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Chrome could soon get a big AI upgrade – including personalized themes
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Google is working on a couple of new generative AI features for its Chrome browser like the ability to generate custom themes on desktop.

It’s similar to the Customize Chrome tool that came out back in May, although it’ll offer a lot more options. Looking at the demo videos shared by notable industry insider Leopeva64 on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter), Create Theme with AI, as it’s called, will ask you to first pick a subject from among 12 categories. The selections include objects in Space like the sun, famous US cities, to notable locations around the world such as the Great Wall of China. From here, you can choose a specific art style to mimic; be it an oil painting or 3D animation. 

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Users can then fine-tune their creations by picking out a mood. In the demo, a romantic undertone was chosen for the solar system theme. There’s also a palette of colors if you want to skew the output towards a certain hue. 

Once everything’s been chosen, you then click the Create button to generate your very own theme – at least, that’s how it’s supposed to work. The feature actually fails to produce anything in the demo.

Experimental tech

You see, Create Theme with AI is currently exclusive to Chrome Canary, an experimental version of the browser primarily meant for developers who want to try out Google’s “bleeding edge” tech. There's no guarantee it'll work as intended right now. We installed the app on our computer to see if we were able to take the generative engine out for a spin, but unfortunately, it was inaccessible to us. The tool wasn’t on Canary’s Flags list.

Everyone can download the browser; there are no restrictions. However, keep in mind that because it’s experimental, it can be unstable. Chrome Canary will sometimes randomly crash. Google even warns people in the Flags list that enabling the nascent features could cause you to lose browser data or even compromise your security. So, exercise caution when installing Canary.

If you manage to become one of the lucky few with access, don’t get too attached. Canary tests aren’t guaranteed to see the light of day in a future release. At most, they’re a clue for where Google might be heading with its software. If does come out, the feature may look or function differently.

Helping you post

As mentioned earlier, there is another generative AI tool in the works for Chrome called Help Me Write. Variations of this feature have been spotted elsewhere on Gmail for mobile as well as Google Docs. Hints of the upgrade exist on the company’s Chromium website, and according to what 9To5Google was able to piece together, it functions very similarly. Help Me Write can offer “contextual writing suggestions” for posts or online reviews, for example. All users have to do is enter a short prompt to help get the AI started.

It’s unknown when this second update will be released as it is still under development. 9To5Google thinks it could come on Chrome 122 at the earliest which is scheduled to arrive in February 2024. However, like with Create Theme with AI, don’t hold your breath. Things can always change at the last minute.

While we have you, check out TechRadar's recently updated list of the best laptops for 2023.

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Instagram and Facebook users will soon no longer be able to chat in new update
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Three years after it first launched, Meta has decided to disable Facebook's and Instagram's cross-messaging feature.

The company introduced cross-app chats back in 2020, letting users from the two platforms talk to each other with ease. There were even plans to extend the interoperability with CEO Mark Zuckerberg saying at one point he wanted to have all of Meta’s messaging apps working together. But those dreams have been squashed as a recently updated Instagram Help Center page states communication is ending sometime in “mid-December 2023”. An exact date was not given.

The support website lays out what’ll happen after deactivation. In addition to being unable to “start new conversations or calls”, all pre-existing chats made with a Facebook account will now become read-only. Facebook users, in turn, will not be able to see an Instagram profile’s Activity Status or view any read receipts. Plus, Meta will not be moving any conversations to Messenger. If you want to begin a new chat, you’ll have to start from scratch on the respective platform. 

Prepping for the future

Currently, we have no idea why this is happening. Meta has yet to make an official announcement explaining the move. However, 9To5Google theorizes it may have something to do with Europe's Digital Market Act (DMA). 

To give you a crash course, the European Union passed the DMA in 2022 as a way to prevent major tech corporations (or “gatekeepers” as the bill calls them) from gaining a monopoly over the tech industry. One of the provisions within the law is that these large companies must “offer interoperability between messaging platforms” and fall under the EU's purview. It’s important to point out that Meta has been scaling back its Messenger service for some time now, including ending support for the SMS standard and shutting down Messenger Lite.

The company might instead prop up WhatsApp as its main, DMA-compliant messaging service. WABetaInfo found evidence of this last September, with Meta working on allowing WhatsApp users to send texts to third-party apps. No word on when this support will officially be released, but it could be soon. Every corporation designated as a gatekeeper by the DMA must comply with the law by March 6, 2024.

We reached out to Meta asking if they could give an exact date on when the cross-chat feature will go offline and explain why they’re doing this. The story will be updated at a later time.

While you wait, check out TechRadar's list of the best encrypted messaging apps for Android in 2023.

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Microsoft’s Copilot chatbot will get 6 big upgrades soon – including ChatGPT’s new brain
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Microsoft has announced that Copilot – the AI chatbot formerly known as Bing Chat – is soon to get half a dozen impressive upgrades.

This batch of improvements should make the Copilot chatbot considerably more powerful in numerous respects (outside of, and inside of Windows 11).

So, first off, let’s break down the upgrades themselves (listed in a Microsoft blog post) before getting into a discussion of what difference they’re likely to make.

Firstly, and most importantly, Copilot is getting a new brain, or we should say an upgraded brain in the form of GPT-4 Turbo. That’s the latest model of GPT from OpenAI which makes various advances in terms of being generally better and more accurate.

Another beefy upgrade is an updated engine for Dall-E 3, the chatbot’s image creation feature, which produces higher quality results that are more closely aligned with what’s requested by the user. This is actually in Copilot right now.

Thirdly, Microsoft promises that Copilot will do better with image searches, returning better results when you sling a picture at the AI in order to learn more about it.

Another addition is Deep Search which uses GPT-4 to “deliver optimized search results for complex topics” as Microsoft puts it. What this means is that if you have a query for Copilot, it can produce a more in-depth search request to produce better results. Furthermore, if the terms of your query are vague and could potentially relate to multiple topics, Deep Search will follow up on what those topics might be and offer suggestions to allow you to refine the query.

The fifth upgrade Microsoft has planned is Code Interpreter, which as the name suggests will help perform complex tasks including coding, data analysis and so forth. That’s not something the average user will benefit from, but there are those who will, of course.

Finally, Copilot in Microsoft’s Edge browser has a rewrite feature (for inline text composition) coming soon. This allows you to select text on a website and get the AI to rewrite it for you.

Analysis: Something for Google to worry about

Dall-E 3

(Image credit: Future)

There are some really useful changes inbound here. Getting GPT-4 Turbo is an upgrade (from GPT-4) that a lot of Copilot users have been clamoring for, and Microsoft tells us that it’s now being tested with select users. (We previously heard it still had a few kinks to iron out, so presumably that’s what’s currently going on).

GPT-4 Turbo will be rolling out in the “coming weeks” so it should be here soon enough, with any luck, and you’ll be able to see the difference it makes for you in terms of a greater level of accuracy for the chatbot when responding to your queries.

It’s great to see Dall-E 3 getting an upgrade, too, as it’s already an excellent image creation engine, frankly. (Recall the rush to use the feature when it was first launched, due to the impressive results being shared online).

The search query improvements, both the Deep Search capabilities and refined image searching, will also combine with the above upgrades to make Copilot a whole lot better across multiple fronts. (Although we do worry somewhat about the potential for abuse with that inline rewrite feature for Edge).

All of this forward momentum for Copilot comes as we just heard news of Google delaying its advances on the AI front, pushing some major launches back to the start of 2024. Microsoft isn’t hanging around when it comes to Copilot, that’s for sure, and Google has to balance keeping up, without pushing so hard that mistakes are made.

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Report: Google delays its biggest AI launch of the year, but it’s still coming soon
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Google has delayed a series of top-secret artificial intelligence (AI) events that were set to showcase the company’s Gemini generative AI tool, according to The Information. If true, it's another blow to Google’s efforts to compete with the likes of ChatGPT in the AI world – although Gemini is still expected to launch soon.

As detailed in a paywalled report from The Information, the Gemini event was due to take place just days from now, with the first one kicking off next week. Yet Google CEO Sundar Pichai has apparently taken the decision to push it back to January 2024, according to “two people with knowledge of the of the decision.”

The reason for the delay? Google was not confident that Gemini was able to “reliably handle some non-English queries,” The Information claims. Google wants to ensure its AI tool works well in a number of languages, and it’s clearly not quite there yet.

The events – due to be held in California, New York and Washington – would apparently have been “Google’s most important product launch of the year” owing to how keen Google is to catch up with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. That means that delaying them could be a sizable blow to Google, even if they do ultimately take place in early 2024.

In ChatGPT’s shadow

Google on a smartphone

(Image credit: Solen Feyissa/Unsplash)

Despite their imminent dates, Google hadn’t done much promotion for the events (perhaps due to concerns over Gemini’s abilities). In the end, that meant the company managed to avoid an embarrassing retraction or cancellation of already-announced events.

Yet Google isn’t likely to be very happy with the situation. The delay demonstrates how much the company is struggling to get on level terms with OpenAI, despite its vast wealth and engineering abilities. It’s also the second time in recent weeks that Google has reportedly had to delay its Gemini events.

It comes shortly after OpenAI reportedly had a major breakthrough with its own generative AI efforts. This tool is supposedly able to solve problems it has not been trained on, something that AI has traditionally found difficult, thereby ramping up the pressure on Google to hit back.

Google is likely to weave Gemini’s AI capabilities into its other products, such as Search, Google Assistant, Google Docs and more, The Information believes, so keep an eye out for AI updates if you regularly use the company’s apps. Just don’t expect to see these changes until early next year.

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This Windows app could soon let you use your phone as a webcam
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Right now, there’s no need to use one of the best webcams to record yourself in video calls and meetings, as there are plenty of third-party apps that let you use your phone as a webcam. Even Apple has got in on the act with its Continuity Camera system, and it now seems that Microsoft also wants a slice of the pie.

According to Android Authority, Microsoft is working on adding this functionality to its Phone Link app that helps connect Android phones to Windows. That could be a major boost to anyone who doesn’t want to spend money on a webcam when they already have excellent cameras built into their smartphone.

Android Authority claims that code in the 1.23102.190.0 version of the Phone Link app gives the game away. The outlet has spotted code strings that reference setting up a camera stream on your computer, with controls allowing you to switch to the front or back cameras, enable Do Not Disturb, and more.

As well as that, there look to be a raft of video effects that you might be able to apply, ranging from HDR and night modes to soft focus, image stabilization, face retouching, and more. There’s also an 'auto-framing' feature that sounds similar to Apple’s Center Stage.

Plenty of competition

Apple's Craig Federighi demonstrating Continuity Camera in macOS Ventura at WWDC 2022.

(Image credit: Apple)

Phone Link can already access your camera, but in its current state this just mirrors video-calling apps on your phone. The new code, on the other hand, suggests that Microsoft is working to bring video-conferencing functionality into Phone Link itself.

It’s not known which devices this feature will be available on, but Android Authority speculates that it could end up being limited to products that include Phone Link as a system app. That would include a number of the best Samsung Galaxy phones, as well as the OnePlus 11 running Android 14, for example.

When – or if – this feature does launch, it’ll face some stiff competition. For instance, the Camo app is a superb tool for using your phone as a webcam, and contains a ton of fine-grained control for perfecting your videos. Microsoft will need to work hard to overcome that challenge.

Stepping back for a moment, there’s no guarantee that this feature will eventually make it into Phone Link. It could be that Microsoft is simply experimenting with it, and might scrap the feature before launch. Time will tell, but if Microsoft can do what Apple has done with Continuity Camera it could be a great addition for Windows and Android users.

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Got an old Android phone? Google Calendar could soon stop working on it
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If you're the sort of person who likes to keep their Android phone or tablet running for several years, you might want to take note that Google Calendar could be dropping support for devices that aren't running Android 8 or newer.

The team at TheSpAndroid (via Android Police) has spotted code and an image in the latest release of Google Calendar for Android, which tells the user that “your current Android version is no longer supported”.

There's a flag labeled “UnsupportedOperatingSystem__enabled”, and the app is now marked as only supporting Android 8 (Oreo) and newer. For now though, it doesn't seem as though the switch has been hit that will disqualify older devices.

When that happens, you'll see a message on screen if you try and run the Google Calendar app on something older than Android 8, telling you to upgrade. Presumably Google Calendar will still be available via a mobile web browser on these phones and tablets.

The end is nigh

To be fair to Google, Android 8 was launched all the way back in August 2017. There aren't going to be a huge number of devices still running Android 7 (or Nougat) that can't be updated to Android 8, with the final Android 7.1.2 update pushed out in April 2017.

According to StatCounter, 2.12% of Android devices worldwide are running Android 7 or Android 7.1, with another 3.42% of devices on anything older than that – so we're looking at about 1 in 20 phones and tablets overall. The newest version, Android 14, started to roll out in October 2023.

Some of those older devices will be eligible for upgrades to newer Android versions, but if you have one that doesn't, it might be time to think about investing in a new gadget – at least if you want to carry on using Google Calendar.

Besides offering an improved set of features, newer versions of Android also give you better security, which is probably Google's main motivation here. According to TheSpAndroid, Google Calendar on Android currently supports devices running Android 5 (Lollipop), launched in June 2014.

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Spotify could soon let you turn off personalized recommendations
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While we're patiently waiting for Spotify Wrapped 2023 to drop, it seems as though a tweak is on the way in terms of how recommendations are served up: Spotify would appear to be testing the option to turn off personalized recommendations.

This comes from code spotted in a beta version of one of Spotify's apps, by a MacRumors source. At the moment though, we don't know much else about this potential new feature or how it might work if it rolls out to users.

Personalized recommendations are of course based on listening history and habits, so presumably most people will want to keep them switched on to see more music that matches their tastes. Without the personalization, presumably the recommendations would be what's trending and popular, or picked out by Spotify staff.

It does seem that this will be an optional extra for users, so personalized recommendations are by no means going away. It might also be useful if someone else (like your kids) are using your Spotify account – though the Taste Profile features do help you modify the way your recommendations work, to some extent.

Keep on tracking

By default, Spotify does of course keep tabs on everything you do in the app, to make sure you're never short of something to listen to – you can have playlists automatically continue with related music, for example. These algorithm-driven recommendations apply to Spotify audiobooks and podcasts too.

There's a possibility that some people just don't want to be driven by algorithms and AI, or don't want Spotify keeping tabs on every playlist they put on, or both. Until we get an official word on what this new setting might mean, we can only speculate about why it would be implemented.

This built-in tracking is what makes features such as Spotify Wrapped 2023 work, giving you a deep dive into all the tracks you've played over the years – and perhaps surfacing some listening trends that you wouldn't otherwise have noted.

We will of course keep you posted if we hear anything else about what might be happening with Spotify and personalized recommendations. In the meantime, check out our Spotify tips and tricks guide to get more out of the music streaming service.

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Your WhatsApp backups on Android will soon eat into your Google Drive storage
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Bad news for WhatsApp users on Android: chat log and media backups will soon count toward your Google Account storage limit.

This includes the free 15GB of storage given to people whenever they create a new Google Account. That amount is shared across Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos with the update further restricting on what can be saved. This move is a complete reversal of a 2018 decision where backups didn’t count toward the limit. It was all on the house. 

Google explains on its Android Help website that it’s enacting this change so the “WhatsApp backup experience… will be in line with how it works on other platforms, with the added benefit of” having the free 15GB. The tech giant takes the time to point out this is “three times more than most mobile platforms” which appears to be a random potshot at iCloud’s more confining 5GB of storage. 

The new rules

WhatsApp’s own post on its help website describes in detail how the update will roll out. It’ll affect WhatsApp Beta users first starting in December 2023. After that, the changes will periodically expand to all Android users throughout the first half of 2024. The platform states it’ll erect a banner in the Chat Backup section of the app’s Settings menu 30 days before it goes live on your phone.

Once you’ve reached the storage limit, you will need to start deleting files on your account in order to resume backups. You do have the option to purchase more storage via Google One. Prices normally start at $ 2 for the 100GB plan; however, at the time of this writing, monthly subscriptions have been reduced to $ 0.50 for the first three months. WhatsApp also recommends using their Chat Transfer tool to move chats between phones.

It’s important to mention this only affects personal Google Accounts. “If you have a Google Workspace subscription through work or school,” nothing changes for you. Restrictions won’t be implemented.

Feeling the squeeze

We should mention the move isn’t totally coming out of nowhere. 

Hints of this decision first appeared all the way back in early 2022 when news site WABetaInfo discovered code in a WhatsApp beta revealing the cut off. We theorized the limitations were due to the sheer size of some chats as well as the “quantity of multimedia content people share” on the platform. All that data may have been putting a squeeze on Google servers “costing [the company] a significant sum.” 

It appears all the recent WhatsApp updates have exacerbated this issue. We reached out to Google asking if it would like to make a statement. A company representative told us one of the main reasons why the two are making this change is “that over the years, more people have joined WhatsApp, sharing more high-res images and videos than ever before.” 

During this past summer, the platform gave people the ability to share high definition photographs and videos. Perhaps the large file sizes proved to be too much for Google to handle, forcing the company to implement some sort of limitation on the platform.

Be sure to check out TechRadar's list of the best photo storage and sharing sites in 2023 if you're looking for other options.

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Microsoft tests option to make Copilot AI appear as soon as Windows 11 loads
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Microsoft could be giving its Copilot AI some new powers in Windows 11 (and maybe Windows 10 eventually), or at least this functionality has been spotted in test builds – including the ability to fire up the AI as soon as the operating system boots.

Windows Latest reported on some fresh options recently brought into testing for Copilot, and as mentioned one is a toggle to ‘Open Copilot when Windows starts’ (tucked away in the Personalization area of Settings).

In short, this means that when your PC first loads up the desktop, the Copilot panel will appear straightaway. This option carries some text notes explaining that this is primarily aimed at those with a wider screen (in other words, with the display real-estate to fit Copilot on as a constant companion).

Another move in testing for Copilot is unpinning the AI’s side-panel. This is a button present on the actual side-bar for the AI, and when clicked, Copilot collapses when you maximize another window.

As it is, the Copilot side-panel stays in place when you make another app full-screen, so you can still see the AI to the right of whatever program is running. When this switch is flicked, though, a maximized app will take up the whole screen, with the side-panel being hidden.

Finally, Microsoft is currently trying out the ability for users to resize the Copilot panel. This has been spotted in testing before, mind you. However, this time around Windows Latest shows us that as you enlarge the side-panel, at a certain point when the interface is big enough, recent activity and active plug-ins are shown.

Analysis: Some useful changes for tailoring the AI

If you’re a Windows 11 tester and you haven’t seen any of these options for Copilot, that’s not too surprising, as Microsoft is only trialing them with a limited set of Windows Insiders at the moment.

As ever with features in preview, they may or may not be carried forward, but if they are, all testers will get them eventually – and then they’ll debut in the release version of Windows 11.

The functionality to unpin, resize, and have Copilot appear by default after boot – if you want to, and perhaps have an ultra-wide monitor – are all choices that will prove useful and add versatility to the way Copilot’s interface works. And given that, we can’t see why they wouldn’t make the cut for inclusion in Windows 11 ultimately.

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Google Maps could soon be getting its own AI chatbot
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Google hasn't been shy about pushing artificial intelligence into its various apps and services, and it seems that the venerable Google Maps could be next in line to get an integrated AI chatbot of its own.

Code hidden in the latest beta version of Google Maps for Android, as spotted by Android Authority, makes various mentions of in-app conversations – including the line “you're talking with a chatbot”, which sort of gives the game away.

However, only a few strings of related code have been spotted so far, so we don't have too much more information about this chatbot in terms of what form it will take, what it's designed to do, and how it will integrate with the rest of Google Maps.

Nothing is certain yet, and of course Google could easily change its mind about the Maps chatbot – but given the company's focus on AI these last few months, we wouldn't be surprised to see this new feature arriving in the app very soon.

Getting chatty

Without any official word from Google, we're left to speculate what an AI chatbot in Google Maps might do. As Android Authority points out, it could well be something to do with submitting reviews and comments to Google Maps, perhaps via the Local Guides program.

The line of code that says “thank you for your contribution” certainly backs that up. Perhaps a chatbot might swing into action when you've visited a place, asking what your experience was like or what you thought of the service.

Another possibility is that the upcoming bot will actually give you travel advice: what to see in a particular area, where the best places to stay are, and so on. This would be similar to the advice that Google Bard (now with Google Maps integration) can already give.

AI chatbots might also be used to field questions from Google Maps users to businesses – questions about opening hours and facilities, for example. Right now, these questions can be posted and answered by humans, but AI might be about to step in.

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