The App Landscape: A Weekly Recap

Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the TechCrunch series dedicated to recapping the latest developments in mobile operating systems, applications, and the broader app economy.

The app industry continues to thrive, having experienced a record-breaking 218 billion downloads and $143 billion in global consumer spending in 2020.

Last year, consumers devoted an astounding 3.5 trillion minutes to using apps on Android devices alone. Furthermore, 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, but spends four hours per day on their mobile devices.

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

This week’s focus includes updates on Parler’s attempt to rejoin the App Store, a review of Walmart’s second livestream shopping event, and the global rollout of Instagram Lite. We’ll also examine new data regarding Clubhouse’s total installs and global reach, as well as information about Disney’s innovative service poised to replace the MagicBand, among other topics.

Top Stories

✨ Parler’s Re-entry Bid Fails

The right-leaning social app was removed from the App Store, Google Play, and Amazon AWS following the U.S. Capitol riot, due to violations of community guidelines. Apple specifically requested Parler to revise its moderation policies, which had previously been largely non-interventionist. While Apple maintains guidelines for app content, Parler’s policies were guided by a First Amendment approach to free speech, allowing users broad latitude in their expression.

According to documents obtained by Bloomberg, Parler again sought entry into the App Store after the initial ban, but was again denied. Apple reportedly informed Parler’s chief policy officer on February 25th that there was no room for “hateful, racist, discriminatory content” on the App Store. The review process also uncovered offensive imagery, including profile pictures featuring swastikas and other white nationalist symbols, alongside misogynistic, homophobic, and racist usernames and posts.

Parler had previously stated that negotiations with Apple were underway and anticipated a return to the App Store. However, with this latest rejection, the company reduced its iOS developer team, letting go of three of its seven developers, as reported by Bloomberg.

The controversy surrounding Parler highlights a broader debate in the U.S. regarding the responsibility of tech platforms to moderate content, particularly as user posts and comments increasingly contribute to real-world violence. The U.S. government has not yet regulated these platforms, leaving content moderation decisions to the tech companies themselves. Parler stated it had implemented filters and human review to address threats of violence, as well as optional tools for users to filter and block hate speech, but these measures were deemed insufficient by Apple.

Weekly News

Platforms: Apple

Apple released critical security patches across all its platforms. These patches address a vulnerability – a memory corruption bug in WebKit, the engine powering Apple’s Safari browser. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability through a malicious webpage.

E-commerce

✨ Walmart partnered with TikTok again to host a new livestream shopping event on Thursday night. Co-hosted by Gabby Morrison and Nabela Noor, the event focused on beauty products, featuring demonstrations and tutorials with integrated shopping capabilities. The content was engaging, mirroring the makeup tutorials and “get ready with me” vlogs popular on social media. Gabby effectively balanced product demonstrations with calls to action to purchase items.

During the event, we observed over 8,000 concurrent viewers (approximately 20 minutes after the start). The stream’s comments section showed high engagement, including positive feedback, humorous remarks, and compliments directed at the hosts. However, some trolling comments violating TikTok’s cyberbullying guidelines were not moderated, an issue TikTok needs to address as these events grow.

Walmart ran an apparel-focused live shopping event during the holidays last year—the first pilot of TikTok’s live shopping feature in the U.S. The retailer has not disclosed sales figures from the first event, but confirmed they met Walmart’s projections. The event also resulted in a 25% increase in TikTok follower growth and 7x more views than anticipated.

Social

Facebook is targeting emerging markets with the launch of Instagram Lite, a lightweight Android version of the app requiring only 2MB of space. The app is now available in 170 countries, offering features like photo and video sharing, Stories, IGTV, and content discovery. However, it does not support Reels—Instagram’s TikTok competitor—allowing users only to view them.

This is not Facebook’s first attempt at a lightweight Instagram version. A Progressive Web App was previously released but discontinued in 2020. A new app was then launched in December in India for limited testing, preceding this wider release.

✨ Clubhouse has reached 12 million worldwide downloads, an increase of 600,000 since March 1, according to App Annie data. The U.S. remains the largest market with 3.1 million downloads, but the app has a strong global presence, with 1.8 million downloads in Japan, 710,000 in Germany, 600,000 in Brazil, 505,000 in Russia, 420,000 in Italy, 375,000 in the U.K., 370,000 in South Korea, 350,000 in Turkey, and 107,000 in France.

Facebook is expanding creator monetization options by adding ads to short-form video content—including videos as short as one minute, down from the previous three-minute minimum. These ads will play 30 seconds into shorter videos. It has also opened its in-stream ads program for Live videos, removing the invite-only restriction. This move aims to attract creators to Facebook over competing platforms like TikTok by offering increased earning potential.

TikTok rolled out new commenting features designed to prevent bullying. Creators can now control which comments are posted on their content before they go live. A new prompt will appear for users before posting potentially inappropriate or unkind comments, encouraging reconsideration.

Pakistan banned TikTok again due to “immoral and objectionable” videos. The app, with around 33 million users in the country, was blocked by the Pakistan Telecom Authority after the Peshawar High Court’s Chief Justice deemed some videos “unacceptable for Pakistani society” and “peddling vulgarity.”

Limit App, a new app, offers an Instagram-like service exclusively for users aged 18 to 25. The creator emphasizes this is not ageism, but rather a space for young adults to be themselves. The app uses secure ID and age verification, and users are removed after turning 26 after a 30-day content download period.

Pinterest saw over 193 million downloads worldwide in 2020, a 50% year-over-year increase, driven by consumers using the platform for product discovery, design ideas, and shopping.

Instagram now automatically adds captions to Stories for improved accessibility. Captions are already common on TikTok, serving both accessibility and user preference for video content with text.

Facebook is testing a feature in India that shares Instagram Reels on the Facebook News Feed. This demonstrates Facebook’s commitment to competing with TikTok, leveraging both of its major social networks.

TikTok launched a new “music hub” in the U.K. highlighting trending artists and tracks. The company is already driving music streams and sales through the app, and the hub provides a dedicated section for current trends.

Twitter’s head of consumer product, Kayvon Beykpour, defended Apple’s App Store commission rates in a recent interview, stating the commission reflects the costs of online payment processing, fraud prevention, and customer service.

India’s government threatened to jail employees of Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter if they do not comply with data and takedown requests related to protests by Indian farmers over agricultural law changes.

Photos

Twitter is testing a new way to display images, providing a more accurate preview of the photo instead of automatic cropping. This change also addresses concerns about racial bias in Twitter’s algorithm that influenced cropping decisions.

Messaging and Communications

Google will link Android phones with Chromebooks through a new Phone Hub feature, allowing Chrome OS users to respond to texts, check battery life, enable a Wi-Fi hotspot, and locate misplaced devices.

Dating Apps

✨ Bumble launched “Night In,” a new feature in the U.S. and Canada that lets online daters play games together within the app. Currently offering trivia games, the company plans to add more virtual experiences. The launch coincides with increased vaccinations and a potential return to in-person dating, suggesting Bumble views the feature as a long-term offering.

Bumble also reported its first quarterly results since its February 2021 IPO, exceeding Wall Street estimates with $165.6 million in revenue and 2.7 million paid users (up 32.5% year-over-year) in the fourth quarter.

Streaming & Entertainment

Amazon added a merch store to its streaming music app, offering in-app product sales from artists like Billie Eilish and Selena Gomez through a Merchbar integration.

YES Network debuted an app to live stream New York Yankees, Brooklyn Nets, NYFC, and New York Liberty games via a TV Everywhere integration. This is the network’s first live streaming app.

Apple Podcasts is replacing the “subscribe” button with a “follow” button for podcast tracking, as “subscribe” is increasingly associated with paid options.

Spotify updated its app with support for 36 new languages, including Afrikaans, Amharic, Azerbaijani, Bengali, and more, expanding to 62 languages in over 80 global markets.

Paramount+ saw 277,000+ app downloads in its first five days, similar to HBO Max’s launch. The app transitioned from the existing CBS All Access app, impacting download numbers. A pre-launch sale generated $86.7K in in-app purchase revenue on March 2, the highest single-day revenue to date.

Gaming

✨ Epic Games is pursuing its app store legal fight in Australia, alleging anti-competitive practices by Google regarding the 30% commission on in-app purchases. The company is challenging Apple and Google in multiple markets.

The average size of the U.S. App Store’s top games has grown 76% in the past five years, according to Sensor Tower. The average game file size increased from 264MB in 2016 to 465MB in 2020, driven by games like DoubleDown, Fortnite, and Clash of Clans.

Food & Drink

App Annie data shows a 105% year-over-year increase in app sessions for food and drink apps in 2020, driven by the pandemic’s impact on food delivery services. Deliveroo experienced significant growth, ranking as a top breakout app in France and the U.K.

Digital Passes

✨ Disney is launching Disney MagicMobile, bringing the functionality of its MagicBands to Apple devices. The service will allow guests to create a mobile pass within the My Disney Experience app and use their smartphones, including iPhones and Apple Watches, to access rides. MagicBands will still be available for those without devices or who prefer them, and new band designs are planned.

Fintech

India’s Paytm will enable Android phones to function as POS terminals through a card acceptance feature in the NFC-enabled Paytm Business app. Merchants can process transactions by tapping a payment card to their smartphone.

The new Google Pay app has exited beta and replaced the older version, which will be discontinued on April 5 in the U.S. The updated version includes NFC tap-to-pay and peer-to-peer payments, but has received criticism for being less convenient and having higher fees.

Chinese beauty app Meitu purchased $40 million worth of cryptocurrency, including Ether and Bitcoin.

Security & Privacy

Apple must face a consumer lawsuit over FaceTime and iMessage privacy in court, not through arbitration. The case focuses on an iOS bug and T-Mobile’s phone number recycling practices that exposed user communications.

Apple is facing a privacy complaint in Europe from France Digitale regarding IDFA changes, arguing that Apple’s own apps have an unfair advantage by tracking user activity without requiring opt-in.

Funding and M&A

💰 Social networking app Wefarm, targeting independent farmers in Africa, raised $11 million in an extension of its 2019 Series A, led by Octopus Ventures.

📈 Gaming platform Roblox debuted on the stock market on Wednesday (RBLX), closing at $69.50 per share with a market cap of $38.26 billion.

💰 Chatbot startup Heyday raised $5.1 million led by Innovobot and Desjardins Capital.

💰 Songclip raised $11 million to bring music to more social media apps.

🤝 Real estate software firm VTS acquired Rise Buildings, a mobile app used in over 130 million sq ft of office space.

💰 SoftBank Group will invest $4.7 billion into Tokyo-based messaging app Line to develop it into a “super app.”

🤝 PayPal is acquiring cryptocurrency security startup Curv in a deal valued at less than $200 million.

🤝 TikTok competitor Triller bought livestream music competition Verzuz, created by Timbaland and Swizz Beatz.

💰 Detail raised $2 million for its app that optimizes iPhone cameras for live video.

💰 Krafton invested $22.4 million into Indian esports firm Nodwin Gaming.

💰 Eco, a personal finance app, raised $26 million led by a16z Crypto.

Runway received YC backing for its service streamlining mobile app releases.

Downloads

Fer.al

Fer.al, a new game targeting Gen Z, has entered the market to compete with Roblox, Minecraft, and Fortnite. Developed by WildWorks (Animal Jam), it features customizable animal avatars and a storyline centered around a reality show. The game is available on Mac, PC, iOS, and Android.

Wombo

The “deep nostalgia” trend fueled downloads of Wombo, an AI-powered deepfake app that animates faces to lip-sync to songs. The app has seen a surge in downloads, reaching No. 30 overall on the App Store with over 2 million downloads since its February 2020 launch.

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