While Apple's iMovie software has always been a fairly powerful piece of movie-editing software, its main appeal is that it's a free and simple way to start making your own videos. But iMovie for the iPhone and iPad offers surprisingly little in the way of direction when you open it — it's up to the user to figure out how to structure their movie. 

Apple is changing that significantly today with iMovie 3.0 for iOS and iPadOS, a free download that's available now. The software features two new creation modes, Magic Movie and Storyboards, to help people build videos for the first time. 

Magic Movie automates a lot of the video creation process while still leaving room for plenty of customization, assuming you want to dig into the details. Apple recommends you start by choosing an album with related video clips and photos, but you can also manually select images and videos. From there, Magic Movie will analyze the content and look for things like faces, dialog and action to select the best parts of video clips and build out a movie from there, complete with transitions and music. The end result reminds me a lot of the "memories" that the iOS Photos app automatically builds — those memories also mix video and photo from the same day or event and adds a soundtrack and transitions to it. 

Apple

Once Magic Movie puts together a project for you, there's a ton of customization you can do from there. Naturally, you can remove photos or videos that you don't want in the project, as well as quickly trim clips to show only the action you want. Instead of using a traditional horizontal timeline view, clips and images are contained in a vertically-scrolling left-side column (on the iPhone, it shows up below the video preview); you can easily drag and drop them to reorder the flow of your video. And tapping on an item in the left-side column gives you a bigger set of editing controls. 

Another big part of iMovie 3.0's customization tools are a feature called Styles. These apply to the entire video and include things like fonts, color palettes and filters, music and transitions. There are a total of 20 to choose from, and while you can just set one and forget it, you also have the option to go in and adjust those individual characteristics if you want greater control over the final product. 

Apple

The Storyboards features has a lot in common with Magic Movie, but it's a more manual tool. Storyboards starts by giving you more than 20 different video templates to choose from — options include video themes like "DIY," "day in the life," "how it works," "gaming," "Q&A" and so forth. When you select one of those options, the left side column populates with a rough structure for that video style, including broad categories and then examples of specific shots.

Apple

In a demo, Apple showed off a DIY project, which includes categories like "intro," "overview," "supplies" and so forth. Each of those sections is then populated with suggestions for different types of shots (wide shot, close-up and so forth). While you can obviously just import videos from your library right into these suggestions, you can also shoot directly on your iPhone or iPad and have that clip inserted into the slot. 

As with Magic Movie, you can re-order and delete any suggestions from the left-side column, and tapping into it lets you do more involved editing. And the new Styles that are part of Magic Movie can be applied here, as well. The basic idea behind Storyboards is to give aspiring creators a framework to use when trying to put together a video, and while I haven't tried the app yet it does seem like a smart idea. As someone who has done very little video editing in his time, I could definitely see using a Storyboard as inspiration to get started on a video if I had an idea I wanted to pursue. 

Once you have your creation finished, you can export it in a variety of video formats, in resolutions up to 4K; HDR content you may have filmed with be retained, as well. You can also export your iMovie project and open it up on a Mac. But before you do so, you should know that Storyboards and Magic Movie features are only available when using iMovie on an iPad or iPhone. Videos created with those tools will be exported in a format compatible with iMovie on the Mac, but you won't be able to edit or change Styles, for example. 

If you want to try these new iMovie features, the updated app arrives today and will work on any iPhone running iOS 15.2 or higher, and on any iPad running iPadOS 15.2 or higher. 

There’s a big difference between merely liking a show and it being your all-time favorite. Netflix’s recommendation algorithm will now be able to distinguish between the two. The streaming service is adding a “Two Thumbs Up” option to its rating system. Viewers will notice the new option starting today, right next to the traditional “Thumbs Up and “Thumbs Up” icon across all devices.

How do you know whether a show or movie deserves one or two “Thumbs Up”? If you liked the genre or style of a show and want to see similar titles, a single thumb is a safe bet. For example, giving a single thumbs up to a show like Russian Doll means you'll see more mystery or dramedy shows with a woman as a leading character. Liking a show like Midsomer Murders means Netflix will serve you up even more British detective dramas.

But when you throw out a “Two Thumbs Up”, Netflix’s suggestions will become even more tailored to actors or specific creators. “...A Two Thumbs Up tells us what you loved and helps us get even more specific with your recommendations. For example, if you loved Bridgerton, you might see even more shows or films starring the cast, or from Shondaland," said Christine Doig-Cardet, Netflix's director of product innovation in a blog post. 

Netflix’s thumbs-based rating system has had its fair share of critics in recent years. The platform replaced its five-star rating system in 2017, much to the chagrin of armchair movie critics everywhere. As one Redditor points out, it's hard to know what to rate a mediocre film from a director you normally love. Viewers worried that giving a “Thumbs Down” to a less-than-stellar show from a favorite genre could throw off Netflix’s algorithm. One example could be zombie fans who don’t like the movie Zombieland, or fans of Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy who didn’t care for Waking Life. Hopefully the new addition to Netflix’s rating system will lead to more well-tailored suggestions. Or at least less bad ones. 

If you don't yet have YouTube picture-in-picture on your Apple device, you will soon. YouTube has told users PiP should be available "in a matter of days" across all devices running iOS 15 or later. As with other apps that support PiP on iOS, this will let you keep a floating video window pinned to your screen while you shift your focus to other activities.

The feature has been a long time in coming. YouTube said it was first rolling out PiP to Premium subscribers in June of last year, with plans to eventually bring the perk to all viewers. Some users found workarounds (such as using the mobile website) shortly after Apple enabled PiP with iOS 14, but that functionality quickly disappeared.

YouTube is relatively late when Disney+, Netflix, Twitch and others enabled PiP within months. Nonetheless, it remains a large upgrade. You won't have to confine yourself to YouTube's app just to catch up on your video queue, and it should be that much easier to use the service as a jukebox without subscribing to YouTube Music.

Sonic has done it again. With a $71 million debut at the domestic box office, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has set a new record for the US film debut of a video game adaptation, beating out the previous high watermark set by its predecessor in 2020. The first movie in what now Paramount plans to expand into a cinematic universe made $57 million during its opening weekend. 

Before the pandemic shut down theaters throughout the US and other parts of the world, the first Sonic film went on to gross $319 million globally. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is currently on track to beat those earnings having grossed approximately $141 million globally.

As with the first movie, timing appears to have been a significant factor in Sonic 2’s early success. Its main competitor at the box office was Sony’s much-maligned Morbius, which saw a drastic 74 percent drop in ticket sales from its opening weekend last Friday. It only earned $10.2 million in additional domestic revenue after a $39 million debut. What we can say, people love Idris Elba. 

WarnerMedia and Discovery have completed their merger. Warner Bros. Discovery, as the new entity is called, will eventually combine HBO Max and Discovery+ into a single streaming service. The blend of entertainment and reality programming could help Warner Bros. Discovery better compete with the likes of Netflix and Disney+. In the meantime, the company will likely offer a bundle of the two services. WarnerMedia recently launched another streaming service in CNN+.

Not long before the merger closed, WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar announced his departure. Kilar, who started running the company in May 2020, was behind the controversialplan to release all 2021 Warner Bros. movies on HBO Max and in theaters on the same day amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The move seemed to have paid off, as HBO Max and HBO had 73.8 million subscribers combined at the end of 2021.

As if the departures of Kilar and several other WarnerMedia executives didn't make things clear enough, Warner Bros. Discovery will have a new leadership structure. Discovery CEO David Zaslav is running the company.

The merger is the latest in several major media consolidation moves in recent years. Amazon sealed its $8.45 billion purchase of MGM only last month. Disney spent $71.3 billion to snap up most of 21st Century Fox a few years back, while Microsoft agreed a $68.7 billion deal to buy Activision Blizzard, which is expected to close by June 2023.

AT&T announced last year it was spinning off WarnerMedia in a $43 billion deal that would combine it with Discovery. Now that the T's are crossed and I's are dotted, the deal is done and AT&T is more or less out of the content business.

In 1998, Brooklyn-based hip-hop superstars Talib Qweli and yasiin bey (still then going by Mos Def and capitalizing his name) found themselves recording at the same time, each working on a solo album. With the support of DJ and producer, Hi-Tek, they decided to put their individual projects on hold and make a joint album. That collaboration brought us Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star, one of the most critically acclaimed albums in the history of hip-hop. 

Now, Qweli and bey, this time with Madlib on the boards, have announced the imminent release of Black Star's sophomore album, No Fear of Time, on May 3rd. But for indiscernible reasons, the collective's first drop in nearly a quarter century is exclusive to the Luminary podcast network.

“About 3-4 years ago I was visiting yasiin in Europe and we started to talk about songs to do on an album," Kweli recalled in a Friday press release, "so I flew an engineer out just to see what that would be. Once I realized this conversation is starting to organically become a creative conversation, I started making sure to have the engineer around at all times. There was one day we were just in a hotel listening to Madlib beats, and he’s like ‘Play that Madlib tape again.’ I’m playing the beats and he starts doing rhymes to the beats. And that’s how we did the first song.”

Kweli added, “This is very similar to how we did the first album. But the first album, there were no mobile studios. This entire album, we have not set foot in one recording studio. It’s all been done in hotel rooms and backstage at Dave Chappelle shows.”

The 9-track album drops on May 3rd. You'll need a Luminary subscription ($3 a month after a 7-day trial) or access to Apple Podcasts in order to listen. 

The long-running series Dancing With the Stars is leaving ABC for Disney+. Disney announced that at least two future seasons of the popular competitive dance show will debut on its streaming platform. The first season will debut fall of this year, around the same time that Disney is launching a cheaper, ad-supported tier in the US. Dancing will also be the first live broadcast show to move to a streaming platform, likely due to a broader shift in how the industry is treating live content.

For ABC, the departure of Dancing — a show that has aired on the network for 16 years — means there will be more room for football. “After over 30 seasons of the program on ABC, including two spin-offs, Dancing With the Stars will move off of ABC this fall in order for the Network to showcase several Monday Night Football games as well as develop and invest in new and future programming,” said the network in a statement.

Landing Dancing is a significant coup for Disney, which has been trying to boost its flailing audience numbers. Disney+ recently started catering to adults, even debuting parental controls for its R-rated content. The platform has invested heavily in programming for adults, including original Marvel series like Moon Knight and Daredevil. Dancing regularly lands in the most widely-watched network TV series among adults from the ages of 18 to 49, and already has a committed fanbase. Dancing is also likely to draw a more diverse audience than Marvel — the show is widely watched by women and older people.

“The show’s broad appeal, as well as the overwhelming popularity of its Disney-themed competition nights, make Disney+ the perfect home for Dancing with the Stars while continuing to expand our demographic reach,” said Kareem Daniel, chairman of Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution in a statement.

Microsoft and 343 Industries have revealed that season two of Halo Infinite will get underway on May 3rd. The season, which is called Lone Wolves, will herald the arrival of fresh arena and Big Team Battle maps, more modes (including Land Grab and free-for-all elimination in Last Spartan Standing) and limited-time events. There'll also be a new battle pass that won't expire and a slew of other updates.

Season two was initially supposed to arrive three months after the game's launch. That would have been February or March, depending on whether 343 Industries defined the launch date as mid-November (when the multiplayer component debuted) or December, when the full game was released. However, in November, the studio said season one would run until May.

What's more, fans will need to be a bit more patient for the arrival of the long-awaited campaign co-op mode. That was originally supposed to be available at the start of season two. It will emerge sometime later in the season. Forge mode, which allows players to create custom games with map modifiers and unique rules, is still slated to arrive in season three. At least players will have new maps to learn and more game modes to master in the meantime.

Spotify's TikTok-style music discovery feed is official. The streaming service has formally launched a beta test that helps you find new tunes through a vertical, customized feed of Canvas visual loops. The test is limited to Android and iOS users in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and the UK, but promises a relatively easy way to find new artists and songs.

The new discovery tool is available from the home screen and, like TikTok, lets you scroll when you're done with a given track. If you like what you hear, you can follow the artist, add the song to a playlist or share it with your social networks. Spotify will offer up to 15 new recommendations per day — you won't have to listen to old material, but you also won't be scrolling for long.

The company didn't say if or when the beta might expand to the US. Having said this, it wouldn't be shocking to see an expansion. The TikTok-like vertical feed could help Spotify court younger listeners by giving them both a familiar experience and a reason to keep coming back.

What a week it’s been for Twitter. Elon Musk snapped up 9.2 percent of the company, becoming its biggest shareholder. He soon became a board member and shortly after, Twitter announced it was bringing a long-awaited Edit feature to its Blue service. Senior reporter Karissa Bell joined us this week to discuss how it all went down, as well as the potential repercussions. Then, we looked at Peloton’s newest gadget, Microsoft’s updates to Windows 11 as well as more controversy over Apple’s AirTags.

Listen below, or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!

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• Why did Elon Musk buy 9.2% of Twitter? – 1:42

• Our Peloton Guide hands-on – 27:08

• Windows 11 getting a redesigned File Explorer and video call upgrades – 38:31

• Dyson’s headphone / mask combo isn’t an April Fool’s joke – 41:01

• OnePlus 10 Pro review – 44:07

• Dates for Microsoft Build and WWDC have been announced – 46:40

• Police reports indicate AirTag stalking may be more prevalent than we know – 48:34

• Snapchat Lens helps users learn the ASL alphabet – 52:38

• Open AI’s DALL-E 2 latest generative art project creates amazing images – 53:41

• What we're working on – 56:25

• Our pop culture picks – 1:02:15

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Hosts: Cherlynn Low and Devindra Hardawar
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Livestream producers: Julio Barrientos, Luke Brooks
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Music: Dale North and Terrence O'Brien