2026-02-12 08:42:00
AI features are expanding to all kinds of apps, and it's getting difficult to find a service that hasn't embraced AI. Lately, AI playlists in music apps have been growing in popularity, and it's plausible that we'll see Apple adopt the trend in the near future.
2026-02-12 08:04:00
Anthropic today said that customers who use Claude without a subscription can create files, use connectors, and access skills, all of which are features that used to require a paid plan.
The announcement comes two days after OpenAI said that it was starting to roll out ads for ChatGPT users who don't have a paid subscription, or who use the most affordable Go plan.
Anthropic last week promised to keep Claude ad-free, potentially luring ChatGPT users to Claude. The new free options appear to be a continuation of its effort to target people who don't want to see ads when using a chatbot.
Free users can create, edit, and work with files directly in a Claude conversation using Sonnet 4.5 (Pro users have access to the more capable Opus model). Claude is able to generate Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, Word documents, and PDF files.
The new access to connectors will let Claude users connect to third-party services at no cost. There are connectors for a wide variety of apps and services, including Slack, Asana, Zapier, Stripe, Canva, Notion, Figma, and WordPress.
Skills are repeatable filesystem-based resources that give Claude domain-specific expertise. Anthropic offers PowerPoint, Excel, Word, and PDF skills, but users can create custom skills with their domain expertise and organizational knowledge.
Anthropic says that free users are also able to engage in longer conversations with Claude thanks to the addition of compaction to the free plan. Compaction allows Claude to automatically summarize earlier context so there isn't a need to start a conversation from the beginning. Anthropic does not appear to have increased the free tier cap, however, so free users will still run into usage limitations.
2026-02-12 07:37:00
T-Mobile today announced a new live translation feature that allows conversations to be translated in real-time when calling someone from any phone on the T-Mobile network.
Live translation does not require any apps, and it is a free service that T-Mobile is offering in a beta capacity. T-Mobile users can sign up to test live translation on the T-Mobile website, with limited spots available.
The feature works with more than 50 languages, and voice conversations are translated for each speaker "almost instantly." T-Mobile says that users can speak how they normally do on calls, with live translation detecting the languages and voices that are speaking for a natural conversation.
Live translation is built into the T-Mobile network, so it works with any phone on T-Mobile, from iPhones to flip phones. T-Mobile users can even call landlines and get translation capabilities because only one phone connected to the call has to be on T-Mobile for translation to work.
To use live translation, T-Mobile users will need to sign up for the beta. From there, when on a call, pressing * 87 * on the keypad will initiate the live translation process.
Apple rolled out a translation feature for phone calls with iOS 26, but T-Mobile's version does not require participants to have an iPhone, and it covers more languages.
While live translation is free during the beta testing process, there could be a fee associated in the future. T-Mobile has not mentioned what it will cost when the beta ends.
2026-02-12 06:47:45
The U.S. version of TikTok is being updated with a new community-focused "Local Feed," according to a blog post shared by the TikTok USDS Joint Venture.
The Local Feed is designed to let TikTok users "discover and connect with content, businesses, and services" wherever they are. Available from a tab on the TikTok home screen, the feed features content related to travel, events, restaurants, and shopping, plus posts from nearby small businesses and local creators.
TikTok U.S. says that posts are selected based on location, the topic of the content, and when the content was posted. TikTok users who want access to the Local Feed will need to turn on precise location.
"This approach is consistent with how many modern apps use location today and gives people the choice to enable it when they want more relevant, local experiences, while keeping them in control," reads the blog post.
Precise Location is off by default, and the feature is opt-in with location only relayed when the app is in active use. Location data is "protected in the TikTok USDS JV secure environment."
TikTok U.S. says that it wants to "make sure TikTok is useful, locally relevant, and trusted." A similar "Nearby Feeds" feature rolled out for TikTok users in Europe back in December.
TikTok's U.S. operations were transferred to a majority American-owned TikTok USDS venture in late January, and the transition hasn't gone smoothly. TikTok users were unable to upload videos and had posts flagged as ineligible for recommendation, an issue that U.S. TikTok said was due to a power outage at a data center.
TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC is 80.1 percent owned by U.S. and global investors, including Oracle, Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi-based MGX. The three companies each own 15 percent as managing investors, and other U.S. stakeholders include the Dell Family Office and affiliates of Susquehanna International Group. TikTok parent company ByteDance continues to hold a 19.9 percent stake.
A seven-member majority-American board of directors is operating the U.S. version of TikTok, with Adam Presser, TikTok's former global head of operations serving as CEO.
Under the agreement, the venture handles U.S. data protection, content moderation, and algorithm security. TikTok's recommendation algorithm is being retrained and updated on U.S. user data, and it has been secured in Oracle's cloud environment.
2026-02-12 05:28:26
Apple released iOS 26.3 today, and while it doesn't have as many features as iOS 26.1 or iOS 26.2, there are still a couple of new additions worth knowing about.
2026-02-12 04:18:40
Apple has "run into snags" testing the more personalized, smarter version of Siri that's planned for iOS 26.4, reports Bloomberg. Because of the issues, the upcoming Siri features will be spread across several upcoming iOS releases and won't all come in the spring iOS 26.4 update.
Apple could postpone some or all of the new Siri features until iOS 26.5, an update planned for May, and iOS 27, which will launch this September.
We've been waiting on the Apple Intelligence version of Siri since iOS 18, when Apple debuted the features at the 2024 Worldwide Developers Conference. At the time, rumors suggested a spring 2025 launch. When spring rolled around, Apple announced that the new Siri would take longer than expected, with the functionality delayed for a year.
Since then, Apple has been targeting iOS 26.4, which the company will begin testing later this month. As Apple has been testing the updated version of Siri ahead of the release of the first iOS 26.4 beta, there have been unforeseen problems. Siri sometimes doesn't properly process queries and can take too long to respond to requests.
Apple engineers have been told to use iOS 26.5 for further internal testing, suggesting the new Siri features will be delayed until that update. Internally, iOS 26.5 includes notices describing the Siri features, as well as a "preview" toggle for turning on the Siri personalization feature that lets the personal assistant tap into user data like text messages and emails.
Employees that are testing iOS 26.5 say the update includes all of the features Apple promised, including personalization, onscreen awareness, and the ability for Siri to do more in and between apps, but not all of the features are working reliably and there are problems with accuracy.
Siri also apparently sometimes falls back on using ChatGPT for information instead of relying on the Gemini-powered technology that Apple has partnered with Google to use, even when the new version of Siri is capable of handling a user's request.
Apple also planned to include features that haven't been announced, such as options to generate images or search the web. Image generation and web search were tested as part of iOS 26.4, and it's possible they will still be included in the update, so Apple might still be able to announce some of the new Siri functionality. Image generation uses Image Playground, and web search summarizes information from the web.
Bloomberg says the situation is "fluid," though, so Apple's plans could change, and executives are reluctant to further delay the Siri functionality beyond spring 2026.
There are still major changes planned for iOS 27, with Apple aiming to add chatbot functionality to Siri to allow it to better compete with chatbots like Gemini, Claude, and ChatGPT. That version of Siri will have deep integration with Apple's operating systems.
