🪅 Heap Heap Hurray Ed. #152

Happy Wednesday! Keep that mid-week energy high!

#CamScanner - This app is banned in India since 2020, along with 58 other Chinese app. Well - Indian government agencies, embarrassingly, were found to still using this app. A twitter tech influencer spotted this first and journalists then found that there were many other government agencies guilty of it.

#CostOfComingSecond - Swiggy, the Indian food delivery service is getting crushed by its rival Zomato in the valuation game, despite being so close in growth and market share. It is trading lower than Zomato and seems to be losing market share to Zepto and BlinkIt in the quick e-commerce space.

#Spotify - Spotify’s latest UI design change is driving people crazy. Their playlist creation user experience has all signs of their AI suggested playlist feature over it - annoying users to no end.

#ThinDesign - True gossip - is the upcoming iPhone 17 going to be the thinnest ever?

#YouTubeAlgorithm - YouTube users on the YoutTube subreddit are complaining that their recommendations have gone kaput. People are saying irrelevant videos are overtaking their feeds.

#GoogleMalware? - Google is releasing a new feature named “Page Annotations” in their iOS app. What does it do? It can automatically convert some website text into links to Google Search results - WITHOUT asking the site owner! Seems like a curious move for a company embroiled in antitrust fights over search and advertising.

Amazon To Launch Quick Commerce Service "Tez" In India By 2024 Or Early 2025
Amazon India is gearing up to launch its quick commerce service, codenamed "Tez", offering groceries and daily essentials with dark stores, logistics, and hiring underway. It's Amazon's first foray into quick commerce globally, aiming to compete with Flipkart's "Flipkart Minutes" and other players.

Meesho Rolls Out India's First Generative AI-powered Voice Bot For Customer Support
Meesho is a Bengaluru-based e-commerce startup that serves over 160 million customers in India with 80% in smaller cities and towns. They've introduced a voice bot that handles 60,000 customer calls daily in English and Hindi, with plans to support 6 more Indian languages. By combining existing AI models with custom-built components, the bot has cut expenses by 75% and achieved a 95% query resolution rate.

Zoom Renames Itself To Focus On AI-powered Work Platform
Zoom is changing its name from Zoom Video Communications Inc. to just Zoom Communications.

PayTM - UPI LITE Auto Top-up introduces PIN-less payments and automatic balance refills for seamless everyday transactions under Rs 500.

Figma - Figma Launches Pattern Library - A Comprehensive Toolkit for Streamlined Design Workflows, Consistency, and Scalability

Spotify - Now saving your listening history for up to 90 days.

YouTube - Generate your 2024 Music Recap to view your top artists, songs, moods, genres, and more, complete with animated cards and new features like music taste summaries and alter egos.

Threads - Users Can Now Choose Custom Default Feed

Google Developer Program - Introduces Premium Membership with One-on-One Consultations, Cloud Credits, and Certification Voucher.

React Scan | Scan for React performance issues and eliminate slow renders in your app

Documind | Open-source platform for extracting structured data from documents using AI.

State Of HTML Survey: Results Announced
The 2024 State of HTML survey shows positive views on HTML's accessibility and interactivity features, like “tabindex” and “dialog”, though cross-browser compatibility remains a pain point. Complex elements like forms are difficult to style and validate. Meanwhile, awareness of new features like Isolated Web Apps remains low, indicating a need for improved developer education​.

2 Kerala Engineering Students Build Homework Machine to Replicate Student Handwriting & Complete Academic Tasks in No Time
Two Kerala engineering students, Devadath PR and Siddharth Punathil, have developed a "homework machine" capable of replicating student handwriting and completing academic tasks automatically. Built over a year, the device uses 3D printing technology to write with a pen and turn pages autonomously. With app integration, it enables students to upload tasks, generate answers, and schedule writing, providing a discreet, efficient tool aimed at reducing student workload. Devadath plans to open-source the design to encourage further innovation.

Getting Over Not Being A Good Enough Programmer
The author reflects on their own experiences and provides relatable reasons why programmers may feel held back, including confusing code, relying on AI, and dealing with errors. The author concludes that making progress is what matters, and that the only judge is yourself.