After Hours: Googling a vacation home, Facebook Dating, Telegram features, more

Ben Schoon | Sep 5 2019 - 5:00 pm PT

IFA 2019 is in full swing today with tons of big announcements, and we also got three major leaks for Google’s Pixel 4. In some of today’s smaller stories, Google is making it easier to get a vacation home, Facebook Dating hits the United States, and more.

About After Hours: In this daily roundup, we cover some of the more minor stories regarding Android and Google from the day with some additional commentary. To catch up on everything we publish, check out some of the biggest stories of the day below, and listen to 9to5Google Daily every morning.

Google Search makes it easier to find a vacation home

Alongside the reveal of some new TV and movie features, Google Search is teaming up with Vacasa to make it easier to find a vacation rental. Vacasa is the biggest vacation rental management platform in North America, and this new partnership will essentially make these listings available through Search with the final booking on Vacasa’s site.

Guests who utilize Google to book a vacation home will be directed to vacasa.com, where Vacasa guarantees they will receive the best price. Vacasa homeowners will continue to earn industry-leading revenue for their homes through listing on vacasa.com, as well as through the company’s booking relationships with leading online travel agencies including Airbnb, Vrbo, Expedia and Booking.com.

Facebook Dating arrives in the US

Online dating apps are extremely popular, and today Facebook launched its Dating service in the United States after announcing it a few months ago. As Engadget reports, the service is also available in 19 other countries and will be coming to Europe early next year. Alongside the US launch, Facebook Dating is also getting some new features including Instagram integration for Secret Crush. Facebook has more details on Dating in a press release.

Fun little tidbit — all of Facebook’s new images for Dating use Google’s Pixel 3, as seen above.

BLU has new Android smartphones

Mid-range smartphones sometime bring a lot to the table, and today BLU announced a duo of devices starting at just $99. The Vivo X5 and XL5 offer 64 GB of storage, 3 GB of RAM, octa-core processors, fingerprints sensors, and more. The slightly more expensive XL5 has a 6.3-inch display with a tiny notch up top as well, and both phones ship with Android Pie. Orders are now open over on Amazon.

Telegram just launched a ton of new features

If you’re still awaiting Google to release a proper messaging app, Telegram is one of the great alternatives out there. Today, the service announced a ton of new features for the app on all platforms including scheduling messages, setting message reminders, custom themes, and much more. All of the details are in a blog post.