App Store News
Our latest news and analysis coverage of app stores and additional distribution channels for mobile and other smart apps.
USTR slams India, Italy, Turkey on digital taxes but holds off on tariffs
Digital services taxation adopted by India, Italy and Turkey discriminate against US businesses and therefore are inconsistent with international tax rules, the US Trade Representa...
Trump signs order banning transactions with eight Chinese apps including Alipay
President Trump has signed an executive order prohibiting trades with eight Chinese software applications, such as Ant Group’s Alipay, ” the White House stated, escalat...
Alibaba to shut down Xiami music app next month
Alibaba Group will shut its audio streaming platform Xiami Music following month, in a move that marks a step back from its ambitions to push into China’s entertainment indus...
Google employees form labor union in United States
More than 200 workers and builders in Google parent Alphabet in the US and Canada have formed a labor union to promote workplace equity and moral business practices, the group chos...
Tencent games reinstated on Huawei app store
Tencent’s online games were removed and then reinstated on Huawei’s app store in a rolling dispute over revenue sharing by the Chinese companies.
Apple removes 39,000 game apps from China store to meet deadline
Apple removed 39,000 game apps on its China store Thursday, the biggest removal ever in a single day, as it set year-end as deadline for all game publishers to obtain a licence.
Google told its scientists to ‘strike a positive tone’ in AI research
Google this year moved to tighten control over its scientists’ papers by launching a “sensitive topics” review, and in at least three cases requested authors refr...
Cyberpunk 2077 sales miss analyst estimates after refunds
Polish video game manufacturer CD Projekt SA said it offered more than 13 million copies of its Cyberpunk 2077 match through Dec. 20, below analyst forecasts, hurt in part by refun...
Facebook to add more account security features next year
Facebook has said it would start allowing users to prepare physical safety keys as a way to confirm their identity before logging to the social network’s mobile app, beginnin...
Australian regulator rejects Google’s undertaking over Fitbit competition concerns
Australia’s antitrust regulator has refused an undertaking by Google that sought to address competition concerns over its projected $2.1 billion acquisition of gym tracker ma...
Indian TikTok clone gets significant backing in $100 million fund raise
The app, called Josh, is just one of many home-grown short-video platforms that have sprung up because India blocked the popular TikTok in June amidst a boundary crisis with China,...
Big Tech’s stealth push to influence the Biden administration
Silicon Valley is operating behind the scenes to secure senior functions for technology allies in lesser-known but still vital sections of president-elect Joe Biden’s adminis...
Microsoft Corp says it found malicious software in its systems
Microsoft has said that it has found malicious applications from its own systems associated with a huge hacking effort disclosed by US officials this week, including a top technolo...
Facebook to test relaunched Instagram Lite in India
Facebook has said it is testing a new, less data-intensive version of its picture and video-sharing app Instagram in India, a key growth market for the US social networking giant.