TechCrunch – Page 4

Instagram tests a new ‘Instants’ app for sharing disappearing photos

Instagram is testing a new image-sharing app called “Instants,” the company confirmed to TechCrunch on Thursday. The app, which is available in Spain and Italy, lets users share disappearing photos with their friends that can be viewed only once and remain available for 24 hours. However, Instagram may be a bit late to capitalize on the trend of low-pressure, unfiltered photo sharing, as BeReal is not as popular as it once was. At the same time, many people already use Instagram Stories, the app’s Snapchat clone, for quick sharing and may not see the need for a separate app to do so. Given these factors, it’ll be interesting to see how Instants plays out.
https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/23/instagram-tests-a-new-instants-app-for-sharing-disappearing-photos/

Deezer says 44% of songs uploaded to its platform daily are AI-generated

Deezer announced on Monday that AI-generated tracks now represent 44% of all new music uploaded to its platform. The company said it’s receiving almost 75,000 AI-generated tracks per day and more than two million per month. The consumption of AI-generated music on the platform is still very low, at 1-3% of total streams, and 85% of these streams are detected as fraudulent and demonetized by the company.
https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/20/deezer-says-44-of-songs-uploaded-to-its-platform-daily-are-ai-generated/

The App Store is booming again, and AI may be why

According to a new analysis from market intelligence provider Appfigures, worldwide app releases in the first quarter of 2026 were up 60% year-over-year across both Apple’s App Store and Google Play. That percentage was an even higher 80% when looking at the iOS App Store alone. In April 2026 so far, the total number of app releases is up 104% across both stores compared to the same time last year, and up 89% on iOS. As Apple’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, Greg “Joz” Joswiak, quipped In a recent interview: rumors of the App Store’s death in the AI age “may have been greatly exaggerated.”
https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/18/the-app-store-is-booming-again-and-ai-may-be-why/

Anthropic launches Claude Design, a new product for creating quick visuals

image via techcrunch.com

Anthropic announced on Friday that it’s launching Claude Design, a new experimental product that lets users create visuals like prototypes, slides, one-pagers, and more using Claude. The company says Claude Design is intended to help people like founders and product managers without a design background share their ideas more easily.
https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/17/anthropic-launches-claude-design-a-new-product-for-creating-quick-visuals/

Canva’s AI assistant can now call various tools to make designs for you

Canva is leaning into this paradigm in the latest version of its Canva AI assistant, which uses its AI model to let users create editable designs with text prompts. Users can describe what they want it to make, and the bot will call the required tools and come up with a few options. The assistant uses layers to make designs, which gives users the flexibility to tweak different aspects of the final product as they see fit.
https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/16/canvas-ai-assistant-can-now-call-various-tools-to-make-designs-for-you/

Netflix is expanding into kids’ games with a new standalone app

Netflix is launching a new standalone app for kids’ games called Netflix Playground, the company announced on Monday. Netflix Playground is available as part of a Netflix subscription, and doesn’t have any ads or in-app purchases. It can be accessed offline without a mobile or Wi-Fi connection, which the company says makes it the “perfect companion for long airplane rides or grocery trips.”
https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/06/netflix-launches-a-standalone-app-for-kids-games/

A new connections app, Sonder, has a deliberately tedious sign-up process (and it’s working)

“With the format of existing dating apps, the intention is lowering the barrier to entry and improving access, allowing for introverts to meet a bunch of people easily,” co-founder Helen Sun told TechCrunch. “Those intentions were really good at the beginning, but based on the way those apps have evolved, I think it’s become a very monotonous thing, and people are suffering from burnout because there’s a loss of authenticity.”
https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/01/a-new-dating-app-sonder-has-a-deliberately-annoying-sign-up-process-and-its-working