Olx has launched new updates to its Android app which will only let registered users and sellers access the platform. All users can login with Facebook, Google+ and their phone numbers where they can see mutual friends, their transaction history, how long they’ve been using Olx for and their locations. We’re not sure why Olx assumes that it is okay to share a user’s friends’ transaction history and location, just because its users used social media to login or gave access to link those accounts, because we think it is obviously a violation of user privacy. The updates will be rolled out to all other users in the coming weeks. Olx claims that its ad posting time has been reduced to half (now 10 seconds) with image recognition for less popular categories like pre-owned fashion products and accessories, hobby items such as musical instruments, sports equipment, collectibles, and vintage items. Chat to see number It has also updated the app so that the phone number of the seller is not visible if the seller has set it as hidden. By default, both the user and the seller phone numbers will be hidden, which can be surpassed by initiating a chat. The company says that it has saved chat templates which users can make use of, and is especially targeted towards “new to internet” users. The company has also launched a location based algorithm which will display products closest to the user’s location to save on travel and logistics, saving time…
