Mobile
Google denies Pixel 5a 5G cancelation, confirming it’s coming this year
Sometimes you’ve just got to confirm an unannounced product to put the rumors to bed, I guess. That was Google’s strategy this afternoon, following earlier rumors from Android Central that a chip
Quiq acquires Snaps to create a combined customer messaging platform
At first glance, Quiq and Snaps might sound like similar startups — they both help businesses talk to their customers via text messaging and other messaging apps. But Snaps CEO Christian Brucculeri
Spotify stays quiet about launch of its voice command ‘Hey Spotify’ on mobile
In 2019, Spotify began testing a hardware device for automobile owners it lovingly dubbed “Car Thing,” which allowed Spotify Premium users to play music and podcasts using voice commands t
Apple shares more details about its imminent App Tracking Transparency feature
Apple is sharing more details today about its upcoming App Tracking Transparency feature, which will allow users to control, on an app-by-app level, whether their data is shared for ad-targeting purpo
Signal tests payments in the UK using MobileCoin
Encrypted chat app Signal is adding payments to the services it provides, a long-expected move and one the company is taking its time on. A U.K.-only beta program will allow users to trade the cryptoc
LG’s exit from the smartphone market comes as no surprise
It was time for LG to move on. Frankly, the only surprise was that it didn’t do so sooner.
Daily Crunch: Apple Arcade expands with classic games
Apple adds classic titles to Apple Arcade, Microsoft experiences an outage and Coinbase is going public. This is your Daily Crunch for April 2, 2021. The big story: Apple Arcade expands with classic g
Apple expands Apple Arcade with classic App Store games
Apple has announced an expansion for its subscription gaming service Apple Arcade. In addition to exclusive game releases, the company is adding two new categories — Timeless Classics and App Store
US iPhone users spent an average of $138 on apps in 2020, will grow to $180 in 2021
U.S. consumers spent an average of $138 on iPhone apps last year, an increase of 38% year over year, largely driven by the pandemic impacts, according to new data from app store intelligence firm Sens
Holler raises $36M to power ‘conversational media’ in your favorite apps
Holler, described by founder and CEO Travis Montaque as “a conversational media company,” just announced that it’s raised $36 million in Series B funding. You may not know what conve
Daily Crunch: OnePlus announces its first smartwatch
OnePlus unveils new hardware, Apple updates its educational offerings and Facebook reveals plans for its next developer conference. This is your Daily Crunch for March 23, 2021. The big story: OnePlus
OnePlus 9 arrives, sporting a Hasselblad-branded camera system
Cameras have long been the battleground on which the smartphone wars have been fought. Short of any left-field innovation like folding screens or strange form factors, that looks likely to continue to
Daily Crunch: YouTube’s TikTok rival launches in the US
YouTube Shorts comes to the U.S., Amazon starts testing electric delivery vans in San Francisco and new data suggests the impact of Google Play’s recent changes. This is your Daily Crunch for Ma
Kuda raises $25M more led by Valar to become the neobank for ‘every African on the planet’
Challenger banks continue to make significant advances in attracting customers away from the big incumbents by providing more modern, user-friendly tools to manage their money. Today, one of the trail
Fleksy co-founder is suing Apple over lost revenue resulting from App Store scammers
Kosta Eleftheriou, a co-founder of the Fleksy keyboard app later sold to Pinterest in an acqui-hire deal, has been calling attention to Apple App Store issues like fake reviews, ratings and subscripti
Daily Crunch: Google Play halves commission on developers’ first $1M
Google is letting developers keep more of their Play revenue, Instagram adds teen safety features and we examine the global distribution of venture funding. This is your Daily Crunch for March 16, 202
Google’s Family Link updates reflect the pandemic’s impact on how parents view screen time
Google is making changes to its parental control system, Family Link, that aims to better reflect parents’ changing views on children’s screen time. In the pre-pandemic world, parents were
Swell launches its app for asynchronous voice conversations
You might think that Clubhouse is the final word on audio-centric social networks, but a San Francisco startup called Swell is launching its own iOS and Android app focused on voice conversations. The
Rent the Runway’s first iOS team launches Runway, an easier way to coordinate app releases
A team of mobile app engineers and designers from companies like Rent the Runway, ClassPass, Kickstarter and others, are now launching their own startup, Runway, to address the common pain points they
Songclip raises $11M to bring more licensed music to social media
The team behind Songclip thinks that social media could use more music. Yes, music is a big part of the experience on a handful of apps like TikTok and Triller, but Songclip co-founder and COO John va