Sarah Perez, Author at TechCrunch

Spotify and Epic Games call Apple’s revised DMA compliance plan ‘confusing,’ ‘illegal’ and ‘unacceptable’

Sarah Perez — Thu, 08 Aug 2024 18:59:19 +0000

Count Spotify and Epic Games among the Apple critics who are not happy with the iPhone maker’s newly revised compliance plan for the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). Shortly after Apple announced the updated version on Tuesday, including loosened restrictions along with the addition of two more fees, Spotify shared a statement with TechCrunch […]

As X sues advertisers over boycott, the app ditches all ads from its top subscription tier

Sarah Perez — Thu, 08 Aug 2024 16:09:20 +0000

The X account announced that its Premium+ subscription would now be "fully" ad-free, leading some to question how this change would affect creator earnings.

ChatGPT’s mobile app just had its biggest month yet

Sarah Perez — Wed, 07 Aug 2024 18:34:57 +0000

With the arrival of ChatGPT's new Advanced Voice Mode, which offers nearly real-time, realistic interactions, Appfigures expects growth to continue in the months to come.

Facebook creators have a new way to avoid ‘jail’

Sarah Perez — Wed, 07 Aug 2024 17:15:09 +0000

Facebook creators are being given a new option that will help them avoid jail — “Facebook jail,” that is — upon their first violation, and at various times after. In a revised policy, announced on Wednesday, social networking giant Meta said that creators who violate the company’s Community Standards for the first time will be […]

Airbnb details plans to expand beyond short-term rentals, including co-hosting and relaunching ‘experiences’

Sarah Perez — Tue, 06 Aug 2024 22:48:51 +0000

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky suggested on Tuesday’s Q2 earnings call with investors that the company will soon expand into new products and services, including co-hosting, a relaunch of Airbnb’s “experiences,” guest services and more. The company positioned the upcoming offerings as a way for Airbnb to grow its revenue by becoming known for doing more […]

Bluesky adds Techdirt founder Mike Masnick to its board

Sarah Perez — Tue, 06 Aug 2024 16:57:48 +0000

According to a company blog post, the team was already leaning on Masnick for advice, so adding him to the board is a "natural next step" in formalizing their relationship.

Spotify adds a Spanish-speaking AI DJ, ‘Livi’

Sarah Perez — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 16:00:00 +0000

Spotify's AI DJ, which first launched last year, is meant to serve as a smart audio guide that introduces music using a convincingly realistic voice.

iOS 18 could ‘sherlock’ $400M in app revenue

Sarah Perez — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 15:29:09 +0000

Apple's changes may affect apps that today have an estimated $393 million in revenue and have been downloaded roughly 58 million times over the past year.

At last, Apple’s Messages app will support RCS and scheduling texts

Sarah Perez — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 04:17:09 +0000

These messaging features, announced at WWDC 2024, will have a significant impact on how people communicate every day.

Some teens under 18 may have have access to TikTok Shop, despite adults-only policy

Sarah Perez — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 00:00:33 +0000

The tests indicate there are loopholes in TikTok's ability to apply its parental controls and policies effectively in a situation where the teen user originally lied about their age, as many likely do.

Amazon AI chatbot Rufus is now live for all US customers

Sarah Perez — Fri, 12 Jul 2024 13:42:13 +0000

The AI chatbot has been trained on Amazon's product catalog, customer reviews, community Q&As, and other public information found around the web.

X is building a ‘dislike’ button for downvoting replies

Sarah Perez — Thu, 11 Jul 2024 22:17:58 +0000

Elon Musk’s X, formerly Twitter, is continuing to develop a downvoting feature that will be used to improve how replies are ranked. Although the company has not yet officially announced its plans, more recent findings indicate the downvote feature may actually resemble a “dislike” button instead of a Reddit-style downvote icon. Code references found in […]

Photo-sharing startup Retro spots Google Photos copying its idea and design

Sarah Perez — Thu, 11 Jul 2024 17:03:40 +0000

Retro CEO Nathan Sharp isn't worrying just yet about Google's plan to copy his app's experience, despite the numerous similarities.

YouTube tempts creators with a half dozen new features for Shorts

Sarah Perez — Thu, 11 Jul 2024 16:00:00 +0000

The new YouTube features include those that will automatically transform longer videos into Shorts, among others.

FTC study finds ‘dark patterns’ used by a majority of subscription apps and websites

Sarah Perez — Wed, 10 Jul 2024 20:12:20 +0000

Dark patterns refer to a range of design techniques that can subtly encourage users to take some sort of action or put their privacy at risk.

Spotify is no longer just a streaming app, it’s a social network

Sarah Perez — Wed, 10 Jul 2024 15:41:15 +0000

The question now is whether Spotify will add something similar for music artists in the future.

Openvibe combines Mastodon, Bluesky and Nostr into one social app

Sarah Perez — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 17:09:20 +0000

Ahead of these potential competitors comes Openvibe, a simple aggregator for the open social web.

Duolingo acquires Detroit-based design studio Hobbes

Sarah Perez — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 13:47:21 +0000

Design and animation are core to the Duolingo experience, which makes learning a new language or skill more like a game rather than a task to be dreaded.

Chasing YouTube, Spotify adds comments to podcasts

Sarah Perez — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 13:00:00 +0000

The feature puts Spotify in more direct competition with YouTube as a place where creators can interact with their listeners.

Substack rival Ghost federates its first newsletter

Sarah Perez — Mon, 08 Jul 2024 17:59:46 +0000

Over the past few days, Ghost says it has achieved two major milestones in its move to become a federated service.