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Charlotte Henry

Charlotte is a media junkie, covering how Apple is not just a revolutionary tech firm, but a revolutionary media firm for TMO. She is based in London, and writes and broadcasts for various outlets.

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Users Find Inconsistent Behavior From New Siri Remote for Apple TV

There was much excitement when Apple announced a new Siri Remote with the updated Apple TV 4K. However, AppleInsider confirmed reports of issues with various gestures.

The update to the Apple TV introduced a new design of Siri Remote that uses a circular trackpad, as well as a new gesture that turns the trackpad into a large scroll wheel. By using a circular motion around the edge of the trackpad, users can scrub forward and back through content. However, posts to Twitter and Reddit show users trying out the gesture but getting unexpected results. Even using the tap and hold method, waiting for the proper user interface affirmation of the gesture, one complete circuit of the trackpad scrubs through a video timeline in one direction, then returns it back to where it was previously.

Snap Launching Standalone iOS Video Editing App

Snap, the firm behind Snapchat, announced a new iOS app called Story Studio that will launch later this year. It will provide editing tools, including AR Lenses that are designed specifically for mobile editing and vertical videos.

The app will pull data from Snapchat and its new Spotlight feature, more familiarly recognized as its TikTok competitor, to help people figure out how and what to make. They can look through Snapchat insights, like what’s trending on the app across sounds, hashtags, and lenses. Lenses will be built directly into Story Studio, as well as Snapchat Sounds and stickers, so editors can add those. Of course, like most other video editing apps, users can trim their videos and edit frame by frame. They can then share directly to Snapchat through a built-in button, or download their work to publish in other apps. Notably, content made in Story Studio won’t include a watermark, meaning if it’s published on other platforms, like Instagram’s Reels, it won’t be demoted by the algorithm.

Google Chrome Brings Back RSS… Sort of

Google Chrome is to get a new ‘Follow’ feature. As TechCrunch noted, it’s not quite an RSS reader… but it’s pretty close.

In Chrome, users will soon see a ‘Follow’ feature for sites that support RSS and the browser’s New Tab page will get what is essentially a (very) basic RSS reader — I guess you could almost call it a “Google Reader.” Now we’re not talking about a full-blown RSS reader here. The New Tab page will show you updates from the sites you follow in chronological order, but it doesn’t look like you can easily switch between feeds, for example. It’s a start, though.