Sarah Perez
Reporter
The Latest from Sarah Perez
Mark Cuban-backed streaming app Fireside acquires Stremium to bring live, interactive shows to your TV
Mark Cuban-backed streaming app Fireside, which today offers podcasters and other creators a way to host interactive, live shows with audience engagement, will soon expand to the TV’s big screen
Venmo adds in-app charitable donations, redesigned ‘send money’ screen
PayPal-owned Venmo is today rolling out two changes to its peer-to-peer payments app, including the ability to donate to charities through Venmo as well as a redesigned money-sending experience. The l
Spotify launches audiobooks to more English-speaking markets outside the US
Spotify is expanding its newly launched audiobooks service outside the U.S., the company announced today. The service will now become available in other English-speaking markets, including the U.K., I
Tumblr to add support for ActivityPub, the social protocol powering Mastodon and other apps
Tumblr will add support for ActivityPub, the open, decentralized social networking protocol that today is powering social networking software like Twitter alternative Mastodon, the Instagram-like Pixe
Twitter alternative Hive hits 1 million users after surge of sign-ups
In the wake of Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, users have been fleeing to other social apps like open source microblogging platform Mastodon and niche communities like CounterSocial. Now, anoth
This Week in Apps: Apple-Epic antitrust battle resumes, Apple sued over tracking, Google’s new rules for kids’ apps
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. Global app spending reached $65 billion in th
Google Play streamlines policies around kids’ apps as regulations tighten
Google Play today announced a series of changes to its programs and policies around apps designed for children. The company is describing the update as an expansion of its previously launched “T
New code suggests Twitter is reviving its work on encrypted DMs
Under Elon Musk, Twitter may be reviving a project that would bring end-to-end encryption to its Direct Messaging system. Work appears to have resumed on the feature in the latest version of the Andro
YouTube Shorts can now include 60 seconds of music or sounds, up from 15 seconds before
YouTube today is addressing one of creators’ chief complaints with filming videos for its TikTok competitor, YouTube Shorts: to date, the music and sounds added to videos could only be 15 second
Spotify’s video podcast publishing tools expand to creators worldwide
Spotify today is expanding its video podcasting capabilities to creators in more than 180 markets worldwide, which means the functionality is now available in nearly all the markets where Spotify̵
The Epic Games-Apple antitrust battle resumes today in appeals court
Apple’s antitrust battle against Fortnite maker Epic Games is returning to the courtroom after both sides appealed last year’s ruling in a potentially precedent-setting case over AppleR
Apple faces new lawsuit over its data collection practices in first-party apps, like the App Store
A new lawsuit is taking on Apple’s data collection practices in the wake of a recent report by independent researchers who found Apple was continuing to track consumers in its mobile apps, even
This Week in Apps: Twitter’s crazy week drives social apps’ growth, Google expands user choice billing
This Week in Apps offers a way to keep up with this fast-moving industry in one place with the latest from the world of apps.
Numerous social apps see gains in wake of Twitter chaos, new data shows
The drama at Twitter following Elon Musk’s acquisition has seen some users looking for an exit. In recent days, alternative social apps and microblogging platforms have seen strong gains, includ
Google Play to pilot third-party billing in new markets, including US; Bumble joins Spotify as early tester
Google today announced it’s expanding its user choice billing pilot, which allows Android app developers to use other payment systems besides Google’s own. The program will now become avai
Pinterest launches its collage-making app Shuffles to the general public
Pinterest’s new collage-making app Shuffles is now available to the general public, after entering an invite-only test phase earlier this summer. The app grew in popularity with Gen Z users, who
Elon Musk details his vision for a Twitter payments system
Elon Musk detailed his vision for Twitter’s plan to enter the payments market during a livestreamed meeting with Twitter advertisers, hosted on Twitter Spaces on Wednesday. The new Twitter owner
Spotify revamps its Apple Watch app with larger artwork and new features, like direct downloads
Spotify today announced it’s revamping its Apple Watch experience. The new version of the small-screen streaming app has been redesigned to make it easier for users to find the music or podcasts
Roblox stock drops on widening losses in Q3, but other growth metrics remain strong
One of the big players in the “metaverse” space, gaming platform Roblox, saw its stock tumble by more than 15% in pre-market trading on Wednesday after reporting a wider-than-anticipated l
Twitter safety head suggests further ‘identity verification’ beyond paid verification may later be required
Twitter’s head of Safety and Integrity Yoel Roth admitted in a Twitter thread that the company may have to further invest in “identity verification” that goes beyond the paid verificatio