This Week in Apps: Clubhouse, Twitter & Snap Updates

The Expanding World of Mobile Apps

Welcome back to This Week in Apps, your regular source for the latest developments in mobile operating systems, applications, and the broader app economy. The app industry demonstrates continuous growth, achieving a record 218 billion downloads and $143 billion in global consumer spending in 2020.

App Usage and Market Value

In 2020 alone, consumers dedicated 3.5 trillion minutes to using apps on Android devices. Notably, app usage in the U.S. now surpasses the time spent watching live television. Currently, the average American dedicates 3.7 hours daily to live TV, contrasted with four hours spent on their mobile devices.

Apps are not merely a source of entertainment; they represent a substantial business opportunity. Companies prioritizing mobile platforms had a combined valuation of $544 billion in 2019, a figure 6.5 times greater than those without a mobile focus. Investment in mobile companies reached $73 billion in 2020, marking a 27% year-over-year increase.

What This Week in Apps Offers

This Week in Apps provides a consolidated resource for staying informed about this rapidly evolving industry. It delivers the latest news, updates, startup funding announcements, mergers and acquisitions, and recommendations for new apps and games.

This Week in Apps will now be available as a newsletter! Launching on August 7. Subscribe here: techcrunch.com/newsletters

Having taken a brief hiatus, This Week in Apps returns with a comprehensive roundup of recent news and an expanded section on app funding. Let’s catch up…

Weekly News Highlights

Platform Updates: Apple

App Tracking Transparency’s Impact: A report from Apptopia indicates that Apple’s App Tracking Transparency feature has, thus far, not demonstrably affected mobile game download or monetization performance. Several factors could contribute to this, including publishers employing fingerprinting techniques, increased advertising budgets, and higher-than-anticipated opt-in rates.

iOS 14.7 Release: Apple launched iOS 14.7, introducing support for Apple Card Family with combined credit limits, enhanced Home app functionality, compatibility with the MagSafe Battery Pack, and improvements to the Podcast app.

iOS 15 Beta 3: The third beta of iOS 15 enables device updates via Software Update even with less than 500 MB of available storage. This could significantly improve iOS adoption rates, particularly for users with limited storage capacity.

App Store Tax Categories: Apple now allows developers to assign tax categories to apps and in-app purchases on App Store Connect. These categories align with app content—such as videos, books, or news—to ensure accurate tax administration.

Ultra Wideband Expansion: Apple has expanded Ultra Wideband functionality to additional countries, including Argentina, Pakistan, Paraguay, and the Solomon Islands. However, the technology remains disabled in certain regions due to regulatory restrictions.

Epic Games Lawsuit: Apple was asked by Judge Gonzalez Rogers to consider three other antitrust cases that have been decided since the start of Epic Games’ antitrust lawsuit, which is currently under deliberation.

Platform Updates: Google

Android Beta 3: The third beta release of Android includes features like scrolling screenshots, face detection for auto-rotate, expanded Material You theme options, and adjustments to features like one-handed mode.

Backup by Google One: Google upgraded Android’s backup system to “Backup by Google One,” now encompassing photos, videos, and MMS messages alongside existing app data, SMS messages, and device preferences.

Play Billing Policy: Google has postponed the original September 30, 2021 deadline requiring all Play Store apps to utilize the Play Billing IAP system. Developers can now request extensions, following an antitrust lawsuit filed by multiple U.S. state attorneys general.

Epic Games Lawsuit Update: Epic Games filed an updated document in its antitrust lawsuit against Google, though much of the information remains redacted. Visible details discuss Google’s agreement with Apple regarding search provider status and Epic’s plans for Fortnite on the Samsung Galaxy Store.

RCS Adoption: Verizon joined AT&T and T-Mobile in preloading the Android Message app as the default texting app, furthering the adoption of RCS—the next-generation standard for SMS—across major U.S. carriers.

E-commerce News

Amazon and Fakespot: Amazon removed the recently launched Fakespot app from the App Store. The app, an extension of the fake review-spotting website, was deemed to be wrapping the Amazon website without permission, potentially exposing customer data.

Augmented Reality Developments

Snap’s AR Advancements: Snap highlighted its progress in augmented reality during its Q2 earnings report, showcasing record revenue and user growth. The company’s Cartoon 3D Style Lens went viral, generating 2.8 billion impressions on Snapchat alone. Snap is also exploring AR-powered shopping features.

Fintech Updates

Robinhood IPO: Investment app Robinhood is targeting an IPO valuation of up to $35 billion, with shares priced between $38 and $42.

Revolut’s Travel Booking: Fintech giant Revolut launched Stays, a travel booking feature allowing users to book hotels and accommodations directly within the app.

Venmo Redesign: Venmo removed its global, public feed as part of a major redesign, addressing privacy concerns and past incidents of oversharing.

Twitter and Bitcoin: Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey stated that bitcoin will be a significant component of Twitter’s future, potentially integrating with commerce, subscriptions, and other features.

Social Media Trends

Instagram’s Limits Feature: Instagram is testing a new “Limits” feature enabling users to restrict account access during times of crisis, limiting comments and messages from new or non-following accounts.

Facebook’s Prayer Requests: Facebook launched a tool allowing users within U.S. Facebook Groups to request prayers, aiming to foster engagement and cater to existing user behavior.

TikTok Ad Enhancements: TikTok partnered with Vimeo to integrate video editing tools, providing SMBs with resources for creating effective video ads. The platform also launched Spark Ads, allowing brands to leverage influencer content in their campaigns.

Instagram Content Controls: Instagram added controls allowing users to limit “sensitive” content in the Explore tab, offering options to filter potentially upsetting or offensive material.

Instagram Collab Feature: Instagram is testing a “collab” feature in India and the U.K., enabling users to co-author posts and Reels, with both accounts appearing in the header.

Twitter Fleets Discontinuation: Twitter is discontinuing Fleets, its short-form “Stories” feature, due to limited user adoption.

Tumblr Subscription Controversy: Tumblr’s new subscription feature, Post+, faced backlash from the community due to concerns about paywalls and revenue sharing.

Messaging App Updates

WhatsApp Multi-Device Support: WhatsApp is testing multi-device support that functions without requiring the phone to be connected to the internet.

Facebook Messenger Soundmojis: Facebook Messenger introduced “soundmojis,” emojis with accompanying sounds, including pop culture snippets.

Streaming & Entertainment News

Clubhouse Public Launch: Clubhouse exited beta and became publicly available to all users, removing the invite requirement and expanding its reach with the Android release.

Apple Music Updates: Apple Music updated its Android app to support Spatial Audio and Lossless Audio, though compatibility varies by device.

TikTok Music Discovery: A study revealed that 75% of TikTok users discover artists on the platform, and 63% find music they hadn’t previously heard.

Gaming Industry News

Genshin Impact Update: Genshin Impact released its 2.0 update on Android, introducing cross-save functionality, a new region, and additional content.

Facebook Cloud Gaming: Facebook launched its cloud gaming service via the web, bypassing the App Store to avoid Apple’s restrictions.

Health & Fitness Updates

NHS COVID App Deletions: A poll indicated that approximately 20% of U.K. adults have deleted the NHS COVID app to avoid self-isolation orders.

Edtech Developments

Duolingo IPO: Duolingo aims for a valuation of up to $3.41 billion in its U.S. IPO, offering 5.1 million shares priced between $85 and $95.

Reading App News

Kindle Vella Launch: Amazon’s Kindle app launched Kindle Vella, a serialized fiction store offering episodic stories via in-app purchases.

Utility App Updates

Chrome for iOS Security: Chrome for iOS added the ability to lock private tabs using Face ID or Touch ID.

Google Search History Deletion: Google’s iOS search app allows users to delete their last 15 minutes of search history.

Government & Policy

China’s App Regulations: China instructed 145 apps to address illegal data collection practices by July 26.

China’s IPO Pauses: Chinese companies Keep and Ximalaya paused their U.S. IPOs due to regulatory investigations.

Security & Privacy Concerns

Location Data Exposure: A Catholic priest was identified through location data collected from his phone and sold by data vendors.

NSO Group Spyware: Reports revealed that military-grade spyware developed by NSO Group was used to hack the phones of journalists, activists, and business executives.

Funding and M&A Activity

💰 Zebra: $1.1 million pre-seed round for its voice-based social app.

💰 Sololearn: $24 million led by Drive Capital for its coding education app.

💰 VOCHI: $2.4 million late-seed round for its video editing app.

💰 Gopuff: $750 million (potentially $1 billion) at a $13.5 billion (potentially $15 billion) valuation.

💰 Titan: $58 million Series B led by Andreessen Horowitz.

💰 HealthifyMe: $75 million Series C led by LeapFrog and Khosla Ventures.

💰 Tilting Point: $235 million to fund user acquisition for partnered games.

💰 Carbon Health: $350 million at a $3.3 billion valuation.

💰 Yoobic: $50 million Series C led by Highland Europe.

💰 Miles: $12.5 million Series A led by Scrum Ventures.

🤝 Salesforce & Slack: The $27.7 billion acquisition of Slack by Salesforce officially closed.

🤝 Epic Games & Sketchfab: Epic Games acquired 3D model sharing platform Sketchfab.

💰 M1 Finance: $150 million Series E led by SoftBank.

💰 Mobile.dev: $3 million seed funding for its app bug detection service.

💰 Deskimo: Y Combinator backing for its coworking space app.

💰 Revolut: $800 million Series E co-led by Softbank Vision Fund 2 and Tiger Global.

💰 Inshorts: $60 million funding round led by Vy Capital.

💰 Play2Pay: $13 million Series A led by Telesoft Partners.

💰 Yanolja: $1.7 billion funding from SoftBank.

💰 Yummy: $4 million to expand delivery operations in Latin America.

🤝 Automattic & Pocket Casts: Automattic acquired podcast app Pocket Casts.

💰 Sweetch: $20 million Series A led by Entreé Capital.

New App Releases

Skate City: Tokyo

Apple Arcade added Skate City: Tokyo, an updated version of Snowman’s popular skateboarding game, coinciding with the Olympic Games.

HalloApp

HalloApp, a private social networking app from former WhatsApp employees, launched on iOS and Android, offering encrypted chats and a Home feed.

Anyone

Audio app Anyone launched its “marketplace for advice,” allowing users to pay for brief consultations with experts.

Streamlabs’ Crossclip

Streamlabs launched an iOS app enabling creators to easily repurpose Twitch clips for TikTok, Instagram Reels, and other platforms.

Social Media Updates

https://twitter.com/BigZaphod/status/1418347863432699908

https://twitter.com/heidi_helen/status/1418231736207433728