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Weekly News For You To Stay Updated With The App Industry
“HOW’S THE JOSH?” is of course a famous movie dialogue. The people at Josh HQ are probably screaming the same given their rise in popularity following TikTok’s ban in 2020.
We explore the story of the Josh app plus many others in our latest Weekly News Wr(app).
Check it all out below:
1. Apple CEO worried about sideloading apps but critics believe Apple has other motives
Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, spoke against data-hungry companies who are out to mine user data while bypassing privacy rules. He insists that Apple is against such practices and wants to maintain security and privacy over the App Store.
“We are deeply concerned about regulations that would undermine privacy and security in service of some other aim,” he said.
This is why he says the Silicon Valley giant is against the sideloading of apps since it undermines user privacy and increases risk.
Critics however believe that Apple is simply trying to maintain its dominant position in the market. With greater control over the App Store and taking away user and developer choice, they can continue to extract its commissions for digital transactions.
It’s the same story with Google, which is the other dominant market force. Even though Google allows for the installation of apps from outside the Play Store, it does so by giving a security warning to users. These warning messages are an attempt to discourage users from installing third-party apps.
Source: https://bit.ly/3EuGBA3
2. Josh app is riding on a high two years after the TikTok ban
Four days after TitkTok was banned in India, VerSe Innovation released Josh. The creators of the app realized that Indians were desperate for an alternative. Umang Bedi, co-founder of VerSe grasped the yearnings of Indian users and was involved in getting 200 TikTok influencers onboard the Josh app. This influx of influencers and creators quickly gave legitimacy to the app.
One of the reasons for Josh’s success is its focus on Bharat, that is, users from outside the metro cities. Josh has focused on reaching out to the non-English speaking population in India and has seen great success.
All these efforts have allowed the app to garner 150 million monthly active users. Today, Josh is valued at $5 billion after raising fresh funds to the tune of $805 million.
The success of an app in a country like India depends largely on whether it can appeal to users that speak different languages.
Source: https://bloom.bg/3vpulNm
3. Ad revenue jumped in 2021 as digital media consumption continues to grow
The IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report of 2021 showed that social media advertising grow by 39% last year, amounting to $57.7 billion in the US.
Libby Morgan, Chief Strategy Officer of IAB was in a buoyant mood. He said “We fully expected 2021 to be an exceptional year for digital ad growth, but even we were surprised at the degree of acceleration. Not only was every single digital channel up, but some were up more than 50% year on year,”.
The CEO of IAB, David Cohen offered a hopeful outlook on the future. He said that “Increased consumer usage coupled with extraordinary growth of small and mid-sized businesses during the pandemic has fueled growth across all digital — but especially digital audio and video. We expect this digital migration to drive the continued growth of a healthy and competitive digital marketplace driven by innovation and entrepreneurship.”
India being the second-largest mobile internet market in the world can also expect similar growth numbers in the future.
Source: https://bit.ly/3JU8CCc
4. WhatsApp introducing larger discussion groups called Communities
The popular messaging app WhatsApp is introducing a way for users to communicate in an organized way through its latest feature. Called Communities, users will have an upgraded experience compared to their normal group chats.
Communities will have tools like large size file sharing, 32-person group calling, emoji reactions, admin tools, moderation tools, etc.
According to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, messaging has become the “center of our digital lives”. He also said, “it’s more intimate and private, and with encryption it’s more secure too,”.
The Communities feature is still in the testing phase and is therefore available only to a limited number of users. Following feedback and further testing, WhatsApp may release it to the public soon. As of now, no official release date is set.
Source: https://tcrn.ch/3xGZ6jo
5. Twitter’s edit button may not delete your old tweet completely
A fortnight ago, Twitter announced that it was working on an edit button. Twitter users can rejoice at this news since it means that they can finally edit out the silly typos from their tweets.
However, it was revealed by reverse engineering that the edit history of a tweet will remain even after a tweet has been edited. This means that users can see the typos you made in your original tweet along with the corrected one.
Whether this comes out in the final iteration of the feature is yet to be seen but it’s also a prudent move. Keeping an edit history can prevent users from being misled and from users misusing the feature.
The edit button is currently being and may be available only to premium Twitter Blue users soon.
Source: https://bit.ly/3jRVjYA
6. Google launches its “Switch to Android” app for Apple’s iOS
We don’t know many who chose to switch from an iPhone to an Android phone but assuming that there is, there’s an app to help you make the switch easier.
Google’s new Switch to Android app will help former iPhone users to migrate their photos, videos, contacts, etc. to their new Android phones. The app also helps in connecting with iCloud to import a user's photos and videos to Android.
However, the app does not allow to import applications from iOS to Android, since Apple limits what a third-party app can access on a user’s device.
In case you want to use the app, you’ll have to download it using a direct link since it’s not available on the App Store search.
Source: https://tcrn.ch/3rCAX9P
