Google wants you to search more and to do that, it’s launching a number of updates to Chrome on mobile today that will, among other things, highlight potential search queries related to a page you are on when you tap on the address bar. Say you are planning a trip to Japan and you are currently reading a related blog post. When you tap the address bar, you will then see the usual list of your favorite sites and recent searches and underneath that a list of suggested searches.
It’s essentially Google Search autocomplete without having to type anything. This new feature is coming to Chrome and iOS and Android and rolling out now.
Image Credits: Google
Another change, though one that’ll come to Chrome on Android first, is that when you open up a new tab now, you will see a list of trending searches — and initiate a search for these trending topics from there, of course. As part of Google Trends, the company already highlights these trends on the web today, though by making it a core feature of the new tab page on Chrome mobile, it’ll reach a far wider audience.
Image Credits: Google
Google is also tweaking its ‘touch to search‘ feature on Android with this update. As before, you can select a word (or words) on any page and have the usual context menu pop up that lets you initiate a search based on what you’ve selected. Now, however, Google will also automatically pop up a carousel with related searches at the bottom of the screen.
Image Credits: Google
And there is more: now, you’ll see ten search suggestions when you start typing in the Chrome mobile address bar instead of six. That’s not a huge difference, but as with all of these updates, Google wants you to search more (and see more search ads in the process, of course).
Google’s Pixel lineup has been a steady and stalwart performer for may generations now, and while the company is still obviously open to bold experimentation with its smartphones – the Pixel Fold being the most recent example – it might be doing the most impressive work on the other end of the spectrum, by taking what works and moving it downmarket with economic efficiency. I’m talking specifically about the Pixel ‘a’ lineup, a now-perennial mid-year update that takes the best of last year’s flagship, cuts pretty much exactly the right corners, and offers a fantastic device at a much more palatable price point for a general audience.
This year, we got the Google Pixel 7a: a $499 device with a 6.1-inch OLED display, Google’s top-of-the-line Tensor G2 processor and a camera system exceeded only really by its more expensive ‘Pro’ sibling. I’ve been using the phone for a few weeks now, and it’s hard to understate how little the device feels like it has made any real compromises when it comes to things that matter to smartphone users – even more demanding ones who want the latest and greatest tech.
Google has also been hard at work on the software side, and Android 13 that the device ships offers a mature and well thought-out interface, and a slew of features that offer a truly differentiated experience if you’re coming from an iPhone and iOS. In particular Android’s speech-to-text and live transcription features are fantastic, as are the Pixel’s live translation capabilities, which turns your smartphone into essentially a multi-lingual super power that iPhone just can’t come close to matching.
It’s also hard to understate just how good the camera on the Pixel 7a is, and how far that goes in terms of offering a competitive advantage for a so-called ‘mid-range’ phone. While it’s true that the 7a lacks the telephoto lens that the top-end Pixel 7 Pro provides, and that it also cuts corners vs. that flagship camera system in a number of ways, the qualities of the photos that the 7a produces are top notch, and at least on par with the best you can get with competitive devices that cost twice or more.
The display on the Pixel 7a also feels far superior to what you’d expect from a $500 phone. The 90Hz refresh rate on the OLED panel makes for buttery-smooth scrolling, and while it doesn’t be the current 120Hz high-water mark, I doubt many customers would be able to identify a difference at all, let alone feel like they’re missing out on something. The 6.1-inch screen is also smaller than the one on both the Pixel 7 at 6.3 inches, and the Pixel 7 Pro at 6.7 – but after extensive use that is clearly a feature not a bug, especially in a world where the number of choices for smaller-size smartphone continues to dwindle.
With the Pixel a-series, and the 7a in particular, it feels like Google is quietly raising the bar on what people should expect from smartphones that cost less than $1,000 – and honestly it kind of feels like it’s almost lapping its closest competition. Apple’s lower-cost devices feel much more like they’re intentionally restricting certain features and advantages to higher-cost hardware, and perhaps because of its challenger status, Pixel just honestly feels like it’s doing way more in the way of innovation and experimentation to advance the state-of-the-art vs. iPhone when it comes to smartphones. That applies to big swings like the Pixel Fold, but also to more down-to-earth offerings like the 7a.
This year’s lineup also includes the Pixel Watch, the Pixel Tablet and the Pixel Buds Pro, all of which excel in similar ways as somewhat sleeper hits in the gadget world. Combined with Google’s recent strategy of effectively spoiling its own launch moments, the whole vibe its hardware business is conveying is much more of a ‘chill, but great hangs’ vs. Apple’s ‘showy popular kid,’ and I’m excited to see what that means for what comes next.
Google today will begin to roll out a new safety feature, unknown tracker alerts, first announced at its developer event Google I/O this spring. The feature will allow Android users to be alerted automatically if an unknown Bluetooth device is traveling with them — a sign that could point to the possibility that someone is stalking them using an Apple AirTag or other Bluetooth tracking device. Users will also be able to manually scan for trackers with their Android device and be guided through tips on what to do next if a tracking device is found.
The issues with Bluetooth tracking came to a head as numerousreportsemerged that people had begun to use AirTags for stalking and other illegal activities, like tracking cars for a planned theft. In February 2022, Apple said it would work to address the problems created with the new devices by adding new privacy warnings and alerts, and warned would-be stalkers it was actively working with law enforcement on the AirTag-related requests it receives.
However, Apple’s changes to AirTag at the time didn’t benefit Android users.
This May, however, Apple and Google jointly announced their intention to draft an industry-wide specification focused on how users could be alerted to unwanted tracking from Bluetooth devices. The spec is expected to finalized by the end of the year.
As a result of the increased cooperation on user safety, Google said at I/O in May it would introduce a series of improvements to its own Find My Device network as well as proactive alerts about trackers traveling with you, which would include support for Apple’s AirTag and other devices. We understand this is a custom implementation to protect Android users, ahead of the finalized joint spec. Apple, however, will wait to implement the joint spec but will not roll out its own custom implementation in the meantime.
As this new alerts feature now rolls out, Android users will receive a notification on their device if an unknown tracker is separated from its owner and is determined to be with you. Users will then be able to tap on the notification to view a map of where the tracker was seen traveling with you.
You’ll also be able to tap on “Play Sound” to have the tracker make a noise, allowing you to locate the device.
Image Credits: Google
If the device is found, users can bring it near the back of their phone to get more information. Some devices will share their serial number or additional information about the owner, like the last four digits of their phone number when held near the phone.
You’ll also be presented with tips on how to disable the Bluetooth device completely so the owner can no longer track you and receive future updates from the tracker.
In addition, another feature will allow users to manually scan their surroundings if they’re worried a Bluetooth tracker may be nearby. This manual scan can be kicked off by visiting Android’s Settings, then “Safety & Emergency” and then choosing the option “Unknown tracker alerts” and tapping on the “Scan Now” button. The device will take about 10 seconds to complete the manual scan and will provide tips on what to do next if a tracker is found. This way, users don’t have to wait for an automatic alert.
Image Credits: Google
Also announced at I/O 2023, Google said it would update its Find My Device network to help users locate other missing belongings, like headphones, phones, and everyday items, like luggage and keys, which can be located by third-party Bluetooth tracker tags. It explained users would be able to locate devices by ringing them or viewing their location on a map — even if they’re offline, adding that it would support trackers from Tile, Chipolo, and Pebblebee, as well as audio devices like Pixel Buds and headphones from Sony and JBL.
Today, however, Google says this update is on hold.
The decision was made to wait to roll out these updates because Google is now working in partnership with Apple to finalize the joint unwanted tracker alert specification by year-end.
“At this time we’ve made the decision to hold the rollout of the Find My Device network until Apple has implemented protections for iOS,” Google says.
Urs Hölzle began working for Google in 1999 at a time when people were using Yahoo and Alta Vista to search the internet. As Google grew in popularity over the years, he moved through the ranks. Most recently he has been running infrastructure for Google Cloud, reporting directly to CEO Thomas Kurian, but today the company confirmed reports that Hölzle was stepping away from his executive role.
Hölzle, who was employee number 8 at Google, won’t be leaving the company, however. Instead, he’ll be moving into an individual contributor role where he’ll be a Google Fellow, an individual research role at the company.
It’s quite a shock for someone with Hölzle’s unique understanding of the company to be stepping away from the infrastructure role he held for so long. Ray Wang, founder and principal analyst at Constellation Research says Hölzle was a key figure at the company, and through his vast experience was kind of the glue between Google and Google Cloud.
“He helped with marshaling the forces within Google to make the transition from niche cloud to enterprise class cloud. Being the 8th employee he’s been wanting to explore new ideas and get back to innovation,” Wang told TechCrunch. Being in the Fellow role should help enable him to do that.
But moving from a leadership role to an individual contributor will very likely have an impact on Google Cloud. “He’s done a good job helping the engineering teams understand what a product-led culture looks like, as opposed to the rest of Google which does not have the engineering discipline enterprises expect from their vendors,” Wang said.
As he moves on, Hölzle will be replaced by Chris Vonderhaar, who spent 13 years at AWS in various data center operations roles. Before stepping down quite suddenly last month, he held the title of VP of AWS Data Center Community where he was responsible for the design, planning, construction and operations of the AWS data centers, according to his LinkedIn profile. While he’s stepping into big shoes, Vonderhaar is no slouch having spent well over a decade helping build infrastructure for AWS.
At Google, Vonderhaar’s title will be vice president of demand and supply management, a curious title to be sure, but one where he should be able to put his vast experience to work helping replace Hölzle’s knowledge running the company’s infrastructure.
Google Cloud today announced an expansion of its Google Cloud Consulting offering, its service for connecting customers to experts who can help them along their cloud journey.
As part of this expansion, Google will offer high-touch training to C-suite leaders at large enterprises to help them “reap the full, transformative benefits of generative AI, while maintaining responsible development and deployment.” Additionally, the company will launch new on-demand learning paths and credential programs for its customers and partners.
Google is also launching new generative AI consulting offerings that help its customers use AI to, for example, analyze data, automate business processes and operationalize large language models to query their internal content.
“These new offerings can give customers hands-on experiences with production-ready AI solutions using their own data and align with practical use cases for their organization,” Google Cloud’s VP for industries, Carrie Tharp, and Lee Moore, the company’s VP for Global Google Cloud Consulting, wrote in today’s announcement. “They are designed to help organizations quickly implement generative AI solutions relevant to their businesses.”
Talking about practical use cases, the company is also launching a set of new reference architectures and workflows for industry-specific use cases.
Google knows that the advent of AI is yet another inflection point for enterprises, who are often still in the middle of the process of modernizing their existing infrastructure (or haven’t even started yet). Only a few years ago, these enterprises were told that they either had to move ahead with their ‘digital transformation’ processes or risk being left behind by nimbler competitors. Machine learning — and generative AI in particular — is sparking yet another round of anxiety in the C-suite of many an enterprise.
Google announced today that its generative AI support in Vertex AI, the company’s machine learning platform, is now generally available. Based on Google’s models like PaLM 2, Imagen and Codey, Vertex AI offers developers access to the PaLM’s features for generating and classifying text, building ChatGPT-like multi-turn chat experiences and a text embedding API for tasks like semantic search and recommendation engines. These models will be available as part of the Vertex AI ‘Model Garden,’ Google’s collection of enterprise-ready foundation and task-specific models, and in the low-code Generative AI Studio.
The company is making the announcement in conjunction with a small gathering for customers and partners (the Google Cloud Executive Forum) at its Bayview Campus in Mountain View today. Until now, many of these capabilities were only available to trusted testers.
It’s also worth noting that Codey, Google’s recently launched model for code completion, and the PaLM for Chat model are making their debut in the Model Garden.
A number of Google partners are already leveraging Codey, with GitLab using it for its “explain this vulnerability” feature, for example. Canva, meanwhile, is using Vertex AI’s translation feature to better support its non-English speaking users and is now testing the PaLM model to turn short video clips into longer stories.
Typeface, which focuses on creative business use cases for generative AI, also today announced a partnership and deep integration with Google’s AI tools. The company will leverage Google’s large language models and is launching Typeface as a plugin in the Google Workspace Marketplace. DataStax, meanwhile, announced that its AstraDB database service on Google Cloud now supports vector search, a capability that will allow AI models to use the service for long-term memory.
Graph database Neo4j, too, is announcing a new integration with Google Cloud’s generative AI features in Vertex AI. Some of the new capabilities here are the ability to transform unstructured data into knowledge graphs, which users can then query using natural language. The company is also going to use Vertex AI to enrich these knowledge graphs in real time and — and this is important to enterprise customers — it’s adding the ability to validate responses from large language models against these enterprise knowledge graphs to prevent hallucinations.
Twilio also today announced that it is exploring new Vertex-powered features, including new personalized ‘best next action’ recommendations for contact center agents and automating call summaries.
A month ago, Google rolled out passkey support to consumer Google accounts. Today, it is extending this to business users, with the open beta launch of passkeys for Google Workspace and Cloud accounts.
Like almost every other major tech company, Google has been waging war against passwords for years. The promise of passkeys is that they are safer than passwords and multifactor authentication because instead of using an authentication code from an app or SMS, passkey users can simply use their phones, desktop or laptops to sign into websites and apps with the same logins they already use for their devices — be that a biometric login or a PIN code. Since users need to have physical access to these devices, it’s also less likely that an adversary will be able to gain access to them accidentally.
Image Credits: Google
Passkeys, like physical security keys, also have the advantage of being resistant to phishing and indeed, the cryptographic protocols underlying the technology aren’t all that different from those of physical security keys.
Google’s own research has shown that using passkeys is twice as fast and four times less error-prone than passwords (no surprise there).
“Over the past decade Google has been at the forefront of the battle against phishing and password-related threats, including with our automated defenses powered by Google AI,” write Google Workspace product manager Jeroen Kemperman and Workspace engineering manager Shruti Kulkarni in today’s announcement. “We championed the development of physical security keys and their standardization under the FIDO Alliance. As generally a simpler and more secure alternative to passwords, passkeys represent the culmination of this work to bring phishing-resistant technology to billions of people worldwide.”
As is typical for these Workspace rollouts, Google is rolling this new feature out slowly. Over the course of the next few weeks, admins will get the ability to enable passkeys for their users and skip passwords at sign-in.
AI chatbots have only just been put into consumers’ hands, but tech giants are rushing to monetize them. Shortly after Bing Chat’s arrival, Microsoft began slipping ads into the experience, for instance. Today, Google says it will do something similar, detailing its plans for running Search and Shopping ads inside its conversational AI experience in Search, via the recently announced Search Generative Experience (SGE) in the U.S.
At the company’s I/O developer event earlier this month, Google showed how ads could run above and below this new experience. For instance, if you were searching for a new bike on Google using the generative AI feature, you may get information about what factors to consider when buying and then matching products that fit your interests. You could then ask a follow-up question or be guided to other suggested next steps. In this experience, Search ads would continue to appear in dedicated ad slots throughout the page.
Image Credits: Google, SGE experience showing ads above and below the conversational AI
With the changes announced today at Google’s Marketing Live event for advertisers, the company says it will also soon begin to experiment with ads that are “directly integrated” within the AI-powered snapshot and conversational mode. Available in the coming months, these ads will appear alongside relevant queries.
Google offers the example of someone searching for “outdoor activities to do in Maui,” which they then refine further to ask about “activities for kids” and “surfing.” After doing so, the consumer may be shown a fully customized ad for a travel brand that’s promoting surfing lessons for kids in that location. These ads that accompany the AI chatbot’s responses will still be clearly labeled as “Sponsored” results, using bold, black text, Google notes.
Image Credits: Google — ads inside the conversational AI experience
Despite this labeling, some ads could be mistaken for AI chatbot responses. For instance, in a query for hiking backpacks, where Google’s AI already makes specific product recommendations, the “Sponsored” results may appear in the same list. (See below image).
Image Credits: Google — Ads in the conversational AI as well as below
The company says it will also experiment with new ad formats that will be native to SGE and that use generative AI to create high-quality, customized ads.
Google’s plans were announced today alongside other marketing initiatives involving AI, including the use of generative AI to adapt Search ads to users’ queries. That means Google will use content from a website’s landing page to create new headlines that better match with users’ Search queries.
Plus, Google said it will bring generative AI to Performance Max — Google’s goal-based campaigns that let advertisers leverage all their Google Ads inventory in a single campaign to reach customers across YouTube, Display, Search, Discover, Gmail, and Maps. After advertisers provide Google with their website, Google AI will learn about the brand and populate the campaign with text and other relevant assets, even suggesting images.
Image Credits: Google — Performance Max generating images via AI
This capability will also be available through the new conversational experience in Google Ads, where advertisers feed Google AI a landing page, and it summarizes the page, generating relevant keywords, headlines, descriptions, images, and other assets for the ad campaign.
Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the weekly TechCrunch series that recaps the latest in mobile OS news, mobile applications and the overall app economy.
The app economy in 2023 hit a few snags, as consumer spending last year dropped for the first time by 2% to $167 billion, according to data.ai’s “State of Mobile” report. However, downloads are continuing to grow, up 11% year-over-year in 2022 to reach 255 billion. Consumers are also spending more time in mobile apps than ever before. On Android devices alone, hours spent in 2022 grew 9%, reaching 4.1 trillion.
This Week in Apps offers a way to keep up with this fast-moving industry in one place with the latest from the world of apps, including news, updates, startup fundings, mergers and acquisitions, and much more.
ChatGPT is going mobile. On Thursday, OpenAI announced the launch of an official iOS app that allows users to access its popular AI chatbot on the go, months after the App Store was filled with dubious, unofficial services. The new ChatGPT app will be free to use, free from ads and will allow for voice input via Whisper, the company says, but will initially be limited to U.S. users at launch. Support for other markets will be available in the “coming weeks,” OpenAI said, without offering further details. An Android version is also promised to come “soon.”
Like its desktop counterpart, the new ChatGPT app allows users to interact with an AI chatbot to ask questions without running a traditional web search, plus get advice, find inspiration, learn, research and more. Given the issues with Apple’s own voice assistant, Siri, and its own lack of AI progress, the new release could push more users to try ChatGPT on their phones as their main mobile helper. This could potentially impact Google, as well, as the search engine today benefits from being the default search engine in Safari on Apple’s iPhone.
Consumer interest in AI has been growing, which led to the top 10 mobile AI apps generating double-digit millions in consumer spending before the first quarter of this year even wrapped, but far too many of today’s apps claiming to offer ChatGPT access were effectively scams that tricked users into high-priced subscriptions. Apple doesn’t always promptly take down fleeceware like this, despite the harm to consumers. (Some believe it’s not incentivized to do so given it benefits financially by leaving scam apps up where it can take a cut of the subscription payments.)
Now that there’s an official (and free!) ChatGPT app on the market, there’s little need for consumers to download a paid alternative. If people want more functionality — like faster response times or access to GPT-4 — they can pay OpenAI directly for a ChatGPT Plus subscription.
It remains to be seen how the launch will impact the wider AI chatbot market, or if Apple will begin to quietly pull down some of the more unscrupulous ChatGPT scam apps from the App Store. The app may also shift consumer behavior away from relying on voice assistants like Siri and, later, Google Assistant, as users turn to ChatGPT to answer more of their everyday questions and direct them to new information.
For the time being, the new ChatGPT app is No. 1 on the top free apps chart in the App Store and is also being featured at the top of the App Store’s Apps tab, and in a list of “Must-have” apps for iPhone. However, internally at Apple, staff has been banned from accessing ChatGPT over fears of leaked confidential data.
Microsoft expands AI features across its mobile apps
Open AI may have been the big news this week, but Microsoft also rolled out a number of AI updates to its suite of mobile apps as competition with Google and others heats up.
The company announced a number of changes to Bing, including the rollout of several of the features that it had detailed earlier this month. Across desktop and mobile, this included videos, Knowledge Cards, graphs, better formatting and social sharing capabilities in Bing Chat. Chat history is also arriving across desktop and mobile, allowing users to look back and view a list of their recent activity. (Mobile will receive the feature first, Microsoft says.)
Image Credits: Microsoft
Plus, users will now be able to add a Bing Chat widget to their iOS or Android Home Screen, for faster access to Bing Chat. Later, users will be able to also click the Bing app icon to be taken directly to chat or tap a microphone icon to ask a question.
Users will also be able to start a Bing Chat conversation on the desktop and then continue it on their smartphone — a feature that should arrive by next week. The company says it’s expanded the country and language support for voice input, as well.
In addition, Microsoft is adding Bing Chat to the mobile version of its Edge browser app, which lets you ask questions related to the mobile website you’re viewing, including for it to summarize the article or page. When reading, you’ll soon be able to highlight a word or phrase and have it open a conversation with Bing to learn more about the topic.
The updates included other apps, too, like the SwiftKey keyboard app, which gained the ability to compose text for you, based on the parameters you suggest related to the subject matter, tone, format and length. Microsoft suggests this could be used for writing emails, for example. The feature is coming to iOS and Android in a couple of weeks. An AI-powered translator is also being built into the SwiftKey keyboard.
Image Credits: Microsoft
Meanwhile, Skype users can now use Bing in their group chats.
The pace of app updates here is worth noting. Microsoft only debuted Bing Chat 100 days ago, it noted in its announcement on Tuesday, and it has continuously shipped new features since. The latest round of updates follows news from Google’s I/O developer event, where it opened up access to its AI chatbot Bard, which is now available without a waitlist.
It should be interesting to see how quickly Google follows to add Bard access across its own suite of mobile apps, as Bing is doing, or integrate Bard into its own home screen widgets. For now, Google is testing AI features through Search Labs, where today it houses a handful of projects, including AI-powered Google search features, AI in Google Workspaces, smart note-taking project Tailwind and generative music maker MusicLM.
What we know about Instagram’s Twitter clone
More details are emerging about Instagram’s Twitter clone due out later this summer. The decentralized social app will allow users to authenticate with their existing credentials in order to post short updates, including text, links, photos and videos, to the platform. Their account details, like usernames, profile photos and even block lists are said to carry over to the new experience, which will also interoperate with decentralized apps like Mastodon.
Based on a (somewhat blurry) example I got, Meta's new app looks a lot like Twitter.
So, could this take over all the Twitter screenshots we've been seeing on the Feed lately? Maybe.
It’s impossible to predict how audiences will respond but this could be an alternative. pic.twitter.com/xgQa1kUjCl
This week, we understand Meta has been reaching out to celebs and high-profile influencers to get them on board as early adopters. Athletes, actors, producers, showrunners and comedians are said to be the early priorities. In addition, one leak involved screenshots of the new app — or at least mock-ups. These show an app that has a very Twitter-like look and feel, with text posts, likes and comments, but in more of a timeline view that’s less media-heavy that an Instagram feed.
What do you think about Instagram’s Twitter app? Let me know what you’re thinking and hearing via email (sarahp@techcrunch.com) or Signal (415.234.3994)
Apple released updated versions of its operating systems, including iOS 16.5, iPadOS 16.5, macOS Ventura 13.4, watchOS 9.5, tvOS 16.5, and HomePod 16.5. The updates bring new Pride Wallpaper and watch faces, plus bug fixes around unresponsiveness in Spotlight, Screen Time and Podcasts in CarPlay, as well as a security fix for an actively used exploit. However, one of the bigger consumer-facing changes is the addition of a new Sports Tab in Apple News that gives you access to stories, scores, standings and more, as well as a My Sports score feature and scheduled cards that take you directly to game pages for more detail.
On Apple TV 4K, Apple officially launched its new multiview feature for sports fans, allowing viewers to watch up to four simultaneous streams at once. The feature was previously in beta and is currently limited to watching select sports content, including Major League Soccer matches, Friday Night Baseball games and certain MLS and MLB live shows.
Georgia is the latest U.S. state to add support for driver’s licenses and state IDs in Apple Wallet.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman shares more details about Apple’s upcoming mixed reality headset expected at WWDC, including how the device has deviated from Tim Cook’s initial vision of unobtrusive glasses to a headset that resembles ski goggles and has a separate battery pack.
Apple published its first transparency report as part of its settlement with app developers in a class action lawsuit. The report details app removals, appeals, account terminations and government requests for takedowns, among other things. For instance, the company says it rejected roughly 1.68 million apps and broke down the reasons, with the majority being rejected over performance issues, or 1+ million; 253,000+ were later approved and 186,000 apps were removed from the store. The report also breaks down reasons for removals, impacted geographies and more.
Apple introduced new accessibility features including Live Speech, Personal Voice and others, like Assistive Access which combines Phone and FaceTime apps and uses larger icons. However, people have been particularly intrigued by Personal Voice, which has users first spend about 15 minutes reading selected text prompts into their microphone. The tool then leverages machine learning on the local device to create a text-to-speech voice that sounds like you.
Image Credits: Apple
Google
Google is moving forward with its in-app billing policy in India after complaints from developers who said the service wasn’t compliant with regulations that require Google to let developers offer third-party billing. The developers had argued the new system still requires them to pay a high service fee of 11% or more, despite using their own billing systems. But Google says the 4% fee reduction (from 15% originally) is fair and legal.
After Google mistakenly launched an internal build of its Personal Safety app to the Play Store, the site 9to5Google grabbed screenshots of a new “Dashcam” feature that will record video while you’re driving, helping to protect drivers in the event of an accident or other situations where video could be helpful.
App News
Media & Entertainment
Image Credits: NYT
The NYT launched its own audio app. The launch capitalizes on The Times’ acquisition of audio journalism app Audm in 2020, which served as the basis for the new offering. In the newly launched New York Times Audio, the company combines the publication’s top podcasts, like “The Daily,” “The Ezra Klein Show,” “Hard Fork,” “Modern Love,” “The Run-Up” and others, with those made exclusively for the new platform. Thanks to its $25 million acquisition of the production studio behind “Serial,” the app includes content related to that deal, as well, like the namesake show itself, plus new shows from the studio like “The Trojan Horse Affair,” “The Coldest Case in Laramie” and others, as well as “This American Life,” hosted by Ira Glass. Sports talk from The Athletic is also ne included along with Audm’s long-form narrated journalism from non-NYT sources. Audm will now shut down and its subscribers will be moved to NYT Audio. The app arrives following the success of other standalone mobile properties, like NYT Cooking and Games, but it’s unclear if it will see similar traction as users tend to enjoy streaming podcasts in a dedicated app that provides access to all their shows.
More in media…
Apple said a change in Google’s podcast search results now allows users to click a button to start listening to podcasts directly in the Apple Podcasts app on their iPhone or iPad, via a deep linking. The change follows Google’s announcement in February that it was winding down a feature that would allow users to play podcasts directly in its search results.
YouTube clarified that Google’s recently announced plan to delete inactive accounts will not impact YouTube’s digital archives. Many had been worried that YouTube videos associated with older Google accounts, including those that belonged to people who had died, would be removed as part of this change.
Spotify’s AI DJ feature is now available in the U.K. and Ireland. The feature was only available in the U.S. and Canada at launch.
Entertainment discovery app Likewiselaunched a ChatGPT plugin that helps users find TV shows, movies, books and podcasts they may like. The plugin is available through the ChatGPT Plus plugin store, but is not yet a feature in the mobile app itself.
Apple brings new concert discovery features to Apple Music and Maps. On the Apple Music app, fans will gain access to Set Lists, which let you browse and listen to the set lists from favorite artists on tour, and read more about their productions. On Apple Maps, Apple is adding over 40 new Guides curated by Apple Music editors that will highlight music venues initially across 10 cities worldwide.
Image Credits: Apple
An audio journalism app Curio, which turns expert journalism into professionally narrated content, launched an AI helper that can create customized audio episodes, based on your prompts. The AI, powered by OpenAI technologies, leverages Curio’s catalog of high-quality journalism licensed from partners like The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, New York Magazine and others. This allows users to now ask the AI, “Rio,” a question they want to learn more about, then have it create a bespoke audio episode that includes only fact-checked content from these sources.
Twitter increased its video upload limits for Twitter Blue subscribers from one hour and 2GB to two hours and 8GB on the heels of Tucker Carlson’s announcement that he plans to publish his show directly on the platform. Soon after, Twitter users began to test the limits of the feature by uploading full-length movies, but so far, these posts have been pulled down with error messages that cite copyright claims.
Instagram announced support for GIFs in comments (on both posts and Reels) and support for collaborators in broadcast channels. The latter was introduced by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who invited Instagram head Adam Mosseri into the channel to chat. Here, Mosseri teased other upcoming Instagram plans, like a lyrics feature for Reels. But the exec stayed silent on Instagram’s upcoming Twitter rival app, now in early development. When asked if he had anything to announce there, Mosseri just said “Nope.”
Image Credits: Meta
A Pew study conducted five months after Elon Musk’s acquisition asked if users had taken a break from Twitter over the past year. As it turns out, many had. The study, which was conducted in March, found thata majority of U.S. adult Twitter users, or 60%, said they have taken a break from Twitter for a period of “several weeks or more” over the past year. This doesn’t necessarily point a finger at Musk as the reason, as “the past 12 months” includes a large stretch of before he owned the social app. Still, what’s cause for concern is that a quarter of users also said they didn’t see themselves using Twitter a year from now.
Image Credits: Pew Research Center
Meta has started refunding advertisers for an April glitch that caused them to overspend, but small advertisers claim they’re not getting the same attention.
Meta expanded its paid verification service to the U.K. after launching in Australia and New Zealand, then the U.S.
Right-wing video site Rumble acquired podcasting and livestreaming service Callin from PayPal’s former COO David Sacks, who will now join Rumble’s board. The app had previously raised $12 million in Series A funding.
Twitter reportedly acquired a recruiting startup, Laskie, in its first acquisition during the Elon Musk era, Axios reported. The company had raised $6 million.
TikTok’s new creator fund will pay creators who make popular AR effects. The $6 million fund pays out based on user engagement. When an effect is used in 500,000 unique videos within 90 days of being published, a creator gets $700 USD. For every 100,000 videos published thereafter within the same 90 days, creators collect an additional $140.
Spotify and Bumble team up on a new feature that lets dating app users share their favorite artists on their profiles. Daters can display their Top 10 list, helping matches find things they have in common.
Digital creation app maker Picsart introduced new in-app social communities called Spaces that are dedicated to specific topics and interests. The spaces allow for social collaboration, similar to group forums or group chats, where users can browse, post and like and comment on each other’s posts.
Image Credits: Picsart
Gaming
Image Credits: Soumyabrata Roy / NurPhoto / Getty Images
South Korean tech giant Krafton won the approval from Indian authorities to resume operations of the popular India-focused battle royale mobile game, Battlegrounds Mobile India after the government banned PUBG in the region over its links to China. The new title has been granted a three-month trial approval, given Krafton’s move to address data security issues and the location of its servers. A final decision will be made later.
Fortnite and Unreal Engine maker Epic Games invested in CLO Virtual Fashion, a digital garment solutions provider offering 3D garment design software, a digital CMS and collaboration platform, and a marketplace for selling designs. The two companies said they purchased shares in each other, but declined to disclose terms.
News & Reading
News aggregator Artifact added a new feature that lets journalists and writers claim their profiles, so fans of their work can follow them on the app to see their content surfaced in recommendations. Writers who claim their profiles will be able to see how many people follow them and how many reads their articles have gained through the app. More metrics may be added in time. The company believes writers want a way to better connect with their audiences — beyond Twitter, that is — and this feature could allow them to gain a following that stays with them, even if they move between publications. (One issue? I followed all my TC colleagues to be supportive of them and found my Artifact homepage looking very much like TechCrunch afterward. I guess I need to diversify!)
Image Credits: Artifact screenshot
Mozilla-owned read-it-later app Pocket added the ability to create lists of news articles, initially for U.S. users, with global support to come. The feature was one of several new additions, alongside the rollout of the redesigned app on iOS and better article-jumping features for Android.
Fintech
Neobanking service Step takes on Apple’s new Savings Account offering with the launch of a 5% rate on its own savings account. Like Apple, there are no monthly fees and no minimum balance requirements and the funds are FDIC-insured up to $250,000. But there is a catch: to get the new rate, users will have to set up a monthly direct deposit of $500 or more from either a payroll provider or employer — effectively making Step their primary bank.
Apple introduced Tap to Pay on iPhone in Australia, enabling secure, contactless payments for businesses.
Online brokerage apps catering to Chinese users who want to invest overseas were pulled from Chinese app stores. Futu and Tiger Brokers agreed to stop accepting new customers from mainland China, The WSJ reported.
Investing platform Public introduced a new project called Alpha, designed to “enhance your investing experience with artificial intelligence powered by GPT-4.” Alpha aims to save users time researching and tracking stocks, ETFs, crypto and alternative assets by receiving instant answers to your questions. The feature is rolling out to all Public members. ChatGPT-4 subscribers, will also now have access to Alpha through the OpenAI plugin network.
In addition to the private chartered boat bookings and teen rider support, Uber announced a new way to hail a car via a phone call (1-833-USE-UBER).
Porsche added support for Apple Maps EV routing, allowing Porsche Taycan drivers to use Apple Maps via CarPlay. The announcement follows GM’s plan to ditch CarPlay in all its future EVs in favor of working with Google instead.
Shein raised $2 billion at a $66 billion valuation, down from $100 billion in April 2022, The WSJ reported. Investors included Sequoia, General Catalyst and Mubadala. The e-commerce company generated $23 billion in 2022.
Messaging
WhatsApp announced a new feature called “Chat Lock” that lets you lock down your chats from prying eyes. When used, the feature takes the thread out of the inbox and puts it in its own folder that can only be accessed with your device password or biometric, like a fingerprint.
Security
Popular Android TV boxes being sold on Amazon, including AllWinner and RockChip, were found to be laced with malware. The boxes’ listings have thousands of good reviews and four out of five stars in their ratings. But security researchers discovered they were actually communicating with command-and-control servers as part of a larger botnet.
Twitter’s new encrypted DMs aren’t as safe as you think, security researchers are saying. Though Twitter had already acknowledged the feature doesn’t protect against man-in-the-middle attackers, researchers have pointed out that Twitter has the means to subvert the end-to-end nature of the conversation if it chose — but not without alerting users to that fact. While some encryption is better than none, it’s still worth using an app like Signal or WhatsApp if you wanted secure chats.
Apple touted its fraud-fighting capabilities in a recent Newsroom post as the tech giant aims to litigate its right to collect commissions from app developers in the court of public opinion. The company says it stopped over $2 billion in fraudulent transactions in 2022, blocked nearly 3.9 million credit cards, closed 428,000 developer accounts and stopped nearly 105,000 developer program enrollments over suspected fraud.
Image Credits: Apple
Government and Policy
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Twitter and Google in a lawsuit that attempted to hold social platforms liable for dangerous content — specifically their hosting of content that promoted the terrorist organization ISIS. The case aimed to leverage an anti-terrorism law to open up the platforms to legal liability, but the court determined they were not responsible for aiding and abetting ISIS. The ruling on Twitter was applied to a related case on Google. The case was noteworthy because it had the potential to impact how Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act was applied. Currently, the law shields tech companies from being liable for the content they post, but a different decision could have carved out an exception for terrorist content.
Twitter owner Elon Musk threatened to sue Microsoft over an agreement regarding Microsoft’s use of Twitter data. In a letter to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Twitter said Microsoft had used more data than it was supposed to and shared it with government agencies without permission. The letter appears to be an attempt to get Microsoft to pay for data access via Twitter’s new API fees. The microblogging app maker claimed that Microsoft products, including Xbox One, Bing, Azure, Power Platform and Microsoft Ads, had “retrieved over 26 billion tweets in 2022 alone.” In a tweet, Musk said that Microsoft had “trained illegally using Twitter data. Lawsuit time,” in a reference to Microsoft using Twitter data to train its AI. He also accused Microsoft of demonetizing the Twitter database and selling the data to others.
A group of TikTok creators is suing to overturn Montana’s new law that bans TikTok starting January 1, 2024, citing First Amendment violations. The state says it expected a legal challenge and is prepared to defend the new law. Montana’s new law bans apps tied to foreign adversaries including also Telegram, WeChat and Temu.
Ovulation tracking app Premom settled with the FTC and state AGs for $200,000 over its sharing of user information with third parties without gaining consent.
Downloads
Skylight, from the makers of Halide
Image Credits: SkyLight via Lux
The creators of the popular iPhone camera app Halide are out this week with a new creation: Skylight Forecast, an app that predicts when you can see a spectacular sunset. The app uses dozens of atmospheric factors to make its intelligent predictions about whether you’ll see a great sunset, an average glow or nothing at all. The app also includes Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets and includes several nice touches. For instance, the app lights up in dynamic colors depending on the quality of the sunset, and the icons are adaptive to the circumstances, changing around based on condition. At launch, the app costs $1.99 per month, or $9.99 per year. Though typically the company offers one-time purchase options, it says it can’t do that in this case because of the ongoing costs for weather data.
Carrot Weather (Update: version 5.11)
Missing Dark Sky? The updated version of Carrot Weatherout this week brings improved rain alerts via server-side push notifications as to when the rain will start and stop. You can also set a minimum delivery interval to receive these updates more or less often. It also added several new data sources for Europe and Japan, including OpenWeather and other regional sources. Plus, you can see monthly averages for any locations in the Location Details scene or time travel up to 80 years in the past or a year in the future, to compare weather trends, among other things. Some of these features are reserved for Premium subscribers, while others require a Premium Ultra subscription.
Version 5.11 is now available, meatbags! New data sources, expanded server-side rain alerts, improved location details, a redesigned weather time machine, a new Smart Layout, new secret locations, new dialogue, and more. https://t.co/cfh5hKHNoBpic.twitter.com/pCyHIuXzRO
Google has made it easier to stream from Apple Podcasts and others when searching for podcasts in Google Search. After earlier this year winding down a feature that let users play podcasts directly from search results, the company said it would “gradually” shift to a new design that would instead offer information about podcasts and links to listen on other platforms through its search results. Now, that change is rolling out, we’re told.
When people search for podcasts using generic terms like “kids podcasts” or “movie podcasts” via their iPhone or iPad, they’ll see an option to “Listen on Apple Podcasts,” Apple told us.
Currently, the feature is only available to Google Search users in the U.S. (We understand it will roll out to more markets over time, after the initial performance is assessed.)
Image Credits: Google Search screenshot
When testing the changes by searching for “comedy podcasts” (sans quotes), we found a box near the top of the search results that showcased a number of popular titles. In addition to being about to filter for things like “stand-up comedy” or “TV” among others, you could also tap on filter buttons to limit results to those podcasts found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google Podcasts.
On the iPhone we tested on via Google mobile search, the Google Podcasts filter option was off to the side of the screen — it was not among the first set of filters.
After tapping on an individual show, you’re taken to a detail page where you can read a description and learn more about the program, like how frequently it releases, the average length of an episode, and see a listen of the latest episodes. Here, a “Listen now on Apple Podcasts” option is available and, when tapped, will directly launch the show in the Apple Podcasts app, courtesy of a deep link.
Apple isn’t the only beneficiary here, it seems, as the same functionality is available for Spotify, as well. To see Google Podcasts, you have to click another button — “All Listening Options” which reveals further choices. (No self-preferencing here, apparently!) Spotify said the feature has been live for its app for over a year, however, Apple confirmed the functionality we’ve described here is, in fact, new for Apple Podcasts.
This change may not be new to you, given the phased rollout. Often, that means some users will see changes before others.
Apple said the update is a recognition of the fact that people don’t want to listen to podcasts in-line — they would rather use the app of their choice.
Google’s Privacy Sandbox aims to replace third-party cookies with a more privacy-conscious approach, allowing users to manage their interests and grouping them into cohorts based on similar browsing patterns. That’s a major change for the online advertising industry, and after years of talking about it and releasing various experiments, it’s about to get real for the online advertising industry. Starting in early 2024, Google plans to migrate 1% of Chrome users to Privacy Sandbox and disable third-party cookies for them, the company announced today. Google’s plan to completely deprecate third-party cookies in the second half of 2024 remains on track.
In addition, with the launch of the Chrome 115 release in July, Google is making Privacy Sandbox’s relevance and measurement APIs generally available to all Chrome users, making it easy for developers to test these APIs with live traffic. Google doesn’t plan to make any significant changes to the API after this release.
Deprecating third-party cookies for 1% of Chrome users doesn’t sound like it would have a major impact, but as Google’s Victor Wong, who leads product for Private Advertising Technology within Privacy Sandbox, told me, it will help developers assess their real-world readiness for the larger changes coming in late 2024. To get ready for this, developers will also be able to simulate their third-party cookie deprecation readiness starting in Q4 2023, when they’ll be able to test their solutions by moving a configurable percentage of their users to Privacy Sandbox.
“This plan was developed with close consultation and coordination with UK’s Competition and Markets Authority — the CMA. We consulted with them on this and we felt this is the best way to, jointly with the industry, actually test out the solution,” Wong explained. “In Q4 [2023], we help coordinate some of the testing and make that easier. Q1 [2024], we deprecate for 1%, which then, for everyone in the industry, forces them to seriously start experimenting and testing.”
With the launch of Chrome 115, most adtech developers should be able to start testing their solutions at scale. At that point, Privacy Sandbox features like Protected Audience, Attribution Reporting and the Topics API will be locked in.
It’s worth noting that today, users can already turn on the Privacy Sandbox trials in Chrome. The APIs have been available for testing since the launch of the Chrome 101 beta. But that’s obviously quite different from being able to test these APIs at scale.
“A lot of folks have been asking for more scaled availability, because today, obviously, only a minority of users currently have sandbox available. So just even to do testing there is quite limited. But we’re seeing a lot of interest to scale that up,” said Wong. He also noted that Google doesn’t currently have any plans for intermediary steps throughout 2023 to scale this number beyond 1%. Once it decides to fully deprecate, Google plans to go from 1% to 100% without any milestones in-between (though there will obviously be a bit of a ramp-up).
“I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say how big of a deal this initiative is, at least in the history of the web. So we’re taking a very deliberate approach based on the input of voices across the ecosystem, including developers, regulators, policymakers and advertisers. We heard from a lot of these partners, saying more time was needed to make sure that they could test and adapt,” Wong said. But he also noted that the company is seeing a lot of people in the ecosystem starting to move very quickly now that these deadlines are approaching. Some partners, he thinks, may already be at the point where they could make the switch today.
It’s no secret that Privacy Sandbox isn’t uncontroversial and other browser vendors are taking very differentapproaches to preserving their users’ privacy. With the CMA closely watching Google’s initiative, the company has committed to a set of guidelines that should ensure that there are no self-preferencing practices in how it implements Privacy Sandbox that could give it an advantage over its competitors. As none of the competitors seem particularly keen on adopting Privacy Sandbox, the implications for the overall web advertising ecosystem remain to be seen.
Smart item tracker Chipolo, a competitor to Apple’s AirTag and others, opted to grow its business by partnering with the Cupertino tech giant, not fighting them, as rival Tile has done. When Apple opened up its Find My app to third-party devices, Chipolo embraced the possibility of targeting iPhone users with versions of its Bluetooth-powered lost item trackers, the Chipolo ONE and Chipolo CARD, designed to work specifically with Apple’s software. Now the company is doing the same thing for Android with its latest set of new products.
Amid the flurry of announcements from Google’s I/O developer conference last week, including updates to Android’s finding network, Chipolo also unveiled a debut line of devices that will work with Google’s Find My Device app — the Android equivalent to Apple’s Find My.
While the Apple versions of its lost item trackers are known as the Chipolo ONE Spot and Chipolo CARD Spot, the Android versions will be dubbed the Chipolo ONE Point and the Chipolo CARD Point. They’re priced competitively at $28 and $35, respectively, or sold in a bundle that includes 1 CARD Point and 2 ONE Point trackers for $77.
Image Credits: Chipolo
You can also buy the trackers in four-packs, costing $79 for a pack of ONE Point devices or $112 for a four-pack of CARD Point devices.
At Google I/O, the tech giant had announced enhancements to its Find My Device network, which now makes it easier to locate lost items by ringing them or viewing their location on a map, even if they’re offline. The company also announced support for an expanded range of third-party devices, including these new trackers from Chipolo and others, like Tile and Pebblebee, plus audio devices like Pixel Buds and headphones from Sony and JBL. This makes the network more competitive with Apple’s Find My which today supports a range of devices, including more than just trackers.
Timed with Google’s announcement, Chipolo unveiled its Find My Device-enabled trackers, which will come in a new shade of off-white. This differentiates them from their iOS-friendly counterparts, which come in black. (The original Chipolo products come in a variety of colors, however, but work with the company’s own app, not the smartphone makers’ finding networks.)
The Chipolo ONE Point key finder is the Android-supported version of the small, rounded tracker designed to be attached to something like your keychain or gets clipped onto something else you want to track, like your luggage or handbag. Meanwhile, the Chipolo CARD Point is a slim, rectangular tracker that can be slid into the credit card slot in your wallet or placed inside your passport book, for instance.
Image Credits: Chipolo
Both work with devices running Android 9 and up with Googe Play Servies installed.
Similar to other trackers, the new devices easily pair with your smartphone, offer some water resistance (IPX5 rated), and have a battery life of up to 2 years. The battery is replaceable and the company offers a renewal and battery recycling program that includes discounts on new products.
The devices also have a loud ring of either 120dB for Chipolo ONE Point and 105dB for Chipolo CARD Point, which helps you find misplaced items by playing a sound, when within a 200ft / 60m range. When lost or stolen, however, Android users can now tap into Google’s Find My Device network. This network — made up of “billions of Android devices around the world,” as it was described at I/O — uses Bluetooth technology to detect missing items and then communicates their approximate location back to the original owner.
“We are proud to be collaborating with Google and to be part of their Find My Device network. We believe this brings the finding experience to a whole new level, as it gives Android users the reassurance to locate their belongings with the help of Google’s global Find My Device Network and additional privacy and security that unknown tracker alerts provide,” said Primož Zelenšek, CEO and co-founder of Chipolo, in a statement. Android users can now place Chipolo tags on their belongings to keep better track of what matters – whether that be keys, wallets, or suitcases,” he added.
