Category: Mobile & Apps

Meta is expanding the reach of its AI-generated video platform Vibes with the testing of a standalone app, the company confirmed to TechCrunch. Vibes, introduced last September, allows users to produce and share short-form AI-generated videos and explore a dedicated feed showcasing AI videos from others.

Similar to TikTok and Instagram Reels, every video on Vibes is AI-generated, distinguishing it from traditional user-generated content platforms. Previously nested within the Meta AI app, the standalone app positions Vibes as a more direct competitor to Sora, OpenAI’s AI-generated video and social app.

Meta stated that following the strong early traction of Vibes within the Meta AI app, they are testing a standalone version to build on that momentum. The company emphasized the increasing trend of users embracing the format to create, discover, and share AI-generated videos, aiming to provide a more focused and immersive experience through the standalone app. Meta intends to expand the app further based on community feedback and usage insights.

While Meta did not disclose specific metrics, the company asserts that Vibes has been well-received, contributing to the continuous growth of Meta AI usage. The standalone app allows users a more concentrated environment for content creation and interaction, catering to the rising interest in collaboration and sharing observed within the platform.

Users of Vibes have the flexibility to generate videos from scratch or remix existing content, enabling customization through additional visuals, music integration, and style adjustments before sharing across various social media platforms. Meta highlights the increasing engagement and sharing behaviors among Vibes users, drawing parallels to the usage patterns seen on Instagram and Facebook Stories and Reels.

Source: TechCrunch

A new mobile app called Gizmo is revolutionizing interactive media creation by offering a TikTok-like platform for vibe-coded mini applications. Developed by the startup Atma Sciences, Gizmo allows users to craft experiences using text, photos, sound, and touch, presented in a vertical feed format. Unlike traditional short-form video apps, Gizmo encourages active participation from users through interactions like poking, swiping, tapping, drawing, and dragging within the mini apps.

These mini apps, known as Gizmos, range from interactive puzzles to art pieces and animations, offering a diverse range of digital experiences for creators and users alike. Gizmo’s user-friendly approach enables creators to bring their ideas to life without prior coding knowledge by simply describing their concept through an AI prompt. The app then employs AI coding technology to generate the necessary code to materialize the idea visually and functionally.

Furthermore, Gizmo ensures user safety by subjecting all apps to AI and human moderation. The app’s innovative blend of technology and creativity has garnered attention, with Atma Sciences securing a significant seed funding round to support further development. Co-founded by Rudd Fawcett and Brandon Francis, with CEO Josh Siegel and CTO Daniel Amitay, Atma Sciences aims to simplify interactive media creation through powerful yet elegant technology solutions.

Source: TechCrunch

Tinder, the popular dating app, is exploring the use of AI technology with its new feature, Chemistry, aimed at addressing the issue of ‘swipe fatigue’ among online daters. This approach leverages AI to better understand users by asking questions and analyzing their Camera Roll (with permission) to gain insights into their interests and personality.

During Match’s Q4 2026 earnings call, CEO Spencer Rascoff highlighted Chemistry’s testing phase in Australia, emphasizing how the feature provides users with an alternative to the traditional swiping experience. Instead of endlessly swiping through profiles, users can engage with the app through a question-and-answer format, enabling a more personalized matching process.

Besides its current functionalities, Chemistry is poised to be integrated into other aspects of the app in the future, signaling Tinder’s commitment to enhancing user engagement and combatting swipe fatigue. This move comes in response to declining subscriber numbers, user fatigue, and a drop in new registrations across dating apps.

Source: TechCrunch

TikTok experienced a temporary decline in active users following an ownership change, allowing rival apps like UpScrolled and Skylight Social to gain traction. However, the video-sharing platform has since recovered, surpassing 90 million daily active users in the U.S. after a brief dip from its usual 92 million. This fluctuation in user numbers highlights the influence of ownership transitions on user behavior within the tech industry.

During TikTok’s usage downturn, UpScrolled and Skylight Social saw a surge in daily active users, albeit at a smaller scale compared to TikTok. UpScrolled peaked at 138,500 users, and Skylight Social at 81,200, showcasing the competitive landscape among video-sharing platforms. Despite the growth of these alternatives, TikTok’s return to over 90 million daily active users signifies its ability to retain its user base.

The decline in TikTok’s usage was not primarily tied to the ownership change itself but rather to user concerns regarding potential impacts on their experience. Privacy apprehensions, particularly related to the updated policy allowing precise GPS tracking, influenced some users to explore other platforms. This incident underscores the significance of transparency and user trust in shaping user preferences in the tech ecosystem.

Source: TechCrunch

Grubhub, a major player in the food delivery space, has announced a strategic move to eliminate delivery and service fees on restaurant orders exceeding $50. This initiative, revealed alongside a high-profile Super Bowl commercial featuring actor George Clooney, aims to enhance the company’s competitiveness against rivals like DoorDash and Uber Eats.

The decision to waive fees on larger orders represents a significant departure from industry norms. While competitors often offer fee waivers as temporary promotions or tied to subscription services, Grubhub’s move stands out as a permanent cost-saving benefit for customers. By removing an average of $13 in fees per transaction, Grubhub hopes to attract more users and drive customer loyalty in a fiercely competitive market.

This strategic change comes at a crucial time for Grubhub, which has been facing challenges in user growth compared to its competitors. With monthly active users declining by 20% year-over-year, the fee waiver could be a pivotal move to regain market share and appeal to budget-conscious consumers.

Source: TechCrunch

TikTok has announced that it has successfully resolved service disruptions caused by a U.S. snowstorm that affected an Oracle-operated data center responsible for its operations. The social platform, now under new U.S. ownership, experienced outages impacting over 220 million users in the country.

The winter storm-induced power outage led to network and storage issues at the data center, affecting various core TikTok features like content posting, discovery, and real-time video metrics display. Despite the challenges, the company has restored its services to normalcy after addressing the technical issues.

Following a recent ownership transition and the formation of a separate entity for TikTok in the U.S., users encountered glitches such as posting problems, slower load times, and viewing issues. The disruptions coincided with TikTok’s ownership restructuring, which involved a U.S.-based investor group acquiring an 80% stake in the platform.

Despite the temporary setbacks, TikTok’s efforts to overcome the snowstorm-induced outages demonstrate the platform’s resilience and commitment to providing uninterrupted service to its vast user base.

Source: TechCrunch

Instagram is working on a new feature that will allow users to remove themselves from someone’s ‘Close Friends’ list, as reported by TechCrunch. This upcoming feature is currently in the early stages of development and has not been rolled out for public testing.

The ‘Close Friends’ feature on the social platform enables users to share their Stories, Reels, and posts exclusively with a selected group rather than their entire follower base. Since its introduction in 2018, users have not had the option to opt out of being included in another user’s ‘Close Friends’ list.

The discovery of this internal prototype was credited to reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi, known for uncovering unreleased features during their development phase. According to a screenshot shared by Paluzzi, Instagram will notify users that once they opt out of a ‘Close Friends’ list, they will no longer have access to that person’s exclusive content unless the user is re-added to the list.

While some individuals might find it undesirable to be removed from a ‘Close Friends’ list, this potential feature is likely to be appreciated by those who prefer not to be included in certain users’ exclusive circles. Notably, Snapchat, a key competitor to Instagram, already offers a similar functionality that allows users to opt out of viewing someone’s private stories.

As with all internal prototypes, there is no confirmation on when or if Instagram will make this feature available to all users.

Source: TechCrunch

Spotify, the popular music and podcast streaming service, has introduced a new group chat feature to enhance its social sharing capabilities. This functionality allows users to engage in conversations and share their favorite content, including playlists, podcasts, and audiobooks, with up to 10 people directly within the app.

The group chat feature builds upon Spotify’s existing messaging service, which was launched in August of last year. This new addition enables users to discuss shared content and collaborate on playlists, Jams, and Blends together.

This strategic move by Spotify underscores the company’s commitment to fostering a more interactive and communal streaming experience for its users. By incorporating social elements, such as comments on podcasts and the ability to follow and discover others’ listening habits, Spotify aims to create a vibrant community within its platform.

However, it’s important to note that while messages are encrypted at rest and in transit, Spotify’s approach to privacy and user engagement involves a balance, as end-to-end encryption is not currently employed.

Source: TechCrunch

Apple has recently welcomed Sebastiaan de With, the co-founder of Lux, the company behind popular iPhone photo and video apps like Halide and Kino, to its design team. This marks de With’s return to Apple, having previously contributed to projects such as iCloud and Find My. Before Lux, he held design roles at Sony, T-Mobile, and Mozilla.

De With expressed enthusiasm about joining Apple’s design team, mentioning his excitement to collaborate on his favorite products. Meanwhile, Lux affirmed that Halide’s development will continue under their guidance. The company unveiled a public preview of Halide Mark III, emphasizing a new ‘Looks’ feature aimed at replicating film camera aesthetics.

De With’s arrival at Apple coincides with notable shifts within the division. The introduction of the Liquid Glass design in iOS 26 received mixed reviews, and Alan Dye, Apple’s former chief of user interface design, departed for Meta in December. Recent reports also indicate that John Ternus, a potential successor to Tim Cook, assumed responsibilities for hardware and software design towards the end of last year.

Source: TechCrunch

Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, has announced a new pricing strategy for developers utilizing AI chatbots on the platform in Italy. This decision follows regulatory demands for Meta to allow third-party chatbots on WhatsApp, resulting in a charge of $0.0691/ €0.0572 / £0.0498 per message for AI responses starting February 16. The move signifies Meta’s compliance with the competition watchdog’s mandate in Italy, where the company had previously faced a ban on third-party chatbots.

Previously, Meta had prohibited third-party AI chatbots on WhatsApp, citing system limitations and strain. However, the recent shift towards allowing AI chatbots at a cost reflects the evolving regulatory landscape and Meta’s adaptation to meet legal requirements. This move may set a precedent for similar actions in other regions should Meta encounter comparable regulatory pressures.

WhatsApp has been charging companies for API use, including template responses for marketing, utility, and authentication purposes. The introduction of fees for AI chatbots marks a significant development in Meta’s approach to facilitating AI interactions on its platform. Developers utilizing AI chatbots on WhatsApp now face a new cost structure, potentially impacting their operations and expenses.

Source: TechCrunch

Apple has mandated that all creators on the platform Patreon transition to a subscription billing model using Apple’s in-app purchase system by November 1, 2026. This requirement has raised concerns among Patreon creators, with the company expressing worries about Apple’s shifting rules and the potential impact on creator businesses.

The mandate, announced by Apple in 2024, aims to ensure that all Patreon creators use Apple’s subscription billing system to comply with App Store guidelines. Failure to adhere to this requirement could lead to removal from the App Store. Apple granted Patreon adequate time to make the transition, allowing creators to adjust subscription prices to cover Apple’s fees and postpone the changes until November 2025 if necessary.

Despite a temporary pause due to updated App Store regulations following the Epic v. Apple case, Patreon is now facing the challenge of reinitiating the transition for its creators. This situation has created uncertainty and confusion for creators, emphasizing the complexities of navigating platform policies and regulations.

Source: TechCrunch