Snapchat now lets you tag other users in Stories

It’s usually the Facebook-owned Instagram aping Snapchat, adding features like Stories and face filters from the social selfie platform to the photo-sharing one. This time, however, it’s Snapchat that’s “borrowing” a hallmark from Instagram: now you can add @ replies to your Snaps and make it easier to tag your friends in posts.

You first need to take a photo or video, then type the person’s @ name over the top with the text tool. It’s a little tricky if you don’t already know your friend’s actual Snapchat name, as there’s no autofill or drop-down. It will send that person a notification that you just mentioned them, however. Further, if someone clicks on the mention in your snap, they’ll go right to that person’s profile page. The company confirmed it was testing the @ reply to TechCrunch, but didn’t hand out any more details. The feature hasn’t rolled out to everyone though: we’ve been able to make it work with some of our own phones at Engadget, but not everyone can create or see the mentions.

Via: TechCrunch

Hulu adds sports features to Live TV just in time for March Madness

Just in time for March Madness, Hulu has added features for its Live TV service keyed specifically to the month-long event. Did you like choosing particular sports during the recent Winter Olympics and having Hulu curate coverage per your interests? They’re bringing it back for the basketball finals: Just pick your favorite NCAA men’s and women’s teams and the service will make sure you never miss their games.

In practice, this means automatically recording those teams’ games and bumping them to the top of your coverage feed. Hulu apps on iOS and Android will also tip you off when the games are about to start. Live TV subscribers will be able to watch all of March Madness appearing on TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV in most cities, according to Hulu’s blog post.

And Hulu Live TV subscribers can watch some of those (like CBS) on 60fps. The service has expanded its list of channels available in the high-speed format — for basketball fans, this includes the relevant Fox and NBC sports options. This adds on to the first round of networks made available in 60fps last month, including TNT and TBS.

Source: Hulu, Hulu (Reddit)

Android Continues to Have More Loyal Customers Than iOS

Android customers continue to be loyal to the Android operating system than iOS users are to the iOS operating system, according to new data shared today by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners.

Android saw a 91 percent loyalty rate in 2017, compared to 86 percent for iOS, with loyalty rates for the two operating systems remaining largely steady since early 2016. Android loyalty has hovered at 89 to 91 percent since January 2016, while iOS loyalty has been between 85 and 88 percent.

Operating system loyalty for the year was measured by the percentage of customers that remained with each operating system when activating a new phone over the twelve months ending in December 2017. CIRP says its findings are based on quarterly surveys with a sample of 500 subjects each.

“Loyalty for both Android and iOS increased in 2015 and into 2016, when it leveled off for both operating systems,” said Mike Levin, Partner and Co-Founder of CIRP. “Loyalty is also as high as we’ve ever seen, really from 85-90% at any given point. With only two mobile operating systems at this point, it appears users now pick one, learn it, invest in apps and storage, and stick with it. Now, Apple and Google need to figure out how to sell products and services to these loyal customer bases.”

With the Android operating system, customers have access to a range of different smartphones that are all able to run Android, which may explain why it has a higher loyalty rate. Android devices are also typically more affordable than iOS devices, with a wider range of low-priced options available.

As CIRP points out, with fewer and fewer first-time smartphone buyers available, poaching customers from competing operating systems is becoming increasingly important. Apple regularly aims to lure Android users to iOS through trade-in options, videos, a Move to iOS app to make transitioning simple, and a “Switch” website dedicated to explaining all of the reasons why the iPhone is better than competing smartphones.

“We know Android has a larger base of users than iOS, and because of that larger base, the absolute number of users that switch to iOS from Android is as large or larger than the absolute number of users that switch to Android from iOS. Looking at absolute number of users in this way tends to support claims that iOS gains more former Android users, than Android does former iOS users.”

These loyalty rates are not equivalent to switcher rates, where iOS wins out. With a larger Android customer base, more customers are switching over to iOS devices on a regular basis. During earnings calls, Apple CEO Tim Cook always touts the high number of Android switchers Apple sees, with each quarter setting a new record.

Tags: CIRP, Android
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