Slack’s updated iPad app has a redesigned interface and new sidebar features

Slack has furnished its iPad app with a much-needed update. The highlight of the release is a redesigned interface that introduces a two-column layout to the app. If you’re already familiar with the desktop version of Slack, you know what to expect. Yo…

iHeartRadio’s PodGuides tool curates podcasts to inspire your next trip

For many people, the first thing they do when they start planning a new trip is to seek inspiration in travel guides, blogs and documentaries. It’s safe to say a podcast probably isn’t top of mind when you start daydreaming about your next escape. But iHeartRadio wants to change that. It’s launching PodGuides, a platform that curates podcasts designed to inspire your next trip.

When you visit the PodGuides website, you’ll find a map with more than 70 destinations pinned to it. Click on one, and you’ll get a curated list of podcasts that highlight what you can see, eat and experience in the place you want to visit. Most destinations include about five to 10 episodes, with productions like Lost and Found and Where to Go featured frequently. You can also find podcasts organized by interests like photography, food and nature hikes. You can listen to all the episodes directly on the website.

PodGuides probably won’t replace a proper travel guide if you’re looking for something exhaustive, but it’s clear that’s not the platform’s goal. Instead, think of it as a complement to the resources you already turn to when wanderlust hits. And if nothing, it may help you discover a new podcast to listen to daily.

Google is making Stadia’s storefront accessible to anyone to make games easier to find

Google will soon make it easier to see what Stadia has to offer. In the “coming weeks,” the company will introduce a new public-facing storefront that will be accessible without the need for a Google account. You also won’t need to sign in to the service to see its entire library. One of the ways you’ll be able to access the storefront is through Google Search, much like you can do for games on Steam and the PlayStation Store.

Alongside the new storefront, Google is expanding the availability of click-to-play trials to all developers. They’re limited-time demos that anyone can access, even if they haven’t signed up for Stadia. All a developer needs to do to offer one is set the amount of time someone can play their game without an account. One game that’s currently available to try in this way is Risk of Rain 2, with more to come throughout 2022.

Both initiatives broadly see Google removing barriers that in the past may have stopped some people from trying the service. Whether that ultimately changes the outlook of Stadia is hard to say, but at least anyone with a passing interest in the platform will find it easier to discover what it’s all about. 

Twitter ditches its tabbed timeline mere days after rolling it out

Just days after introducing a feature that made an algorithmically-generated feed the default for iOS users, Twitter is changing things back to the way they were before. “We heard you,” the company said. “Some of you always want to see latest tweets first. We’ve switched the timeline back and removed the tabbed experience for now while we explore other options.”

If didn’t follow the controversy Twitter created for itself, it all started last year when the company began testing a new tabbed interface for switching between its algorithmically-generated “Home” feed and reverse-chronolgical “Latest” feed. On March 10th, the company began rolling out the feature to iOS, promising it would come to its Android app and web client soon after. But what many people found, and ended up complaining about, was that the feature would default their feed to the algorithmic one every time they opened the app.

This isn’t the first time an internet company has rolled back a feature, but it shows that many people still want a chronological feed and dislike it when companies try to take that functionality away from them. When it comes to Twitter, there’s a case to be made that many people come to the platform to get first-hand accounts and information when there’s breaking news. So making that version of the website difficult to access isn’t doing anyone any favors.