This week we’re looking into the upcoming Apple lawsuit with Epic Games over App Store fees, the soon-to-launch game changer that is App Tracking Transparency and Facebook’s latest attempt to take on Clubhouse, among other things. Apps aren’t just a way to pass idle hours — they’re also a big business. In 2019, mobile-first companies had acombined $544 billion valuation, 6.5x higher than those without a mobile focus.
A group of lawmakers wrote to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to press the company for information about its plan to create a curated version of Instagram for children under 13. Facebook already offers an under-13 app, Messenger Kids, and its rival TikTok offers an age-gated experience as well for under-13 users. Lawmakers expressed skepticism that Facebook would keep children’s data private. 45% of apps used in Q were games and 36% of gamers said they were now playing more mobile games compared to before the pandemic, AdColony said. In the first two weeks of 2021, the top 10 casual games saw 80 million downloads. Android Auto apps can now be launched into production, Google announced this week, following months of testing.
The best sleep-tracking apps can help you relax, meditate, and start dreaming quicker. “But the thing that I’ve been mostly focused on is that a lot of these changes are going to make it harder for small businesses and developers. And I think the situation is going to be challenging for them to navigate.” “Users should know when their data is being collected and shared across other apps and websites – and they should have the choice to allow that or not,” an Apple spokesperson said. The Apple iOS 14 software update allows users to opt-out from being tracked.
If a person sees an ad on Facebook but doesn’t immediately take action, that doesn’t mean the ad was completely ineffective. That same person may do a web search for that product later and buy it. But with Apple’s update, Facebook will never know that, and neither will its advertisers. Is working on a new privacy feature for iOS 14 called App Tracking Transparency. The feature will go live to everyone with the release of iOS 14.5 this spring. In our long-term review of the iPhone 14 Pro, we differentiate between Apple’s marketing machine and nice-to-have features.
Zuckerberg has earlier called Apple one of its biggest competitors and urged users to accept tracking “for a better ad experience.” According to reports, Apple is now beefing up its own on-platform ad tools, which have resulted in billions of dollars of revenue thanks to their privileged position right on the Apple App Store. And which get privileged access to Apple users’ data that no other ad networks get. This is broadly true for many of the major social and consumer platforms. Any platform with hundreds of millions of sticky come-back-often live-inside-the-castle-walls users. Facebook meaningfully accelerated the rollout of e-commerce features across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger over the last nine months.
Apple won in one respect with mobile devices, snaring more than 600 million people who use more than a billion Apple devices. But Facebook has more than 2.9 billion monthly active users who use its ad-based services such as Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp for free. While Apple made $20.6 billion in net income on $83 billion in revenue, while Facebook made $9.2 billion in net income on $29 billion in revenue in the most recent September 30 quarter. Apple will make its first product announcement of 2023 through a press release on its website tomorrow, Tuesday, January 17, according to Apple leaker Jon Prosser. MacRumors can corroborate an announcement is expected to take place this week. The announcement could be one of several products expected in the near future, including updated MacBook Pros and Mac mini models.
The apps are not being pre-installed as it turns out, but are being offered for download during the final step of the setup process. Google opened up applications for its 2021 Change The Game Design Challenge, which will again be virtual. Participants who are chosen will be invited to an online game development workshop hosted by Google’s partner, Girls Make Games. The workshop will offer four sessions, kicking off in June and running through the end of the summer.
It could also benefit Facebook’s efforts to monetize WhatsApp and Messenger with more tools for businesses to connect with customers and complete sales through direct messaging. The clash was related to changes in the latest version of Apple’s iOS, clubhouse facebook apple idfa facebook which includes a tracking transparency feature that Facebook claims will cripple its ability to serve up to targeted ads. Apple is set to roll out the new privacy control in the early spring to prevent iPhone apps from secretly shadowing people.