2020 is finally over! This year hasn't accelerated to the full speed yet due to New Year holidays but we already have some things to talk about.
What's new?
- 📡 Telegram location exposure
- 🚀 Nova Launcher 7 beta
- 🏃 Samsung's OneUI 3.0 features
- 📬 Delta chat - an open-source email-based messenger
Telegram is again on media radars despite not having any new features being released. "People Nearby" feature that was implemented a while ago, has a button that is called "make me visible" and it will make your location appear to be visible to people nearby (obviously). In fact, it only shows the distance to people nearby in meters but that also means that people can locate your exact position if they want to.
It turns out that for many people it came as a surprise and from the perspective of Telegram devs it works as intended (which is true). Most likely that due to the media coverage of this situation they will have to make some updates to this feature at some point. By the way, if you use a cellular network on your device - your location is already exposed, even if your phone is turned off (unless you remove its battery). This is just some simple basics of electronic warfare.
Nova Launcher got another big update which is built on top of "Launcher3" core. This change will allow the team to adopt and implement new features faster and a new beta v7 already comes with some new additions.
This is exclusive for Samsung flagship owners but could be also interesting to others. There were a lot of reviews for OneUI 3.0 when it came out but now I also received it myself and made a short summary of some noticeable changes: Glassy UI, Secure folder, Android 11 gestures, Secured wifi, Gallery sync to OneDrive.
Delta chat - an open-source email-based messenger
This time I want to highlight only one beta app that is yet another messenger. The main difference of Delta Chat is that it doesn't require a phone number to be working and it is fully based on email. It makes a separate folder in your inbox and you will be able to access all your conversations through the email as well.
P.S. More beta stories below👇
P.S.S. More beta apps can be also found in our Telegram group 🔥
Google Apps
Google is featuring Instagram and TikTok 'Short videos' in mobile search results
Google Photos generating straightforward ‘Year in Review’ story, 2020 photo book
Google Play Services 20.50.14 prepares to add support for Wearable Exposure Notifications
Social Apps
Facebook Expands Engagement Alerts for Groups, Adds New Alert Options | Social Media Today
Twitter Acquires Podcast Listening App Breaker to Expand its Audio Focus | Social Media Today
WhatsApp beta for Android 2.21.1.3: what's new? | WABetaInfo
Other Apps
Microsoft Edge rolls out history and tab sync for all users
Microsoft Launcher gets updated, includes new features for the Surface Duo
Shuttle Music Player introduces fresh design and dark mode in beta