Spotify’s Clubhouse rival, Greenroom, tops 140K installs on iOS, 100K on Android

Spotify’s recently launched live audio app and Clubhouse rival, Spotify Greenroom, has a long road ahead of it if it wants to take on top social audio platforms like Clubhouse, Airtime, Spoon and others, not to mention those from top social networks, like Twitter and Facebook. To date, the new Greenroom app has only been downloaded a total of 141,000 times on iOS, according to data from app intelligence firm Sensor Tower. This includes downloads from its earlier iteration, Locker Room — an app S...
Tags: Social, TC, Mobile, Facebook, Apps, Spotify, Media, Social Networks, Audio, China, Social Media, Tech, App-store, Daniel Ek, Uae, Clubhouse

Facebook warns of ‘headwinds’ to its ad business from regulators and Apple

Facebook posted its second quarter earnings Wednesday, beating expectations with $29 billion in revenue. The world’s biggest social media company was expected to report $27.8 billion in revenue for the quarter, a 50 percent increase from the same period in 2020. Facebook reported earnings per share of $3.61, which also bested expectations. The company’s revenue was $18.6 billion in the same quarter of last year. In the first financial period to really reflect a return to quasi-economic normalcy ...
Tags: Apple, Social, TC, Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, Congress, White House, Social Media, Tech, Whatsapp, Software, United States, Computing, Earnings, Biden

Snapchat adds My Places feature to Snap Map, recommending spots to visit

As more people are venturing out into the world this summer (safely, we hope!), Snapchat wants to make it easier for people to find restaurants, stores, parks, and other interesting spots in their neighborhood. Today, Snapchat is starting to roll out the My Places feature on its Snap Map, which connects users with over 30 million businesses. Users can log their favorite spots, send them to friends, and find recommendations. My Places has three main tabs: Visited, Favorites, and Popular. Visited ...
Tags: Google, Apps, Technology, Tech, Snapchat, Instant Messaging, Software, Computing, Google-Maps, Ticketmaster, Snap, Mobile Applications, Snapchat Snapchat, Snap Inc

Instagram now supports 60-second videos on Reels, its TikTok clone

Haven’t you heard that Instagram is no longer a photo-sharing app? Today, Instagram announced that users can now upload 60-second videos on Reels, the platform’s TikTok competitor. This update also adds functionality for a captions sticker on Reels, which transcribes audio to text. Instagram previously teased this sticker for Reels when they added it to Stories, making the platform more accessible for Deaf or hard of hearing users, as well as people who want to use the app without sound. Right n...
Tags: Facebook, Apps, Pinterest, Instagram, Youtube, Social Media, Tech, Snapchat, Software, Computing, Video Hosting, Mobile Applications, Bytedance, Tiktok, YouTube Shorts

Apple Health Might Soon Track Your VR Workouts

While Facebook and Apple haven’t been on the best terms as of late, the social media giant is reportedly considering letting Oculus users sync up their workout data to Apple Health, according to Bloomberg.Read more...
Tags: Iphone, Apple, Ios, Health, Google, Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, Science, Fitness, Bloomberg, Software, Computing, Nintendo, Oculus, Apple Watch, Wearable Devices

Facebook Is Mulling Linking Oculus Workouts With Apple Health

While Facebook and Apple haven’t been on the best terms as of late, the social media giant is reportedly considering letting Oculus users sync up their workout data to Apple Health, according to Bloomberg.Read more...
Tags: Iphone, Apple, Ios, Health, Google, Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, Science, Fitness, Bloomberg, Software, Computing, Nintendo, Oculus, Apple Watch, Wearable Devices

Snap had its best quarter in four years

If you’ve started using Snapchat more regularly this year, you’re not alone. At yesterday’s Q2 earnings call, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel announced that the platform grew both revenue and daily active users at the highest rates it has achieved in the last four years. Snapchat now has 293 million daily active users, growing 23% since last year. Snap went public in 2017 with a $24 billion valuation, but not long before then, the ephemeral photo sharing app experienced a massive hiccup: Instagram cloned ...
Tags: Facebook, Apps, Technology, Instagram, Berlin, Tech, E-commerce, Ceo, Snapchat, Instant Messaging, Software, Arkansas, Computing, Augmented Reality, Ralph Lauren, Evan Spiegel

Facebook Messenger is stepping up its emoji game

If you can’t say it with words, say it with an emoji. Facebook is announcing a few minor updates today to its Messenger platform, which make it easier than ever to find the exact emoji you’re looking for when reacting to a friend’s message (let’s be real, there’s a big difference between the “crying laughing” and “crying” emoji). This includes a search bar for emoji reactions, and a recently used emojis section. And, if you weren’t let down by the long-awaited “Space Jam” sequel, you can sport y...
Tags: Startups, Facebook, Apps, Messenger, Spotify, Social Media, Software, Brooklyn, Facebook Messenger, Computing, Emoji, Line, Internet Culture, Operating Systems, Clubhouse, Fast & Furious

A Priest Was Outed By His Phone's Location Data. Anyone Could Be Next.

This week we got one of the most nightmarish tech privacy stories to rear its ugly head on the internet: an investigation into a trove of location data siphoned from a mobile device belonging to one of the Catholic Church’s top officials, Jeffrey Burrill. Like many stories about whatever’s lurking in the average…Read more...
Tags: Science, Software, Catholic Church, Gizmodo, Grindr, Social Software, Mobile Applications, Hookup culture, Geosocial Networking, Technology Internet, Online Dating Applications, Jeffrey Burrill, Personal Inc, Jeffrey Burrill Like

Zebra raises $1.1M in a pre-seed round for messaging that pairs photos with voice chat

A new voice-based social app that cites Clubhouse as its biggest inspiration offers a playful new way to stay in touch with close friends and family. Zebra leaves video out of the equation altogether, inviting users to snap on-the-fly photos and send them off paired with casual voice updates. Zebra focuses on asynchronous sharing, but it also lets users call one another if they’re both already hanging out on the app. The result is a fun and casual way to stay in touch for anyone who doesn’t feel...
Tags: Social, Startups, TC, Instagram, Social Networking, Berlin, Social Media, Tech, Snapchat, Instant Messaging, Software, Reddit, Alexis Ohanian, Line, Messaging Apps, Clubhouse

Facebook will lure creators with $1 billion in payments

Facebook just announced plans to pay content creators more than $1 billion by the end of next year through new bonus programs designed to keep creatives plugged into its app ecosystem. Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg first announced the new funding to “reward creators for great content” on his Facebook page. The company will pay creators through a series of new bonus initiatives across Facebook and Instagram which are “seasonal, evolving and expanding over time.” The bonus programs will...
Tags: Social, TC, Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, Messenger, Instagram, Youtube, Social Media, Tech, Stars, Snapchat, United States, Creators, Facebook Facebook, Mobile Applications, US Pinterest

TikTok Blocked Creators From Using 'Black Lives Matter' In Their Bios

TikTok, a company that’s no stranger to content moderation concerns, set off some major red flags this week when it erroneously blocked popular creators from including phrases like “Black Lives Matter” in their bio’s. At the time, TikTok claimed the phrases were “inappropriate content”—an issue that the company…Read more...
Tags: Science, Articles, Software, Black Lives Matter, Forbes, Mobile Applications, Video Software, Music Software, Tiktok, George Floyd, Application Software, Tiktok Creator Marketplace, Ziggi Tyler

TikTok Is Expanding Into Job Recruitment — What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

TikTok — a social media platform best known for its sober, academic exploration of the heady subject matter frequently tackled by its user base — is currently rolling out plans to establish itself as a presence in the job recruitment space.Read more...
Tags: Science, Labor, Social Media, Software, Computing, Meredith Corporation, Popsugar, Mobile Applications, Business Finance, ATTN, Video Software, Music Software, Bytedance, Video Resume, Tiktok, Application Software

TikTok's Algorithm and AI Tech Are Now up for Sale

Now anyone can tap into the secret sauce behind ByteDance’s globally successful TikTok app—for a price. The China-based company quietly launched a new BytePlus division back in June focused on selling TikTok’s artificial intelligence technology, including the popular recommendation algorithm behind its ForYou feed, to…Read more...
Tags: Google, Science, Microsoft, China, Software, Alibaba, Tencent, Ibm, Baidu, Freeware, Amazon Web Services, Mobile Applications, Business Finance, Video Software, Bytedance, Tiktok

Family app Life360 announces $2.1M investment round from celebs and influencers

Family communication and tracking app Life360 has announced a new investment round that will see the company bringing on board a number of “celeb” investors and influencers who, combined, will form a new “Family Advisory Council” to help shape Life360’s future product direction and marketing. The round, which is approximately $2.1 million in size, was led by Bryant Stibel, the firm co-founded by the late Kobe Bryant and business partner Jeff Stibel. Others in the round included Vanessa Bryant, J...
Tags: Apps, Funding, Tech, Ceo, Software, Computing, Tony Hawk, Kobe Bryant, Michael Phelps, Mobile Devices, Advisors, Cfo, Location Services, Nicole, Kobe, Randi Zuckerberg

Consumer spending on apps hit record $64.9B in first half of 2021, but install growth slowed to 1.7%

Consumer spending in mobile apps hit a record $64.9 billion during the first half of 2021, according to from app store intelligence firm Sensor Tower. This figure represents a 24.8% increase in spending seen across both the App Store and Google Play, compared with the year-ago period. But while industry experts believe the accelerated shift to mobile fueled by the pandemic is a trend that will continue, it’s worth noting that — despite the new record — the growth rate for consumer spending has...
Tags: Google, Android, Google Play, Mobile, Facebook, Apps, Youtube, Finance, China, India, Tech, Developers, Philippines, App Stores, App Store, Mobile App

Snap makes a deal with Universal Music Group, adding its catalog to Sounds

Snap today announced a multi-year deal with Universal Music Group, one of the largest music companies in the world. From Queen to Justin Bieber, users can clip songs from the expansive UMG catalog to use in their Snaps and on Spotlight, the app’s TikTok competitor. This announcement comes after Snapchat added its Sounds feature in October, which lets users enhance their Snaps with music that Snap has licensed. Snap says that since then, over 521 million videos have been created using Sounds, whi...
Tags: Apps, Instagram, Tech, Snapchat, Software, Justin Bieber, Sony, Tencent, Fleetwood Mac, Warner-Music-Group, Universal, Universal Music Group, Rodrigo, Snap, Umg, Olivia

Super Follows and Ticketed Spaces are coming to Twitter

In Twitter’s latest appeal to one-up competitors from Clubhouse to Patreon, the company announced today that it will begin rolling out applications for Super Follows and Ticketed Spaces. Twitter first teased the Super Follow feature during an Analyst Day event in February. Super Follows allow creators on Twitter to generate monthly revenue by offering paywalled content to followers who subscribe to them for $2.99, $4.99, or $9.99 per month. Twitter will only take 3% of creators’ revenue after in...
Tags: Google, Android, Social, TC, Apps, Twitter, Spotify, Instagram, Social Media, Tech, Ceo, Software, Computing, Day, App-store, Jack Dorsey

If you love voice messaging, you’ll love Squad

Squad used to be an app that connected people with similar interests for in-person meetups. Then the coronavirus pandemic hit. While most social apps thrived under these conditions — people craved digital connection more than ever — Squad couldn’t operate. Founder Isa Watson didn’t know how long the world would be in shutdown. Instead of waiting for a return to normalcy, she shifted the scope of the app entirely.   Today, Squad relaunches as an audio-based social app that aims to help users...
Tags: Facebook, Apps, Instagram, Imessage, US, Social Media, Tech, Whatsapp, Software, United States, Computing, Venture Capital, Squad, Watson, Silicon Valley, Isa

Dan Bongino Returns to Twitter With Tail Between His Legs

Dan Bongino—former NRATV blowhard, Fox News whackjob, and wannabe social media magnate—said he’d be quitting Twitter forever. Like many other obsessively online conservatives, Bongino claimed a round of censorship was coming and Republicans needed to evacuate to safe spaces like Parler, the far-right site he’s…Read more...
Tags: Google, Twitter, Science, Software, Fox News, Donald Trump, Amazon Web Services, Alexa, Real Time Web, Youtubers, SimilarWeb, Mobile Applications, Dan Bongino, Rebekah Mercer, Parler, Bongino

Following lawsuits, Snapchat pulls its controversial speed filter

Lately, Snapchat’s 3D Cartoon lens has been all the buzz, making all of our friends look like Pixar characters. But since 2013, a staple filter on the ephemeral photo sharing app has been the speed filter, which shows how fast a phone is moving when it takes a photo or video. Today, Snapchat confirmed that it will pull the filter from the app. NPR first reported this today, calling it a “dramatic reversal” of Snap’s earlier defense of the feature. Over the years, there have been multiple car acc...
Tags: Apps, Lawsuit, Technology, Selfie, California, Tech, Snapchat, Instant Messaging, Software, Computing, Npr, Bob Marley, Lawyer, Driver, Car Accidents, Snap

Spotify launches its live audio app and Clubhouse rival, Spotify Greenroom

In March, Spotify announced it was acquiring the company behind the sports-focused audio app Locker Room to help speed its entry into the live audio market. Today, the company is making good on that deal with the launch of Spotify Greenroom, a new mobile app that allows Spotify users worldwide to join or host live audio rooms, and optionally turn those conversations into podcasts. It’s also announcing a Creator Fund which will help to fuel the new app with more content in the future. The Spotify...
Tags: Social, Mobile, Apps, Spotify, Podcast, Music, Media, Audio, Social Media, Tech, Ios Apps, Mobile Apps, Creators, Android Apps, Streaming, Streaming Service

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg hosts first test of Live Audio Rooms in US

In April, Facebook announced a slew of new audio products, including its Clubhouse clone, called Live Audio Rooms, which will be available across both Facebook and Messenger. Since May, Facebook has been publicly testing the audio rooms feature in Taiwan with public figures, but today the company hosted its first public test of Live Audio Rooms in the U.S. The event itself was hosted by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who chatted with fellow execs and creators. Joining Zuckerberg were Facebook VP ...
Tags: Social, TC, Gaming, Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, Messenger, Audio, US, Social Media, Tech, Taiwan, Creators, Fiji, Clubhouse, Zuckerberg, Social Software

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg hosts first test of Live Audio Rooms in U.S.

In April, Facebook announced a slew of new audio products, including its Clubhouse clone, called Live Audio Rooms, which will be available across both Facebook and Messenger. Since May, Facebook has been publicly testing the audio rooms feature in Taiwan with public figures, but today the company hosted its first public test of Live Audio Rooms in the U.S. The event itself was hosted by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who chatted with fellow execs and creators. Joining Zuckerberg were Facebook VP ...
Tags: Social, TC, Gaming, Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, Messenger, Audio, Social Media, Tech, Taiwan, Creators, Fiji, Clubhouse, Zuckerberg, Social Software, Broadcasting

Messaging social network IRL hits unicorn status with SoftBank-led $170M Series C

Social calendar app IRL has been busy building a messaging-based social network, or what founder and CEO Abraham Shafi calls a “WeChat of the West.” Following its pandemic-fueled growth and further push into the social networking space with group chat and other features, IRL is today announcing a sizable $170 million Series C growth round, led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2. The fundraise also mints IRL as a new unicorn with a $1.17 billion valuation. Besides SoftBank, new investor Dragoneer also p...
Tags: Social, Startups, TC, Facebook, Apps, Instagram, Social Networks, California, Softbank, Funding, San Francisco, Tech, United States, WeChat, Twitch, Social Network

Everyone you know is a Disney princess, which means AR is queen

This weekend, all of your friends morphed one by one into animated, Pixar-inspired characters. This isn’t a fever dream, and you’re not alone. On Thursday, Snapchat released a Cartoon 3D Style Lens, which uses AR to make you look like a background character from “Frozen.” Naturally, even though TikTok’s own AR cartoon effects aren’t quite as convincing as Snapchat’s, people are turning to TikTok to share videos of themselves as Disney princesses, because of course they are. This isn’t the first ...
Tags: Apple, Facebook, Apps, Technology, Instagram, Disney, Tech, Snapchat, Software, Canada, United States, Computing, Ar, Augmented Reality, App Store, Pixar

Biden Order Declares TikTok Not Quite a Threat to National Security, Yet

The Biden administration passed an executive order on Wednesday that seeks to create a “criteria-based” framework for establishing whether foreign-owned apps present national security risks or not. In so doing, the regulation overturned three executive orders previously signed by former President Trump that took a…Read more...
Tags: Science, Joe Biden, Software, WeChat, Biden, Donald Trump, Huawei, Wall Street Journal, Trump, Mobile Applications, Video Software, Music Software, Tiktok, Biden Family, Application Software, Donald Trumptiktok Controversy

Amid controversy, Dispo confirms Series A funding, high-profile advisors, and investors

It’s only been nine months since Dispo rebranded from David’s Disposable. But the vintage-inspired photo sharing app has experienced a whiplash of ups and downs, mostly due to the brand’s original namesake, YouTuber David Dobrik. Like Clubhouse, Dispo was one of this year’s most hyped up new social apps, requiring an invite from an existing member to join. On March 9, when the company said “goodbye waitlist” and opened the app up to any iOS user, Dispo looked poised to be a worthy competitor to ...
Tags: Apps, Japan, Beyonce, Instagram, Sofia Vergara, Germany, Social Media, Tech, Ceo, Software, David, Digital Photography, United States, Computing, Venture Capital, Nba

Apple introduces SharePlay for co-watching, streaming, and screen sharing over FaceTime

As part of its FaceTime update in iOS 15, Apple introduced a new set of features designed for shared experiences — like co-watching TV shows or TikTok videos, listening to music together, screen sharing and more — while on a FaceTime call. The feature, called SharePlay, enables real-time connections with family and friends while you’re hanging out on FaceTime, Apple explained, by integrating access to apps from within the call itself. Image Credits: Apple Apple demonstrated the new feature dur...
Tags: Apple, Ios, Apps, Hbo, Technology, Disney, Tech, Apple TV, Software, Itunes, Computing, Nba, Espn, National Basketball Association, Api, Hulu

Backpedaling, WhatsApp Says It Won't Lobotomize Accounts That Refuse Privacy Policy Update

WhatsApp initially threatened to revoke core functions for users that refused to accept its controversial new privacy policy, only to walk back the severity of those consequences earlier this month amid international backlash, and now, it’s doing away with them altogether (for the time being, at least). Read more...
Tags: Facebook, Twitter, Science, Social Media, Whatsapp, Software, Computing, Telegram, Operating Systems, Mobile Applications, Communication Software, Instant Messaging Clients, Will Cathcart, Cross Platform Software, Technology Internet, Private Message