Technologies

Sora Is the No. 1 Free App on the Google Play Store: Your Guide to the AI Video App

Sora continues to dominate, with early estimates saying the Android app was downloaded nearly half a million times in one day.

OpenAI’s Sora app snatches another victory as it takes the top spot in the Google Play Store’s top free app rankings, as spotted by CNET on Monday. It replaced its sister app, ChatGPT, which is now in second place.

OpenAI dropped the Android-compatible version of its Sora app last week, and the AI social media app’s popularity seems to know no bounds. A new report from Appfigures found that the Android app was downloaded 470,000 times on the first day it was available. That’s four times as many downloads as compared to Sora’s initial iOS app launch in September, according to TechCrunch, which originally reported the news.

Keep in mind that the iOS app was downloaded over a million times in less than five days when it was launched in September. It was also restricted to North America and required an invite code. Since Sora has dropped its invite code requirement and opened up the app to more countries, it makes sense that Android downloads would be higher than the iOS ones. But it’s still an eye-popping statistic, even for an app that has quickly become one of the most powerful and controversial AI developments so far.

The Android app is just one of many updates OpenAI has dropped in recent weeks. In a new post, OpenAI’s head of Sora, Bill Peebles, outlined what’s coming soon for the AI-video app, including new creation tools, improved social features and much-anticipated Android support. OpenAI also said it would be working with unions like SAG-AFTRA and other celebrities and public figures to help manage the creation of potentially inappropriate or illegal videos, including deepfakes.

You can download Sora now on the Google Play Store and start scrolling right away. Here’s everything that’s inside the Sora app. For more, check out our guide for how to spot AI-generated videos.

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Cameos and editing tools

Sora recently gained new creation tools in the form of character cameos, which are now expanding beyond people. Cameo is Sora’s primary feature that allows you to use other people’s likenesses to create nearly any kind of AI video. Soon, you’ll be able to cameo your dog, guinea pig, favorite stuffed toy or generated characters from existing Sora videos. Several Halloween-themed characters have been added recently.

The app’s generation interface will also highlight trending cameos in real-time, likely building on popular existing social media features, such as the For You page or Explore page on Instagram.

OpenAI is also introducing basic video editing tools, beginning with the ability to stitch clips together directly within the app. Peebles says more advanced editing features are on the way, hinting at a broader creative suite that aims to move Sora beyond short, one-off generations to an app that can be used by professional creators.

On the social side, the team is experimenting with new ways to utilize Sora with friends and communities, rather than just a global feed. That could mean channels for your university, workplace, hobbies or sports teams, bringing a more localized vibe to what has so far been a mostly chaotic public stream of AI videos.

These changes follow the first major Sora update earlier this month, which introduced longer video limits and a storyboarding feature. The company announced that free Sora users can make videos up to 15 seconds long on the iPhone app and the web (which is the only way Android users can use Sora at the moment). Pro users also receive an additional 10 seconds when creating on the web, for a total of 35 seconds. The announcement came one day after Google upgraded its popular AI video model, Veo 3, to handle longer video generations.

New payment options for videos

As OpenAI added new features and opened up its app to anyone (no invite code needed), it also introduced payment plans. Previously, free users could generate up to 30 videos per day, while Pro users had a limit of 100 videos per day. Now, if anyone hits their generation limit, they can pay $4 for an additional 10 video generations.

Since your Sora account is linked to your ChatGPT account, if you pay for ChatGPT Pro, you’re a paying Sora user. For more information, see all the payment plans.

Storyboarding

Storyboarding, available only to Pro users on the web, lets creators plan out videos on the web before generating them. Storyboarding has long been a part of the professional filmmaking process and is occasionally included in more professional software programs. Google’s AI filmmaking program Flow, for example, allows for storyboarding. But this is an interesting and somewhat unexpected addition to Sora.

Sora has only been around a short time, but the vibe on the app is focused on shorter, funny videos, echoing OpenAI’s claim that the app is designed to help people connect with their friends. Professional-grade videos that are longer and better planned aren’t very common, but these upcoming updates will likely change that.

This could be a sign that OpenAI is attempting to attract the professional creators it has previously alienated. Professional creators would need storyboarding, video editing, longer run times, and higher resolutions, and OpenAI seems to be addressing these needs quickly.

(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Wednesday, Dec. 24

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Dec. 24.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? I’m Irish-American, but yet 6-Down, which involves Ireland, stumped me at first. Read on for all the answers.. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Wordle or Boggle
Answer: GAME

5A clue: Big Newton
Answer: ISAAC

7A clue: Specialized vocabulary
Answer: LINGO

8A clue: «See you in a bit!»
Answer: LATER

9A clue: Tone of many internet comments
Answer: SNARK

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Sharks use them to breathe
Answer: GILLS

2D clue: From Singapore or South Korea, say
Answer: ASIAN

3D clue: Large ocean ray
Answer: MANTA

4D clue: ___ beaver
Answer: EAGER

6D clue: Second-largest city in the Republic of Ireland, after Dublin
Answer: CORK

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Technologies

Quadrantids Is a Short but Sweet Meteor Shower Just After New Year’s. How to See It

This meteor shower has one of the most active peaks, but it doesn’t last for very long.

The Quadrantids has the potential to be one of the most active meteor showers of the year, and skygazers won’t have long to wait to see it. The annual shower is predicted to reach maximum intensity on Jan. 3. And with a display that can rival Perseids, Quadrantids could be worth braving the cold to see it.

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The show officially begins on Dec. 28 and lasts until Jan. 12, according to the American Meteor Society. Quadrantids is scheduled to peak on Jan. 2-3, when it may produce upwards of 125 meteors per hour. This matches Perseids and other larger meteor showers on a per-hour rate, but Quadrantids also has one of the shortest peaks at just 6 hours, so it rarely produces as many meteors overall as the other big ones.

The meteor shower comes to Earth courtesy of the 2003 EH1 asteroid, which is notable because most meteor showers are fed from comets, not asteroids. Per NASA, 2003 EH1 is a near-Earth asteroid that orbits the sun once every five and a half years. Science posits that 2003 EH1 was a comet in a past life, but too many trips around the sun stripped it of its ice, leaving only its rocky core. The Earth runs through EH1’s orbital debris every January, which results in the Quadrantids meteor shower.

How and where to see Quadrantids

Quadrantids is named for the constellation where its meteors appear to originate, a point known as the radiant. This presents another oddity, as the shower originates from the constellation Quadrans Muralis. This constellation ceased to be recognized as an official constellation in the 1920s and isn’t available on most publicly accessible sky maps.

For the modern skygazer, you’ll instead need to find the Bootes and Draco constellations, both of which contain stars that were once a part of the Quadrans Muralis. Draco will be easier to find after sunset on the evening of Jan. 2, and will be just above the horizon in the northern sky. Bootes orbits around Draco, but will remain under the horizon until just after 1 a.m. local time in the northeastern sky. From that point forward, both will sit in the northeastern part of the sky until sunrise. You’ll want to point your chair in that direction and stay there to see meteors.

As the American Meteor Society notes, Quadrantids has a short but active peak, lasting around 6 hours. The peak is expected to start around 4 p.m. ET and last well into the evening. NASA predicts the meteor shower to start one day later on Jan. 3-4, so if you don’t see any on the evening of Jan. 2, try again on Jan. 3.

To get the best results, the standard space viewing tips apply. You’ll want to get as far away from the city and suburbs as possible to reduce light pollution. Since it’ll be so cold outside, dress warmly and abstain from alcoholic beverages, as they can affect your body temperature. You won’t need any binoculars or telescopes, and the reduced field of view may actually impact your ability to see meteors.

The bad news is that either way, the Quadrantids meteor shower coincides almost perfectly with January’s Wolf Moon, which also happens to be a supermoon. This will introduce quite a lot of light pollution, which will likely drown out all but the brightest meteors. So, while it may have a peak of over 100 meteors per hour, both NASA and the AMS agree that the more realistic expectation is 10 or so bright meteors per hour.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for Dec. 24, #1649

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle for Dec. 24, No. 1,649.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Wordle puzzle is a little tricky, with a double letter that could confuse players. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.