Instagram isn’t done taking Snapchat's features, introduces ‘face filters’

Instagram adds one more missing piece to its Story feature: Snapchat lenses. Those augmented reality-based filters that lets you add things like bunny ears or a dog’s snout on you. Of course, Instagram can’t call these lenses so they opt to call them “face filters.” You can access the feature at the bottom right of the Story window. It looks like a face icon with sparkles on them. And just like Snapchat lenses, you can go through the different filters to play around with.

As Mashable’s Raymond Wong points out, this blatant copying of Snapchat might not look good but it has been paying off for Facebook. Last month, Instagram garnered 200 million daily active users using Stories, which is already more than the entire daily active user base of Snapchat.

VidCon founder opens crowdfunding for podcast-centric PodCon

You may or may not know Hank Green. And if you don’t, one easy association is his famous brother/author John Green. The duo make up the YouTube channel vlogbrothers. Hank has also started other famous YouTube channels like SciShow and Crash Course. He also created VidCon, an annual gathering of big YouTube and Vine personalities and other online video fans and enthusiasts. Now, he’s taking a stab at creating a same convention but for podcasts and aptly calling it PodCon.

The event is now being crowdfunded on Indieogogo and has raised US$30,456 of its $300,000 goal. If it gets the funding it needs, PodCon will be held in Seattle, Washington this December and will have things like workshops, panels, and live podcast recordings. Obviously, there aren’t that many concrete plans for the event yet. But Green partnered with Welcome to Nightvale’s Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor as well as Travis McElroy, who is best known for co-hosting advice show My Brother, My Brother and Me. There are a number of tiers to back so you can choose which one works for you. If you donate $90 or more, you get admission to the convention. 

Source: The Verge

TomTom Sports lets you sync your Google Fit and Apple Health data

TomTom wants to centralize your fitness data into its Sports app. The app now lets you sync with Google Fit and Apple Health so you can track your fitness data, trends, insights, and daily summaries, even without your TomTom Sports wearable on you. By syncing with the two platforms, it means your data won’t be duplicated. When you opt into syncing your Google Fit and Apple Health data, you’ll get the prompt once and then the app will import the information on a daily basis for you.

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Downloading Netflix on rooted Android phones won’t work now

A new update for video streaming service Netflix will put a segment of Android users in the dark. If you chose to root or unlock your device, Netflix might no longer work on it. That is if the app isn’t already installed on your smartphone. According to Android Police, the app runs fine on rooted phones that already have Netflix installed. And sideloading Netflix using the APK still seems to work for now.

The Netflix app on Android now completely relies on Google’s Widevine DRM. This change might have come after Netflix recently allowed downloads for offline viewing. When you have a rooted device, you gain admin access to the operating system of your device. Users root their devices to gain more customization options for the operating system or improve efficiency of the device. But this method voids your warranty as this action isn’t supported by phone manufacturers.

Source: Mashable