Facebook’s efforts to compete head-on with Snapchat have been incredibly clear thanks to features like Stories. Now, the company is planning to revive its unpopular ‘Nearby Friends’ feature with a new Snapchat-like interface. While the Facebook location sharing feature has never been too popular, the company hopes this redesign could spur new interest. For those unfamiliar, Snapchat includes a built-in location sharing feature known as Snap Map. This allows users to opt-in to sharing their location and having it displayed on a map for followers to see....

Today, Facebook has introduced the world to Facebook Pay, a new payment system which will be integrated with Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. The social networking site, notably known as the originator of the famous Area 51 raid meme and subsequent party, has already employed payment methods in the past through its website and messenger service, allowing businesses to charge customers for services as well as offering person-to-person payments, but now these services will be rendered across all the company’s owned platforms....

According to AllThingsD, quoting sources familiar with the matter, Facebook is planning its own app that’s similar to Snapchat. Why is Snapchat a Sexting App? Snapchat is a mobile app for Android and iOS that allows users to send photo messages that self-destruct after a few seconds of time that the sender sets. For example, you can send a photo and the recipient can only see it for three seconds, with the max time being 10 seconds....

We noted yesterday that bizarre 5G coronavirus conspiracy theories were leading to mobile phone masts being set alight, and Facebook has now said that it is acting in response. The social network says that it is now removing posts claiming a link between the rollout of 5G service and the spread of the coronavirus… The Guardian reports: It follows an announcement yesterday that YouTube would also be removing 5G coronavirus conspiracy videos....

Facebook this week has quietly launched a new desktop Mac application with built-in screen sharing and chat. As first discovered by TechCrunch, this app is targeted at Workplace users right now as it focuses on building a suite of services competing with the likes of Slack… The app allows Workplace users to access Work Chat directly on their desktop and share files and their desktop screen with another user. It’s a lot like the Workplace Chat website, providing easy access to conversations, search, and more....

As the FOX network’s hit animated series Family Guy gets ready for season 17 this fall, the 20th Century Fox studio is developing a Family Guy movie that would combine the show’s traditional animation format with live-action elements. While the fate of the studio as a whole remains in limbo - due to the impending merger with Disney that is expected to be complete by next year - that clearly isn’t stopping them from pursuing new projects....

After announcing its plans for the app earlier this month, Facebook this evening officially released its video-centric app on the fourth-gen Apple TV. Facebook touts the new application as a prime source for the latest and greatest video content and the launch on tvOS comes a day after the app made its debut on select Samsung smart TVs. In the description for the app, Facebook explains that its new Video app offers a wide-array of content, including videos shared by friends or Pages you follow, live videos from around the world, and various content recommended based on viewing history....

Facebook Watch is a dedicated app for watching Facebook videos and livestreams on TVs. However, Apple TV users will no longer have access to the platform as Facebook seems to have discontinued the Facebook Watch app for tvOS. Now, when trying to access Facebook Watch on tvOS, users get a message saying that the app “is no longer available” and that the videos can be watched on Facebook’s website. Of course, since tvOS lacks a web browser, there’s no other way to watch Facebook videos on Apple TV except by using AirPlay from another device....

A brand new The Falcon and the Winter Soldier image ties the show to Black Panther’s post-credits scene. Marvel Studios’ first Disney+ series gets a release date push from this fall to August. With that, marketing for the show is expected to ramp up in the next few months, but before proper promotions even begin, Falcon and the Winter Soldier set images and social media posts from people involved are already giving fans an idea about what to expect from the project....

Facebook has open-sourced a lot of stuff recently, but this is what most developers have been waiting for. Developed originally at Push Pop Press, and refined by Facebook, the company has today released its Pop animation framework publicly. Developers can check out the code from the GitHub repository. The library enables rapid development of rich animations for iOS (and Mac) apps. Although Core Animation, (Apple’s built-in framework) is well suited to fire-and-forget animations, Pop was created to work seamlessly with modern interactive physics-centric user interfaces....

In an exclusive deal with Netflix, Michael B. Jordan will soon reunite with Black Panther’s screenwriter for Failsafe, an adaptation of the Vault Comics series. If everything goes as planned, Jordan will not only produce the potential blockbuster, but also land the lead role as an insurgent hunter out for vengeance. In contrast to popular franchises like Marvel Comics and DC Comics, Vault Comics is relatively new. Founded in 2016, the privately owned company released Failsafe’s first issue on April 19, 2017, in which protagonist John Ravane comes to the realization that he didn’t actually eliminate the world’s last nanotech-enhanced super soldier....

An unofficial YouTube stream of the Apple event has drawn tens of thousands of viewers ahead of Apple’s actual October ‘Unleashed’ event going live, where the company is set to announce a highly-anticipated new MacBook Pro. However, this fake stream — like a lot of terrible things in 2021 — has converted into a crypto currency scam. The YouTube stream has somehow drawn up to 30,000 concurrent viewers. It helps that the YouTube search algorithm is heavily promoting it, thanks to a title that includes the words ‘REDESIGNED MacBook Pro, NEW AIRPODS, PRO Mac mini’ keyword spam....

Fallout 76 is the latest installment in the long-running Fallout video game franchise from Bethesda Softworks. It’s a prequel set long before all the other chapters in the series and takes place much closer to the Great War that ravaged the planet. It comes three years after Fallout 4 released, and takes the franchise in a new direction as an online multiplayer title with survival elements similar to H1Z1’s Just Survive....

While today’s Facebook news is focused on the much-anticipated Messenger app redesign, the company has apparently been silently working on a new product aimed at a younger crowd. According to a report from TechCrunch, Facebook has confirmed that it has been working on LOL, an app that’s essentially a feed for funny videos and GIFs. Currently, beta testers see LOL as a replacement for the Watch tab in Facebook. However, the team says that the feature will be a standalone app or an extension in one of the company’s other apps....

Facebook has today open-sourced its rapid prototyping tool ‘Tweaks’, a framework that helps application developers quickly iterate on their projects and test out different possibilities for their iOS apps. Tweaks makes it really simple for developers to adjust parameters and properties in their application and then test them out in realtime. This is particularly useful for rapid user interface development, which often consists of merely tweaking parameters (like colors or durations) than any involved work....

Facebook is trialling an interesting new approach to combatting revenge porn, when someone uploads intimate photos of a former partner to the Internet. The system it is trying would prevent specific photos ever being uploaded to Facebook, Instagram or Messenger – but you do have to privately share them with Facebook first … ABC News reports that the system is being trialled in Australia and three other countries. You send the nude to yourself in Messenger, and Facebook creates a hashed digital fingerprint of the photo – an encrypted version of the raw data in the image file....

Quickshot is a new camera app for the iPhone from Lightricks, the makers of the popular Facetune and Enlight photo editing apps. Quickshot features four AI-powered modes with auto adjustment features as well as a photo gallery with batch editing tools. Quickshot starts with four shooting modes: HDR, Quickshot, Photo, and Strobe. HDR, or high dynamic range, prompts you to tap the screen to automatically calibrate exposure settings and take the best shot in hard-to-capture lighting conditions....

We’re buzzing ahead of the release of Falcon and the Winter Soldier Disney+ TV show, which will show how Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson cope in a world where Captain America, or at least Steve Rogers, is no longer at the heart of the action. It promises to be entertaining and intriguing at the same time and, with actors Sebastian Stan and Anthony Mackie reprising their roles, looks set to be one of the biggest TV shows of the year....

Bethesda has shutdown the rumor that Fallout 76 will soon become free-to-play. The developer’s latest game as been embroiled in controversy since its release last November. So when a new rumor threatened to once again land Bethesda in hot water with fans, the developer swiftly responded. Fallout 76, the latest installation in the Fallout franchise had a rough launch. Players were quick to point out that the game was heavily flawed, full of glitches and, in some areas, completely unplayable....

Facebook today issued a notable update to its Facebook Messenger iOS app today, bringing three major iOS 9 and watchOS 2 enhancements. Most importantly, today’s update includes the native Apple Watch application introduced at Apple’s September 9th event. The app has support for viewing and responding to conversations as well as sending stickers. Specific to the iPad, Facebook Messenger’s interface is now dynamic so it can support split-screen apps in the updated multitasking view....