Google Play adds Venmo as a payment option

The ability to add Venmo to Google Play comes as people are spending more money on apps and games.

The first rival Android app store just arrived in the US Play Store
The first rival Android app store just arrived in the US Play Store

Following the latest twist in Google’s legal battles with Epic, US Android users are now able to open Google’s Play Store and download a third-party digital store with its own selection of apps. Aptoide, a store specializing in mobile games, is the first to become available. Third-party app stores have always been available on Android, […]

Grok’s image tools get a professional upgrade with templates, precise editing, and an Arena number two ranking
Grok’s image tools get a professional upgrade with templates, precise editing, and an Arena number two ranking

SpaceXAI shipped Grok Imagine Image 2.0 on Thursday, making editing a first-class capability rather than an afterthought. The update adds a magic wand tool that changes only the region a user points at, segmentation for selecting precise areas to modif…

My favorite feel-good show is back
My favorite feel-good show is back

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 139, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, barbecue sauce, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.) This week, I’ve been reading about Johnny Knoxville and Google Zero and the history of the bicycle, […]

X shuts down revenue sharing on September 7. The replacement only pays for original content.
X shuts down revenue sharing on September 7. The replacement only pays for original content.

X is shutting down its revenue-sharing programme on September 7 and replacing it with a new system called the Original Content Rewards Programme. The change is designed to reward creators who post original work, not people who repost other users’ conte…

Hidden code in ChatGPT’s Android app suggests OpenAI is building a direct WhatsApp sticker export
Hidden code in ChatGPT’s Android app suggests OpenAI is building a direct WhatsApp sticker export

Hidden code in ChatGPT’s latest Android app suggests OpenAI is building a feature that would let users generate stickers and export them directly to WhatsApp. An APK teardown by Android Authority found references to an “Add to WhatsApp” option in the s…

Cloudflare built a browser for AI agents. It uses 7x less memory than Chromium and runs entirely on Workers.
Cloudflare built a browser for AI agents. It uses 7x less memory than Chromium and runs entirely on Workers.

Cloudflare built a browser from scratch for AI agents and launched it today as a free beta inside its Browser Run product. Kitesurf runs entirely on Cloudflare Workers, uses Rust compiled to WebAssembly, and strips out everything a human browser needs …

Disney+ and ESPN are testing AI-powered search that lets users describe what they want in plain language
Disney+ and ESPN are testing AI-powered search that lets users describe what they want in plain language

Disney is testing AI-powered search inside both ESPN and Disney+, the company announced on Wednesday. ESPN Search lets a small group of users ask sports questions in natural language and receive answers, stats, related content, and recommendations draw…

Cloudflare launches Kitesurf, a browser built for AI agents

Cloudflare has introduced Kitesurf, a cloud-hosted browser designed for AI agents instead of people. The company says the browser uses less computing power than Chromium for common automation tasks, helping developers build browser-based AI agents more…

Why does Apple keep banning Telegram, but never X?
Why does Apple keep banning Telegram, but never X?

For roughly an hour this week, Telegram vanished from Apple’s App Store. Even during that blip, it was a stunning absence for such a major app: an avenue of communication for more than 1 billion users around the world, used widely as a secure platform for people who live in countries under censorship. Apple later […]