The year’s best apps, Twitter rival Hive’s security woes, App Store backlash grows • TechCrunch

This Week in Apps is back! the weekly TechCrunch seriesThis article summarizes the most recent news about mobile OS news, mobile apps, and the overall app economy.

Global app spending reached $65 billionThe first half of 2022 saw a slight increase in revenue from $64.4 billion in the 2021 period. This is because hypergrowth caused by the pandemic has slowed. Overall, however, the app economy continues to grow. a recordAccording to the report, 2021 will see a combined number of downloads and consumer spending across both iOS and Google Play stores. latest year-end reports. Last year, $133 billion was spent globally on iOS and Google Play. Consumers downloaded 143.6 billion apps.

This Week in Apps allows you to keep up with the fast-moving app industry in one place. You will find the latest news, updates, mergers and acquisitions, as well as news and updates.

Want This Week in Apps in Your Inbox Every Saturday? Register here techcrunch.com/newsletters

Twitter, Spotify, Meta and Coinbase all bash Apple’s App Store

Elon Musk wasn’t happy with Apple this week. The new Twitter exec claimed Apple threatened to remove the app from the App Store — which was not likely true. Instead of taking on the claims directly and starting a Twitter fight, Apple CEO Tim Cook invited Musk to Apple’s campus, where they took a walkThey also resolved their differences. Or at least that’s how Musk put it, referring to the potential Twitter ban as a “misunderstanding.”

“Tim was clear that Apple never considered doing so,” said Musk regarding Twitter’s potential App Store removal.

That’s not to say Apple wouldn’t ever ban Twitter one day if it found itself so unmoderated that it was allowing unchecked hate speech or stoking violence. It was able to take action against Parler and Twitter could also see App Store policy enforcement, if it devolved.

Others took to Twitter to voice their frustrations with the Musk-Apple drama.

Daniel Ek, CEO of Spotify, is an example. tweeted a long thread referencing Spotify’s anti-competitive complaints against the company, pointing also to Musk’s recent tweet railing against the 30% Apple tax.

Coinbase is another long-standing Apple critic. posted a Twitter thread this week where the company claimed that users could no longer “send NFTs” in Coinbase Wallet on iOS because Apple decided to block the app’s last release until the feature was disabled. “Apple’s claim is that the gas fees required to send NFTs need to be paid through their In-App Purchase system, so that they can collect 30% of the gas fee,” the company’s official Twitter account stated. “For anyone who understands how NFTs and blockchains work, this is clearly not possible,” it said. “Apple’s proprietary In-App Purchase system does not support crypto so we couldn’t comply even if we tried.”

Coinbase does not make any profit from gas fees. However, they are part of transactions on a blockchain. Although some NFT marketplaces allow consumers to purchase NFTs using dollars instead of cryptocurrencies, that’s not the case here. Today, if a Coinbase user is trying to transfer an NFT to another person for free, they’d still have to pay a gas fee to complete the transaction — in cryptocurrency, not U.S. dollars. This fee goes to the blockchain’s validators, not Coinbase. It fluctuates depending on many factors, including how often transactions are occurring on that blockchain at the moment.

Still, Apple’s new rules around NFTs require the use of in-app purchases for things like “minting, listing, and transferring,” they say. What’s not clear here is if an App Reviewer made a mistake in trying to apply Apple’s tax on what’s already sort of a tax or if Coinbase was intentionally trying to stoke consumer outrage. If the latter, it may have worked — the tweets made headlines, and prompted Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, whose company is currently suing Apple and Google over monopolistic practices, to chime in.

“If they can lawfully add a 30% Apple Tax to all NFT transactions, then they can lawfully add a 30% Apple Tax to all online banking and stock trading transactions,” Sweeney said.

Apple, in response to the Coinbase situation, said it would continue to work with Coinbase, as it does with all developers, to “explore viable solutions in this evolving space.” Hmm. 

Meanwhile, speaking at The NYT’s Dealbook conference this week, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg had some sharp comments for Apple as well, with regard to its control of the app ecosystem.

“Apple has sort of singled themselves out as the only company that is trying to control unilaterally what apps get on a device,” Zuckerberg said. “I don’t think that’s a sustainable or good place to be.” The exec also noted that Google at least allowed users to sideload apps, which is what Meta plans to do with its VR ecosystem and AR headsets.

Hive’s security was so bad, it had to shut down 

The team at newly popular Twitter alternative HiveIt is in trouble. In response to concerns from customers, the company shut down its servers for a few days. security researchers who discovered a number of critical vulnerabilities on Hive, several of which they say remain unfixed. The issues they found would allow attackers access to all data, including private posts and messages, shared media and even deleted direct messages, as well as the ability to edit other people’s Hive posts.

The researchers are part a German collective known as Zerforschung, claimed they confidentially reported the security vulnerabilities to Hive’s team, noting it was initially difficult to reach a point of contact at the company. Hive replied several days later, claiming that the issues were now fixed. a Zerforschung blog post explains. However, the researchers found this was not the case, so they took their concerns to the public, warning people against using Hive’s app.

Soon after, Hive announced it was temporarily shutting down its servers to address these problems. It also claimed, across several tweets, that they never told the researchers the issues were “fixed” but that they were “fixing” them, eventually decidingto be taken offline until the problems are resolved.

It’s an unusual way to patch bugs, to say the least, and one that raises questions about the development workflow at the company. Is there not a development environment where code can be fixed and then staged to release? How bad is the code? Does it require a complete stop to company operations to fix it?

Hive stated that the app will be back online once the issues are resolved. He also hinted that it was seeking funding to help it implement additional protections in the future. The company claimsAlthough 2 million users are available, data.ai only has 1.7 million total downloads.

Kanye West won’t buy Parler

In October, Kanye West, who now goes by Ye, announced alongside Parler’s owner that he would be purchasing the conservative-leaning social network for an unknown sum. The deal is off now. The news was followed West’s antisemitic statementsDuring an interview with Alex Jones, the rapper praised Hitler’s and Nazis. In a statement, Parler’s owner Parlement Technologies confirmed the two have parted ways, saying the company “has mutually agreed with Ye to terminate the intent of sale of Parler.”

“This decision was made in the interest of both parties in mid-November. Parler will continue to pursue future opportunities for growth and the evolution of the platform for our vibrant community,” the statement read.

Apple & Google pick the Best Apps of the Year, and BeReal scores

Image Credits Apple

It’s time for the annual app store awards. This year, relative newcomer BeReal — which hasn’t managed to ship a new feature all year — made it to the top of both stores’ “best of 2022” lists. Apple dubbed the photo-based social network its “App of the Year”While Google Play gave it the User’s Choice award. The app is a remarkable choice for a winner. BeReal has gained a lot of popularity, especially among younger Gen Z users. However, the company has yet find a business model. That means Apple and Google make no money off the app’s promotion. Call me cynical, but it’s surprising the app platforms would tout an app that doesn’t directly benefit their bottom line in some way or one that at least makes clever use of some newer technology they’re trying to promote, like AR or GameKit. Instead, BeReal is a fairly basic app — you take photos and post them. They then disappear.

Apple might have wanted to make a point and promote an app that did not require in-app purchases. Or one that would remind consumers (and developers!) of its existence. The App Store still has relevant hits.

Other Apple winners were GoodNotes 5, MacFamilyTree 10 and MacFamilyTree 10 on Mac, Vix for Apple TV, Gentler Streak Apple Watch and Vix for Apple TV.

Apex Legends Mobile was iPhone game of the year and Google’s best game winner, while Moncage was the winner for iPad.

Google picked  Dream by WOMBO as this year’s Best App in the U.S., and released variations of its top list across its global markets.

Platforms from Apple

• Apple announcedIt would keep its App store open during the holiday period,However, this means that review times can be slower. Apple claims that 90% of apps are reviewed within 24 hours. However, times can vary between December 23 and December 27. Apple used to close its App Store to submissions on holidays, but this practice was ended last year.
• Apple is making digital car keys shareableIn its iOS 16.1 software. The new functionality will allow iPhone users to share car keys in their Wallet with non-iPhone users, starting with Google Pixel devices, and later expanding to other Android phones. Keys can also be sent by text message, WhatsApp, and email.
• Apple released iOS 16.1.2This update included security enhancements, improved compatibility and crash detection optimizations.iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models.
• Apple introduced a new “Today at Apple” session for kids in celebration of Computer Science Education Week. The session, “Coding Lab for Kids: Code Your First App,” is for kids 10+ and aims to introduce app development concepts.

Google Platforms

• Google was launched its latest Android updateThese features were introduced byThere are new features like an accessible reader mode and a new YouTube Search widget. You can also share digital keys and action tiles for WearOS.
• As part the update Google launched a new Reading Mode appThis helps people with visual impairments and dyslexia to read the content on the screen. especially articles.
• Google provided details about CameraViewfinder. It is a Jetpack artifact that allows developers and photographers to quickly create previews of their cameras. The component “internally uses either a TextureView or SurfaceView to display the camera feed, and applies the required transformations on them to correctly display the viewfinder,” Google says.

E-commerce & Food Delivery

• Temu, a shopping app operated by China’s Pinduoduo, moved into the No. 1 spot on the U.S. App StoreOn November 12, after surpassing 5 million installs in the U.S., Google relaunched its website.
• Delivery of food available JOKR confirmed it’s closing down its operations in Santiago, Chile and Medellin, Colombia, which will see it letting go of 22 employees and 19 employees, respectively.
• Firework, a livestreaming shopping startup, created tech to allow live shopping. laid off 10% of staff Just months after its SoftBank-led $150 Million Series B,

Augmented Reality

Image Credits Snapchat

Fintech

• Venmo added support for in-app charitable donations, allowing users to give to the tens of thousands of certified charities available through the PayPal Giving Fund. The app also revamped its “send money” screen to make it easier to see who you’re sending funds to and the amount.

Social

• Pinterest is shutting down its Creator Rewards program It had allowed creators to earn money creating content for the social networking site. It said that the program will end on November 30, 20,22.
• TikTok began testing a research APIThe API provides public and anonymized access to data about content and activity on its apps. Members of TikTok’s Content and Safety Advisory Council will test an early version of the API to offer feedback on its usability.
• Meta rolled out new privacy updates for teens on Facebook and Instagram that will set all new users under the age of 16 (or 18 in some countries) to “private” accounts by defaultSign up now! The company will also push teens already signed up on Facebook to choose more private settings in terms of who can see their friends’ list, posts they’re tagged in, who can comment on public posts and more.

Image Credits Meta

• Brazil has been enjoying the popularity of Koo, an Indian social network. has been struggling with moderation and security issues. In one case, hackers took control of a popular influencer Felipe Neto’s Koo account for a time, warning users about Koo’s lack of security.
• Twitter hires George Hotz, a hackerWho recently left Comma.ai,He founded the startup for driver assistance systems. Hotz is “interning” at Twitter, which actually means he’s taking a paid position for 12 weeks to fix issues with Twitter’s search engineThese have been neglected for many years.
• Twitter is also available declared “general amnesty” for banned users,It is currently working to restore 62,000 accounts and 10,000K+ followers. It had previously allowed Kanye West on the service but had to suspend him. ban him again for posting antisemitic tweetsIn violation of its rules. “FAFO,” Elon Musk tweeted, about his decision to ban Ye.
• Twitter stated that it will start showing users more algorithmic recommendationsIn the timeline which it said would help users see more of the best content on the platform — something that could help newcomers get better situated and find interesting people to follow, as Twitter tries to grow.
• Snap CEO Evan Spiegel told employeesThey must be in the office at least 80% of the time.From February 2023, 3-4 days per semaine
• Yelp community reviews introducedSpotlight ads that allow businesses reach consumers via video through the app’s homescreen.
• Discord opened up paid Server SubscriptionsPiloting of the feature was initiated last year.Servers will be able to offer premium memberships in return for server-specific perks. Subscribers choose their own perks, and subscriptions are priced between $2.99 and $199.99. Discord takes 10%.

Messaging

• WhatsApp launchedA company directory is available on the Business Platform in Brazil. The U.K., Mexico, Indonesia, Mexico, and Columbia after initially testing the feature last year in São Paulo. This service allows users to search for and discover small businesses within their locality. The app now allows users to search for larger businesses via a Business Search feature.
• WhatsApp is also available launched a “Message Yourself” featureIt allows users to send reminders, notes, and shopping lists directly to themselves via the messaging app.
• Google will launch testing end-to-end encryptionRCS-based group chats via its Messages App The feature will roll out to select users that are part of the app’s open beta program in the coming weeks.
• Substack’s Chat feature,Substack allows writers and creators to chat in a chat-like atmosphere within the app. expandedFrom iOS to Android
• In response to an Indian court order, Telegram disclosed the names of administratorsThey were also provided their telephone numbers and IP addresses of the channels that were being accused of copyright infringement. The company was not related. also said it plansTo build a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange and noncustodial vaults.
• LinkedIn launched a focused inbox and messaging safety tools You can use this tool to better understand spammers and scammers.

Dating

• Grindr, a dating app, has closed its NYSE debutUp 213.84% at $36.50 a share CNBC reported. After a SPAC merger, the app now trades under the ticker GRND.
• Bumble launchedA message-before – match feature “Compliments,” allowing users to send a note to another person before connecting in the app. Tinder offers a similar option through its “Fast Chat” feature.

Streaming & Entertainment

Image Credits Spotify

• Spotify Wrapped 2022 officially arrived.Other music services include Apple Music and YouTube Music, also put together their own year-end retrospectives, Spotify’s personalizedAnd interactive Wrapped experience remains the one to beat. Wrapped saw 30 million users access it in 2017, rising to 120 million last. This year’s big addition was something called “My Listening Personality,” which translates users’ listening behavior into one of the 16 personality types.
• Wattpad Webtoon Studios is the entertainment and publishing arm for the user-generated storytelling apps. announcedAn expansion of its executive ranks.Jason Goldberg has been appointed Director of Film, North America. Danni Zhang is a Television Development Executive. Goldberg previously was VP of Scripted Film & TV at Gunpowder & Sky and Xin worked in original series development at Topic Studios.
• Google announcedGoogle TV and Android TV require Android App Bundles that can be archived starting in May 2023. The change is meant to help save storage for users.
• Spotify expanded its new audiobooks serviceThere are more English-speaking markets than the U.K., Ireland and Australia, which includes New Zealand. Users will have access to over 300,000 titles which have to first be purchased through Spotify’s website instead of in-app as the company is trying to avoid app store fees.
• After the Instafest web app blew upSpotify users can now create festival posters by using their listening history. The originator of a similar trend is is doing the same. LineupSupply — an app that lets you make playlists from real-world concert posters — added a new Rewind function that creates a poster based on your listening history over a select period of time.
• YouTube suffered an hour-long outage which saw the iOS app crashingWhen users tried to view videos.

Gaming

Image Credits Netflix

• Netflix launched 9 more mobile games, including Gameloft’s Farmville clone, Country Friends. Others include Reigns Three Kingdoms, a card-swiping strategy game; Skies of Chaos, an arcade-style shoot-em-up game; Flutter Butterflies, a game for butterfly collectors and Cats & Soups, a relaxing cooking game; Hello Kitty Happiness Parade; Immortality; a new Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales; and a TV-only game, Triviaverse.
• In Epic Games’ court case against Google, the Fortnite maker was said to have allegedly paidActivision Blizzard has been prevented from launching its own app store by paying $360 million over three-yearsGoogle Play to be competitive
• IShareChat, the social network in India, is backed by Temasek, Tiger Global, and Twitter. closing its fantasy sports app Jeet115% of its staff have been laid off.
• Norwegian artist Aurora is hosting an in-game concert, but it’s not in Fortnite, Roblox or Minecraft. Rather, the artist’s December 8 performance will be within the popular game Sky: Children of the LightIt has more than 160,000,000 downloads across iOS and Android, as well as Switch.

Government & Policy

• The U.K.’s antitrust watchdog is looking intoThe iOS-Android mobile duopolyWith a special focus on mobile browsers, and cloud gaming. The government is concerned that these companies are restricting competition and causing harm to consumers.
• The U.K. government also said it’s expanding the scope of online safety legislation by criminalizing the encouragement of self-harmOnline platforms following a teen’s suicide. The teen had viewed thousands on Pinterest and Instagram of self-harm and suicide content.

Security & Privacy

• 1Password said passkey support for secure user logins to apps,In early 2023, apps for Android and iOS will be available.
• TikTok and Bumble said they plan to use StopNCII.org’s database of hashtagsto block revenge porn in their apps. Since 2021, Meta has been using it.

🤝Fireside, a streaming platform supported by Mark Cuban that allows podcasters to host interactive shows with audience engagement, is now available for download. acquired the open streaming TV platform Stremium. The deal, for an undisclosed sum, will allow Fireside’s shows to become available to a range of connected TV devices, including Amazon Fire TV, Roku, smart TVs and others.

💰Cobee is an app based in Madrid that offers employee benefits. raised €40 million in Series B funding,Octopus Ventures, Notion Capital and Octopus Ventures co-lead the project. The app allows employees to search and activate benefits offered by their employer, including meals, transportation, training, gift cards and rent, as well as programs for day care, daycare, daycare, and health insurance. Soon, there will be more.

💰 Fizz, a social networking app for college students. raised $12 million in Series A fundingNEA leads the charge.The app was co-founded by Stanford dropouts Ashton Cofer and Teddy Solomon. It is now being led by Rakesh Mathur, a seed investor. Students can publish text posts, polls and photos anonymously — a formula for fast growth that typically comes with serious repercussions at scale.

💰Daylight, a digital bank for LGBTQIA+, raised $15 million in Series A fundingAnthemis Group leads the charge. The fintech differentiates itself by offering debit cards with customers’ chosen names, which don’t always match their ID, and it offers 10% cash back when they support queer and allied business partners, in addition to more standard mobile banking features.

💰 Aura is a digital photo frame maker raised $26 millionLago Innovation Fund will manage the equity and debt mix. The company’s app, which now nears 3 million users after selling 1 million photo frames, helps connect family members connect and share their photos across devices.

💰 Startup of a feature phone platform KaiOS raised $3.4 millionIn the form of a convertible NoteFinnfund, a Finnish impact investor. The company raised $50 million in funding from Cathay Innovation, Google, and TCL in 2019. According to the company, more than 170 million KaiOS devices were shipped.

💰 BeatO, a diabetes management app based in New Delhi, is now available raised $33 million in Series B fundingLightrock India is the leader. Flipkart and others participated in the round. The startup aims to reach more than 10 million people by 2025.

💰 Djamo, a finance app for Ivory Coast raised $14 millionAlong with three lead investors, YC is funding the company — Enza Capital, Oikocredit and Partech Africa — for its app providing financial services to the underbanked and unbanked population.

💰 Zoe, creator of a COVID reporting app, has returned to its original mission and raised $30 millionIn new fundingTo refocus on nutrition & health

📉 The Truth Social SPAC was put on hold. Digital World Acquisition Corp. said investors voted to extend the deadline to merge with Truth Social — in a SPAC that would take the company public. As regulators investigate the deal, the merger was pushed back to September 2023.

Lensa AI

Image Credits Lensa AI on Instagram (opens in a new window)

Lensa AI, an older app is enjoying a moment. The photo and video editing app first launched in 2018, but a new feature that allows users to create “magic avatars” has driven the app to the No. 1 spot on the App Store’s competitive Photo & Video chart following the feature’s late November launch. Using a selection of 10-20 photos, the app uses Stable Diffusion to generate avatars of you that look like they were created by a digital artist — perfect for sharing across social media. The free version of the app doesn’t include the magic avatars. Instead, users will need either to pay $3.99 per 50 (five variations of ten styles) or to subscribe to the unlimited plan ($39.99/year). You can find out more about the feature, and how it works. here.

Indie App Santa

Image Credits Indie App Santa

It’s the most wonderful time of the year… for free and discounted iPhone apps, that is. Indie App SantaIt’s back! The initiative was started to help smaller developers reach new audiences, without the need for expensive AppStore ads. The event was attended by approximately 2,000 people. began in 2020, now in its third year, offers both a Twitter feed of deals as well as an Advent calendar-style app of its owniPhone users can unlock one premium iPhone app for free or at a substantial discount every day. The deals will be available until January 10, 2023. It’s sort of like a month-long Black Friday event, but only for indie apps. There will be 40 deals this year, with half of them including free apps. Read more about Indie App Santa here.