This little birds is an easy metaphor for wasting time on Twitter. Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac
Today’s tip uses iOS 12’s Screen Time feature to stop yourself from wasting your life on Twitter and/or Facebook (or any other app or website). Maybe you obsess over a golfing forum, or you have a Fortnite habit you just can’t shake.
If so, Screen Time can protect you from yourself. Let’s see how.
Take a deep dive into social media marketing, earning certification that'll boost your resume and marketability. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
Making money online means knowing how to leverage social media. Whether you’re trying to get an idea out, elevate a brand, or sell a product, social media marketing is essential. So this massively discounted social media certification course is a must-see.
The Portal is Facebook’s first video calling product. Photo: Facebook
Facebook is allegedly planning to take on Apple TV and Amazon’s Fire TV with a new set top box of its own.
The social network just debuted its new Portal smart speaker earlier this month and according to a new report its smart TV box could pack some similarly creepy features.
Some of the alerts you might see in the Facebook app. Photo: Facebook
30 million accounts on Facebook were recently hacked with attackers gaining access to highly sensitive personal information.
The FBI is investigating the hacking an has asked the company not to reveal who was behind it. Facebook originally disclosed the hack to the public two weeks ago saying 50 million accounts were compromised. That number has now been reduced to just 30 million, but the amount of data stolen makes it the worst attack in Facebook’s history.
A Chrome extension can bring your hidden "Likes" out in the open. Photo: Pixabay
The days of scrolling through your entire Instagram feed may soon be coming to an end.
Instagram is reportedly testing a new feature that would allow users to move through posts by tapping on the screen. The feature works similar to the way you currently navigate through Stories and could make people spend even more time in the app.
Facebook can turn a Bokeh image into a 3D one. Photo: Facebook
Bokeh images look sort of three dimensional, with their subjects in focus and their backgrounds blurry. Facebook took this idea and ran with it. The social networking service created tech to turn bokeh pictures into 3D images.
Portal is Facebook's answer to the Echo Show. Photo: Facebook
Do you trust Facebook to put a camera and microphone in your living room? If not, you’ll want to avoid Portal, its new smart displays focused on video chat.
Portal and Portal Plus make it easy to keep in touch with friends and family when you can’t see them face-to-face in real life. They can also play music, stream video, and do anything Amazon Alexa can do.
Facebook wants your Instagram data. Photo: Pixabay
Instagram is starting to integrate more closely with Facebook when it comes to your personal location data.
The app is reportedly testing a new feature that would allow Instagram to share all of your GPS coordinates with Facebook without ever opening up the Facebook app. This would allow Facebook to gather more information on you so it can serve up more targeted ads and content, but that might piss off some Instagram fans.
Apple is way ahead of the competition in value. Photo: Lyle Kahney/Cult of Mac
Apple has topped Interbrand’s annual list of the Best Global Brands for the sixth consecutive year.
The iPhone-maker, which has seen its brand value increase 16 percent this year, ranked highly in consistency, engagement, and differentiation. It is followed by Google, while Amazon has quickly climbed into third place after its brand value increased an impressive 56 percent.
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.
Alex Jones at a rally of people claiming the 9/11 terror attacks were carried out by the U.S. government. Photo: 911conspiracy/Flickr CC
Apple’s decision to boot five of far-right conspiracy theory website InfoWars’ podcasts off its platform was the trigger for Facebook doing the same with several of host Alex Jones’ pages on the social network.
Five of the biggest tech companies are mentioned in the suit. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple is one of five tech companies — along with Google, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter — targeted in a new lawsuit accusing them of displaying bias against right-wing news outlets.
The lawsuit comes from Larry Klayman, founder of Judicial Watch and Freedom Watch and a former Department of Justice prosecutor. It alleges that the companies are working together to “quash and/or limit advocacy by conservative and pro-Trump public interest groups, advocates and others to further the leftist anti-conservative agendas.”
Instagram is letting everyone apply for verified badges. Photo: Pixabay
Getting verified on Instagram just got a little bit easier. The social photo sharing app revealed today that it will now let users apply to get a little blue check by their profile so followers know if you are really a public figure, celebrity or global brand.
Onavo Protect doesn't comply with App Store rules. Photo: Facebook
Facebook has removed its Onavo Protect app from the App Store after reportedly violating Apple’s data-collection policies.
The VPN service was being used to gather information about how people use their devices outside of Facebook. Apple officials informed Facebook that Onavo violated new rules introduced in June, which are designed to limit data collection by app developers.
Alex Jones' media empire is falling, but his followers can still get their fix from iOS and Android apps. Photo: Infowars
Fans of Infowars radio host Alex Jones have flocked to the Apple App Store to grab what’s left of his voice on social media.
The iOS app Infowars Official was ranked the fourth most popular news app earlier today, less than 48 hours after Apple and other tech companies booted Jones off its social media platforms.
Look out for playable demos inside the Facebook app. Photo: Facebook
If you think your Facebook news feed couldn’t possibly get any messier, think again. As of today, users will see start seeing playable game demos as they scroll their Facebook timelines.
The demos will let you enjoy sections of a game before downloading it to your device, Facebook says. Angry Birds developer Rovio is already reaping the benefits of playable ads.
Facebook is taking a page out of Apple's iOS 12 playbook. Photo: Facebook
Facebook has introduced new iOS 12-style Screen Time tools intended to help users manage their time on Facebook and Instagram. The new features give users an activity dashboard, daily reminders about usage, and a new way to limit notifications.
Enjoy group calls on WhatsApp today. Photo: WhatsApp
WhatsApp’s new group video calling feature is now available to users on Android and iOS.
Users can chat with up to three others simultaneously, regardless of their location. WhatsApp says the feature has been designed to work even over unreliable network connections, so you have no excuse not to stay in touch.
The US government may soon be looking over Facebook's shoulder to better protect your privacy. Unless Facebook and Google can prevent it, of course. Photo: Facebook
The Commerce Dept. is reportedly talking to social networking companies and consumer advocates about rules to protect online privacy. Also included are possible protections for companies that have data breeches.
This is supposedly laying the groundwork for legislation that might be proposed this fall.
Wall Street hammered Facebook today. But the privacy concerns that pushed the company's share price down almost 20 percent aren't an issue for Apple. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Facebook lost more value today than any other company in history: $120 billion. The massive selloff came after CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted that the growing privacy concerns of the public, and the likely response of lawmakers and regulators, will hit the company where it hurts: in the pocketbook.
On the same day Facebook lost 19 percent of its value, Apple’s share price was unaffected. This is because the two companies have diametrically opposing views on the privacy rights of the public. What hurt Facebook so much is actually one of Apple’s strengths.
Instagram wants to protect you from over Gramming Photo: Pixabay
Instagram wants to start helping users spend less time on its app.
Starting today, the photo-sharing app is adding a new tool that tells users when they’ve already seen all the new photos that have been posted over the last two days.
Some believe Facebook is already using our smartphones to hear our private conversations. That’s not true, but the social network is certainly considering it.
Facebook has applied for a new patent that describes a method of tapping into our microphones to listen to our reactions to TV ads. It’s just as invasive as it sounds.
Apple has already taken steps to fight fake news. Photo: Apple
Apple is among the tech companies which recently met with members of the U.S. intelligence community to discuss the upcoming midterm elections.
Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Oath, Snap and Twitter were approached because of continued concerns about the way that tech platforms were allegedly used for spreading fake news during the 2016 Presidential elections.
Apple takes consumer privacy seriously, but Google and Facebook don't. Can an industry trade group that includes all three company reach any kind of consensus? Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
The Information Technology Industry Council will meet on Wednesday. This trade group, made up of Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and others, will discuss consumer privacy.
The proceedings are likely to be contentious, as these companies have very different views on the subject.