Google tests AI-powered changes to search homepage

X has discontinued its previous Creator Revenue Sharing Program and introduced a new Original Content Rewards Program in its place. The purpose of X’s Original Content Rewards Program is to reward content creators who share original content on the social media platform. Earnings will depend particularly on the qualified impressions generated through a creator’s original content. Rewards will be distributed every two weeks with the first payment scheduled for August 28. Only impressions from Premium subscribers will be counted toward payments. Existing participants will be able to earn revenue until September 7 while eligible creators can apply for the new program starting September 8, 2026. Under the new initiative, posts containing misinformation and disinformation as well as posts carrying Community Notes will be ineligible for advertising revenue. It is worth noting that new users can no longer access the previous Revenue Sharing Program which has now been discontinued.

WhatsApp is rolling out an interesting new update that users are likely to appreciate. The new feature has appeared in the latest beta version of WhatsApp for Android devices and will completely change the way users respond to media files. According to a report by WABetaInfo, WhatsApp introduced the ability to reply to or react to photos and videos in 2024. However, until now, users have had to exit the full-screen media viewer after viewing a photo or video in order to reply or add a reaction. Now, two years later, WhatsApp is redesigning the media viewer completely and adding a new bar to the full-screen media viewer. The company has introduced the redesigned media viewer interface to a limited number of beta testers. With the new interface, a complete response bar will appear directly on the preview screen. It will display two default emojis while the full range of reaction emojis can be accessed with a single tap. Users will also be able to access the emoji keyboard by tapping the “+” button. Similarly, a complete chat bar will appear at the bottom of the media viewer. This will allow users to type text replies, attach photos or videos, record voice messages or send other types of content without leaving the media viewer. As mentioned above, the feature has currently been introduced in the beta version so it is difficult to say exactly when it will become available to all WhatsApp users.

YouTube’s user interface is frequently changed on both its mobile and web versions, something that many users do not particularly like. This raises the question of why YouTube keeps experimenting with its user interface especially since some changes become permanent while others are eventually reversed. Over the past year alone, more than half a dozen changes have been introduced to YouTube’s interface. YouTube has now explained why it continues to make these changes. YouTube Vice President Jonathan Tiedrsky discussed the matter in a blog post. He said the reason behind these continuous changes is quite simple. According to him, the purpose of these changes is to make the video-sharing platform easier to use. He added that YouTube does not want its user interface to become cluttered or confusing which is why the company continues to make adjustments. The company also explained that some of the recent changes such as redesigning buttons are intended to make them more noticeable and easier for users to identify. According to YouTube, these design improvements are also being extended to larger screens including smart TVs.

Instagram has changed its logo after several years. Yes, Instagram has introduced a new logo which is a text-only logo. The announcement was made in a post by Adam Mosseri, head of the Meta-owned photo-sharing platform. He described the new logo as more refined and modern while maintaining the simplicity of the previous name. Mosseri said that Instagram’s logo was being changed after more than a decade because the previous design had begun to feel outdated. The new font used for the name has also changed the appearance of some of the letters in the word “Instagram.” Instagram last redesigned its logo in 2016, when it replaced the classic brown camera design with a colourful rainbow-style logo. Meta has not yet issued an official statement regarding the change.

Google has introduced a new selfie video sign-in feature for account recovery. With this feature, users will be able to use a short video of themselves to log in to or recover their accounts. The purpose of this new feature is to help prevent issues such as deepfake-based fraud and account hacking. While announcing the selfie video verification feature, Google said that it has been designed as an alternative sign-in method. It can also be used for account recovery when other traditional login methods are not available. To use this feature, users will have to record a short video of themselves. Google will securely store this video recording and later, live videos will be used to verify the user’s identity during the sign-in process. During login, users will have to move their heads in real time so that attempts to use deepfake videos or static images for fraud can be prevented. Google further stated that the stored video will be protected through encryption and users will be able to delete their selfie video at any time from their account dashboard. The rollout of this feature has started and it will gradually become available worldwide. To access this feature, users need to go to their Google Account Settings, select Security & Sign-in and then choose Selfie Video. After that, users will need to use their phone or computer camera and follow the on-screen instructions including moving their head as directed.

WhatsApp has introduced several new features for group chats to make the overall user experience more convenient and efficient. Meta has added a total of three new features to WhatsApp. According to a statement issued by the company, these features are designed to simplify various aspects of group chats. Creating a new group has also been made easier. Smart poll features WhatsApp has updated its polling feature with new tools to make decision-making within groups easier. Users can now set an expiry time allowing polls to automatically close at a selected time. For greater privacy, users will also be able to hide voters identities. In addition, polls can be edited within 15 minutes of being posted. Creating new groups is now easier The messaging platform has also introduced a “Create a Similar Group” option. This feature allows users to create a new group with a single click using the chat and members of an existing group. Group mentions One of the major new features for WhatsApp groups is the @all mention feature which allows users to notify all group members simultaneously. This means there will no longer be a need to tag each person individually. The tool is designed to help users quickly inform everyone in a group about an urgent announcement or important matter. However, if a group has more than 32 members, only administrators will be able to use the @all feature. Users will also have the option to mute @all notifications.