- Ankur Sachdev
Tech Updates Related To Instagram, Telegram, And Clubhouse
The Snapchat-like messaging mobile app, Thread, is preparing to get discontinued. Thread is owned by Instagram, a photo-sharing app that will now redirect the users of Thread to the original version of Instagram. The photo-sharing app is also on the verge of becoming more musical as users would soon be able to add music to their feed posts.
Telegram came to light when WhatsApp’s privacy policy created a disastrous storm. The commitment was to prioritize a user’s privacy, something that WhatsApp was accused of breaching. Telegram will keep this commitment intact while offering sponsored messages via different channels.
Currently available only in the iOS version, the live caption feature on Clubhouse is expected to extend to Android. These are the highlights of what we are now going to talk about. Let’s dig in to this week's tech updates!
Instagram’s Thread Is Fading Out
The messaging app that was launched in 2019 would not see the sunlight of 2022. Instagram has announced that it would discontinue its Snapchat-like messaging app. People who use Thread would begin to see a prompt that will ask them to move back to the original version of Instagram.
Instagram would withdraw its support from Thread by the end of December 2021. The users of Thread will start getting an in-app tech update about the same from November 23, 2021. When asked why Instagram was moving in this direction then a spokesperson from Meta said that the step was being taken so that Instagram could focus on enhancing the ways in which its users connect with their close friends.
The photo-sharing platform is on its way to making the feed posts of a user more musical with its latest tech updates. Instagram is testing the feature in Brazil and Turkey. Once successful, it would be widely launched for other users. The expansion of the feature will depend on the learning and feedback that it receives from the community.
Telegram To Begin Showcasing Sponsored Messages
Telegram respects the privacy of its users. It plans to continue this for a longer time even as it decides to get into the commercial aspect. The messaging platform, considered to be one of the best alternatives of WhatsApp, will begin broadcasting Sponsored Messages across select channels.
The latest tech update is aimed to promote channels and bots while preserving the privacy of the users. Unlike other platforms that deploy algorithms to understand different aspects of the users, Telegram would simply analyze the topic of the public channel to showcase Sponsored Messages. This is currently in the Beta version. The platform is eyeing to share the revenue with the admins of the channels.
Sponsored Messages would be run across Telegram channels that have a minimum of a thousand subscribers. The limit of the text would be restricted to 160 characters. The update was announced by Pavel Durov, the Chief Executive Officer & Founder of Telegram, via a blog post. He assured that the Sponsored Messages would not appear in private chats, chat lists, and groups.
Live Caption Feature At Clubhouse
The audio-only social networking platform is set to roll out the new tech update of live caption for all the users. Clubhouse currently offers the feature only to iOS users. The announcement was made via the official Twitter handle of Clubhouse.
The tech update is expected to assist differently-abled users in engaging on the platform. The live transcription would be automatically generated for the audio session in thirteen different languages. The thirteen languages, as reported by TechCrunch, are English, Cantonese, Yue Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, French, Italian, German, Korean, Japanese, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, and Turkish.
Clubhouse plans to add more languages like Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu, and Tamil. Users would be able to record the conversations to replay them later. The tech update to enable a user to download and share the thirty-second clip on social media is also in talks for the launch.
This is all for this week's tech updates.