This Week in Apps: Apple, Facebook, and App Store News

The Evolving Landscape of Mobile Applications

Welcome to This Week in Apps, your regular TechCrunch update covering the latest developments in mobile operating systems, applications, and the broader app economy.

The app industry demonstrates continued expansion, achieving a record 218 billion downloads and $143 billion in global consumer spending in 2020. Android users alone dedicated 3.5 trillion minutes to app usage last year. Currently, average daily mobile device usage in the U.S. is four hours, exceeding the 3.7 hours spent watching live television.

The Business of Apps

Apps are not merely a source of entertainment; they represent a substantial business opportunity. Mobile-first companies boasted a combined valuation of $544 billion in 2019, a figure 6.5 times greater than their non-mobile-focused counterparts. Investment in mobile companies reached $73 billion in 2020, marking a 27% year-over-year increase.

This week’s focus includes Apple’s defense of App Store fees during the Epic lawsuit and its response to antitrust concerns raised by Spotify, Match, and Tile in a Senate hearing. We’ll also examine data suggesting a potential weakening of Facebook’s social media dominance, new features and e-commerce plans for TikTok, security issues with Twitter’s Tip Jar, and more.

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Top Stories

Apple Addresses App Store Fraud Concerns

Apple is highlighting the security measures protecting users within the App Store. The company announced it prevented over $1.5 billion in potentially fraudulent transactions in 2020, safeguarding customer funds, data, and time. Furthermore, nearly one million potentially harmful apps were blocked from reaching users, and 470,000 developer accounts were terminated due to fraudulent activity. Apple also deactivated 244 million customer accounts and rejected 424 million account creation attempts flagged as suspicious.

This data release coincides with the ongoing legal battle with Epic Games, where Apple’s App Store fees and practices are under scrutiny. Epic alleges Apple operates as a monopolist by requiring developers to use Apple’s payment system and restricting communication about alternative purchasing options.

Apple aims to demonstrate the scale of its anti-fraud operations, positioning instances of fraudulent apps slipping through as exceptions within a larger, effective system. Despite these efforts, concerns remain about the ease with which scam apps can be discovered post-approval.

A more proactive approach, such as a system to identify and review apps with high revenue and a disproportionate number of negative reviews, could further enhance App Store security. Such sweeps have been conducted in the past and may be warranted again.

Facebook’s Influence is Diminishing

Emerging trends indicate a potential decline in Facebook’s dominance within the social app ecosystem. Data from Appfigures reveals a decreasing trend in Facebook’s monthly downloads over the past year.

Weekly installs of the Facebook app and Facebook Lite decreased from 15 million in May 2020 to under 11 million in April 2021 – a 23% reduction. Conversely, TikTok experienced significant growth, reaching 52 million downloads in April 2021.

eMarketer reports that TikTok has surpassed Instagram in popularity among U.S. Gen Z users. TikTok is projected to have 37.3 million monthly active Gen Z users in 2021, compared to Instagram’s 33.3 million. While Snapchat currently leads with 42.0 million MAUs, TikTok is expected to surpass it by 2023, reaching 89.7 million MAUs compared to Snapchat’s 98.5 million.

Weekly News

Platforms: Apple

Apple is expanding its Apple Developer Academy to Detroit and Korea, providing training and resources for aspiring iOS developers and designers. Similar programs already exist in Brazil, Indonesia, and Italy.

Apple has released the third developer beta and public beta of iOS 14.6 and iPadOS 14.6, along with the third beta of watchOS 7.5. These updates include performance improvements, bug fixes, and minor features like the ability to use an email address for Lost Mode on AirTags. Apple has also ceased signing iOS 14.5, preventing downgrades.

A class-action lawsuit has been filed against Apple in the U.K. over App Store commissions, alleging monopolistic practices and seeking approximately £1.5 billion ($2.1 billion) in damages.

Platforms: Google

Google announced the winners of its #AndroidDevChallenge, showcasing apps built with the new Jetpack Compose UI toolkit. Winners received a Google Pixel 5.

Augmented Reality

Niantic Labs, the developer of Pokémon GO, is rebranding its development platform as Niantic Lightship and opening it to more developers in a private beta. Lightship aims to empower developers to create immersive, multiplayer AR experiences using Niantic’s technology.

Sequoia Games, a new game studio, is planning a tabletop AR game inspired by the success of NBA Top Shot, incorporating trading cards, NFTs, and AR technology.

Fintech

Coinbase reached No. 1 on the U.S. App Store for the first time since 2017 on May 10, following a surge in popularity during its IPO.

Google Pay is expanding into the remittances market, enabling U.S. users to send money to recipients in India and Singapore.

PayPal ranked No. 2 for monthly active users in finance apps in Q1 2021 in the U.S., behind its own Venmo. It holds the No. 1 position in the U.K. and No. 4 in France. PayPal is evolving into a “super app” offering shopping, bill payment, investing, and cryptocurrency services.

Social

Snap has suspended anonymous Q&A apps YOLO and LMMK following a lawsuit related to a teen’s death. The lawsuit alleges that these apps facilitated bullying that contributed to the teen’s suicide.

TikTok is testing a system allowing creators to promote their videos on the For You Page through paid advertising. This self-serve advertising tool is currently in limited availability.

TikTok is introducing a Green Screen Duet feature and a new video browsing experience. The Green Screen Duet feature combines popular editing tools, while the “Topics” feature offers dedicated feeds based on user interests.

Facebook is testing pop-up messages encouraging users to read articles before sharing them, mirroring a similar feature on Twitter.

Discord’s Stage Channels will soon feature a Stage Discovery portal for events like open mic nights and book clubs. Threaded conversations and ticketed events are also planned.

TikTok is expanding into e-commerce, with brands testing shopping features on their profiles. Tests in Southeast Asia are paving the way for broader e-commerce integration.

Messaging

WhatsApp will restrict access to chats and calls for users who do not accept its new privacy policy. After a grace period, users will lose access to their chat lists and notifications.

Twitter has rolled out DM search to Android users, adding message content search functionality later this year.

Signal’s beta version (v5.11.0) enables sharing of 4K images with a high-quality option.

Streaming & Entertainment

Clubhouse launched its Android app in the U.S. on Sunday, followed by releases in the U.K., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Podcast app Castbox was found to be streaming subscription-only content via leaked feeds.

Dating

Bumble’s shares declined following its first-quarter earnings report, falling below its IPO price. Investors reacted cautiously to the company’s second-half guidance.

Gaming

Roblox reported a 140% year-over-year revenue increase in its first earnings report as a public company. Daily active users rose 79% to 42.1 million.

The top five IP-based gaming titles generated $1.4 billion in the U.S. in 2020, led by Pokémon GO with $480 million.

Health & Fitness

Facebook reported that over 3.3 million people in the U.S. have used its vaccine finder since March 11. The company has also provided $30 million in ad credits to support vaccination efforts.

Uber and Lyft are offering free rides to COVID-19 vaccination sites through July 4.

A report indicates that the NHS contact-tracing app had a significant impact on reducing the spread of coronavirus in the U.K.

Apple is seeking to dismiss a COVID app lawsuit, arguing that the app did not meet its requirements for recognition by a health authority.

Government & Policy

Apple’s Chief Compliance Officer responded to concerns raised by Spotify, Match, and Tile during a Senate hearing, defending its App Store policies and commission structure.

Facebook is prohibited from applying its new WhatsApp Terms & Conditions in Germany, pending a review by the Hamburg data protection agency.

State Attorneys General are urging Facebook to abandon plans for an Instagram app targeted at children under 13, citing concerns about privacy and well-being.

TikTok removed over 500,000 accounts in Italy after the country’s data protection watchdog requested age verification.

Google was fined €100 million (~$123 million) by Italy’s antitrust watchdog for restricting access to Android Auto.

Security & Privacy

Twitter’s Tip Jar feature was found to expose user privacy by revealing home addresses and email addresses through PayPal transactions. Twitter has addressed the issue.

The FTC finalized a settlement with photo app Everalbum for misleading users about facial recognition practices.

A survey revealed that 73% of respondents support Apple’s App Tracking Transparency feature.

Funding and M&A

💰 Apptopia raised $20 million to expand its competitive intelligence platform.

💰 Sanlo raised $3.5 million to provide financial insights and capital to app and game developers.

💰 Blind raised $37 million in Series C funding to grow its social networking app for verified employees.

💰 Snack raised $3 million in seed funding to launch a dating app targeting Gen Z investors.

💰 SightCall raised $42 million for its AR-based visual assistance platform.

💰 Lili raised $55 million in Series B funding for its neobank aimed at freelancers.

💰 Fair raised $20 million to launch its multilingual neobank targeting new U.S. residents.

🤝 Jamf acquired Wandera for $400 million.

💰 Lyst raised $85 million in a pre-IPO round at a $700 million valuation.

💰 Nano raised $3 million in seed funding for its flexible pay startup.

🤝 Kakao acquired Radish and Tapas Media for $950 million.

🤝 Naver’s acquisition of Wattpad has been completed.

💰 Sanctuary raised $3 million in seed funding for its astrology app.

Downloads

GasBuddy

The GasBuddy app reached No. 1 on the U.S. App Store for the first time during the Colonial pipeline attack, becoming essential for locating available fuel.

Waitlist this: Pok Pok Playroom

Snowman is launching Pok Pok, a new company focused on educational children’s entertainment, with its first title, Pok Pok Playroom. The app offers creative “digital toys” grounded in reality and a subscription-based model without ads or in-app purchases.