Sarah Perez
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Launch Center Pro lets you build custom icons to customize your iOS 14 home screen
Launch Center Pro, an iOS utility that offered widgets and custom icons long before they were allowed on the iPhone’s home screen, is bringing its design tools to iOS 14. The app aims to capital
Amazon redesigns Fire TV, introduces new Fire TV Stick and low-cost Fire TV Stick Lite
Amazon today announced a redesign Fire TV experience along with an updated Fire TV Stick and a new, lower-cost Fire TV Stick Lite. The updated interface for the Alexa-enabled smart TV platform will in
Amazon redesigns Echo Dot as a sphere, adds animal designs and reading feature for Kids Edition
Amazon today introduced a redesign of its best-selling smart speaker, the Echo Dot. The company is bringing a new spherical design to the Echo Dot, Echo Dot with Clock and a new Echo Dot Kids Edition
App makers band together to fight for App Store changes with new ‘Coalition for App Fairness’
A number of top app makers have banded together to fight against Apple’s control of its App Store and, to a lesser extent, Google’s control of the Play Store — a topic of increased r
Spotify and Chernin Entertainment enter first-look deal to turn podcasts into TV shows and movies
More Spotify podcasts could soon become TV shows or movies thanks to a new, multiyear partnership announced today between the streaming music provider and film and television production company, Chern
Sling TV launches a co-watching feature for live TV, Sling Watch Party
Live TV streaming service Sling TV is joining in on the co-watching trend. The company today announced the launch of its own version of a co-viewing feature, which allows friends and family in differe
Top 20 iOS homescreen customization apps reach 5.7M installs in days after iOS 14 release
The iOS 14 home screen customization trend is driving a new set of apps to the top of the App Store charts, and delivering record downloads for sources of inspiration, like Pinterest. According to new
Instagram’s TikTok clone Reels updates to allow longer videos, easier edits
Instagram is today rolling out a few changes to its TikTok competitor, Reels, after early reviews of the feature criticized its design and reports indicated it was failing to gain traction. The compan
Spotify adds an interactive feature for podcasts with launch of ‘Polls’
Spotify today is introducing a new feature designed to make podcasts more interactive. The company says it’s beginning to test “Polls,” a tool that will allow listeners to engage wit
Pinterest breaks daily download record due to user interest in iOS 14 design ideas
The excitement around the ability to customize your iPhone home screen following the release of iOS 14 has been paying off for Pinterest. According to new third-party estimates, Pinterest’s app
Event discovery network IRL raises $16M Series B after refocusing on virtual events
The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the way a number of companies have had to do business. For the event discovery startup, IRL, it meant pivoting into the virtual events space. This April, the startup qui
Google launches a work-tracking tool and Airtable rival, Tables
Google’s in-house incubator Area 120 is today introducing a new work-tracking tool, Tables, which aims to make tracking projects more efficient by investing in automation. Instead of simply trac
Launcher brings its powerful widget-making app to iOS 14
Launcher is bringing its customizable widgets to iOS 14 with new functionality, including the ability to rotate a widget’s icons by date, time or even location. It also supports customizable wid
Pandemic accelerated cord cutting, making 2020 the worst-ever year for pay TV
The pandemic has accelerated adoption of a number of technologies, from online grocery to multiplatform gaming to streaming services and more. But one industry that has not benefited is traditional pa
Facebook’s new Rights Manager tool lets creators protect their photos, including those embedded elsewhere
Facebook today is introducing a new tool that will allow rights holders to protect and manage their photos across both Facebook and Instagram. With the newly launched “Rights Manager for Images,
This Week in Apps: iOS 14’s surprise arrival, Apple’s app bundle, TikTok & WeChat banned from app stores Sunday
Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the TechCrunch series that recaps the latest OS news, the applications they support and the money that flows through it all. The app industry is as hot as ever, wi
Amazon makes Alexa Routines shareable
Amazon is making it easier for Alexa device owners to use Routines. The feature, which has been around for years, allows Alexa users to combine multiple tasks into a single voice command of their choo
Facebook tries to clean up Groups with new policies
Facebook this morning announced a series of new rules designed to further penalize those who violate its community standards, specifically around Facebook Groups. It also introduced rules meant to cra
Hulu tests its co-viewing feature ‘Watch Party’ with ad-supported viewers
Hulu was one of the first major streaming services to introduce a “co-viewing” feature that allows friends and family to watch Hulu content together from different locations. The feature,
Facebook launches Facebook Business Suite, an app for managing business accounts across Facebook, Instagram and Messenger
Facebook this morning launched a new app designed to make it easier for businesses to manage in a single place their pages and profiles across Facebook, Instagram and Messenger. The app, Facebook Busi