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Meta-owned WhatsApp banned 71.1 lakh accounts during September in compliance with the IT rules, according to the latest India monthly report released by the popular messaging platform.  Out of them, 25.7 lakh accounts were proactively banned before any reports from users. An Indian account is identified via the ‘+91’ country code. “Between September 1, 2023

WhatsApp is working on a feature that will allow users to set up an alternate profile on the app, a feature tracker has revealed. The Meta-owned messaging platform is working on the ability to show some users your default profile, while displaying another one to other users. Meanwhile, the service has also begun testing a

Telegram announced a new update recently that introduced new and advanced features for users. Some of the elements rolled out are available to only Telegram Premium users. The updates include several innovative changes to the basic reply feature. Users can also format quotes and customise link previews with the new update. Telegram stories also received

Meta Platforms has introduced ad-free subscription plans for Instagram and Facebook in Europe. The paid subscription lets European users access Facebook and Instagram without ads starting next month. The new move allows the social media company to comply with the European Union regulations. Facebook and Instagram users will still be able to access the platforms

WhatsApp is rolling out a new update to users on iOS that improves the group calling experience on the popular messaging platform. The Meta-owned chat application previously increased the number of group call participants to 32, allowing more users to join a call. Until now, users could only choose to invite 15 group members to

Social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, is launching an early version of video and audio calling for some users, according to chief technology officer and owner Elon Musk, as the billionaire pushes for X to become an “everything app”. Musk described a post on the platform instructing users on enabling the feature as

WhatsApp has finally dropped support for smartphones running on an outdated version of Android, months after Google rendered these older handsets obsolete. Earlier this week, the Meta-owned messaging platform discontinued further updates to users with smartphones on Android 4.4, more commonly known as Android KitKat. Based on recent statistics, a small number of users are

Instagram has been testing new ways to push more people into buying a verification badge. The Meta-owned company has allowed users to select what feed they would prefer to see based on all the people they are following or only a few favourites. However, according to Instagram head Adam Mosseri’s broadcast channel on Instagram, the company

Instagram recently celebrated its anniversary on October 6. As the company continues to grow, the Meta-owned app has introduced new features to appeal to Generation Z. Instagram will begin testing the new features soon and may launch them within the coming months. The new creative features will include reminders for birthdays, audio notes, video notes

Social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, said on Tuesday it will test a new subscription model under which it will charge $1 (roughly Rs. 83) annual fee for basic features. The new subscription termed as “Not A Bot” will charge users for likes, reposts or quoting other accounts’ posts, and bookmarking posts on

WhatsApp has begun rolling out a change to the app’s interface on Android, that will make it much easier to use the popular chat application with one hand. The company first introduced a bottom-tabbed design to beta testers of its Android app earlier this year — the iOS version of the app already has tabs at

Threads, Meta’s answer to X (formerly Twitter), was launched earlier this year in July. Now, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced that the app will roll out an edit button and a Voice Threads feature. Unlike the paid edit option on X, Threads is not charging users for these updates. The new edit button and

WhatsApp has finally begun testing a revamped interface on Android, months after the company was spotted working on a redesigned version of the popular chat application. The new interface ditches WhatsApp’s iconic green-coloured top bar in favour of a white top bar, in the main chat list and inside individual chats. The new design is

WhatsApp introduced Chat Lock functionality that lets users lock specific chats using their fingerprint, facelock or passcodes back in May this year. Now, the Meta-owned instant messaging platform is reportedly testing a new secret code feature that will give users even more control over their locked chats. This would reportedly allow users to choose a

WhatsApp has begun testing a feature that will allow users to pin chats on the latest beta version of the popular messaging app. Users who are on the latest beta version can pin a message to the top of a group chat for up to 30 days. The Meta-owned messaging service is also working on

Meta Platforms used public Facebook and Instagram posts to train parts of its new Meta AI virtual assistant, but excluded private posts shared only with family and friends in an effort to respect consumers’ privacy, the company’s top policy executive told Reuters in an interview. Meta also did not use private chats on its messaging

Meta Smart Glasses in collaboration with Ray-Ban were introduced on Wednesday alongside the Meta Quest 3 and other products. Users can livestream videos to Facebook and Instagram using the smart glasses, hands-free. The frame comes with a 12-megapixel camera sensor and an LED unit. This smart wearable succeeds the Ray-Ban stories, which were the company’s

Meta showcased a host of new products and services, including the Meta Quest 3 mixed reality headset and a pair of smart glasses made in collaboration with Ray-Ban, at its Meta Connect annual conference on Wednesday. Alongside the hardware, the company also announced its own AI assistant, Meta AI, and a variety of AI experiences

WhatsApp is redesigning the chat interface on the Android version of its application, according to details shared by a feature tracker. The popular chat service is working on changing some of the colours in the app — this change will also affect how the app looks in dark mode. Meanwhile, some of the icons and

X, formerly known as Twitter, has been promised to get an audio and video calls feature. Last month, Elon Musk, who took over the social media platform in October last year, had tweeted that a voice and video calling feature was coming to X, confirming that calls would work on iOS, Android, Mac & PC

Reddit, the popular social networking platform, is starting a new contributor program, which will let users convert their Reddit gold and karma into real money. Reddit made the announcement in a blog post, alongside bringing a new simplified way to award content on its platform with Reddit gold. Eligible Redditors will receive actual money for

Telegram launched the stories feature for premium users in July, which was later available for all users in August. Now, the company has added new updates to the feature, allowing users to add music and reaction stickers to the stories. Moreover, users can directly send and share media in view-once mode, which can be changed

YouTube will roll out a slew of artificial-intelligence-powered features for creators, the latest effort from parent company Alphabet to incorporate generative AI — technology that can create and synthesize text, images, music and other media given simple prompts — into its most important products and services. Among the new products YouTube announced Thursday is a

India’s antitrust body has appointed three new members to oversee cases, including a former government official from the commerce ministry and a former interim compliance officer of WhatsApp, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. The new members appointed are Anil Agrawal, a former police official who recently worked at India’s commerce ministry and

WhatsApp iPad support is reportedly being tested as the Meta-owned platform works to bring the much-awaited version of its popular chat application for Apple’s tablets, according to details shared by feature tracker WABetaInfo. The companion mode for iPad comes months after WhatsApp added support for linking another iPhone or Android device. WhatsApp is also testing a new interface

Elon Musk opened up a discussion with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by staunchly defending himself against accusations of antisemitism. “Obviously I’m against antisemitism. I’m against anti-anything that promotes hate and conflict,” Musk said in a broadcast conversation with Netanyahu at Tesla’s offices in Fremont, California, and streamed on X, the social media platform owned

India’s government has told a court that Elon Musk’s X is a “habitual non-compliant platform” and for years has not followed many orders to remove content, undermining the government’s role, according to a legal filing reviewed by Reuters. The remarks were contained in an August 24 non-public filing by India’s IT ministry to the high

WhatsApp Channels — the Meta-owned messaging service’s latest feature aimed at increasing engagement on the platform — is rolling out to users in India and several other countries. Designed as a one-way broadcast tool, these channels allow users to share updates with a large number of users on WhatsApp. At the moment, users can search

WhatsApp has been reportedly spotted working on a new feature that will allow for chat interoperability. The Meta-owned messaging service appears to be working on the ability to communicate with users who are not on WhatsApp. The European Union recently passed the Digital Markets Act (DMA) that goes into effect in the first quarter of

YouTube is currently testing a new feature that highlights the ‘Subscribe’ button anytime the word ‘subscribe’ appears in a video. The experimental update was spotted across a wide range of content, therefore it seems that the platform has fully automated the procedure. Recently, the video streaming platform has also been said to be testing a