• Patreon Lens is Snapchat for creators’ paid fans only

    Patreon Lens is Snapchat for creators’ paid fans only

    by

    in

    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…

  • The NYT debuts its first augmented reality-enhanced story on iOS

    The NYT debuts its first augmented reality-enhanced story on iOS

    by

    in

    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…

  • InVision launches Studio Platform, challenging Adobe with an open ecosystem

    InVision launches Studio Platform, challenging Adobe with an open ecosystem

    by

    in

    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…

  • Voicegram lets anyone record and share a conversation with Alexa

    Voicegram lets anyone record and share a conversation with Alexa

    by

    in

    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…

  • Apple is sending some developers ad spend and install details for other people’s apps

    Apple is sending some developers ad spend and install details for other people’s apps

    by

    in

    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…

  • Why I decided to install Messenger Kids

    Why I decided to install Messenger Kids

    by

    in

    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…

  • Mixpanel analytics accidentally slurped up passwords

    Mixpanel analytics accidentally slurped up passwords

    by

    in

    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…

  • Strava appears to have disabled a key tracking feature over privacy concerns

    Strava appears to have disabled a key tracking feature over privacy concerns

    by

    in

    This will come as no surprise to those who’ve been following the news of the past couple of weeks, but it appears that Strava’s disabled at least one top feature as it works to get to the bottom of recent privacy concerns over its mapping features. The app’s Segments feature looks to be at least…

  • Snapchat slips in features like fonts and do not disturb amidst redesign

    Snapchat slips in features like fonts and do not disturb amidst redesign

    by

    in

    Snap is waking up to the “Time Well Spent” movement Facebook is already addressing. Snapchat is offering a way to mute specific people without formally blocking them. Meanwhile, the sweeping redesign that’s slowly rolling out comes with ways to jazz up your Snaps with colorful text styles and multiple captions. The new features focus around making…

  • Buglife wants to put the power to report mobile software bugs in users’ hands

    Buglife wants to put the power to report mobile software bugs in users’ hands

    by

    in

    Every day we encounter bugs in mobile apps. They may lock up or perform in a way we didn’t expect, but what if you could report the bug to developers as it happened with all of the contextual information they need to fix the problem? That’s what Buglife a member of the Winter 2018 Y…