Apple revises App Store rules to permit game streaming apps, clarify in-app purchases and more

Apple today is releasing updated App Store Guidelines with the goal of clarifying how it will approach new technologies, like game streaming services, App Clips and widgets, in addition to better detailing its stance over how and when it will collect in-app purchases from certain categories of apps. The changes …...Read More

Apple lays out its messy vision for how xCloud and Stadia will work with its App Store rules

Apple laid out some interesting updates to its App Store rules this morning, the most headline-grabbing of which was a section dedicated to cloud gaming platforms like Microsoft’s xCloud and Google’s Stadia. This comes after very public complaints from Microsoft regarding xCloud’s rejection from the App Store, which Apple denied …...Read More

Facebook launches poll worker recruitment push in the News Feed

With the election looming and a pandemic still raging through the U.S., a shortage of poll workers is just one of many threats to voting this November — but it’s a big one. In a Facebook post Friday, Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company will launch a poll worker recruitment …...Read More

TikTok fixes Android bugs that could have led to account hijacks

TikTok has fixed four security bugs in its Android app that could have led to the hijacking of user accounts. The vulnerabilities, discovered by app security startup Oversecured, could have allowed a malicious app on the same device to steal sensitive files, like session tokens, from inside the TikTok app. …...Read More

Podcast analytics and attribution startup Chartable raises $2.25M

Chartable, a startup known for its authoritative podcast download charts, is announcing that it has raised $2.25 million in seed funding. Founders Dave Zohrob and Harish Agarwal previously worked together at AngelList, and they also created Hacker Daily, a podcast recapping the headlines from Hacker News. Zohrob (Chartable’s CEO) told …...Read More

Palantir and the great revenue mystery

As I write to you on Friday afternoon, the Palantir S-1 has yet to drop, but TechCrunch did break some news regarding the impending filing and just how big the company actually is. Please forgive the block quote, but here’s our reporting: In screenshots of a draft S-1 statement dated …...Read More

Startups Weekly: Will future unicorns go public sooner?

Editor’s note: Get this free weekly recap of TechCrunch news that any startup can use by email every Saturday morning (7am PT). Subscribe here. The public markets are staying receptive to tech IPOs, and tech unicorns are trying to recover from pandemic damage, polish up their financials, and head back …...Read More

Launched with $17 million by two former Norwest investors, Tau Ventures is ready for its closeup

Launched with $17 million by two former Norwest investors, Tau Ventures is ready for its closeup Amit Garg and Sanjay Rao have spent the bulk of their professional lives developing technology, founding startups and investing in startups at places like Google and Microsoft, HealthIQ, and Norwest Venture Partners. Over their …...Read More

Hey Apple, how about a MacBook SE?

Apple’s a hard company to like these days. Their glory days behind them, they have relentlessly pursued a misguided concept of optimization that has alienated their user base and compromised their products. A MacBook SE would go a long way toward smoothing the wake they’ve left behind them. I was …...Read More

Bletchley Park, birth-place of the computer, faces uncertain future after pandemic hits income

Bletchley Park is an English country house that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. It built the world’s first programmable digital electronic computer, cracking the Enigma Machine and thus helping turn the tide of the war against Nazi Germany. But now the institution that …...Read More