Head down music memory lane with Spotify’s 2018 Wrapped

Spotify has taken off the wraps of its 2018 Wrapped feature. If you’re unfamiliar with it, this annual feature shows its users what music and podcasts they’ve enjoyed over the past year on the service. (In my case, it showed the amount of times, I’ve listened to Shawn Mendes this year.) It’s a fun, shareable infographic that shows what songs, artists, and genres have dominated your account this 2018. At the same time, you get a playlist of your top 100 songs of the year as well as a new Tastebreakers playlist that shows artists and music that should be on your radar. Tastebreakers is based off of the music you listen to. 

This year, Spotify is even sharing some of its listeners Wrapped data in prominent places, like Times Square or London’s Piccadilly Circus. Artists also have a chance to see which of their songs were the most popular by month, total hours of music streamed by fans, and other information.

Source: TechCrunch

Apple Watch Series 4 ECG feature expected to roll out today but only in the US

The Apple Watch Series 4 is the biggest makeover in design and functionality for Apple's wearable which makes it a stellar fitness tracker and connected device. Apple Watch is also a health tracker and one that can monitor various aspects of a user's health and even detect falls. 

The Apple Watch 4 has an ECG function that can detect irregular heartbeat and while this is being rolled out only in the US there are a lot of caveats. As the first device to offer this, Apple Watch, while helpful, should not be the basis for clinical action. US Apple Watch users should expect to see the feature after receiving the WatchOS 5.1.2 update.

Source: engadget

Top YouTube videos of 2018 reveal the year that was

YouTube Canada is excited to announce today Rewind 2018: The annual look back at all the videos and moments that moved Canadians this year on YouTube.

Celebrities reigned supreme this year, from Kylie Jenner’s 11-minute video about the birth of baby Stormi to Meghan and Harry on their wedding day and Paul McCartney’s epic Carpool Karaoke. Will Smith vlogged all over the world. Oh, and he also jumped out of a helicopter over the Grand Canyon on a dare from Yes Theory, a group of YouTube creators who met while studying in Montreal. Rihanna started her own makeup tutorial series. And of course, Beyoncé's livestream from Coachella gave fans a front-row seat for #Beychella.

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Google confirms it will shutter Allo chat service

Google has confirmed it is shutting down Allo, the messaging app that it hoped would counter iMessage on iOS. Allo will be shut down as will Hangouts for consumers and all the messaging will be routed to Messages. Google has long taken a lot of flak for having too many messaging platforms and while Allo and Due were great for the few who used it, moving all the messaging features to Messages makes sense.

This is another indication that it is difficult for consumers to invest too much into Google products, which can be cancelled at a whim. It often feels like Google is using consumers to beta test their software and then pulling the plug on projects once they lose their lustre. 

Source: Android Police