State databases of driver’s licenses have reportedly become a treasure trove for facial recognition searches by the FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Millions of Americans’ license photos have been scanned without their knowledge or consent, The Washington Post reported Sunday. The Post based its article on five years of documents provided by Georgetown Law …

Google announced Monday that people could join beta testing for its new version of Messages, the texting app that comes standard with Android phones. In less than a day, the program reached capacity. If you try to join the beta program now, you’ll see this note from Google: “Thanks for your interest in becoming a tester for the Messages app. …

In its latest transparency report, published Tuesday, Apple detailed that it received 80 requests from 11 countries to remove 634 apps from its App Stores from July 1 to Dec. 31, 2018. The apps in question weren’t listed in the report, but Apple said most of them were taken down.  China had the most requests at 56, with 626 apps …

If you spend more than a few moments on social media, you’ll probably come across an advertisement for a diet pill or an article that says something like “pharmacists hate him” that touts a miracle cure for something. Facebook is trying a new treatment for clickbait health news with its latest ranking changes. “We know that people don’t like posts …

To celebrate Wimbledon 2019, Snapchat made a Bitmoji Tennis game that lets you hit the court with your friends. Snapchat started rolling out its own set of games called Snap Games in April. Similar to Facebook games, you can invite your friends to play with you. You can find Bitmoji Tennis, as well as other Snap Games, by opening a chat and then tapping on the …

Apple CEO Tim Cook on Monday said a report alleging design chief Jony Ive has been distancing himself from the company for awhile is “absurd.”  A Sunday report by The Wall Street Journal said Ive has been distancing himself from Apple for years as the company shifted focus under Cook’s leadership. Ive reportedly grew frustrated with Cook, who was more …

As 5G becomes more common, phones have to adapt to support the next-gen network’s power requirements. As such, Nokia Bell Labs and Advanced Materials and BioEngineering Research (AMBER) have developed new battery technology that might double the life of your phone’s battery without making it heavier. The researchers filed a patent to protect the design and start commercialization soon, according to …

The Uber and Lyft ride-hailing apps have seemingly inscrutable ways for calculating how much you’ll spend on a ride, and — while convenient — the prices do add up. When it comes to saving money with ride-hailing apps, is one of them better than the other? The answer is yes, but not like you think.  Uber’s far less transparent pricing system makes it …

YouTube‘s comments section can be a mix between no man’s land in a war zone and the Wild West. Translation: The place can be dangerous. So instead of making you read what the New Statesman called “the worst of the internet,” YouTube is working on a new feature that would hide comments by default. YouTube didn’t immediately respond to a …

Witches and wizards donned their robes and started casting spells Thursday when the Harry Potter: Wizards Unite mobile game launched in the US and UK. And a Friday report by SensorTower says Wizards Unite raced to the No. 1 free app download spot in Apple’s US App Store in about 15 hours — not quite as fast as Harry’s Firebolt broom, …