Apps
Spotify introduces ‘Jam’ feature for collaborative music listening
Spotify has announced a new feature ‘Jam’ that will let users create and control a music playlist together in real-time. This feature will allow up to 32 Spotify users to join a shared music queue and add, remove, or reorder songs as they wish.
To start a “Jam”, a Spotify Premium user can tap the speaker icon on the Now Playing screen and share an invite code with other Spotify users via a QR code or a link. The invite code will grant access to the music queue, where everyone can see what songs are playing and who added them. Free Spotify users can also join a “Jam” and contribute songs, but they cannot start one.
The Jam feature of Spotify is designed to make music listening more social and interactive, especially for situations where multiple people want to have a say in the music selection, such as parties, road trips, or workouts. Spotify says that the feature is rolling out starting today and will be available to all Spotify users soon.
WhatsApp introduces new voice group chat actions to make it easier for users to start and join voice chats. This new feature arrives with WhatsApp Beta for Android version 2.24.25.22, available via the Google Play Beta Program.
The fresh beta update adds a new floating action button above the message send button. This makes it much easier to start a voice chat in group chats.
Previously, users had to go into the group info screen or use an option from the top app bar. Now, the floating button makes the feature more visible and accessible to everyone in the group.
Moreover, some beta testers can now try out a new gesture feature. By simply scrolling up the conversation in the group, users can immediately start a voice chat. This makes it even quicker to start talking without any extra steps.
Aside from this, WhatsApp is expanding voice chat availability to smaller groups. Previously, voice chats were only available in larger groups of 32 or more members. Now, even smaller groups with just two people can use the voice chat feature.
Users can still choose to notify all members when a voice chat begins. If no one joins within 60 minutes, the voice chat will automatically end.
This update is currently available to some beta testers who have installed the latest WhatsApp beta version. More users will get access to these new features soon.
Samsung has announced that it will soon add support for the Dual Messenger feature to its One Hand Operation+ Good Lock module. This new support, which many users have requested, will make it easier for people to use two accounts of the same app while navigating their phone with just one hand.
Dual Messenger lets you run two different accounts of the same apps on your phone. The feature does not work with the One Hand Operation mode but is now expected to come soon.
A Samsung community moderator has confirmed that many Galaxy users have requested the Dual Messenger execution function for the One Hand Mode feature. Further, he has mentioned that although the current version does not support Dual Messenger, the team has already been working on bringing this support.
Fortunately, Samsung has acknowledged the issues that users are facing and promised to bring Dual Messenger support with the next One Hand Operation+ update.
This next update is expected to make multitasking more efficient for users who rely on One Hand Operation. It will allow them to quickly switch between two app accounts.
While there’s no exact release date for the update yet, Samsung users can look forward to the new feature being available soon. Keep an eye out for the next app update to take advantage of this new functionality.
Google Messages is finally adding a feature that many users have wanted for a long time, the ability to set custom icons for group chats. At the moment, group chats in the app use a default icon, which is just a grid of users’ initials or profile pictures.
Many people have asked for the option to change the grid option, and it looks like Google is finally bringing it soon. This new feature has been discovered in a beta version of the Google Messages app by AndroidAuthority.
The codes of the fresh version of the Google Messages app show that users will soon be able to upload their own images to use as group chat icons. It means you can choose a picture that represents the group, instead of just the default grid.
Moreover, the future update will make group chats easier to recognize and more fun. It will also bring Google Messages like other popular apps including WhatsApp, which already lets users set custom images for group chats.
Custom icons will make it easier to identify which group chat you’re in, especially if you’re part of many different groups. Since RCS works over the internet, the custom icon should appear for everyone in the group, not just the person who set it.
However, it’s unclear whether anyone in the group can change the icon or if only admins will be able to do it. It’s also not clear if iPhone users will be able to see the custom icons, as RCS works differently on iOS. Stay tuned for more information.