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Weekly News For You To Stay Updated With The App Industry
Last week saw the same players dominate the news in the app world. Apple announced that they’re going to allow third-party payment options in two countries, Google and Apple bickering over messaging again, and some popular apps testing new features.
Read all this and more in our Weekly News Wr(app).
1. WhatsApp has a Useful Voice Note Feature in Store
WhatsApp is developing a feature that will allow users to play Voice Notes in the background.
Currently, a voice note will stop playing if the user leaves the chat window. This feature is particularly useful if you want to browse other conversations while simultaneously listening to a voice note. A pretty neat feature if you ask us.
Source: https://bit.ly/3qCbDAE
2. Apple to Allow Third-Party Payment Options in South Korea
It looks like the tech giant is raising the white flag is allowing alternative payment options for developers. Apple was forced to comply following a bill passed by the Korean government in August 2021. Google is yet to make a clear response.
However, the terms of this new policy are uncertain. No date has been set on the implementation of this policy nor how it will affect developers.
Even so, this is a big win for developers in South Korea. Hope those in India can find some joy soon.
Source: https://bit.ly/3rsJwDj
3. Instagram may add Private Likes on Stories
Instagram may soon allow users to react to Stories with emoticons. The feature is currently in the testing phase, so it’s available to a few users only.
This could help different kinds of users, including creators and influencers to measuring the engagement on their Stories.
Source: https://bit.ly/3GJ7HUy
4. India 2nd Biggest Mobile Market in 2021
India ranked as the world’s second-largest mobile market in 2021. China topped the list with the US at number 3. The report from App Annie measured these rankings by downloads, consumer spending, and hours.
The report also recorded India’s average screentime at 4.7 hours per day. A bulk of the time was spent on Social & Communications apps followed by Photo & Video apps, with Gaming at third.
Even though the app economy is still being shaped by the pandemic, the numbers still remain on a high. App developers have a lot in store in the coming year by the looks of it.
Source: https://bit.ly/3tFLHX0
5. Google in a Twitter Feud over Apple’s iMessage
The feud was set ablaze by SVP of Google, Hiroshi Lockheimer who criticized Apple for benefitting from “bullying” because of its iMessage strategy.
Apple does not instigate any bullying. But its users tend to ostracize non-iPhone users from their group chats. This is signified by the “blue bubble-green bubble” phenomenon. If an Android user were to text an iOS user, their text bubble appears in green. But iOS to iOS texting results in blue bubbles. Thus, any green bubble user is pressurized in either switching to iPhone or not being part of the chat.
Google wants to adopt its Rich Communication System (RCS) so that Android users can also benefit from similar features to iMessage. But doing that won’t help Apple, hence they refrain.
The whole episode has left everyone amused, especially in the light of Google’s own reluctance to be fair to all.
Source: https://bit.ly/3qFBtUD
6. Indian Startup Raises $12.5 million for its Mobile-gaming Community
Turnip, an Indian startup is seeking to solve the “deeper engagement and monetization” problem in the mobile-gaming community.
Pooja Dubey, founder of Turnip is attempting to solve these problems by “allowing gamers to build a community on its app, where they can stream live gameplay from their mobile devices, engage with their fans and monetize”.
Gaming has become a social experiment over th years with games like PUBG and Fortnite. Neil Shah, partner at Greenoaks said that, “Today’s streamers and other creators want to cultivate deep, personalized, and persistent relationships with their fans, with a richness that’s impossible to achieve on Twitch or YouTube alone”.
Source: https://tcrn.ch/33onx8M
7. Apple to Allow Third-Party Payment for Dating Apps in The Netherlands
First South Korea, now the Netherlands, it looks like Apple is allowing alternative payment methods in another country. But unlike South Korea, Apple is allowing it for only dating apps in the Netherlands.
Apple finally caved in after the Netherlands antitrust body, Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) threatened them with hefty fines.
Just like Korea, it’s yet to be seen how this will impact developers and what it may cost them.
Source: https://bloom.bg/3fCjBUo
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