Court orders Apple to implement App Store changes, 2022 forecast, TikTok tries gaming – TechCrunch

Fintech

• Coinbase inventory sank over 13% after missing analyst estimates on its Q3 earnings with $1.31 billion versus the $1.57 billion anticipated. The corporate additionally mentioned month-to-month transacting customers fell from 8.8 million in Q2 to 7.4 million in Q3, and buying and selling quantity fell to $327 billion from $462 billion.
• Discord paused its plans to explore crypto integrations and NFTs after important backlash from the platform’s customers. The corporate clarified the unique screenshot it had shared was a part of a hackathon undertaking, not an official announcement. Some followers have been involved over the environmental impacts of cryptocurrency mining whereas some had objections to “NFT bros.” And others have been apprehensive concerning the potential for crypto scams throughout Discord. Customers have been encouraging one another to cancel their subscriptions in protest, resulting in the corporate’s choice to press pause.

Social

• TikTok (together with Douyin) remained the most-download app worldwide in October 2021 within the non-games class with greater than 57 million installs, per Sensor Tower data. China contributed to 17% of installs, adopted by the U.S. at 11%. Instagram was the second most downloaded app, with 56 million installs, a 31% year-over-year enhance.
• Instagram announced the corporate is testing a brand new characteristic known as “Take a Break,” which can enable customers to remind themselves to take a break from utilizing the app after both 10, 20 or half-hour, relying on their preferences. As an opt-in characteristic, nevertheless, the reminders might have a restricted impression, as customers must be motivated to arrange the brand new management for themselves.
• Instagram can also be offering huge creator bonuses for posting content material on its TikTok rival, Reels. Some creators are reporting incomes as much as $10,000 in month-to-month bonus cash, however the system’s standards is opaque, making the reward really feel extra like a lottery win than an revenue. In one other problem to TikTok, Instagram added text-to-speech and voice results instruments to Reels, as well.
• Instagram appears able to launch creator subscriptions. On November 1, the corporate added new in-app purchases to its U.S. app, that are labeled “Instagram Subscriptions” and vary in worth from $0.99 to $4.99. When we asked what was up, the corporate mentioned it had nothing to share right now.
• Fb announced new partners for its Inventive App Platform, first launched at F8, which permits individuals to find artistic apps instantly in Fb Tales. It’s now working with VivaVideo, and Vita, which can quickly be joined by Picsart, Camera360 and Candy Selfie.

Messaging

• WhatsApp is engaged on Novi integration. An APK teardown revealed the messaging app might quickly be integrating with Fb’s (um, Meta’s) digital pockets, Novi, in accordance with particulars within the app’s code.
• Meta (previously, Fb)’s WhatsApp has been given the inexperienced mild to proceed with a lawsuit in opposition to Israeli spyware and adware agency NSO Group. Meta sued NSO Group in 2019, which tried to defend itself by means of the International Sovereign Immunity Act. The court docket determined as a result of the NSO Group a non-public firm, the lawsuit can proceed. The agency had contaminated 1,400 units with WhatsApp malware.

Streaming & Leisure

• Netflix added a short-form video feature to Youngsters’ profiles in its iOS app. The corporate mentioned it’s testing a brand new characteristic that may introduce children to its content material library by means of brief, auto-playing clips. The brand new addition has some resemblance to the TikTok-inspired Quick Laughs characteristic for grownup profiles, besides that these movies are horizontal, not vertical, and a timer counts down what number of clips are left to observe.
• YouTube expanded its take a look at that launches cellular customers instantly into its TikTok-like product, YouTube Shorts, if that was the world of the app customers had final visited. The characteristic is being examined globally on iOS and is now increasing to Android, TechCrunch confirmed.
• Clubhouse announced the launch of a brand new characteristic known as Replays on iOS and Android that makes its dwell audio applications obtainable to take heed to after the very fact. The app’s public rooms can optionally be recorded as they occur after which saved to a membership or consumer profile. The Replays can even be downloadable in order that anybody internet hosting a room can share it externally, past Clubhouse, “as a podcast, a clip on YouTube, an Instagram story, a TikTok video, or anyplace else,” the corporate mentioned.
• Amazon’s Prime Video app introduced a brand new characteristic that permits customers to create shareable clips from favourite exhibits. The characteristic is initially obtainable solely within the U.S. on iOS, and solely on a restricted variety of originals, together with “The Boys,” “The Wilds,” “Invincible” and “Fairfax.” The corporate says it plans so as to add extra exhibits sooner or later. The characteristic is notable as most video apps block any form of sharing and even make screenshots come out all black.

• The Google TV app introduced a new option that can warn you when content material you’ve added to your watchlist turns into obtainable without cost. The characteristic might be enabled within the app’s Settings.
• London-based music tech app TagMix, which permits customers so as to add pro-quality sounds to dwell video, entered into a licensing agreement with Warner Music Group (WMG) offering the app with entry to a collection of the corporate’s artists.
• Spotify launched a brand new destination for its music charts that goals to offer each artists and followers extra information. The positioning will characteristic the Weekly Prime 50 World Songs, Albums and Artists, and logged-in customers can dive into the total Prime 200 World Songs, Albums and Artists charts, in addition to view detailed stats like streaks, peak place, tune credit and the model new Style, Metropolis and Native Pulse charts.
• Spotify additionally finally rolled out a blocking characteristic that permits customers to dam others from viewing their listening exercise and profile on the app. Customers have been asking for such an possibility since at least 2018.
• YouTube is removing the “dislike” count on videos throughout its platform. The choice is more likely to be controversial, given the extent that it impacts the general public’s visibility right into a video’s reception. However YouTube believes the change will higher defend its creators from harassment and scale back the specter of what it calls “dislike assaults.” Whereas dislike counts gained’t be seen to the general public, YouTube just isn’t eradicating the hate button itself. Customers can nonetheless click on the thumbs down button on movies to sign their dislike to creators privately.

Gaming

• TikTok Gaming? Zynga is teaming up with TikTok to launch an unique HTML5 sport on the short-form video app. The sport, “Disco Loco 3D,” is a single-player infinite runner the place gamers gather their very own dance strikes whereas difficult mates, avoiding obstacles and accumulating medallions as they stroll down a catwalk, related in spirit to Zynga’s “Excessive Heels.” Whereas TikTok says the sport is supposed to check its viewers’s basic curiosity in gaming inside its app, the corporate confirmed that discussions with different sport makers are already underway.
• Zynga reported file third-quarter income of $705 million, up 40% from the identical interval final 12 months, and reached its largest cellular viewers ever of 183 million month-to-month energetic customers, up 120% 12 months over 12 months. The corporate spoke to TechCrunch about navigating the promoting disaster, blockchain gaming and different plans.
• Informal sport advert prices have declined 38% because the launch of iOS 14.6, however core advert prices are up 78%, in accordance with Moloco (by way of Business of Apps). The Price per Set up for informal video games (arcade, card, puzzle) on iOS dropped 45%, in comparison with 30% on Android.
• The highest-grossing cellular sport in October 2021 was Tencent’s Honor of Kings, which earned $329 million in participant spending, up 46.2% YoY, stories Sensor Tower; 96.7% of that income was from China, with 1.2% from Taiwan. Tencent’s PUBG Cell was the second-highest earner with $197 million in gross income, the place 51% was from China and 11.5% was from the U.S. The remaining top-grossing video games have been (so as), King’s Sweet Crush Saga, Garena’s Garena Free Fireplace and Riot Video games’ League of Legends: Wild Proper.

Well being & Health

• Meditation app Calm added a new family plan that helps as much as six accounts. The “Premium Household” subscription mirrors these you’d discover on music streaming providers, and is $99.99 per 12 months as an alternative of the $69.99 for a person plan.

Journey & Transportation

• China’s Didi is preparing to relaunch its ride-hailing and different apps in China by year-end, following the shut of Beijing’s cybersecurity investigation into the corporate’s information practices.

Productiveness

• Google introduced a brand new Gmail widget for iOS house screens to assist customers higher handle their inbox. The widget will now show the senders and topics of your most up-to-date emails, much like how its Android widget works.
• Google additionally added picture-in-picture help for Google Meet on iOS so you possibly can transfer between apps and exit to your own home display whereas in a video name. The characteristic will launch on the Gmail app within the subsequent few weeks, as properly, the corporate mentioned.

Utilities

• Google is testing a brand new voice assistant designed for individuals with speech impairments. The Android app, often known as Challenge Relate, is accepting signups within the hopes of gathering sufficient members to offer it sufficient information to coach the speech recognition engines.
• Google Maps on iOS now has a dark mode on iOS. The brand new theme doesn’t simply swap the map to black, however makes the opposite app components black as properly, just like the navigation buttons and bars. The characteristic is out there beneath the Settings display accessed beneath your profile icon.
• Google removed Google Assistant’s “Your Information Replace” characteristic, first launched in 2019, which provided customized audio digests based mostly on consumer information. Customers might customise the characteristic in Assistant’s settings, then play again the information over different units, like Google Residence audio system.
• The Google Recorder added support for three new languages: French, German and Japanese. The replace is rolling out first to Pixel 6 and 6 Professional units.

Authorities & Coverage

• FOIA information present that the U.S. Treasury purchased location information and different smartphone app information from the corporate Babel Avenue to seek out individuals dodging taxes and sanctions, The Intercept reported.
• Mississippi is piloting a cellular driver license as a primary step towards growing a multipurpose digital ID pockets that may retailer a spread of state certificates and licenses. The transfer follows Utah’s cellular driver license and Apple’s announcement in September of eight U.S. states signed as much as undertake cellular IDs, together with Utah, in addition to Arizona, Connecticut, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland and Oklahoma.
• The U.Okay.’s Supreme Court docket dismissed a lawsuit in opposition to Google that sought $4 billion for allegedly monitoring iOS Safari customers with out consent throughout 2011 and 2012.
• Chinese language tech corporations are censoring language-learning apps and others, Protocol reported. Language-learning app Talkmate eliminated the Uyghur and Tibetan language choices on account of authorities insurance policies, then Chinese language streaming service Bilibili banned feedback posted in Uyghur and Tibetan.

Safety & Privateness

• Safety researchers uncovered new spyware that’s concentrating on South Korean Android customers by masquerading as official life-style apps. However in actuality, the spyware and adware is stealing information from the consumer’s machine, together with login credentials, messages and exact location and pictures.
• A researcher detailed a hacker-for-hire operation, RocketHack, which had infiltrated the email and Telegram apps of some 3,500 individuals, together with politicians, political candidates, IVF docs, human rights activists, engineers and others.

? Spotify announced its plans to accumulate digital audiobook distributor Findaway, whose enterprise connects creators with reseller companions like Apple, Google, Scribd, Audible, Nook, Rakuten Kobo, Chirp, Storytel (a Spotify associate), Overdrive, Audiobooks.com and dozens of different world manufacturers. It additionally operates a set of manufacturers that join publishers and authors with narrators. Spotify declined to share the monetary phrases of the deal, which is predicted to shut within the fourth quarter of 2021, topic to regulatory evaluate and approval. The corporate mentioned it can make extra audiobooks obtainable in its app beginning subsequent 12 months.

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