Sarah Perez
Reporter
The Latest from Sarah Perez
Snapchat launches its TikTok rival, Sounds on Snapchat
Snapchat this summer announced it would soon release a new music-powered feature that would allow users to set their Snaps to music. Today, the company made good on that promise with the launch of 
Mycons makes it easy to create and buy custom icons for your iOS home screen
A new app called Mycons launched today and is tapping into the iOS 14 home screen customization trend by making it easier for anyone, including non-designers, to quickly create their own custom icons,
Spotify launches an automatically updating iOS 14 widget
Spotify today has released its highly-anticipated iOS 14 widget with the latest app update. The new widget, which comes in both the small and medium sizes for the time being, allows you to quickly acc
Spotify introduces a new music-and-spoken word format, open to all creators
Spotify today is launching a new feature that combines spoken word audio commentary with music tracks. The new format will allow Spotify to reproduce the radio-like experience of listening to a DJ or
Google launches a suite of tech-powered tools for reporters, Journalist Studio
Google is putting AI and machine learning technologies into the hands of journalists. The company this morning announced a suite of new tools, Journalist Studio, that will allow reporters to do their
PopSockets is working on MagSafe-compatible iPhone accessories
PopSockets will support Apple’s MagSafe technology, TechCrunch has confirmed — meaning you’ll soon be able to pop on and off these ubiquitous iPhone accessories without worrying abou
Snapchat among first to leverage iPhone 12 Pro’s LiDAR Scanner for AR
Apple introduced its latest flagship iPhone models, the iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max, at its iPhone event on Tuesday. Among other things, the devices sport a new LiDAR Scanner designed to allow for mo
Apple unveils its flagship 5G phones, the iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max
At Apple’s iPhone event on Tuesday, the company introduced a range of new phones, led by the just-announced flagships: the iPhone 12 Pro, starting at $999, and iPhone 12 Pro Max, starting at $10
Apple’s new ‘Intercom’ feature will let you shout across your Apple devices
Apple today introduced a new feature designed for use with its HomePod speakers, including its just-introduced HomePod Mini: Intercom. Similar to Alexa’s “announce” feature, Intercom
WordPress can now turn blog posts into tweetstorms automatically
Earlier this year, WordPress .com introduced an easier way to post your Twitter threads, also known as tweetstorms, to your blog with the introduction of the “unroll” option for Twitter em
Messenger’s latest update brings new features, cross-app communication with Instagram
Facebook Messenger is getting a visual update and a number of new features, including support for chat themes, custom reactions and, soon, selfie stickers and vanish mode. The changes are a part of Fa
Family-tracking app Life360 launches ‘Bubbles,’ a location-sharing feature inspired by teens on TikTok
Helicopter parenting turned into surveillance with the debut of family-tracking apps like Life360. While the app can alleviate parental fears when setting younger kids loose in the neighborhood, Life3
Bumble balances gender representation of C-suite with two new hires
Women-friendly dating and networking app Bumble announced today it’s expanding its C-suite with two new hires: Anu Subramanian as Bumble’s chief financial officer, who hails from Univision
Amazon launches an AR app that works with new QR codes on its boxes
Amazon has quietly launched a new augmented reality application that works with QR codes on the company’s shipping boxes to create “interactive, shareable” AR experiences. Called sim
Facebook, in a reversal, will now ban Holocaust denial content under its hate-speech policy
Facebook this morning announced a significant change in how it approaches Holocaust denial content on its social network. For years, the company has been criticized for not taking down this extremely
Hands on with Telepath, the social network taking aim at abuse, fake news and, to some extent, ‘free speech’
There’s no doubt that modern social networks have let us down. Filled with hate speech and abuse, moderation and anti-abuse tools were an afterthought they’re now trying to cram in. Meanwh
This Week in Apps: Antitrust investigation dubs App Store a monopoly, Microsoft adopts ‘app fairness’ rules, pandemic boosts Q3 app revenues
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
Google Assistant can now control Android apps
Google today announced it’s making it possible to use the voice command “Hey Google” to not just open but also perform specific tasks within Android apps. The feature will be rolled
Consumers spent a record $28 billion in apps in Q3, aided by pandemic
Mobile usage continues to remain high amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, which has prompted social distancing measures and lockdown policies, and has pushed consumers to connect online for work, school and
YouTube Premium subscribers get a new perk with launch of testing program
YouTube has long allowed its users to test new features and products before they go live to a wider audience. But in a recent change, YouTube’s latest series of experiments are being limited to