iOS apps that build their own social networks on the back of users’ address books may soon become a thing of the past.
In iOS 18, Apple is cracking down on the social apps that ask users’ permission to access their contacts — something social apps often do to connect users with their friends or make suggestions for who to follow.
To give users more control over the contacts an app can and cannot access, the permissions screen has two stages.
Before that, apps like Poparazzi and Clubhouse had demanded full address book access — a growth hack that helped them quickly expand their networks.
iOS 18 will let users decide which contacts an app can access.
Twitch has come up with a solution for the ongoing copyright issues that DJs encounter on the platform.
Participating DJs in the program must contribute a percentage of their earnings from streams to cover some of the music rights costs.
Twitch partnered with all major labels to bring a majority of popular music to the offering, including Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and Sony Music, as well as several independent labels represented by music licensing partner Merlin.
Additionally, a one-year subsidy is being offered to existing Twitch DJs, providing financial support and a transition period to adapt to the new program.
Twitch will soon require DJs to share part of their revenue with the music industry.
Newsletter platform Substack is introducing the ability for writers to send videos to their subscribers via Chat, its direct messaging feature, the company announced on Wednesday.
The rollout of video in Chat comes two months after the newsletter platform brought videos to Notes, its X/Twitter copycat that lets users share short-form content.
To share a video in Substack Chat, writers can open a new chat and click on the plus icon in the bottom left corner.
Substack also provides the option to add a caption, put the video behind a paywall, as well as email subscribers about the video.
Additionally, writers who allow subscribers to start their own chat threads will now also be able to share their own videos.
UPI, built by a coalition of Indian banks, has become the most popular way Indians transact online, processing over 10 billion transactions monthly.
In February, a parliamentary panel in India urged the government to support the growth of domestic fintech players that can offer alternatives to the Walmart-backed PhonePe and Google Pay apps.
The NPCI has long advocated for limiting the market share of individual companies participating in the UPI ecosystem to 30%.
The RBI is also weighing an incentive plan to create a more favorable competitive field for emerging UPI players, another person familiar with the matter said.
Indian daily Economic Times separately reported Wednesday that the NPCI is encouraging fintech companies to offer incentives to their users, promoting the use of their respective apps for making UPI transactions.
Tesla’s layoffs and executive departures took a bite out its share price this week.
The well-known electric vehicle company shed around 10% of its staff, impacting an estimated 14,000 staff or more.
It missed delivery estimates for the first quarter, has reportedly reduced hours for the production-line of its Cybertruck, and is seeing rivals in China stack market share with low-priced EVs.
Tesla, in other words, helped foster the global electric vehicle market, but is losing some of its primacy in that same market.
In human terms, for every dollar of car that Tesla sells, it generates far more company worth than its rivals.
Meta announced on Tuesday it’s rolling out the ability for Messenger users to create shared albums in chats, send photos in high-definition, and share larger files up to 100MB in size.
With these new features, Messenger is targeting people who tend to create shared albums or share HD images via services like Google Drive.
Now, users can create albums of photos and videos in group chats, whether it’s to organize photos of a recent spring break or grandma’s 80th birthday celebration.
The launch of the new feature follows Meta’s rollout of support for HD photos on WhatsApp back in September 2023.
The new features are rolling out on mobile to all Messenger users.
TikTok’s upcoming Instagram competitor app for sharing photos could be named TikTok Notes, according to screenshots posted by users.
Over the last few days, TikTok users have been getting pop-up notifications about a new TikTok Notes app to share photos.
The notification says that the company is launching “a new app for photo posts” called TikTok Notes soon and users’ existing photo posts will be shared on the app.
Looks like TikTok is launching a new app for photo posts called 'TikTok Notes'.
TikTok is also experimenting with different formats like 30-minute-long videos and even text posts like X and Threads.
Amazon has quietly introduced a “special store” called Bazaar in India, featuring affordable and trendy fashion and lifestyle products, as it ramps up efforts against Walmart-owned Flipkart and Reliance’s Ajio, which have made deeper inroads in the Indian fast-fashion market.
“India e-commerce category mix is changing; Mobiles and Consumer electronics share is declining.
Fashion has seen the strongest growth since FY19, and now holds the highest category share,” Bernstein analysts wrote in a note last month.
India is a key overseas market for Amazon, which has invested more than $11 billion in the country to date.
The fast-fashion e-commerce market has gained significant traction in India in recent years, with local startups drawing inspiration from global pioneers like Zara, H&M, and Uniqlo.
It’s a flexible way to share photos with your favorite people and create visual records of whatever matters in your life.
Retro’s main feature is a way to share your most important photos of the past week with your favorite people.
Retro’s answer to this use-case is journals: A new flexible way to share photos as a group.
You can also have a journal with your partner to share important moments you’ve spent together without spamming all your friends on Retro.
Building a social consumer app involves many experimentations — and journals are one of those experimentations.
Byju’s is holding an extraordinary general meeting Friday, where it will attempt to pass the resolution over the rights issue.
The rights issue values Byju’s under $250 million, a stunning drop from the $22 billion valuation it carried in early 2022.
Prosus Ventures, Peak XV Partners and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative are among the investors who didn’t participate in Byju’s recent $200 million rights issue.
The investors have instead sought, using legal means, to remove Raveendran and his family from the startup and to invalidate the rights issue.
The investors quit the startup’s board whereas the global auditing giant Deloitte dropped the account of Byju’s over these concerns last year.
