Welcome back to the week in review. This week, we’re looking at the impact of the impending TikTok ban in the U.S., including “TikTok refugees” turning to Chinese app RedNote, a surge in English speakers learning Mandarin on Duolingo, and more! Let's get started.
The Supreme Court upheld the law This will effectively ban TikTok tomorrow. The decision marks the end of TikTok's months-long legal battle that essentially forced the app to shut down unless it divested its U.S. operations. Starting Sunday, it will be illegal for app stores and internet hosting services to distribute TikTok. The company warned that the app would be "shut down" on Sunday, but it's unclear exactly what will happen once the ban takes effect.
American users are flocking to RedNotea Chinese short video app also known as Xiaohongshu, made it the No. 1 free app in the U.S. App Store. RedNote has a lot of good advice for creators looking for a TikTok alternative: It has a layout similar to Pinterest, is often considered the Chinese version of Instagram, and has many social shopping features. But for some, the transition isn't easy.
TikTok users are using Duolingo Before the TikTok ban, more and more people began to use RedNote to learn Chinese. According to Duolingo, the app's number of new Mandarin learners in the U.S. grew by about 216% compared to the same time last year, with RedNote adoption rising sharply in mid-January.
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Mark Cuban wants to fund the next TikTok: The entrepreneur and investor said he is ready to fund TikTok alternatives based on the Bluesky AT protocol, demonstrating the potential of the open social network as the same technology that powers the Bluesky social network. Read more
Bluesky is developing a photo sharing application: An independent developer is working on a photo-sharing application called Flashes for Bluesky. The app launches to capitalize on growing consumer demand for an alternative to Big Tech's social media monopoly. Read more
"ChatGPT, remind me to file my taxes": OpenAI gives ChatGPT a new way to serve 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: After Meta decided to remove its third-party fact-checking system and relax its content moderation policies, more and more people are looking for ways to delete Facebook, Instagram and Threads. We've put together a handy guide. Read more
UnitedHealth Insurance hides data breach notification: Change Healthcare, which lost sensitive health data on more than 100 million people in a ransomware attack last year, said it had completed notifying those affected, but we discovered that UnitedHealth hid the breach notification for months. Read more
Nintendo finally releases Switch 2: Nintendo has shared the first images of the successor to its popular Nintendo Switch, which features a larger console with a larger display, updated Joy-Con controllers, and less color scheme than its predecessor. Read more
Sonos CEO departs: Sonos CEO Patrick Spence is leaving the company after eight years amid a botched update to its software platform that was riddled with bugs and removed some long-standing features. Read more
Looking for a TikTok alternative? Try these: While there is no 1:1 replacement for TikTok, there are some viable options that can provide a similar experience. We’ve put together a list of different apps that are worth trying to solve your problem. Read more
Even artificial intelligence doesn’t like to be disturbed: Google NotebookLM's AI-generated podcast feature appears "hostile" and snarky when interrupted by human callers, so it needs some "friendliness tweaks." Read more
Apple is pausing artificial intelligence notification summary: The company has faced backlash for generating inaccurate news alerts in news and entertainment apps. Apple said it also made changes to the entire summary to increase transparency. Read more
OpenAI gets into the local news game: Axios announces partnership with OpenAI. As part of the deal, OpenAI will fund Axios' expansion of its local newsletter to four new cities: Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Boulder and Huntsville. Read more
Convert steps to screen time: A new iOS app called Steppin blocks your social media apps unless you take a certain number of steps each day. By achieving daily step goals, users can free up time on their most used social media platforms. Read more