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OKCupid’s rating sinks as users rebel over new ‘real name’ policy
OKCupid’s users are angry – very, very angry. Just ahead of the new year, the company made a radical change to its policies, and now requires people to use real names instead of an OKCupid username, as before. The change eliminates one of the biggest differentiators between the dating app and rivals like Tinder and Bumble, which have users log in via Facebook in order to use their… Read More
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Consumers dropped $200 million on apps on Christmas, up 12 percent from last year
Consumers spent $196 million on apps, in-app purchases and subscriptions on Christmas Day 2017 across the App Store and Google Play, according to new data from Sensor Tower. The report, while excluding Android revenue in China, represents a 12.3 percent increase over last year’s spending of approximately $174 million. That speaks to a still-growing market for apps and games as well as… Read More
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Instagram will now add ‘Recommended’ posts to your feed
Instagram’s feed will now show users recommended posts – a change that earlier this month was spotted while in testing, and has since quietly gone live. The feature, described here in the company’s Help documentation, will suggest posts for you based on those that have been liked by other accounts you follow. The new section, “Recommended for You,” is clearly… Read More
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Here’s an easy trick to get an extra life on HQ Trivia without a referral
Want an extra life on HQ but hate shilling out your referral code? Try this trick. Open HQ to the main page (where it shows the next game time and your balance) and swipe up really fast with two fingers over and over again. Do this and you should get an extra life. Yeah, it’s that easy. I just tried it and it worked perfectly, although one friend who already had an extra life said it… Read More
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HQ Trivia arrives on Android in Canada in beta
App-based trivia sensation HQ Trivia is on its way to Android, as the company previously revealed, but a special group of users can access it right now — Canadians. The app is now live in the Canadian Google Play Store, though it’s an “Unreleased” beta version of the live trivia game (via MobileSyrup). HQ Trivia debuted on iOS earlier this year, featuring a twice… Read More
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Facebook’s ‘comment a memory’ meme should replace ‘HBD!’
I find it truly sad the way Facebook has led us to reduce wishing friends a happy birthday to a meaningless, generic chore. It’s not Facebook’s fault. It gives us an open-ended comment box. But our laziness and sense of social obligation unfurl as a pile of “Happy Birthday!” or even “HBD!” wall posts. Read More
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Amazon’s Alexa app hits the top of the App Store for the first time
Amazon’s claims that the Echo Dot was the retailer’s best-selling product all through this holiday season appear to be backed up by the rise of the Alexa app in the U.S. App Store. The companion app for Alexa-powered devices like the Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Show and Echo Spot, grabbed the number one spot for the first time ever on Apple’s App Store on Christmas, and remains… Read More
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Edward Snowden’s new app turns any Android phone into a surveillance system
NSA Whistleblower Edward Snowden is among the backers of a new surveillance app that helps guard against computer hijackings. Haven is an open source app that will run on any Android phone, particularly inexpensive and older devices. It operates like a surveillance system, using the device’s camera, audio recording capability and even accelerometer to detect movement and notify a user. Read More
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Tech in 2017: Crazy, troubled and out of control?
Questions are being asked about platform power. Regulatory rules and knives are being sharpened. Politicians are eager to point the finger of blame. And with so much tech-fueled ammunition, who can blame them? Read More
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Pixel art coloring book apps are the newest App Store craze
Has your kid bugged you to let them download Sandbox Coloring? You’re probably not alone. The latest trend blowing up on the App Store is a new twist on the coloring book apps that have been popular for a couple of years. Now, instead of having users pick and choose their colors as before, this new group of coloring book apps – four of which recently snagged spots in the App… Read More
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Inside ‘Fin,’ the elite human/AI assistant
“I have FOMO for the future”, says Sam Lessin. That’s why his startup Fin is working backwards from a far-off tech utopia. One day, computers with some human help will answer our every beck and call. Today, Lessin is teaming them up. Every day, Fin gets smarter. For $1 a minute, 24/7, Fin gets your digital chores done. Message, email, or speak a request and a real person… Read More
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Instagram now lets you share live videos through direct messages
Instagram has been beefing up its Direct Messaging feature as it toys with the idea of spinning out messaging into its own, separate app. Among its more recent tweaks: the added option for photo and video message replays, and enhancements like support for web links and different photo orientations. Today, it’s rolling out another change — live videos over Direct Messaging. Read More
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FabFitFun expands its empire with a new app for Apple TV and Amazon Fire
FabFitFun, the women’s lifestyle subscription service and media company that’s become a household name among influencers of a certain generation, is expanding its empire with the launch of a new video app for Apple TV and Amazon Fire. The Los Angeles company founded by Daniel and Michael Broukhim has become one of the darlings of the tech scene in Southern California. Read More
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Talent trickles out of Snapchat as Timehop founder leaves
Less than a year after joining Snapchat, social media nostalgia app Timehop’s founder Jonathan Wegener is departing the company. He tells TechCrunch he wants to build his own thing again, but the fact that the No. 1 teen social network isn’t exciting enough to stay at is telling. Read More
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Civilization VI lands on iPad
In case you wanted something engrossing to keep you distracted from family squabbles this holiday, a special gift just arrived: Civilization VI, which is now available as a $30 purchase for iPad via the App Store. The world building simulation game is possibly the most ambitious and expansive ever to hit the iPad, and it has hefty spec requirements to match – you’ll need at least… Read More
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LIKEtoKNOW.it’s influencer shopping app hits 1M users
Launched just 9 months ago on iOS and last month on Android, LIKEtoKNOW.it has just hit 1M registered users on their mobile app, bringing total users to 2.8M. As a refresher, LIKEtoKNOW.it is a service that lets you “like” pictures from Instagram influencers and automatically get links to buy their outfits sent to your inbox. And their recently launched mobile app lets you… Read More
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Can a dreaming AI fix low res digital photos in the edit?
Let’s Enhance is an Estonia-based startup that’s using a so called ‘hallucinating AI’ deep neural network to power a freemium photo upscaling service. Find out what happened when we fed it some photos for printing… Read More
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Parenting Hero helps parents figure out how to talk to their kids
Parenting Hero is an app created on the premise no matter how many parenting books you read, a lot of that knowledge vacates your brain when faced with an indignant child on the verge of a meltdown. The app, currently available on iOS, takes tenets from the book “How to Talk So Little Kids Will Listen: A Survival Guide to Life with Children Ages 2-7” and presents them in… Read More
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Apple revises its controversial guidelines on template-based apps
Apple today announced it’s amending the App Store guideline that banned apps created using templates and other app generation services. When the company revised its policies earlier this year, the move was meant to reduce the number of low-quality apps and spam. But the decision ended up impacting a much wider market. Read More
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