Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups.
Use AI to sift through self-published stories on their app, pick the ones that scream potential, and then tweak them into bestsellers.
Money for photos: Photoroom, a Paris-based AI photo-editing app, has successfully closed its latest funding round, securing $43 million at a $500 million valuation.
Money for AI: Mistral AI announced a significant development in its journey with the unveiling of a new large language model named Mistral Large, aimed at competing with giants like OpenAI’s GPT-4.
Apple pours more resources into AI: Apple CEO Tim Cook is promising that Apple will “break new ground” on GenAI this year.
Apple’s new DMA rules have been widely criticized by developers and tech companies including also Meta, Mozilla, and Microsoft.
In the new letter, 34 companies and associations across a variety of sectors are asking the E.C.
Plus, because of the new fee structure, and the Core Technology Fee, it’s clear that few will agree to the DMA terms, the companies said.
Apple, meanwhile, also published a whitepaper today that outlines its solutions to address the changes the DMA requires to commissions and payments.
In response to the companies’ letter, an EC spokesperson told TechCrunch that the six-month deadline for Big Tech gatekeepers, like Apple, was there for a reason.
Swayy is an iPhone app startup that allows you to share not your current location, but your next intended location.
I also liked the way the Swayy app allows me to create custom groups.
As Westropp pointed out, as a female founder, she’s acutely aware that being able to control precisely who can see her future location is something she hard-wired into the app.
Of course, Swayy is likely to struggle against the tech giants already toying with location as feature.
It will also be an opportunity for Instagram to appeal to people who were fans of Zenly, a social map app that Snap acquired and then shut down in 2022.
The move is notable given the pushback Apple has received on its compliance with the new EU regulation so far.
Though others have fought against Apple’s DMA rules, MacPaw has chosen to opt in — a one-way conversion that offers no ability, at present, to return to Apple’s existing rules.
The current version of Setapp offers dozens of apps for $9.99 per month and up, depending on the platform and number of devices.
While the service is being likened to an alternative app store, to be clear, it will involve a subscription for all-you-can access to its apps, which is not Apple’s App Store model.
As for developers looking for additional distribution, however, another channel for reaching iOS users could be beneficial if MacPaw’s terms are agreeable.
That’s why software developer Adam Whitcroft built a dead simple to-do app called Twodos that doesn’t remind you of your pending tasks.
Whitcroft, who has worked at a16z-backed Rewind and Shopify, wanted to have a non-noisy app for his tasks.
You can add tasks, mark them as done using a swipe gesture, and check the archive to clear all tasks.
Last decade’s simple to-do hit Clear, launched a new version called Clear 2 last month.
Clear’s developer Phill Ryu said that the app still follows simple gestures for navigation and task management without overloading the app with features.
These doorbell cameras are, however, still available elsewhere.
Consumer Reports says EKEN did not respond to their emails reporting these issues.
Despite these flaws and Consumer Reports warning online marketplaces about them, the doorbells remain available for sale on Amazon, Sears, and Shein.
But Consumer Reports claimed there are similar doorbells, likely whitelabels of EKEN doorbells, still available on Walmart.
After TechCrunch shared five listings flagged by Consumer Reports with Walmart, Forrest said the company took down three of the five, while two had already been removed.
Decentralized social network Mastodon has updated its official app for Android to let users easily share their profiles with QR Codes.
To share the QR code, users can go to their profile tab and tap the QR icon next to their name to get a code related to the profile others can scan.
Mastodon has also updated prompts for blocking and muting to explain the effects of taking those actions on a profile.
Users trying out Mastodon have complained about the complicated nature of having different servers on the ActivityPub network.
The company will have to work on making it easier for users to understand and navigate the decentralized social world.
Finding people who share your active passion — to go hiking, biking, running, whatever — is a pretty enduring problem.
Step forward Liveliness, a Spanish startup building a community app around shared sporting passions.
There’s a chat function and the ability for users to set up events other users can sign up to join.
In the last three months people really started to use the app, making plans, creating events.”Users range in age from young to middle aged.
“We just tried to make the app as simple as possible so people understand and know how to use it,” he added.
The startup built its platform on top of the open source Stable Diffusion model, letting users enter text-based prompts to generate their creations.
The company was founded by Darya Sesitskaya, a former Snap design lead responsible for designing Snapchat’s AR camera, Lens Studio, Lens Cloud, and more.
She also worked at Wanna (formerly Wannaby), an AR technology company known for its virtual try-ons for sneakers, clothing, and watches.
Since launching its beta version, Shader has garnered approximately 3,000 downloads.
In the near future, we also plan to implement the ability to create voice-to-AR effects and 3D background replacements,” says Sesitskaya.
Bitcoin’s rally is turning out to be bad news for Coinbase, the crypto trading app that has just confirmed some of its customers are seeing a zero balance across their Coinbase accounts.
The price of Bitcoin climbed in the wake of U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs, driving a 42% price rally this month.
Users of the Coinbase app grew concerned on Wednesday as they logged in to find their accounts showing a zero balance, despite owning crypto assets.
We are aware that some users may see a zero balance across their Coinbase accounts & may experience errors in buying or selling.
Remarked one user on X, who shared a picture of a zero balance, “My mom called and asked me and mine was at zero also,” they said.
