Amidst the plethora of announcements on the first day of Google I/O, the Pixel 8a has discreetly received its first software update. The new update weighs 190MB and brings along some upgrades that were expected from Google’s newest mid-range Pixel.

First and foremost, the update brings the latest May 2024 Android security patch, making sure the device is protected against the latest threats. However, the biggest highlight of the update is the introduction of Google’s AI-backed wallpaper generator to the Pixel 8a.

Also Read: iPhone 16 Pro To Come With Big Changes In Camera Department

How Does The New AI Wallpaper Generator Work?

The AI-powered wallpaper generator was originally announced at last year’s I/O and is exclusive to the Pixel 8 series. The new feature utilizes generative AI to create unique wallpapers based on user-specified themes and keywords.

While Google initially kept the AI wallpaper generator app exclusive to the flagship Pixel 8 series, it did offer a customized version to Samsung for its flagship Galaxy S24 series. Now, Pixel 8a users will be able to take advantage of the feature as well.

This update further brings the A-series and flagship Pixel models close to each other, especially with Google’s decision to extend its seven-year software support promise to the Pixel 8a, which was previously restricted to only flagship devices

Also Read: WhatsApp Witnesses Design Overhaul For IOS And Android Apps

Pixel Phones To Allow Circle To Search In Split Screen

Google’s Pixel smartphones might soon be adding split-screen support for its popular feature - Circle to Search. It means that players will be able to use the feature while using two apps side by side on their screen. Android expert, Mishaal Rahman found something interesting while going through the Pixel Launcher app bundled with the Android 15 Beta 1.2 release. 

He found a flag that will enable Pixel users to use Circle to Search while running apps in split-screen mode. The feature was introduced on the Galaxy S24 series before it could make its way to Google’s flagship Pixel series. Circle to Search gained swift popularity, thanks to its fast and convenient way to search for information by just circling on the display.

Unlike Samsung smartphones that offer Circle to-Search support, Pixel phones cannot use the feature in split-screen mode. It seems odd for the company to intentionally restrict the feature on its own devices, hinting it might be a bug that went unnoticed during development.

Circle to Search comes coupled with the Google app, as the Android expert points out. This means switching the default digital assistant from the company to another service might make the feature stop working. Earlier, it seemed that this restriction could be related to Android's Assist API, but Rahamn later found out that it wasn’t the case.

Apple has finally rolled out the first wave of its Apple Intelligence, aka AI features, for iPhone, iPad, and Mac users with its latest update. Apple Intelligence was first launched at WWDC 2024, though the new features weren’t rolled out in time for the iPhone 16 launch in September.

While many Android smartphone makers, including Google and Samsung, have already introduced AI features to their devices, the company’s marketing push for Apple intelligence focuses heavily on user privacy. At the WWDC event in June 2024, Apple stated that many of its new AI features would run entirely on-device, with more complete tasks managed through a Private Cloud computer powered by Apple Silicon.

Also Read: iPhone 17 Air To Reportedly Launch In 2025 With New OLED Display

Which Devices Will Get iOS 18.1?

While the iOS 18.1 is rolling out to several devices starting from the iPhone SE (2nd generation) onwards, the Apple Intelligence features are available only on select devices. Following is the list of all Apple devices that support the new AI features:

• iPhone 16
• iPhone 16 Plus
• iPhone 16 Pro
• iPhone 16 Pro Max
• iPhone 15 Pro
• iPhone 15 Pro Max

With the new update, Apple’s voice assistant Siri is also getting an overhaul with the iOS 18.1 update, making it more natural, deeply integrated within the system, and better able to understand complex commands.

The first big change to Siri is the addition of glowing lights that wrap around the edge of the screen when the voice assistant gets activated. The voice assistant also has a richer language understanding, enabling users to understand users even if they pause while speaking or change sentences mid-way.

Also Read: Apple Reportedly Has A Low-End IPhone Model In The Works

What Feature To Expect With iOS 18.1

The Photos app is getting a big revamp in iOS 18 to make it easier for users to find their favorite memories across pictures and videos. The app is also getting a natural language search which enables users to find the moment they are looking for by simply describing the situations via prompts.

The update also brings a feature that Android has had for years: Apple now lets users remove unwanted objects from photos using the new Clean Up tool. The AI-backed tool is capable of automatically detecting unwanted objects or people in an image, while users also have the ability to manually select the part of the image they want to clean up using circle or brush gestures.

Besides, the update adds a new focus mode dubbed ‘Reduce Interruptions’ that leverages AI to analyze the content of the notification on iPhones, letting only important updates come through.

Users will also be able to override the notification settings for specific apps and people, similar to how it worked before iOS 18.1. There is also a new toggle called ‘Intelligent Breakthrough and Silencing’ that applies similar AI notification detection to existing focus modes.

OnePlus 13, the latest smartphone from the Oppo sub-brand, is slated to launch in China on October 31. The upcoming device has gathered a lot of attention, with new leaks emerging almost every day, offering insights into its expected pricing and specifications. Meanwhile, OnePlus has officially confirmed several key details about the upcoming smartphone, including display, processor, battery, and more.

The OnePlus 13 is said to launch for CNY 5,299 for the 16Gb RAM/512Gb storage variant, reflecting a CNY 500 increase from the OnePlus 12, which debuted at CNY 4,799 for the same variant. While no such leak has surfaced yet for the OnePlus 13’s India variant, a similar percentage hike could place the starting price around Rs 70,000, compared to the Rs 64,999 starting price in 2023.

Also Read: New Chipsets To Offer 40% Better Performance Than Current Gen

OnePlus 13 Under The Hood

OnePlus 13 is confirmed to be powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite processor. The smartphone will feature a BOE X2 8T LTPO AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, HDR 10+, and Dolby Vision support. While OnePlus hasn’t confirmed the exact size of the panel, rumors suggest that it could pack a 6.8-inch display with 6,000 nits of peak brightness.

As for the cameras, the OnePlus 13 will come with a 50MP triple rear camera setup. It will include a 50MP Sony LYT-808 primary shooter, a 50MP LYT600 3x optical lens, and a 50MP Samsung JN5 ultra-wide angle lens.

The upcoming smartphone will be backed by a 6000mAh battery with support for 100W fast charging and 50W wireless fast charging. Moreover, OnePlus is planning to introduce iPhone-like magnetic charging capabilities with the OnePlus 13. Apart from that, leaks hint that the OnePlus 13 will come with an IP68/69 rating and feature an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor, in contrast to the optical one seen on its precursor.

Also Read: Motorola ThinkPhone 25 Launched With MediaTek Dimensity 7300

OnePlus 13 Could Come With MagSafe Wireless Charging Like iPhone.

The OnePlus 13 is officially on its way, set to launch in China later this month, and the excitement is palpable among tech enthusiasts. This flagship smartphone is said to bring many standout features, particularly the much-anticipated Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset. Now, leaks suggest that OnePlus might be bringing magnetic wireless charging, a feature that many will recognize from Apple’s iPhone series.

OnePlus China president Louis Lee hinted on Weibo that the OnePlus 13 will introduce a "magnetic function," suggesting it could support Qi2 MagSafe charging technology. If this turns out to be true, this would put OnePlus ahead of competitors like the Samsung Galaxy S25 and Pixel 9 series, both of which have yet to incorporate this tech.

Instagram users who aren’t very popular on the platform might have to bear the brunt of the app’s new move. The quality of a video can be affected depending on its popularity. As per Adam Mosseri (the Meta executive who leads Instagram and Threads), videos that are more popular get shown in higher quality, while less popular videos get shown in lower quality.

In a video (via The Verge), Mosseri said the platform tries to show “the highest-quality video that we can,” but he said, “if something isn’t watched for a long time — because the vast majority of views are in the beginning — we will move to a lower quality video.”

This is not completely new information: Meta wrote in 2023 about using different encoding configurations for different videos depending on their popularity. But after someone shared Mosseri’s video on Threads, many users had questions and criticisms, with one going as far as to describe the company’s approach as “truly insane.”

Also Read: Threads To Soon Start Showing Instagram Comments

Instagram Preferring Popular Creators Over Regular Creators

The discussion prompted Mosseri to offer more detail. He clarified that these decisions are happening on an “aggregate level, not an individual level,” so it’s not a situation where individual viewer engagement will affect the quality of the video that’s played for them.

“We bias to higher quality (more CPU intensive encoding and more expensive storage for bigger files) for creators who drive more views,” Mosseri added. “It’s not a binary [threshold], but rather a sliding scale.”

Several users also suggested that this move creates a system that puts popular creators over smaller ones, as popular creators get to post in the highest quality, which reinforces their popularity, while smaller creators can’t break through.

Mosseri said it’s “the right concern,” but he claimed, “In practice it doesn’t seem to matter much, as the quality shift isn’t huge and [whether] or not people interact with videos is way more based on the content of the video than the quality.” Quality, he said, turns out “to be much more important to the original creator.”

Also Read: Instagram Working On Adding New Features For Your DMs

Instagram Brings Custom Profile Cards For Easy Sharing

Instagram has rolled out a new feature for creators that will make it easier for them to share their profiles with others. They will now be able to create a two-sided digital card on the Meta-owned social media platform which matches their style, thanks to multiple customizable options.

This feature comes after Meta brought a song-on-profile feature that enables users to further customize their profile by allowing them to add a song that matches their current mood or personality on their profile.

The popular messaging platform WhatsApp is widely used to attract users from clicking shady or unverified links for scamming. Although the Meta-owned app offers many safety tools to safeguard its users from such spam, including automatic spam detection and timely security alerts, several WhatsApp users unknowingly click on these verified links, which gives spammers or fraudsters access to their devices.

However, due to a recent beta of WhatsApp for Android, we are witnessing a new feature on the app that enables users to get link info on Google. As per a new report by WhatsApp beta tester WABetaInfo, with the WhatsApp beta version 2.24.22.19, users can easily verify the authenticity of any link shared in individual or group chats.

Also Read: WhatsApp Brings New Backgrounds, Filters For Video Calls

How Will The New Feature Help WhatsApp Users

The report has also added some screenshots of this upcoming feature, which showcases the whole process. After a long press on any link shared on WhatsApp, users will get a menu with the option to search for information about any link on Google Search. The new ‘Get link info on Google’ tab lets users look for the relevant information about the selected URL.

This new feature will offer users a streamlined way to access information about any unverified link present on their chat windows. It also lets users reduce the risk of falling prey to scams or downloading harmful content. This feature is said to roll out to stable users with future updates as Meta aims to provide a safer, more seamless messaging experience.

According to WABetaInfo, the new feature is being tested on WhatsApp beta for Android Android v2.24.22.13. As the screenshot suggests, the menu that appears when tapping on a sticker has a new option called “Create your own,” which lets users quickly create their own sticker pack.

Also Read: WhatsApp Users Can Now Tag Friends In Status Updates

WhatsApp To Soon Let Users Create Custom Sticker Packs

Compared to current implementations, where users need to manually add sticker packs, the new functionality will help reduce clutter since users will be able to create custom packs by adding their favorite stickers. This might also help declutter the ‘Favourites’ section, which can be difficult to navigate if users have added several stickers to the section.

The publication also noted that in addition to creating and sharing sticker packs, the app will also enable users to add or remove stickers. And since these sticker packs can be shared, they can easily sent to their contacts, who will be able to import them with two taps on the screen.

The Meta-owned instant messaging platform recently announced that it is rolling out a new feature that allows users to store contacts on the app itself. As reported earlier, the company also confirmed that it will be introducing usernames on the platform.

If rumors are to be believed, the iPhone SE 4 could launch in early 2025 as Apple’s successor to the iPhone SE (2022) model, as per recent reports. A tipster has offered new details about Apple’s next affordable iPhone model, giving fans a sneak peek into what to expect from the device.

The fourth-generation iPhone SE is said to come with a 6.06-inch OLED screen and run on Apple’s A18 chip, the same processor that powers the iPhone 16 model and could also be the first phone from the company to come with its in-house modem.

According to details shared on X (formerly Twitter) by tipster Jukanlosreve (@jukanlosreve), the alleged iPhone SE 4 will come with an LTPS OLED screen with 800nits peak brightness. The screen is said to be produced using Samsung’s M11 OLED material, which was also used by Apple for its iPhone 14 model that was launched in 2022.

Also Read: iPhone 17 Air To Reportedly Launch In 2025 With New OLED Display

What To Expect From iPhone SE 4

The iPhone SE 4 will also be the first smartphone from Apple since the iPhone 14 to sport a display notch since the current generation devices come with the Dynamic Island. The smartphone will also be the first in that lineup to skip the home button and use FaceID instead of TouchID.

The tipster also suggested that the iPhone SE 4 will be backed by the company’s A18 chip, built using TSMC’s current generation N3E process technology. It will also be equipped with 8GB RAM and 128GB of storage, and these specifications suggest that the handset will come with support for Apple Intelligence.

The company will also equip the upcoming smartphone with its first in-house modem, codenamed Centauri, which will be produced by TSMC, according to the tipster. As previous reports suggested, the smartphone will come with a 48MP rear camera with a Sony IMX904 sensor, as well as a 12MP TrueDepth selfie camera, backed by an f/1.9 aperture and autofocus.

Also Read: Apple Reportedly Has A Low-End IPhone Model In The Works

When Is iPhone SE 4 Launching?

Other leaked specifications of the upcoming device include a 3279mAh battery alongside support for 20W USB-PD charging support over a USB-C port, and 15W wireless charging.

As per the tipster, Apple will unveil the iPhone SE 4 by March 2025, which hints it could be unveiled before the company’s spring event. The handset is said to be priced between $499 and $549.

Apple’s third-generation iPhone SE was launched in India in March 2022, and it was priced at Rs 43,990, for the base model with 64GB of storage, while its successor is said to be unveiled next year, with double the amount of storage.