TikTok might be exploring new ways to make the app more profitable by playing around with an ad-free subscription model. This isn't new for social media platforms. We've seen Snapchat introduce Snapchat+ and X (formally known as Twitter) introduce its Premium options as well, but this would be a new subscription offering for TikTok.

Hints of TikTok's subscription plans were initially spotted by Android Authority. According to the report, the latest version of TikTok came loaded with new strings of code that indicated the short-form video app is testing an ad-free monthly subscription plan for its users. Android Authority uncovered a screen that presented users with the choice of two different plans. There's the standard option, which will remain free and include personalized ads based on your activity. Then there's the "Ad-free" option, which will cost $4.99 per month.

As of right now, there has been no official announcement from TikTok. (Engadget has reached out for comment and we'll update the story if we hear back.) So it's safe to assume that this is just a test being conducted since it is currently only available to a limited number of users. TikTok may or may not actually take the plan public, and if it does it may also change the $4.99 price tag based on the feedback.

TikTok's drive toward increasing engagement and revenue is nothing new, but it seems the company has ramped up a bit. Earlier this year, TikTok introduced its marketplace — TikTok Shop — which brought a host of features for users, content creators and businesses. One of those features was the option for creators and businesses to drop affiliate videos directly into the feeds of users. This means the new ad-free tier may only remove ads served up by TikTok and not ones from influencers or their marketing campaigns.

Perhaps now we can all stop asking "How is this app still free?" because at this rate, no social media app will be completely free again

Apple's iOS 17 brought a host of new features, including the option to leave video messages on FaceTime. While younger generations typically dread hearing their phones ring and seeing that someone has left a voicemail, Apple's new video version might be a hit. Now, when you call someone on FaceTime, if there's no answer you'll have the option to record and send a video message. Please note: Both you and your recipient must be running iOS 17 or iPadOS 17 to send and receive FaceTime video messages.

Step by step: How to send a FaceTime video message

Step 1: Go to the FaceTime app

Leaving a video message via FaceTime is pretty simple. All you have to do is initiate a FaceTime call like you normally would. This can be done in a few ways but the easiest way would be to go to the FaceTime app.

Step 2: Initiate the FaceTime call

Once in the app, tap the New FaceTime button, select the contact you're trying to reach then tap FaceTime at the bottom. If no picks up, you'll see "[Contact] is Unavailable" and you'll be presented with two options. You can either call them again or hit Record Video to do just that. 

CNET

Step 3: Tap the Record Video option

Select Record Video and get ready to shoot your shot. You'll see an onscreen countdown and then you can record your message. 

Step 4: Send your video message

After you're done saying what you need to say, you can send it by tapping Send, which looks like a white button circle with a green arrow inside, or you can select Retake.

Apple

Apple has also included a Save option, which means you can save the video message you just recorded directly to your Camera Roll. Or if you'd prefer not to send the message at all, you can simply hit Cancel.

But if you do go through with sending your video message, the recipient will be able to view it in the missed call log within their FaceTime app. Once there, they'll have the option to return your call, watch the video message or save it to their Camera Roll.

US Representative Deborah Ross (D-NC) has introduced an updated version of the Protect Musicians Act in an attempt to change the way independent artists bargain with major streaming platforms. Created in collaboration with The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) and The Artists Rights Alliance (ARA), the updated bill aims to "level the playing field" for artists in the digital age and the world of AI-generated music.

"This legislation will help give small, independent music creators a level playing field, empowering them to stand together for fairer compensation and giving them a voice in important negotiations that will determine the future of the music industry,” Ross said.

As it stands, current laws leave many artists, whether signed to a major label or independently working, unprotected and at the mercy of major streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube. And these companies don't always provide fair compensation to artists when their music is uploaded and streamed on the platforms. Independent artists are often forced to accept whenever rates are being offered without being able to collectively negotiate for better terms. Additionally, there is no real protection for artists against having their voice or music manipulated by AI without consent.

If passed, the Protect Working Musicians Act would allow working artists and independent musicians to come together and negotiate with dominant streaming platforms and artificial intelligence developers. It would also grant working artists and independent musicians the ability to collectively refuse to license their music to online music distribution platforms that refuse to pay fair market value.

It could be argued that many artists have always gotten a raw deal for decades when it comes to the sales and distribution of their music. Back in the day of album downloads and CD purchases, this money was usually split in many ways, leaving only a small amount for the artist. Unfortunately, unfair compensation being offered by streaming platforms is just a modern spin on a longstanding problem. And it's not just musicians that are being affected. For years, streaming giants like Netflix have been offering low wages to its writers, which has contributed to the strike of members of the Writers Guild of America.

After 38 years, Microsoft is updating its Paint App with support for image transparency and layers. For most of us, MS Paint brings waves of nostalgia and memories of spending hours trying to be Picasso. Back then, you had a pencil, brushes, a handful of colors and not much else. Now, it seems Microsoft is beefing up its app to make it more useful for slightly more advanced image editing. In a blog post, Dave Grochocki, Principal Product Manager for Windows Inbox Apps, announced the new features and "exciting" new possibilities.

"When you combine layers, transparency, and other tools in Paint, you can create exciting new images and artwork! For example, when combined with the new background removal feature, you can quickly create interesting layered compositions," Grochocki said.

To get started, you'll need to click on the new layer option in the toolbar and that will open a panel on the side of the canvas. From there, you can hide, duplicate, merge or delete layers — much like you can do in other, more robust photo editing software. As of right now, the update is only available to users who are signed up to receive Windows Insider software builds. The features are not currently available to all Windows users, but are likely to be rolled out soon.

While it isn't the most groundbreaking thing, people who are still using MS Paint will find these features useful. And it's likely Microsoft will continue to update its Paint app, since the company has made it clear: MS Paint is here to stay.

Influencers have been using TikTok to land brand deals and promote products for years, but now the company is ushering in a more formal shopping experience. TikTok is launching its e-commerce product in the United States in an attempt to capitalize on the app's popularity, and turn its viewers into consumers. In a recent blog post, the company announced its TikTok Shop — which includes a host of features for users, content creators and businesses.

The TikTok Shop includes a “Shop Tab” for businesses to display their products, affiliate videos placed in users' feeds that allow creators to earn commissions and shopping ads for businesses. TikTok is also launching its own logistics arm called “Fulfilled by TikTok,” which will facilitate storage and shipping for registered merchants.

In an interview with The New York Times, TikTok executive Nico Le Bourgeois said the TikTok Shop had more than 200,000 registered sellers, with over 100,000 creators already having access to its livestream shopping buttons. Bourgeois went on to discuss the company's plans to shake up the industry.

“We have a very aggressive plan to make a splash in the industry and make sure that people out there understand that TikTok is a place for shopping,” he said. “We’ll be very present for Black Friday and Cyber Monday through a combination of traffic, free shipping and deals.”

TikTok Shop is based on a similar and hugely successful feature on its sister app, Douyin, available across Asia. While there's no doubt that hashtags like #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt has fueled product discovery on TikTok, live shopping hasn't quite taken off in the US yet. Of course, TikTok isn't the first social media app to attempt a pivot to e-commerce. Meta has tried for years with Facebook and Instagram. Pinterest has also been navigating the e-commerce waters by offering its users an easier and faster way to by what they see. However, those efforts have not skyrocketed just yet.

As of right now, the Shop Tab is available for 40 percent of TikTok users. The feature will be rolled out gradually and become available for all users by early October.

Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. is setting the record straight. After Variety reported earlier this week that an AI-generated track echoing the voices of Drake and The Weeknd would be considered for a Grammy Award, Mason is insisting that’s not the case. The track, Heart on My Sleeve, was created and submitted for consideration by someone using the pseudonym “Ghostwriter.” The song features lyrics written by Ghostwriter but imitates the voices of the rappers without consent.

Despite that, in an interview with The New York Times, Mason suggested the track would technically be eligible in songwriter categories because of the lyrics. “As far as the creative side, it’s absolutely eligible because it was written by a human,” he said.

However, it seems things have changed. In a recent Instagram post, first spotted by Deadline, Mason offered some clarity. The CEO made it clear the song “is not eligible for Grammy consideration.”

“Let me be extra, extra clear: Even though it was written by a human creator, the vocals were not legally obtained, the vocals were not cleared by the label or the artists and the song is not commercially available and because of that, it’s not eligible,” he said.

Based on Mason's statement, it appears the problem isn't with the fact that the track was generated using AI, but thorny issues around consent. This could possibly mean that The Grammys would consider tracks that were created by AI as long as the necessary permissions were granted and it was distributed through the proper channels. But while Mason believes the industry will have to evolve and adjust to AI, copyright issues remain complicated. And Heart on My Sleeve was recently pulled from streaming services, including Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal and YouTube, after a complaint from Universal Music Group — which represents both Drake and The Weeknd.

“I take this stuff very seriously,” Mason said. “It’s all complicated, and it’s moving, really, really quickly. I’m sure things are going to continue to have to evolve and change."

As for Ghostwriter, the creator has already released a new song using AI to imitate rappers Travis Scott and 21 Savage. The new song, Whiplash, was posted to social media platforms, including TikTok and X, formerly known as Twitter, instead of Spotify and other streaming services. Ghostwriter also tagged the rappers requesting an official collaboration. While the song seems to be resonating with some fans on the platforms, neither Scott nor 21 Savage have responded.

Google Workspace users are getting a new feature to prevent colleagues from messing with their documents. Users will now have the ability to lock their Google Drive files, which should help reduce unwanted commentary and changes when sharing with multiple team members. While this isn't the most revolutionary feature, it could certainly come in handy — especially for companies that use and share a lot of publicly viewable documents.

Locking a document puts it in read-only mode, meaning viewers can't edit, comment or leave suggestions on it. The document will remain in this read-only mode until unlocked by its owner. In a blog post, Google stated that this new feature will "streamline the process of restricting files in Drive.”

Previously, you could lock down a document or file when sharing it, or through a Google Drive API call. The new lock feature simplifies things: Right-click on the file you'd like to lock, scroll to file information from the popup menu, and select lock.

The file-locking feature has already been rolled out to some Rapid Release domains and will continue over the next 15 days. Folks on Scheduled Release domains can expect to start seeing the feature on September 20th, with a similar 15-day rollout period.

Spotify is experimenting with the offerings of its Premium service. Over the last few days, several Spotify users on the free tier noticed they no longer had access to in-app lyrics. Instead, they were greeted by a notification bubble saying, “Enjoy lyrics on Spotify Premium,” along with a link to sign up. Spotify says putting the in-app lyrics behind a paywall is just a part of its routine testing.

"At Spotify, we routinely conduct a number of tests, some of those tests end up paving the way for our broader user experience and others serve only as an important learning,”

Spotify's co-head of global communications, CJ Stanley, told The Verge. “We don’t have any further news to share at this time.” It's possible Spotify could remove the paywall and make in-app lyrics available to all users again, but there is currently no timeline for that.

This test comes at a time when Spotify has laid off employees from its podcast division, which the company poured quite a bit of money into in recent years. And despite raising its prices and actively working to grow its paid subscribers, it's still losing significant amounts of money. Spotify's decision to experiment with the possibility of making lyrics a Premium feature shows that the company is searching for ways to get users to pay for a subscription. However, this might not be the best way to do so as some users who have noticed the change are not happy about it.

In-app lyrics was one of Spotify's most requested features and the company began testing in 2019. In 2021, Spotify officially rolled out the feature, which allowed users to see and sing along to the words of their favorite tracks. This was available to all users — on both free and Premium versions and on all platforms. While charging for a previously free feature will always bring about some negative feedback as people adjust, some users believe this move would be discriminatory to people with disabilities.

Google has just made it easier than ever to capture video stills while using its Chrome web browser. The company highlighted the struggle faced by users when attempting to capture video frames — noting that screenshots often produced lower-quality images with the video’s progress bar shown across it. If you’re using Chrome (or another Chromium-based browser, like Microsoft’s own Edge), that’s now a thing of the past. Starting today, users can hit pause at any time during a video, right-click, and select the new "Copy Video Frame" option from the pop-up menu.

We went ahead and tried the feature but noticed it didn't work as intended. On YouTube, evoking the new option required two right clicks instead of one. The first right-click brought up the native YouTube menu but after a second try, the menu with the new feature was available. When you click the "Copy Video Frame," Chrome will capture what's currently being shown and you'll have the option to paste your image in supported text fields within the browser, like Google Docs. We were also able to paste the image into the Apple Notes app; from there, you can save the actual file.

As of right now, there is no option to save the copied video image directly to your desktop as a file. The feature is also limited when it comes to streaming services, with many of them restricting the ability to capture content. In fact, so far we've only gotten it to work on YouTube. So, while this feature may technically be helpful in a pinch, it may need some fine-tuning to be more useful. Chrome's new "Copy Video Frame" is being rolled out today for Windows, Mac, Linux and ChromeOS.

Nintendo has just announced the latest Switch special edition, one that’s steeped in nostalgia. The new colorway has been dubbed the Mario Red Edition and pays tribute to one of Nintendo's most popular video game characters. The system will feature a console, dock and Joy-Con controllers all in Mario’s iconic red. On the back of the dock, there's a tiny silhouette of Mario as he leaps into action. There's also a touch of gold thanks to a set of coins hidden inside.

The new design will only be available on the OLED model, which was expected. The OLED version of the Switch is the company's flagship model, and we've already seen similar special editions recently. Nintendo has been known to release custom consoles as tie-ins with upcoming games – and with the official release of Super Mario Bros. Wonder set for October, it's not surprising to see the company creating a little buzz with this Mario-themed colorway.

Additionally, we saw the release of The Super Mario Bros. Movie back in April. So, it's been a pretty big year for Mario and the gang. The Mario Red Edition will be available for purchase from the official Nintendo store and Best Buy. It's currently available for pre-order and will cost $350, the same as the standard OLED model. Shipping is expected to start in October.