Report Shows Instagram Getting Ready to Launch Subscription

App analytics platforms Sensor Tower and Apptopia show that Instagram is preparing to launch a subscription service.

Both Sensor Tower and Apptopia track the mobile app ecosystem, which includes monitoring chart movements, app engagement and gathering app marketing intelligence data, among other things. But they also track the other less noticeable changes that apps tend to make — like rewriting their App Store descriptions, swapping out their screenshots, or — as in this case — adding new in-app purchases to their App Store listings.

Samsung Teases Apple With Cleaning Cloth Offer

Samsung is never one to avoid teasing Apple, and they’ve done so again regarding the infamous US$20 cleaning clothiMore reported on its latest offer.

In a move that seems to be part of the German Galaxy Club, Samsung customers can apply to get their very own cleaning cloth sent through the mail and they won’t have to spend a penny. They’ll need to be quick, though — there are only so many freebies to go around. First spotted by Galaxy Club, the offer is presumably taking aim at Apple and its own Polishing Cloth. No surprises there — Samsung is never shy when poking fun at Apple, whether it has a point or not.

'Scanner Pro' Update Brings AI-Powered Smart Categories for Organization

Now Scanner Pro automatically sorts & organizes your scans by categories. It’s tiring and time-consuming to manually organize the hundreds of scanned documents in Scanner Pro into folders and carefully name them so they’re easier to find. Thanks to Smart Categories, you’ll need less time to find the scan you’re looking for, without the need to manually organize all your files. Just search through bills, invoices, magazines, and so on.

Proctoring Apps For Schools is Mass Surveillance for Kids

In an op-ed for Teen Vogue, writers from Fight For The Future argue that test proctoring apps that many schools use is mass surveillance of minors.

Remote proctoring software is, essentially, spyware that students are forced to install, typically as a browser plug-in or a computer program. Invasive features like keystroke logging, screen recording, network traffic monitoring, and video and audio recording are common. Many of the programs also collect tons of biometric data through eye-movement tracking and facial recognition.

Billie Eilish 'Was Excited And Scared' About Apple TV+ Doc

Billie Eilish spoke about the Oscar-contending Apple TV+ documentary The World’s a Little Blurry at an event moderated by Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. She described the emotions she felt being followed by cameras for three years, Deadline reported.

“I was excited and scared and nervous, and worried and hopeful,” she told attendees at a post-screening Q&A. “It was not acting, I wasn’t playing a character. It was real life footage of my life… It was a very real and good interpretation of my three years that you were filming it, or however long it was, and it’s really scary. It’s hard to tell anybody a lot of information about your life, let alone put it on a platform for literally anyone in the world to see.” Millions have seen it, noted Zane Lowe, Apple Music’s creative director, who moderated the discussion. Billie was joined on stage by Cutler and by her parents, Maggie Baird and Patrick O’Connell, who feature prominently in the film. The only family member missing (apart from dog Pepper and cat Misha) was Finneas O’Connell, Billie’s older brother and songwriting partner.

Report: How Pinterest is Ruining the Internet for Everyone

Chris Stokel-Walker isn’t happy with Pinterest and writes how the company has ruined image search for internet users.

Beloved by moodboard aficionados and wedding planners alike, the platform is hated by rank-and-file web surfers. It’s not that it doesn’t have its purpose; it’s just that it intrudes on the search experience of pretty much everyone who doesn’t want to use it.

I have Pinterest to thank for one thing. My annoyance, and eventual hatred, spurred me to move to a standardized data curation system in which I store files in my own folders and not inside Pinterest’s putrid platform.

10 Arduino IoT Projects for Beginners

Got an itch to start tinkering with Arduino, but want it to be something useful? As I explained on Apple Context Machine, Arduino is a microcontroller that lets you do just about any task you can find parts and write code for. A great way to get started and have it mean something is with a project that helps your daily life. One way to achieve both is with an Internet of Things (IoT) project. There are hundreds of tutorials on building with Arduino. Some are useful, some are just cute and/or fun. This MakeUseOf article highlights 10 Arduino IoT projects perfect for beginners. From monitoring your plants’ health to reminding you when it’s time to take your medicine (and even dispensing a glass of water to wash the pills down), these Arduino IoT projects will get you on the right path. There’s even a tutorial on building your own automated pet feeder.