Tag Archives: apps

The Verge reports: Facebook is testing a video speed-dating app called Sparked. The app, which requires a Facebook profile to create an account, is developed by the company’s NPE Team, Facebook’s in-house group that works on experimental apps. You can view the Sparked webpage here, where it describes the app as “video dating with kind people.” It also promises no …

Reuters reports: Chinese gaming company Beijing Kunlun Tech Co Ltd is seeking to sell Grindr LLC, the popular gay dating app it has owned since 2016, after a U.S. government national security panel raised concerns about its ownership, according to people familiar with the matter. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) has informed Kunlun that its …

Wired reports: When the lip-syncing app Musical.ly first exploded in popularity nearly four years ago, it was best known for being a teen sensation. But according to the Federal Trade Commission, the app also illegally collected information from children under the age of 13. The agency announced Wednesday that Musical.ly, now known as TikTok, has agreed to pay a $5.7 …

Axios reports: Here’s a potential time-saver this Black Friday: a smartphone app that will deploy a robot to hold a parking space for you at the mall. MyPark is a Miami-based parking reservation service that deploys mobile space blockers to hold spots for customers willing to pay a few dollars for the convenience. The app triggers a pop-up rectangle that …

Buzzfeed News reports: The gay hookup app Grindr, which has more than 3.6 million daily active users across the world, has been providing its users’ HIV status to two other companies, BuzzFeed News has learned. The two companies — Apptimize and Localytics, which help optimize apps — receive some of the information that Grindr users choose to include in their …

Via press release: Mayor de Blasio today announced the launch of NYC Secure, a pioneering cybersecurity initiative aimed at protecting New Yorkers online. Using a steadily evolving suite of solutions, NYC Secure will defend New Yorkers from malicious cyber activity on mobile devices, across public Wi-Fi networks, and beyond. The first NYC Secure programs will include a free City-sponsored smartphone …

The New York Post reports: Luluapp — a mobile app that, for a fee, promises to direct tourists and other assorted weak bladders to the nearest available bathroom — says it has already signed up more than 100 New York restaurants and bars ahead of its summer launch. “Instead of paying a lot of money for a Facebook or Yelp …

The South China Morning Post reports: The world’s largest gay social media app is now owned by the Chinese, after a little-known Beijing tech company agreed to acquire full control of America’s Grindr for US$240 million, and fully engage in its daily operations. Beijing Kunlun Tech, a game developer owned by 38-year-old billionaire Zhou Yahui, said on Wednesday it planned …

This isn’t exactly news that most of us here can use, but the technology is interesting. CNN reports: “Fertility is a big problem. Men are embarrassed to go to their urologist for infertility testing,” said Dr. Hadi Shafiee, assistant professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, who led the study. “This is going to be …

The Telegraph reports: Confession, they say, is good for the soul and, in some cases perhaps, the sooner the better. Now, for those with a burning need to unburden themselves, one Roman Catholic archdiocese has launched what is thought to be the world’s first interactive GPS-powered “confession finder”. Using similar technology to the dating hook-up app Tinder, it guides the …

JMG reader Harry tips us to a new ad campaign for one of Germany’s largest insurance companies. With the tagline “Your Use Pays Off,” the clip below promotes an exercise app with the implied promise that you’ll soon be fit enough to confidently stroll around your local gym in the nude. Possibly not cubicle-safe due to firm German buttocks.

A smartphone app just launched in Iran allows the user to alert others if the morality policy are nearby. France 24 reports: In the Islamic Republic of Iran, the morality police, a unit of the National Police, are charged with insuring that Iranian citizens comply with so-called Islamic law. For example, morality officers have to make sure that women wear …

According to a press release from the new gay hook-up app Hanky, 80% of applicants are turned away by the votes of existing members, ostensibly in order to prevent the app from being overrun with “creeps, trolls, and time-wasters.” Uh huh. From Hanky: Hanky wants to eliminate the trolls: in order to join Hanky you need an invite code from …

Taxi app Hailo has wrapped some its drivers’ cars in rainbow hues and is offering Dublin residents free rides to the polls on referendum day. They write: Next Friday 22nd May, we go to the polls to vote on the Marriage Equality Referendum. It’s a huge moment for Ireland – and on reflection of the diverse background of both Ireland’s …

Via Entrepreneur: Airpnp is banking on the idea that people are willing to pay to pee and rent their toilet out to desperate strangers. Described as the Airbnb for toilets, the app allows users to search for available toilets at homes and businesses in the area and find out the price to use these establishments. According to the company blog, …

Two weeks ago I reported that an unknown person had sent warnings to thousands of Grindr users in countries with anti-gay laws. The tipster warned that the user’s exact location or address can be triangulated via the distance function, putting them at risk of being found by authorities or gay-bashers. Grindr responded to media inquiries by declaring that its distance …

NDTV Gadgets reports that an unknown person has sent warnings to thousands of Grindr users in countries with anti-gay laws. The tipster warns that the user’s exact location or address can be triangulated, putting them at risk of being found by authorities or gay-bashers. The anonymous spammer, who is presumably acting altruistically, includes links to a Twitter account, YouTube video …

A new smartphone app allows parents to remotely lock up their child’s phone until the child calls them back. “If your children ignore your repeated calls and text messages to reach them, you simply lock their phones until they call you back,” says the description of the app. “When you lock your child’s phone with Ignore No More your child …

From Charisma News, which last week declared that gay people are possessed by “putrid-smelling demons.” The Shut Up, Devil! app is an innovative resource that puts the power of the Word of God in your pocket. And because it’s on your smartphone, which is almost always with you, you’re ready to resist the devil whenever and wherever he attacks. Additionally …

Via Reuters: The singer Chubby Checker has settled a lawsuit in which he accused Hewlett-Packard Co of using his trademarked name without permission on a software app that purported to measure the size of a man’s penis. HP denied liability in agreeing to settle with Checker, whose given name is Ernest Evans, but agreed not to make future use of …