By now, you would have noticed that the Google Maps app has a new app look and if you've been living under the rock, that signifies the company's 15th anniversary since the app's debut. Besides Waze, Google Maps is one of Malaysian's most-used apps especially in Kuala Lumpur (even for locals) to get around the city and apparently, the company quietly rolled out some new features. 

Available on Android and Apple smartphones (yes, even iOS users use this over Apple Maps which works terribly in Malaysia), there are five new features to check out - Explore, Commute, Saved, Contribute and Updates. These are already available on the menu so let's check out what can you do with these.

In the world of emojis and stickers, it seems that Google will be releasing a new batch and it's an interesting one. According to sources, the company is experimenting mashing up two emojis together by using emotions on another emoji's shape. Besides that, it was also revealed that 117 new emojis will be ready this year including boba tea (yes, really).

One of the most annoying things to happen while gaming on your phone are the pop up ads and banners that you find yourself accidentally clicking while you play. If you agree with me, there is a way to be rid of the annoying ads. Google is planning on launching a service called Google Play Pass which lets users game with no ad interruptions for a monthly fee of USD$4.99 (~RM21).

This isn’t really shocking, really. According to a recent study, Google and Facebook could potentially be tracking your visits to porn sites even when you’re on incognito mode. Google has trackers on 74% of the porn sites, Facebook on 10% and Oracle on 24%. Yikes.

The biggest problem with launching a phone OS is not the technical bits but rather the building of the ecosystem. The OS would not be successful without apps on it and Huawei definitely sees this. As a step to overcome the problem, the Chinese manufacturer invites partners and developers to join the “Ark of Friends Circle” to help build a “fair, open, healthy and win-win” ecosystem. Huawei’s Ark Compiler is set to be officially open source starting this August. 

Loot boxes has been deemed a form of gambling in gaming which is pretty detrimental as the audience in games are usually younger children. Due to that, Google has now asked developers of apps and games on the Google Play Store to show the loot box odds.

Not too long ago, Google had announced that they will be shutting down Youtube Gaming app at the end of March but that didn’t happen. At least, not yet. Now, the company has announced that they will be officially shutting the doors to the gaming streaming app on the 30th of May.

Trade wars have always been brutal and the current trade war between the United States and China is potentially about to leave many Huawei users disappointed. Huawei’s business with Google has been suspended and among the services affected include the transfer of hardware, software and technical services. TL;DR: Huawei users would potentially lose access to popular Google services such as Google Play Store, Gmail and Youtube.

Google has just shared their plans to push more ads onto its mobile platforms. The ads will be made more accessible for the audience so that they may find more information about the product easily. This feature is named Discovery ads and will be out on both Android and iOS globally later this year.

Saudi Arabia has always been known as a country that places harsher restrictions on women to the point that they cannot be anywhere without knowledge or consent from their guardian. It has come to a point where an app called “Absher” has been used to track women’s locations in the country.