In December last year, Instagram launched the Instagram Lite, a light-weight version of its main app designed specifically for users with slow internet connectivity and low-end smartphones. At the time, the app was limited to India, with the company promising to bring the app to global markets at a later date. Today, Instagram is finally making Instagram Lite available in more than 170 countries.
At 2MB, Instagram Lite is minuscule compared to its full-fledged counterpart weighing roughly 30MB in size, but offers all the core features of the main app including the Reels. The new app is developed in collaboration with Instagram’s New York and Tel Aviv teams.
“Our teams build these lightweight versions of our apps for people with low connectivity or limited data plans, because our basic premise is to leave no one behind,” said Tzach Hadar, Director of Product Management, Facebook Tel Aviv.
Speaking with the team working on the Lite app, we were told that the app employs various optimizations like image compression, CDN caching, and so on to ensure media loads faster even on a slow and spotty connection. To make sure the performance was fast and reliable the team also decided to remove demanding animations as well as AR filters. Features like GIFs and stickers were kept since they don’t use a lot of resources. One of the ways the app shrinks down its size is breaking down Java libraries into smaller chunks, retaining only the functions that are needed by the app and getting rid of others. When asked whether there was any plan to add a dark theme to Instagram Lite, we were told the team is already working on it and that we should expect to hear more on that in the coming months.
Instagram Lite is only available for Android devices. The company has no plans for releasing an iOS equivalent as the number of people using iOS devices in emerging markets is quite low to warrant a separate app.
Instagram Lite is rolling out in more than 170 countries starting today and will be available for download from the Google Play Store. It’s not available in Brazil at the moment but the team says they’ll be bringing the app to more markets soon.
PUBG Mobile is getting a massive update to celebrate the game’s 3rd anniversary. Making its worldwide debut on March 19, 2018, the popular battle royale game became a global phenomenon and one of the top-grossing mobile games worldwide. With the new update, the game gets a new electronic music festival theme, new modes, and various features taking the center-stage. The new update will also bring the Royale Pass Season 18 with the title ‘Hundred Rhythms’, which will roll out from March 17. Having said that, the game continues to stay banned in India with no information on when or even whether the government plans to lift the ban.
Here are some of the key features that will be arriving with the PUBG Mobile 1.3 update:
Hundred Rhythms Event
A new event has been added to the game’s most popular map, Erangel. The new mode will offer three special skills to players depending on the Armband they choose. Players will have the option to choose from the Guardian Armband, Recon Armband, or Camouflage Armband before the match begins. Each of the armbands provides three skills. The first is an active skill that grants the player a powerful ability, while the other two are passive skills that grant the player buffs. Each player will start the match with just the core skill and need to get ‘cassettes’ to unlock the passive skills. The Hundred Rhythms event will also have three electronic music squares that will spawn on Erangel. One of them will be on Spawn Island, while the other 2 will spawn in random locations. These are definitely going to be hotspots, so take caution while dropping to these locations.
As for the special skills, here is what each ‘Armband’ is going to offer:
Guardian Armband
Music Barrier – When used, this skill activates a device that generates a semi-transparent column-shaped barrier that reduces the damage taken from bullets.
Music Conversion – This skill activates an interactive feature for the barrier generator. Players can use this feature to disable the barrier and recover the Energy of allies within range instead.
Pop Metal – Players and their allies will have decreased reload time when they are inside the barrier.
Recon Armband
Sonic Scan – After using this skill, the player throws a scanning device forward to scan and mark enemies.
Encore – Players will recover Health after knocking out marked enemies.
Sound Burst – When there are marked enemies, your ammo will carry an electric charge that deals damage over time to enemies hit.
Camouflage Armband
Stealth – After using this skill, the player’s outfit changes to a Ghillie Suit for a period of time. The weapons and backpack on the player’s back will be concealed during this period.
Surveillance – A UI tip will appear on the screen if there are any enemies nearby.
Breathing Easy – If the player hasn’t taken any damage recently, the player will gradually recover Health.
New Mosin-Nagant weapon and Motor Glider vehicle
PUBG Mobile is also adding a new weapon and a vehicle with the new update. The new Mosin-Nagant is a bolt-action sniper rifle that takes 7.62mm ammo and is as powerful as the Kar98K. Notably, the bullets fly faster and have less damage drop-off, and it can knock out an unarmored enemy with a single shot from a long distance. The Mosin-Nagant will spawn on Erangel and Vikendi, replacing some of the Kar98K rifles.
Players will also get to fly over enemies using the new Motor Gliders. Available on the PC version of the game, motor gliders will be available in Erangel and Miramar and will spawn randomly, just like other vehicles. It is a 2-person vehicle that includes a front seat for the pilot and a back seat where a passenger can shoot from. To hit the skies, the pilot has to press the ascend button to raise the nose once the glider gains enough speed. The fuel consumption on this vehicle is directly related to engine speed, so the faster you fly, the more fuel consumed. So make sure you carry an extra can of fuel before hopping into one.
Metro Royale: Uncovered
The update is also bringing the next chapter for the Metro Royale mode. Once players update all of the in-game resources, the new Metro Royale: Uncover mode should be available, and at the start of the new chapter, your honor, rankings, and inventory in Metro Royale will be reset. With the new chapter, Metro Royale will offer new rewards, and players can accumulate Honor to get AG, permanent finishes, and more rewards. The mode will now include extra elite enemies that will suddenly appear on the battlegrounds. So you need to pay attention to the broadcasts and marks on the map. The new mode also removes the Metro Exodus monsters and Tikhar Rifle, with the enemies now being smarter, along with equipment balancing adjustments.
Clowns’ Tricks Gameplay
As part of the anniversary celebration, a new Clowns’ Tricks gameplay will be available starting March 31. Apart from various graffiti all around the map, a Clown Shop Vehicle will be placed in Erangel. Players will have to collect Clown Tokens and exchange them for items such as combat supplies and special strategic items in the Clown Shop Vehicle. These strategic items offer information about the next Playzone, the next airdrop, and the enemy’s density on the entire map. A new Music Graffiti Wall will also appear next to the Graffiti Square at Spawn Island in Classic Mode Erangel. This is pretty much a gimmick where players can use spray paint on the Music Graffiti Wall to trigger notes to play when the paint is sprayed on the squares.
Additionally, the new PUBG Mobile 1.3 update will be bringing a vast number of changes. You can go through the entire patch notes below:
PUBG MOBILE 1.3 Patch Notes
Patch Notes:
Anniversary Celebration! Party on and join in at the electronic music festival.
Hundred Rhythms: Upgrade skills and enjoy a new experience.
Clowns’ Tricks: Pranks and Graffiti Galore!
Royale Pass S18: The HUNDRED RHYTHMS Music Party Begins
To give everyone a better gaming experience, PUBG MOBILE will be pushing out updates starting from March 9. The server will not be taken offline for this update. This update requires 640 MB of storage space on Android devices. The iOS version requires 1.55 GB. Please note that players on different versions cannot team up with each other, so please update as soon as possible.
Update the game between March 9 and March 14 (UTC+0) to get:
3,000 BP
100 AG
Cute Kitten – Pan (3d)
Hundred Rhythms Mode (From March 9)
Hundred Rhythms arrived in Erangel, get the party started at the electronic music festival. The Music Armband grants 3 special skills. Choose a skill that suits you, upgrade the skill by collecting scattered cassettes, and dominate the battlefield with the help of your skill. Choose Erangel in the map selection screen to experience this exclusive gameplay mode
Gameplay
A screen requiring players to choose a skill will appear on Spawn Island. Players will need to choose 1:the Guardian Armband, Recon Armband, or Camouflage Armband before the match begins.
Players will get 3 skills after selecting a skill. The first is an active skill that grants the player a powerful ability; the other two are passive skills that grant the player buffs. Players will start the match with just the core skill and will need to get cassettes to unlock the passive skills.
In each match, 3 electronic music squares will spawn on Erangel. One of them will always spawn on Spawn Island, while the other 2 will spawn in random locations. The electronic music festival playing dance music awaits your exploration.
Armband Abilities:
Guardian Armband:
Music Barrier – When used, this skill activates a device that generates a semi-transparent column-shaped barrier that reduces the damage taken from bullets.
Music Conversion – This skill activates an interactive feature for the barrier generator. Players can use this feature to disable the barrier and recover the Energy of allies within range instead.
Pop Metal – Players and their allies will have decreased reload time when they are inside the barrier.
Recon Armband:
Sonic Scan – After using this skill, the player throws a scanning device forward to scan and mark enemies.
Encore – Players will recover Health after knocking out marked enemies.
Sound Burst – When there are marked enemies, your ammo will carry an electric charge that deals damage over time to enemies hit.
Camouflage Armband:
Stealth – After using this skill, the player’s outfit changes to a Ghillie Suit for a period of time. The weapons and backpack on the player’s back will be concealed during this period.
Surveillance – A UI tip will appear on the screen if there are any enemies nearby.
Breathing Easy – If the player hasn’t taken any damage recently, the player will gradually recover Health.
Clowns’ Tricks Gameplay (From March 31)
Clowns have arrived at the Anniversary Celebration Square and are graffitiing all over the place. A Clown Shop Vehicle has been placed here in Erangel. Players can collect Clown Tokens and exchange them for normal combat supplies and special strategic items in the Clown Shop Vehicle.
Strategic Items
Players can collect Clown Tokens and exchange them for the following strategic items in the Clown Shop Vehicle: information about the next Playzone, the next airdrop, and the density of enemies in the entire map.
Music Graffiti Wall
A Music Graffiti Wall will appear next to the Graffiti Square at Spawn Island in Classic Mode Erangel. Players can use spray paint on the Music Graffiti Wall, triggering notes to play when the paint is sprayed on the squares. Each square represents different notes of the same melody. Spray Paint multiple squares to trigger multiple notes.
Metro Royale: Uncover (Available from March 9)
The Newest Chapter
Metro Royale: Uncover will be available after the game is updated. In keeping with our Season tradition, at the start of a new chapter your honor, rankings, and inventory in Metro Royale will be reset.
New rewards will be available in the newest chapter. Accumulate Honor to get AG, permanent finishes, and other cool rewards!
Extra elite enemies will suddenly appear on the battlegrounds. Pay attention to the broadcasts and marks on the map. Defeat them to get great rewards!
Removed the Metro Exodus monsters and Tikhar Rifle, made enemies smarter, and made equipment balancing adjustments.
Other Map Improvements
After the version update, Power Armor mode will be available every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (UTC +0)
Firearm: Mosin-Nagant Sniper Rifle:
The Mosin-Nagant is a 7.62mm bolt-action sniper rifle that is as powerful as the Kar98K.
However, its bullets fly faster and have less damage drop-off. It can knock out an unarmored enemy with a single shot from a long distance.
The Mosin-Nagant will spawn on Erangel and Vikendi, replacing some of the Kar98K rifles.
Vehicle – Motor Glider:
Motor Gliders can now be found in Erangel and Miramar. They will spawn randomly on these two maps.
The Motor Glider is a 2-person vehicle that consists of a front seat for the pilot and a back seat where a passenger can shoot from.
To take off, the pilot must press the ascend button to raise the nose after the Motor Glider gains enough speed.
The Motor Glider’s fuel consumption is directly related to engine speed. The faster you fly, the more fuel is consumed. It is always a good idea to fill up the Motor Glider’s tank before stepping on the throttle.
Basic Performance Improvements:
Improved the in-battle terrain rendering logic for low-end devices to reduce rendering loss.
Improved the in-battle selection of terrain-blocking objects for low-end devices to reduce rendering loss when the camera moves.
Greatly improved the overall in-battle UI update logic to reduce UI update time.
Reduced lag triggered after a player jumps out from the plane.
Reduced the rendering loss of general resources, such as the sky and the sea, to make the game run more smoothly.
Resolved an issue that caused the game to crash when MSAA and HDR were both enabled on a device using iOS 14.3.
Improved the deletion of infrequently-used local resources to free up more space.
Resolved an issue where a half-downloaded resource needed to be fully downloaded before it could be deleted.
Security Improvements:
Improved Video Review conversion process’s accuracy and display of ballistics and vehicles to make it easier for users to make judgments.
Added several machine learning algorithms to identify and filter suspicious behavior in the game.
Continued to increase the number of manual review team members to ensure the security of tournaments and high-tier matches.
Continued to strengthen the game’s defense against DDoS attacks and expand the coverage of defense measures to ensure secure and stable game operations.
Basic Experience Improvements:
Quick Sensitivity Adjustment: Players are now able to open a UI option to quickly adjust sensitivity in the Training Grounds.
Hide Helmets in Matches: In Lobby Inventory display settings, we added a feature to allow players to hide helmets in matches. This only hides helmets from the player’s own view, so helmets are still seen in other players’ views.
Mk14 Sound Improvement: Updated the audio resources of the Mk14 to improve the performance of its firing sounds.
Camera Tilting Fix: Resolved an issue that sometimes caused the camera to tilt when scoping in the Training Grounds or Cheer Park.
Graphics Rendering Improvements: Resolved a rendering bug that caused the terrain in the distance to float in the air when a scope was used. Resolved an issue that caused items to suddenly appear or disappear in some scenes reported by a small number of players.
Other System Improvements:
New Achievements
New Rhythm Hero Achievement: Play Hundred Rhythms in Erangel.
Message Manager feature
Most system messages will be displayed in the message manager. Players can use the message manager to view system messages clearly at one glance or to conveniently go to the corresponding system message page to handle notifications.
PUBG MOBILE MUSIC
Added the entrance to this feature in the player Space.
Players can use this feature to listen to songs and set the background music for their Space.
PUBG MOBILE has obtained the full copyrights on all music that can be listened to.
Players can give albums to friends that meet the gifting conditions. Albums already owned by the friend cannot be gifted.
Gifting in Space Improvements
Certain restrictions are imposed on giving some gifts in Space to prevent this feature from being abused to boost Popularity.
Dynamic Graffiti
Updated new dynamic graffiti that have visual effects and play music in close range.
Royale Pass Season 18: HUNDRED RHYTHMS (From March 17)
There will be a 3rd Anniversary music theme screen and rewards. Players can choose rank rewards twice as they progress in the Royale Pass. After the anniversary party starts, some special guests will also make an appearance. In addition to an AUG finish, players also get to choose between 2 advanced sets at rank 1 and rank 50. At rank 100, get the Violin Music Set and a mysterious Kar98K Finish!
An adventure event will start with the music. Adventure Vouchers have been added to the free rank rewards, and players can use them to redeem 1 of 2 sets twice on the event page. The adventure awaits.
The RP Activity Pack event begins in the new season: Purchase the RP Activity Pack to gain RP ranks quickly and collect Mission Activity Points to get your UC back as rebates.
Fixed other bugs affecting missions and other content to improve players’ experiences.
New Cheer Park Theme: Anniversary Celebration Music Festival
The square where players spawn on Cheer Park is now a DJ electronic music square with a DJ stage, a music arcade machine, and a techno launcher. After the Anniversary Celebration begins, the DJ’s new songs, classic old songs, the PUBG MOBILE theme songs, and the BP electronic music songs will be played randomly.
Melee Weapon Display Feature
Players can now choose to simultaneously display a firearm and a melee weapon in the Lobby. The currently selected weapon will be wielded by the character, and the previous weapon will be on the character’s back.
If the conditions below are met, the firearm and melee weapon displayed by players in their Lobby can be used in Spawn Island.
All firearms and melee weapons owned by players on Spawn Island will be removed when they board the plane.
Conditions for weapons to be brought in from the Lobby:
Firearms: Need to be equipped with a Legendary or above Finish, but this condition does not apply to rare upgradeable firearms, which can be brought in as well.
Melee weapons: Need to be equipped with an Epic or above Finish.
All-Talent Championship
Welcome to the All-talent Championship! You can play matches with your teammates here and immerse yourself in this glorious PUBG MOBILE Esports tournament.
The All-Talent Championship is divided into three stages: Weekly Matches, Semi-Finals, and the Final Round. Weekly Matches are played from week 1 to week 4. The Semi-Finals are played in week 3 and week 5. The Final Round is held in week 6.
Players can participate in the Weekly Matches directly, but must advance from the previous stage to participate in the Semi-Finals or the Final Round.
The minimum tier requirement for the Weekly Match is Silver V, the minimum tier requirement for the Semi-Finals is Gold V, and the minimum tier requirement for the Final Round is Platinum V.
Teams can get points every week when they participate in Weekly Matches. The total of their 6 best games in that week becomes their points. The top 50 teams will enter the Semi-Finals.
The teams that advance to the Semi-Finals are randomly divided into 5 groups. Each group plays 3 consecutive matches and the top 2 teams from each group advance to the Final Round.
Teams that advance to the Final Round will play 4 consecutive matches. They will be ranked and receive rewards based on their total points for these 4 games.
The top 2 teams of the Final Round will be eligible to participate in the PMCO Preliminaries (excluding the KR/JP region).
Point Rules: All-Talent Championship points are calculated in Teams and do not count individual player’s points.
The scoring rules for single matches are as follows:
Total score of each match = Elimination points + Rank points.
Calculation of Elimination points: 1 point is gained for each player defeated.
Teams can participate in the weekly match repeatedly, but teams that are already eligible to advance will not repeatedly advance or get an additional advancement reward. The advancement spots will be filled up by other teams based on the rankings.
PUBG Mobile is getting a massive update to celebrate the game’s 3rd anniversary. Making its worldwide debut on March 19, 2018, the popular battle royale game became a global phenomenon and one of the top-grossing mobile games worldwide. With the new update, the game gets a new electronic music festival theme, new modes, and various features taking the center-stage. The new update will also bring the Royale Pass Season 18 with the title ‘Hundred Rhythms’, which will roll out from March 17. Having said that, the game continues to stay banned in India with no information on when or even whether the government plans to lift the ban.
Here are some of the key features that will be arriving with the PUBG Mobile 1.3 update:
Hundred Rhythms Event
A new event has been added to the game’s most popular map, Erangel. The new mode will offer three special skills to players depending on the Armband they choose. Players will have the option to choose from the Guardian Armband, Recon Armband, or Camouflage Armband before the match begins. Each of the armbands provides three skills. The first is an active skill that grants the player a powerful ability, while the other two are passive skills that grant the player buffs. Each player will start the match with just the core skill and need to get ‘cassettes’ to unlock the passive skills. The Hundred Rhythms event will also have three electronic music squares that will spawn on Erangel. One of them will be on Spawn Island, while the other 2 will spawn in random locations. These are definitely going to be hotspots, so take caution while dropping to these locations.
As for the special skills, here is what each ‘Armband’ is going to offer:
Guardian Armband
Music Barrier – When used, this skill activates a device that generates a semi-transparent column-shaped barrier that reduces the damage taken from bullets.
Music Conversion – This skill activates an interactive feature for the barrier generator. Players can use this feature to disable the barrier and recover the Energy of allies within range instead.
Pop Metal – Players and their allies will have decreased reload time when they are inside the barrier.
Recon Armband
Sonic Scan – After using this skill, the player throws a scanning device forward to scan and mark enemies.
Encore – Players will recover Health after knocking out marked enemies.
Sound Burst – When there are marked enemies, your ammo will carry an electric charge that deals damage over time to enemies hit.
Camouflage Armband
Stealth – After using this skill, the player’s outfit changes to a Ghillie Suit for a period of time. The weapons and backpack on the player’s back will be concealed during this period.
Surveillance – A UI tip will appear on the screen if there are any enemies nearby.
Breathing Easy – If the player hasn’t taken any damage recently, the player will gradually recover Health.
New Mosin-Nagant weapon and Motor Glider vehicle
PUBG Mobile is also adding a new weapon and a vehicle with the new update. The new Mosin-Nagant is a bolt-action sniper rifle that takes 7.62mm ammo and is as powerful as the Kar98K. Notably, the bullets fly faster and have less damage drop-off, and it can knock out an unarmored enemy with a single shot from a long distance. The Mosin-Nagant will spawn on Erangel and Vikendi, replacing some of the Kar98K rifles.
Players will also get to fly over enemies using the new Motor Gliders. Available on the PC version of the game, motor gliders will be available in Erangel and Miramar and will spawn randomly, just like other vehicles. It is a 2-person vehicle that includes a front seat for the pilot and a back seat where a passenger can shoot from. To hit the skies, the pilot has to press the ascend button to raise the nose once the glider gains enough speed. The fuel consumption on this vehicle is directly related to engine speed, so the faster you fly, the more fuel consumed. So make sure you carry an extra can of fuel before hopping into one.
Metro Royale: Uncovered
The update is also bringing the next chapter for the Metro Royale mode. Once players update all of the in-game resources, the new Metro Royale: Uncover mode should be available, and at the start of the new chapter, your honor, rankings, and inventory in Metro Royale will be reset. With the new chapter, Metro Royale will offer new rewards, and players can accumulate Honor to get AG, permanent finishes, and more rewards. The mode will now include extra elite enemies that will suddenly appear on the battlegrounds. So you need to pay attention to the broadcasts and marks on the map. The new mode also removes the Metro Exodus monsters and Tikhar Rifle, with the enemies now being smarter, along with equipment balancing adjustments.
Clowns’ Tricks Gameplay
As part of the anniversary celebration, a new Clowns’ Tricks gameplay will be available starting March 31. Apart from various graffiti all around the map, a Clown Shop Vehicle will be placed in Erangel. Players will have to collect Clown Tokens and exchange them for items such as combat supplies and special strategic items in the Clown Shop Vehicle. These strategic items offer information about the next Playzone, the next airdrop, and the enemy’s density on the entire map. A new Music Graffiti Wall will also appear next to the Graffiti Square at Spawn Island in Classic Mode Erangel. This is pretty much a gimmick where players can use spray paint on the Music Graffiti Wall to trigger notes to play when the paint is sprayed on the squares.
Additionally, the new PUBG Mobile 1.3 update will be bringing a vast number of changes. You can go through the entire patch notes below:
PUBG MOBILE 1.3 Patch Notes
Patch Notes:
Anniversary Celebration! Party on and join in at the electronic music festival.
Hundred Rhythms: Upgrade skills and enjoy a new experience.
Clowns’ Tricks: Pranks and Graffiti Galore!
Royale Pass S18: The HUNDRED RHYTHMS Music Party Begins
To give everyone a better gaming experience, PUBG MOBILE will be pushing out updates starting from March 9. The server will not be taken offline for this update. This update requires 640 MB of storage space on Android devices. The iOS version requires 1.55 GB. Please note that players on different versions cannot team up with each other, so please update as soon as possible.
Update the game between March 9 and March 14 (UTC+0) to get:
3,000 BP
100 AG
Cute Kitten – Pan (3d)
Hundred Rhythms Mode (From March 9)
Hundred Rhythms arrived in Erangel, get the party started at the electronic music festival. The Music Armband grants 3 special skills. Choose a skill that suits you, upgrade the skill by collecting scattered cassettes, and dominate the battlefield with the help of your skill. Choose Erangel in the map selection screen to experience this exclusive gameplay mode
Gameplay
A screen requiring players to choose a skill will appear on Spawn Island. Players will need to choose 1:the Guardian Armband, Recon Armband, or Camouflage Armband before the match begins.
Players will get 3 skills after selecting a skill. The first is an active skill that grants the player a powerful ability; the other two are passive skills that grant the player buffs. Players will start the match with just the core skill and will need to get cassettes to unlock the passive skills.
In each match, 3 electronic music squares will spawn on Erangel. One of them will always spawn on Spawn Island, while the other 2 will spawn in random locations. The electronic music festival playing dance music awaits your exploration.
Armband Abilities:
Guardian Armband:
Music Barrier – When used, this skill activates a device that generates a semi-transparent column-shaped barrier that reduces the damage taken from bullets.
Music Conversion – This skill activates an interactive feature for the barrier generator. Players can use this feature to disable the barrier and recover the Energy of allies within range instead.
Pop Metal – Players and their allies will have decreased reload time when they are inside the barrier.
Recon Armband:
Sonic Scan – After using this skill, the player throws a scanning device forward to scan and mark enemies.
Encore – Players will recover Health after knocking out marked enemies.
Sound Burst – When there are marked enemies, your ammo will carry an electric charge that deals damage over time to enemies hit.
Camouflage Armband:
Stealth – After using this skill, the player’s outfit changes to a Ghillie Suit for a period of time. The weapons and backpack on the player’s back will be concealed during this period.
Surveillance – A UI tip will appear on the screen if there are any enemies nearby.
Breathing Easy – If the player hasn’t taken any damage recently, the player will gradually recover Health.
Clowns’ Tricks Gameplay (From March 31)
Clowns have arrived at the Anniversary Celebration Square and are graffitiing all over the place. A Clown Shop Vehicle has been placed here in Erangel. Players can collect Clown Tokens and exchange them for normal combat supplies and special strategic items in the Clown Shop Vehicle.
Strategic Items
Players can collect Clown Tokens and exchange them for the following strategic items in the Clown Shop Vehicle: information about the next Playzone, the next airdrop, and the density of enemies in the entire map.
Music Graffiti Wall
A Music Graffiti Wall will appear next to the Graffiti Square at Spawn Island in Classic Mode Erangel. Players can use spray paint on the Music Graffiti Wall, triggering notes to play when the paint is sprayed on the squares. Each square represents different notes of the same melody. Spray Paint multiple squares to trigger multiple notes.
Metro Royale: Uncover (Available from March 9)
The Newest Chapter
Metro Royale: Uncover will be available after the game is updated. In keeping with our Season tradition, at the start of a new chapter your honor, rankings, and inventory in Metro Royale will be reset.
New rewards will be available in the newest chapter. Accumulate Honor to get AG, permanent finishes, and other cool rewards!
Extra elite enemies will suddenly appear on the battlegrounds. Pay attention to the broadcasts and marks on the map. Defeat them to get great rewards!
Removed the Metro Exodus monsters and Tikhar Rifle, made enemies smarter, and made equipment balancing adjustments.
Other Map Improvements
After the version update, Power Armor mode will be available every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (UTC +0)
Firearm: Mosin-Nagant Sniper Rifle:
The Mosin-Nagant is a 7.62mm bolt-action sniper rifle that is as powerful as the Kar98K.
However, its bullets fly faster and have less damage drop-off. It can knock out an unarmored enemy with a single shot from a long distance.
The Mosin-Nagant will spawn on Erangel and Vikendi, replacing some of the Kar98K rifles.
Vehicle – Motor Glider:
Motor Gliders can now be found in Erangel and Miramar. They will spawn randomly on these two maps.
The Motor Glider is a 2-person vehicle that consists of a front seat for the pilot and a back seat where a passenger can shoot from.
To take off, the pilot must press the ascend button to raise the nose after the Motor Glider gains enough speed.
The Motor Glider’s fuel consumption is directly related to engine speed. The faster you fly, the more fuel is consumed. It is always a good idea to fill up the Motor Glider’s tank before stepping on the throttle.
Basic Performance Improvements:
Improved the in-battle terrain rendering logic for low-end devices to reduce rendering loss.
Improved the in-battle selection of terrain-blocking objects for low-end devices to reduce rendering loss when the camera moves.
Greatly improved the overall in-battle UI update logic to reduce UI update time.
Reduced lag triggered after a player jumps out from the plane.
Reduced the rendering loss of general resources, such as the sky and the sea, to make the game run more smoothly.
Resolved an issue that caused the game to crash when MSAA and HDR were both enabled on a device using iOS 14.3.
Improved the deletion of infrequently-used local resources to free up more space.
Resolved an issue where a half-downloaded resource needed to be fully downloaded before it could be deleted.
Security Improvements:
Improved Video Review conversion process’s accuracy and display of ballistics and vehicles to make it easier for users to make judgments.
Added several machine learning algorithms to identify and filter suspicious behavior in the game.
Continued to increase the number of manual review team members to ensure the security of tournaments and high-tier matches.
Continued to strengthen the game’s defense against DDoS attacks and expand the coverage of defense measures to ensure secure and stable game operations.
Basic Experience Improvements:
Quick Sensitivity Adjustment: Players are now able to open a UI option to quickly adjust sensitivity in the Training Grounds.
Hide Helmets in Matches: In Lobby Inventory display settings, we added a feature to allow players to hide helmets in matches. This only hides helmets from the player’s own view, so helmets are still seen in other players’ views.
Mk14 Sound Improvement: Updated the audio resources of the Mk14 to improve the performance of its firing sounds.
Camera Tilting Fix: Resolved an issue that sometimes caused the camera to tilt when scoping in the Training Grounds or Cheer Park.
Graphics Rendering Improvements: Resolved a rendering bug that caused the terrain in the distance to float in the air when a scope was used. Resolved an issue that caused items to suddenly appear or disappear in some scenes reported by a small number of players.
Other System Improvements:
New Achievements
New Rhythm Hero Achievement: Play Hundred Rhythms in Erangel.
Message Manager feature
Most system messages will be displayed in the message manager. Players can use the message manager to view system messages clearly at one glance or to conveniently go to the corresponding system message page to handle notifications.
PUBG MOBILE MUSIC
Added the entrance to this feature in the player Space.
Players can use this feature to listen to songs and set the background music for their Space.
PUBG MOBILE has obtained the full copyrights on all music that can be listened to.
Players can give albums to friends that meet the gifting conditions. Albums already owned by the friend cannot be gifted.
Gifting in Space Improvements
Certain restrictions are imposed on giving some gifts in Space to prevent this feature from being abused to boost Popularity.
Dynamic Graffiti
Updated new dynamic graffiti that have visual effects and play music in close range.
Royale Pass Season 18: HUNDRED RHYTHMS (From March 17)
There will be a 3rd Anniversary music theme screen and rewards. Players can choose rank rewards twice as they progress in the Royale Pass. After the anniversary party starts, some special guests will also make an appearance. In addition to an AUG finish, players also get to choose between 2 advanced sets at rank 1 and rank 50. At rank 100, get the Violin Music Set and a mysterious Kar98K Finish!
An adventure event will start with the music. Adventure Vouchers have been added to the free rank rewards, and players can use them to redeem 1 of 2 sets twice on the event page. The adventure awaits.
The RP Activity Pack event begins in the new season: Purchase the RP Activity Pack to gain RP ranks quickly and collect Mission Activity Points to get your UC back as rebates.
Fixed other bugs affecting missions and other content to improve players’ experiences.
New Cheer Park Theme: Anniversary Celebration Music Festival
The square where players spawn on Cheer Park is now a DJ electronic music square with a DJ stage, a music arcade machine, and a techno launcher. After the Anniversary Celebration begins, the DJ’s new songs, classic old songs, the PUBG MOBILE theme songs, and the BP electronic music songs will be played randomly.
Melee Weapon Display Feature
Players can now choose to simultaneously display a firearm and a melee weapon in the Lobby. The currently selected weapon will be wielded by the character, and the previous weapon will be on the character’s back.
If the conditions below are met, the firearm and melee weapon displayed by players in their Lobby can be used in Spawn Island.
All firearms and melee weapons owned by players on Spawn Island will be removed when they board the plane.
Conditions for weapons to be brought in from the Lobby:
Firearms: Need to be equipped with a Legendary or above Finish, but this condition does not apply to rare upgradeable firearms, which can be brought in as well.
Melee weapons: Need to be equipped with an Epic or above Finish.
All-Talent Championship
Welcome to the All-talent Championship! You can play matches with your teammates here and immerse yourself in this glorious PUBG MOBILE Esports tournament.
The All-Talent Championship is divided into three stages: Weekly Matches, Semi-Finals, and the Final Round. Weekly Matches are played from week 1 to week 4. The Semi-Finals are played in week 3 and week 5. The Final Round is held in week 6.
Players can participate in the Weekly Matches directly, but must advance from the previous stage to participate in the Semi-Finals or the Final Round.
The minimum tier requirement for the Weekly Match is Silver V, the minimum tier requirement for the Semi-Finals is Gold V, and the minimum tier requirement for the Final Round is Platinum V.
Teams can get points every week when they participate in Weekly Matches. The total of their 6 best games in that week becomes their points. The top 50 teams will enter the Semi-Finals.
The teams that advance to the Semi-Finals are randomly divided into 5 groups. Each group plays 3 consecutive matches and the top 2 teams from each group advance to the Final Round.
Teams that advance to the Final Round will play 4 consecutive matches. They will be ranked and receive rewards based on their total points for these 4 games.
The top 2 teams of the Final Round will be eligible to participate in the PMCO Preliminaries (excluding the KR/JP region).
Point Rules: All-Talent Championship points are calculated in Teams and do not count individual player’s points.
The scoring rules for single matches are as follows:
Total score of each match = Elimination points + Rank points.
Calculation of Elimination points: 1 point is gained for each player defeated.
Teams can participate in the weekly match repeatedly, but teams that are already eligible to advance will not repeatedly advance or get an additional advancement reward. The advancement spots will be filled up by other teams based on the rankings.
Google announced that it was working on adding a new video editor in Google Photos last month. At the time, the company had detailed almost all of its features and revealed that it would offer more than 30 advanced controls to help users edit their videos within the app. While Google hadn’t shared an exact release schedule for the new video editor back then, it has now started showing up for some users.
The rollout was first spotted by Andrew C (@AndrewClarkin57) on Twitter and, as you can see in the attached video, the new video editor appears to have all of the features that Google showcased last month. In case you missed our previous coverage, the new video editor in Google Photos packs a ton of new tools. These include tools to help you crop videos, change the perspective, stabilize the video, and apply filters. It also includes several adjustment settings that will let you tweak the brightness, contrast, saturation, and warmth of videos.
To use the new video editor, all you need to do is tap on the Edit button. This should bring up the new editing UI if you’ve received the update already. The new editing UI includes a couple of tabs to help you crop, adjust, and add filters to your video. It has an additional tab labeled “More”, which includes a Markup tool.
The Crop tab includes various aspect ratio presets to help you crop the video, along with a “Free” option for a custom crop. It also features two additional buttons that will let you rotate the video and change perspective, along with a Reset button to undo all changes. The Adjust tab includes tools to change the brightness, contrast, white point, highlights, shadows, black point, saturation, warmth, tint, and skin tone. Finally, the Filters tab packs a host of premade filters that you can apply to your video to give it a cool effect.
As mentioned earlier, Google Photos’ new video editor is only available for some users at the moment. It wasn’t available on any of our devices, even with the latest version of the app. This leads us to believe that Google may be rolling it out via a server-side update. While we can’t confirm exactly when it will show up on your device, we expect to see a wider rollout in the coming days.
OnePlus’s first foray into the wearable segment came in a fitness tracker that was launched at the start of this year. In our review of the OnePlus Band, we lauded the fitness band for getting the fundamentals right and called it a solid first attempt. However, at the same time, we also felt that its companion app was rather barebones and that the option to sync data with other third-party health apps would have been nice. And it looks like the company has finally listened to the feedback.
As spotted by Android Police, the latest update to the OnePlus Health app has added the option to sync your health data with the Google Fit app. The new feature is coming as part of the app version 1.3.2 that was recently rolled out on the Google Play Store. After updating the app, you should see a card asking you to “Share data with Google Fit” right at the top. Clicking on the Settings will initiate the linking process. If you have multiple accounts, you’ll have the option to choose which Google account you want to share your data with. Allow the permission on the next screens, and you should be good to go.
After successfully linking the Google Account, all the measurements collected from your OnePlus Band, including step counts, heart rate, and sleep data will be synced with the Google Fit app. In my testing, the Google Fit app didn’t sync my data collected over the last weeks and only displayed the most recent measurements. Moreover, Google Fit lacks support for displaying SpO2 data, so you’ll still have to go back to the OnePlus Health app to check the readings. I also noticed the Google Fit didn’t always display the most up-to-date data, and there was a delay of up to 2 to 3 minutes before it synced the latest measurements.
The Google Fit integration is in no way a complete replacement for the OnePlus Health app but something that you can use in conjunction if you don’t like the user interface of the official app.
The OnePlus Band is the first fitness tracker from OnePlus. Based on the OPPO Band, it is a good first attempt with fair few ticks, but some notable issues that need ironing out.
Google announced that it was working on adding a new video editor in Google Photos last month. At the time, the company had detailed almost all of its features and revealed that it would offer more than 30 advanced controls to help users edit their videos within the app. While Google hadn’t shared an exact release schedule for the new video editor back then, it has now started showing up for some users.
The rollout was first spotted by Andrew C (@AndrewClarkin57) on Twitter and, as you can see in the attached video, the new video editor appears to have all of the features that Google showcased last month. In case you missed our previous coverage, the new video editor in Google Photos packs a ton of new tools. These include tools to help you crop videos, change the perspective, stabilize the video, and apply filters. It also includes several adjustment settings that will let you tweak the brightness, contrast, saturation, and warmth of videos.
To use the new video editor, all you need to do is tap on the Edit button. This should bring up the new editing UI if you’ve received the update already. The new editing UI includes a couple of tabs to help you crop, adjust, and add filters to your video. It has an additional tab labeled “More”, which includes a Markup tool.
The Crop tab includes various aspect ratio presets to help you crop the video, along with a “Free” option for a custom crop. It also features two additional buttons that will let you rotate the video and change perspective, along with a Reset button to undo all changes. The Adjust tab includes tools to change the brightness, contrast, white point, highlights, shadows, black point, saturation, warmth, tint, and skin tone. Finally, the Filters tab packs a host of premade filters that you can apply to your video to give it a cool effect.
As mentioned earlier, Google Photos’ new video editor is only available for some users at the moment. It wasn’t available on any of our devices, even with the latest version of the app. This leads us to believe that Google may be rolling it out via a server-side update. While we can’t confirm exactly when it will show up on your device, we expect to see a wider rollout in the coming days.
OnePlus’s first foray into the wearable segment came in a fitness tracker that was launched at the start of this year. In our review of the OnePlus Band, we lauded the fitness band for getting the fundamentals right and called it a solid first attempt. However, at the same time, we also felt that its companion app was rather barebones and that the option to sync data with other third-party health apps would have been nice. And it looks like the company has finally listened to the feedback.
As spotted by Android Police, the latest update to the OnePlus Health app has added the option to sync your health data with the Google Fit app. The new feature is coming as part of the app version 1.3.2 that was recently rolled out on the Google Play Store. After updating the app, you should see a card asking you to “Share data with Google Fit” right at the top. Clicking on the Settings will initiate the linking process. If you have multiple accounts, you’ll have the option to choose which Google account you want to share your data with. Allow the permission on the next screens, and you should be good to go.
After successfully linking the Google Account, all the measurements collected from your OnePlus Band, including step counts, heart rate, and sleep data will be synced with the Google Fit app. In my testing, the Google Fit app didn’t sync my data collected over the last weeks and only displayed the most recent measurements. Moreover, Google Fit lacks support for displaying SpO2 data, so you’ll still have to go back to the OnePlus Health app to check the readings. I also noticed the Google Fit didn’t always display the most up-to-date data, and there was a delay of up to 2 to 3 minutes before it synced the latest measurements.
The Google Fit integration is in no way a complete replacement for the OnePlus Health app but something that you can use in conjunction if you don’t like the user interface of the official app.
The OnePlus Band is the first fitness tracker from OnePlus. Based on the OPPO Band, it is a good first attempt with fair few ticks, but some notable issues that need ironing out.
