Apple is working on a new whiteboard-style app to enable people to collaborate in real-time. Called "Freeform," the app allow groups to work together via FaceTime. Freeform will be available on iPadsOS 16 "later this year," and will also be available on macOS and iOS.

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Ventura, the next version of Apple's Mac operating system, will make it easier for you to keep track of all your disparate apps and windows. New to macOS 13 is Stage Manager, a feature that will group all your windows to the side of your desktop, organizing them by app. Whenever you switch between programs, Ventura will move the app and its accompanying windows to the center of your screen. Think of a Stage Manager as a dock for your currently open apps.     

Developing...

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After launching in 2020, the Google TV app is now available to download on iOS. If you already have the company’s previous Google Play Movies and TV software installed on your phone, this app will replace it. As with its Android counterpart, the Google TV app allows you to use your smartphone as a remote for your Google TV or Android TV OS device, making it easier, among other things, to type the titles of movies and TV shows you want to watch.

You can also use the app to aggregate content recommendations from various streaming services. Not every platform is supported – Netflix is missing, for instance – but the fact you can create a single watchlist for every service you pay for is handy. Additionally, it’s possible to create watchlists around your favorite actors. And as you rate movies and shows, the app will refine its suggestions. You’ll also find personalized feeds with links to news, reviews and more. Lastly, there’s a dedicated section for content you’ve purchased and rented from Google.

You can see most of the functionality on display in the iPhone rendering Google shared – just don’t look too closely at the notch. Download the Google TV app from the App Store.

TweetDeck will soon no longer be available as a standalone Mac app. Twitter will shut down that version of its client for power users on July 1st. "We're saying goodbye to TweetDeck for the Mac app to focus on making TweetDeck even better and testing our new Preview," a tweet from the TweetDeck team reads. "July 1 is the last day it'll be available."

Killing off the standalone app means Mac users may soon need to have the client open in a separate browser or juggle another tab if they want to keep using TweetDeck. As 9to5Mac notes, however, there are other options. You can turn web apps into native Mac apps using services such as Unite for macOS or Coherence X. Alternatively, you can switch to another app like Tweeten, which is based on TweetDeck.

There have been rumblings that Twitter plans to make TweetDeck a paid feature as part of Twitter Blue to prompt more people to sign up. Twitter's prospective new owner Elon Musk has ambitious revenue goals for the subscription service, so moving TweetDeck behind a paywall doesn't seem out of the question. 

Twitter started testing a revamped version of TweetDeck last year. The new-look TweetDeck uses the same design language as Twitter's web app.

If you use Amazon’s Kindle app on Android, you may have noticed the software doesn't offer the option to buy and rent ebooks or subscribe to the company’s Kindle Unlimited service anymore. Amazon announced the change last month and more recently began notifying customers of the move via email.

If you’re curious about what’s going on, the change puts Amazon in compliance with a policy Google will begin enforcing on June 1st. Starting next month, the company will require all developers to process payments involving “digital goods and services” through the Play Store billing system. Previously, Amazon was among a handful of developers Google allowed to use third-party alternatives to collect in-app payments. Rather than give Google a commission for every ebook it sells on Android, Amazon has decided to remove purchases altogether. It has done the same in its Audible and Music apps. In the US, Amazon doesn't offer Kindle in-app purchasing on iOS either.  

It’s worth noting Amazon isn’t the only company that has stopped sales on Android. In April, for instance, Barnes and Noble removed direct purchasing from the Android version of its Nook app. Some companies have legally challenged Google on the matter, with Tinder parent company Match Group filing a suit against the search giant in May.

There’s the possibility that direct purchasing could return to Amazon’s Android Kindle, Audible and Music apps at some point in the future. In March, Google partnered with Spotify to test third-party billing systems. However, how soon that pilot could expand to include other companies is unclear.

Young golfers can now turn their physical surroundings into a digital putting green, courtesy of the same tech behind Niantic's Pokémon Go. The PGA Jr. League today unveiled Safari Par-Tee, a new AR mobile gaming platform available on both iOS and Android. Trigger — the developer behind the app — built it with Niantic’s Lightship kit for AR apps. Players can use their smartphone to scan their physical environment into an interactive golf course.

While Safari Par-Tee is aimed toward youth golfers (it even features very cutesy animal avatars), its AR capabilities will likely make it a draw for parents and older family members to join in as well. The game has a number of multiplayer options, allowing players to match with other local players in real-time, or connect with specific players over WiFi The game also allows players to hold communal scoring contests with multiple rounds and different clubs. For players who are new to golf, the game introduces them to the fundamentals of the game as well as the various styles of play. The game features three different terrains, all with different obstacles and objectives. 

Given that the world of golf video games has plenty of options geared to adults (such as PGA TOUR 2K21, Tiger Woods PGA Tour and the recently delayed EA Sports PGA Tour), a free entry for kids seems like a refreshing change of pace. Safari Par-Tee is now available to download on either Apple’s App Store or the Google Play store.

After entering into a partnership with Zynga last year, TikTok has been testing a pair of mobile minigames on its platform in Vietnam, Reuters has reported. The move could soon allow users to play games directly on the app in what Reuter's sources called a "major push" into gaming. 

TikTok confirmed that it has been testing HTML5 games on its app via partnerships with Zynga and other third-party developers. it reportedly plans to release ad-supported games drawing from TikTok parent ByteDance's library to boost revenue and engagement. "We're always looking at ways to enrich our platform and regularly test new features and integrations that bring value to our community," a representative told Reuters via email. 

Last year, TikTok announced a partnership with Zynga on an app called Disco Loco 3D (above), an HTML5 app that could work inside the app. The company also created Garden of Good, a FarmVille-style minigame that allows players to earn points to make donations. 

While ByteDance is starting with minigames, it supposedly plans to go beyond that, presumably into more advanced types of games. The Chinese version of the game, Douyin, already offers games, and TikTok has also tested streaming via its Live Studio PC app. The company counts over a billion users worldwide and has projected $11 billion in ad revenue this year, more than the Twitter and Snap combined. 

For a few months now, Google has been talking about Android 12L, an upcoming version of Android that's focused on making the OS work better on larger-screen devices like tablets and foldable phones. Thus far, most of those changes have focused on interface tweaks, but today at Google I/O the company had some news about making apps perform better on larger screens, too. 

Google says more than 20 of its apps will be redesigned and optimized for tablets, something that should automatically make Android taps a lot more useful. Among those are YouTube Music, Google Maps and Messages. YouTube Music has a redesigned now playing screen that takes advantage of the extra screen space, while Messages has a multi-column view to quickly jump between different conversations. Google also says that third-party apps like Facebook, TikTok and Zoom will soon be updated to be better optimized for large screens, too. If Google can get more big developers like these on board, the Android tablet ecosystem should benefit greatly. 

Google also says that there are 270 million active users already using large-screen devices, so there's a decent number of people who'll be able to take advantage of these updates immediately. To find them, Google Play is getting a large-screen redesign as well that'll highlight apps built for tablets. 

Follow all of the news from Google I/O 2022 right here!

Google is announcing news at breakneck pace at its I/O developer conference today, and as usual it's flexing its machine-learning smarts. In addition to unveiling its new LaMDA 2 conversational AI model, the company also showed off a new app called AI Test Kitchen. 

The app offers three demos that showcase what LaMDA 2 can do. The first is a simple brainstorm tool that asks the app to help you imagine if you were in various scenarios. During the keynote demo, Google entered "I'm at the deepest part of the ocean" as a response to the app's prompt of "Imagine if." The app then spit out a short paragraph describing the user in a submarine the Marianas Trench, with descriptive language.

Secondly, as a demonstration of the model being able to stay on topic, the app can have a conversation with you about something and understand context. During the demo, the app started by asking "Have you ever wondered why dogs like to play fetch so much?" In its responses to simple follow-ups like "Why is that," the system replied with more information about dogs and their senses of smell. 

Finally, AI Test Kitchen shows how LaMDA 2 can "break down a complex goal or topic." This section is called List It, and users can ask things like "I want to learn ukulele" or "I want to grow a garden." LaMDA will generate lists of subtasks to help you get started, and according to Google, may even offer ideas you might not have thought of. In addition to giving you the names of vegetables you can grow, for example, AI Test Kitchen might also give you a set of steps to take or weather conditions to consider. During the demo, the app offered a tip for users with limited space, sharing the types of plants that might thrive in smaller gardens. 

According to CEO Sundar Pichai, Google is using this app in part to gather feedback on its new AI model. It will open up access "over the coming months, carefully assessing feedback from the broad range of stakeholders — from AI researchers and social scientists to human rights experts." Pichai said these findings will be incorporated into future versions of LaMDA. He added that, over time, the company intends to "continue adding other emerging areas of AI into our AI Test Kitchen."

Follow all of the news from Google I/O 2022 right here!

Spotify's experimental Stations app is soon to be no more. The company says it will shut down the app on May 16th. It took a leaf out of the Pandora playbook with Stations, as the app and web player offered a way to listen to curated playlists in a radio-style format. Stations debuted in Australia in 2018 and arrived in the US the following year. The app has now been removed from the App Store and Google Play Store.

The company says it often conducts tests to "create better listening experiences" for users. Our "Spotify Stations Beta was one of those tests," Spotify told TechCrunch. "We will be sunsetting the current feature, but users will be able to easily transfer their favorite stations and enjoy a similar radio experience directly within the Spotify app.”

If you're a Stations user, you'll be able to move the stations you want to keep over to the Spotify app. You'll find them in your library in a folder called Spotify Stations. 

Those who enjoyed the app and its streamlined design may be disappointed by the move. However, the company noted that the radio feature in the main app offers a similar feature — it can create an ad-hoc station based on any artist, song, album or playlist.