Apps

Google’s new December Pixel software update includes the “experimental” ability to force any app into fullscreen mode on the Pixel Fold or Pixel Tablet — even those that wouldn’t usually support it.

How about that, Instagram? Does this look completely silly? Well, sure. But it works. It’s a fullscreen Instagram app for a tablet. Victory is mine.

I’m certain there are better examples of where this might be useful.

Then you should watch this excellent video from Quinn Nelson at Snazzy Labs. He breaks down exactly what it's doing behind the scenes and why it will likely be a challenge for Apple to stop it from working.

Instapaper Premium will now cost $6 per month, which Instapaper says is the first price change for the service in nine years. Instapaper says the higher price will let it hire more engineers, build new features (like the just launched “Permanent Archive”), and minimize price changes in the future.

XDA Developers spotted a Github issue posted by Microsoft developer Jordi Adoumie, who wrote that the company is exploring a new Windows advanced settings pane for Dev Home users. The new options that fill it would come from the darkest reaches of Windows: the registry.

Currently, there are many settings/registry keys that developers desire to tweak that are either not accesible via the Windows Settings app and/or are difficult to discover throughout the OS.

The feature is just a concept right now, and Microsoft wants input on its creation. Here’s hoping something like it comes to regular users.

Did you know the product was previously called “Messages by Google?” I didn’t until I read this 9to5Google article about the recent name change.

Just don’t get Google Messages and Google Chat confused.

I can’t believe it didn’t have one already. Google says the feature is available on Android and rolling out now on iOS.

According to a thread from Bluesky’s safety account, it’s introducing “more advanced automated tooling” to flag content to its moderation team before users see it and letting users once again report their own posts for mislabeled content. And sometime “soon,” users will be able to set controls for who can reply to a post.

You still can’t view Bluesky posts unless you have an account (that feature is “realistically” arriving “mid month,” a Bluesky developer said Friday), so if you can’t see the posts yourself, TechCrunch has a good summary of what’s changing.

It’s “something we are actively working on today not only alone, but talking to other partners who’d also like to see more choice for how they can monetize on the phone,’’ Xbox CEO Phil Spencer said, per BNN Bloomberg. These plans have been public for a while, but are even more interesting now Microsoft owns Activision Blizzard (which has already explored doing something similar).

Here’s a selection of Google’s picks:

• Best app overall: Imprint: Learn Visually

• Best game overall: Honkai: Star Rail

• Best Everyday Essential: Artifact: Feed Your Curiosity

• Best with AI: Character AI: AI-Powered Chat (ChatGPT gets an honorable mention)

• Best for Watches: WhatsApp Messenger

• Best for Tablets: Concepts: Sketch, Note, Draw

• Best for Chromebooks: FlipaClip: Create 2D Animation

• Best for Google TV: Max: Stream HBO, TV, & Movies

• Best for Cars: Amazon Prime Video

Check out Google’s post for all the winners.

And the winners are:

• iPhone App of the Year: AllTrails

• iPad App of the Year: Prêt-à-Makeup

• Mac App of the Year: Photomator

• Apple TV App of the Year: MUBI

• Apple Watch App of the Year: SmartGym

• iPhone Game of the Year: Honkai: Star Rail

• iPad Game of the Year: Lost in Play

• Mac Game of the Year: Lies of P

• Apple Arcade Game of the Year: Hello Kitty Island Adventure

Apple also awarded “generative AI” with Trend of the Year:

Apps are a reflection of culture, and in 2023, generative AI captured users’ collective imagination with its evolution unfolding in real time. Apps started integrating AI throughout the year in a variety of ways. Although many features are still in their infancy, they gave users a chance to see, firsthand, the technology in action and come to their own conclusions about the benefits and risks.

Apple rounded up a few generative AI apps that exemplify the trend.

Discord first launched the shop to Nitro subscribers in October, but now everyone can purchase avatar decorations and profile effects. Nitro members will still get these items at a discounted price.

Instead of having just a single navigation bar at the bottom of your screen, Google Chat has decided to add another navigation menu on top of that with options to access the home screen, direct messages, spaces, and mentions. I don’t have it on my mobile app yet, but it looks a little chaotic.

The change is being tested in version 14.48.26.29.arm64 of the Google app so it’s not widely available yet. The bar remains at the bottom when displaying search results, meaning users with larger phones don’t have to stretch their thumbs so far when typing.

The Chrome app on iOS introduced a similar update for the URL bar last month.