Twitter to shut down Squad app on Dec. 12 following acquisition

Source: Squad

Twitter has just purchased Squad, an app that lets you share your screen and video chat with others simultaneously. And with the acquisition, the social media company plans to shut down the app today, December 12. Squad's entire team will join Twitter as part of the deal. Squad co-founder Esther Crawford writes in a Medium post that Twitter wants her company's audio and video expertise. Twitter didn't reveal the acquisition terms, and we don't know if it includes Squad's tech.

Squad gained popularity at the start of the pandemic when its usage increased by 1,100 percent. TechCrunch speculates that Twitter's decision to shutter the app might have something to do with how it was built with Snap's developer tools. That porting Squad to Twitter's backend might not be possible because of this. The move might be for the best as Twitter isn't the best with managing apps outside its core app. Twitter shuttered Vine in 2017 and has seen TikTok rise from its ashes as one of the most popular social media apps right now.

Source: Engadget

Google Assistant's design update brings Pixel light bar to all Android devices

A new update to Google Assistant brings a design element familiar to Pixel users to all other Android phones. You may or may not have noticed that the Pixel light bar is showing up on non-Pixel phones. When you activate Assistant by pulling it up from the bottom, you'll see light streaming in from the lower sides of your phone as the Assistant slider pulls up. 

The Snapshot feed can be launched from the bottom-left corner, while the keyboard input on the right (which also features a new design). The new look also gets rid of the center pill. And as you issue commands, the light bar pulsates. It doesn't seem to be limited to users enrolled in the Google beta app.

Source: 9to5Google

These are the 'Star Wars' productions to look forward to

While The Last Jedi might have concluded the Skywalker saga in Star Wars, there's still a lot to look forward to in the coming years. We hear more about what projects are coming up thanks to announcements during Disney's investor day. Lucasfilm has many Star Wars shows coming up on Disney+, so let's take a quick look at them under the cut.

Click to read more ...

Pinterest improves its organizational tools

Source: Pinterest

If you've ever pinned something on Pinterest and can't remember why you did so, some new tools for the site's mobile app will help you remember or organize your boards better. It's now possible to add "notes to self" to anything you pin. If you work with boards with over 150 Pins, there is a new board toolbar that gives you quick access to actions you need to take. These include options for organizing your pins or diving into notes you've left on them. You can favourite Pins within a board now. And when you've done so a few times, you can sort the Pinterest board to display your favourites first.

As we mentioned, the update is mobile-focused right now. But we're hoping it makes its way to Pinterest.com soon.

Source: Engadget