Lauren Forristal

Lauren covers media, streaming, apps and platforms at TechCrunch.

The Latest from Lauren Forristal

DistroKid users can now upload their songs to TikTok Music and CapCut

Thanks to a new agreement between TikTok and music distribution service DistroKid, millions of independent artists will now be able to promote their music on TikTok Music, the recently launched subscr

Agora enables brands to host live shopping events and auctions

Agora, the company that develops “real-time engagement” APIs, is making its livestream shopping technology widely available to help more brands build live commerce experiences, including s

Generative AI startup 1337 (Leet) is paying users to help create AI-driven influencers

There’s been a rise of virtual influencers in recent years — computer-generated personalities who are just as active on social media platforms as real humans are. Many companies are investing

Amazon’s new generative AI tool lets advertisers enhance product images

Amazon is rolling out a new AI image generation tool for advertisers to generate backgrounds based on product descriptions and themes. Amazon is currently beta testing the tool with select advertisers

TikTok partners with Tickets.com to sell tickets for its first live music event

A few months ago, TikTok launched its subscription-only music streaming service to compete with major players Spotify, Apple and Amazon. Now, the company appears to be throwing its hat in the ticketin

New app ‘Wyzr Friends’ helps older adults make friends, arrange carpools

Whether you’re an empty nester, divorcé or a newcomer looking to make friends in a new city, Wyzr Friends wants to be the go-to activity-based friendship app for adults 40 years old and up to conne

Anti-Instagram photo-sharing app Daylyy has no vanity metrics, filters or algorithm

While social media has its perks, it can also be a toxic wasteland crawling with hate comments, unrealistic body standards, scammers and spam bots. As this toxicity continues to infest the digital lan

Google Meet now lets you apply a skin-smoothing effect with its new portrait touch-up mode

Google Meet finally rolled out a portrait touch-up mode to compete with rivals Zoom and Microsoft Teams. The new capability allows you to apply beautifying features during video calls, including compl

TikTok ads expand to the real world with new ‘Out of Phone’ program

A few months after TikTok teamed up with Redbox to feature content on more than 3,000 kiosks, the short-form video app is partnering with more companies to expand its advertising opportunities for bra

Objective emerges from stealth to deliver multimodal search to developers as an API platform

Objective (previously named Kailua Labs), a multimodal search platform built by machine learning experts from Apple, Google, Meta, Amazon and Twilio, emerged from stealth today with $13 million in ven

PayPal’s app can now track your packages, even if you didn’t check out with its service

PayPal launched a package tracking feature on its app that allows you to instantly see the status of online orders. Rather than manually entering the order number into a carrier website or searching y

Swsh’s new app helps you maintain your friendships through polls and games

Ever since BeReal became popular among Gen Zers, giving them a platform to be their true selves rather than scrolling through heavily edited content, there’s been a rise in social apps that cater to

Live commerce startup TalkShopLive launches new app for sellers to broadcast on mobile

Live commerce platform TalkShopLive announced today its new Studio app for creators and brands, bringing an array of management and broadcast tools to mobile, including the ability to virtually collab

Block acquires music financial services startup Hifi

Block, the Jack Dorsey-founded fintech company previously known as Square, has acquired Hifi, a music-focused fintech startup. The company declined to share deal terms. Hifi founder and CEO Damian Man

Fave, the app for superfans, raises $2M as it continues to reward users for their obsessions

Fave, the app for superfans to connect with like-minded music lovers and obsess over their favorite artists, secured $2 million in an ongoing round, the company exclusively told TechCrunch. Notably, t

Uber Eats now lets you order from two nearby stores at the same time

You no longer have to fight with loved ones about what to eat for dinner tonight. Uber Eats announced a multi-store ordering feature that enables diners to purchase items from two restaurants in a sin

Relationship community app Keepler wants to guide you through your dating journey

Keepler, a new app for daters to receive expert advice, officially launched today to give users the skills and guidance to confidently navigate the dating scene or improve their current relationship.

A former TikTok employee is building a social app for content creators to network and ‘spill the tea’

Canopy is a new peer-to-peer social networking app for content creators to connect, crowdsource information and, for lack of a better term, “spill the tea.” The company announced today the launch

Walmart experiments with generative AI tools that can help you plan a party or decorate

After launching a generative AI tool for corporate employees in August, Walmart is bringing the technology to its customers. During a demo with TechCrunch, a company spokesperson outlined how the reta

You can now react to messages on Gmail

Gmail just got more reactive. Google is bringing emoji reactions to its email service, allowing users to add personality to their messages. Reactions include a thumbs up, a sparkling heart, a party po
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