Photo-sharing app Locket is banking on a new celebrity-focused feature to fuel its growth
Celebrity Lockets is a new feature where celebrities can engage with their most loyal followers on their home screens.
WhatsApp adds new features to protect against scams
The company announced that it took down over 6.8 million WhatsApp accounts linked to criminal scam centers targeting people around the world.
Spotify expands audiobooks access to family plan members in the US for the first time
Though Spotify launched its audiobooks service in the U.S. back in 2022, household members on Duo and Family plans have long been left out. Spotify says that will now change.
OpenAI says ChatGPT is on track to reach 700M weekly users
OpenAI's consumer chatbot ChatGPT to hit a new milestone of 700M weekly users.
Elon Musk says he’s bringing back Vine’s archive
Elon Musk says the company will bring back Vine's archive of videos back online.
Character.AI is adding a social feed to its app
The social feed lets users share images, videos as well as their chatbots with other users. Users can also share snippets of their chats with characters, post AI-generated images based on their chats with a character, or even have their characters debate topics on a live stream.
Truecaller’s call recording feature won’t work on iPhones from Sept. 30
The app's call recording feature will no longer be available on iPhones starting September 30. Users with saved call recordings can either download them to their devices, share them via email or messaging apps, or switch their storage preference to iCloud to keep the recordings accessible.
TikTok launches ‘TikTok Pro’ in Europe with built-in charity program
The app features TikTok's new "Sunshine Programme," which allows users to support charitable organizations.
Instagram now requires users to have at least 1,000 followers to go live
Until now, Instagram allowed anyone to go live, regardless of their follower count or whether their account was public or private.
Reddit plans to unify its search interface as it looks to become a search engine
Reddit is working on a new unified interface that will merge its legacy search and AI-powered Q&A features, as well as make its search box more prominently visible in the app.
Twitter’s former Trust & Safety head details the challenges facing decentralized social platforms
Yoel Roth shares concerns about the open social web's ability to combat misinformation, spam, and other illegal content.
The best dating apps arenât even dating apps
With dating app fatigue rising, some peopl are finding love in unexpected places â the forums and sites they use to pass idle time online, as opposed to those dedicated to online dating.
Design and development shop the Iconfactory is selling some apps âand AI is partially to blame
Side products can no longer be maintained, even if they have "loads of happy and loyal customers," as the Iconfactory's co-founder, Ged Maheux, says.
Quora’s Poe releases a developer API with access to a bouquet of AI models
Quora's Poe platform is releasing an API to let developers access more than 100 models across text, image, video, and voice.
TikTok merges its Core Product and Trust & Safety teams
As part of the changes, TikTok's head of Operations and Trust & Safety Adam Presser will become the General Manager of TikTok USDS, a separate entity of TikTok that's tasked with safeguarding U.S. national security interests, TechCrunch confirmed with TikTok.
Uber Eats now lets merchants message customers about their orders
With the new Live order chat feature, merchants can message with customers in real-time to do things like confirm replacements for sold out items, clarify special requests, and check in on dietary or allergy preferences.
Proton releases a new app for two-factor authentication
Proton has a free new authenticator apps, which is available cross-platform with end-to-end encryption protection for data.
Zuckerberg: AI increased the time spent on Facebook and Instagram in Q2
Overall, Meta estimated that over 3.4 billion people used one of its "family of apps" on a daily basis.
Google proposes to open Play Store to more real-money games in India
The developers are also required to submit proof that an authoritative third-party body has declared the app to be a "game of skill," the company proposed.
Germ brings end-to-end encrypted messages to Bluesky
Germ's new app lets users send end-to-end encrypted messages on Bluesky. TechCrunch speaks with the Germ founders to hear why they came up with the idea.
Gen AI apps doubled their revenue, grew to 1.7B downloads in first half of 2025
People are downloading and spending money on Gen AI apps more than ever.
Footnotes, TikTok’s crowdsourced fact-checks, launches in the US
All U.S. TikTok users are able to view the notes that have been rated as helpful and submit their own ratings in return.
TikTok adds new parental controls, tools for creators
The social network is bringing new parental controls to Family Pairing, its feature that allows parents to link their accounts with their teen's account to customize safety settings.
Cash App users can now pool money for group payments — even with non-users
Cash App's new feature lets users pool money with a group to pay for expenses like vacations and gifts.
Google’s NotebookLM rolls out Video Overviews
With this new capability, NotebookLM is taking a more visual approach to helping users understand different topics and ideas.
Spotify hints at a more chatty voice AI interface in the future
Spotify says AI will allow for "much more interactive" consumer experiences in its app.
Tea app’s second data breach exposed over a million private messages
Dating safety app Tea experienced a second data breach in as many weeks, exposing over a million sensitive messages between users.
YouTube rolls out age estimation tech to identify US teens and apply additional protections
YouTube is introducing age detection technology to identify teens on the platform in the U.S. and apply prtections.
Jack Dorsey’s Bluetooth messaging app Bitchat now on App Store
Jack Dorsey's Bitchat is now available on the App Store, but security researchers have questioned the app's privacy claims.
Adobe adds new AI-powered image editing features to Photoshop
Adobe is adding an improved background removal tool to Photoshop using AI, so the app doesn't leave weird artifacts in your images.
TikTok adds YouTube Music as an option to save songs playing in videos
You can now save tracks playing in TikTok videos directly to a playlist on YouTube Music.
Dating safety app Tea breached, exposing 72,000 user images
Tea, an app that allows women to post anonymous comments about men theyâve supposedly dated, announced Friday that it has suffered a data breach, with hackers gaining access to 72,000 images.
Sam Altman warns there’s no legal confidentiality when using ChatGPT as a therapist
In response to a question about how AI works with today's legal system, Altman said one of the problems of not yet having a legal or policy framework for AI is that there's no legal confidentiality for users' conversations.
Apple broadens App Store’s age rating system
Apple has expanded its age rating system to include 13+, 16+, and 18+ ratings, in addition to the existing ratings for younger users.
Google is testing a vibe-coding app called Opal
Google is testing a new vibe-coding tool called Opal, available in the U.S. through Google Labs, that lets users quickly spin up web apps with just a few prompts.
X to test using Community Notes to find the posts everyone likes
X is piloting a new feature that will help to identify the platform's best posts. The system is similar to how Community Notes fact-checking works.
Apple iOS 26 public beta arrives
Apple released iOS 26 in public beta. Here's everything you can expect, from the Liquid Glass design to features powered by Apple Intelligence.
Spotify takes a swing at gaming with a mini golf game ahead of âHappy Gilmore 2â release
Netflix and Spotify teamed up to launch a golf-inspired game as a way to promote âHappy Gilmore 2,â which premieres on Netflix this Friday.
Google’s new AI feature lets you virtually try on clothes
The feature is launching in the United States today, letting users try on apparel items in Google's Shopping Graph across Search, Google Shopping and product results on Google Images.
Snapchat will now let your friends know you’ve made it home safe
Snap Map's new "Home Safe" feature sends one-time alerts to friends, so you don't need to remember to message others that you're back safely.
Open source X rival Mastodon begins raising funds with new in-app donation feature
Mastodon is experimenting with a new way to raise money: in-app donation banners.
Google Photos adds AI features for ‘remixing’ photos in different styles, turning pics into videos
Google announced a handful of new features that will allow users to get more creative with their photo memories, including an option to turn photos into videos, and "remix" photos into different styles, like anime, comics, sketches or 3D animations.
YouTube Shorts is adding an image-to-video AI tool, new AI effects
The image to video feature lets creators turn a picture from their camera roll into a a six-second video.
UK targets Apple and Google’s mobile platforms for regulation
The move is designed to create a more open, competitive environment for the app economy and user choice.
Proton’s new privacy-first AI assistant encrypts all chats, keeps no logs
Proton's new AI assistant Lumo promises to keep user data private with zero-access encryption, no logging, and an incognito mode.
Instagram adds new protections for accounts that primarily feature children
The update will impact the accounts of family vloggers/creators and parents running accounts for "kidfluencers," both of which have faced criticism for the risks associated with sharing children's lives on social media.
iOS 26 beta 4 arrives, with Liquid Glass tweaks and AI news summaries
Apple launches iOS 26 beta 4 for developers with updates to Liquid Glass and AI notification summaries, ahead. A public beta is expected later this week.
Threads adds improved content performance metrics for creators
The Meta-owned platform says the updates are focused on helping creators build audiences.
User privacy app Cloaked adds AI-powered caller screening
Cloaked is releasing a new call guard feature to let an AI-powered bot chat to scammers on a user's behalf.
VSCO’s iPhone camera app is now available globally
Photo editing and sharing app VSCO is making its iOS camera app, Capture, available across the world, following a limited launch in June, when the app came to Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.
Telegram’s crypto wallet launches in the US
Telegram is expanding access to its crypto wallet for its 87 million users in the US.
Chrome for iOS makes it easier to switch between work and personal Google accounts
When users sign in or switch to their work Google account in Chrome, browsing related to their organization will be kept separate from their other browsing on the device.
Grok’s AI companions drove downloads, but its latest model is the one making money
Grok's unfiltered AI companions may be making headlines for their unhinged and NSFW responses, but it's Grok 4 that's driven the app's revenue of late.
Quip is a smart clipboard management app for iOS and Mac
A new app called Quip brings a smart, universal clipboard to Mac and iOS.
Donât miss your chance to exhibit at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025
TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 is just around the corner, and with more than 10,000 startup and VC leaders heading to Moscone West in San Francisco this October 27 to 29, the Expo Hall is where connections get made and business gets done. If youâve been thinking about showcasing your company, consider this your nudge â exhibitor […]
Dia launches a skill gallery, Perplexity to add tasks to Comet
The Browser Company has launched an official repository of "skills" for its Dia browser â shortcuts for prompts that are used frequently.
DuckDuckGo now lets you hide AI-generated images in search results
DuckDuckGo's new search feature comes as the internet is being flooded with AI-generated slop.
Twitch starts testing vertical video streams
Twitch's tests are not widespread at this point, as AppSensa's research only found a handful of references in the app's code that mentioned the tests would focus on just "a few streamers" for the time being.
Meta appoints generative AI VP to run Threads
Meta appointed Connor Hayes, Meta's VP of product for generative AI, to become the head of Threads.
Substack raises $100M from Chernin Group, Andreessen Horowitz, Skims CEO, and more
The New York Times reports that the funding brings Substack's valuation to $1.1 billion, almost 70% higher than its 2021 valuation of $650 million.
Zuckerberg and Meta investors reach settlement in $8B privacy case
The shareholders' lawsuit alleges Facebook execs intentionally violated an FTC agreement by sharing user data with third-party apps without user consent.
Spotify expands audiobook access to family plan members for the first time
Spotify is expanding access to audiobooks with two new plans, one of which offers access to family members.
Slack bolsters search with AI, adds transcriptions and summaries for huddles
Slack is bolstering search on its app with AI features, adding transcription and summaries for huddles, and a way to see recaps of channels and threads.
Roblox introduces new safeguards for teens, including age estimation tech
The move comes as Roblox has come under fire in recent years over child safety concerns.
TikTok lures songwriters with new promotional features
TikTok is adding a new label to its app, allowing songwriters to highlight their profiles
Jack Dorsey pumps $10 million into a nonprofit focused on open-source social media
Jack Dorsey backs nonprofit 'and Other Stuff' with $10M to build open social technology.
Apple News+ adds a new game that uses emoji and Genmoji to sovle puzzles
Released to coincide with World Emoji Day, the new Emoji Game is part logic, part word game that's inspired by how we use emojis to communicate.
Beeper’s all-in-one messaging app relaunches with an on-device model and premium upgrades
Multi-service messaging app Beeper, which allows people to connect to all their chat apps from one interface, is relaunching its app on Wednesday to offer a more secure version that no longer requires use of its own cloud services.
Jack Dorsey’s latest app tracks sun exposure
Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey's new app, called Sun Day, ostensibly helps users track UV exposure and Vitamin D intake.
Belkin ends support for most Wemo devices and its Wemo app
Another day, another smart device bites the dust -- or, in this case, a full lineup of smart devices. On Thursday, Belkin announced it will end technical support for its older Wemo products as of January 31, 2026, and the app used to control the devices will no longer be supported. The decision will impact a range of devices, including smart plugs, light switches, smart bulbs, baby monitors, kitchen appliances, heaters, air purifiers, motion sensors, and more.
Mockly made a fake DM generator that’s actually user-friendly
Tools like Mockly have existed since the dawn of instant messaging, but they generally aren't the most user-friendly apps. Mockly manages to set itself apart while iterating on such a popular idea by simply being usable.
YouTube is getting rid of its Trending page and Trending Now list
YouTube is replacing these Trending lists with category-specific charts, the company announced on Thursday.
As X loses its CEO, daily usage is down and competition is growing
X is still the dominant social media platform, but its daily active user base has declined and competitor Threads is seeing higher rates of growth.
Google adds image-to-video generation capability to Veo 3
Google said on Thursday it’s adding an image-to-video generation feature to its Veo 3 AI video generator through its Gemini app. The company had already rolled out this feature in its AI-powered video tool called Flow, which was launched in May at Google’s I/O developer conference. After launching Veo 3-powered video generation in May, Google […]
Cameo’s birthday reminder app, Candl, is a weak attempt at a comeback
With new birthday app Candl, Cameo is exploring a new, albeit dull, avenue for growth.
ChatGPT hallucinated about music app Soundslice so often, the founder made the lie come true
Adrian Holovaty, founder of music-teaching platform Soundslice, finally solved a months-long mystery: weird images of ChatGPT sessions kept being uploaded to the site.
Blok is using AI personas to simulate real-world app usage
AI-powered coding tools like Cursor, Replit, Claude Code, and Lovable are helping developers write many lines of code every day to ship products faster. However, app makers still have to rely on either shipping full beta versions of their apps or using simulation software to gauge how upcoming features will work. Blok, a company that […]
Get your exhibit table at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025
Time is running out to secure your exhibit table at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, October 27-29, at Moscone West in San Francisco. This is your chance to get your startup in front of 10,000+ startup pioneers, VC leaders, and tech enthusiasts. Learn more and grab your table here before your competitor does. Maximum exposure for your […]
Google brings Gemini to Wear OS watches, adds AI Mode to Circle to Search
Google is rolling out Gemini to Wear OS watches, the company announced on Wednesday.
Gmail’s new ‘Manage subscriptions’ tool will help declutter your inbox
Google announced on Tuesday that it's launching a new Gmail feature that is designed to help users easily manage their subscriptions and declutter their inbox.
OneText raises $4.5M from Y Combinator, Khosla to reinvent shopping by text
The typical online checkout experience has become bloated with friction. And while more companies are building solutions around online checkout, few are rethinking it from scratch. One such company is OneText, which is building what it calls a âtext-to-buy network,â that lets shoppers complete purchases via text message. The company, founded by former PayPal employees, […]
ByteDance reportedly plans to release US-specific version of CapCut
Launching a U.S.-specific app could be part of the company's broader plan to comply with a 2024 law requiring ByteDance to divest from TikTok.
Mastodon’s latest update readies the app for Quote Posts, revamps design
Mastodon 4.4 takes the first steps towards implementing Quote Posts, and also brings a host of design and UX changes.
Fortnite maker Epic Games settles antitrust case against Samsung
Fortnite maker Epic Games has settled its antitrust case against Samsung, according to a court filing.
Bluesky users can customize their notifications, including activity alerts from their favorite accounts
Bluesky updated its notifications to allowing users to personalize their experience, including the option to be notified only when accounts reply to them.
iOS 26 beta 3 dials back Liquid Glass
The early version in the first developer beta of iOS 26 and the accompanying updates for Apple's other devices still left room for improvement in terms of usability, accessibility, and legibility.
Jack Dorsey working on Bluetooth messaging app, Bitchat
Block CEO and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey wrote in an X post on Sunday night that he spent his weekend creating an app called Bitchat (presumably a combination of the words “bit” and “chat,” and not the other combination of words that it looks like). Bitchat is a messaging app that operates through Bluetooth mesh […]
Threads is nearing X’s daily app users, new data shows
Threads' mobile app for iOS and Android saw 115.1 million daily active users, representing 127.8% year-over-year growth.
TikTok reportedly developing new version of app ahead of planned US sale
TikTok is developing a new version of its app for U.S. users ahead of an expected sale of the app to a group of investors, according to a new report from The Information.
Apple appeals EU’s â¬500M fine over App Store payment restraints
Apple has filed appealed the EU's decision to fine the company â¬500 million (about $580 million) for not complying with competition rules.
Not everyone is thrilled with Threads’ DMs
Earlier this week, Instagram Threads launched what the company said was its most-requested feature to date: direct messages, also known as DMs. However, the company is now facing a bit of a user backlash over the addition, as users, primarily women, are arguing that there should be a way to opt out of DMs entirely, […]
Meta has found another way to keep you engaged: Chatbots that message you first
Meta is experimenting with having customizable chatbots messaging users unprompted and follow up on past conversations.
Everything you need to know about Flashes, the Bluesky-based Instagram alternative
The app, which is now available in beta, offers a different way to browse the visual posts on Bluesky.
Substack brings new updates to livestreaming as it increases video push
Substack announced new features aimed at helping creators grow and promote their livestreams.Â
Amazon is shutting down its Freevee app in August
Amazon plans to shut down its Freevee app, the companyâs free ad-supported streaming service, in August, according to an in-app notice to users.
A guide to using Edits, Metaâs new CapCut rival for short-form video editing
Meta shared that it was working on Edits in January after ByteDance-owned CapCut was removed from U.S. app stores.
ICEBlock, an app for anonymously reporting ICE sightings, goes viral overnight after Bondi criticism
The citizen app for anonymously reporting ICE agents and raids went viral after criticism from the U.S. Attorney General.
Best iPad apps to boost productivity and make your life easier
There are many iPad apps to help you organize recipes; sync tasks across devices; be more productive; and manage your notes.
Threads launches its own DM inbox, as app moves further away from Instagram
At launch, DMs will be available in most markets where Threads is available, except for Japan, Australia, the U.K., and the E.U.