Latest from Sarah Perez
The new bylines go beyond the typical @username references that often accompany link posts from news publications and those pointing to other written content, like a WordPress blog or Substack
X weighs adding a downvote button to replies — but it doesn’t want to emulate Reddit
code references found in the X iOS app indicate that the company could be considering adding downvotes for replies only to improve how they’re ranked.
Figma disables its AI design feature that appeared to be ripping off Apple’s Weather app
The Make Design feature is available within Figma’s software and will generate UI (user interface) layouts and components from text prompts.
Music, podcasts, audiobooks…emergency alerts? Spotify’s latest test has the streaming app venturing into new territory with a test of an emergency alerts system in its home market of Sweden. According…
YouTube now lets you request removal of AI-generated content that simulates your face or voice
Simply submitting the request for a takedown doesn’t necessarily mean the content will be removed, however.
Investment app Robinhood is adding more AI features for investors with its acquisition of AI-powered research platform Pluto Capital, Inc. Announced on Monday, the company says that Pluto will allow…
As Google described during the I/O session, the new on-device surface would organize what’s most relevant to users, inviting them to jump back into their apps.
There were definite differences between how the two platforms managed last night, with some saying X felt more alive, and others asserting that Threads proved that X is no longer…
Zuckerberg disses closed-source AI competitors as trying to ‘create God’
In the conversation, Zuckerberg said there needs to be a lot of different AIs that get created to reflect people’s different interests.
Just in time for the debates, Meta fixes bug impacting users’ political content settings on Instagram and Threads
Meta has fixed the bug that caused people to believe the company had adjusted their selections in a political content settings tool without their consent. The issue had impacted users…
Directo turns a TikTok travel hack into a deal-finding Chrome extension
A travel hack that went viral on TikTok teaches users how to save money on hotels and Airbnbs by booking directly with the properties themselves. Now, a new startup, Directo,…
Like Instagram, Whee also supports the use of photo filters and includes messaging. However, the company’s plans for Whee aren’t clear.
You can now more easily use ChatGPT on your Mac computer. OpenAI’s popular AI chatbot is available to all macOS users, the company announced on Tuesday. The app was first…
Threads users can now share to the open social web, aka the fediverse
Instagram’s Twitter/X rival Threads is furthering its expansion into the fediverse — the interconnected social network that includes apps like Mastodon, PeerTube and others running the ActivityPub protocol. On Tuesday,…
Inspired by Gen Z, Pinterest users can now turn boards into videos for sharing on Instagram and TikTok
The new addition was inspired by the video-sharing activity that was already taking place on apps like TikTok.
iPhone Mirroring, one of the more notable features arriving in Apple’s upcoming operating systems, is now available to developers testing the beta versions of iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia. The…
Smashing, from Goodreads’ co-founder, curates the best of the web using AI and human recommendations
Smashing is an AI and community-powered content recommendation app, now launching into an invite-only beta.
Gen Z photos app Swipewipe sells to French publisher MWM in its largest acquisition to date
The acquisition allows Swipewipe’s founder to take some money off the table while also continuing to benefit financially from his work via an ongoing revenue-sharing agreement with MWM.
Dot is a new AI companion and chatbot that thrives on getting to know your innermost thoughts and feelings.
Roots introduces a screen time app for tracking ‘digital dopamine’
Roots is designed to help people get a better handle on what sort of apps are worth spending time on and which are not.
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.
Now a Series A startup, kids’ app and ‘digital toy’ Pok Pok is coming to Android
Pok Pok’s growth caught investors’ attention, leading to a $6 million Series A.
The Clicks keyboard case has arrived, and it’s delightful, if not entirely practical for everyday use — at least, not without weeks of practice.
Apple gives developers a way to nominate their apps for editorial consideration on the App Store
From a new Nominations dashboard in App Store Connect, developers will be able to create their nominations, either one by one or by uploading a spreadsheet to nominate apps in…
Apple’s Spotlight Search gets better at natural language queries in iOS 18
With the Core Spotlight framework, developers can donate content they want to make searchable via Spotlight.
After the Yahoo News app revamp, Yahoo preps AI summaries on homepage, too
Yahoo’s AI push isn’t over just yet. The company, also TechCrunch’s parent, recently launched AI-powered features for Yahoo Mail, including its own take on Gmail’s Priority Inbox and AI summaries…
To give users more control over the contacts an app can and cannot access, the permissions screen has two stages.
Washington’s political class doesn’t know Y Combinator exists — yet
After educating the D.C. market, YC aims to leverage its influence, particularly in areas like competition policy.
With dozens of antitrust cases and close to a hundred on the consumer protection side, the agency is now turning to innovative tactics to help it fight fraud, particularly in…
Apple’s AI, Apple Intelligence, is boring and practical — that’s why it works
Some of the new Apple Intelligence features that Apple debuted at WWDC 2024 don’t even feel like AI, they just feel like smarter tools.