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Haven't you heard? Offline is the new online... well, sort of. On Monday,  WhatsApp , the popular Facebook-owned messenger, welcomed iOS users to the world of offline messaging. The app's latest iOS update allows iPhone users to engage in offline message queueing, so they can prep messages to send while they're waiting for a connection and quickly keep their conversations going when they regain one. SEE ALSO:  This article about WhatsApp made security experts furious Users can now tap "send" on multiple written messages when they don't have a wireless connection, and once a connection is reestablished, those queued messages will be sent automatically. It's a helpful feature, especially when you're stuck on the subway or walking through a dead zone. While  Business Insider  reported the  ability  to queue messages offline has  been available  on Android devices since at least June 2016, the send button was simply disabled for WhatsApp

Google launched a new feature in the new Google AdSense user interface named "Ad balance." Ad balance lets publishers use a slider to show less ads on their sites with the drag and click of a button. Google explained that "ad balance controls help you reduce the number of ads you show to users, specifically the ads that earn you the least revenue, and see how it affects your earnings." Here is a screen shot of the tool: You can drag and click apply to adjust your ad balance: It shows you how it may impact your earnings and the number of ads showing. So you can see, reducing the number of ads, doesn't have an equal drop in ad earnings drop because Google is filling better performing ads first. Google has a help document on this feature  over here . Forum discussion at  WebmasterWorld

HIGHLIGHTS App downloads grew by 15 percent worldwide across iOS and Google Play In 2016, publishers were paid over $35 billion in revenue in app markets India pipped US to become first in Google Play downloads India zipped past the US to become the top country in terms of Google Play downloads in 2016, according to analytics firm App Annie. "India's app market grew massively outpacing the US to surpass it as the #1 country by Google Play downloads, from around 3.5 billion downloads in 2015 to over 6 billion downloads in 2016," App Annie said in  a report . App downloads grew by 15 percent worldwide across  iOS  and  Google Play , with total time spent in apps increasing by 25 percent, it added. In 2016, publishers were paid over $35 billion (roughly Rs. 2,37,898 crores) in revenue across the iOS  App Store  and Google Play. When including in-app advertising, app store revenue and third-party  Android  stores in 2016, publishers made over $8

Popular chat app WhatsApp is full of hidden features, we uncover 11 of them to help you out  Whether you're just starting to use WhatsApp, or are a years-long addict, you're probably missing out on a few of these helpful, hidden features. 1. Format message text on demand Photo by Jason Cipriani/CNET WhatsApp  lets you bold, italicize or strikethrough text on the fly. To do so, you'll need to add a couple special characters before and after whatever it is you want to format. To bold text in WhatsApp, use an asterisk (*bold*); italicize text with an underscore (_italicize_); Strikethrough text with tildes (~strikethrough~). 2. Star a message Photo by Jason Cipriani/CNET Starring a message is a convenient way to go back to a phone number, address or article link a friend sent you. Long-press on the message, then tap on the Star icon. To view your starred messages, on  iOS  select the Star tab along the bottom of your screen. Android users need to tap on the

T here was an outcry when the Guardian  published my information regarding a vulnerability  within WhatsApp’s implementation of end-to-end encryption, but much of the response misses the point. Most of the arguments seem to revolve around what is and isn’t a backdoor. You can argue that we are looking at a vulnerability which would be something that is there by error, or a backdoor, which would be something that is there deliberately. At the time I found the flaw, I didn’t think it was deliberate, but since  Facebook  was informed in April 2016 and it still hasn’t been fixed, now I’m not so sure. But this discussion is a smokescreen for the real problem. Facebook does not deny that  there is a vulnerability  that can be used to “wiretap” targeted conversations by, for example, governments with access to WhatsApp’s servers. And despite  WhatsApp’s recent public statements , the vulnerability cannot be avoided by verifying fingerprints or checking a checkbox in the WhatsApp setti

If you have an Android smartphone that's lucky enough to be among the  0.7% that currently run Nougat , and if you also use WhatsApp often, then surely you have noticed how messed up the messenger's notifications have been on the latest version of the OS. Essentially, WhatsApp has been ignoring Google's guidelines for the new revamped notifications system in Nougat and how apps should make use of it. WhatsApp has only shown the latest message of a conversation in its notifications, and if you used the quick reply function your message would disappear when you got a new one from the same conversation. Good news, though. If you're brave enough to use the latest beta version of WhatsApp for Android, all of these things have been fixed. And yes, WhatsApp notifications finally behave like they should in Nougat. This means that if you receive multiple messages from someone, they will all be shown inside the notification. When you reply from the notification, your m

Friends of Facebook CEO say his personality is suited to a political career They say Zuckerberg has been deliberately honing a public image for years The social media guru is fascinated by Greek legend and recites it to staff He once quoted lines from the film Troy to a room full of Facebook employees Zuckerberg fueled rumors he would run for president with his vow to 'visit or meet someone from every US state' earlier this month  +8 Mark Zuckerberg 'wants to be emperor', according to Facebook staff Facebook insiders have told how Mark Zuckerberg quotes Greek legends to staff and 'wants to be emperor'.   In the latest indicator that he may one day run for president,  Vanity Fair  quotes several friends of the CEO who say he is well suited to politics and has designs for a career beyond Silicon Valley.    They say the 32-year-old is naturally drawn to leadership, with the phrase 'he wants to be emperor' apparently 'common' amo