Mobile

The Discovery+ app is getting one of the most anticipated feature — and frankly, a must-have feature for today’s streaming apps — offline viewing. The company announced Monday that users of the ad-free plan in the U.S. will be able to download content for offline viewing on the service’s iOS and Android apps. This move

To Jae Lee, a data scientist by training, it never made sense that video — which has become an enormous part of our lives, what with the rise of platforms like TikTok, Vimeo and YouTube — was difficult to search across due to the technical barriers posed by context understanding. Searching the titles, descriptions and

When Vijay Chattha was building a startup, his competitor was what some would call a media darling. The competition had a good story, which created investor interest. In turn, that interest helped land key customers. And so the cycle repeated. Chattha eventually sold that company in a lukewarm exit and took with him an important

AWS today launched a new service that will help users inside an advertising or marketing organization share data with other employees inside their company or with outside partners, all without running the risk of inadvertently sharing personal data. This new service is part of Amazon’s new AWS for Advertising & Marketing initiative, which aims to

YouTube launched its first-ever official trends podcast today, the company announced. Hosted by popular content creator MatPat and produced by YouTube’s Culture & Trends team, the “Like & Describe” podcast will tackle lesser-known stories behind the biggest YouTube trends. Episodes will release monthly on YouTube’s main channel for viewers to watch, as well as all

An automated status updater for Slack isn’t the only thing Mozilla acquired this week. On Wednesday, the company announced that it snatched up Active Replica, a Vancouver-based startup developing a “web-based metaverse.” According to Mozilla SVP Imo Udom, Active Replica will support Mozilla’s ongoing work with Hubs, the latter’s VR chatroom service and open source

Disney announced today the long-awaited third season of “The Mandalorian,” which will debut on March 1 on Disney+. The company had previously said that the third season would debut in February, so fans will have to wait a little longer than expected to see the upcoming season. The third season will take place following the

Content is king for streaming services, and Netflix may be going the extra mile to ensure its content is up to par with subscribers. According to the Wall Street Journal, Netflix’s prerelease screening program will soon enlist tens of thousands of subscribers to preview new movies and shows and provide their feedback. Netflix declined to

Netflix released nine more mobile games this month, the company announced on Tuesday. The addition of games brings Netflix’s total to over 40 titles, keeping the streamer on track to have more than 50 titles in its mobile games catalog by the end of 2022. Newly added games include Country Friends, the FarmVille clone developed

YouTube’s mobile app on iOS devices is currently down for some users. The crashes began on Wednesday afternoon as thousands of iOS users reported the app would close shortly after opening it. Users also reported seeing a message on the app that said, “A serious error occurred.” TechCrunch tried to replicate the problem and experienced

Spotify Wrapped 2022 has officially arrived. Though other music services, including Apple Music and YouTube Music, now put together their own year-end retrospectives, Spotify’s personalized and interactive Wrapped experience for its users, creators and podcasters remains the one to beat. The secret to its ongoing success is how it goes beyond simply offering a summary

Disney paid $900 million to Major League Baseball (MLB) earlier this month to buy out the league’s remaining 15% stake in the streaming firm BAMTech, according to an SEC filing made public Tuesday. The transaction makes Disney a 100% owner of the streaming company that powers Disney+ and the firm’s other consumer services. The SEC

One month after Nintendo debuted its first trailer for “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” the company has revealed yet another trailer — this time giving fans a first look at Princess Peach and Donkey Kong. In the newest trailer, viewers get to see more of Illumination’s incredible animating skills with Donkey Kong, voiced by Seth

The 2022 perspective that startups should cut their losses and chart a clearer path to profitability does not only apply to upstart tech companies. After a multiyear spending binge, larger technology companies are also pulling back on costs. For some major tech concerns, the cuts have come in the form of explicit layoffs and staffing

If your favorite music festival’s lineup didn’t live up to your expectations this year, don’t worry; a new app called Instafest will create a music festival poster for you based on your Spotify listening habits. The free web app, created by developer Anshay Saboo, is pretty straightforward to use: sign in with your Spotify account,

It isn’t like Instagram is a beacon of truth as it is, but things are about to get a lot worse, as Nufa takes any image and sculpts you into the “after” picture dream that every gym owner wants to project into our souls as they continue on their mission to make us all look

Folks often ask if Crunchbase and TechCrunch are still the same company (nope). Many express surprise that AOL was once this publication’s sole parent (yep). The saga of Who Owns TechCrunch is actually somewhat interesting. Various corporate developments over the last decade saw TechCrunch trade hands several times, including our most recent ejection from Verizon

Elon Musk said Thursday Twitter will grant “a general amnesty” to accounts that had been suspended from the platform beginning next week. The CEO posted a poll the day earlier over whether the platform should restore affected accounts. The news comes within a week of Musk also ending former president Donald Trump’s ban from the

The FTX drama is not over yet — and Amazon wants a piece of it. The company is partnering with Russo Brothers, best known for Marvel movies, to make a show on the spectacular collapse of the giant cryptocurrency empire. Amazon has partnered with the duo’s production house AGBO to make the show, which will

Starting today, November 23, “Star Wars” fans can stream the first two episodes of Disney+’s  “Andor” on Hulu. Just ahead of Thanksgiving in the U.S., Hulu subscribers have access to episode 1, “Kassa,” and episode 2, “That Would Be Me,” until December 7. Also, the first two episodes will air across three Disney-owned networks ABC,

Mark Cuban-backed streaming app Fireside, which today offers podcasters and other creators a way to host interactive, live shows with audience engagement, will soon expand to the TV’s big screen. Variety reported, and Fireside confirmed, it’s acquired the open streaming TV platform Stremium, which will allow Fireside’s shows to become available to a range of

Spotify is expanding its newly launched audiobooks service outside the U.S., the company announced today. The service will now become available in other English-speaking markets, including the U.K., Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, allowing users to access Spotify’s catalog of audiobook titles from the streaming app. The company first launched support for audiobooks in the

Fans of Apple TV+’s popular sci-fi workplace drama, “Severance,” can have their very own Lumon music-dance experience—maracas not included. Starting Wednesday, November 23, online store Mondo will have exclusive “Severance” vinyl records on sale, which contain the official soundtrack, artwork, themed packaging, and other bonus merch. Like in the show, Mondo created two variations of

Sponsorships are a multibillion-dollar industry. But data on sponsorships, like who’s sponsoring who, can be tough to come by because of the various forms they take — and channels on which those sponsorships take place (think not only websites and social media posts but also physical signage and even sports team jerseys). For both brands

The Walt Disney Co. said today that Bob Iger is returning to head the company as Bob Chapek is stepping down from the CEO post. Iger, who officially left the company last year, is set to take the command immediately. The company said that he will serve as the CEO for two years. “We thank

Fans across the globe will be tuning in to the most-watched sporting spectacle — the 2022 FIFA World Cup— set to kick off on Sunday, November 20, with host nation Qatar facing off against Ecuador. FIFA expects 5 billion people worldwide to watch this year’s tournament. If you’re planning on streaming the 2022 World Cup,

Hello again! Time for another edition of Week in Review, the newsletter where we recap the week’s most read TechCrunch stories in one quick and easy-to-skim blast. Get it in your inbox every Saturday AM by signing up here. (There won’t be a newsletter next Saturday because I’ll be off being thankful/eating leftovers/being thankful for

Fake news, and the identification and eradication of it, has long been thought of as the purview of social media platforms, where a lot of that tends to be shared. Today, one of the more ambitious tech startups in the field of fighting fake news is getting acquired — not by a social media platform,

Ticketmaster is facing more scrutiny from politicians after its chaotic presales for tickets to Taylor Swift’s tour. Tennessee attorney general Jonathan Skrmetti said he is looking into whether Ticketmaster violated consumers’ rights and antitrust regulations. Skrmetti is the latest politician who has called attention to Ticketmaster and Live Nation’s hold on the ticketing market. This

Anime streaming service Crunchyroll has partnered with Discord. Starting today, users will be able to display the movie or TV show they’re currently watching on their Discord profile. Crunchyroll is the latest media company to add “Rich Presence,” the “Now Playing” functionality that automatically displays the video you’re watching, the game you’re playing, the song