This Week in Apps: Zoom gets busted, TikTok’s new record, contact tracing API launches

Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the Extra Crunch series that recaps the latest OS news, the applications they support and the money that flows through it all.

The app industry is as hot as ever, with a record 204 billion downloads and $120 billion in consumer spending in 2019, according to App Annie’s “State of Mobile” annual report. People are now spending 3 hours and 40 minutes per day using apps, rivaling TV. Apps aren’t just a way to pass idle hours — they’re a big business. In 2019, mobile-first companies had a combined $544 billion valuation, 6.5x higher than those without a mobile focus.

In this Extra Crunch series, we help you keep up with the latest news from the world of apps, delivered on a weekly basis.

This week we’re continuing to look at how the coronavirus outbreak is impacting the world of mobile applications, including the latest on the U.S. and other international efforts to develop contact-tracing apps, plus the use of live-streaming apps as fundraising tools, the impact of quarantine on iPad apps and more. We’re also tracking news related to Zoom’s latest backtrack, WhatsApp’s plans to enter the credit market, the Instagram pods discovery, TikTok best quarter (better than any app… ever), Facebook’s plan for virtual dating and more.

Headlines

Apple News hits 125M monthly active users

The COVID-19 pandemic has driven a significant increase in how many people are using Apple’s News app on their mobile devices, tablets and Macs. During Apple’s earnings call this week, the company revealed Apple News now sees over 125 million monthly active users in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Australia, up from 100 million in January. Apple, however, did not note how many were subscribed to its $9.99/month premium news service, Apple News+.

Apple & Google release first version of the exposure notification API

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Valve drops VR support for macOS

Valve is calling it quits on macOS support for its virtual reality platform. A Valve employee posted an update to the company’s SteamVR forums, noting that “SteamVR has ended macOS support so our team can focus on Windows and Linux.”

Apple introduced “Metal for VR” back in June 2017 and highlighted a partnership with Valve. At the time, Valve was pushing VR as a platform and working with HTC on its Vive system; fast-forward to 2020 and Valve has its own high-end headset and has just released its highly-anticipated title “Half Life: Alyx.”

This impacts developers more so than actual gamers.

Almost no games supported Mac, and even Apple’s highest-end MacBook Pros failed to meet minimum specification requirements for Oculus or SteamVR. As the folks at Upload point out, Valve’s recent hardware survey showcases that just 4% of gamers on the platform use macOS to begin with, suggesting a pretty small sliver of actual gamers even fit in the Mac-owning VR user Venn diagram.

Game developers building VR content on Mac likely enjoyed the ability to develop and test on a single machine. As Apple aggressively chases professionals with high-priced gear like the Mac Pro and iMac Pro, it’s not a great look when a major software platform decides you’re not worth the effort.

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An already struggling smartphone market takes a big hit from COVID-19

Quarter after quarter, familiar stories have appeared. The smartphone market, once seemingly bulletproof, has suffered. The list of factors is long, and I’ve written about them ad nauseam here, but the CliffsNotes version is: costs are too high, innovation is too incremental and most people already own a device that will be plenty good for the next few years.

But 2020 was going to be different. Smartphone makers were set to finally give consumers a reason to upgrade in the form of 5G. The first handsets appeared in earnest last year, but between a much wider carrier roll out, lower-cost 5G radios from Qualcomm and the arrival of a 5G iPhone, this was going to be the year the next-gen wireless technology helped reverse the smartphone slide.

And then COVID-19 disrupted everything. For many of us, life is on hold — and will likely continue to be for months. I’m writing this from my home in Queens, N.Y., the hardest-hit county in the hardest-hit country in the world. It still feels strange to type that, even though it’s been a reality for a month and half now.

Purchasing a smartphone is most likely the last thing on anyone’s mind during what is shaping up to be the worst global pandemic since the 1918 flu pandemic. With a number of key manufacturers reporting quarterly earnings this week, the numbers are starting to bear out this disconnect. Earlier this week, both Samsung and LG reported weak mobile numbers. Yesterday, Apple reported revenue of $28.96 billion, down from $31.1 billion the same time last year.

More troubling, all three companies appeared to be united in suggesting that the worst might be yet to come. Samsung suggested that both mobile and TV demand would “decline significantly” in the following quarter. LG used virtually the same exact wording, stating that, “market demand is expected to decline significantly YoY due to COVID-19 pandemic.” For its part, Apple simply didn’t issue guidance for the next quarter, a surefire indication of uncertainty in these uncertain times — to borrow a phrase from every commercial airing currently.

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An already struggling smartphone market takes a big hit from COVID-19

Quarter after quarter, familiar stories have appeared. The smartphone market, once seemingly bulletproof, has suffered. The list of factors is long, and I’ve written about them ad nauseam here, but the CliffsNotes version is: costs are too high, innovation is too incremental and most people already own a device that will be plenty good for the next few years.

But 2020 was going to be different. Smartphone makers were set to finally give consumers a reason to upgrade in the form of 5G. The first handsets appeared in earnest last year, but between a much wider carrier roll out, lower-cost 5G radios from Qualcomm and the arrival of a 5G iPhone, this was going to be the year the next-gen wireless technology helped reverse the smartphone slide.

And then COVID-19 disrupted everything. For many of us, life is on hold — and will likely continue to be for months. I’m writing this from my home in Queens, N.Y., the hardest-hit county in the hardest-hit country in the world. It still feels strange to type that, even though it’s been a reality for a month and half now.

Purchasing a smartphone is most likely the last thing on anyone’s mind during what is shaping up to be the worst global pandemic since the 1918 flu pandemic. With a number of key manufacturers reporting quarterly earnings this week, the numbers are starting to bear out this disconnect. Earlier this week, both Samsung and LG reported weak mobile numbers. Yesterday, Apple reported revenue of $28.96 billion, down from $31.1 billion the same time last year.

More troubling, all three companies appeared to be united in suggesting that the worst might be yet to come. Samsung suggested that both mobile and TV demand would “decline significantly” in the following quarter. LG used virtually the same exact wording, stating that, “market demand is expected to decline significantly YoY due to COVID-19 pandemic.” For its part, Apple simply didn’t issue guidance for the next quarter, a surefire indication of uncertainty in these uncertain times — to borrow a phrase from every commercial airing currently.

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Daily Crunch: iPhone sales decline in Q1

Apple’s earnings show the impact of COVID-19, NVIDIA’s top scientist shares an open source ventilator design and Amazon anticipates big spending in the coming months.

Here’s your Daily Crunch for May 1, 2020.

1. iPhone sales are down, ahead of uncertain times for the industry

Apple device sales have taken a hit, but the company’s services are doing swell, according to its latest earnings report. The iPhone, the longtime cornerstone of the company’s hardware portfolio, hit $28.96 billion in revenue for Q2, down from $31.1 billion from this time last year. The iPad and Mac lines saw drops for the quarter, as well.

In fact, a new Canalys report suggests that smartphone sales are down 13% globally.

2. NVIDIA’s top scientist develops open-source ventilator that can be built with $400 in readily-available parts

The mechanical ventilator design developed by NVIDIA’s Bill Daily can be assembled quickly, using off-the-shelf parts with a total cost of around $400 – making it an accessible and affordable alternative to traditional, dedicated ventilators which can cost $20,000 or more.

3. Amazon Q1 beats on net sales of $75.5B but posts net income of $2.5B, down $1B on a year ago

The company’s net sales were up 26% year-year-over. Of those sales, $41 billion was attributable to product sales and $33 billion to services (which includes AWS, but also streaming and other non-physical goods). CEO Jeff Bezos acknowledged the challenges the company is facing, but he also reiterated that it plans to double down on spending in Q2.

4. Walmart is piloting a pricier 2-hour ‘Express’ grocery delivery service

Walmart now hopes to capitalize on the increased demand for speedier delivery with the introduction of a new service that allows consumers to pay to get to the front of the line. The retailer confirmed today it’s launching a new Walmart Grocery service called “Express,” which promises orders in two hours or less for an upcharge of $10 on top of the usual delivery fee.

5. 5 tips for starting a business with a stranger

Co-founder and CEO Sam Pillar argues that his startup Jobber is proof that starting a company with a stranger isn’t just doable, it can even be an advantage. That’s because it allowed them to arrive at big decisions and have productive debate without the baggage and bias of a pre-existing relationship, establishing Jobber’s feedback-oriented culture. (Extra Crunch membership required.)

6. Cliqz pulls the plug on a European anti-tracking alternative to Google search

Cliqz, a Munich-based anti-tracking browser with private search baked in that has sought to offer a local alternative to Google powered by its own search index, is shutting down — claiming this arm of its business has been blindsided by the coronavirus crisis. However, the company is not closing down entirely, and a spokesman confirmed that Ghostery will continue.

7. JetBrains Academy for learning code launches for free during COVID-19 pandemic

Most online coding courses, either free or paid, essentially suggest you download a project or copy-paste code from their snippets going through their courses. Unlike JetBrains, they tend not to include Integrated Development Environments, which are more helpful in the learning process.

The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here.

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Daily Crunch: iPhone sales decline in Q1

Apple’s earnings show the impact of COVID-19, NVIDIA’s top scientist shares an open source ventilator design and Amazon anticipates big spending in the coming months.

Here’s your Daily Crunch for May 1, 2020.

1. iPhone sales are down, ahead of uncertain times for the industry

Apple device sales have taken a hit, but the company’s services are doing swell, according to its latest earnings report. The iPhone, the longtime cornerstone of the company’s hardware portfolio, hit $28.96 billion in revenue for Q2, down from $31.1 billion from this time last year. The iPad and Mac lines saw drops for the quarter, as well.

In fact, a new Canalys report suggests that smartphone sales are down 13% globally.

2. NVIDIA’s top scientist develops open-source ventilator that can be built with $400 in readily-available parts

The mechanical ventilator design developed by NVIDIA’s Bill Daily can be assembled quickly, using off-the-shelf parts with a total cost of around $400 – making it an accessible and affordable alternative to traditional, dedicated ventilators which can cost $20,000 or more.

3. Amazon Q1 beats on net sales of $75.5B but posts net income of $2.5B, down $1B on a year ago

The company’s net sales were up 26% year-year-over. Of those sales, $41 billion was attributable to product sales and $33 billion to services (which includes AWS, but also streaming and other non-physical goods). CEO Jeff Bezos acknowledged the challenges the company is facing, but he also reiterated that it plans to double down on spending in Q2.

4. Walmart is piloting a pricier 2-hour ‘Express’ grocery delivery service

Walmart now hopes to capitalize on the increased demand for speedier delivery with the introduction of a new service that allows consumers to pay to get to the front of the line. The retailer confirmed today it’s launching a new Walmart Grocery service called “Express,” which promises orders in two hours or less for an upcharge of $10 on top of the usual delivery fee.

5. 5 tips for starting a business with a stranger

Co-founder and CEO Sam Pillar argues that his startup Jobber is proof that starting a company with a stranger isn’t just doable, it can even be an advantage. That’s because it allowed them to arrive at big decisions and have productive debate without the baggage and bias of a pre-existing relationship, establishing Jobber’s feedback-oriented culture. (Extra Crunch membership required.)

6. Cliqz pulls the plug on a European anti-tracking alternative to Google search

Cliqz, a Munich-based anti-tracking browser with private search baked in that has sought to offer a local alternative to Google powered by its own search index, is shutting down — claiming this arm of its business has been blindsided by the coronavirus crisis. However, the company is not closing down entirely, and a spokesman confirmed that Ghostery will continue.

7. JetBrains Academy for learning code launches for free during COVID-19 pandemic

Most online coding courses, either free or paid, essentially suggest you download a project or copy-paste code from their snippets going through their courses. Unlike JetBrains, they tend not to include Integrated Development Environments, which are more helpful in the learning process.

The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here.

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JetBrains Academy for learning code launches for free during COVID-19 pandemic

During this pandemic, many organizations are offering free or drastically cheaper courses to help people skill-up for when we eventually get out of lock-down. There are numerous outlets if you want to learn to code from, for instance, Freecodecamp or the ‘Free Fridays‘ scheme form General Assembly. And for gamers, Gamedev.tv has taken 80% off its courses where you can learn to code by building video games.

However most online coding courses, either free or paid, essentially suggest you download a project or copy-paste code from their snippets going through their courses. They tend not to include Integrated Development Environments, which are more helpful in the learning process.

But JetBrains, a startup that makes development tools for developers actually developed its own Educational IDEs, realised they could take a fresh approach to online learning, especially during this pandemic.

Their own IDE means that, while some of the learning happens in the browser, a large part is be available in the IDE on a person’s computer. That means a student learn coding through practicing tasks and integrated tests – directly in the professional environment of the IDE and get instant feedback.

This new product, JetBrains Academy, was due to be launched out of beta just prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19, and it would have been a paid-for product. But now JetBrains has decided to make the entire platform free during the pandemic, allowing people stuck at home or who were laid off or furloughed to learn new skills.

Students can learn Java, Python or Kotlin (the preferred language for Android development by Google) through 60+ projects which they would be building themselves and then get instant feedback because of the IDE. They are provided with the full curriculum that consists of single-concept topics that can be completed in about 15 minutes and try out more than 5,700 interactive challenges.

They are also offering free Educational IDEs, that help teach coding through practicing tasks and integrated tests – directly in the professional environment. These support Java, Kotlin, Python, Scala, JavaScript, Rust, C/C++, and Go, with more languages to come. Any teacher can create their own educational course right in the IDE with any number of lessons and share them privately or publicly with their students.

In addition, students, teachers, schools and courses can apply for educational licenses for full-on JetBrains IDEs and team tools and use them for free.

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