This Week in Apps: Apple, Twitter, and App Store News
The Expanding App Economy: 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 demonstrates continued growth, achieving a record 218 billion downloads and $143 billion in global consumer spending in 2020. Android users alone spent 3.5 trillion minutes utilizing apps last year. Currently, mobile device usage in the U.S. averages four hours daily, exceeding the 3.7 hours spent watching live television.
The Business of Apps
Apps are not merely a source of entertainment; they represent a significant business opportunity. Mobile-first companies boasted a combined valuation of $544 billion in 2019, a figure 6.5 times greater than their non-mobile focused counterparts. Investment in mobile companies reached $73 billion in 2020, marking a 27% year-over-year increase.
This Week in Apps provides a centralized resource for staying informed about this rapidly evolving industry, offering news, updates, funding announcements, mergers, acquisitions, and recommendations for new apps and games.
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Top Story
Apple’s App Store Antitrust Battles: A Continuing Narrative
Another App Store settlement was announced recently, timed for late-night release. This suggests an attempt to minimize media coverage.
This week’s settlement represents a limited concession from Apple, acknowledging that its restrictive anti-steering guidelines may be considered anticompetitive. The company reached an agreement with the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) to modify its policies for “reader apps,” allowing them to direct users to their own websites. Essentially, Apple was compelled through an antitrust investigation to permit a specific subset of developers to include a website link within their app.
It’s crucial to avoid overstating this as a major victory for developers. Apple continues to maintain a strong position in these disputes.
The policy change, effective globally in early 2022, will apply solely to “reader” apps. These apps provide access to purchased content, such as books or audiobooks, or subscription-based content like streaming music and video. This category, created by Apple, allows for targeted rule-making.
Previously, reader apps avoiding revenue sharing with Apple often displayed only a sign-in form for existing subscribers. Now, they can simply provide a link to their website.
The iOS reader app experience has often been suboptimal for consumers, lacking seamless functionality. It presents an unnecessary inconvenience.
Apple now intends to allow these apps to link to websites for account setup and management. The company also indicates it will establish specific rules for these links, aiming to “help developers of reader apps protect users when they link them to an external website to make purchases.”
Critics of Apple have expressed dissatisfaction, advocating for broader rule changes. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek stated, “This is a step in the right direction, but it doesn’t solve the problem… We will continue to push for a real solution.”
Apple’s strategy of addressing App Store antitrust concerns on a case-by-case basis appears inflexible and potentially costly. However, it has proven effective thus far, resulting in minimal changes to App Store guidelines.
The legal battles continue. Following the JFTC ruling, Apple faces a new antitrust challenge in India, with similar cases underway in the EU and legislative efforts in the U.S.
Apple and Personalized Ads
Is this a fair approach?
Currently, developers must request user permission to track their activity, with options to “Ask App not to Track” or “Allow.” Most users opt out of tracking. Apple’s own advertising business previously operated without a similar opt-out mechanism.
While Apple’s data usage is internal, the lack of transparency regarding data collection raised concerns.
With iOS 15, Apple now presents users with a message allowing them to disable personalized ads in the App Store and other Apple apps. The message emphasizes the benefits of personalized ads and asserts that Apple’s platform “does not track you” by linking data or sharing personal information with third parties.
The distinction Apple draws between first-party data collection and external tracking is debatable, potentially aimed at bolstering its own advertising revenue while hindering competitors.
Weekly News
Apple Updates
- Apple delays CSAM detection rollout. Apple will postpone the implementation of its Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) detection technology due to feedback from users and policy groups. Concerns exist regarding potential abuse of the system by authoritarian governments.
- Digital ID in Apple Wallet. Apple has secured agreements with Arizona and Georgia to enable digital driver’s licenses and state IDs in the Wallet app.
Android Updates
- Android app support delayed for Windows 11. Support for Android apps on Windows 11, initially touted as a key feature, will be previewed in the coming months.
E-commerce
Fintech
- Weibo bans stock-tip accounts. China’s Twitter-like app, Weibo, is banning accounts offering stock tips to comply with new regulations.
- Pulse launched in India. Indian digital payments company launched Pulse, a free product providing insights into the digital payments market.
- PayPal explores stock trading. PayPal is reportedly exploring a stock-trading service for U.S. customers.
Social
- Twitter launches Super Follows. Twitter introduced Super Follows, allowing users to subscribe to creators for exclusive content.
- Twitter Safety Mode. Twitter launched Safety Mode, a feature to protect users from harassment.
- LinkedIn discontinues Stories. LinkedIn is removing its Stories feature, focusing on short-form videos instead.
Messaging
- Telegram surpasses 1 billion downloads. Telegram has exceeded 1 billion downloads.
- Telegram expands livestream feature. Telegram increased the viewer limit for its livestream feature to unlimited.
- Google Messages UI redesign. Google’s Messages app is redesigning its attachment menu.
Streaming & Entertainment
- Clubhouse adds spatial audio. Clubhouse integrated spatial audio for a more immersive experience.
- YouTube Music surpasses 50 million subscribers. YouTube Music has reached 50 million Music and Premium subscribers.
Dating
- Tinder sees increased activity. Tinder reported a 13% increase in daily swipes and a 12% increase in messages this summer.
Health & Fitness
- Calm reaches 100 million downloads. Meditation app Calm has surpassed 100 million downloads.
- Strava makes Beacon free. Strava made its Beacon location-sharing feature free for all users.
News/Reading
Government & Policy
- WhatsApp fined for GDPR breach. WhatsApp was fined $267 million for breaching Europe’s GDPR.
- Age Appropriate Design Code in effect. The Age Appropriate Design Code (Children’s Code) is now in effect.
Security & Privacy
- FTC bans SpyFone. The FTC banned SpyFone, a stalkerware app disguised as parental control software.
- Mozilla VPN security audit. Mozilla VPN completed a security audit.
- WhatsApp vulnerability discovered. A vulnerability was discovered in WhatsApp, now patched.
Funding and M&A
- 💰 Point raises $46.5 million. Neobank Point raised $46.5 million in Series B funding.
- 💰 Callin raises $12 million. Social podcasting app Callin raised $12 million in Series A funding.
- 💰 Cajoo raises $40 million. French grocery delivery service Cajoo raised $40 million in Series A funding.
- 💰 Flip raises $28 million. Social commerce app Flip raised $28 million in Series A funding.
- 🤝 Playtika acquires Reworks Oy. Playtika is acquiring Reworks Oy, the maker of Redecor, for $400 million.
- 💰 Oviva raises $80 million. Diet and lifestyle coaching app Oviva raised $80 million in Series C funding.
- 💰 Borzo raises $35 million. Delivery startup Borzo raised $35 million in Series C funding.
- 💰 Anima raises $10 million. No-code tool Anima raised $10 million in Series A funding.
- 🤝 Life360 acquires Jiobit. Life360 completed its acquisition of wearable maker Jiobit.
Downloads
Clay
Clay is a cross-platform app for managing relationships. It functions as a consumer-grade CRM, helping users recall details about contacts and appointments. The app, backed by $8 million in seed funding, prioritizes data encryption and plans to offer local data storage. It currently costs $20/month.
Playbyte
Playbyte is a new app aiming to be the “TikTok for games.” Users can create and share simple games, discovering content through a vertically scrolling feed. The app utilizes a lightweight 2D game engine and offers a TikTok-like interface. It is available as a free download on iOS.