mobile applications
9count, maker of Wink and new dating app Summer, scores additional funding
Alex Hofmann once served as Musical.ly’s president, overseeing the North and South American markets for the TikTok precursor, then leaving shortly after the app exited to Chinese tech giant ByteDance…
TikTok parent ByteDance just bought a hospital group in China
TikTok’s parent company ByteDance is making some pretty heavy bets on the healthcare space as it acquired Amcare, which runs high-end children’s and women’s hospitals across China. The buyout cost…
The dog days of Disrupt $1300 savings end tonight
File this post under the apt adage, “All good things must come to an end.” Tonight, the sun sets on early-bird pricing and your chance to save up to $1,300…
Top anonymous social app NGL forced to stop tricking its users
A popular anonymous social app that was misleading its users with fake messages has been forced to change. The top-ranked app NGL, which became the No. 1 app on the…
Mobile users are now spending 4-5 hours per day in apps
Although the mobile app boom driven by pandemic lockdowns has long since passed, consumers’ mobile usage is still growing. According to new data released today by app intelligence firm data.ai…
TikTok-style dating app Desti filters matches by date destinations
A new video-focused dating app Desti just launched over the weekend to give users a chance to find potential matches based on a preferred date destination. Users who live in…
Pinterest debuts a new app, Shuffles, for collage-making and moodboards
Pinterest may be best known for shopping inspiration and design ideas, but the company’s newest product wants to inspire its users to tap into their own creativity. The company has…
Social subscription Snapchat+ is already faring better than Twitter Blue
Snapchat’s recent move into premium subscriptions has gained a bit of traction in its first weeks on the market. Though the social app maker just last week reported a disappointing…
China’s billionaire tech boss Jack Ma plans to cede control of Ant Group, the fintech powerhouse closely affiliated with Alibaba, the e-commerce giant he founded, The Wall Street Journal reported…
Messaging app Viber launches Payments, a new digital wallet for paying bills, money transfers and buying goods
Viber, the messaging app owned by Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten, has long been dancing around the area of fintech, launching services like money transfer and chatbot payments in various countries…
Discover the many ways to network at TechCrunch Disrupt
TechCrunch Disrupt returns live and in person October 18–20 in San Francisco, with an online day on October 21. That means it’s time to refresh your face-to-face networking skills, get…
The anonymous Q&A app NGL climbed to the top of the App Store by tricking its users with questions it claims are sent in by their friends and by charging…
Kids and teens now spend more time watching TikTok than YouTube, new data shows
Kids and teens are now spending more time watching videos on TikTok than on YouTube. In fact, that’s been the case since June 2020 — the month when TikTok began…
TikTok to roll out content filters and maturity ratings in pledge to make app safer
Earlier this year, TikTok said it was developing a new system that would restrict certain types of mature content from being viewed by teen users. Today, the company is introducing…
Truecaller forays into live audio with its new Open Doors app
If you thought of the age of companies launching real-time audio chat apps was over, think again. Swedish caller identification service Truecaller is today launching a new app in the…
TikTok targets small businesses with new ‘Follow Me’ educational program
TikTok announced today a new initiative designed to help small businesses better market themselves on its app — and eventually become TikTok advertisers. The company is introducing a free program…
Today, last chance to snap up a TechCrunch Disrupt two-for-one ticket
Take a few minutes right now to score two-for-one passes to TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco on October 18-20. This holiday flash-sale won’t last forever. In fact, it ends today,…
This Week in Apps: Period tracking app privacy, Snapchat’s paid subscription, calls for TikTok ban
Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the weekly TechCrunch series that recaps the latest in mobile OS news, mobile applications and the overall app economy. The app industry continues…
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Anonymous social apps shift their attention to Instagram in the wake of Snapchat’s ban
Anonymous social apps targeting teens haven’t gone away in the wake of Snapchat’s new policy, which earlier this year banned these types of social experiences from integrating with its developer platform. Instead, the apps have simply found a new way to reach young people: via Instagram. In recent weeks, new…
Consumers swap period tracking apps in search of increased privacy following Roe v. Wade ruling
Consumers are ditching their current period tracking apps in favor of what they perceive to be safer options in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision that…
This Week in Apps: Twitter Notes, Instagram age verification, Spotify’s Live Events
Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the weekly TechCrunch series that recaps the latest in mobile OS news, mobile applications and the overall app economy. The app industry continues…
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Google is notifying Android users targeted by Hermit government-grade spyware
Security researchers at Lookout recently tied a previously unattributed Android mobile spyware, dubbed Hermit, to Italian software house RCS Lab. Now, Google threat researchers have confirmed much of Lookout’s findings and are notifying Android users whose devices were compromised by the spyware. Hermit is a commercial spyware known to be…
Reddit upgrades its live audio product Reddit Talk with a soundboard, new discovery features
Reddit Talk, the social site’s Clubhouse-like social audio product, is rolling out a handful of updates aimed at allowing hosts to better engage with listeners. Among these is a new…
Influencers peddling medical, financial advice now need certification, China says
China has taken another step to regulate how online influencers impart information to their followers. The government has put a great deal of effort into moderating digital content over the…
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The next big social platform is the smartphone’s homescreen
BeReal, LiveIn, Locket… what do these new consumer social apps have in common besides a highly ranked position on the App Store’s Top Charts? They engage their users through a combination of push notifications and homescreen widgets, instead of forcing people to spend a long time browsing their app, scrolling…
Amid growing concerns around app addiction, TikTok rolls out more screen tools
TikTok users regularly complain of hours lost on the platform, thanks to the video app’s unmatched ability to distract, entertain and engage users by way of its advanced recommendation technology.…
New report examines the number of downloads it takes to hit the top of the App Store
New analysis indicates it’s gotten harder to get an app to the top of the App Store, in terms of downloads, over the past several years. According to new data…
Poparazzi hits 5M+ downloads a year after launch, confirms its $15M Series A
Poparazzi, the anti-Instagram social app that hit the top of the App Store last year, is today, for the first time, detailing the growth stats for its business, its future…
Snapchat’s parental control features spotted in development
Snapchat is preparing to introduce a new parental control feature dubbed “Family Center,” which will allow parents to see who their teen is friends with on the app as well…
TikTok is gearing up for games, including interactive minigames for TikTok LIVE
TikTok is already one of the world’s fastest-growing social media platforms, where it’s even overtaken YouTube on watch time in select markets and sports over 1 billion monthly active users.…
