As part of a program that could have far-reaching consequences for the tech industry, Google is launching a pilot to test third-party billing systems in Android and across its wider ecosystem. The company announced on Wednesday it plans to conduct the pilot with a handful of participating developers, starting most notably with Spotify.

Beginning later this year, Spotify users who have downloaded the company’s app through the Play Store will have the option to pay for a Premium subscription through either one of Google or Spotify’s billing systems. “For the first time, these two options will live side by side in the app,” the company said. “This will give everyone the freedom to subscribe and make purchases using the payment option of their choice directly in the Spotify app.”

Spotify said it would begin collaborating with Google on that functionality within the coming months, with the work involving product and engineering teams across both companies. “This pilot will help us to increase our understanding of whether and how user choice billing works for users in different countries and for developers of different sizes and categories,” said Sameer Samat, Google’s vice president of product management.

For Spotify, today’s announcement is nothing short of a breakthrough victory. The company has spent years campaigning against app store monopolies, its efforts culminating in 2020 when it formed, alongside Epic Games, The Coalition for App Fairness to pressure Apple and Google to change their policies. 

For Google, meanwhile, the pilot is very much a defensive move on the company’s part. Like Apple, the company has spent significant time and resources lobbying against legislation like the Open App Markets Act, which was recently advanced by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Should the bill become law as it stands, it would prevent app marketplace owners with more than 50 million users in the US from locking third-party developers into their payment systems.

Source: Engadget – Google will test alternatives to its Play Store billing system, starting with Spotify

Twitter is expanding DM searches to help you find the exact conversation you’re looking for. The social media app now lets you use the search bar in the DM inbox to find specific messages. Type in a keyword or name, pick the “Messages” tab and you’ll see any relevant messages, including older ones.

The company didn’t mention which platforms supported the feature (we’ve asked for comment). As of this writing, we could only search for people or groups on the web.

Twitter introduced DM searches in 2019, when they became available to iOS app users. The feature didn’t come to Android until 2021, but Twitter delivered an upgraded version that allowed searches of your full history rather than just recent threads. The firm teased the ability to search message content later that year, but it clearly took longer to deliver the upgrade than anticipated. Still, this might be appreciated if you’re trying to unearth a must-have restaurant or revisit a favorite discussion.

Source: Engadget – Twitter DM search now works the way you’d expect

Since launching in 2020, Apple’s digital car key feature has only been available on a handful of BMW models. In January, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman claimed the feature would expand to include select vehicles from Hyundai brands like Genesis “by the summer.” It now looks like those plans may be ahead of schedule. In a change spotted by MacRumors, Apple has updated its CarPlay website to indicate that the 2022 Genesis GV60, 2022 G90 and 2022 Kia Niro now support the feature.

It’s unclear if CarKey functionality is already widely available on those models or if Hyundai is only now in the process of rolling it out. A spokesperson for Kia told the outlet it would “have more information about Digital Key availability in the coming weeks.” 

While car manufacturers have offered remote lock controls through smartphones for a while, CarKey is different in that it treats your iPhone and Apple Watch like a physical key. To use the feature, you simply bring your phone or wearable up to your car’s door handle to unlock it. Some vehicles also allow you to start them by placing your device near the ignition button. With more recent iPhones that come with Apple’s U1 chip, you don’t even need to remove your phone from your pocket to access your car.

Source: Engadget – Apple’s digital car keys now work with some Hyundai vehicles

You won’t have to use the Switch Virtual Console (or a good emulator) to make the most of Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on modern hardware. VGCreports fans at Harbour Masters have developed a native PC port (available on Discord) that supports many up-to-the-minute features, including HD (and ultra-wide) graphics, modding, keyboard input and even Switch-style gyroscope aiming. You could make good use of a Steam Deck in your latest round of gaming nostalgia, to put it another way.