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It’s almost time for another Nintendo Direct. A showcase of games from Nintendo’s partners that are coming to the Nintendo Switch and/or Switch 2 is set for 9AM ET on July 31. The stream will run for around 25 minutes and you can watch it above when the time is right.

This is a partner showcase, so you probably shouldn’t expect to find out release dates for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond or Kirby Air Riders here. Instead, we’ll hear about projects from third-party studios and publishers.

Maybe we’ll finally get some details about Call of Duty games coming to Nintendo platforms, something Microsoft said would happen when it signed a pact with the company a couple of years back. And then, of course, there’s the small matter of Hollow Knight: Silksong.

Yeah, yeah, we bring this game up every time one of these showcases happens. But it’s far and away one of the most highly anticipated games right now. It’s still slated to arrive this year and we now know it’ll be playable at Xbox’s booth at Gamescom next month. So maybe, maybe, maybe this Direct will, at long last, reveal that all-important Silksong release date. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/a-nintendo-direct-focused-on-third-party-games-is-taking-place-on-july-31-133158933.html?src=rss 

TikTok’s latest answer to its addictiveness is gamified mindfulness tools. The app’s new Well-being Missions let you earn badges for completing challenges related to balanced digital habits. To be clear, mindfulness and dopamine-seeking mini-games are a contradictory pair. But hey, at least it’s healthier than doomscrolling.

The first batch of TikTok’s “short, engaging missions” focuses on the platform’s existing digital well-being tools. (The company plans to test new features and expand the missions over time.) They include quizzes and flashcards, aspects the company says were well-received in early testing.

TikTok says Well-being Missions focus on positive reinforcement. The idea is to form new habits through encouragement, education and a sense of progress. The gamified challenges are based on research, advice from TikTok’s Youth Council and expert consultations.

It’s easy to draw a straight line between TikTok’s mindfulness features and accusations that it knowingly harmed users’ mental health. ByteDance’s own research reportedly found that compulsive use of the platform correlates with “a slew of negative mental health effects.” It’s also associated with disruption to sleep, responsibilities, and connecting with loved ones.

Some might say the answer to that would be to, oh, make the platform less addictive. But come on, now: can’t interfere with profits! So, badge-earning mindfulness missions, it is. Go get ’em, champ.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/tiktok-gamifies-mindfulness-with-well-being-missions-110014036.html?src=rss 

TikTok’s “For You” recommendations have long been a source of mystery and fascination for creators on the platform. Even the most seasoned TikTok stars don’t always understand why some videos go viral and some don’t. And there’s long been lots of speculation about the types of content that is and isn’t acceptable to the app’s recommendation algorithm.

Now, the company is looking to give creators more transparency into its recommendations. TikTok is testing out a “content check” feature that will allow creators to preview whether their videos have issues that might prevent them from appearing in the coveted “For You” feed.

TikTok is kicking it off with a web-based feature called “Content Check Lite” that will be available on desktop in TikTok Studio. The feature will check uploaded videos for “For You” eligibility and flag potential issues before posting. The company also says it’s in the “early stages” of experimenting with a “broader” content check feature that can check “content against all our Community Guidelines before it goes live on platform,” and offer specific feedback on changes that can help correct ineligible content. A “small group” of creators are currently part of the test, according to the company.

TikTok has already tested a version of this for TikTok Shop sellers, and says the feature has already resulted in a 27 percent reduction in “low-quality uploads” to the app. The feature could also help the company increase trust with creators, who often speculate about “shadow bans” and why some videos don’t get as many views as they expect.

“Ultimately, our goal is to help creators understand our rules and make sure that they can know how best to build that audience and build that thriving following on TikTok,” TikTok’s head of operations and trust and safety, Adam Presser, said during a press event. “We’re excited to learn from the pilot, and hope to have more to share ahead in the next few months.”

The company is also adding several other updates for creators, including new muting and filtering controls that make it easier to weed out specific terms from comments in live streams and other posts. The app is also getting a designated “creator inbox” to make it easier to manage messaging in the app. Creators who want to have a separate space to interact with followers will also be able to take advantage of “creator chat rooms,” which allows eligible accounts to make a dedicated space for chats with up to 300 followers.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/tiktok-content-check-tells-creators-if-their-videos-will-be-blocked-from-for-you-pages-110015168.html?src=rss 

TikTok users in the United States will soon see crowd-sourced fact checks appearing alongside videos on the platform. The app is beginning to roll out Footnotes, its version of Community Notes, the company announced.

TikTok announced its plan to adopt the feature back in April and since then almost 80,000 users have been approved as contributors. Footnotes works similarly to Community Notes on X. Contributors can add a note to videos with false claims, AI-generated content or that otherwise require more context. Contributors are required to cite a source for the information they provide and other contributors need to rate a footnote as helpful before it will show up broadly. Like X, TikTok will use a bridging algorithm to determine which notes have reached “a broad level of consensus.”

According to screenshots shared by the company, Footnotes will appear prominently underneath a video’s caption. Users will be able to read the full note and view a link to its source material.

While TikTok is the latest major platform to adopt the crowd sourced approach to fact checking, unlike Meta, the company is still continuing to work with professional fact checking organizations, including in the United States. The company also points out that Footnotes will be subject to the same content moderation standards as the rest of its platform, and that people can report notes that might break its rules. The presence of a note won’t, however, impact whether a particular video is eligible for recommendations in the “For You” feed.

For now, the company isn’t making any commitments to roll out the system beyond the US. “We picked the US market because it’s sufficiently large that it has a content ecosystem that can support this kind of a test,” TikTok’s head of integrity and authenticity product, Erica Ruzic, said during a press event. “We will be evaluating over the coming weeks and months, as we see how our US pilot is going, whether we would want to expand this to additional markets.”

The test of Footnotes comes at a moment when the company’s future in the United States is still somewhat in limbo. President Donald Trump has delayed a potential ban three times since taking office in January as a long long-promised “deal” to create a US-owned TikTok entity has yet to materialize. Trump said a month ago that an agreement could be announced in “two weeks.” Since then, there have also been reports that TikTok owner ByteDance is working on a new, US-only version of the app in anticipation of a deal. TikTok representatives declined to comment on those reports, which have suggested such an app could debut in early September.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/tiktoks-community-notes-era-starts-today-110041152.html?src=rss 

Opera is filing an antitrust complaint against Microsoft in Brazil, alleging it creates an unfair environment for alternate browsers to compete with Edge. The Norway-based company claims Microsoft’s deals to make Edge the exclusive pre-installed browser on Windows machines creates an unfair environment for alternate browsers to compete. Opera also argued that Microsoft uses design tactics and dark patterns to further discourage people from downloading and using rival products. It is asking Brazil’s Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) to pursue remedies against Microsoft.

“Microsoft thwarts browser competition on Windows at every turn. First, browsers like Opera are locked out of important pre-installation opportunities,” Aaron McParlan, general counsel for Opera, said in a statement. “And then Microsoft frustrates users’ ability to download and use alternative browsers.”

This isn’t the first time these two companies have clashed. Opera sued Microsoft in the EU all the way back in 2007 with a similar argument that bundling Internet Explorer was anticompetitive. Last year, it also argued (albeit unsuccessfully) that Microsoft should have gatekeeper designation for the Edge browser under the EU’s Digital Markets Act.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/opera-takes-its-browser-beef-with-microsoft-to-brazil-in-antitrust-complaint-214105355.html?src=rss