YouTube Music introduces new dynamic homescreen backdrops

Google has been busy developing YouTube Music ahead of the phasing out of Play Music. One of the newest features is a cosmetic change. YouTube Music's web app gets a new set of backdrops that accompany the homescreen carousels. When you first load the web app, it'll show you groups of albums, charts, and playlists that you can choose from. In the background, there was the orange hexagonal backdrop. Now, the image changes to a different photo depending on what carousel is on top. For example, "Throwback jams" shows a record player as the backdrop. It's a design feature that helps give YouTube Music its distinctive look.

Source: 9to5Google

Facebook, Twitter will not be attending SXSW due to coronavirus concerns

Social media companies Facebook and Twitter have announced that they will be pulling out of the upcoming South by Southwest (SXSW). Both companies cited concerns regarding the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. 

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Google Play Store has a dedicated dark theme toggle on some devices

With every sort of app getting dark mode, we aren't surprised it's showing up more and more. While the Google Play Store has had the feature for some time already, the app is getting a toggle that lets you turn dark mode on—whether it's enabled system-wide or not. It's showing up for some users within their Google Play Store settings. Since it's just showing up for some users, it could mean the company is doing a server-side test before a wider rollout. It doesn't look like it can be enabled via an APK download, so it's a toss-up whether you get the feature now or not. Reports suggest this option won't just be limited to Android 10-powered devices.

To check if you have the option, head to the Google Play Store. Open the side hamburger menu and scroll down to Settings. You'll know if you have the feature if you have a Theme option there. From there, you can choose from Light, Dark, to System default.

Source: 9to5Google

Apple highlights MacBook use in anime with new ad

Whether or not you use an Apple MacBook, you most likely know what it is by just looking at one. It's so pervasive in our society that Apple decided to make an ad that highlights its appearance in a lot of popular Japanese anime. The clip shows the MacBook, as well as some lookalikes, from shows and films like Mr. Osomatsu, Your Name, New Game!, Weathering With You, to name a few. The one in Mr. Osomatsu features a pear-shaped logo on the laptop. The ad even has clips with one of the characters from Weathering With You wearing AirPods.

Source: The Verge