Samsung Care+ to add unlimited battery replacement, with a price hike

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Samsung Care+ to add unlimited battery replacement, with a price hike
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In a world where smartphones are sacrificing their charging adapters in a bid to save the planet if we skip another purchase of an entire phone, that should definitely make a difference. Well, Samsung has come up with a restructure in its device protection plans, that might actually help you save the planet, and probably some cash as well. Although there’s a price hike in the plans too. Last year, the company introduced unlimited cracked screen repairs on Galaxy S23 for just $29.

Unlimited battery replacement under certain circumstances

Currently, Samsung offers a one-time battery replacement as part of its Samsung Care+ device protection plans. Notably, it only covers mechanical failures and not the gradual battery health degradation that all products with batteries have to go through.

Without external damage to the components, it’s generally the battery that convinces you to get an entirely new product. Well, from May 1st, those who are a part of the Samsung Care+ or the Samsung Care+ Theft and Loss plan, will be able to opt for a free battery replacement under certain circumstances.

The battery capacity will need to be less than 79%, according to the company’s diagnostic test. Additionally, the phone opting for the battery replacement should not have any external damage.

“Samsung will include Unlimited Battery Repair for eligible devices*, that exhibit a charging capacity below 79% as indicated by a diagnostic test, as a new feature to the Samsung Care+ with Theft and Loss and Samsung Care+ device protection products.” The company adds “Customers will be eligible for Unlimited Battery Repairs without additional damage to the covered device being present.”

For many people having no issues with the display, cameras, or processing capability of their old phone, the free battery replacement (except for the cost of the protection plan) may serve as an alternative to a new purchase. Notably, the repair option will be available through both walk-in or mail-in repair.

Samsung Care+ plans will cost you an extra $2 as a trade-off

Starting from May 1st, 2024, both the Samsung Care+ and the Samsung Care+ Theft and Loss plans will see a price increase of $2 as a trade-off.

“Payment of the monthly charge on your first billing cycle on or after May 1 2024 will serve as confirmation that you accept these changes and that you wish to continue,” the company notes. And if you wish to opt out of the program, you can just contact a Samsung Care+ representative.


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OpenAI announces ‘Voice Engine’ to create human voices

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OpenAI announces ‘Voice Engine’ to create human voices
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OpenAI can now recreate human voices with its “Voice Engine” platform. The Microsoft-funded company is holding the new AI engine close to its chest owing to obvious ethical and legal implications.

After the massive success of ChatGPT, DALL-E, and Sora, OpenAI has now ventured into the field of sound, particularly, human speech and voice. The Voice Engine AI is currently in the beta testing phase but internet users might not be able to sign up for a subscription.

Voice Engine can recreate multilingual human voices with just 15-second recordings

ChatGPT took the world by storm, DALL-E unlocked creativity in millions, and Sora may soon allow ordinary internet users to become movie creators. After text, images, and videos, OpenAI has now announced Voice Engine, an AI platform that can recreate human voices.

The New York Times received a demo of the Voice Engine platform. The AI engine can reportedly recreate a human’s voice from a 15-second recording. If that’s not scary enough, after absorbing the needed information, Voice Engine can speak any text prompt into the recreated human voice.

Surprisingly, the text prompt need not even be in the native language of the speaker, whose voice was used to train the AI engine. In other words, a native English speaker could speak in Spanish, French, Chinese, or many other languages through Voice Engine.

Given the obvious pitfalls of such a technology, OpenAI has assured it is exploring multiple safety checks such as watermarks. There would be controls that restrict Voice Engine from creating the human voices of certain individuals.

Interestingly, OpenAI product manager, Jeff Harris has reportedly claimed the company doesn’t have any immediate plans to make money from the technology. The primary purpose of the is to be useful to people who lost their voices through illness or accident, he added.

Will OpenAI offer its latest creation to internet users as a subscription?

OpenAI’s Sora, which allows users to create a 60-second motion picture with just text prompts, isn’t available to the general public. Similarly, the company hasn’t released any version of Voice Engine.

Voice Engine is currently available to “a small group of businesses.” Simply put, a few companies, presumably by invitation, have limited access to the platform.

Needless to mention, there are huge ethical and legal implications of an AI platform that can recreate human voices, in multiple languages, based on a 15-recording.

OpenAI may have restricted access to Voice Engine. However, it is concerning to note that AI has metamorphosized into a behemoth.

In addition to convincing deep fake images and videos, scamsters and fraudsters have been using AI to mimic human voices for quite some time. Several victims have fallen prey to deep fake voice messages that sounded like their relatives were in trouble and were asking for money.

In the wrong hands, Voice Engine could accept and recreate the voices of politicians, celebrities, journalists, and other prominent personalities. The platform could be used to create convincing audio clips that spread misinformation or propaganda. In an equally scary scenario, hackers and criminals could compromise security systems that rely on voice authentication.

Hence, OpenAI would most likely heavily censor and regulate the Voice Engine platform. It would have to formulate some tough and smart digital locks as well as stringent safety checks to prevent its misuse.

Safety and ethical concerns aside, OpenAI’s Voice Engine could be tremendously helpful to film and web-series producers who need to dub their creations into other languages. Similarly, the educational and entertainment fields too could benefit immensely.


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How to back up your iPhone to iCloud

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How to back up your iPhone to iCloud
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They say the only backup you ever regret is the one you didn’t make. iPhone backups can be used to easily move your apps and data to a new phone, to recover things you’ve lost, or to fix things that have failed.

The most convenient way to backup your iPhone is to have it backup to iCloud. Backups are made every day, automatically, provided your phone is connected to power and locked. Be aware though that backups take take up a lot of your iCloud storage, and your phones’ data plan if you choose to backup when you aren’t connected to Wi-Fi. If those are likely to be problems for you, you might prefer to backup your iPhone to your Mac.

This guide tells you how to enable backups to iCloud, and how to check that everything is working as you expect.

Open the Settings app.

iPhone home screen

Then tap where you see your name and Apple ID, iCloud+, Media & Purchases.

iPhone settings

Next, tap iCloud.

Apple ID screen

Scroll down and tap iCloud Backup.

iCloud screen

Toggle Back Up This iPhone to on.

iCloud Backup screen with backup option turned off.

This may reveal a Back Up Over Cellular Data or Back Up Over Mobile Data toggle. This creates backups when you aren’t connected to Wi-Fi. Because backups can use a lot of data, toggling this on may cause you to exceed your data plan.

iCloud Backup screen with backup option turned on.

Once you have made a backup, you can access it from this screen under ALL DEVICE BACKUPS.

iCloud Backup screen showing device backups.

You can return to the previous screen by tapping the < iCloud link at the top. This screen shows you how much storage space your backups are using. To see a little more detail, tap Manage Account Storage.

iCloud screen showing account storage

Scroll down the list of apps until you see Backups to see how much storage your backups are using.

Manage account storage screen

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Release date, specs, price & more

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Release date, specs, price & more
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The original Google Pixel Tablet was launched in May last year, during Google I/O 2023. The device was announced alongside the Pixel 7a, Google’s budget smartphone. The Google Pixel Tablet 2 is expected to arrive this year, though we didn’t hear much about it at this point. That is a bit odd, as May is right around the corner. If Google is aiming to launch this tablet, chances are it will be in May. Its codenames surfaced a while back.

The original Pixel Tablet left a lot of room for improvement, even though it was a solid offering by the company. We do hope to see a number of improvements made with the second-gen model, that’s for sure. So even though the information is scarce at the moment, some details did surface. We’ll also try to fill in the gaps. Let’s see what we can expect Google to deliver this year.

This article will be regularly updated with new information on the Google Pixel Tablet 2 (this is a preview article) — both official teasers and credible leaks, rumors, and insider claims — as it becomes available in the run-up to the release of the upcoming Android smartphone. This is the initial posting of the article.

When will the Google Pixel Tablet 2 be released?

The launch date of the Google Pixel Tablet 2 did not leak just yet. Considering that the first-gen model launched during Google I/O in May last year, we expect the same to happen with the Pixel Tablet 2. The device will most likely arrive during Google I/O 2024. The company’s event will be a two-day ordeal, and it will kick off on May 14. So that’s almost certainly the launch date of the Pixel Tablet 2, unless Google plans a major shift in its release cycle. Google always opens Google I/O with a keynote, so… there you have it. The Pixel 8a will most probably arrive alongside the Pixel Tablet 2, by the way.

What models are coming?

Google announced two different iterations of the Pixel Tablet last year. Those two models were identical in all ways but one, storage. The Pixel Tablet included 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. We’re still not sure what combinations is Google preparing this year, but chances are we’ll get a similar setup. A singular RAM option with a couple of storage options. This year’s model could even start at 256GB of storage, we’ll have to wait and see.

We do hope that Google will offer improved RAM and storage this time around, though. Last year’s model offered LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 flash storage. Let’s hope Google will make a jump to LPDDR5X and UFS 4.0, though I have to say I’m not too optimistic about that. The company will likely want to keep a low price tag on the device, so… we’ll see.

How much will the Google Pixel Tablet 2 cost?

The Google Pixel Tablet was priced at $499 at launch. It was sold with Google’s charging dock/speaker, which was included in that price tag. The Pixel Tablet was envisioned to be both a tablet and a smart display of sorts. Many people would say it did a good job of that, and the price tag Google offered was rather appealing. The company had to cut a number of corners in order to get there, though. If Google plans to keep the same price tag or offer a slight bump, we likely won’t see top-of-the-line specs this time either. We did not see a single Pixel Tablet 2 price rumor or leak, so we can only guess. It’s possible Google has more ambitious plans, we’ll have to wait and see.

What will the Google Pixel Tablet 2 look like?

Even though May 14 is not that far away at this point, the Pixel Tablet 2 design didn’t leak just yet. We did not see its CAD-based renders or anything of the sort. The device’s design is a complete mystery at the moment. The original Pixel Tablet was kind of similar to Google’s budget smartphones from a couple of years ago, in terms of the back side design. The design was understated, and yet nice at the same time. We wonder if the company plans to shift that into something more similar to the Pixel 8.

We need to remember that the Pixel Tablet was a budget device, first and foremost. So Google may want to stick with its design language, and not change things too much. Unless the company is planning to move the Pixel Tablet 2 to a more premium tier of products, of course. All we can do at this point is guess. What we would like to see, however, is for those bezels on the front to get a bit slimmer. The ones on the Pixel Tablet are not exactly slim, so a slight trim would do the trick.

The tablet could be slightly smaller despite the same display size

In regards to the overall size, chances are that Google will want to keep the same display size (around 11 inches in diagonal). The size of the tablet could be a bit smaller if the company ends up thinning those bezels around the display. It remains to be seen. Let’s hope that the design of the device will pop up in the near future, so that we have more to go on.

What specs will the Google Pixel Tablet 2 have?

The Google Pixel Tablet 2 was not exactly a high-end tablet. It did include Google’s most powerful chip at the time, but the specs in general were not exactly high-end. We do expect Google to keep the Pixel Tablet 2’s price under control too. Some improvements are expected, though. We don’t have much to go on in terms of rumors and leaks, but there are some improvements that we’d like to see, and which are plausible.

The first thing that comes to mind is a higher refresh rate display. The Pixel Tablet includes a 10.95-inch 2560 x 1600 LCD display with a 60Hz refresh rate. We’d love to see an AMOLED panel on the Pixel Tablet 2, and at least a 90Hz panel, though a 120Hz one would be ideal. We’ve been seeing a 120Hz panels on budget phones these days. So, Google can certainly figure things out when it comes to that… while keeping the price tag in check.

Google will most likely use the Tensor G3 SoC

In regards to the SoC, the Tensor G3 will be used, almost certainly. That is Google’s most powerful chip at the moment. If the tablet arrives in May, that chip will be included. It’s easily possible Google will stick with 8GB of RAM, but we’d love to see a move to 12GB of RAM. More than one storage option will be available, though it remains to be seen whether we’ll get 128GB and 256GB storage variants, or perhaps 256GB and 512GB storage flavors.

The company will likely utilize at least four speakers yet again, while Android 14 will come pre-installed on the device. Stylus support is expected, while a single camera will be included on the back. An 8-megapixel unit was used in the first-gen model, and it wasn’t exactly great. Still, you won’t be taking a lot of pictures with a tablet if any. The front-facing module is quite important, though, so let’s hope Google will make a jump to a better sensor this time around, and hopefully at least a 16-megapixel one.

Last year’s model included a 7,020mAh battery. The battery life on the Pixel Tablet was not good, but the dock did make it less of a problem. Well, at least in our eyes. We are hoping for a larger battery pack inside the Pixel Tablet 2. On top of that, a new and improved dock would be welcomed.

Should you wait to buy the Google Pixel Tablet 2?

Considering how very little information about the device we have at the moment, we cannot really make that call. The Pixel Tablet is still a great value, and it’s often discounted a bit too. That makes it even more appealing. If you’re not in a hurry, waiting a couple of more months to see what will happen in terms of the Pixel Tablet 2 may not be a bad idea. If you do need a tablet really soon, the Pixel Tablet is still a solid offering, that’s for sure.


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How to back up your iPhone to a Mac

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How to back up your iPhone to a Mac
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They say the only backup you ever regret is the one you didn’t make. iPhone backups can be used to easily move your apps and data to a new phone, to recover things you’ve lost, or to fix things that have failed.

One of the most cost effective ways to backup your iPhone is to save backups to your Mac. Backups are made automatically whenever you connect your iPhone to your Mac with a lead. Be aware though that backups can take up a lot of space on your Mac, and that if your Mac is lost, stolen, or inoperable, then you won’t be able to access your iPhone backups. If you need daily backups or backups that can always be accessed from anywhere, you may prefer to backup your iPhone to iCloud.

This guide tells you how to enable backups to your Mac, and how to check that everything is working as you expect.

First, connect your iPhone or iPad to a Mac using a cable.

Open the Finder app and select your iPhone from the list of Locations.

Finder with connected iPhone selected

Click General.

Finder with connected iPhone selected, General tab selected

Under Backups, choose Back up all of the data on your iPhone to this Mac.

Finder with connected iPhone selected, 'Back up all the data on your iPhone to this Mac' selected.

To encrypt your backup data and protect it with a password, select Encrypt local backup. You will be prompted for a password.

Finder with connected iPhone selected, 'Encrypt local backup' highlighted

Click Back Up Now.

Finder with connected iPhone selected, 'Back Up Now' highlighted

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Does the 108MP Camera Deliver Stunning Photos?

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Does the 108MP Camera Deliver Stunning Photos?
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Ulefone just introduced its groundbreaking Note 17 Pro with a powerful camera system. The Note 17 Pro features a stunning 108-megapixel primary camera, paired with a 5-megapixel macro camera and 32-megapixel front camera that allows users to capture intricate details like never before.

Equipped with an impressive 108-megapixel resolution sensor from Samsung, the Note 17 Pro offers an unparalleled photography experience, allowing users to capture the vast world in stunning detail. The high resolution of this camera not only provides exceptional clarity and sharpness but also ensures remarkable results even when cropping images.

The Note 17 Pro’s 5-megapixel macro camera is a game-changer in photography, offering users the ability to capture fine details with impressive accuracy. Whether you want to capture the beauty of flowers and leaves or the intricate movements of ants, the macro mode on the Note 17 Pro brings the miniature world to life before your eyes.

The Note 17 Pro is a fantastic phone that comes with a variety of advanced photography features to help you unleash your creativity. Along with its impressive camera capabilities, it also provides an array of film filters that offer different vibes and moods for your photos, letting you bring your artistic vision to life with every shot. Additionally, the Note 17 Pro includes a pro mode that gives you complete control over your photography settings, allowing you to freeze fast-moving subjects, create light paintings, or capture slow-motion videos as per your choice. The phone also features a timelapse function that enables you to speed up your videos and create captivating sequences that showcase the beauty of motion and change in an engaging and unique way.

The Note 17 Pro is not just about stunning photos but also delivers an immersive visual experience. The device debuts Ulefone’s first regular smartphone series with a cutting-edge AMOLED display, featuring a 6.78-inch screen with FHD+ resolution and a silky-smooth 120Hz refresh rate for captivating visuals. The display, safeguarded by Corning Gorilla Glass 5, ensures durability against everyday drops, while the new in-display fingerprint sensor adds both convenience and security to the user experience.

The Note 17 Pro effortlessly powers through tasks and entertainment thanks to the dynamic combination of the MediaTek Helio G99 processor and up to 24GB of RAM. With ample storage of up to 256GB, users can store all their essential apps, media, and memories with ease, while the robust 5050mAh battery keeps them connected throughout the day.

The Ulefone Note 17 Pro epitomizes a leap forward in mobile photography and technology, offering users the tools to unleash their creativity and capture life’s moments in exquisite detail. Learn more about the remarkable camera features of the Note 17 Pro by visiting the Ulefone website.


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Gemini direction prompts automate navigation with Google Maps

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Gemini direction prompts automate navigation with Google Maps
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A major update for Google’s AI assistant Gemini is now available, and it enables hands-free navigation by taking you to Google Maps upon request. This development aims to streamline user experience thus removing the need for clicking directions from a link. With the feature’s help, people can simply prompt Gemini for direction and it will take you to Maps with navigation ready.

Gemini integrates seamlessly with Google Maps in this new update

Gemini, a cornerstone of Google’s AI strategy, symbolizes the company’s commitment to pushing the boundaries of artificial intelligence (AI). Despite being an example of investment in next-gen multimodal AI by Google, it has its own set of limitations that show how things still need to work and progress.

According to 9to5Google, the latest iteration of Gemini simplifies navigation by going from voice commands, directly to Google Maps. For this reason, when requesting directions, users get a card displaying route details which makes them have to click again before opening Google Maps.

With this recent update on March 25th, such inconvenience is avoided through auto submission of voice commands. Now, instead of manually hitting the send button users can directly go and check their map request after a few seconds.

However, Gemini still lags behind Google Assistant in terms of functionality, not standing these enhancements. Users have two choices: either they can use Gemini or they can use Google Assistant because using one disables the other. Therefore, understanding what Gemini excels at becomes crucial for optimizing user experience.

Google remains committed to replace its traditional Assistant with Gemini

While Gemini’s journey towards replacing Google Assistant continues, it’s important to acknowledge that its capabilities extend beyond simple AI chatbots. Importantly, however, Google Maps integration with Gemini appears gradual, rolling out beta testers, indicating its shift toward enhancing digital interactions.

Google remains committed to refining Gemini as part of its efforts to improve hands-free experiences while advancing AI capability. As updates continue improving functionalities on Gemini users will expect better navigation efficiency and overall assistant performance.


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X confirms NSFW Communities are on the way

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X confirms NSFW Communities are on the way
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It looks like X (formerly Twitter) is getting spicier. Well, at least its Communities feature is. Admins will soon be able to label their subreddit-style groups as “adult content”, a move that comes hot on the heels of rumors swirling around X’s potential embrace of NSFW material.

The news was dropped, almost casually, by X engineer Dong Wook Chung in a recent post. Chung hinted that “soon” your X feed might be a lot more filtered, with NSFW content automatically stashed away within Communities. The catch? Admins get to decide whether their Community gets the “Adult” label or not.

X confirms NSFW Communities are on the way
This might feel like a shrug-worthy move to some, but many saw this one coming. Bloomberg reported that researchers had already uncovered hints towards X enabling “adult-sensitive” content settings some time ago. Remember, X has historically allowed a bit more risky content than other social media apps. Profile pics and Community banners, though… that’s where it draws the line.

X “Communities” themselves aren’t even a Musk invention. Twitter started playing with the concept back in 2021, promising a whole new level of cozy conversation. What Twitter never promised was whether that coziness would get, well, adult-themed. And as Engadget points out, let’s not forget that for a hot minute in 2022, the company was reportedly flirting with the idea of launching an OnlyFans rival. Talk about a change of direction! Those plans were reportedly scrapped due to the looming risk that it would make X’s existing problems with illegal child exploitation material infinitely worse.

To clarify further, Chung did post another statement on the matter, saying “this setting is about making Communities safer for everyone by automatically filtering out NSFW content” and that X will require users to have specified their age in order to search these NSFW communities. However, this entire thing feels like a powder keg with a very short fuse. We’ll have to wait and see what happens once the filter is activated.

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How to back up your iPhone to a Windows computer

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How to back up your iPhone to a Windows computer
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They say the only backup you ever regret is the one you didn’t make. iPhone backups can be used to easily move your apps and data to a new phone, to recover things you’ve lost, or to fix things that have failed.

We’ve published posts on how to back up your iPhone to iCloud, and how to backup an iPhone to a Mac. Another method is to backup using the iTunes app on a Windows system.

Choose whichever backup method works best for you, and will continue to work.

First, connect your iPhone to the Windows system with a cable.

You are likely to see a prompt on your iPhone asking whether it can trust this computer.

prompt on iPad asking to Trust the connected computer

To proceed, tap Trust and entering your passcode.

Enter you passcode to confirm Trust

Then open the iTunes app on your Windows device.

iTunes icon on the PC

In iTunes click the Device symbol in the upper left corner (next to the Music drop down box).

Device symbol in iTunes menu

Note: It may take a while before the device icon appears

In the Settings of the iTunes app select Summary.

Summary menu item in iTunes settings

You’ll see some device data about your iPhone, and below that a Backups menu.

Here you can select either iCloud or This Computer.

Backup options in the iTunes app with This conmputer selected

To create a local backup select This Computer and click on Back Up Now to create a new backup of your iPhone on your Windows System.

To encrypt your backups, select Encrypt local backup, type a password, then click Set Password.

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Tidal introduces universal links

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Tidal introduces universal links
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Don’t you hate it when your friend is listening to a great piece of music, but you aren’t subscribed to the same streaming service? This is something that a lot of people deal with, but Tidal has a solution for this. According to a new report, Tidal is the first streaming service to introduce universal links.

The thing with sharing music is that you have to make sure to share music with people using the same streaming service as you. Right now, there are several streaming services including Spotify, Tidal, Apple Music, and YouTube Music. However, you can’t expect all of your friends to be subscribed to the same services.

Tidal introduces universal links

Tidal is the first major streaming service to offer this functionality. If you share a link from Tidal with another person, and they don’t have the same streaming service that you do, the link will take that person to the same track or artist on their streaming service.

So, if you’re listening to the latest album from Billie Eilish on Tidal, and you share it with your friend using Apple Music, the link will take you to that same album on Apple Music. It’s not hard to see why this is an incredibly useful feature. When we share links from streaming services, we always share them with the understanding that only people with that streaming service will be able to listen. Well, universal links will make sharing music a much more integrated and inclusive task.

Tidal confirmed that universal links currently work with Apple Music and Spotify. However, we are not certain if it’s distributing this functionality to smaller streaming services. We will have to wait and see if the company plans on distributing this functionality to smaller streaming services.

One user on Reddit pointed out that you may have to restart the app once you gain the functionality. This just may be a small bug however, it seems to be the only issue.


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