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Image Credits:<\/strong> Klarna<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n- Klarna launched a new Klarna Creator app for retailers and influencers to collaborate on brand campaigns and to track earnings, performance and sales.<\/strong>\u00a0Over 500,000 vetted creators have access to leading brands and retailers, the company said. On the app, retailers can direct-message a creator they want to partner with and send them products for content. The app also has a tracking feature for sales and commissions.<\/li>\n
- A new app called Drivr introduces a crowdsourced tipping platform<\/strong> that uses data science to map last-mile delivery drivers to neighborhoods to allow shoppers to tip their regular delivery drivers.<\/li>\n
- PayPal launched a revamped rewards program that combines Honey\u2019s discounts with other ways to earn.<\/strong> Honey, acquired by PayPal for $4 billion in 2019, will continue to offer Honey Gold, but it\u2019s being rebranded as PayPal Rewards. Consumers will be able to collect rewards via the Honey browser extension, the PayPal app and, in the future, various card products.<\/li>\n
- Jane Technologies\u2019 cannabis marketplace launched in a dedicated iOS app<\/strong> that lets consumers browse local cannabis dispensaries and make purchases.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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Image Credits:<\/strong> Jane Technologies<\/p>\n<\/div>\nFintech<\/h3>\n\n- Disrupt Startup Battlefield company Staax pitched its app<\/strong> that attempts to onboard a younger generation of stock investors using peer-to-peer payments of stock.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
web3<\/h3>\n\n- Jack Dorsey\u2019s Bluesky detailed its plans for decentralized social networks<\/strong> that would limit governmental and corporate influence on the future of social media.<\/li>\n
- Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko, speaking at Disrupt, described the upcoming web3-focused smartphone Saga as a moonshot aimed at taking on Apple and Google by offering a distribution channel for mobile crypto developers.<\/strong> The phone will allow developers to maintain digital ownership rights instead of paying the Apple (and Google) tax of 30%.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Social<\/h3>\n\n- Pinterest partnered with record labels to bring popular music to its TikTok rival, Idea Pins.<\/strong> The company is now working with Warner Music Group, Warner Chappell Music, Merlin and BMG to offer users access to thousands of songs from top artists, accessible in the Pinterest app for iOS and Android.<\/li>\n
- Instagram is expanding its \u201cHidden Words\u201d feature, which lets you filter out abusive DMs using keywords and emoji, to also cover replies to Stories and catch intentional misspellings made to avoid filters.<\/strong>\u00a0It also expanded its preventative blocking tool to proactively block more accounts from the abuser and added more nudges to remind users about to post a harmful comment to be kind.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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Image Credits:<\/strong> Instagram<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n- Instagram is also now testing an in-app scheduling tool for posts and Reels,<\/strong> which would be helpful to creators and brands who want to queue up posts in advance.<\/li>\n
- Over 3 million Reddit users created crypto wallets to buy NFT avatars,<\/strong> Reddit chief product officer Pali Bhat said this week at Disrupt. Reddit\u2019s Vault blockchain wallet was used to create the crypto wallets. And most \u2014 2.5 million \u2014 were created to purchase NFT avatars that can be used as their Reddit profile pics.<\/li>\n
- Snapchat updated its Snapchat+ subscription with three new features, including those that allow subscribers to have their Snapchat Stories expire at different intervals<\/strong> instead of 24 hours, add new camera color borders that appear when taking photos with the in-app camera and use different custom notification sounds for when a friend Snaps them. Snapchat+ now has more than 1 million subscribers and over a dozen exclusive features.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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Image Credits:<\/strong> Snap<\/p>\n<\/div>\nDating<\/h3>\n\n- A new \u201crelationship app\u201d (as opposed to a dating app) called Sparks launched to help couples find things to do together, like choosing movies, restaurants, vacations, activities and more.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Messaging<\/h3>\n\n- Google updated its RCS-powered Messages app with several new features,<\/strong> including the ability to react to texts sent from an iPhone, set reminders and have an in-app YouTube video player to watch videos without leaving the app.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Streaming & Entertainment<\/h3>\n![\"Musixmatch](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/gp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/1666462945_275_1_HeroShot.jpg\")
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Image Credits:<\/strong> Musixmatch<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n- Spotify\u2019s lyrics provider, Musixmatch, launched a new platform for podcast transcriptions<\/strong> using AI models and NLP. The service is meant to help people search by topics to get accurate matches of related podcasts when using its app.<\/li>\n
- Netflix reversed its downward trend with its Q3 earnings by adding 2.41 million subscribers in the quarter, higher than analyst estimates and its own forecast of just 1 million subs.<\/strong>\u00a0It also pulled in $7.93 billion in revenue \u2014 more than analysts\u2019 predictions of $7.85 billion.<\/li>\n
- The company also announced at Disrupt this week that it\u2019s \u201cseriously exploring\u201d a cloud gaming effort to complement its mobile gaming efforts,<\/strong> and is opening a fifth gaming studio in Southern California.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\n- Google introduced a set of parental controls and other features to its streaming platform Google TV,<\/strong> including the ability for parents to add titles to kids\u2019 watchlists, AI-powered suggestions and a supervised experience that allows kids to access the YouTube app with the appropriate content restrictions in place.<\/li>\n
- Apple is bringing its immersive surround sound, Spatial Audio, to cars, starting with Mercedes-Benz<\/strong> and Universal Music Group.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Gaming<\/h3>\n\n- Microsoft revealed it\u2019s building an Xbox mobile gaming store to challenge Apple and Google,<\/strong> according to filings made with the U.K.\u2019s Competition and Markets Authority. The company said part of the motivation for its purchase of Activision Blizzard would be to establish an Xbox mobile gaming platform and store.<\/li>\n
- Discord launched an app directory that will allow server admins to build out their server with useful or fun utilities.<\/strong> Some developers will also be able to sell premium app subscriptions within the platform.<\/li>\n
- Roblox reported DAUs of 57.8 million in September, up 23% year-over-year.<\/strong> Hours engaged were 4 billion, up 16%, and estimated bookings came in between $212-219 million.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Health & Fitness<\/h3>\n\n- Subscription-based mindfulness app Calm announced its first mental health offering, Calm Health,<\/strong>\u00a0offered through payers, providers and self-insured employers. The service, built on its acquisition of Ripple Health Group, connects users with different healthcare options.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Productivity & Utilities<\/h3>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/gp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/iOS16-Hero-LSW.max-1000x1000-1.jpg\")
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Image Credits:<\/strong> Google<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n- Google announced its new Lock Screen widgets for iOS 16 are officially available.<\/strong> These include widgets for Gmail, News, Search, Maps and Chrome. It also launched a YouTube Music Lock Screen widget for accessing recently played songs, and finally launched YouTube Home Screen widgets that let you watch Shorts and other videos, or access your subscriptions with a tap.<\/li>\n
- Google also rolled out <\/strong>an update to Chrome that makes the browser better suited to Android tablets.<\/strong> The release includes new features like a side-by-side view for improved tab navigation and the ability to drag and drop information out of Chrome and into other apps like Gmail, Keep and Photos.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Travel & Transportation<\/h3>\n\n- Uber officially launched its advertising division and a new in-app ad experience, Journey Ads,<\/strong>\u00a0on Wednesday. The company will sell ad space inside its ride-hailing and Uber Eats apps, and elsewhere.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Government & Policy<\/h3>\n\n- Wired reports on how China\u2019s WeChat app has become a hotbed for misinformation ahead of the U.S. elections.<\/strong> Activists are concerned the falsehoods will distort the vote or surpass turnout, the media outlet said.<\/li>\n
- India fined Google $162 million for anti-competitive practices on Android.<\/strong>\u00a0The Competition Commission of India said that Google requiring device manufacturers to pre-install its entire Google Mobile Suite and mandating prominent placement of those apps was unfair competition.<\/li>\n
- A server room fire shut down Korean tech giant Kakao\u2019s apps, impacting Kakao Pay, Kakao T (ride-hailing) and messaging service Kakao Talk, leading to concerns about Kakao\u2019s grip on the market.<\/strong> As the services were coming back online after the outages, President Yoon Suk-yeol said his administration would investigate whether Kakao was a monopolist.<\/li>\n
- Apple restored Russian apps for VKontakte and Mail.ru to the App Store after removing them three weeks prior due to U.K. sanctions.<\/strong> Apple\u2019s statement said the developer provided documentation to verify they were not in violation of the U.K. sanctions \u2014 that is, they are not majority owned or controlled by a sanctioned entity.<\/li>\n
- Meta has been ordered by the U.K.\u2019s competition authority to sell the animated GIF platform Giphy.<\/strong> The regulator believes Meta\u2019s purchase of Giphy would limit choice for U.K. social media users and reduce innovation in U.K. display advertising.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\ud83d\udcb0 Nexta, an Egyptian fintech that plans to launch its banking app in the coming months, raised $3 million from eFinance Group,<\/strong> a state-owned provider of digital payments solutions.<\/p>\n\ud83d\udcb0 French app Revyze, a TikTok for educational videos, raised a $2 million pre-seed round (\u20ac2 million)<\/strong> from more than 100 business angels earlier this year. It\u2019s aiming to reach 500,000 users by year-end and expand to the U.S.<\/p>\n\ud83d\udcb0 Amsterdam-based Crisp, an app-only supermarket, raised \u20ac75 milliom<\/strong>\u00a0in a round of funding from both new and existing investors.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/gp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/this-week-in-apps-banner2.png\")
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