Latest from Sarah Perez
After the Yahoo News app revamp, Yahoo preps AI summaries on homepage, too
Yahoo’s AI push isn’t over just yet. The company, also TechCrunch’s parent, recently launched AI-powered features for Yahoo Mail, including its own take on Gmail’s Priority Inbox and AI summaries…
To give users more control over the contacts an app can and cannot access, the permissions screen has two stages.
Washington’s political class doesn’t know Y Combinator exists — yet
After educating the D.C. market, YC aims to leverage its influence, particularly in areas like competition policy.
With dozens of antitrust cases and close to a hundred on the consumer protection side, the agency is now turning to innovative tactics to help it fight fraud, particularly in…
Apple’s AI, Apple Intelligence, is boring and practical — that’s why it works
Some of the new Apple Intelligence features that Apple debuted at WWDC 2024 don’t even feel like AI, they just feel like smarter tools.
At last, Apple’s Messages app will support RCS and scheduling texts
These messaging features, announced at WWDC 2024, will have a significant impact on how people communicate every day.
Light introduces its latest minimalist phone, now with an OLED screen but still no addictive apps
Unlike Light’s older phones, the Light III sports a larger OLED display and an NFC chip to make way for future payment tools, as well as a camera.
AI news reader Particle adds publishing partners and $10.9M in new funding
Particle announced it has partnered with news organization Reuters to collaborate on new business models and experiments in monetization.
Elon Musk threatens to ban Apple devices from his companies over Apple’s ChatGPT integrations
Elon Musk’s posts seem to misunderstand the relationship Apple announced with OpenAI at WWDC 2024.
Apple brings its GenAI ‘Apple Intelligence’ to developers, will let Siri control apps
Apple’s SDKs (software development kits) have been updated with a variety of new APIs and frameworks.
Apple Intelligence will have an understanding of who you’re talking with in a messaging conversation.
The new OS, announced at WWDC 2024, will allow users to mirror their iPhone screen directly on their Mac and even control it.
Apple says the new design will lead to less time searching for photos.
iOS 18 will finally let you customize your icons and unlock them from the grid
In iOS 18, Apple will now support long-requested functionality, like the ability to set app icons and widgets wherever you want.
As WWDC 2024 nears, all sorts of rumors and leaks have emerged about what iOS 18 and its AI-powered apps and features have in store.
Apple’s annual list of what it considers the best and most innovative software available on its platform is turning its attention to the little guy.
Google Play cracks down on AI apps after circulation of apps for making deepfake nudes
Google says apps offering AI features will have to prevent the generation of restricted content.
Google has developed a new AI tool to help marine biologists better understand coral reef ecosystems and their health, which can aid in conversation efforts. The tool, SurfPerch, created with…
Bluesky and Mastodon users can now talk to each other with Bridgy Fed
Bridgy Fed is one of the efforts aimed at connecting the fediverse with the web, Bluesky and, perhaps later, other networks like Nostr.
Google’s new startup program focuses on bringing AI to public infrastructure
Google’s newest startup program, announced on Wednesday, aims to bring AI technology to the public sector. The newly launched “Google for Startups AI Academy: American Infrastructure” will offer participants hands-on…
The malicious attack appears to have involved malware transmitted through TikTok’s DMs.
AI apocalypse? ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity all went down at the same time
It’s unusual for three major AI providers to all be down at the same time, which could signal a broader infrastructure issues or internet-scale problem.
Instagram Threads is rolling out the ability for users to signal which sort of posts they wanted to see more or less of by swiping.
The change would see Instagram becoming more like the free version of YouTube, which requires users to view ads before and in the middle of watching videos.
Google admits its AI Overviews need work, but we’re all helping it beta test
Google is embarrassed about its AI Overviews, too. After a deluge of dunks and memes over the past week, which cracked on the poor quality and outright misinformation that arose…
Yes, we’re calling it “ThreadsDeck” now. At least that’s the tag many are using to describe the new user interface for Instagram’s X competitor, Threads, which resembles the column-based format…
Instagram tests ‘trial reels’ that don’t display to a creator’s followers
Instagram is testing a way for creators to experiment with reels without committing to having them displayed on their profiles, giving the social network a possible edge over TikTok and…
Spotify offers Car Thing refunds as it faces lawsuit over bricking the streaming device
Though Spotify never shared official numbers, it’s likely that Car Thing underperformed or was just not worth continued investment in today’s tighter economic market.
Can AI help you tell your story? That’s the idea behind a startup called Autobiographer, which leverages AI technology to engage users in meaningful conversations about the events in their…
With the release of iOS 18 later this year, Apple may again borrow ideas third-party apps. This time it’s Arc that could be among those affected.