Category: apps
This Week in Apps: Parler deplatformed, alt apps rise, looking back at 2020 trends
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 record 218 billion downloads and $143 billion in global consumer spend in 2020. Consumers last year also…
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WhatsApp faces legal challenge over privacy in its biggest market
WhatsApp is facing a legal challenge in India, its biggest market, after a petition was filed Thursday before Delhi High Court over the upcoming change in the Facebook-owned app’s data sharing policy. The petition alleges the new terms that WhatsApp requires its roughly 450 million users in the country to…
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Google cracks down on personal loan apps in India following abuse and outcry
Google said on Thursday it has pulled some personal loan apps from Play Store in India and was implementing stronger measures to prevent abuse following reports that said several firms were targeting vulnerable borrowers in the country and then going to extreme lengths to recover their money. The Android-maker said…
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Amazon launches mobile-only, more affordable Prime Video plan in India
Amazon is doubling down on one of the biggest strengths of Prime Video streaming service: Aggressive pricing. The e-commerce giant on Wednesday launched Prime Video Mobile Edition, an even more affordable tier of the on-demand video streaming service — now also bundling some mobile data. Prime Video Mobile Edition, for…
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Signal’s Brian Acton talks about exploding growth, monetization and WhatsApp data-sharing outrage
Brian Acton is crossing paths again with Facebook. Over more than a decade of building and operating WhatsApp, the company’s co-founder first competed against and then sold his instant messaging app to the social juggernaut. Only a few years ago he parted ways with the company that made him a…
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Companies rush to replace the gym at CES
The year of the first-ever all-virtual CES is, unsurprisingly, the year of the virtual gym. The past 12 months have seen most of our fitness routines completely transformed — speaking for myself, my Apple Watch step count shows two big empty spots where March and April are. Fitness startups have…
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