App news roundup: 18 April 

The video sharing app TikTok has been removed from the App Store and Google Play in India after the government demanded it be taken down citing concerns about the material being shared via its interface. The Chinese app is a cult favourite worldwide and available in 38 languages. It allows users to create short 15 second videos and is thought to have around 120 million users in India. It has already been banned in neighbouring Bangladesh and the American government levied a large fine for the app’s practise of collecting information from minors.

TikTok has been in court fighting the shut down order almost all month but has so far been unsuccessful. The Indian government’s IT ministry sent both Google and Apple orders to remove the app from their respective app stores. Those who have already downloaded the app are able to continue using it.

Innovative new app created to stop news-induced anxiety

A former director of the note-taking app Evernote has launched an innovative new app called Sift which he designed to help reduce the anxiety and exhaustion many people feel as a result of news coverage. Gabe Campodonico was inspired to create Sift after realising that the coverage of the 2016 US presidential election was emotionally-charged, meaning news consumers were subjected to heated debates rather than hard facts. The app has been funded by the former Evernote CEO who says that many people feel anxious and depressed as a result of news coverage – something which the research body Pew confirms, with its findings suggesting 70% of Americans feel exhausted by the news cycle.

Sift takes a new approach to reporting, providing a big-picture manner. This means news items contain historical information, data is presented in a visual way and access provided to sources. The app uses a card style design, with the user able to swipe through cards to find additional information and move deeper into the story. The app creators feel this new way of delivering news will help consumers engage and remain interested, without it causing feeling of stress, anxiety or depression.

Google Play Store testing new features

It has been reported this week that Google Play is testing a number of new features to improve its app download process. The first major change sees simultaneous not sequential downloads enabled which should make it quicker for users to add new apps to their device. A second change is a ‘budget’ feature which means users can enter an amount that they wish to spend for the month on Google Play to control spending. When the user approaches their set monthly budget, Google sends an alert to advise that the limit is almost reached.

These changes are thought to be part of an A/B test from Google Play, with some users seeing them and others not. While they aren’t confirmed additions as yet, they could well be so in the near future.