Once upon a time, instant messaging was king. Before social media apps and smartphones rose to prominence, these free-to-use services ruled. AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), Yahoo! Instant Messenger, ICQ, you name it—everyone had their drug of choice. There was just one problem with these revolutionary methods of…
Sending pictures to others is one of the most basic functions of a smartphone, but when your phone’s texting app starts randomly pushing out photos without your knowledge, you got a problem.
One of the most interesting tidbits of news to come out of Microsoft’s Build developer conference earlier this week was the company’s upcoming Your Phone app, which attempts to bridge the gap between mobile and desktop messaging by letting you send and receive texts (along with some more advanced screen sharing and…
You already know that texting and driving is against the law, but for a few years now cities across the US have considered making texting while crossing the street illegal. Honolulu is one of those cities.
Marc Andreessen is under fire after playing both sides of an important decision made at Facebook earlier this year. A new Bloomberg report cites recently unsealed court documents from a lawsuit filed against the company’s board of directors. In the suit, shareholders accuse Andreessen of advising CEO Mark Zuckerberg…
You know what’s really ducking annoying? When your phone changes the work “fuck” into “duck” or “fucking” into “ducking.” It happens all the time, and it’s ducking bullshit.
Suicide Squad is a cinematic failure for so many unique reasons—confusing editing, bad acting, cheesy plot line, insane soundtrack, etc.—but the most entertainingly bad part of it was Jared Leto’s Joker, which is truly some of the of the Oscar-winning actor’s worst acting. Considering all the the stories of him being…
A research team from the Mayo Clinic has shown that text messaging changes the rhythm of brain wave patterns in a way that’s never seen before. The discovery shows that smartphones are literally altering the way our minds work.
At WWDC, Apple showed off a crazy new version of Messages. Feeling pressure from other messaging services like Facebook Messenger, Snapchat, and Google’s new Allo, Apple has completely reimagined its app for the youths. In just the few days we’ve spent with iOS 10’s developer preview, we’ve found more than a dozen new…
As is tradition, some last-minute rumors are sneaking their way into the news before Apple’s big reveal on Monday morning in San Francisco. We already have a good idea what of what we think is coming, but this latest bit that says iMessage is coming to Android is very intriguing.
Earlier this week, America was up in arms against the latest popcorn-related scandal to rock the country. AMC Theaters chief Adam Aron said that the largest theater chain in America was considering allowing moviegoers to text during screenings to attract millennial audiences. Well, the people have spoken, and the plan…
It’s come to this: texting may soon be allowed in movie theaters, according to the head of America’s biggest chain. It’s all part of a scheme to lure in younger audiences, which apparently would be worth the trade-off of angering anyone who actually wants to enjoy a movie without the distraction of little glowing…
Texting is long overdue for a makeover. The simple, utilitarian Short Message Service (SMS) has served our messaging needs well for more than a decade, but as our texts become increasingly crammed with photos, videos, and more, it’s clear that SMS can no longer meet the needs of the average smartphone user. That’s…
Two weeks ago, we surveyed 3,670 people online about how they communicate. We discovered a remarkable difference between people over 41, who say they often talk on email more than they do in real life, and younger people who love in-person meetings and use a variety of apps. Is this our first digital generation gap?
Rumor has it, Apple wants to give you the option to use read receipts on a contact-by-contact basis in iMessage. This is a dreadfully bad idea that will undoubtedly destroy relationships, estrange friends, and piss off teens. Why? Because read receipts are awful, and making them more sophisticated is bullshit.
It has already been a great year for emoji. Apple recently began supporting a refresh of certain characters, including more racially and gender-diverse people as well as a few new emoji like an Apple Watch. Now a 💣🐚: 38 brand-new emoji are coming!
Insult emoticons have arrived at last, thanks to Microsoft. Windows 10 will feature the first wave of blatantly offensive emoji, a collection of middle fingers in full F-you salute. One sad step closer to Instagramese becoming the de facto language of humanity.
Those who have updated their iPhones to iOS 8.3 have already seen the future: Among the many updates out today is a redesigned emoji keyboard with new and improved (and “diverse”) emoji. Basically, the plot of every Wes Anderson movie just got way easier to recap.
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so I'll take it as a compliment that Brent Rose—occasionally of Gizmodo dot com—saw fit to explore the wondrous and alarming world of Magic in this video short for Wired. Giz got a fish, but Brent got a much larger collection of impressively random things.
There's a reason kids these days have a tendency to text whenever possible—not being able to meticulously craft your every last word is the worst. But now, a new messaging app called Beam wants to take all that hard-earned neuroticism away from us. It shows people exactly what you type, as you type it. We're doomed.
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