Tech News – Page 73 – by Arlin Schaffel

Tinder’s app gets more social by letting friends play matchmaker | TechCrunch

Dating app users will often sit with friends as they swipe through their matches in order to gain feedback, or even hand over their phone and let their friends swipe for them. Now, that real-life experience is becoming a part of Tinder’s product, as the company today is introducing a new feature called Tinder Matchmaker where users can invite their friends — including non-Tinder users — to view and suggest potential matches.
https://techcrunch.com/2023/10/23/tinders-app-gets-more-social-by-letting-friends-play-matchmaker/

Photon’s app for pro photographers lets you shoot and save to an external drive

Photon, an iOS app for pro photographers, is introducing a new feature that will allow iPhone 15 Pro users to save their photos directly to an external drive, freeing up valuable disk space on their device. The app, which hails from LateNightSoft, the makers of the popular consumer app Camera+, was launched this July to cater to a more professional audience with tools for adjusting focus, shutter speed, ISO, white balance, format and resolution, among other things.
https://techcrunch.com/2023/10/19/photons-app-for-pro-photographers-lets-you-shoot-and-save-to-an-external-drive/

Self-Checkout Is a Failed Experiment

You know how this process actually goes by now: You still have to wait in line. The checkout kiosks bleat and flash when you fail to set a purchase down in the right spot. Scanning those items is sometimes a crapshoot—wave a barcode too vigorously in front of an uncooperative machine, and suddenly you’ve scanned it two or three times.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/10/self-checkout-kiosks-grocery-retail-stores/675676/?utm_source=apple_news

YouTube debuts new playback controls and creator-focused features | TechCrunch

YouTube is rolling out a new set of features for better mobile-based playback, song search and creator-friendly tools, including a feature that will highlight the “like and subscribe” buttons when a creator utters those words. The company is making it easier for users to increase playback speed. With the new update, users can just tap and hold anywhere on the player to increase the speed to 2x, and once they reach the part they want they can let go.
https://techcrunch.com/2023/10/17/youtube-is-launching-new-playback-and-creator-focused-features/

Spotify is launching a personalized in-app Merch Hub | TechCrunch

Spotify is launching a dedicated in-app Merch Hub that provides personalized merch recommendations based on your listening habits, the company announced on Monday. Previously, you could purchase artist merch from individual artist profiles, the Now Playing view, and release pages. Now, you can access all artist merch in one dedicated place.
https://techcrunch.com/2023/10/16/spotify-launching-personalized-in-app-merch-hub/

Google pays Apple $18B+ a year to keep its search in iPhone

"We believe there is a possibility that federal courts rule against Google and force it to terminate its search deal with Apple," said Bernstein in the report sent to The Register. "We estimate that the ISA is worth $18B-20B in annual payments from Google to Apple, accounting for 14-16 percent of Apple's annual operating profits."
https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/10/google_pays_apple_18_20_claims_bernstein/?td=rt-3a