TECH CRUNCH – Festival Mode is designed to help users connect ahead of their plans to attend concerts or larger music festivals. The feature was designed in partnership with live entertainment company Live Nation as well as event producers AEG Presents and Superstruct Entertainment, whose upcoming events will now be included in the new Festival Mode feature found within Tinder Explore.
Category: Outlets – Tech Crunch
Snap Debuts Its Fifth Cohort of Yellow Accelerator Startups
TECH CRUNCH – Snap's in-house Yellow accelerator program, which invests in startups, has debuted its fifth batch of investments. The company invests $150K in each Yellow startup for an equity stake as part of the accelerator program, which first launched in 2018. The startups will receive mentorship from Snap executives and will also get access to networking opportunities. The eight companies that are part of the latest batch of startups will take up a 13-week residency in one of Snap's buildings in Santa Monica, California. Blink Date, a voice-first dating app that matches users for 10-minute voice conversations, is one of the companies.
Apple’s Fine Over Dutch Dating Apps Antitrust Order Hits €50M, but ACM Welcomes Revised Offer
TECH CRUNCH – Until last weekend, Apple still had not met ACM's requirements. That is why it has to pay a tenth penalty payment, which means that Apple must pay the maximum penalty of €50M. But the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) is sounding more positive today after Apple adjusted its most recent offer yesterday – saying the amended proposal "should result in definitive conditions for dating-app providers. Previous offers by Apple were rejected by the ACM as creating unreasonable friction for the developers in question. If ACM comes to the conclusion that Apple does not meet the requirements, ACM may impose another order subject to periodic penalty payments (with possibly higher penalties this time around) in order to stimulate Apple to comply with the order.
Apple Sends New Offer to Dutch Antitrust Authority Over Dating Apps Payments
TECH CRUNCH – Apple has been fined again in the Netherlands over an antitrust order related to dating apps. The latest €5M fine (the ninth) brings the total penalties against Apple on this issue up to €45M (out of a maximum possible of €50M if it again fails to satisfy the regulator by next week). Apple has responded to the string of fines over this period by claiming it is complying with the order. Apple submitted "new proposals" earlier today. The details have not been disclosed.
Russia’s App Store Lost 7K Apps Since Its Invasion of Ukraine
TECH CRUNCH – The Russian App Store has lost 6,982 mobile apps since the start of the Ukraine invasion, as numerous companies have now pulled their apps and games from Apple's iPhone and iPad App Stores in the country. Amid the widespread exits, several Big Tech companies' apps continue to rank highly on the Russian App Store. Russia is not the only country being impacted in this way. Many publishers also removed their apps and games from the App Store in Belarus. That country has now seen a loss of 5,900 apps since the invasion's start. Bumble and Badoo are gone, too.
Apple Hit With Sixth Antitrust Fine Over Dutch Dating Apps Payments
TECH CRUNCH – Apple still hasn't complied with a Dutch antitrust order to allow local dating apps to have the option to use third party payment tech to sell digital content to their app users. The Dutch Authority for Consumers & Market (ACM) said it has levied a sixth fine (of €5M). Apple has been maintaining a public silence for weeks on this issue – including after the EU's head of digital strategy, EVP Margrethe Vestager, called out its behavior last week, accusing the company of a deliberate tactic of choosing to pay fines rather than comply with competition orders.
Tinder Introduces a Way for Members to Go on Virtual ‘Blind Dates’
Bumble Acquires French Gen Z Dating App, Fruitz
TECH CRUNCH – Bumble is adding the fast-growing French dating app Fruitz to its family of apps. Deal terms were not being disclosed. The quirky app Fruitz assigns a fruit to each particular kind of relationship type, ranging from those who want long-term commitments to those in search of one-night action. This allows users to filter out those who aren't on the same page as them. It also prompts users to answer questions that serve ice breakers before messaging their match. Fruitz was co-founded by Julian Kabab (CEO), Fabrice Bascoulergue (CTO), and Arnaud Ruols (CFO) and initially launched in France in Feb, 2017. To date, Fruitz has been downloaded 5.6M times globally across the App Store and Google Play, according to Sensor Tower. As of Feb. 3, 2022, the app was ranked No. 4 on the iPhone's top free charts in the "Lifestyle" category in its home market of France.
by Sarah Perez
See full article at Tech Crunch
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.com
Apple to Charge 27% Fee for Dutch Dating Apps Using Alternative Payment Options
TECH CRUNCH – Earlier today, Apple updated its documentation page that explains how developers of dating apps can take advantage of alternative payment systems in the Netherlands. It's a fairly technical document. But it also says that Apple plans to charge a commission to app developers. Essentially, developers get a 3% cut on the App Store commission as Apple doesn't handle transactions. But the company still thinks it's fair to charge a 27% commission for the various services that it offers. If you're an app developer with users in multiple countries, which is pretty common with dating apps, you can't submit the same app binary. Development teams will have to compile and submit two different binaries – a Dutch app and a non-Dutch app. Apple wants to make it as difficult and expensive as possible to use a third-party payment system. Chances are most developers will just keep using Apple's in-app purchase API.
Tinder Updates Its Approach to Handling Reports of Abuse and Harassment
TECH CRUNCH – As a result of its ongoing partnership with nonprofit and anti-sexual assault organization RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network), Tinder announced a handful of product improvements as well as training for internal teams to better support survivors of abuse and harassment. Soon, Tinder members will have access to background checks on their matches through Garbo, a non profit Match Group invested in last spring.