The social network is now in the process of creating its first application compatible with smartwatches.
Instagram has now announced that it is developing a new Apple Watch app that would provide its users with an alert as soon as there is a picture posted by someone that they know.
The Facebook owned image based social network will now be providing a simpler alert system for users.
The idea is to make it possible for the wearers of the smartwatch to use this Apple Watch app to keep up with what their closest friends are doing. It will let them know when a picture has been posted so that they can view it and respond as they’d like. This represents the first time that Instagram has ever made an entry into the world of wearable technology. Until now, it has kept itself well away from wearables, including the number of other smartwatches that are already on the market, and headsets such as Google Glass.
That said, due to the image based nature of Instagram, the Apple Watch app had to be created with care.
After all, the social network is meant for pictures and the Apple Watch has a tiny little screen. This caused the developers of the app to have to completely rethink the way that it would function. According to Ian Silber, a designer at Instagram, it was key for them to come up with “the simplest feed we could think of.” He also went on to add that “I think the watch is really about quick information and notifications. With the Watch, it’s about thinking about interactions in terms of seconds.”
Apple has established very solid rules with regards to the way that it will allow apps to be created for its smartwatch. For example, it has restricted the types of tools that third party developers can come up with through the use of its tools (the Watchkit). For example, the developers at Instagram attempted to transfer the double-tapping an image feature from its smartphone application in order to “like” that image through the Apple Watch app. However, that is not a feature that the Watchkit has to offer.
This new smartphone application has been launched in Delhi and the Union Home Minister was present.
A new mobile app called “Himmat” has been developed for and launched by the Delhi Police in India, in order to provide women with a tool that will allow them to make a very quick and easy distress call to appropriate parties so that they can receive the help that they need.
The mobile application lets them reach the Police Control Room and their relatives in an emergency situation.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh was present in New Delhi, when the mobile app was first launched by the police. Its primary market is employed women who are smartphone owners and who find themselves traveling alone – even late at night – as a result of their working hours. At the same time that the mobile application was launched, Singh also handed out pepper spray to the women who were present and gave awards to girls who had gone through the Delhi Police self-defense program and had successfully completed it.
The Delhi Police received Sing’s praise for the use of technology and the mobile app for improved policing.
Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi was also present for the launch of the Himmat app for mobile devices, and explained that the process involves downloading the application by registering with the Delhi Police website. Registration involves sharing the smartphone user’s name and number, as well as the contact information of at least two friends or relatives who could be contacted in case of an emergency.
Upon the completion of the registration, the smartphone user receives a text message with a download link and a registration key. When installing the smartphone app, the registration key needs to be entered, but that is a one-time occurrence.
After that point, the smartphone user opens the mobile app while traveling alone, and can send an alert to the police or to his or her emergency contacts simply by shaking the device or by pressing on the power button/soft button. Immediately after the distress alert has been triggered, a thirty second audio/video recording will begin on the device and that will be relayed to the Police Control Room (PCR). Bassi explained that once that message is sent to the PCR, they will receive a call back to check on them.
