Tech Thursday: 5 latest developments from your favourite apps

Apps have become the easiest ways to access media, music and information on your computer or phone. In 2019, some of your favourite apps have introduced new features to make your user experience even better. Here are some of the latest developments:

1. Gmail is rolling out Dark Mode

Google announced that it would be rolling out Gmail’s dark mode to both Android and iOS devices after teasing the new feature for months. The usual white and red theme can be replaced by black and grey tones when users opt for Dark Mode. Users can enable Dark Mode via Gmail settings or through their system settings on Android 10 and iOS 13. Google said: “On Pixel, when Battery Saver is enabled, Gmail will default to Dark theme automatically.” Dark Mode is the latest feature added to Gmail after auto-correct, “dynamic email” and improved Smart Compose. The company tweeted a teaser of what this would look like:

Dah dah dah dum da da dum da da: Dark theme is coming to Gmail on mobile → https://t.co/hiMaeuDBJD pic.twitter.com/0ElUHzrx8R

— Gmail (@gmail) September 24, 2019

2. Listen to music you used to love on Spotify

Spotify announced that it will be bringing its users two new playlists designed to help them keep track of what they currently love listening to, and what they used to love in the past. On Repeat curates your current music within a 30-day period while Repeat Rewind will curate music that you used to enjoy but don’t really listen to anymore. “On Repeat auto-updates, so you can be sure everything on there is the most up-to-date account of what you’ve been playing nonstop,” said Spotify. Both playlists are available for free and premium Spotify users. These new features come a month after Spotify introduced a new feature allowing users to share what they’re listening to on Facebook Stories.

3. Uber Eats releases its South African Cravings Report

Uber Eats has released the results of their 2019 South African Cravings Report, which details what South Africans love or hate to order and eat. The app service noted that South Africans love local food. In fact, over 1000 orders opted for pap over rice or potatoes, and some even swapped their sauce for chakalaka and achaar. Uber said: “Unorthodox but truly South African, is that some orders request that a tomato base be replaced with a chakalaka base on pizzas.” The report also showed that tomato was the most hated ingredient with over 200 000 orders asking for it to be excluded from meals. Other least favourite ingredients included lettuce, sauce, onions and mayonnaise. Uber Eats was rolled out in Paarl and Soweto this year.

4. Twitter is testing the “hide replies” feature

Twitter is testing the “hide replies” feature in the USA and Japan after successful tests in Canada earlier this year. This feature allows users to hide replies on their tweets but still give other users the option to view hidden tweets if they want to. “People mostly hide replies that they think are irrelevant, abusive or unintelligible,” said the company during initial testing. They also found the 27% of people whose tweets were hidden felt the need to “reconsider how they interact with others”. “We’re interested to see if these trends continue and if new ones emerge, as we expand our test to Japan and the US,” said Twitter.

5. YouTube Music launches “Discover Mix” playlist

YouTube is taking a page out of Spotify and Apple Music books after it announced its “Discover Mix” playlist. The playlist is updated every Wednesday and contains 49-tracks of all the latest music. According to some users, it pops up as ‘Mixed for You’, which also includes the ‘New Release Mix’ and the ‘Liked Songs’. The genres are a mix of what you’ve listened to and what YouTube thinks you might like.