It seems TikTok is getting into livestreaming from desktops. The service is testing a Windows app called TikTok Live Studio, which allows users to run broadcasts on the platform using their computer.

Users can stream directly to TikTok Live using the software. One of the most obvious use cases for the app is for livestreaming games, which could turn TikTok into a serious competitor to the likes of Twitch given the already-enormous reach of the platform. Live Studio users are able to broadcast content from their computer, phone or game console.

TikTok Live Studio seems fairly barebones for now. Creators can switch on features like gifting, comments and keyword filters. However, they're unable to set browser windows as a source for their streams, have moderators or create alerts for new followers or tips, as they can with other livestreaming software such as OBS and Streamlabs.

Still, it's worth bearing in mind these are early days for the app. TikTok told TechCrunch that only a few thousand users have access for now. If it decides to move forward with the app, the company will likely expand the Live Studio feature set over time. 

Should TikTok add all of the other necessary bells and whistles streamers want to Live Studio, it could become a viable destination for those who want to forego the likes of Twitch and YouTube or tap into an existing fanbase on the platform. Among other things, the app could give creators a way to bring their broadcasts and on-demand videos together in one place.

TikTok is planning some key changes to the For You page (FYP), the app's home screen. It will adjust the algorithm that populates the FYP with a never-ending stream of videos to stop it from showing too much of the same kinds of content.

"As we continue to develop new strategies to interrupt repetitive patterns, we're looking at how our system can better vary the kinds of content that may be recommended in a sequence," TikTok wrote in a blog post. "That's why we're testing ways to avoid recommending a series of similar content — such as around extreme dieting or fitness, sadness or breakups — to protect against viewing too much of a content category that may be fine as a single video but problematic if viewed in clusters."

The service is also working on a way to identify when the algorithm only shows a user limited kinds of videos. It notes that, while videos about loneliness or weight loss might not violate the platform's rules, those kinds of videos could have a negative impact if they make up most of what a user sees on the For You page. So, preventing that from happening is important.

"Our goal is for each person's For You feed to feature a breadth of content, creators, and topics," TikTok said, noting that too many similar videos appearing in the feed doesn't reflect the kind of experience it wants to foster. The service is consulting with its Content Advisory Council and the community, as well as experts from the fields of medicine, clinical psychology and AI ethics.

In addition, TikTok is developing an option that will let users block videos linked to certain words or hashtags on the For You page. That will give them more control over what they see on the home screen.

The FYP recommendation algorithm is TikTok's secret sauce and one of the main reasons why the app became incredibly popular. The app's systems monitor users' engagement habits, such as how long the screen stays on a particular piece of content and the videos someone likes, to determine the kinds of videos that might keep them hooked on the FYP.

At a Senate Commerce Committee hearing in October on the effect of social media on children and teens, senators pressed representatives from TikTok, Youtube and Snap on several matters. Among them was how their algorithms might promote content about issues like eating disorders and self harm.

TikTok's latest announcement might help to soothe the lawmakers' concerns. The platform notes that it'll take some "time and iteration" to make these changes to systems and tools and to get them right.

The wait is over. Following an announcement at WWDC 2021, Apple has released Swift Playgrounds 4.0. The update is a significant one for the app, which both kids and adults can use to learn the company’s Swift programming language. For the first time, the software allows you to build both iPhone and iPad apps directly on your iPad. You can now also use your tablet to upload your creations to the App Store.

Additionally, Swift Playgrounds 4.0 comes with a host of quality-of-life enhancements. For instance, you can preview changes to your app as you make them in real-time. And speaking of previews, you can now see how they look in full-screen mode. Apple has also added inline suggestions to help users write code quickly and accurately. The project search feature is more robust too since it can now find results across multiple files. Rounding out the list of improvements is a feature for moving your projects between Playgrounds and Xcode and back again.

All told, the update looks well-worth checking out. Once you’ve installed iPadOS 15.2 on your tablet, head to the App Store to download Swift Playground 4.0.

Meta has released a new software update for Ray-Ban Stories that enhances the voice capabilities of the smart glasses. After installing the software, you can use the built-in assistant to send texts and make voice calls over Messenger. Additionally, it can now read out messages someone sends you over the chat platform.

One other new feature is the ability to use your voice to control media playback. For instance, if you want to skip to the next song in a playlist, say, “Hey Facebook, next.” It’s also possible to adjust the volume of audio in this same way, as well as pause and resume a song or podcast. Oh, and you can ask the assistant for a battery life update.

Meta says it’s rolling out the update to the accompanying Facebook View app in phases and notes it expects the software to be available to everyone soon. Before you can download the update, you’ll need to install the latest firmware on your Stories glasses. While this release enhances one of the less compelling aspects of the Ray-Ban Stories, the company promised it will add more functionality in the new year.

As part of its recently announced 2022 lineup, Volvo subsidiary Polestar introduced a new single-motor variant of its Polestar 2 electric sedan. If you were waiting on an EPA estimate before reserving one, wait no more. You can expect to get about 270 miles of range on a single charge from the car’s 75 kWh battery, Polestar announced on Wednesday.

That puts the FWD model in the company of vehicles like the Volkswagen ID.4 and Model 3. With the entry-level models of those two cars, you can expect 249 miles and 263 miles of range, respectively. That’s not bad given the Polestar 2’s $47,200 starting price, but not nearly as good as the 303 miles of EPA-rated range Hyundai will offer with the $44,875 version of its Ioniq 5.

The automaker also announced today it’s rolling out an over-the-air update for all Polestar 2 vehicles. The new software allows you to schedule when you want your car to charge, so that you can take advantage of off-peak pricing. The update also includes refinements for the car’s driver-assist systems. In the coming months, Polestar plans to release a software upgrade that will allow owners of the dual-motor Polestar 2 to unlock additional torque and horsepower from their car for a fee.

Now that Android 12 is making its way to more devices, Google has announced Android 12 Go Edition. When it arrives in 2022, the OS for low-cost phones will make your device up to 30 percent faster, according to the company. That adds to the 20 percent improvement Google pulled off previously with Android 11 Go Edition. The company says it has also smoothed out launch animations.

Google

If space is an issue, a new feature allows the operating system to conserve both battery life and storage by hibernating apps you don’t use frequently. Additionally, you can use Files Go to safely delete something and then recover it after 30 days. Meanwhile, an update to Nearby Share allows you to save data by transferring apps between devices. Separately, if you ever need to translate a webpage, you can now do so quickly thanks to a newly added shortcut found on the recent apps interface.

Google

In addition to performance tweaks, Android 12 Go Edition is all about privacy enhancements. Android 12’s privacy dashboard is making the jump to Go Edition. You can use it to review all the permissions your apps have access to and revoke them as needed. Additionally, you’ll see if your phone’s microphone or camera is active thanks to new privacy indicators located on the status bar. The update will also allow you to limit apps to accessing only your approximate location instead of your exact one. And if you ever want to let someone use your device, you can now open a temporary guest account directly from the lock screen. Android Go Edition 12 will automatically reset your phone once they’re done.

With today’s announcement, Google also shared that more than 200 million people globally use an Android Go Edition device daily. That’s not bad when you consider Go Edition has only been around since 2017.

Poland's Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) has opened an investigation into Apple's App Tracking Transparency feature. Introduced with iOS 14.5, it's a prompt developers had to add to their apps to ask iOS users for their permission to track them across apps. Apple announced the feature at WWDC 2020. It was initially scheduled to launch alongside iOS 14, but the company subsequently delayed it to give developers more time for implementation.

The feature was almost immediately controversial with advertisers. In particular, Meta, then known as Facebook, said it would have potentially dire effects on its ad network. Now, Poland's competition watchdog is investigating ATT, in part due to antitrust concerns. The regulator contends it "does not mean that users' information is no longer being collected and that they do not receive personalized ads." At the same time, it says it has concerns Apple may have introduced the feature to promote Apple Search Ads.

"During the course of our investigation, we want to examine whether Apple's actions may be aimed at eliminating competitors in the market for personalized advertising services, the objective being to better sell their own service," said Tomasz Chróstny, the President of UOKiK.

We've reached out to Apple for comment.

As noted by TechCrunch, the probe follows a recent study from adblocker Lockdown Privacy that questioned the effectiveness of the App Tracking Transparency feature. The study claims the feature only creates "the illusion of privacy." While the vast majority of iPhone owners have used the feature to opt out of app tracking, researchers found ATT "made no difference" in the total number of active third-party trackers.

It's a big firmware day for Apple. Not only is the company rolling out updates for iPhone, iPad and HomePod, macOS Monterey‌ 12.1 is now available. Perhaps the most notable new feature is SharePlay, which allows up to 32 people to enjoy the same TV shows, movies, music and livestreams and more in sync with each other on FaceTime calls.

Along with Apple services like TV+, Apple Music and Fitness+, a bunch of third-party apps support SharePlay, including Paramount+, TikTok, Twitch and NBA. Anyone on the call can pause, play, fast forward or rewind the content and Apple will automatically lower the volume of the music or video when someone speaks. You'll be able to share your screen through SharePlay as well.

Apple released SharePlay on iPhone and iPad in October. The company rolled out macOS Monterey on the same day, and said it would bring SharePlay to desktops later in the fall.

Many features Apple brought to iPhone and iPad today have landed on macOS Monterey too. They include support for the $5 per month voice-only plan for Apple Music and a safety setting that warns children when they send or receive an image containing nudity in Messages. The Digital Legacy program lets users denote a trusted contact who can access their iCloud account and personal information when they die, while iCloud+ subscribers can generate unique, random email addresses with the Hide My Email feature in the Mail app.

Elsewhere, Apple has redesigned the memories feature in the Photos app with a new interface, fresh transitions and animations and "multiple image collages." There are more memory types as well, such as extra international holidays, trends over time, ones centered around kids and improved memories for pets.

The company also squished some bugs in macOS Monterey 15.2. It said that, previously, "HDR video playback on YouTube.com could cause 2021 MacBook Pro computers to panic." That shouldn't be a problem anymore. An issue that prevented external displays from charging some MacBook Pro and MacBook Air systems via a Thunderbolt or USB-C connection should be resolved too, while some menu bar options will no longer be obscured by the dreaded notch on the latest MacBook Pro.

Adobe has rebranded its Spark multimedia creation suite as Creative Cloud Express and created a standalone version. The idea is to help folks create rich visual content like social media posts, stories, flyers and banners using a straightforward drag-and-drop interface. Along with a fairly generous free plan, there's a $10 per month or $99 a year premium option.

The free version includes thousands of templates, fonts and design assets as well as some royalty-free photos. You'll have access to some basic editing tools and photo effects on the web and mobile, including background removal and animation. You'll get 2 GB of cloud storage too.

While that might be enough for more casual users, professionals might find the premium plan more suitable. Along with everything from the free tier, they'll get access to all premium design assets and templates (around 50,000, according to a demo), more than 20,000 fonts and all of Adobe's 160 million+ royalty-free stock images.

A brand manager will allow paid users to include their logo, branding, colors and fonts with a single tap, which could be a major time saver and help maintain a consistent design language. There are more in-depth editing features, such as graphic groups, resizing and refine cutout. You'll be able to import and export PDFs and other file types.

There's integration with Creative Cloud Libraries. All Express assets and templates can be edited and managed across other Creative Cloud apps. You'll also get 100 GB of storage. In addition, the premium plan includes access to features from other Adobe apps. They include video capture and editing on mobile and desktop (Premiere Rush); combining photos and creating collages (Photoshop Express); video slideshows (Spark Video); and building web pages from text and images (Spark Page).

Creative Cloud Express uses Adobe Sensei, the same artificial intelligence and machine learning tech behind the company's core apps, such as Photoshop and Premiere. The framework powers features like the ability to turn videos into GIFs and merging videos. There are also plans to integrate ContentCal, which automates social media publishing and reporting, into Express. Adobe announced an agreement to buy ContentCal last week.

Until now, Express had only been available with Creative Cloud plans. A standalone version could help Adobe better compete with the likes of Canva, Prezi and Picsart, especially given that there's a free option.

Express is included with Creative Cloud All Apps and flagship single-app plans costing at least $20. The suite is free for K-12 as well. Creative Cloud Express is available now on the web and as an app from the Microsoft Store, Google Play Store and Apple App Store. Versions for Enterprise and Teams will arrive next year.

TCL has temporarily stopped selling its Google TV-powered televisions over performance and software issues. It plans to bring the 5-series and 6-series TVs back to Best Buy in the coming weeks, per 9to5 Google. 

Users have complained about the sets on Best Buy product pages andelsewhere, with one noting the OS is "very slow and buggy." TCL says owners will see "marked improvements in the weeks to come" via software updates. A support site notes that the TVs should update automatically, though it provides customers guidance on how to make sure they have the most recent version of the system software.

"We are sorry to hear that some are facing challenges with the stability of the user interface featured on TCL sets with Google TV," a statement on TCL's support site reads. "Our high-performance TVs are constantly evolving and recent software updates have allowed us to make significant progress, but we will continue to refine our products featuring Google TV."

TCL announced its first Google TV models back at CES 2021. The company's Android TV-powered 3-Series and 4-Series sets are still available.