Hey, Android users. A new safety section is coming to Google Play.  Starting next year, Android developers will be required to include a privacy policy with their app. The requirement covers both first-party and third-party app developers. The app policies will let you see safety and privacy guidelines before downloading the app, so you’ll know …

Before now, if your Twitter account was suspended or locked, you’d receive an email. But you might not check it before trying to send a tweet. Now, at least for some users, Twitter doesn’t leave any room for guessing what’s wrong, thanks to a new banner.  The social media giant is testing a banner that shows users if their account …

Watch out, TikTok. Instagram Reels is hot on your heels. As of Tuesday, Instagram Reels can be up to a minute long, after previously being limited to 30 seconds. The Facebook-owned photo and video sharing platform unveiled the change by way of its Twitter account.  Reels. up to 60 secs. starting today. pic.twitter.com/pKWIqtoXU2 — Instagram (@instagram) July 27, 2021 It also …

Snapchat is adding more to its location-sharing feature, Snap Map, with a feature it calls My Places.  The new feature lets Snapchatters discover popular locations and save their favorite places to revisit later. They can also see where they’ve been with the “Visited” tab. It also lets you see where others are in your area so that you can catch …

Google Maps is adding transit crowd predictions covering 10,000 transit systems in 100 countries, making it easier for you to tell how busy your train or subway line will be, even down to each car.  The transit predictions are based on AI technology, user feedback and location trends over time, the search giant said Wednesday. And in New York and …

LG’s futuristic rollable TV has arrived. The LG Signature OLED R TV is now available in the US for $100,000 — costing roughly 50 times more than your average 4K OLED TV.  But this isn’t your average TV. It has a thin, flexible 65-inch OLED screen. The “wow factor” is the TV’s ability to roll down into its housing unit when …

Don’t call it a comeback! It looks like Microsoft might be adding Clippy to Microsoft 365 emojis coming soon.  You may remember Clippy from Microsoft Office 97. The virtual office assistant often made an appearance with a yellow notepad on Word documents, but Clippy was discontinued in 2002 in favor of other features.  Microsoft on Wednesday posted a tweet that …

Dozens of WeChat accounts that focused on LGBTQ topics were reportedly deleted from the popular social media and messaging app on Tuesday. WeChat, owned by Chinese tech giant Tencent, told account owners they’d violated rules, but it didn’t offer further details, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday.  Many of the accounts reportedly belonged to university students and nongovernment groups. The …

Good news, TikTokers. Three-minute videos are on the way.  TikTok is rolling out the option for all users to create longer videos, extending its 60-second limit to 180 seconds. The popular social-video app has been testing the new format since December, so some people may have already experienced creating or watching longer videos.  “Creative expression brings people together. It’s how …