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Welcome back to Review Week. This week, we look at the effects of the TikTok ban in the US, including “TikTok refugees” moving to the Chinese app RedNote, the rise of English speakers learning Mandarin on Duolingo, and more! Let’s get into it.
The Supreme Court upheld the law that will be Effectively ban TikTok tomorrow. The decision marks the end of TikTok’s months-long legal battle against a law that essentially forced the app to shut down unless it divested its US operations. From Sunday, it will be illegal for app stores and internet hosting services to distribute TikTok. The company warned that the app would “go dark” on Sunday, but it’s unclear exactly what will happen if the ban goes into effect.
American users are flocking to RedNoteA Chinese short-form video app Also known as Xiaohongshu, it made it the No. 1 free app in the US App Store. RedNote hits many of the right notes for creators looking for a TikTok alternative: it has a layout that’s similar to Pinterest, is generally considered China’s answer to Instagram, and boasts several social shopping features. But the passage It was not easy for some people.
TikTok users using Duolingo A growing number of them took RedNote to learn Chinese before the TikTok ban. Duolingo said it saw the app An increase of about 216% among new Mandarin learners In the U.S., compared to this time last year, with a sharp spike as adoption of RedNote stopped in mid-January.
This is TechCrunch’s week in review, where we summarize the biggest news of the week. Want it delivered as a newsletter to your inbox every Saturday? Sign up here.
the news
Mark Cuban wants to fund TikTok next: The entrepreneur and investor said he is ready to fund a TikTok alternative built on Bluesky’s AT protocol, hinting at the potential for an open social web powered by the same technology that underpins Bluesky’s social network. Read more
Bluesky is getting a photo sharing app: An independent developer is building a photo-sharing app called Flashes for Bluesky At launch, the app could tap into growing consumer demand for alternatives to Big Tech’s social media monopoly. Read more
“ChatGPT, remind me to do my taxes”: OpenAI has a new way for ChatGPT to work for you. Paid users of ChatGPT can now ask the AI ​​assistant to schedule reminders or recurring requests in a new beta feature called Tasks. Read more
How to break up with Meta: In the wake of Meta’s decision to remove its third-party fact-checking system and loosen its content moderation policies, more people are searching for how to delete Facebook, Instagram, and threads. We put together a handy guide. Read more
UnitedHealth discloses data breach notifications: Change Healthcare, which lost more than 100 million people’s sensitive health data in a ransomware attack last year, said it had completed notifying victims — but we found that UnitedHealth hid breach notifications for months. Read more
Nintendo has finally announced the Switch 2: Nintendo has shared the first images of the successor to the hugely popular Nintendo Switch, featuring a larger console with a larger display, updated Joy-Con controllers and a less colorful design than its predecessor. Read more
Sonos CEO Out: Sonos CEO Patrick Spence is leaving the company after eight years on the job following an outdated update to its software platform that was riddled with bugs and removed some long-standing features. Read more
Looking for a TikTok replacement? Try this: While there is no 1:1 replacement for TikTok, there are some viable alternatives that offer a similar experience to consider. We’ve put together a list of different apps worth checking out to scratch that itch. Read more
Even AI doesn’t like to be interrupted: Google NotebookLM’s AI-generated podcasts feature needed some “friendly tuning” after it proved to be “adversarial” and snippy when interrupted by human callers. Read more
Apple is turning off AI Notification Summary: The company is facing backlash for creating false news alerts in news and entertainment apps. Apple says it’s also introducing changes to Summary overall for greater transparency. Read more
OpenAI enters the local news game: Axios has announced a partnership with OpenAI. As part of the deal, OpenAI will fund Axios’ expansion of its local newsletters to four new cities: Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Boulder and Huntsville. Read more
Turn steps into screen time: A new iOS app called Stepin blocks your social media apps unless you walk a certain number of steps per day By achieving daily step goals, users can unlock time on their most used social media platforms. Read more
