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OpenAI now reveals more of its o3-mini model’s thought process

February 6, 2025

In response to pressure from rivals including Chinese AI company DeepSeek, OpenAI is changing the way its newest AI model, o3-mini, communicates its step-by-step “thought” process. On Thursday, OpenAI announced that free and paid users of ChatGPT, the company’s AI-powered chatbot platform, will see an updated “chain of thought” that shows more of the model’s…

Tinder will try AI-powered matching as dating app continues to lose users

February 6, 2025

Tinder hopes to reverse its ongoing decline in active users by turning to AI. In the coming quarter, the Match-owned dating app will roll out new AI-powered features for discovery and matching. The addition aims to offer fatigued singles an alternative to the “swipe” that defined the dating app in its earlier days and influenced…

RPLY is a new AI assistant that responds to missed texts

February 6, 2025

A new Mac app called RPLY launches today, designed to help texters achieve “inbox zero” on iMessage. Targeting those who often forget to reply and leave their friends on delivered for days, RPLY utilizes AI to identify missed texts and suggests responses to prevent users from unintentionally ghosting. The AI assistant can automatically respond to…

Flashes, a photo-sharing app for Bluesky, opens beta

February 6, 2025

Flashes, an Instagram alternative built on top of the Bluesky social network, is now opening its doors to beta testers. Announced just weeks ago, the app offers people a means of exiting Meta’s social networking empire for a more open alternative, while also attracting new users who may not have been interested in using Bluesky’s…

Tinder revamps ‘Explore’ page to connect people with similar dating intentions

February 6, 2025

Dating app giant Tinder updated its Explore page to give users access to new categories, “Non-Monogamy,” “Serious Dater,” “Short-Term Fun,” “Long-Term Partner,” and “New Friends,” the company announced on Thursday. These new categories are designed to help users find compatible matches by grouping profiles according to dating intentions. The “Serious Dater” option focuses on users…

Spotify, Warner Music Group sign new deal to help deliver ‘further paid subscription tiers’

February 6, 2025

Spotify and Warner Music Group (WMG) have unveiled a new multi-year agreement that covers both recorded music and music publishing, the companies announced on Thursday. WMG owns labels behind popular artists like Dua Lipa, Coldplay, and Ed Sheeran. The companies said in a press release that “the new deal will help deliver new fan experiences,…

Mistral releases its AI assistant on iOS and Android

February 6, 2025

Mistral, the company sometimes considered Europe’s great hope for AI, is releasing several updates to its AI assistant, Le Chat. In addition to a major upgrade to the web interface, the company is releasing a mobile app on iOS and Android. As a reminder, Mistral develops its own large language models. The company’s flagship models,…

AI’s biggest stage awaits – TechCrunch Sessions: AI tickets available

February 5, 2025

AI is heating up, and we’re diving in! TechCrunch Sessions: AI is officially open for registration. Secure your spot now and save up to $300 on select tickets before prices rise From startup founders to AI investors to aspiring innovators — TC Sessions: AI is where the entire AI ecosystem comes together. Whether you’re building,…

Former Whoop exec’s new app Alma uses AI for all things nutrition

February 5, 2025

Generative AI models have demonstrated to app developers that combining a robust knowledge base with the right model can enable them to offer users services — once reliant on costly professionals like therapists or executive assistants — at a fraction of the price. Former VP of product at fitness company Whoop, Rami Alhamad, has a…

Snap says TikTok uncertainty benefited its business

February 4, 2025

During Snap’s fourth-quarter earnings call on Tuesday, CEO Evan Spiegel said that the uncertainty surrounding TikTok’s future has positively affected its business. “We’re not trying to draw too many conclusions from some of the engagement lift we saw when [TikTok] went dark for that brief period of time. I would say that the overall environment…

Hugging Face researchers aim to build an ‘open’ version of OpenAI’s deep research tool

February 4, 2025

A group of developers at AI dev platform Hugging Face, including Thomas Wolf, the company’s co-founder and chief scientist, say they’ve built an “open” version of OpenAI’s deep research tool. Deep research, which OpenAI unveiled during an event Sunday, crawls the web to compile research reports on any subject. While impressive, deep research is currently…

A review of Tapestry, an app powered by the growing open web

February 4, 2025

A new app called Tapestry, which launched Tuesday, aggregates and organizes information from across the web and social networks in a single place. It is, in some ways, like this generation’s FriendFeed, for those old enough to remember the earlier attempt from the Web 2.0 era to aggregate feeds and social media updates in a…

DSTLRY, the comic books marketplace, launches new customization features for artists

February 4, 2025

DSTLRY, a venture-backed digital comic books marketplace, on Tuesday added a pair of features designed to bring customization to the platform. The first feature, dubbed Commissioned Digital Remarques, allows creators to add personalized sketches and signatures to digital comics. The second, Unlimited Digital Covers, expands platform-wide access to alternative comic book covers. Commissioned Digital Remarques…

Apple launches Invites, a new app for creating custom invitations

February 4, 2025

Apple on Tuesday launched a new app called “Invites” that allows users to create custom invitations for any occasion. With Invites, users can create and share invitations on their iPhone, RSVP, contribute to Shared Albums, and curate event soundtracks. To create an invitation, you need an iCloud+ subscription. However, anyone can RSVP, regardless of whether…

LogicStar is building AI agents for app maintenance

February 4, 2025

Swiss startup LogicStar is bent on joining the AI agent game. The summer 2024-founded startup has bagged $3 million in pre-seed funding to bring tools to the developer market that can do autonomous maintenance of software applications, rather than the more typical AI agent use-case of code co-development. LogicStar CEO and co-founder Boris Paskalev suggests…

Spotify reports its first full year of profitability, adds 35M monthly active users

February 4, 2025

On Tuesday morning, Spotify announced its fourth-quarter earnings, marking its first full year of profitability since its inception 17 years ago. The operating income for the quarter reached a record €477 million ($509.48 million) and amounted to €1.4 billion ($1.495 billion) for the 2024 fiscal year. Spotify also reported an addition of 35 million monthly…

Team behind Twitterrific launches a multi-feed app called Tapestry

February 4, 2025

After Elon Musk took over Twitter, the company blocked third-party clients in 2023, including ones like Twitterrific, Tweetbot, and Fenix. Iconfactory, the company behind Twitterrifc, on Tuesday is finally launching its multi-feed app called Tapestry on Tuesday, which allows you to add sources like RSS, YouTube, Bluesky, Podcasts, Mastodon, Reddit, Tumblr, Micro.blog, GO Comics, and…

Team behind Twitterrific launches a multi-feed app called Tapestry

February 4, 2025

After Elon Musk took over Twitter, the company blocked third-party clients in 2023, including ones like Twitterrific, Tweetbot, and Fenix. Iconfactory, the company behind Twitterrifc, finally launched its multi-feed app called Tapestry on Tuesday, which allows you to add sources like RSS, YouTube, Bluesky, Podcasts, Mastodon, Reddit, Tumblr, Micro.blog, GO Comics, and more to unified…

Walkstar is a new iOS app that pauses songs when you stop moving

February 4, 2025

There are plenty of pedometer and step counter apps in the world, but this new app has a fun twist. Walkstar, which launched Tuesday in the App Store, enhances your workout by syncing your tunes with your movement. The moment you pause, the music fades away, making it a perfect motivator for those looking to…

Opera launches a mindfulness-focused browser with break reminders and soundscapes

February 4, 2025

Norway-based browser maker Opera on Tuesday launched a new browser called “Opera Air,” which focuses on mental well-being and mindfulness with features like break reminders, breathing exercises, soundscapes, and binaural beats for better focus. The company said that people use browsers for a lot of their work online, and it wanted to ship a browser…

Trump says new US sovereign wealth fund could purchase TikTok

February 3, 2025

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday to create a U.S. sovereign wealth fund and suggested that it could be used to purchase TikTok. The fund is expected to be created in the next 12 months by the U.S. Treasury and Commerce Departments, though it’s not immediately clear how. Trump has said previously…

Hot Tub, the first native iPhone porn app, arrives in EU

February 3, 2025

A native pornography app for iOS is coming to the EU via the approved alternative app store AltStore PAL, made possible by Europe’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). On Monday, the AltStore announced the launch of Hot Tub, an aggregator that offers iOS users a way to search and play videos from a variety of adult…

First native iPhone porn app arrives in EU

February 3, 2025

TechCrunch Disrupt 2025: Secure your ticket at this year’s lowest rates

February 3, 2025

Missed the 2-for-1 deal for TechCrunch Disrupt 2025? No problem! Super Early Bird prices are still available, with savings of up to $1,130 on individual tickets and up to 30% on group passes. These savings are only good until the end of this month. Celebrate 20 years of TechCrunch Disrupt from October 27-29 at Moscone…

Hero’s all-in-one, AI productivity app takes on Google’s Calendar and others

February 3, 2025

People often use multiple apps for notes, schedule management, and to-dos. But why not combine them all in one app? That’s the ethos behind Hero, an all-in-one productivity app with an AI assistant (of course!). The iOS app was developed by former Meta employees Brad Kowalk and Seung W. Lee. Both met while working on…

Apple reportedly launching a new event invite feature code-named Confetti

February 2, 2025

Apple will be giving iCloud users a new way to invite people to parties, meetings, and other events, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. The company has code-named the service Confetti, and it could launch as early as this week, Gurman says. There aren’t many details about how it will actually work, but Confetti is reportedly…

Shein app returns to India via Reliance deal

February 2, 2025

Chinese fast-fashion retailer Shein has relaunched in India through a partnership with Reliance Retail, nearly five years after it was banned amid diplomatic tensions between New Delhi and Beijing. The new Shein India Fast Fashion app, developed and launched by billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Retail, marks the firm’s significant return to one of Asia’s largest…

TechCrunch Disrupt 2025: Last 24 hours for 2-for-1 Pass

January 31, 2025

Final hours for 2-for-1 Passes! One of the best Super Early Bird Deals for TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 will be wrapping up in just 24 hours for the rest of the year. The 2-for-1 Pass lets you bring a friend, colleague, or business partner, for nearly free. Buy one pass at the Super Early Bird rate…

Apple tops 1 billion subscriptions, nearly $100 billion in services revenue in 2024

January 30, 2025

Apple’s iPhone sales may be down, but the company’s Services division, which includes the App Store, iCloud, Music, TV+, and other subscriptions, is still soaring. The Cupertino-based tech giant reported Thursday its Services business had an all-time revenue high of $26.3 billion for the quarter ended December 28, up 14% year-over-year. Services generated nearly $100…

Google quietly announces its next flagship AI model

January 30, 2025

Google took the low-key route for the launch of its next-gen flagship AI model, Gemini 2.0 Pro Experimental. Instead of a splashy announcement, the AI model was revealed in the changelog for the company’s Gemini chatbot app. The launch of Gemini 2.0 Pro Experimental — the successor to the Gemini 1.5 Pro model that Google…

Apple quarterly revenue increases, even as China sales decline 11%

January 30, 2025

Apple’s latest earnings were a mixed bag filled with slipping iPhone sales and countered by rising revenue. Reporting after the bell Thursday, the iPhone maker’s overall revenue in the first quarter of 2025 beat Wall Street expectations, with a 4% bump to $124.3 billion over the same time last year. Apple reported net income of…

Google’s ‘Ask for Me’ feature calls businesses on your behalf to inquire about services, pricing

January 30, 2025

Google is testing a new “Ask for Me” feature that uses AI to call local businesses on your behalf, for information about availability and pricing. The feature is available on desktop and mobile for users who have opted into the company’s Search Labs experiments. The idea is to help users access information without having to…

Threads adds a ‘media’ tab and the ability to tag people in photos

January 30, 2025

Meta’s newer social network Threads announced on Thursday that it’s introducing a dedicated “media” tab for both photos and videos, only days after its rivals, including X (formerly Twitter) and the startup Bluesky, did the same for videos. In addition, Meta will also now allow users to tag people in the photos they share. Instagram…

Mark Zuckerberg teases a 2025 return to ‘OG Facebook’

January 30, 2025

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg teased a “return to OG Facebook” as part of his key goals for 2025 in Wednesday’s Q4 earnings call with investors. While the company was short on details as to what specific changes lay in store, it’s clear that Meta is in desperate need of younger Facebook users to sustain itself…

Amazon hikes prices for its Music Unlimited subscriptions

January 30, 2025

Amazon is the latest company to announce a price hike for its music streaming subscriptions. The company revealed this week that the price of an Amazon Music Unlimited Individual plan for Prime members is going from $9.99 per month to $10.99. As for subscribers without a Prime membership, the price of their subscription is going…

DeepSeek might have a trademark problem in the U.S.

January 29, 2025

Chinese AI company DeepSeek has been accused of IP theft, faced privacy inquiries in Europe, and has been the target of an enormous cyberattack. Now, it appears the company has a new headache on its hands: a U.S. trademark conflict. On Tuesday, DeepSeek filed an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) seeking…

Netflix adds a convenient feature for iOS users to download an entire TV season at once

January 29, 2025

Netflix announced on Wednesday that it’s giving iOS users a new feature that allows them to download an entire season of their favorite TV show with one tap. The feature first became available to Android users. The Season Download button is available in the Netflix app, located next to the Share button on a show’s…

DeepSeek’s app becomes unavailable on Apple’s and Google’s app stores in Italy

January 29, 2025

Hours after Italian authorities requested information from DeepSeek about how the company handles user data, the Chinese AI startup’s app is no longer available in Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store. The app has claimed the top spot in the download charts in multiple countries, including in the U.S. where it is at the…

ChatGPT’s mobile users are 85% male, report says

January 29, 2025

The AI bubble hasn’t burst yet, at least when it comes to consumer spending on AI apps. Led by OpenAI’s ChatGPT, overall spending on AI apps jumped to $1.42 billion in 2024, according to app analytics firm Appfigures. This marks a 274% increase from 2023 (the app launched in May of that year). Among tens…

DeepSeek reaches No. 1 on US Play Store

January 29, 2025

Chinese AI lab DeepSeek’s Android app has taken the No. 1 spot on the Google Play Store, days after the chatbot app clinched the top spot on the App Store. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Bookshop.org challenges Amazon with new e-book platform

January 28, 2025

Indie bookstore backer Bookshop.org launched an e-book platform on Tuesday, making it easier for readers to buy e-books without padding Jeff Bezos’s pockets. For years, Amazon’s chokehold and sway in the publishing industry have been so strong that authors and booksellers have accused the company of operating a monopoly. Amazon is dominant in the sale…

Automattic and others back Openvibe, an app that’s unifying the open social web

January 28, 2025

Openvibe’s clever app that integrates multiple open social networks including Bluesky, Mastodon, Nostr, and Threads, just got a boost toward its future development. The company on Tuesday announced that it has received outside investment of $800,000 in a round led by Czech Founders VC, which includes backing from WordPress.com and Tumblr parent company, Automattic, as…

Waymo is reportedly building a charity ‘tipping’ feature into its robotaxi app

January 28, 2025

Alphabet-owned autonomous vehicle company Waymo might be planning to test a feature that will allow robotaxi riders to add a “tip” that will go to the charity of their choice after a ride. Jane Manchun Wong, a security researcher who recently hacked the display dome on top of a Waymo vehicle, found the new tip…

Google Play adds a ‘Verified’ badge for trusted VPN apps

January 28, 2025

Google Play is rolling out “Verified” badges for select VPN apps to make it easier for users to find trust services. Apps with the badge prioritize user privacy and safety, Google said in a blog post on Tuesday. The badge indicates that the developers of an app have adhered to the Play safety and security…

Reelo stands out among the apps building a ‘TikTok for Bluesky’

January 28, 2025

There are a number of projects now underway that are focused on developing a video-first app for the open source social network Bluesky. However, one stands out from the rest: An upcoming app called Reelo isn’t building on top of the Bluesky social network, as so many others are, but is building on the underlying…

Microsoft tests ‘scareware blocker’ for Edge that uses computer vision to detect scams

January 28, 2025

Microsoft is rolling out a new tool dubbed “scareware blocker,” which uses machine learning and computer vision to identify a very pervasive type of online scam. “Scareware” has blighted the web almost since its inception, often in the form of fake antivirus software that claims to have detected a non-existent threat on a user’s machine.…

Google Maps will soon rename Gulf of Mexico to ‘Gulf of America’

January 27, 2025

Google will rename the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska’s Denali mountain in Google Maps once a federal mapping database reflects changes ordered by the Trump Administration, the company announced Monday. Google is complying with an executive order issued last week by President Donald Trump that changed the names of several American landmarks. The executive order…

Alibaba’s Qwen team releases AI models that can control PCs and phones

January 27, 2025

Chinese AI lab DeepSeek might be getting the bulk of the tech industry’s attention this week. But one of its top domestic rivals, Alibaba, isn’t sitting idly by. Alibaba’s Qwen team on Monday released a new family of AI models, Qwen2.5-VL, that can perform a number of text and image analysis tasks. The models can…

DeepSeek displaces ChatGPT as the App Store’s top app

January 27, 2025

The mobile app for DeepSeek, a Chinese AI lab, skyrocketed to the number-one spot in app stores around the globe this weekend, topping the U.S.-based AI chatbot, ChatGPT. On iOS, DeepSeek is currently the No. 1 free app in the U.S. App Store and 51 other countries, according to mobile app analytics firm Appfigures. The…

Bluesky adds video to user profiles

January 27, 2025

Social network Bluesky is doubling down on video. After it added a new TikTok-like custom video feed last week in the wake of the U.S. ban on the popular video app (now on pause), the company on Monday announced it’s adding a new video tab to Bluesky user profiles. The tab will allow people to…

Meta AI can now use your Facebook and Instagram data to personalize its responses

January 27, 2025

Meta says that it is rolling out improvements to Meta AI, its cross-platform chatbot, including the ability have the bot “remember” details from conversations. In a post on Meta’s official blog, the company said that, in chats with Meta AI on Facebook, Messenger, and WhatsApp for iOS and Android in the U.S. and Canada, users can…

Trump administration reportedly negotiating an Oracle takeover of TikTok

January 25, 2025

The Trump administration is negotiating a deal that would see Oracle take over TikTok alongside new U.S. investors, according to a report in NPR. Lawmakers passed a bill last year forcing Chinese parent company ByteDance to either sell TikTok or see it banned in the U.S. The app briefly went dark before the law took…

In motion to dismiss, chatbot platform Character AI claims it is protected by the First Amendment

January 24, 2025

Character AI, a platform that lets users engage in roleplay with AI chatbots, has filed a motion to dismiss a case brought against it by the parent of a teen who committed suicide, allegedly after becoming hooked on the company’s technology. In October, Megan Garcia filed a lawsuit against Character AI in the U.S. District…

Open source alternatives to Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp raise funds on Kickstarter

January 24, 2025

The developer behind Pixelfed, Loops, and Sup, open source alternatives to Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp, respectively, is now raising funds on Kickstarter to fuel the apps’ further development. The trio is part of the growing open social web, also known as the fediverse, powered by the same ActivityPub protocol used by X alternative Mastodon. The…

iOS 18 hits 68% adoption across iPhones, per new Apple figures

January 24, 2025

Apple released new figures Friday, highlighting user adoption of iOS 18. Released in public form back in September 2024, the mobile operating system is now installed on 68% of compatible devices. That number jumps to 78% on iPhones released in the last four years. As for the remaining iPhones out there, 19% are running iOS…

US users dumped RedNote after Trump paused the TikTok ban

January 24, 2025

In the days leading up to the TikTok ban in the U.S. on Sunday, U.S. users flooded the Chinese app RedNote, which offered a similar experience to their favorite short-form video app. The app, which is listed in the U.S. App Store under its Chinese name Xiaohongshu, quickly became the No. 1 free app in…

Threads is testing ads in the U.S. and Japan

January 24, 2025

Meta’s X rival Threads said Friday that it is now testing ads with select brands in the U.S. and Japan. Instagram head Adam Mosseri said that the company will listen to feedback before expanding this experiment in other markets. “We know there will be plenty of feedback about how we should approach ads, and we…

Apple admits next-gen CarPlay is late, but still in development

January 24, 2025

Though Apple rarely misses self-imposed deadlines, it’s done so with the next-generation CarPlay. The company originally teased the update back in 2022. With this new version, CarPlay will integrate seamlessly with the instrument cluster to provide information on speed, climate control, and other car data. Apple had promised an initial rollout for a limit set…

Apple introduces a new API to support more in-app purchase formats

January 24, 2025

Apple announced on Thursday a new API called the Advanced Commerce API to support more in-app purchase formats, such as subscriptions and content add-ons. The company added that it is not changing the commission structure to support these use cases. “The App Store facilitates billions of transactions annually to help developers grow their businesses and provide a world-class…

OpenAI says it may store deleted Operator data for up to 90 days

January 23, 2025

OpenAI says that it might store chats and associated screenshots from customers who use Operator, the company’s AI “agent” tool, for up to 90 days — even after a user manually deletes them. OpenAI has a similar deleted data retention policy for ChatGPT, its AI-powered chatbot platform. However, the retention period for ChatGPT is only…

Everyone wants MrBeast on their TikTok bid, but he hasn’t committed yet

January 23, 2025

Anthropic’s new Citations feature aims to reduce AI errors

January 23, 2025

In an announcement perhaps timed to divert attention away from OpenAI’s Operator, Anthropic Thursday unveiled a new feature for its developer API called Citations, which lets devs “ground” answers from its Claude family of AI in source documents such as emails. Anthropic says Citations allows its AI models to provide detailed references to “the exact…

Threads rolls out a post scheduler, ‘markup’ feature, and more

January 23, 2025

While Meta lures TikTok creators to Instagram and Facebook with cash bonuses, its X competitor Instagram Threads is now making things easier for creators, brands, and others who need more professional tools to manage their presence on the app. On Thursday, Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced a small handful of new features coming to Threads,…

Epic brings third-party titles to its mobile game store

January 23, 2025

Epic Games is adding third-party games to its mobile app store, and helping developers cover associated iOS fees. The company is launching a free games program, and will cover the cost for all titles from developers that participate in the program on iOS or iPadOS devices. With this program, Epic will roll out new free games…

Android 16’s first beta version brings iOS-style live notifications

January 23, 2025

After releasing two developer beta versions last year, Google introduced the first public beta for Android 16 on Thursday. New features include live updates on the lock screen (like Live Activities on iOS), Advanced Professional Video (APV) codec for high-quality video recording, and a framework for developers to make their apps adaptable for different screen…

Perplexity launches an assistant for Android

January 23, 2025

AI-powered search engine Perplexity has launched an “agent,” of sorts, called Perplexity Assistant, which Perplexity says uses reasoning, search, and apps to help with daily tasks. Perplexity Assistant, which is available for Android devices as of Thursday in the Perplexity app, can take “multi-app actions,” the company says, like hailing a ride or searching for…

Brave will allow you to tune search results with upvotes and downvotes

January 23, 2025

Brave Search said Thursday that it is adding a new feature called Rerank that will allow users to tune search results by upvoting or downvoting certain websites. The feature, which will be available to all users, will appear on the top right of the search results page. When users open the panel, they will be…

Nearly 10 year later, Tumblr TV launches to all as a TikTok alternative

January 22, 2025

In 2015, the blogging site Tumblr launched a GIF discovery feature called Tumblr TV as an experimental product. Now, with the U.S. TikTok ban leaving the fate of the short-form video app uncertain, Tumblr has decided it’s finally time to launch Tumblr TV, which has since evolved to support video, to all its users as…

Nearly 10 years later, Tumblr TV launches to all as a TikTok alternative

January 22, 2025

How to delete Facebook, Instagram, and Threads

January 22, 2025

In the wake of Meta’s decision to remove its third-party fact-checking system and loosen content moderation policies, Google searches on how to delete Facebook, Instagram, and Threads have been on the rise. People who are angry with the decision accuse Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg of cozying up to the Trump administration at the expense of…

Google makes Circle to Search more helpful

January 22, 2025

At Samsung Unpacked 2025 on Wednesday, Google announced that it’s updating Circle to Search to make it easier for users to find information and get things done. The feature, which launched last year, allows people to search from anywhere on their phone by using gestures like circling, highlighting, scribbling, or tapping. Now Google is expanding…

Livestream app Favorited, a new TikTok alternative, gets backing from a16z

January 22, 2025

This month, drama unfolded across mainstream social media platforms like TikTok, which briefly went dark in the U.S. before a rapid return. Instagram recently faced backlash after ending its third-party fact-checking program. At the same time, startups like Favorited are attracting attention from investors, creators, and viewers. On Wednesday, the livestream app announced its $1.3…

Dewey launches a solution to save your TikTok favorites … just in case

January 22, 2025

TikTok is back online in the U.S. for the time being, but its future remains uncertain. While many apps have been scrambling to attract TikTok users and creators, a bookmarking backup service called Dewey has launched a solution that saves your favorite TikTok videos and allows you to access them at any time — even…

YouTube launches speed controls and high-quality audio tests for Premium users

January 22, 2025

YouTube said Wednesday that it is adding new experimental features for Premium users, including high-quality audio, faster playback speed option on mobile, and the ability to “jump ahead” on the web to skip to the more intriguing part of the video. The company routinely tests new features that users can activate from youtube.com/new. The company said…

AI apps saw over $1 billion in consumer spending in 2024

January 22, 2025

Demand for generative AI help drive consumer spending on apps to $150 billion globally in 2024, up 13% from the prior year. According to an annual “State of Mobile” report from app intelligence provider Sensor Tower (which acquired Data.ai, the original report’s author, last March), AI apps saw a surge of interest over the past…

Trump open to Elon Musk or Larry Ellison buying TikTok

January 22, 2025

President Donald Trump has said he would be open to Tesla CEO Elon Musk or Oracle chairman Larry Ellison buying TikTok as part of join venture with the U.S. government. Trump was asked at a press conference on Tuesday if he was open to “Elon buying TikTok.” He responded that he would be, and added:…

Truecaller brings real-time caller ID to iPhone users

January 21, 2025

Spotify introduces educational audio courses, starting in the UK

January 21, 2025

Spotify is expanding its streaming service to now include educational courses in addition to music, podcasts, and audiobooks. The company on Tuesday announced the launch of a new feature called courses, which will allow users to learn about topics in areas like business, tech, lifestyle, music, and more. The feature will initially be made available…

Spotify’s educational audio courses could be coming to U.S.

January 21, 2025

Spotify is expanding its streaming service to now include educational courses in addition to music, podcasts, and audiobooks. The company on Tuesday referenced one of its newer features called courses, which allow users to learn about topics in areas like business, tech, lifestyle, music, and more. The feature is initially being piloted in the U.K.,…

Meta lures TikTok creators with $5K bonuses, content deals, free verification

January 21, 2025

Meta is luring TikTok creators over to its platforms with the promise of cash bonuses, content deals, and support to grow their communities. The company announced on Tuesday that eligible TikTok creators will be able to earn “up to” $5,000 in bonuses over three months for posting Reels on Facebook and Instagram. These creators will…

Meta will soon let you link your WhatsApp account with Instagram and Facebook

January 21, 2025

Meta announced on Tuesday that users will soon be able to add their WhatsApp account to their Accounts Center, a hub where users can manage connected experiences across their Facebook, Instagram, and Meta Quest accounts. With this integration, users will be able to cross-post their WhatsApp Status as Stories on Instagram and Facebook, getting rid…

Anthropic plans to release a ‘two-way’ voice mode for Claude

January 21, 2025

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei says that the company plans to release a “two-way” voice mode for its chatbot, Claude, as well as a memory feature that lets Claude remember more about users and past conversations. Speaking to The Wall Street Journal at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Amodei also revealed that Anthropic expects to…

OpenAI’s agent tool may be nearing release

January 20, 2025

OpenAI may be close to releasing an AI tool that can take control of your PC and perform actions on your behalf. Tibor Blaho, a software engineer with a reputation for accurately leaking upcoming AI products, claims to have uncovered evidence of OpenAI’s long-rumored Operator tool. Publications including Bloomberg have previously reported on Operator, which…

Flipboard’s new app Surf adds its own video feed, too

January 20, 2025

After the TikTok ban went into effect on Sunday, social network Bluesky launched a custom feed for videos on its platform. Now, Flipboard’s newest app, Surf, which is dedicated to browsing the open social web and decentralized services like Mastodon and Bluesky, is taking advantage of that move to introduce a video feed of its…

RedNote, Flip, Clapper and Likee claim the top of the App Store as TikTok comes back online

January 20, 2025

TikTok may be back, but that hasn’t prevented other Chinese competitors from gaining users. In the lead up to a ban on TikTok — which kicked off Sunday and lasted a day — a number of other video apps rose through the ranks and now dominate the App Store’s Top Charts. The Chinese app RedNote…

Bluesky launches a custom feed for vertical videos

January 19, 2025

It is the product shipping time for all social networks with TikTok’s services in the restoration phase, and the app still unavailable in the App Store and the Play Store. Bluesky said Sunday that it is launching a custom feed for vertical video in its app. Users can see a trending videos section in the explore tab…

Meta announces a new video editing app called Edits amidst TikTok and CapCut ban

January 19, 2025

Meta today announced a new video editing app called Edits, after ByteDance’s video editing app CapCut was removed from Apple’s App Store and the Google Play Store as part of the TikTok ban. Instagram head Adam Mosseri (pictured above) said on Threads that the app will launch next month on iOS, with an Android version…

TikTok goes dark in the US

January 19, 2025

TikTok has gone dark in the U.S., the result of a federal law that bans the popular short-form video app for millions of Americans — at least for now. TikTok users began receiving a message about the ban around 10:30 p.m. Eastern on Saturday evening, and the app also disappeared from the Apple and Google…

Apple lists all apps it removed alongside TikTok in the U.S.

January 19, 2025

Amid the TikTok shutdown, in a rare move, Apple published a statement and a support document listing all affected apps that are inaccessible in the U.S. The iPhone maker typically doesn’t publish information for when it blocks apps. Notably, other ByteDance apps, including CapCut, Lemon8 — which surged in the last few months — and…

TikTok goes dark in the US

January 18, 2025

TikTok has gone dark in the U.S., the result of a federal law that bans the popular social media app for millions of Americans — at least for now. TikTok users began receiving a message about the ban around 10:30 p.m. Eastern. As of Saturday evening, the app was also no longer available in the…

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