TECH THAT...
A ROUND-UP OF THE LATEST NEWS IN THE DIGITAL WORLD
GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT
MANY of us have been concerned by the fact WhatsApp became chief operating officer of misinformation during the covid-19 crisis as fake cures and false information spread like wildfire.
WhatsApp worked to reduce the viral effect, but now it’s gone a step further as a new fact-checking feature is under test. Users can search the web for an article being shared from right within the chat, allowing immediate access to information about whether it contains truth or nonsense.
Those who are part of the test will now see a magnifying glass icon on any article that has been shared through a chain of five or more people. Clicking that icon allows you to search the web for details on the info being shared, quickly turning up details of whether it’s true or not.
WhatsApp owner Facebook, can’t do the checking itself because messages are end-to-end encrypted.
The new feature is rolling out to UK WhatsApp users this week.
DARK SKY GETS DARKER FOR ANDROID USERS
DARK Sky is a fabulous weather app that offers real-time hyper-local forecasts
– it can tell you with unerring accuracy if it’ll rain wherever you are within the next hour or so.
It’s proved popular with both iOS and Android users, as well as providing the back-end forecasting services for a number of other apps.
It was bad news for users other than those on iOS, then, when Apple bought the app and service a few months ago and said at the time, it would not, over the long-term, be supporting the service on anything other than its own platforms.
Now the time has come, however, and the lights went out on the Dark Sky service for Android users this week.
There is light at the end of the tunnel, though – there are still good weather apps on Android, so don’t despair.
If I was forced to choose between them I’d go for Overdrop – it looks great and offers detailed forecasts from some of the top providers like AccuWeather and WeatherBit.
Give it a try, and don’t stay in the dark any longer.