Those users can’t have a new account or be vouching for others at the same time. If users choose the social vouching option, they’ll need at least three other adult friends to vouch for their age - and Instagram will choose a list of six people randomly who meet the criteria. If users are prompted to provide an ID card, like a passport or driver’s license, Meta will store it on its servers for 30 days before deletion. These users may be trying to correct an earlier mistake or they could be teens trying to circumvent the app’s newer age-appropriate restrictions. The tests, which will begin in the U.S., will apply to users who try to change their age to 18 or over after being previously set to under 18. Instagram announced this week it’s testing a new set of features for verifying users’ ages in the app, including things like video selfies, vouching from adult friends and providing an ID. This Week in Apps offers a way to keep up with this fast-moving industry in one place, with the latest from the world of apps, including news, updates, startup fundings, mergers and acquisitions and suggestions about new apps to try, too.ĭo you want This Week in Apps in your inbox every Saturday? Sign up here: /newsletters Top Stories Instagram to verify users’ ages in new test This was up 20% from 2020, when 193 apps and games topped $100 million in annual consumer spend and just eight apps topped $1 billion. In 2021, 233 apps and games generated over $100 million in consumer spend and 13 topped $1 billion in revenue. In markets like Brazil, Indonesia and South Korea, users surpassed five hours per day in mobile apps in 2021.Īpps aren’t just a way to pass idle hours, either. And they’re not even the world’s heaviest mobile users. The average American watches 3.1 hours of TV per day, for example, but in 2021, they spent 4.1 hours on their mobile device. Today’s consumers now spend more time in apps than ever before - even topping the time they spend watching TV, in some cases. Downloads of apps also grew by 5%, reaching 230 billion in 2021, and mobile ad spend grew 23% year over year to reach $295 billion.

Global spending across iOS, Google Play and third-party Android app stores in China grew 19% in 2021 to reach $170 billion.

The app industry continues to grow, with a record number of downloads and consumer spending across both the iOS and Google Play stores combined in 2021, according to the latest year-end reports. Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the weekly TechCrunch series that recaps the latest in mobile OS news, mobile applications and the overall app economy.

Best twitter app for mac 2021