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Would you buy a drone just to take selfies? Now you can.

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The Pixy drone can be your flying camera.
The Pixy drone can be your flying camera.
Photo: Pixy

If you take selfie photos constantly, maybe you’re ready to move beyond smartphone camera timers and selfie sticks for your pics. Is it time to start dabbling in aerial photography?

Sure, why not. Especially if Snapchat’s second-ever piece of hardware finds an audience when it goes on sale.

Snapchat’s parent company, Snap, unveiled a drone called “Pixy” last week. It said the little flying camera is designed for taking selfies.

Snapchat promises fix for frequent app crashes on iPhone [Update]

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Snapchat icon
Avoid version 11.34.0.35 if you can.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

UPDATE: A fix for this problem is now available. Download the latest Snapchat update from the App Store.

Snapchat has promised to roll out a fix for frequent app crashes on iPhone after its latest update. Version 11.34.0.35 of the app sends some users back to their Home screen immediately after being opened.

Snapchat admits iOS 14 privacy feature could disrupt its business

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Snapchat logo
Snapchat thinks its business could be disrupted by changes.
Photo: Alexander Shatov/Unsplash CC

Snapchat parent company Snap has added its voice to the tech companies complaining that iOS 14’s privacy measures could hurt its business.

Releasing its Q4 2020 earnings Thursday, the company’s CFO Derek Andersen said that the Apple changes might disrupt Snap’s ad-centric business model.

Awesome Snapchat filter shows how we’ll navigate the metro in the age of AR

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SmarTrip 1
Imagine being able to call up a metro map out of thin air.
Photo: Gerald Nash

Imagine riding the subway when you realize you’re not quite sure of the changes you need to make on your journey. No problem! Simply whip out your smartphone, aim it at your travel pass, and watch a virtual map pop up in front of you.

Science fiction? Nope. It’s a proof-of-concept AR demo created by computer science student Gerald Nash. It gives a taste of the future, courtesy of a Snapchat filter, that will turn your Washington DC SmarTrip card into a trigger for a floating AR map of the area. Check out the video below.

Reddit app gets a new BFF: Snapchat

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Reddit logo
Reddit may attract younger users with it new content sharing agreement with Snapchat.
Photo: Reddit

Regular users of Reddit’s iOS app and Snapchat can now share content between the two social media networks, both companies announced today.

Reddit has never partnered with another app but said it will expand the feature to other social media apps down the road.

Instagram steals from Snapchat for new Threads app

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Threads
Instagram has yet another standalone app.
Photo: Instagram

Facebook-owned Instagram launched a new standalone app today that pretty much steals some of Snapchat’s key features.

Threads, rolling out globally to iOS today, is built around Instagram’s Close Friends feature, giving you a quicker way to message the people you care about on Insta the most.

Snapchat’s 3D Camera Mode lands exclusively on iPhones with Face ID

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snap
Snapchat just added another dimension to photos.
Photo: Snap

Snapchat just added another cool feature to distinguish it from Instagram but you’ll need to have one of the newest iPhones to use it.

A new 3D Camera Mode is rolling out to users today, allowing you to create and share images that have a 3D depth effect as you tilt your display in different directions. It’s the same feature that debuted on the newest version of Snap’s Spectacles, only now you can create them from your iPhone.

Take a look at all the possibilities 3D Camera Mode unlocks:

Snap’s Spectacles 3 are an ugly reminder why smart glasses aren’t ready

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Snap 3 glasses
This is as good as Spectacles 3 are ever going to look. For better or worse.
Photo: Snap

Despite Apple’s focus on ARKit and augmented reality, it’s yet to release the AR headset it is supposedly working on.

Tim Cook has previously said Apple will only do it when it can do so in “a quality way.” Snapchat’s newly unveiled Spectacles 3 may be a reminder as to why Apple is hanging back.

Instagram plans to kill standalone Direct app

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Instagram 2
It's time to say your goodbyes.
Photo: Instagram

Instagram has confirmed plans to kill its standalone Direct app for Android and iOS.

The Snapchat clone made its debut in December 2017, but is being axed as part of Facebook’s mission to consolidate its services into a single platform. Users will see their conversations automatically moved to the regular Instagram app.

Snapchat’s number of daily users continues to tumble

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Snapchat
Forget disappearing messages; Snapchat is suffering disappearing users.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Snapchat isn’t having a good time right now. The company just released its third quarter results, and once again suffered a decline in daily active users.

That number fell by 2 million to 186 million people, marking the third straight quarter of user declines. However, Snap seems confident it can break the losing streak in 2019.

Snapchat jumps into original content with 5-minute daily scripted shows

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Snap Originals 1
Snap is launching a whole bunch of original shows.
Photo: Snap

Apple’s not the only tech company hopping on the original content bandwagon in 2018. Snapchat company Snap is launching new shows in partnership with Hollywood production companies. And they’re coming as soon as today.

Called “Snap Originals,” they won’t be full-length shows like Apple is busy commissioning, though. In keeping with the short-term hook that made Snapchat popular, the company is cranking out five-minute episodes shot vertically for viewing on mobile devices.

Facebook ‘borrows’ from Snapchat for updated Nearby Friends feature

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Facebook owns 4 of the top 10 apps of the past decade
Facebook wants to get some of that Snapchat cool!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Facebook is taking another crack at providing a way to help us meet up with friends offline. Having seen its “Facebook Nearby Friends” feature fail to gain much traction, the social media giant is now supposedly planning on a Snapchat-inspired redo to try and change its fortunes.

According to TechCrunch, Facebook is testing a redesign of its “Nearby Friends” that looks a whole lot like Snap Map. This feature will replace the list view of “Nearby Friends” with a map that shows friends grouped according to their city.

Snap ups fashion factor with new Spectacles

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Spectacles
Discreet filming in two new fashionable frames.
Photo: Snap Inc.

Spectacles by Snap are now a little easier on the eyes thanks to two new styles that add a fashionable flair to the wearable video camera.

The new Spectacles couldn’t look more different. Each has straighter lines and sharp corners, looking more like classic Ray-Ban Wayfarer frames, and should appeal to those turned off by the circular frames.

Snapchat blames big redesign for decline in active users

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Snapchat
Snapchat has reported its latest quarterly earnings.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Snapchat has blamed the lingering effects of its disastrous redesign for a decline in its number of daily active users.

The messaging company reported its Q2 earnings yesterday. One of the key takeaways was that the number of people using Snapchat daily shrank from 191 million last quarter to 188 million this quarter. CEO Evan Spiegel blamed the 1.5 percent decrease on, “disruption caused by our redesign.”

‘Snapchat dysmorphia’ fuels insane selfie surgery requests

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Snapchat dysmorphia
Snapchat selfie filters are supposed to be fun and are not meant for users to pursue cosmetic surgery.
Photo: Pokemon/Snapchat

Some Snapchat users are requesting to go under the knife to get a face that resembles their filtered selfies, according to a cosmetic surgeon who calls the new phenomena “Snapchat dysmorphia.”

These patients are seeking bigger eyes and fuller lips that often come with some of the filters in social media apps, like Snapchat and Facetune, creating a fresh warping of already unrealistic standards of beauty.

Snapchat is abandoning its payments service

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Snapcash
You'll have to find some other way to pay for your nudie pics.
Photo: Snapchat

Snapchat is shutting down its Snapcash peer-to-peer payment service, which allowed users to send money to one another.

With other services like Venmo, PayPal, Zelle, and Apple Pay Cash offering the same functionality, there was no room for another service on the market.

Snapchat adds ability to delete messages after they’re sent

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Snapchat delete
Get rid of risky messages before they're seen.
Photo: Snapchat

Snapchat is making it easier to deal with messaging regret by giving us the ability to delete chats after they’ve been sent.

The new “Delete Chat” feature is available for both group and one-to-one conversations. It can be used to recall text as well as voice notes, stickers, photos, and videos.

Snapchat introduces six-second ads that users can’t skip

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Snapchat ads
Hate being forced to watch ads? You're probably not going to be too happy.
Photo: Snapchat

Snapchat has started rolling out unskippable ads, promoting everything from the new Deadpool movie to Snapple and Samsung’s Galaxy S9 handset.

These six-second ads currently appear only in the professionally produced Shows found in Snapchat’s “Discover” section. Introducing unskippable ads marks a change in the company’s advertising strategy. Previously, Snapchat allowed users to skip commercials, although this proved to be unsustainable from a business perspective.

Snapchat is rolling back some of its radical redesign changes

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Snapchat
Snapchat has experienced a big backlash since its redesign.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Snapchat has caved in to demands to reinstate the old Snapchat look. Well, kind of.

The self-destructing messages service is currently rolling out a new design to iOS users, undoing at least a few of the contentious changes it introduced with its previous redesign.