Snapchat is making speed dial cool again with Bitmojis that look like your favorite friends. Officially launched March 14 in both iOS and Android updates, the new feature allows users to add their most frequently chatted friends to their home screen or the “Today” screen on iOS.
The new shortcut comes after Android users first noticed the feature last week, now available outside beta testing for both Android and iOS users. The feature makes it possible to start up a chat without having to open up Snapchat and dig through the interface to find a friend. The feature emerges from the company’s acquisition of Bitmoji last year that led to the possibility of creating sticker avatars in your own likeness.
For Android, the update allows users to put their friends right on the home screen. After updating Snapchat, users just need to tap and hold in a free space on that screen. Selecting “widgets” from the options will now include Snapchat among the options. Android users can add up to four “speedchat” friends this way — and rearrange them to personal taste.
On iOS, the feature adds friends to the “Today” screen, the shortcuts and calendar reminders accessible by swiping to the right from the home screen. Once on that screen, users can scroll down and tap “edit,” then add the Snapchat widget and choose “Snapchat best friends.” That iOS home screen can also be reorganized by tapping and holding the three lines to the right of existing widgets, then dragging them into the desired order.
The update brings the iOS version to 10.4.0.0 and the Android option to that same number. According to the Google Play Store, the update also brings with it a few bug fixes.
Snap Inc. went public earlier this month after rebranding itself in the fall as a camera company. The popular chat app is also inspiring some of the competition, with variations of the platform’s Stories (or a sort of status update that disappears like Snapchat messages) re-imagined inside Facebook and Instagram.
Merely days after the iPhone Duo hit the shelves, images of broken screens on the phone started popping up across social media. Until now, it’s been unclear what’s causing the line of defective pixels that appears vertically along the crease, as well as horizontally, on the phone’s inner display.
Apple has finally acknowledged the issue, which has shown up on iPhone Duo units owned by customers as well as demo units in stores. In a statement shared with Bloomberg, Apple says that not all iPhone Duo units are affected and that those that are tend to show the display fault early on. The company added that users who experience problems with their iPhone Duo display should contact AppleCare for a replacement.
Not long ago, Apple treated independent repair like an act of outright hostility. The Cupertino giant locked down parts with serial-number pairing, while repair tools remained firmly out of reach of anyone outside its authorized repair network. More importantly, the company waged a legal and lobbying battle against right-to-repair legislation.
I've covered enough of these fights over the years to know what a shift looks like. That's why what happened in October 2026 genuinely caught me off guard. The day the iPhone Duo went on sale, what may be the most mechanically complex iPhone to date, Apple pulled off a surprising about-face. It published teardown-style repair manuals for a handful of major components.
Apple's first foldable phone is now on shelves, in short supply, but with an unreal amount of buzz around it. After all, it's the first foldable iPhone, and there's plenty that this phone gets right. But there's also a lot that is either broken or underwhelming. What's peculiar is the dialogue around this phone, and how it has completely overshadowed every other attempt at making a phone with a similar form factor.
I've spent some time with the iPhone Duo, and I've used the Galaxy Z Fold 8 for almost three months now. In my opinion, Samsung deserves more credit. When the Galaxy Z Fold 8 arrived earlier this year, it was celebrated in some circles and ridiculed in others for supposedly copying what Apple would eventually deliver with the iPhone Duo. The dialogue was pretty odd, for multiple reasons. Samsung has been making foldable phones for years, so claiming that it copied a product Apple hadn't even launched was simply absurd.