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UK outs plan to bolster gig economy workers rights
The UK government has announced a package of labor market reforms to respond to changes in working patterns including those driven by the rise of gig economy platforms and apps like Uber and Deliveroo. It’s billing the move as an expansion of workers rights — saying “millions” of workers will get new day-one rights, as…
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After years of neglect, Snapchat wins in the developing world
Snapchat doubled its Rest of World revenue this quarter. That’s a surprise, considering CEO Evan Spiegel never seemed to care about anyone but U.S. teens. Snapchat’s Android app was buggy. Its videos loaded too slowly on weak connections. And Spiegel even admitted “Historically we’ve really focused our efforts on markets where [high-end phones and broadband…
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Snap shares skyrocket on first earnings beat with revived user growth
Snapchat is starting to turn things around, boosting its sluggish user growth rate and beating Wall Street’s expectations for the first time with today’s blockbuster Q4 2017 earnings report. It added 8.9 million daily active users, to reach 187 million, with a quarter-over-quarter growth rate of 5.05 percent percent in Q4, compared to 2.9 percent in…
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Patreon Lens is Snapchat for creators’ paid fans only
Exclusive content is how creators get patrons to pay them a monthly subscription fee on Patreon, so the startup is equipping them with a Snapchat-like tool to turn their private lives into “behind-the-scenes” footage. Patreon Lens launches today within Patreon’s iOS and Android apps so creators can share photos and videos that disappear in 24…
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The NYT debuts its first augmented reality-enhanced story on iOS
Apple’s investment in AR technologies has been ushering in a new wave of apps, from those that let you perform more practical tasks – like visualizing furniture placement in rooms – to those with mass consumer appeal – like AR gaming, including Niantic’s upcoming Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. But AR can also be used to create unique…
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InVision launches Studio Platform, challenging Adobe with an open ecosystem
In October, InVision made the first dramatic change to its product portfolio since the company’s inception. The team launched InVision Studio, a design tool meant to take on the likes of Adobe XD and Sketch. Now, however, InVision is taking yet another huge step forward with the announcement of the Studio Platform, letting third-party developers…
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Voicegram lets anyone record and share a conversation with Alexa
If you’ve ever wanted to share a voice conversation you had with Alexa, you probably pointed your smartphone at your Echo speaker and recorded a shaky mobile video. That solution may work for the occasional tweet, but businesses and developers may want an easier, more professional way to show off their Alexa skills. That’s where…
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Apple is sending some developers ad spend and install details for other people’s apps
An issue at Apple appears to be resulting in app developers getting emails of ad spend and install summaries for apps belonging to other developers. The issue — which appears specific right now to developers using Search Ads Basic, pay-per-install ads that appear as promoted apps when people search on the App Store — was…
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Why I decided to install Messenger Kids
I’ve been struggling with whether or not to download Facebook’s new app aimed at children, Messenger Kids, onto my daughter’s iPad. This weekend, I took the plunge. I sat with her as she typed her first message and sent a selfie. I watched as she discovered GIFs. I wasn’t sure I had done the right…
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Mixpanel analytics accidentally slurped up passwords
The passwords of some people using sites monitored by popular analytics provider Mixpanel were mistakenly pulled into its software. Until TechCrunch’s inquiry, Mixpanel had made no public announcement about the embarrassing error beyond quietly emailing clients about the problem. Yet some need to update to a fixed Mixpanel SDK to prevent an ongoing privacy breach. It’s…