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Social Integration Kit For The iOS In The Works?

A social integration kit for the iOS is in the works, but the iPhone 7 launch will be September’s trending topic.

Apple is spearheading a new and very ambitious social integration kit for the iOS. As part of this new social networking design, the same team that brought Final Cut Pro and iMovie to Apple users are now working on iOS’ own version of Snapchat.

This project is in such an early stage the team did not decide on a name for the app. Development of this definitely-not-Snapchat app focuses on a design that enables users to efficiently record quality video and then quickly and easily apply filters or drawings in the post-record editing, all with just one hand. The entire recording, editing, and upload process should be quick enough to take less than a minute if the users choose to.

The current prototype records videos in a square-shape resolution, just like Instagram. As soon as the video is done uploading, users will get the options to share the videos over several staple social networks or directly to their contacts.

And here is where the new social integration kit for the iOS starts to show up.

Snapchat’s popularity has pushed other services to create similar features, such as Instagram Stories.

The When & How of the Social Integration Kit

It is worth to mention that no matter how ambitious the Apple teams are with the whole project, it can still be denied. If the their new social integration kit for the iOS proves to be a risk in regards to user privacy by exposing too much personal data, it will get the boot.

As social media networks continue to expand, their layers of security begin to stretch. With increased public exposure comes increased chance to get taken down by an ambitious hacker or team.

Apple, of course, is no exception. In August 2014, the world found out that Apple’s cloud storage service, iCloud, had a few security vulnerabilities. Hackers got into iCloud and made some very intimate celebrity photos public.

Ever since, Apple has been working hard on reinforcing the iOS but with news of a new social integration kit emerging, aspirant hackers are bound to test their skills.

Image Source: Pixabay, Wikimedia

Lifestage – New, Old, Borrowed, Facebook

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Can Lifestage make Facebook trending for teenagers again?

Facebook announced Lifestage, a new and separate app which will cater exclusively to users under the age of 21 and under.

Facebook continues to remain a popular service in the world of today. However, the younger demographics have been leaving the social media giant. According to market studies, individuals under the age 21 are enjoying other social media services such as Snapchat more.

Lifestage, the new app from Facebook, takes heavy inspiration from Facebook’s 2004 model, as well as Snapchat and other popular social media apps.

Although it is currently available for iOS exclusively, Facebook is confident that Lifestage will quickly hit its popularity boom. The app is based around the idea that teenagers are interested in creating a public visual profile and use it to connect and share with others.

Social Features and Privacy Standing on Lifestage

Facebook designed its newest app to work in tight connection with already active school communities and networks.

With Lifestage, a typical user will be able to post and share personal video updates. Messaging can be managed through a “Reach Me” interface. Social media integration is built into the app.

In theory, the app will be one of the new great ways to keep in touch with classmates and schoolmates and to enable creative or social individuals to gain extra popularity in their school collectives.

However, several parties have repeatedly expressed their concern in regards to the app’s public-only settings. The target audience for Lifestage are teenagers with ages between 13 and 17. Currently, anyone on the internet could lie, state that they are under the age of 21 and that they are enrolled at a certain school.

In return, Facebook stated that privacy in its newest app will be guaranteed by easy and accessible options to report and block users. Past experience shows, however, that reporting and blocking users are both abusable and can lead to social media bullying.

Furthermore, reporting and blocking have only proved useful in dealing with the more verbose user base, making both options ineffective solutions when dealing with an issue which is easily fixable by adding a privacy filter.

Lifestage’s app icon is an upside down smiley.

Signing up for Lifestage does not require a Facebook account or any connectivity to Facebook. However, in order to ‘activate’ a school on Lifestage, at least 20 users need to be signed up with that school.

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Microsoft Is Bringing Word Flow To iPhones

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Fans of iOS might be getting a pleasant surprise soon enough, as Microsoft is bringing Word Flow to iPhones, meaning it will no longer be a Windows phone exclusive. It seems the tech giant is ready to move on with their services on other platforms. Next stop, iPhone’s default keyboard.

Word Flow is arguably the best feature of Windows phones, with exceptional speed and intuitive software that makes typing on its keyboard easier. The software implies the user not lifting their finger from their screen as they write. It also uses suggestions, gestures, autocorrect, and support for multiple languages to be used with ease. It’s similar to third-party apps such as Swype.

Word Flow saves several taps, time, and has been the tool of one Guinness World Record holder.

The company boasts the achievement when one very nimble user shattered records by typing 160 characters in 18.44 seconds on Word Flow. The tagline speaks for itself: “How fast? Guinness Book of World Records-breaking fast.”. It’s one of the defining features of Lumia, and certainly one of the biggest perks. And now, that speedy technology is taking a step outside of its Windows boundaries and breaking into iOS.

Lucky participants of the Windows Insider Program were given the option of joining in on a beta test for Word Flow on iPhone 5S or any other of the younger versions. It’s the world’s fastest smartphone keyboard, and it’s ready to tackle other operating systems. While trials are underway, it’s likely that the feature will appear on Android soon enough. Provided the testing comes out with successful results.

It seems Microsoft is determined on breaking out of their operating system and expanding their apps. It has happened numerous times before in the past. They take the exclusive applications and bring them to other operating systems, such as iOS and Android in order to cover all users on all platforms. And, for the most part, it has worked beautifully for Microsoft.

Its famous applications, such as Microsoft Office and Skype, have been carefully adapted to other versions of Android or iOS. The same has been done with Google’s Play Store for the purpose of promoting all their Android apps, as well as taking a few slots in the Apple App Store. Microsoft continued their expansion in 2015 when they introduced their very own Cortana to other operating systems.

However, the latter has not yet taken over Android’s Google Now or iOS’s Siri as their main digital personal assistant. Not every adaptation will be a success.

Image source: frandroid.com

Apple releases new Photos app for registered OS X developers

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Tech giant Apple on Thursday unveiled the first preview of its iPhoto replacement, Photos, for its registered developers.

Last year, Apple had announced offering Photos, which will be seeing an official launch later this year, absolutely free to OS X Yosemite users.

The Cupertino-based company has made the announcement in 2014 while talking about the beginning of iPhoto substitute shipping in early 2015.

The Apple website showed the Photos timetable “simply coming this spring.”

The revamped OS X application will look a lot like the same-named app that runs on iOS. Moreover, it will replace Apple’s 13-year-old application ‘iPhoto’, which has been ditched by many users for its uncomfortable and awkward interface as well as confusing connect mechanism to the iCloud, Apple’s cloud-based service for storage and synchronization.

iCloud is an integral component of Photos and hence can be both-a potential boon and bane-for its users.

The users can store theirs photographs and videos in the “iCloud Photo Library” on Apple’s servers. This will give freedom to the Apple users to avail these images and videos from any iOS or OS X devices or from other platforms’ browser.

iCloud can also be used for sharing photographs and video with others and for making synchronization changes to images.

The company has sold a record 74.5 million iPhones, 21.4 million iPads and 5.5 million Macs during the fourth quarter of last year.

The When & How of the Social Integration Kit

Social Features and Privacy Standing on Lifestage

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