Hot Tub, the first native iPhone porn app, arrives in EU

A native pornography app for iOS is coming to the EU via the approved alternative app store AltStore PAL, made possible by Europe’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). On Monday, the AltStore announced the launch of Hot Tub, an aggregator that offers iOS users a way to search and play videos from a va

Hero’s all-in-one, AI productivity app takes on Google’s Calendar and others

People often use multiple apps for notes, schedule management, and to-dos. But why not combine them all in one app? That’s the ethos behind Hero, an all-in-one productivity app with an AI assistant (of course!). The iOS app was developed by former Meta employees Brad Kowalk and Seung W. Lee.

Apple tops 1 billion subscriptions, nearly $100B in services revenue in 2024

Apple’s iPhone sales may be down, but the company’s Services division, which includes the App Store, iCloud, Music, TV+, and other subscriptions, is still soaring. The Cupertino-based tech giant reported Thursday its Services business had an all-time revenue high of $26.3 billion for

Threads adds a ‘media’ tab and the ability to tag people in photos

Meta’s newer social network Threads announced on Thursday that it’s introducing a dedicated “media” tab for both photos and videos, only days after its rivals, including X and the startup Bluesky, did the same for videos. In addition, Meta will also now allow users to tag p

Mark Zuckerberg teases a 2025 return to ‘OG Facebook’

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg teased a “return to OG Facebook” as part of his key goals for 2025 in Wednesday’s Q4 earnings call with investors. While the company was short on details as to what specific changes lay in store, it’s clear that Meta is in desperate need of younger F

Threads adds another 20M monthly users since December, reaching 320M

Threads, Meta’s microblogging service, is growing at a fast pace as users gravitate to the app over rivals like X. During the company’s fourth-quarter earnings presentation on Wednesday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed that Threads now has 320 million monthly active users (MAUs), up from 3

DeepSeek might have a trademark problem in the US

Chinese AI company DeepSeek has been accused of IP theft, faced privacy inquiries in Europe, and has been the target of an enormous cyberattack. Now, it appears the company has a new headache on its hands: a U.S. trademark conflict. On Tuesday, DeepSeek filed an application with the U.S. Patent an

Instagram gives creators more insight into their reels’ performance

Meta continues to target creators in the days following the U.S. TikTok ban. In addition to paying TikTok creators big bonuses to publish reels, Instagram announced on Wednesday that it’s introducing new ways for creators to better understand how their short videos are performing. The platfor

DeepSeek's app becomes unavailable on Apple's and Google's app stores in Italy

Hours after Italian authorities requested information from DeepSeek about how the company handles user data, the Chinese AI startup’s app is no longer available in Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store. The app has claimed the top spot in the download charts in multiple count

DeepSeek reaches No. 1 on US Play Store

Chinese AI lab DeepSeek‘s Android app has taken the No. 1 spot on the Google Play Store, mere days after the company’s chatbot app clinched the top spot on the Apple App Store. According to app analytics firm AppFigures, since its launch in mid-January, the DeepSeek app has been downlo

Google Play adds a ‘Verified’ badge for trusted VPN apps

Google Play is rolling out “Verified” badges for select VPN apps to make it easier for users to find trust services. Apps with the badge prioritize user privacy and safety, Google said in a blog post on Tuesday. The badge indicates that the developers of an app have adhered to the Play

Microsoft tests ‘scareware blocker’ for Edge that uses computer vision to detect scams

Microsoft is rolling out a new tool dubbed “scareware blocker,” which uses machine learning and computer vision to identify a very pervasive type of online scam. “Scareware” has blighted the web almost since its inception, often in the form of fake antivirus software that

Google Maps will soon rename Gulf of Mexico to ‘Gulf of America’

Google will rename the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska’s Denali mountain in Google Maps once a federal mapping database reflects changes ordered by the Trump administration, the company announced Monday. Google is complying with an executive order issued last week by President Donald Trump that ch

iOS 18 hits 68% adoption across iPhones, per new Apple figures

Apple released new figures Friday, highlighting user adoption of iOS 18. Released in public form back in September 2024, the mobile operating system is now installed on 68% of compatible devices. That number jumps to 78% on iPhones released in the last four years. As for the remaining iPhones out