TECH CRUNCH – Apr 3 – According to new data from App Annie, Q1 2020 was the largest-ever quarter in terms of consumer spend on apps. In addition, the average weekly time spent in apps and games worldwide was up 20% YOY in the quarter. In Q1 2020, consumers worldwide spent $23.4B through the app stores – the largest-ever quarter. iOS accounted for $15B of that figure and Google Play was $8.3B. There were also 31B new app downloads in Q1 2020, up 15% from Q4 2019.
Category: Outlets – Tech Crunch
Tinder’s Video Series ‘Swipe Night’ Gets a Second Season
Tinder Tests New Social Features
TECH CRUNCH – Feb 14 – Tinder is testing a series of new social features designed to boost conversations between users. One of them is a conversational prompt that encourages users to respond to questions or finish a sentence in order to better showcase their personality with their answers. The other, a "Share to Matches" option, allows users to post photos, looping videos and other content that can only be seen by their existing matches. Because the features are tests, some users may see both, some may see neither, and some may see just one or the other. Tinder declined to say where or when the tests were running or when they may roll out more broadly to users.
Facebook Dating’s Launch in Europe Postponed
TECH CRUNCH – Feb 12 – Facebook has been forced to call off the launch date of its dating service in Europe because it failed to give its lead EU data regulator enough advanced warning – including failing to demonstrate it had performed a legally required assessment of privacy risks. Facebook said dating would arrive in Europe by early 2020 but it just didn't think to keep its lead EU privacy regulator in the loop, despite the DPC having multiple ongoing investigations into other Facebook-owned products at this stage. The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) had sent agents to Facebook's Dublin office seeking documentation that Facebook had failed to provide. The DPC said Facebook first contacted it about the rollout of the dating feature in the EU on February 3.
New Pew Report: 30% of U.S. Adults Have Used Online Dating
TECH CRUNCH – Feb 7 – According to a new Pew Research Center report on online dating, 30% of U.S. adults have at some point used a dating app. That's up from ~11% in 2013. 12% of U.S. adults said they found a long-term relationship via online dating. Younger adults were more likely to be using online dating apps than older adults. LGB adults were twice as likely as straight adults to have used a dating app. In addition, a majority of users reported an overall positive experience with online dating. However a significant portion of U.S. adults (46%) said they don't think it's safe. Pew's research was conducted from Oct 16 to 28, 2019 across a panel of 4,860 respondents. The full report is here.
Tinder to Add New Features Including Filters, Text and Photo Prompts
TECH CRUNCH – Feb 7 – Tinder is expanding users' filtering capabilities. There would be both free and paid options available. In addition, Tinder will also soon roll out new social engagement features, which the company describes as a way for users "to express themselves and show their interests". These would involve a set of text and photo prompts that encourage people to be more thoughtful with their conversations. The prompts are expected to arrive in Q1 2020. Tinder has also confirmed that its in-app, choose-your-own-adventure style story called Swipe Night will roll out to ten new markets this quarter, in parts of Europe and Asia.
Tinder Is Under GDPR Probe in Europe
TECH CRUNCH – Feb 4 – Tinder is the latest tech service to find itself under formal investigation in Europe over how it handles user data. Under Europe's GDPR, EU citizens have a number of rights over their personal data – such as the right to request deletion or a copy of their data. It's not clear exactly which GDPR rights have been complained about by Tinder users but some have accused the company of not providing a copy of all the data it holds on them. Tinder's statement: "Transparency and protecting our users' personal data is of utmost importance to us. We are fully cooperating with the Data Protection Commission, and will continue to abide by GDPR and all applicable laws."
B2B Videoconferencing Startup Went Crazy for Online Dating
TECH CRUNCH – Jan 24 – Founder Andreas Kröpfl has spent almost a decade building a videoconferencing business. His Austria-based startup's current web-based videoconferencing system, eyeson, which launched in 2018, has had some nice traction since launch, garnering a few million customers. Last summer the team decided to branch out by building their own video dating app. The app, called Ahoi, is now generating 100k video calls and 250k swipes per day, says Kröpfl. They picked India for the test launch because it has a lot of people on the same timezone, a large active mobile user-base and cheap marketing is still "easily possible".
Match Group Invests in Noonlight for New Safety Features
TECH CRUNCH – Jan 23 – Match Group has invested in and partnered with connected safety platform Noonlight to roll out a series of new safety features to its dating apps. The tools include emergency assistance, location tracking, photo verification, and an updated in-app Safety Center. Match Group didn't disclose the size of the investment, but did say it was joining Noonlight's Board of Directors. Noonlight, which has been operating for five years, today partners with Uber, Lyft, Alexa, Google Home, Fitbit, Canary, SmartThings and others. It has handled ~100K emergencies to date and runs 3 monitoring centers. One key addition to Tinder, powered by Noonlight, will allow U.S. users to share details about upcoming dates via Noonlight's Timeline technology. Tinder users will be able to share who they are meeting, where and when by adding the date to their timeline. Another new feature will allow users to easily and discreetly trigger emergency services via the Noonlight app, if they're feeling uneasy or in need of assistance.
by Sarah Perez
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POF Was Leaking Users’ Hidden Names and Zip Codes
TECH CRUNCH – Dec 23 – The leaking data was not immediately visible to app users, and the data was scrambled to make it difficult to read. But using freely available tools designed to analyze network traffic, the security researcher found it was possible to reveal the information about users as their profiles appeared on his phone. POF has ~150M registered users.