On Monday, the world watched in horror as the historic Notre Dame Cathedral went up in flames in Paris. Just days later, on Wednesday, the augmented reality team at USA Today managed to add a related interactive 3D experience to its app (iOS and Android), displaying the famou ...more
When it comes to web-based augmented reality, 8th Wall has emerged as one of the leading platform providers, and the company just cranked up its capabilities another notch for AR marketers. Release 11 of 8th Wall Web brings Image Targets, the company's take on image recogniti ...more
While The New York Times' augmented reality section has largely been dormant in 2019 (so far), USA Today has continued to crank out AR news stories. On Monday, the news outlet published a feature story about the world's tallest buildings (and the recent lack of new skyscraper ...more
It feels strange to be walking through an open field in a small village in the English countryside. There's no one else around — just the four of us: me, my husband, my 12-year-old son, and my adult niece. The day is spectacular, particularly for England. The sun is shining, a ...more
Already a dominant force at the box office, Marvel Studios appears intent on establishing itself as the ruler of augmented reality media as well. After licensing Iron Man to Hasbro for the Hero Vision Iron Man AR Helmet as a tie-in to Avengers: Infinity War, Marvel has return ...more
Using Siri to perform tasks on your Google Home device was never possible until Apple released Siri Shortcuts in iOS 12. Actually, it wasn't possible until Google added support for Siri Shortcuts for Google Assistant in Nov. 2018. No matter the timing, the important thing here ...more
Now that the NCAA Basketball Tournament is underway, 7-Eleven has decided to launch an augmented reality experience to remind basketball fans where they can quench their thirst throughout March Madness. Available until April 10 in the 7-Eleven app for iOS and Android, the pai ...more
Mobile app publishers are using augmented reality to solve everyday measurement problems from measuring the length or height of items to previewing furniture in the home. Now, it looks like checking luggage dimensions for carry-on eligibility is another volumetric problem inc ...more
Open TikTok, and you might find yourself spending hours watching video after video. While each video is usually pretty short, it's highly possible to binge-watch hundreds at a time. It's even more fun to create your own. But as a parent, you may not want your children falling ...more
Many apps, including Facebook, Twitter, and Facebook, do not let you download videos, even if they are living on your own account. Saving these videos usually requires a third-party app or screen recorder, which is inconvenient and can result in loss of quality. However, TikTo ...more
Can you trust every user you come across on TikTok? The answer to that may depend on how use the service, but the real question is — can you trust every user that sees your content? Not everyone on TikTok is someone you want viewing or interacting with your content, and there' ...more
OnePlus is known for pushing the boundaries of what we thought was possible for a mid-range price. One of the best things about OnePlus phones is that their battery life is fantastic in general, but to achieve this, Oxygen OS will disable or delay notifications by default once ...more
While many of Facebook's tools are well received as they enhance the experience, one which is often complained about is the Marketplace. The Craigslist-like feature which offers a way to facilitate transactions between users can be a little overbearing with its alerts. However ...more
If you ask Siri to check the weather on your iPhone right now, you'll get information from the stock Weather app in iOS — even if you have and prefer other weather apps installed. But that doesn't have to be the case. Thanks to Siri Shortcuts in iOS 12 and later, you can set s ...more
Removing unwanted apps from your iPhone is a straightforward affair — long-press an app's icon, then hit the delete button once it appears. Unfortunately, the same can't be said when it comes to uninstalling tweaks from a jailbroken iPhone. Many tweaks aren't very polished, a ...more
So, you accidentally sent a voice message to someone in an Instagram DM. Maybe it contains an unflattering conversation about the recipient. Maybe it's a record of something embarrassing you said. Whatever your message contains, it's out there, on someone else's smartphone. Yo ...more
Boomerangs are a staple camera feature for Instagram and its users. The idea is to take up to 20 frames of video, which Instagram then processes into a looping movie that plays forward and backward. Since Facebook owns Instagram, it was only a matter of time before the feature ...more
French cosmetics giant L'Oréal isn't wasting any time putting its new subsidiary, ModiFace, to work. On Thursday, the company launched a new tool that enables a photo-realistic augmented reality simulation of nail polish shades and textures to be accurately displayed on a user ...more
With the iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR, Apple introduced dual-SIM capabilities to iOS, made possible by eSIM technology. If you recently picked up one of these three new iPhones and need to utilize your eSIM while traveling abroad, you might want to take a look at the data plans o ...more
Our national month-long celebration of all things creepy and crawly comes to a climax on Wednesday with Halloween and will end with Día de Muertos on Friday, so now is the ideal time for the The New York Times to publish a mildly chilling augmented reality story for children. ...more
You don't need an obsessive ex stalking you to benefit from the ability to record calls on your iPhone in a pinch. Besides protecting yourself from nefarious intent, recording important conversations like verbal contracts and agreements can help you cover all your bases and en ...more
The first mobile augmented reality app out of the gate with support for Magic Leap One Creator Edition is Thyng, who is planning to release the headset version of the app later this year. Available now for iOS and Android using their respective AR toolkits, Thyng enables user ...more
Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM) is making it easier for its passengers to travel by employing an incredibly practical new augmented reality feature included an update to its iOS app. Now, iPhone and iPad users can place a translucent virtual suitcase over their own real world lugg ...more
These days, it seems new phones get announced every other week. We've grown accustomed to glossing over the specs, looking at some press renders, then moving on to check out the next phone. If you had done this in September 2008, you might have overlooked what would become one ...more
For years, Skype has been synonymous with video calling and messaging. However, as the industry moved toward encryption and privacy, Skype usage was discouraged by experts due to its murky encryption. To combat this, Skype has introduced true end-to-end encryption. While Skyp ...more
You can never replace the skills and expertise of a professional graphic designer, but Canva comes pretty damn close. It's ridiculously easy to use the drag-and-drop design tool for both professionals and people like me who don't have the need (or knowledge required) to use mo ...more
A majority of iPhone users, including our whole staff here, have an irritating issue with media playback from car stereos: The first song alphabetically in the iPhone's library will play automatically when connecting to the head unit either via USB cable or Bluetooth. CarPlay ...more
While WhatsApp remains one of the world's most popular messaging apps, you could only call or video chat with one friend at a time. To group audio or video chat, you'd have to use a different app, but that's no longer the case. Announced on July 30, 2018, WhatsApp now lets you ...more
Data breaches are all too common now, and the latest one you need to know about involves Timehop, a mobile app that makes it easy to reminisce over old photos. The breach, which took place on July 4, was revealed on Sunday, July 8. At the time, Timehop disclosed that 21 millio ...more
Earlier this month, when Apple announced at WWDC that iOS 12 would include an augmented reality tape measure called Measure, iPhone watchers seemed impressed by the new addition to the company's AR arsenal. Well, just a couple of weeks later, on June 19, it appears that Google ...more
Another entrant into the do-it-yourself AR content creation market has emerged, as Zappar has updated its ZapWorks Studio software to include features for development newbies. Available now, ZapWorks Studio 5 brings a new feature called Actions that enables users to build AR ...more
While mobile gaming, in the 10 years since the App Store launched, has matured to console-level quality, premium augmented reality games built with ARKit (or ARCore) have been scarce. Immersive VR is looking to do its part reduce that deficit with the launch of The Ancients A ...more
Uber is one of the best ride sharing services out there, allowing you to travel without needing to be tethered to a car of your own. Still, if you're a frequent flyer, you may get tired of entering the same few locations into your app every time you use it. Fortunately, Uber l ...more
When you've had enough of someone's annoying baby videos or cat photos on Instagram, you would have to either unfollow them or even block them outright. Now, you don't have to cut ties with them completely — you can just mute them instead, a feature that Instagram's parent com ...more
While I love Spotify, I don't like it devouring my data plan when streaming music away from a Wi-Fi network. If you have the foresight or time to download Spotify tracks for offline playback later, great. For those of you who like to listen to your music more randomly like I d ...more
On Tuesday, at Google's I/O developer conference, the company announced a huge update to its ARCore augmented reality toolkit that matches the latest features of ARKit, and surpasses Apple's AR platform via support for shared experiences. Cloud Anchors is the name Google's ne ...more
In the latest installment in its burgeoning augmented reality journalism practice, The New York Times is bringing its readers closer to Mars and NASA's latest spacecraft set to travel to the red planet. When reading the article through the NY Times app for iOS or Android on d ...more
On Tuesday, on the one-year anniversary of the announcement of its AR Camera platform, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerburg revealed at the company's F8 developers conference that the platform will be extended to the company's Instagram and Messenger apps. Users of the In ...more
The annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is one of those events that everyone talks about, so an augmented reality experience in the festival's mobile app and from one of its headlining acts, Eminem, basically means the technology is officially cool. The iOS versio ...more
French automaker Renault is tapping into the promotional machine for Solo: A Star Wars Movie by deploying an AR experience through Shazam that's triggered via synergistic advertising. To access the experience, users scan the Shazam code embedded on bus stop advertisements in ...more
Apple has introduced a special edition iPhone 8 and 8 Plus to bring attention to the ongoing worldwide battle against AIDS. As the second iPhones to carry the (PRODUCT)RED name, these rare iPhones may quickly sell out when preorders open up on Tuesday, April 10, at 5:30 a.m. ( ...more
Your Instagram bio could always be used to link to other websites or profiles or just to show off your witty personality. Now, you also have the ability to use this section to tag other Instagram accounts as well as add tappable hashtags. Whether you want to link out to your b ...more
Going out to dinner on a Saturday night can be more trouble than it's worth when you find yourself waiting for hours on end just to be seated. Thankfully, Google Maps has some very useful data that can save you from a headache the next time you head out to your favorite restau ...more
An awesome new feature appeared in iOS 11 that lets you easily share your Wi-Fi password to anyone else with iOS 11 or higher just by tapping "Share Password" on your iPhone when they try to connect to the same network. However, if your friend is using Android or another mobil ...more
Just weeks after officially launching its mobile augmented reality toolkit, Google can now claim one of its first Android and ARCore app exclusives with the Curate app from Sotheby's International Realty. Available now in the Play Store, Curate operates similarly to furniture ...more
Following in iOS 11's footsteps, Android 9.0 Pie will include a security feature that lets you immediately disable the fingerprint scanner as well as extended Smart Lock features. After initiating the feature, you will be required to insert your PIN, pattern, or password befor ...more
Hearthstone, Blizzard's online card game, combines strategy with a fun spin on the World of Warcraft lore to create a unique experience. With the latest expansion (The Witchwood) on the horizon, you'll want to make sure your collection is ready for when the set drops in April. ...more
If you're a golf fan who can't attend the Arnold Palmer Invitational in person, you can still follow the next stop on the apparent Tiger Woods comeback tour in augmented reality with an iPhone or iPad. The PGA Tour AR, available now on the App Store for ARKit-compatible devic ...more
For all of its advantages, Facebook Messenger isn't the best for people who like their privacy. The popular app lets all your Facebook friends know when you're online by default, as well as how long you've been idle, making it impossible to check up with one person without lea ...more
It's no secret that you can protect notes on your iPhone with a password, but one thing that most people don't know is that you can actually set unique passwords for each note instead of a blanket password for all of them. It's not obvious at all in the Notes app, but it's eas ...more
As far as overall security updates are concerned, we all know that iOS reigns supreme over Android. But just how bad do Android devices fare against Apple in general? A recent report will have you second guessing some companies the next time you're in the market for a handset. ...more
When you don't want somebody you're calling to know the real phone number associated with your iPhone, whether it's for privacy reasons, to avoid being called back, or to prevent being ignored, there are multiple things you can do to block it on their caller ID. Some of the b ...more
When you make an awesome song or beat that you're proud of in GarageBand for iOS, one way to show it off is to turn it into a ringtone or alert tone for your iPhone. That way, anytime you get a phone call or a notification, your musical creation will sound off, and everyone ar ...more
Although The New York Times may have won the race in terms of presenting coverage of the 2018 Winter Olympics through augmented reality first, The Washington Post is nevertheless working to compete in AR in a different way—via gaming. This week, the newspaper published an AR ...more
After receiving many requests for the feature, Signal introduced read receipts last year to its mobile apps. However, some users don't like the idea other people knowing when they've read messages. Luckily, Signal lets you disable this feature and reclaim a little privacy. Re ...more
Almost certainly, you've closed out of a webpage that you didn't want to at some point in your iPhone-owning life. Whether you accidentally swiped the tab away or closed it only to need it moments later, tab-regret is just a part of our internet culture. Luckily, Safari on iOS ...more
After devoting a number of resources toward developing VR content to modernize the delivery of its news content in recent years, The New York Times is expanding its capabilities to include augmented reality as well, a mission outlined in a manifesto published on Thursday. Thr ...more
When Apple unboxes the next major update to its mobile operating system this spring, iPhones and iPads will gain some significant new features for augmented reality experiences: verticality. In a preview of iOS 11.3 released on Wednesday, Apple unveiled details for iterative ...more
By default, images embedded using external links will not automatically load in any emails that you get with ProtonMail. This is a security mechanism that can prevent malicious code from being executed on your system, but it can also be fairly annoying to have to manually load ...more
Your email is just that — yours. You shouldn't have to worry about other people gaining access to it on your iPhone. Fortunately, Outlook agrees, and has included a way for you to protect your messages with one of two keys no one possesses but you — your face or fingerprint. ...more