Entertainment
Instagram reels duration extended from 30 to 60 seconds
Instagram has announced that users can now make Reels for up to 60 seconds. Until now, the Facebook-owned social media platform allowed TikTok-like short format videos for up to 30 seconds. Users must ensure that they are using the latest version of the app to see changes. Instagram Reels’ biggest competitor TikTok has been allowing users to create up to one minute long videos since 2018, though the company recently announced that it is planning to increase the maximum length to three minutes to allow users “even richer storytelling and entertainment”. Similarly, YouTube Shorts can also be up to one minute long in duration.
The social media platform took to Twitter to announce the expansion of video length for Reels. Meanwhile, Instagram recently announced a series of updates to make its app safer for teenagers. The company is pushing existing users under the age of 16 to switch their accounts to private if they haven’t done already. Apart from that, the platform will roll out new technologies to reduce unwanted contact from adults and would change how advertisers can reach teenage audiences. According to Instagram, eight out of ten young users select the “private account” option while signing up on the platform. From now, it will make it a default setting for all users under the age of 16. The app; however, will not force teens to keep their accounts private, and they can switch accounts at any time. Those who have existing public accounts will be alerted about the benefits of going private and will be instructed on how to make the change through an in-app notification. Instagram said that it won’t force young users to go private.
To recall, users can go private or public by a simple toggle switch within Settings. To make your Instagram account private or public, tap on the profile icon at the bottom right > go to settings > privacy.
Entertainment
Casino Days Reveal Internal Data on Most Popular Smartphones
International online casino Casino Days has published a report sharing their internal data on what types and brands of devices are used to play on the platform by users from the South Asian region.
Such aggregate data analyses allow the operator to optimise their website for the brands and models of devices people are actually using.
The insights gained through the research also help Casino Days tailor their services based on the better understanding of their clients and their needs.
Desktops and Tablets Lose the Battle vs Mobile
The primary data samples analysed by Casino Days reveal that mobile connections dominate the market in South Asia and are responsible for a whopping 96.6% of gaming sessions, while computers and tablets have negligible shares of 2.9% and 0.5% respectively.
The authors of the study point out that historically, playing online casino was exclusively done on computers, and attribute thе major shift to mobile that has unfolded over time to the wide spread of cheaper smartphones and mobile data plans in South Asia.
“Some of the reasons behind this massive difference in device type are affordability, technical advantages, as well as cheaper and more obtainable internet plans for mobiles than those for computers,” the researchers comment.
Xiaomi and Vivo Outperform Samsung, Apple Way Down in Rankings
Chinese brands Xiaomi and Vivo were used by 21.9% and 20.79% of Casino Days players from South Asia respectively, and together with the positioned in third place with a 18.1% share South Korean brand Samsung dominate the market among real money gamers in the region.
Cupertino, California-based Apple is way down in seventh with a user share of just 2.29%, overshadowed by Chinese brands Realme (11.43%), OPPO (11.23%), and OnePlus (4.07%).
Huawei is at the very bottom of the chart with a tiny share just below the single percent mark, trailing behind mobile devices by Motorola, Google, and Infinix.
The data on actual phone usage provided by Casino Days, even though limited to the gaming parts of the population of South Asia, paints a different picture from global statistics on smartphone shipments by vendors.
Apple and Samsung have been sharing the worldwide lead for over a decade, while current regional leader Xiaomi secured their third position globally just a couple of years ago.
Striking Android Dominance among South Asian Real Money Gaming Communities
The shifted market share patterns of the world’s top smartphone brands in South Asia observed by the Casino Days research paper reveal a striking dominance of Android devices at the expense of iOS-powered phones.
On the global level, Android enjoys a comfortable lead with a sizable 68.79% share which grows to nearly 79% when we look at the whole continent of Asia. The data on South Asian real money gaming communities suggests that Android’s dominance grows even higher and is north of the 90% mark.
Among the major factors behind these figures, the authors of the study point to the relative affordability of and greater availability of Android devices in the region, especially when manufactured locally in countries like India and Vietnam.
“And, with influencers and tech reviews putting emphasis on Android devices, the choice of mobile phone brand and OS becomes easy; Android has a much wider range of products and caters to the Asian online casino market in ways that Apple can’t due to technical limitations,” the researchers add.
The far better integration achieved by Google Pay compared to its counterpart Apple Pay has also played a crucial role in shaping the existing smartphone market trends.
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