Sarah Perez
Reporter
The Latest from Sarah Perez
Clubhouse begins externally testing its Android app
Clubhouse, the voice-based networking app that’s now being knocked off by every major tech platform, is bringing its service to Android. The company announced during its weekly townhall event th
This Week in Apps: EU rules Apple’s a monopoly, Spotify and Facebook team up, ATT arrives
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
Roku removes YouTube TV from its channel store following failed negotiations
Earlier this week, Roku warned customers that the YouTube TV app may be removed from its streaming media players and TVs, and alleged that Google was leveraging its monopoly power during contract nego
Spotify CEO says live audio content is the next ‘Stories’
Live audio experiences will be adopted by every major platform just like Stories have been, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek told investors on Wednesday’s earnings call. The streaming service recently acqu
Instagram Live takes on Clubhouse with options to mute and turn off the video
In addition to Facebook’s Clubhouse competitor built within Messenger Rooms and its experiments with a Clubhouse-like Q&A platform on the web, the company is now leveraging yet another of it
Google Pay update adds grocery offers, transit expansions and spending insights
Following November’s overhaul of Google Pay, which saw the service expanding into personal finance, the company today is rolling out a new set of features aimed at making Google Pay more a part
Netflix launches its shuffle feature, now called ‘Play Something,’ to users worldwide
Netflix today is officially launching a feature that will make it easier to find something to watch when you’re stuck browsing and unable to make a decision. The service is introducing a tool ca
Social networking app for women, Peanut, adds live audio rooms
Mobile social networking app for women, Peanut, is today becoming the latest tech company to integrate audio into its product following the success of Clubhouse. Peanut, which began with a focus on mo
Family tracking app Life360 to acquire wearable location device Jiobit for $37M
Popular family tracking app Life360 is investing in hardware. The company this morning announced the $37 million acquisition of Chicago-based Jiobit, the maker of a wearable location device designed f
Teen banking service Step raises $100M Series C, announces Steph Curry’s investment
Step, the digital banking service aimed at teens and endorsed by TikTok star Charli D’Amelio, announced this morning the close of a $100 million round of Series C funding after growing to more t
Mobile bank Current raises $220 million Series D, triples valuation to $2.2B
U.S.-based challenger bank Current, which has now grown to nearly 3 million users, announced this morning it has raised a $220 million round of Series D funding, led by new investor Andreessen Horowit
Spotify launches paid podcasts through new Anchor feature
Spotify today is officially rolling out paid podcast subscriptions, after first unveiling its new subscription platform at the company’s “Stream On” event in February. Through Spotif
Roku alleges Google is using its monopoly power in YouTube TV carriage negotiations
Roku is alerting its customers that they may lose access to the YouTube TV channel on its platform after negotiations with Google went south. The company alleges that Google is attempting to use its m
Facebook introduces a new miniplayer that streams Spotify from the Facebook app
Facebook announced last week an expanded partnership with streaming music service Spotify that would bring a new way to listen to music or podcasts directly within Facebook’s app, which it calle
This Week in Apps: An Apple event, more Clubhouse clones and an app store antitrust hearing
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 a
Apple downplays complaints about App Store scams in antitrust hearing
Apple was questioned on its inability to rein in subscription scammers on its App Store during yesterday’s Senate antitrust hearing. The tech giant has argued that one of the reasons it requires
Facebook launches a series tests to inform future changes to its News Feed algorithms
Facebook may be reconfiguring its News Feed algorithms. After being grilled by lawmakers about the role that Facebook played in the attack on the U.S. Capitol, the company announced this morning it wi
Apple and Google pressed in antitrust hearing on whether app stores share data with product development teams
In today’s antitrust hearing in the U.S. Senate, Apple and Google representatives were questioned on whether they have a “strict firewall” or other internal policies in place that pr
Quibi’s content is coming to Roku as ‘Roku Originals,’ will kick off Roku’s investment in original content
Earlier this year, Roku acquired the program catalog from Quibi, the short-form video app backed by Jeffrey Katzenberg that had failed to gain traction amid the pandemic, despite nearly $2 billion in
Amazon is bringing its Amazon One palm scanner to select Whole Foods as a payment option
Amazon is bringing its new biometric device, the Amazon One scanner, to Whole Foods store. The retail giant this past fall introduced the Amazon One scanner, which allows shoppers to enter a store by