Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson

Instagram is working on a Dislike button that will anonymously downrank comments

Instagram logo render

Across pretty much every social platform there is a strange focus on responding positively to content through the use of a ‘like’ button. Instagram is no different in this regard, but this could be about to change.

Some users have noticed a new down arrow button next to comments which has been confirmed by Instagram's trial of a new feature. The button enables users to dislike a comment under a post, but it does not work quite as you may expect.

Continue reading

WhatsApp is rolling out chat themes to help make every chat unique

Chat themes on WhatsApp

WhatsApp has started the rollout of a feature it says that users have been asking for -- chat themes. Using a combination of wallpapers and colored chat bubbles, every conversation can be given its own look.

This is a change that is about more than aesthetics, though. In providing the option to make every chat look different, WhatsApp is making it much easier to identify chats and avoid the tricky issue of sending a message to the wrong person or group.

Continue reading

Apple now lets you transfer purchases from one account to another -- Google should be taking notice!

Apple App Store

Many people have more than one Apple Account, and it can be frustrating to have to bounce from one to another just to manage digital purchases. If only there was a way to consolidate everything into one account...

Well, now there is! Apple has quietly launched a new option to migrate apps, music, and other purchased content from one Apple Account to another. There are, of course, caveats, and it’s not a feature that is available everywhere, but it is an exciting development that will make Android users jealous.

Continue reading

Apple finally brings the Apple TV app to Android

Apple TV Android app

There is a sensible logic to Apple focusing on creating and improving apps that work on its own devices, but the company sometimes has to acknowledge the fact that not every phone and tablet out there is an idevice.

The latest app release from the iPhone-maker is proof of this in action. After far, far too long overlooking the platform, the company has now released the Apple TV app for Android users. The launch comes ahead of the 2025 season of Major League Soccer, and there is even the option to test drive the service for free.

Continue reading

Apple is renaming the Gulf of Mexico in Apple Maps… and is going further than Google

Gulf of Mexico Gulf of America labels

Shortly after Google Maps changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, Apple Maps is starting to do the same.

When Google rolled out the name change at the weekend, the company took a three-pronged approach which means three different naming conventions are used in different parts of the world. Having started to implement the name change itself, Apple is showing that it is willing to do more than Google by making the change global.

Continue reading

Microsoft is forcing the new Outlook for Windows app on Windows 10 users with the mandatory KB5051974 update

Preparing to configure Windows

Windows 10 may not have long left to live (officially, at least), but this does not seem to be stopping Microsoft from using the operating system to piss people off. There are still a few months of updates for Windows 10, and the most recent is the cumulative KB5051974 update.

In addition to one of the last batch of security fixes Windows 10 users can expect, the KB5051974 update sees Microsoft doing -- once again -- that thing which wins it few friends: forcibly installing apps. This time around it is the new Outlook for Windows app that’s been force-fed to users.

Continue reading

Elon Musk really wants control of OpenAI so he has teamed up with other investors to bid nearly $100bn for it

Elon Musk X logo

Elon Musk is not happy with the direction he sees OpenAI heading -- so much so that he wants to buy back the artificial intelligence firm he co-founded. The billionaire walked away from OpenAI more than five years ago, but he does not like the way CEO Sam Altman is handling things.

Musk being Musk, deep pockets and all, has teamed up with other investors to buy “all assets” of OpenAI. The consortium has put a bid of $97.4 billion on the table, and Musk has stated that he will ensure that (assuming he is able to make the purchase he so desperately wants) “OpenAI [...] return[s] to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was”.

Continue reading

Google Maps now has multiple ways of referring to the Gulf of Mexico

Google Maps on a smartphone in a car

Within moments of being inaugurated as US President earlier this year, Donald Trump vowed to rename the Gulf of Mexico. Sure enough, an executive order followed, changing the name to the Gulf of America -- but there has been the question about how most of the world will refer to it moving forward.

On a day-to-day basis, there will be some who use the new name, some who stick with the previous one -- but what about map services? Google previously stated that when the Geographic Names Information System was updated, Google Maps would reflect the new nomenclature. Now the name change has been implemented, but what you see will depend on where you are in the world.

Continue reading

Microsoft lies to you if you ask how to uninstall Microsoft Edge

Uninstall Microsoft Edge

There are plenty of people who do not use Microsoft Edge -- it is a long way from being the most popular browser out there. And just like Internet Explorer before, there are also plenty of people who hate Edge so much that they want to uninstall it.

As there is no obvious way to do this if you take a look through the options in Windows, you might well search online for instructions. Search Bing (or the Start menu) for “how to uninstall Microsoft Edge” and there’s an entry at the top of the results that links to the office “Uninstall Microsoft Edge”. This really is an official Microsoft page, bearing the description: “Learn how to uninstall Microsoft Edge from your device”. But this is a blatant lie from Microsoft.

Continue reading

UK government asks Apple to give it backdoor access to encrypted user data

Apple security logo

The UK government has used the Investigatory Powers Act (IPA) to issue Apple with a “technical capability notice” requiring the company to create a backdoor into its encrypted cloud services. The Home Office is specifically interested in bypassing the encryption that secures Apple’s Advanced Data Protection (ADP) service.

This cloud service includes a wealth of user data and, thanks to the use of end-to-end encryption, cannot be accessed by anyone other than the account holder. The UK government demand is part of legislation that forces companies to help law enforcement with investigations, but creating a backdoor would allow a level of access that even Apple does not currently have -- and there are concerns about the potential for abuse.

Continue reading

Meta may have torrented over 80 terabytes of pirated books to train its AI models

Meta AI

Just how AI models should be trained has been a subject of debate for some time now, with there being a lot of focus in whether publicly posted social media content is ripe for the picking or not. Now a new lawsuit suggests that Meta has been using pirated ebooks as a data source.

Emails that are serving as evidence in a copyright case against Meta appear to show that the Facebook owner has torrented scores of terabytes of data from a number of online resources. Among the places mentioned in newly released unredacted emails are Anna’s Archive, Z-Library and LibGen.

Continue reading

TikTok creators can easily share their content to YouTube thanks to new Repurpose.io partnership

YouTube and TikTok logos

YouTube has announced a partnership with Repurpose.io designed to make multi-platform publishing easier than ever. An automated system makes it possible to repost TikTok content, as well as Instagram Reels, as YouTube Shorts.

The uncertain future of TikTok in the US has shaken creators who have built up substantial and lucrative followings on the Chinese-owned social platform. YouTube is eager to make the most of this uncertainty, and is clearly hoping that the new Repurpose.io partnership will help it to steal TikTok users.

Continue reading

Microsoft makes massive MIDI improvements for musicians using Windows 11

Windows 11 on laptop and mobile

The MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) standard is decades old, but still going strong. It continues to serve musicians, making it possible to reliably connect a range of instruments to computers. With the latest update to Windows 11, Microsoft ushers in some significant MIDI improvements.

The launch of Windows 11 build 27788 sees the arrival of Windows MIDI Services Public Preview. Microsoft describes this as “our complete rewrite of MIDI on Windows with a focus on a great experience for musicians and a strong foundation for future expansion and enhancement”. Importantly, there is now full support for MIDI 2.0.

Continue reading

Google is the latest tech firm to drop diversity hiring targets following Trump’s executive orders

Google search

President Trump has issued a slew of executive orders in the early days of his second stint in the White House. Among these are several designed to cut back on government and federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives that helped to boost job opportunities for underrepresented groups.

Following the executive orders and court rulings, numerous firms -- including tech companies such as Amazon and Meta -- announced that they were rolling back, revising, or killing off their DEI hiring targets. Now Google has followed suit.

Continue reading

Microsoft is getting serious about discouraging people from installing Windows 11 on unsupported hardware

Windows 11 screen with reflection

The system requirements for Windows 11 have been a bone of contention ever since the operating system was first released, but it is something that has been brought back into sharp focus once again as Windows 10 nears the end of its life.

Microsoft is keen for everyone to move from Windows 10 to Windows 11, even if this means having to buy a new PC. And in recent days the company has taken steps to encourage just this, using strong-arm tactics to discourage bypassing TPM and CPU requirements.

Continue reading

© 1998-2025 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy.