WhatsApp is testing a new look for being in a call, both on iOS and Android, which shows who's speaking in a group call with waveforms, alongside a more modern design.
But calling in WhatsApp has been relegated to the standard user interface of what iOS and Android offer to third-party apps with call features.
However, version 22.5.0.70, currently available to beta testers, the new look for calling in the app is going to benefit group calls more than those that are one-to-one.
Analysis: Making your voice calls look much better
(Image credit: WABetaInfo)
For years, the interface when you're in a call on iOS and Android has barely seen any improvement since their first versions. While iOS 14 brought a compact view for when you would be in a call, the full-screen view has been relatively unchanged.
More users are preferring to choose to call over other apps, from WhatsApp to Skype, especially with group calls, which is why an update to the interface for WhatsApp is welcome.
Here, you've got an elegant design that shows who's speaking thanks to the audio waveforms for when someone speaks, alongside three options that's available to you at all times if you want to go on mute, end the call, or go on loudspeaker.
It's a modern design that only goes to show how much of an update the call screen in iOS and Android needs, especially for group calls.
Before apps on your smartphone would be able to solve a dilemma without leaving your house, you would have had to see if the nearest store was open to try and save face.
But if you’ve left it too late in 2022 to find a perfect Valentine’s Day gift, we’re in a time where apps can come to the rescue.
This problem has soothed somewhat anyway, thanks in part to easier methods of sending gifts, such as greeting cards and flowers to appease your better half, without having to make a quick dash during your work break.
Of course, if you’re not with someone just yet, there are plenty of dating apps that can help you with that as well.
So, read on for our pick of the best apps on iOS that could make February 14 a Valentine’s Day to remember.
Temply
(Image credit: Temply)
Available on the App Store for free, but with a bunch of in-app purchases that range between £9.99 / $9.99 / AU$11.99 and £52.99 / $49.99 / AU$59.99, this app enables you to add some Valentine’s Day filters and themes for your Instagram Reels and Stories. This way, you can mark the day in style while being able to save the videos for future reference.
t’s not just limited to Instagram, either. As you can export these videos, you can upload them to Twitter or TikTok as well, with your filters and themes intact.
It’s the 2022 method of a mixtape - instead of a collection of songs on a tape, your partner could receive a thoughtful compilation video of both your best and most embarrassing moments together.
Bloom and Wild
(Image credit: Bloom and Wild)
Bloom and Wild is an app that you can download for free, letting you buy a bunch of flowers, alongside a box of chocolates if you wish, and have them delivered to your home at a time that suits you or your partner.
There may have been a time when you would have had to find the closest florist, and pick a bouquet of flowers that best suited the day.
Bloom and Wild also has an innovative feature, where you can add a special occasion, and its notifications will remind you to make sure to order something for it. If you add three occasions, you will receive £5 in credit, so everybody wins for Valentine's Day.
Cameo
(Image credit: Cameo)
If you want to surprise your partner with a short video featuring an actor, perhaps from the Harry Potter series, for example, this is the app for you.
Cameo has grown in popularity in recent years, mostly due to the pandemic, with actors and other celebrities turning to the service to communicate with their fans. With this app, you can pay for them to record a short personalized video for your partner.
The app has also branched out into offering one-to-one video calls with certain celebrities, so it could be a nice touch to have your partner spend a few minutes on Valentine's Day with their true love.
OpenTable
(Image credit: OpenTable)
If a takeaway and a movie aren’t an option, OpenTable will be able to find available tables in nearby restaurants for you.
The app has an intuitive way of finding the nearest bookings by showcasing a home screen with the restaurants in your area, with the next available time, so you can book for Valentine’s Day in an instant.
When you select a restaurant, you can also view the menu, so if your partner is slightly picky in what they like to eat, you can do some research beforehand, to make sure that the restaurant will cater.
Givingli
(Image credit: Givingli)
Available to download on the App Store in the US only, Givingli allows you to create and send a digital greeting card with no fuss. So if you mistakenly forget to arrange a card or a gift, this app can hopefully save the day.
You can choose from a wide variety of styles and themes that best suit your partner, either in interest or in humor, and you can arrange to have it sent as soon as possible.
Alongside adding a personalized note, you can also include a gift card that can be from Amazon or DoorDash. There are plenty of options for Valentine's Day, but we can’t guarantee same-day delivery if you order on February 14th..
Only a few weeks into 2022 and we’re seeing plenty of new apps promising to solve your various problems in novel ways. For example, do you sometimes send reminders to yourself by text message? A new note-taking app with a chat interface will make that habit a little bit more convenient. Another app wants to help you stay focused by removing distractions across all of your Apple devices.
Created by Michael Tigas, Ochi was released as a free download on February 1 in the App Store. You can also opt for the Pro version by paying a monthly subscription of $3.99 / £3.49 / AU$4.99, or a yearly one for $19.99 / £17.99 / AU$21.99. You can avoid any subscription fee by purchasing the Pro version outright for the one-time price of $49.99 / £44.99 / AU$53.99.
This new app allows you to create filters for different apps and websites, so you don’t become distracted when you’re trying to finish important work. You can block out certain social media accounts, for example, preventing you from accessing specific apps or associated webpages via web browsers. Ochi lets you pick and choose the apps and web pages you need to be silenced while you focus.
It’s easy to be distracted when you’re using your smartphone, tablet, or computer. While Apple has its own features to assist with distractions - such as Do Not Disturb and the relatively new Focus feature in iOS 15, which can hide apps and change your home screen - Tigas wanted to create something that goes further.
Having tried Ochi over the last few weeks, I’m reminded of an app I used to use called SelfControl, which was available on my old MacBook Air 2013 machine. SelfControl would automatically close apps and block websites when I was focused on writing my college dissertation.
But Tigas’ app is tailored for the modern age, where you have multiple devices with the same account. If you create a filter to block out Facebook on your iPhone, for example, that same block will carry over to your iPad or desktop iMac without any additional input from you.
(Image credit: Ochi)
And the design of the app on iPhone and macOS is appealing, both simple and colorful, with useful widgets to enable filters or show you how much time remains before Ochi unblocks the apps and websites you’ve specified.
Ochi also shows up in the menu bar on macOS, so you easily pause the filtering if you need to access any of the apps or sites you’ve blocked.
A chat with Ochi’s developer
Speaking with Tigas after the launch of Ochi, I asked what prompted him to create the app.
“Ochi was inspired on a whim, by the idea of blocking distractions across all my devices, keeping me focused when my willpower is at its lowest,” Tigas explained. “During the day, while focusing on a task, I block apps like Twitter on my Mac with the app, Focused Work. But sometimes, I use my iPhone or iPad to test apps that I’m working on. It becomes very easy to doom-scroll with them instead.”
There have been efforts by Apple to look at how we manage our time on our devices, from Focus in iOS 15 to the ScreenTime feature in iOS 13. We asked Tigas what specifically made Ochi different from these and third-party focus apps.
“Rather than motivating people to focus on completing a particular task, Ochi instead helps steer people away from distractions so they can maintain focus for longer periods of time.”
“It’s a flexible utility, that can seamlessly integrate with various workflows, especially if they take advantage of automation capabilities in iOS (and to a lesser extent - macOS),” Tigas said. “You can create timed filters that block access to iOS apps, Mac apps, websites, and categories of websites including Social Media, Chat, and News.
It’s also possible to seamlessly enable filters on your iPhone and iPad from a Mac with Shortcuts - a first in the distraction-blocking space.”
(Image credit: Ochi)
Since Ochi is solving a focus issue by targeting distractions, we wondered in which situations Tigas found the app to be particularly beneficial.
“Outside of work and when it’s time to go to bed, Ochi has been really helpful while I’m playing online games with friends,” Tigas explained. “I sometimes tend to pick up my phone in-between Apex Legends or PUBG matches and disengage with the group conversation. It’s a bad habit, and Ochi keeps me on rails in those fun moments.”
Even though the app has only recently launched, we wondered whether there are any new features under development.
“I’m really excited for the next phase and have kept an open mind about keeping Ochi as flexible as it can be!” Tigas exclaimed. “On the Mac, Ochi can lean on Shortcuts & Focus to automatically block distractions on iOS devices via automation in the Shortcuts app. But since automation support is not available in Shortcuts for Mac, I’m interested in bridging that gap to seamlessly apply filters on the Mac from my iPhone or iPad (or even my Apple Watch).”
Tigas told me that he’d really like to add support for scheduling recurring filters.
“This will be especially helpful with automatically blocking apps like Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit from 1 am onwards, without needing to initiate that every night,” Tigas said.“I can also see people appreciating the ability to block emails at various times during their workday.”
While Wordle has been bought by the New York Times for an undisclosed amount, a method has been discovered to play the game offline for years to come, while still being able to share your daily results as normal.
Since the debut of Wordle in November 2021, which was meant by Josh Wardle to be used as a way of keeping in touch with his partner, it’s grown into over 300,000 users playing a day. Sharing your score to Twitter has been a big part of this, with it being unlikely to log on to the social website and not see a tweet with green and white dots.
But some users have been anxious as to how their winning streak would continue, once the buyout by the New York Times is complete. In the past, some games have moved behind a paywall, requiring you to sign up. But while Wardle mentioned in a tweet that saving your streaks is in progress, users have already found alternate ways if the dreaded scenario comes true.
However, with countless copycats having appeared on the App Store, but still appearing on the Google Play Store, there’s a risk that we could see an influx of these once the sale is done.
A time capsule of January 2022
Across the years there have been other games that have taken off, similar to Wordle. Eventually, they either slowly faded away or were bought by another company.
Flappy Bird was one such game in 2013 before the developer took it down from both the Apple App Store and Google Play Stores. There was also Temple Run back in 2011, where there would be leaderboards between my friends and family as to how far we could run.
But Wordle has a userbase that wants to keep the daily routine of solving a word, then sharing it with friends and family. Users have discovered that saving the page in a web browser, will also store the words that are to come for many years.
Wordle is a tiny game that runs entirely in the browser.The daily words are right there in the code, in a giant list. There are thousands of them.Remember these ones?1/x pic.twitter.com/ivca5o8tUVFebruary 1, 2022
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Launching this on Safari on my MacBook Pro 14-inch (2021) loaded up Wordle with no issues. I switched off the Wi-Fi, just in case it was trying to reach the site, but sure enough, the latest word was ready to be solved.
The only downside is that my streak is reset - but it’s a small price to pay for the changes that may be coming to Wordle soon.
(Image credit: TechRadar)
I’m expecting a dedicated app to appear on most platforms - from the App Store to the Nintendo Switch in time. The New York Times will want to make the game available on more platforms than just the web. But as long as you can share those green and yellow marbles on social media, users may have no issue with this.
For the time being, Wordle is still the same as it was in December, but if you want to move to your PC or Mac to get ahead of the curve for the changes that may happen to the game in the coming months, it wouldn’t be a bad move.
In a future release of Google's web browser on Android, you'll be able to avoid the mistake of closing all your tabs at once, thanks to an additional message box to confirm if you want to go ahead with it.
Google Chrome is the most widely-used web browser app on Android, mainly due to it being pre-installed on the majority of Android smartphones. But there may be an occasion when you've got multiple tabs open at once.
Some could be related to shopping, birthday ideas, or brainstorms for holidays in the summer for example. You may want to close all of these at once when you're finished.
In Chrome Canary, the test version of Google's web browser, you can enable a flag that will display a message box to confirm if you want to close all your tabs at once. This will help prevent occasions where you accidently close all the browser tabs when you didn't mean to.
Switching this on will make the message box appear when you're about to close all your tabs.
This can be useful if you've found yourself having mistakenly closed all your open tabs, and having to go through your history to open the links again.
This may sound like a very obvious feature, but if you mainly use Google Chrome on your phone as you're sharing links on social media and messaging apps, having all your tabs closed can be a huge annoyance.
Sometimes the little things like this can make a big difference, so it's encouraging that Google has this ready to go in its development releases for now.
After the release of Android 12 in 2021, followed by the subsequent releases of the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, we’re already wondering what the next version of Android will bring.
Since its debut in 2008, Android has always brought a major feature with every headline release. But with Android 13, codenamed Tiramisu, it could be a perfect time for Google to fine-tune what’s already there in the millions of Android smartphones around the world.
We’ve combed through our Pixel, OnePlus, and other Android phones to roundup five features we’d like to see arrive in Android 13 later this year, no matter how major or minor these may be.
But first, we’ll run you through when we expect it to land and which Android phones will likely be supported. We'll also look at the features we already know about, as the developer preview is out now, complete with a few Android 13 features.
These early releases give developers a heads up as to what should be appearing in the fall of that year, allowing them an idea of what they could implement for future versions of their apps.
Google has also revealed an Android 13 roadmap which you can see above. From this you can see that the first proper beta might land in April, with a stable release in June, likely to coincide with Google I/O, which we now know kicks off on May 11, then a shipping date in September. Though October is possible too, as that's when Android 12 landed.
Android 13 supported phones
Android has a reputation for not making it easy to update your phone to the latest version. Part of it is due to the different manufacturers on how they have designed Android to match a brand, such as Samsung.
But with Google releasing a new Pixel phone every year, these usually come with the latest Android version. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see a Pixel 7 or a Pixel Fold appear with Android 13 in October again to start with.
Other manufacturers usually follow after a few months of testing and putting their own spin on the new Android release, but it’s usually not until the first half of the next year.
Android 13 features
We don't know much about what Android 13 will offer yet, but the first developer preview has revealed some features, with a second developer preview revealing more.
Eagle-eyed developers have recently spotted signs that Android 13 could support the use of two numbers (and two carriers) on a single eSIM at the same time – technology that Google patented back in 2020.
Meanwhile, Google's dynamic theming (which changes the color of icons to match your wallpaper) will now work with third-party app icons. This is just a Pixel feature for now, but with Google pushing to get other manufacturers to support dynamic theming it should eventually benefit most phones.
(Image credit: Google)
This release is also very focused on privacy, adding a photo picker feature that lets you share media such as photos with apps without granting them access to your entire media library.
Similarly, a new ‘Nearby device permission for Wi-Fi’ will allow apps to discover and connect to nearby devices over Wi-Fi without needing location permissions.
Plus, with Android 13 users will be able to set the default language on a per-app basis. So you could set one app to English and another to Spanish for example.
As for the second developer preview, that includes a new Foreground Services Task Manager for monitoring and closing apps that are running in the foreground.
It also includes the ability to dim wallpapers, redesigned media controls, and new user profile features, such as a profile picker button on the status bar, and a full screen profile switcher, which is likely designed for use with larger devices. Plus, the first time you open an app it will now have to ask your permission to send you notifications.
While not a confirmed feature, evidence of the ability to change the flashlight brightness has also been found in Android 13 code, though it looks like this might mostly be limited to phones that launch with Android 13 - not those that are updated to it.
Google has also revealed that it's working on app archiving - a feature that would let you archive apps to free up around 60% of the space they take up, without fully deleting them. This would remove parts of them, but keep the icon on your phone and mean they can quickly be restored next time you come to use them.
The company hasn't confirmed that app archiving will come to Android 13, but has said it's arriving later this year, so Android 13 is likely.
What we want to see
Android 13 is still a little while away, so we've put together a list of the improvements we want to see from the next-gen software.
1. UI Fixes
(Image credit: Google)
While Material You showcases a new look for Android, it’s not without its faults. Some buttons are confusing users when a feature is enabled. For example, if you go to ‘Internet’ in the Notification Center, you have to press this icon again to toggle Mobile Data, Wi-Fi, and Hotspot. It feels convoluted, and there's no option to make these three options a separate toggle.
Alongside this, the colors in Android 12 lack contrast - everything looks pale compared to the vibrancy that iOS shows. But according to Android Police, it looks like Google is already aware of this, as new vibrant colors have seemingly leaked for Android 13.
According to a new leak from @AndroidPolice, Google is introducing some customization options to Android's wallpaper-based theming system called "monet." This comes in the form of new styles called TONAL_SPOT, VIBRANT, EXPRESSIVE, and SPRITZ.https://t.co/IRjuWjRaSx pic.twitter.com/3pso679kUwJanuary 13, 2022
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Giving some saturated colors across the user interface could help the overall appearance of Android. However, the Material You design we're currently seeing is essentially version 1.0 of a new look for the operating system. iOS is still seeing refinements in its flat design since 2013, so we're going to see visual improvements in Android for years to come.
2. Scrolling Screenshots for all, not some apps
(Image credit: Google)
This feature was introduced for some apps in Android 12, where you could take a screenshot of a web page, but Android would stitch the content into one image.
However, while it’s a useful feature, it requires developers to include a ‘View-based UI’ in the app, otherwise scrolling screenshots isn’t an option for users.
Instead, Android 13 should make this available to all apps, regardless of the current requirement. Users shouldn’t need to check whether certain features in Android are also available to certain apps, and scrolling screenshots is one of them.
3. Release the backtap gesture
(Image credit: Google)
This first appeared in a beta version of Android 11 back in 2020, before it was removed when the final release appeared for the Pixel 4 series and other smartphones.
There’s a variant already available on Apple’s iOS 15, where you can customize a back-tap gesture on your iPhone, that could launch the Camera app or a shortcut for example.
It’s very useful for when you’re browsing another app, and you quickly want to switch to the camera app without going back to the home screen and finding its icon.
For Android, the backtap could be an easy win for users, especially as the software can be better customized compared to iOS. Imagine an Android 13 backtap where you can launch certain apps or media with a certain amount of taps, or the end result changes, depending on the app that you’re currently using.
4. Hand Off from iOS
(Image credit: Future)
According to Android Police, this may already be coming to Android 13, mirroring a feature where you can transfer what you’re listening to on your iPhone, to a HomePod speaker for example.
Tentatively called ‘TTT’ or Tap to Transfer, you can send the media you’re either watching or listening to, towards a device that could be in your home or workplace.
With a barrage of televisions running Android, alongside smart speakers, this could work well for sending across media in an easier way from your smartphone.
5. Please fix ‘Open by Default’ feature
(Image credit: Google)
Before Android 12, you could open a file and a message box would appear, asking you if you’d like to open this in an app just once, or from then on.
It was a simple message box but it solved a purpose. But with Android 12, an ‘Open with Default’ appears instead, ridding you of the choice of using an app once.
This change has been frustrating to users, as it requires you to go deep into the Settings app to make the filetype forget to open in a certain app. For Android 13, let’s revert it back to how it was. That’s all we ask.
If you regularly host a Twitter Spaces room, but were frustrated that you couldn’t save it for future use, Twitter has good news for you.
Back in 2020, Twitter announced the Spaces feature, where you could chat to others about any topic in a virtual room while your followers could listen in, similar to a live podcast. It’s available to use on iOS and Android where you can access it through the navigation bar, or at the top of the app if a follower is hosting one (access to Spaces when using Twitter in a web browser is still in development).
But once you were done hosting a Spaces room, there was no way to save the chat as a file and upload it to a podcast feed for those who may have missed out on the discussion.
However, there will soon be a ‘Record Spaces’ option when you’re about to chat. Once you’re finished with the Space, Twitter will hold it for 30 days, or you can download it as an audio file, which opens up many possibilities.
Analysis: One more step for Twitter Podcasts
Having a local audio file is the natural next step for Spaces. With apps such as Clubhouse offering similar features but having fallen into obscurity recently, Twitter has an opportunity to make its own mark in distributing Spaces as podcasts.
While the company has been testing Ticketed Spaces, which is a way of paying for access to Spaces in order to listen or to add to the conversation, exporting Spaces to an audio file can make the process of creating a podcast much easier for new users.
Another update on Spaces Recording:The option for hosts to record is now available for everyone on Android and iOS! When starting a Space, tap the “Record Space” switch to have it available for public playback for 30 days once the Space has ended. pic.twitter.com/fYzaOjQJlFJanuary 13, 2022
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Spaces offer an easy way for a discussion to be held about a certain topic, without having to set up Skype or Zoom, though you would still need to use another program to record the conversation. Spaces can cut these steps further now, with the offering of recording, but it also lowers the barrier for anyone on the social media platform to try their hand at podcasting about their favorite topic.
Users can become speakers and leaders of their own Twitter Spaces. They can be inspired to host their own Spaces to talk about other topics that they’re passionate about while meeting new followers who share the same interest.
This alone gives Twitter a big opportunity and could open up a new avenue to make Spaces a great platform for its own curated podcast library. But for many users, it could also go some way towards making the platform fun – and genuinely useful – once again.
After confirming that vertical scrolling for Stories was in development back in 2021, Instagram is starting to test the feature in select countries.
Instagram Stories is the company’s take on tapping through short stories that can last up to ten seconds, both in a photo or a video. You can add in a GIF, tag someone, add filters, and more to update your followers on what you’re doing at that moment in time.
But when you decide to go to the next or previous story, you have to tap on the left or right in certain areas of the story in order to do these actions. This could be problematic as some tags placed in a story may overlap, so you may skip a story when you wanted to tap on the tagged person or place in question.
Navigating through your Stories by swiping will alleviate this, and while there’s a good chance that its similarity to TikTok will be mentioned, it’s a much better method for everyone, especially if you primarily use Stories on Instagram.
The company has been rolling out features to better rival TikTok in video content, such as Reels and the ability to add web links to a Story.
However, since Instagram confirmed that vertical scrolling was under development, users had been waiting to see if it would be implemented. One year on, we get confirmation that it’s at least being tested in countries such as Turkey.
🚨 Instagram is testing a vertical swipe stories feed in Turkeyh/t @yousufortaccom pic.twitter.com/KdJa9CTnTlJanuary 12, 2022
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As smartphones get bigger or, foldable, having to tap on the left side of the screen to go back to a story is going to be more frustrating for users.
Swiping up or down to navigate your Stories is a much more appealing method. It’s TikTok’s main way of browsing videos in its app, and it would be a welcome change to Instagram Stories.
With a chronological feed due out soon, swiping in a Story could be the next big feature for 2022.
Since iOS 5 back in 2011, Apple introduced a new message standard called iMessage. If you use an iOS or Mac device, you’ll most likely have used the feature through the Messages app.
These show as a blue bubble that allows you to send reactions, emojis, GIFs, and more.
However, a relatively new standard in messaging has started to appear in recent years called RCS (Rich Communication Services), which is trying to replace the SMS standard that iMessage uses.
RCS is designed to bring the same functionality that iMessage, WhatsApp and other messaging apps offer in a form that works across multiple types of device.
Google's Head of Android, Hiroshi Lockheimer, has accused Apple of bullying by forcing users to use iMessage instead of RCS. But Lockheimer, and others, are forgetting those who don’t use smartphones, and that’s a problem.
The pros and cons of RCS
If you use an Android phone through the messages app, and you live in the United States, you will be able to reply with reactions, emojis through an encrypted connection. That's something that SMS doesn’t provide.
Since RCS made its introduction in 2008, the Open Mobile Alliance has been leading the way in trying to replace the SMS standard with this. It makes it easier for users to share content without being charged for it, such as how MMS, or picture messaging still does to this day.
However, the standard is limited. Many carriers in the United States haven’t agreed to implement RCS, leaving it spotty across cellular networks at best. While some other countries, such as the United Kingdom, currently have no carriers supporting RCS.
Combine this with the fact that Universal Profile, which is the latest attempt for carriers to implement the same RCS standard across the phones that each provides, has been delayed. It’s essentially pot luck in whether your phone and carrier will feature RCS.
But there’s yet another handicap to this. Google is decided to activate RCS within its own Messages app, which means that regardless of the carrier you’re on, you’ll be able to use the service.
This applies to UK users, but others would rather send messages through WhatsApp and other apps.
Google’s Head of Android, Hiroshi Lockheimer tried to rectify his comments over the weekend, alongside linking to a TikTok video of Maxwell Weinbach giving his reasons for why he thought it was bad that Apple hadn’t implemented RCS.
Tons of great discussion following my tweet over the weekend. Thank you for that. I wanted to follow up with some thoughts and clarifications:January 10, 2022
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But while they both provide compelling arguments on one side, there’s another aspect that Google and Weinbach have both left out. This could also be why Apple has yet to implement RCS.
Forgetting the casual user
The majority of us have family members who simply refuse to upgrade to a smartphone. Or at least, refuse to upgrade to a newer smartphone that was released after 2011.
It’s a comfort blanket to some where they’re familiar with the design and the features that the old phone brings. They’re comfortable in using SMS messaging, the camera app and Facebook, and nothing else.
RCS doesn’t factor into this. While Google’s Messages app requires Android 5.0 and above, it’s pot luck whether older phones will support RCS within the app. And that’s if your friend or family member is using Google’s Messages app on their phone.
While the feature is clearly beneficial to those who message frequently, influencers and heads of these departments seem to be missing the bigger picture on who RCS benefits and whether there should be more efforts to make RCS standardized, rather than from one app or waiting for some carriers to come on board.
A mini iPhone had been rumored for years until it arrived with the iPhone 12 mini in 2020. But due to the reportedly low sales, it looks as though the mini will disappear with the iPhone 14 line.
However, it’s a model that’s carved out its own group of fans, mainly due to the fact that it’s at a size that’s roughly the same as the iPhone SE (2016), and you can use it with one thumb instead of two hands.
To have the power of the latest iPhone but in a smaller body is very appealing, but it could go even further.
There hasn’t been an iPhone 13 Pro mini variant where you have three cameras in a 5-inch body, but there should be for the 14 series.
A pro in a mini body
It took me many years to like the bigger-sized iPhones. I was content with navigating apps and messages with one thumb that would cover the screen, with no effort required in using my hand to reach the top corner of the iPhone.
I still regard the iPhone 4 to be the best model Apple has made for the line, but if you pushed me to think of the best iPhone in recent years, it would be the iPhone 13 Pro. The improvements in the camera, the battery life, and the display make it an iPhone that I haven’t enjoyed since the iPhone 5 due to these three features.
However, to think of the same model in a smaller chassis feels more appealing, as there are times where I’m having to move my hand to reach the top parts of the screen, such as for the Control Center.
While the battery would be less due to the size, it would be a compromise I would happily take if it meant having the best features from an iPhone into a smaller display that I can reach the entirety of with one thumb.
What could be in an iPhone 14 Pro mini?
(Image credit: TechRadar)
We’re only three months since the launch of the iPhone 13 series, but there are features that I’d like to see appear.
FaceID is still awkward to use in certain situations, especially when wearing a face mask. To have TouchID come back to the iPhone, perhaps in the power button, similar to the iPad mini, would be a great help.
A smaller notch will always be welcome, and it was great to see the start of this with the iPhone 13 series, but let’s go the distance next year. An even smaller notch that could represent a raindrop that houses the front camera and FaceID module in one could enable more icons to return to the top of the display, especially the battery percentage icon.
MagSafe has been another standout feature for me since owning the iPhone 13 Pro. But there are moments where my AirPods Pro doesn’t charge during the night, and instead, drains completely.
To have them snap to the back of an iPhone 14 so that they can charge would be a great help for those situations.
Finally, I was surprised to see a light blue choice appear for a Pro model this year, so let’s see a dark purple for an iPhone 14 Pro mini.
However, Apple likes to keep it simple, and having a mini model in the Pro line could further confuse customers who are looking to upgrade. There are also rumors of a bigger iPhone SE coming as well, so there may be five different models to choose from in 2022.
But whatever they decide, to see a Pro mini would be my idea of the perfect iPhone. To mix in the past with the present, to prepare it for the future, would be tantalizing.
If you've ever felt frustrated trying to open a shared link from a music streaming service you don't use, you're not alone. But sharing the next best Holly Humberstone song doesn't have to be difficult. A new app, launching today (December 12), is making it easier than ever to share and play your favorite tracks.
MusicMatch, developed by Patrick Hardy and Arthur Van Siclen, is a free app now available on iPhones running iOS 15. The app allows music lovers to open shared song links in either Spotify or Apple Music within the app. You can also play song links utilizing a Safari extension, without opening the MusicMatch app.
While the app sounds simple enough, we spoke to Hardy and Van Siclen to find out what motivated them to develop MusicMatch. Here's what we know about this new music app.
How to use MusicMatch
MusicMatch is free in the App store and available to download for devices running iOS 15. Copy your song, album, or artist link to your clipboard and then open the MusicMatch app. Select where the link will open, whether Apple Music or Spotify.
A Safari extension will provide the same convenience, but within the Safari web browser. To enable this, go to Settings > Safari > Extensions > MusicMatch > Enable All Websites > Enable MusicMatch.
(Image credit: MusicMatch)
At this time, only links from Spotify that open in Apple Music will work with the Safari extension, but Hardy and Van Siclen are working on making Apple Music links work in Spotify on the web browser as well.
Where does MusicMatch fit on iOS?
As far as creating the app, Van Siclen handled the design and development of MusicMatch while Hardy focused on the integration of Spotify, Apple Music, and the Safari extension.
We asked them why they created the app in the first place.
“I’ve clicked so many Spotify links, found the song or artist name, then searched on Apple Music so many times. Every day.” Van Siclen explains.” Every time someone sends me a link I have to go through those steps. It’s onerous. I’m almost mad thinking about it now.”
“Arthur and I have been sharing music with each other for years, but Arthur has always been on Apple Music and I've always preferred Spotify. We would go through the process looking up a track on the other's service then searching for that same content on another platform.” Hardy continues. “When Apple announced that Safari Extensions would be available on iOS 15, we realized that there was a pathway to make this process painless and automatic. We knew the pain first hand and were sure it would be useful to a lot of people who share music with their friends.”
(Image credit: MusicMatch)
While the app is a simple way of opening a music link, the two developers also discovered Safari Extensions on iOS 15 as another use-case for MusicMatch.
“When we heard about Safari Extensions coming to iOS we quickly identified this as an opportunity to solve this problem once and for all.” Van Siclen continues. “We made the Safari Extension, but understanding that extensions are kind of an esoteric, “pro” thing to set up, we decided to make the app fully functional itself. That was a good decision – my mom was able to use the app the first time she needed it.”
To macOS and beyond?
It’s only the first day of the app’s launch, but Hardy and Van Siclen aren’t stopping there. As you will see music links shared to you on other devices such as a Mac, there’s plenty of use cases where MusicMatch can help.
“Yes, we architected the app with cross-platform applications in mind,” Hardy explains. “We would love for MusicMatch to solve this problem no matter where customers are at. Our iOS app is just the start.”
“MusicMatch will soon come to macOS as both an app and Safari Extension. It is built with SwiftUI and has great access to Apple’s modern cross-platform infrastructure.” Van Siclen adds.
(Image credit: Apple)
But if you only have an iPhone, the two devs have plans for a future update on iOS.
“We’re also excited to add support for Tidal, YouTube Music, Pandora, and the other popular streaming services.” Van Siclen continues. “The key goal we identified is to be reliable, so for the first few updates we are focused on ensuring MusicMatch does its job flawlessly for everyone.”
Finally, we wanted to know if Hardy and Van Siclen were big music users on iOS.
“Yes! I listen to jazz, and when we work together, we put on London Grammar, Javiera Mena, Kamasi Washington, and a lot of cross-genre artists.” Van Siclen explains.
“Music has always played an important role in our lives.” Hardy adds. “Sharing music that's inspiring, songs to practice on the guitar, or artists to learn from has always been at the core of a rich and connected life for us.”
That doesn’t stop us from thinking of what could be in the next version of iOS, however, which we expect will be called iOS 16 at WWDC 2022.
Every iOS release has brought a major feature to the table, whether that’s widgets or dark mode. But iOS could still benefit from some new refinements to better manage how you use your iPhone every day.
But if you're wanting to find out what Android users are looking forward to for 2022, check out our guide, tentatively called Android 13.
We’ve combed through our iPhones to roundup five features we’d like to see arrive in iOS 16 next year, no matter how major or minor these may be. But first, we’ll run you through when we expect it to land and which iPhones will be supported.
Apple has followed a traditional schedule of announcing the latest iOS update in June at WWDC, followed by a release around September.
With iOS 15.4.1 available, Apple has been focusing on rolling out significant features across more .1 updates. In previous years, we've seen the trackpad appear on iOS 13.4, alongside ProRes in iOS 15.1 in October last year.
It wouldn't be a stretch to expect an iOS 15.5 by the time we see iOS 16, with more significant features for both your iPhone and iPad.
iOS 16 supported iPhones
Apple tries to support a variety of iPhone models in every new iOS release. iOS 15 supports iPhone 6S at a minimum, which was released in 2015.
An early leak suggests - unsurprisingly - that the iPhone 6S (along with the iPhone 6S Plus and original iPhone SE) won't get iOS 16, but that everything from the iPhone 7 onwards will.
It certainly wouldn't be a stretch to expect iOS 16 support for the iPhone 7 series at a minimum, but with some features likely held back, mainly due to the hardware limitations of the camera, or the chip inside certain iPhone models.
Every iOS release comes with a major feature, but also a bunch of minor improvements across the board. If you still have an iPhone 8 for instance, you may reap the benefits of some of the small features in iOS 16 when it arrives. But you will most likely miss out on the big feature that Apple will showcase.
News and leaks
Aside from the release date and compatibility details above, the only thing we've really heard about iOS 16 so far is that it might have big, interactive widgets.
These are apparently being referred to internally as 'InfoShack', and you can see how they might look in the image below. They'd essentially house multiple smaller widgets, of all different styles.
🔴EXCLUSIVE: iOS 16.Be prepared for interactive widgets! Apple is now working on these “big widgets” internally named InfoShack.Will tell you more about them soon. pic.twitter.com/GZF9zYjOswJanuary 26, 2022
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That image also shows redesigned icons, so we might see that in iOS 16 too. However, the Apple TV remote icon is suspect, as it looks nothing like the actual Apple TV remote (which the current icon does), so we'd take this with a pinch of salt.
What we want to see
We don't know much about iOS 16 yet but we have a good idea of what we want from it, with the following features topping our list.
Redesigned Camera app
(Image credit: TechRadar)
The iPhone camera has seen huge improvements in recent years, with more lenses being added and features such as Night Mode and Cinematic Mode being introduced.
However, this has meant that the camera app has begun to feel bloated. Accessing forced flash or exposure settings requires a few more swipes than we’d like, alongside hidden gestures that don’t feel needed.
With the release of iOS 15.2, we’ve seen a new macro button appear, which can help you more accurately set up those close-up shots when needed. This is just for the iPhone 13 series, though.
Starting afresh with the camera app could help new users take photos in a whole new way, alongside giving existing users a fresh way of taking photos and videos.
It wouldn’t be a stretch to assume that Apple has more big plans for the cameras in future iPhone models, which will also mean new features that we’ll be switching on and off when required. Let’s see an app that’s redesigned for what came before, and lays the groundwork for what’s coming next.
QuickNote to iPhone
(Image credit: Apple)
This is a feature that appears in iPadOS 15 and macOS 12 Monterey, where you can drag your finger from the bottom-right corner, and you can quickly type in some notes, no matter where you are on your device.
There are many gestures you can do on an iPhone, so there’s no harm in adding one more. Dragging from the bottom right corner would display a note that you could quickly type in, and save for a later date.
With your thumb being your primary point of interaction with your smartphone, it's an easy win that can really help with quickly jotting something down. It will also save the strain of your thumb instead of reaching for the Control Center on the top right, and selecting the Notes icon.
Home Automation widgets
(Image credit: Apple)
Since widgets were given a makeover in iOS 14, alongside the ability to place them anywhere on the home screen, some other apps have not been forthcoming with their own widgets to help reduce some steps. One blatant example is the Home app.
You may have a selection of smart lights in your home where you use the app to help manage these. But if you want to quickly switch on a light, you may experience a delay if you ask Siri, or if the app isn’t responding, which has happened often in our experience.
Having a widget on your home screen for your smart lights could really help reduce the steps in quickly switching the bedroom lamp on, instead of having to find the Home app.
It’s a little strange that the widget hasn’t appeared as yet, but we’re hoping it arrives, not only to iOS 16, but future versions of macOS and iPadOS as well.
Air apps
(Image credit: Apple )
If you own one of the AirPods peripherals, or an AirTag, you may find it very cumbersome to try and manage each of these. AirPods settings are only accessible through Bluetooth from within the Settings app, while AirTags settings are accessible through the Find My app.
Being able to manage these through a centralized ‘AirThings’ app could relieve a lot of confusion as to what you own from Apple.
Third-party vendors such as Sony bring out certain apps that can help you manage headphones and more to better manage the features that these bring. Being able to do the same, without having to go to Bluetooth within the Settings app, could bring a lot of simplicity to managing your devices.
Better theme options
(Image credit: Apple)
Back in 2019, we saw an onslaught of themes thanks to a few new features that the Shortcuts app provided in iOS 13.
With Shortcuts, you can use the app to create launch commands for other apps, and place an icon of your choice on the home screen for it. This has resulted in many themes being made available for iPhone users.
YouTuber Marques Brownlee created a short guide to create your own icons with Shortcuts.
But iOS 16 could go further. A new category in the App Store could enable themes to be downloaded and then selected within the Settings app. You could also choose different colors and sounds for notifications and set them as a separate theme, which could also be enabled with Automations in the Shortcuts app.
Third-party developers could perhaps make their own sounds and themes available as well. While there would be restrictions on changing other app icons, it could further expand the individuality that users want from their devices.
After five years, Instagram is looking at bringing back the chronological feed, instead of one that sorts images by your interests in random order.
Instagram head Adam Mosseri was talking to the American Senate committee about child abuse on social media, mainly due to the whistleblower papers that were leaked by Frances Haugen.
Since 2016, users have had to scroll through their feed on Instagram, which shows posts in an order that’s been calculated by an algorithm. This generates a feed based on the content you’ve been looking at, what you’ve been commenting on, and who you’ve been following.
It’s why you will occasionally see a ‘Suggested feed’ of photos and profiles you don’t follow. However, many just want a feed of who they’re following and nothing more.
When will it arrive?
Mosseri’s confirmation of the chronological feed returning will be of big relief to some users. Many are still annoyed by not having control over what they see when they launch Instagram, instead of being brought to a feed that will show photos and videos from a few days ago.
It’s a feature that’s been long-requested, so now that there’s confirmation, many users wanted to find out when it would be arriving. But it looks as though it won’t be anytime soon.
We want to be clear that we’re creating new options — providing people with more choices so they can decide what works best for them — not switching everyone back to a chronological feed. You can expect more on this early next year!December 8, 2021
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With no more news about the feature until early next year, we’ll have to make do with the algorithmic feed for now, as we have done for five years.
Analysis: Was there any need for it to go in the first place?
However, not being able to control what you see on your feed has been frustrating for years, ever since it changed in 2016. Many users want to scroll through a feed from newest to oldest, and social media rivals like Twitter gives users the option for this, as does Facebook.
It can be argued that a chronological feed is more important for Instagram users, as photos and videos capture a moment in time. With the run-up to Christmas, you want to see the latest content from who you’re following, not a random photo from Halloween in your feed when you open the app.
It’s a welcome change of mind regardless, but there should have been an option for both in the beginning. However, let’s hope it appears sooner rather than later in 2022.
It looks like both Google and Apple saw record-breaking numbers when it came to mobile app installs in 2021.
SensorTower measures the most popular app installs for Google and Apple devices, and in 2021 there was a 20% increase in users purchasing apps.
Many of the most popular apps appear to be social media apps and games, with TikTok, Facebook and Instagram being at the top of the most-installed charts, alongside games such as Honor of Kings and Coin Master.
However, we’re starting to see different ways in which we can access these apps, with Apple M1-powered Macs allowing iOS apps to be used and Chromebooks running Android apps. Windows 11 is also about to be able to download and run Android apps through Amazon.
With mobile apps coming to more operating systems, we may see a big change in SensorTower’s charts in a year’s time of how apps will be downloaded and purchased.
An App Store in more places
These charts give users a good idea of what apps were used across the year. With the global Covid-19 pandemic, people are using devices more in their homes as lockdowns became enforced, which would have influenced the charts from SensorTower in 2021.
But thanks to vaccines, users are going out again, trying different apps for different situations. This could lead to an increase in travel apps, for example, with users looking into what public transport they should use.
The MacBook Pro 14-inch (2021) is a recent example that’s powered by Apple’s M1 Pro or M1 Max chips, which let you download previously-purchased iOS apps. This is because the CPU is the same architecture as used in the iPhone and iPad, and this has allowed apps to also run in macOS, as long as the developer has allowed for this.
This means that if you see an app on the iOS App Store, there’s a good chance that you can also use it on your Mac as well as your iPhone or iPad.
This could have a big influence on the charts that SensorTower creates each year. We use our devices in different ways in different places - for instance, an app you download from the iOS App Store may be more suited on your Mac. Games are a good example of this, with Grand Theft Auto: Vice City being available for iPhone and iPad, but can now be downloaded on an M1-powered Mac, so you can carry on your progress during a commute on the train for instance.
Meanwhile, Microsoft is also doing its own take on this, thanks to an agreement with Amazon.
(Image credit: Apple)
A Windows App Store fusion
Windows 11 was announced in June with a redesigned Microsoft Store, where you can download and install apps, much like you can in Android and iOS. But a surprise arrived in the form of Android apps from the Amazon App Store, which are also coming to the Microsoft Store.
While it’s in testing on the Windows Insider channels, where you can test features under development, it could heavily influence how the Android charts from SensorTower could appear this time next year. Users who have an Android phone could carry on their work or progress in a game on their Windows tablet and PC, as long as the app is available on the Microsoft Store.
Users have already found methods to install any Android app from Google Play on Windows 11, which showcases how other apps could be used in Microsoft’s software if the company went beyond the Amazon App Store agreement.
We’re in a time where mobile apps are about to expand to other devices in a big way, which could also encourage developers to create apps or update their existing ones to cater for these changes.
Both iOS apps in macOS and Android apps in Windows 11 throw down the gauntlet to see how developers can adapt to these upcoming changes. It’ll also be interesting to see how these new ways of using mobile apps influence next year’s charts.
While the feature was introduced earlier this year, WhatsApp has now expanded disappearing messages by allowing you to switch it on by default for all chats, alongside more changes.
The company has been introducing many features to the messaging app over the course of the year, with a refined appearance, multi-device support so you don't need to use your phone to manage chats, and more to better rival other apps such as Telegram and iMessage.
However, its new privacy policy has been a source of contention with users, giving WhatsApp the ability to read messages without your consent. While this expanded feature gives you greater control for certain chats, it could encourage abusers to use the app to better hide any conversations that could bring attention to law enforcement.
How to activate the new WhatsApp feature
In a blog post where the company is advocating the feature for better control over your chats, you can change the expiration timer to 24 hours, 7 days or 90 days.
This way, any messages are deleted after a certain time from when they're sent.
While the feature is slowly rolling out to devices, you can find it by going to Settings > Privacy > Disappearing Messages, and you can set the expiration to one of the three timers.
This applies to both iOS and Android, and the setting you choose will also apply to other devices you use WhatsApp on, such as the web, Windows 11, and iPad.
Analysis: A cocktail of blunders to come
Data is an important commodity in today's age, especially when it comes to social media and messaging apps. Users want to feel safe in what they post and what they share, but disappearing messages, especially if it's switched on by the recipient, and the sender doesn't know them, may struggle to quell anxiety in what's being discussed.
While WhatsApp has published a further post in explaining the disappearing messages, it still won't satisfy others who think that this is a feature that could be taken advantage of.
Indeed, the same post explicitly states that users should 'Only use disappearing messages with trusted individuals.'
It's a feature that doesn't bring much advantage to the user - the main reason of messaging apps is to keep in touch with friends and family. If we're now given the ability to remove messages, it brings in certain scenarios that weren't possible before, such as fraud and more incriminating situations.
Disappearing messages is an example of a feature that is useful in theory, but flawed in execution, and perhaps WhatsApp should roll back this feature for now.
