WhatsApp to rollout multi-device functionality soon

April 3, 2020

WhatsApp has grown to over 2 billion users, which is an impressive figure by far. However, the platform has been missing some features for a while now that they now seem interested in addressing.

For one, the service has been restricted to one device only for a long time. This means that you cannot have the same WhatsApp account on a phone and tablet at the same time, or multiple phones. This is not impressive in an age where other IM apps like iMessage will allow you switch seamlessly between the iPhone, iPad and even Macbooks they have on offer.

To combat that, the company is now working on an update that will see the app work in multiple devices.

To forestall issues of privacy and security, there will most likely be a feature that alerts users when a new device is logging into their WhatsApp. This will most likely be like how your email notifies you of unusual activity from your primary device.

Likewise, WhatsApp has mentioned wanting to explore the option of expiring messages too. Even though they have rolled out this feature in the past for group chats, they will now bring it to individual chats.

Knowing WhatsApp and their beta tests, though, now might not be a good time to jubilate. The company might just decide to ditch the project after the first beta test – but we hope they don’t go down that path.

Lagos state executives adopt digital meeting over Zoom amid COVID-19 concerns

O. Christopher

April 2, 2020

Lagos state executives adopt digital meeting over Zoom amid COVID-19 concerns

The current COVID-19 pandemic that is being dealt with by Nigeria has forced the country to take certain measures, one of which is limiting the congregation of people so as to stall the spread of the virus. However, some activities and meeting still have to take place, especially for parastatals as important as the government.

In an interesting turnoff events, the Lagos state government has become a trailblazer by being the first in the country to hold an executive meeting online.

The meeting had in attendance the governor and deputy of the state, as well as other executive members too.

Holding via Zoom – a cloud meeting platform that allows up to 100 participants – everyone was able to follow the government guidelines on avoiding gatherings of more than 20 people. Now that some states have been declared to be on total lockdown, such meetings over digital spaces will become more and more important.

Computer Village to be shut down to help curtail spread of coronavirus

O. Christopher

March 28, 2020

Computer Village to be shut down to help curtail spread of coronavirus

In the whole of Nigeria, the Computer Village of Ikeja has come to be known as our own little Silicon Valley. It is the hub of tech stuff in the country and it sees a swarm of people daily. Starting today, though, we might not be seeing that much activity in the area anymore.

Seeing as this Ikeja location is one that almost never sleeps, that will be shocking to many. However, it would help to curb the spread of the n-COVID which is ravaging different countries from all around the world as of the time of this writing.

The government, through the NCDC, has advised that people practice social distancing and isolate themselves when they start feeling symptoms. That is the only way to ensure that the spread of the virus is curtailed and no more cases are recorded. However, that is not going to happen if spaces like the Computer Village keeps getting as crowded as they can be.

The government is also ready to throw some bodies behind this move, helping to ensure that no one enters or leaves the premises throughout the time that this lockdown will last.

Jumia ready to donate face masks, delivery network to fight COVID-19

O. Christopher

March 25, 2020

Jumia ready to donate face masks, delivery network to fight COVID-19

Jumia, the pan-African ecommerce company, has shown that they know of the recent COVID-19 issue and are willing to help the government to fight the disease before it becomes widespread. Should the government find the assets that are within the reach of this company needful, Jumia has committed itself to helping.

One of the laudable moves from the company is the promise to donate free face masks to no less than six different African countries. These will be certified face masks that will be sourced internally from the partners of the company in all of Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Ivory Coast and Morocco. The company has also promised to divert its delivery network for the cause of the affected countries should they need to transport supplies, medicine and equipment from one place to the other.

In these times of uncertainty, it is nicer to note that companies are stepping up this way to ensure the case is killed before it becomes more serious than it already is. While this is underway, we also hope and pray that the world recovers and heals from the ills that the virus has caused already.

Paystack and BuyCoins launch remote work mode amid coronavirus concerns

O. Christopher

March 21, 2020

Paystack and BuyCoins launch remote work mode amid coronavirus concerns

Paystack is one of the Nigerian startups that have already started making plans towards ensuring that they will still be in business if they have to shut down the offices.

There was already a plan for the offices to be closed to all members of staff from Friday, but that simulation plan was moved up to Thursday instead. The idea is to see how seamless it would be for the members of staff of the company to work from home and provide guidance on the lapses that might be involved.

Even though the CPVID-19 cases in Nigeria has not been escalated to such a level yet, that would allow the company to prepare itself for this case if it does happen.

We love this kind of forward thinking, and we believe more companies will start following suit soon. It should also be noted that the Paystack offices have been closed to guests, and it is bound to remain so for some 2 weeks from now. This will help ensure that there is no gathering of too many people in the same place, further curtailing the spread of the virus.

Besides Paystack, it has also made the news that BuyCoins is operating in full remote mode right now. The CEO has commented that the situation will remain this way for the next couple of weeks while monitoring the development of the coronavirus case in Nigeria.

Samsung might be planning a One UI 2.5 with extended gesture controls

O. Christopher

March 20, 2020

Samsung might be planning a One UI 2.5 with extended gesture controls

When Samsung launched their in-house One UI 2.0 on top of the Android 10, it looked like the best thing that could have happened to their device. At the launch for the Galaxy S20, though, they also brought another refresher that they called the One UI 2.1 and they launched that with the Galaxy S20 units, although it has started to make its way to the Galaxy S10 and other Note series too.

What we did not know when those updates were hitting the market is that they are planning for a new major update, and that is going to be the One UI 2.5.

The company is yet to come out officially on this matter, but we have learnt that this new update will come with extended gesture controls, and even allow third party apps to use this feature too. Note that the gesture controls on the other iterations are fine already, but they work around system apps more.

For now, that’s all we know of the new update, but we know that there is more to it than these.

Major crypto exchange, iCE3X, creates internally regulated token

O. Christopher

March 20, 2020

Major crypto exchange, iCE3X, creates internally regulated token

iCE3X is known by many to be just one of those cryptocurrency exchange platforms in Nigeria, but it is so much than that. Happening to be one of the oldest of such platforms in both Nigeria and South Africa, the token exchange has now launched a token of its own. The token is to be called the Artificial Intelligence Coin (AIC) and it seems that we know what it would be based upon that way too.

This token is developed on the ERC-20 platform and is designed to make the transactions on the platform less costly than before. It could also be expanded later to being used for in-game rewards, creating better leverage on trades and handling a lot more than this initial case scenario. Likewise, it could rise to become one of the best internally developed tokens out there.

With Nigeria and South Africa being two of the places in Africa with the largest search volumes when it comes to bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, this move is a strategic one by iCE3X to effectively capture the market right.

WhatsApp could launch self-destructing messages feature for individual chats soon

O. Christopher

March 17, 2020

WhatsApp could launch self-destructing messages feature for individual chats soon

Social media aps like Snapchat and Telegram already have a privacy feature where the users can set certain message to self-destruct after a while. WhatsApp seems to be the biggest IM provider that hasn’t offered this service, but it seems that all that is about to change soon.

In fairness, we should mention that WhatsApp has trialed this feature sometimes in the past. Then, they were only going to allow people in group chats use the self-destruction feature on messages they send – and that was only available for a select few users. Now, it seems that the company is working on an update that will make this feature a standard for all users – and in individual chats too.

For now, this feature is ibn the beta stage. If that means anything, it is that WhatsApp can limit the number of users that are going to get it again. They could even change their mind midway and decide that they don’t want it to rollout at all.

All we can do is wait to see what the company plans on doing this time around.

Instagram could change its feed to a chronological setup soon again

O. Christopher

February 17, 2020

Instagram could change its feed to a chronological setup soon again

Some of you might not have noticed this, but Instagram has switched away from a chronological feed for a while now. Instead, the social media platform leverages AI and an algorithm to predict what the best posts of the moment are. This is what they show to you first when you enter the app.

Of course, some users have noticed this and complained severally. However, the company will only do what it believes is best for the majority of users on the app.

To that end, it is surprising to see that someone has found a line of code in the Instagram app which suggest that they will soon be returning to the chronological feed. We believe that Instagram might roll out this feature to some for a while just to see how well it works.

If all goes well, they will bring it back again.

For now, there is no official statement on a partial or general rollout, but we would love to see where they go from here anyways.

WhatsApp now boasts 5 billion installations from the Play Store

O. Christopher

January 20, 2020

WhatsApp now boasts 5 billion installations from the Play Store

WhatsApp has been on a steady rise since its introduction to the market, and it is now adding another feather to its cap on the way to becoming probably the greatest instant messaging platform ever.

The Google Play Store has a habit of keeping the records of how many installations an app has had over time. Instead of counting the number of installs in units, though, they prefer to use multiples (50k, 100k, 1M, etc.).

Seeing as Android is owned by Google, and most of the company’s apps come with the phones too, it is worthy of note that they are usually the ones with the most installs on any of their apps. However, Facebook managed to cut into the VIP club when it reached 5 billion installs a good while ago.

As of the time of this writing, WhatsApp has also entered the same club. With 5 billon installations to its name, the app is the second app not owned by Google to achieve this feat – and it belongs to the same company as the first app to make that happen too.

This is truly remarkable and continues to show how great the Facebook team must feel at making the acquisition when they did. For now, we can only wait to see changes that would be made to the app to make it even more impressive for others to jump on.

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