Rest of the Day: Twitter Private Messages Now Have Read Receipts
Twitter is adding some new features to private messages that you may not need. In particular, private messages now have read receipts so you can see who read (and ignored) your messages.
Luckily, you can turn off read receipts in your security and privacy settings . There is also a new typing indicator and web link previews. They seem to want people to perceive DM as a complete chat platform. (To which I politely say, “No thanks friends.”) Watch the demo below. [Twitter]
- In other news, Google is adding the ability to edit iOS Live Photos to the Google Photos app. These include many of the existing features of the standalone Motion Stills app, which will still offer some more advanced features for managing live photos. [Google Photos via 9to5Mac ]
- Airbnb is trying to combat discriminatory behavior on its services. They released a 32-page report that outlines several new initiatives, including a new nondiscrimination policy and a “community commitment” that they will ask users to agree to, among other changes. [Airbnb]
- Amazon Echo can start talking to you without prompting. The information says that Amazon will add push notifications to Alexa, which will allow it to announce news and alerts without your being prompted by a voice bot. This is a fascinating idea that can be both potentially very rewarding and potentially very annoying. (No doubt easy to turn off.) [Info via The Verge ]
- In related news, Alexa will also hit the Amazon Fire HD tablets starting with the new Fire HD 8 . The new tablet is a pretty good deal at $ 89.99 if you don’t mind living in the Amazon ecosystem. Alexa will also be available on select older Fire HD tablets with an upcoming software update in the coming months. [Amazon PR]