11 NEWSFEED Updates & Upgrades
Short video has become an integral part of the social media world, kickstarted by the now defunct Vine. TikTok leads the pack with around 700 million users globally. The app’s mammoth success has been under attack lately with US President Trump’s call to shut down the Chinese-owned service, prompted by allegations of data misconduct, and a complete ban by India amid rising tensions with China. Ready to fill the gap is Facebook, which has confirmed it’s been testing ‘Short Videos’ in what is its biggest market. A source at Facebook revealed to TechCrunch that its services in India have increased by over 25% since the ban of TikTok, which it has decided to SHORT VIDEO FEVER
capitalise on. Having flirted with the idea in its previous attempt (called Lasso), Facebook also added a similar feature called Reels to Instagram. In the beta, available in-app in India, Short Videos has a dedicated section within the newsfeed. It has a ‘Create’ button that prompts Facebook Camera to launch, allowing users to browse through videos by swiping up. And Facebook isn’t the only giant to take advantage of the removal of TikTok, as
YouTube has also rolled out a feature, still in its testing phase, to users in India. There has been a sense of urgency, as platforms begin to bring out their competing attempts to latch on to the short video craze, with TikTok reportedly searching for ways back into the market. Triller, an American TikTok-like video app and ’talent discovery platform,’ has moved to fill the gap in India, partnering with Indian conglomerate Reliance for integration into its JioSaavn music app.
Apple is set to launch a new subscription service called Apple One, offering different bundles of its available services. The services included will be Apple Music, Apple Arcade, Apple TV+, Apple News+ and iCloud in a number of different offerings – all for one fee that is lower than subscribing to each one individually. Reports from Bloomberg suggest the release of the bundles should coincide with the release of new iPhone models. Reported to have multiple tiers, the basic package will include just Apple Music and Apple TV+, while a more expensive tier includes Apple Arcade. Apple News+ is available on the next tier up, followed by an even further expensive bundle featuring iCloud storage. It has also been widely reported that Apple is developing a new virtual fitness class service, available on iPhone, iPad A BUNDLE OF APPLE
and Apple TV. Currently codenamed ‘Seymour,’ it is thought to be included in one of the more expensive bundles, aiming to hold classes to rival the likes of Nike. Financially, the introduction of bundles to the Apple-verse are a wise step by the tech giant, by having customers make use of the multitude of Apple services available, while creating new revenues.
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