The biggest updates coming to Apple’s iMessage and its Messages app in iOS 18 aren’t its AI emoji, Genmoji, or even the ability to send texts via satellite.
Because of Apple’s longtime refusal to add support for RCS, texting with Android users meant no typing indicators or read receipts, broken group chats, and blurry photos and videos.
Instead, the text box indicates in a light gray font that your texts with someone support both “Text message + RCS,” while the texts themselves are still green.
However, issues that make the Messages app a broken experience for Apple’s customers will be addressed, it seems, as Apple says it will support the standard later this year.
That’s likely why there was no mention of encrypted messaging in Apple’s announcement of RCS.
Read MoreApple’s Messages App Finally Adds RCS and Scheduling Text Features
Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech!
This week, we’re looking at Rippling’s controversial decision to ban some former employees from selling their stock, Carta’s massive valuation drop, a GenZ-focused fintech raise, and more!
But there is one big exception: It has banned former employees who work for a handful of competitors from selling their stock.
What else we’re writingIn early 2022, the fintech startup Bloom was accepted into Y Combinator as the first-ever startup from Sudan to participate in the famed accelerator.
In an unusual move, Capital One is teaming up with payment giants (and rivals) Stripe and Amsterdam-based Adyen to offer a free product aimed at fraud reduction, the financial services giant told TechCrunch in an exclusive interview.
Read MoreMixed and Strong Reactions Abound as Ripple Announces Tender Offer Decision
Voodoo, a French mobile apps and games publisher, has acquired BeReal for €500 million.
As part of the acquisition, BeReal co-founder and CEO Alexis Barreyat will leave the company after a transition period.
Aymeric Roffé, the CEO of Wizz, one of Voodoo’s social media apps, will take over as CEO of BeReal.
On BeReal, users receive a push notification each day prompting them to post they’re up within a two-minute window.
“Voodoo has a proven track record of driving significant growth in mobile apps,” said BeReal founder Alexis Barreyat, in the press release.
Read MoreVoodoo Acquires BeReal in €500M Deal for Mobile Apps and Games
Apple’s WWDC 2024 was packed with announcements about iOS 18, its upcoming version of the iPhone operating system, which introduces a host of new features.
Which devices support iOS 18?
The company says you can download iOS 18 on the following models:iPhone 15iPhone 15 PlusiPhone 15 ProiPhone 15 Pro MaxiPhone 14iPhone 14 PlusiPhone 14 ProiPhone 14 Pro MaxiPhone 13iPhone 13 miniiPhone 13 ProiPhone 13 Pro MaxiPhone 12iPhone 12 miniiPhone 12 ProiPhone 12 Pro MaxiPhone 11iPhone 11 ProiPhone 11 Pro MaxiPhone XSiPhone XS MaxiPhone XRiPhone SE (second generation or later)When will iOS 18 be available to download?
However, if you want to try out iOS 18 a little earlier, the public beta will be available to download next month at beta.apple.com.
You’ll get the most out of the Apple Intelligence features with the iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max since they have the A17 Pro chip.
Read More“All iOS 18 Compatible Devices: Your Ultimate Guide”
Win-back subscriptionsApple will let developers reach out to customers who have subscribed to the app to win them back with new offers.
Developers can configure which customers they want to reach out to, and based on that, Apple surfaces win-back offers in the App Store.
“Eligible customers can discover win-back offers across the App Store, including on your product page and in editorial selections on the Today, Games and Apps tabs, as well as within your app,” according to Apple.
Image Credits: AppleImproved search suggestionsApple said that it is adding Focus State to the App Store later this year for improved search.
It gave examples of content creator apps offering subscriptions, apps with large catalogs of content (maybe apps that offer sachet subscriptions to different content), and digital content that spans across different apps managed by one developer.
Read More“Enhanced Features of App Store: Win-Back Subscriptions and Advanced Search Suggestions Introduced by Apple”
Google is finally making its Gemini Nano AI model available to Pixel 8 and 8a users after teasing it in March.
The June Pixel drop will allow users to access the model as a developer option.
Apart from that, the feature drop includes Display Port connectivity support for Pixel 8 and Pixel 8a, reverse phone number lookup for unknown numbers, fall and crash detection for Pixel Watch 2, and doorbell notifications on the Pixel tablet.
The update brings manual lens picking in the camera to the Pixel 6 Pro, 7 Pro, and Pixel Fold.
Pixel WatchThe newest Pixel drop brings car crash detection to the Pixel Watch 2.
Read More“Experience the new Gemini Nano AI model on Pixel 8 and 8a with Google’s latest June feature update”
But confirming the source of the alleged data theft has proven inconclusive, such is the nature of the data broker industry, which gobbles up individuals’ personal data from disparate sources with little to no quality control.
But this alleged breach of a data broker appears to be an outlier, in part because some of the data appears genuine and some already verified.
The proliferation and commoditization of personal data across the data broker industry also makes it more challenging to identify the source of data leaks.
And even if this particular data breach remains unsolved, it shows once more that the data broker industry is out of control and poses real privacy issues to ordinary people.
We couldn’t definitively solve the mystery of this data breach, but there was enough there to detail our verification efforts.
Read MoreUnveiling the Enigma: Investigating a Presumed Data Broker’s Security Breach
Light, the maker of the minimalist phone with an e-paper screen, is announcing its newest model, the Light Phone III.
Like its earlier counterpart, the Light Phone III offers a simple black-and-white display, without access to social media, the internet or email.
Between the first two models, the Light Phone I and Light Phone II, the company has shipped over 100,000 devices, with the latter accounting for roughly two-thirds of those sales.
The Light Phone III will target the larger demographic that are already using the non-smartphone as their main device.
Image Credits: LightAll the upgrades make the new device more expensive: The Light Phone III is $799 compared with the $299 Light Phone II.
Read More“Discover Light’s Newest Minimalist Phone: Featuring an OLED Display, Free from Addictive Apps”
Crunchbase is expanding the scope of its tagging options in Europe to start tracking how much venture capital funding goes to minority founders on the continent.
Diversity Spotlight is a feature on Crunchbase that lets companies add tags to their profiles to label themselves.
Crunchbase is now making this feature available in Europe.
Crunchbase initially launched the Diversity Spotlight feature in 2020, and last year expanded it to add an LGBTQ+ tag.
Women globally, meanwhile, typically receive less than 2% of venture capital funding across the world.
Read MoreUnleashing Diversity: Crunchbase’s Expansion of Tracking to Europe
Mistral AI has closed its much rumored Series B funding round with General Catalyst leading the round.
The company has secured €600 million (around $640 million at today’s exchange rate) in a mix of equity and debt.
As a reminder, Mistral AI is a relatively new entrant in the artificial intelligence space.
It also has distribution partnerships with cloud providers, such as Microsoft Azure — Microsoft is also a minor shareholder in Mistral AI.
According to the Financial Times, Mistral AI raised €468 million in equity and €132 million in debt (around $500 million and $140 million respectively).
Read MoreMistral AI, an AI startup headquartered in Paris, secures staggering $640 million in funding
