Sarah Perez
Reporter
The Latest from Sarah Perez
TikTok launches ‘TikTok Q&A,’ a new feature for creators to engage with viewers’ questions
Earlier this year, TikTok was spotted testing a new Q&A feature that would allow creators to more directly respond to their audience’s questions using either text or video. Today, the compan
Apple clarifies you can’t actually set a ‘default’ music service in iOS 14.5
Apple has clarified that the iOS 14.5 beta is not actually allowing users to select a new default music service, as has been reported. Following the beta’s release back in February, a number of
Twitter tests new e-commerce features for tweets
Twitter confirmed it’s testing a new way to display tweets that link out to e-commerce product pages — like products on a Shopify store, for example. With a new Twitter card format, the co
Amazon Fire TV expands live TV features, adds Alexa support for live content
Amazon is rolling out a new experience for its Fire TV platform that puts more focus on subscription-free streaming and other live content. The company today announced several new services are being i
Netflix launches ‘Fast Laughs,’ a TikTok-like feed of funny videos
Late last year, Netflix began experimenting with a new TikTok-like feed of funny videos inside its mobile app, which it called “Fast Laughs.” Today, the company announced the new feature i
Microsoft launches ‘Group Transcribe,’ a transcription and translation app for in-person meetings
A new project from Microsoft’s in-house incubator, Microsoft Garage, introduces a different take on meeting transcriptions. While today there are a number of real-time transcription apps to use
Twitter Spaces arrives on Android ahead of Clubhouse
Twitter announced today it’s opening up its live audio chat rooms, known as Twitter Spaces, to users on Android. Previously, the experience was only open to select users on iOS following the pro
West Tenth’s app encourages women to start home businesses, not join MLMs
A new digital marketplace called West Tenth, now backed by $1.5 million in seed funding, wants to give women a platform to start and grow their home-based businesses. Through its mobile app, women can
Spotify podcast listeners to top Apple’s for the first time in 2021, forecast claims
Investors have been waiting for Spotify’s multimillion-dollar bet on podcasting to pay off, in terms of increased paid subscriptions or improved revenues. But before that can occur, Spotify has
Google restarts updates for some iOS apps after long pause triggered by lack of privacy labels
Google over the weekend began to update many of its flagship iOS apps after a lengthy delay caused by the company’s failure to add Apple’s newly required privacy labels in a timely fashion
Walmart drops the $35 order minimum on its 2-hour ‘Express’ delivery service
In a move designed to directly challenge Amazon, Walmart today announced it’s dropping the $35 minimum order requirement for its two-hour “Express” delivery service, a competitor to
Instagram launches ‘Live Rooms’ for live broadcasts with up to four creators
Instagram today announced it’s adding a much-requested feature to its app with the launch of “Live Rooms,” which allow up to four people to broadcast live together at the same time.
This Week in Apps: Twitter targets creators, Clubhouse security, Spotify’s plans for paid podcasts
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 is as hot as ever, with
Facebook launches BARS, a TikTok-like app for creating and sharing raps
Facebook’s internal R&D group, NPE Team, is today launching its next experimental app, called BARS. The app makes it possible for rappers to create and share their raps using professionally
Newness raises $3.5 million for its ‘Twitch for beauty streamers’
Newness, a startup co-founded by former Twitch employees, has raised $3.5 million in a Sequoia-led seed round for its live-streaming platform aimed at beauty creators and their fan communities. Though
Twitter plans to double revenue by 2023, reach 315M daily users
Just ahead of its 2021 virtual investor day on Thursday, Twitter this morning announced its three long-term goals focused on user base and revenue growth, and a faster pace of shipping new features ac
Boosted by the pandemic, meeting transcription service Otter.ai raises $50M
Over the past year or so, voice transcription startup Otter.ai doubled down on the future of remote work by integrating its product with meeting apps like Zoom and Google Meet. With the COVID-19 pande
Lifestyle benefits startup Fringe gets a pandemic boost, raises seed round
Employers today often use perks to attract new talent in the form of discounts and deals, commuter funds, gym memberships, child care, free lunches and more. But the pandemic has impacted what sort of
YouTube to launch parental control features for families with tweens and teens
YouTube announced this morning it will soon introduce a new experience designed for teens and tweens who are now too old for the schoolager-focused YouTube Kids app, but who may not be ready to explor
Streamlabs launches a ‘link in bio’ website builder that includes tipping
A number of online creators and influencers have adopted mobile-friendly “link in bio” websites, like Linktree, to point their fans to their social profiles or other content they want to p