and make one of those rad stop-motion clips for us? Thanks.
Facebook adds mention tagging to Open Graph for more efficient name-dropping
Facebook has given developers that link to the social network with Open Graph a new way let let users play tag with their friends -- while also increasing exposure to their app. It's called mention tagging, and allows a user to link a friend in the text body of a message, and is not to be confused with action tagging, an existing feature which references friends only in story text. The option requires a deliberate action by the user, so the developer must implement a way to clearly show how to do that with an icon (as shown above for Foursquare) or drop-down menu, for instance. Apps must also distinguish between action and mention tags, and are not allowed to pre-fill them in the message -- that can only be done by the user. Though no privacy changes are needed, Facebook requires apps using the feature to request user approval before any action can be taken. All that would increase tagging and app visibility significantly -- so developers will likely be all over it.
Lugaru shows why game devs should support OS X and Linux
Jeff Rosen of Wolfire Games has an intriguing post up about why developers of videogames like himself should go out of their way to support the OS X and Linux markets. Their game, Lugaru, is available on Windows, OS X and Linux, and the upcoming sequel, Overgrowth, is also being developed for OS X. Rosen says right out that the prevailing opinion, that the smaller markets aren't worth developing for because the audience isn't there, is just plain wrong -- Mac sales accounted for a full half of Lugaru's sales. The people who are buying software, his data seems to say, are using Macs.And he has five main points why it's worth the time and effort to release builds on these smaller platforms: you have sites like ours (and the great Inside Mac Games) to talk about your game for you. We Mac gamers respect companies that take the time to make sure we have just as great a gaming experience as our PC counterparts, and we talk about it when they do. He says that a Linux version gained them a mention on Slashdot, one place they'd likely never have been mentioned if they were "just another Windows game." And power users are often Mac users as well -- you want someone who will spend an entire night coming up with new content for your game just because they love it so much? Mac users are nothing if not disturbingly obsessive about the software they love.Good points all around. Many game developers, both large and small, continue to scoff at the Mac markets as too small while at the same time wondering why they can't get a foothold of a community on the Internet. Of course, releasing a Mac version doesn't guarantee you higher sales and a rabid group of fans -- you have to make a good game first and foremost. But some of the most influential and insightful game players online are Mac users, and by shrugging them off as "not a big enough audience," you're shooting yourself in the foot.
