Tag - apps

 
Menu
Search
 
July 03, 2026
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

APPS

Social media networking apps
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 11, 2026
YouTube lawyer sees no addiction from half hour of videos a day in trial
A 20-year-old Californian was presented by her lawyers as the face of a scourge that has allegedly poisoned millions of American youths — overconsumption of social media.
Doctors look at an analysis of cellular data as part of their research into using artificial intelligence to repurpose existing drugs to fight rare diseases, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in February 2025. There is concern some apps that claim to offer medical guidance may not have an adequate data set to accurately asses information their users submit.
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 10, 2026
Doctors have questions as more AI-powered apps claim to offer medical guidance
A growing number of mobile apps that are not supposed to offer diagnoses are posing special challenges in medicine as patients turn to them for advice.
Parents who lost children to social media–related harms hold a vigil on Feb. 5 ahead of a social media addiction trial set to begin this week in Los Angeles.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 9, 2026
Arguments to begin in key U.S. social media addiction trial
The outcome in the case in the Los Angeles Superior Court could set the tone for a tidal wave of similar litigation across the United States.
India is considering a ban on social media for children, following Australia's passage of the world's first ban last month.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 1, 2026
Modi ally proposes social media ban for India’s teens as global debate grows
India, the world’s second-biggest smartphone market with 750 million devices and a billion internet users, is a key growth market for social media apps.
The Kabukicho nightlife district in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 30, 2026
Host arrested for using dating app to lure women to club in Tokyo
The arrest marked the first crackdown in the country on cases involving soliciting customers to restaurants and pubs through dating apps.
Despite Donald Trump’s celebratory claims that TikTok’s U.S. odyssey is over, the formerly Chinese-owned app now faces mounting challenges around growth, competition, governance, user trust and execution that could quickly erode its immense value.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 30, 2026
The TikTok U.S. saga isn’t over — it’s just beginning
To call the saga over — as many headlines did — would be unwise. Its challenges are only just beginning.
TikTok is moving to settle a lawsuit with a woman who claimed that the social media giant and others designed their platforms to addict young users.
BUSINESS
Jan 28, 2026
TikTok joins Snap settling youth addiction suit before trial
TikTok is moving to settle a lawsuit with a woman who alleged that the company and other social media giants designed their platforms to addict young users.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos on Jan. 22.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 27, 2026
California’s Newsom accuses TikTok of suppressing content critical of Trump
The Democratic governor launched a review of the platform’s ‍content moderation ⁠practices to determine if they violated state law.
A viral check-in app that alerts contacts if users fail to confirm they are alive has exposed rising loneliness, demographic anxiety and unmet eldercare needs, showing the next breakout tech hit may come from confronting social isolation.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 25, 2026
Forget DeepSeek, dying alone is China’s latest tech obsession
The interface is almost aggressively plain. Users, largely people living alone, tap to confirm they are still alive.
The office of ByteDance, which owns TikTok, in Singapore in January 2023
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Jan 24, 2026
TikTok in the U.S. goes American, but questions remain
Whether the 200 million users in the United States will notice any difference in their online experience remains unclear.
The recent rollout of an editing feature on Grok, developed by Elon Musk's startup xAI and integrated into X, allowed users to alter online images of real people with simple text prompts such as "put her in a bikini" or "remove her clothes."
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 23, 2026
Musk’s Grok created 3 million sexualized images within days, research says
They include 23,000 that appear to depict children, the Center for Countering Digital Hate says.
Smartphone apps that help prevent fraud by blocking international calls and alerting users to potential scams could be endorsed by the National Police Agency under new plans.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 15, 2026
Police in Japan to endorse fraud prevention apps
As of the end of November, losses from so-called special fraud cases, including telephone scams, had reached about ¥121.3 billion, the worst on record.
An app called “Are you dead” targeted at people living alone has gone viral in China, with surging downloads and widespread commentary on social media.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jan 14, 2026
‘Are you dead?’ Chinese app for single living goes viral
The surge in popularity has prompted the developer to introduce a subscription fee and change the app’s name for a global ​audience.
The chat window for chatbot Grok on a laptop
WORLD
Jan 13, 2026
U.K.’s Starmer escalates threats against X, calling Grok ‘shameful’
The prime minister vowed to enforce a law that bans the sexualization of people’s images without consent.
Malaysia’s tech regulator said on Sunday that the country suspended access to Elon Musk’s chatbot Grok over AI-generated pornographic content.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 11, 2026
Malaysia suspends access to Musk’s Grok AI
On Saturday Indonesia became the first country to deny all access to the tool, which has been restricted to paying subscribers elsewhere.
X CEO Elon Musk boards Air Force One to depart for Philadelphia from Morristown Municipal Airport in Morristown, New Jersey, last March.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 11, 2026
Musk says X to make algorithm open source in days
The company has also been working to incorporate more artificial intelligence into its recommendation algorithm for X, using Grok, Musk’s AI chatbot.
A screenshot of Loverse app shows an AI-generated woman, characterized as a 25-year-old hair and makeup artist Miyu, registered as a female companion.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 7, 2026
Swipe right for AI romance
An app called Loverse aims to give users the closest depiction of the real thing — complete with all its unpredictability.
An image of an app for insomnia treatment. For Taro Ueno, a psychiatrist and president of Susmed, the idea to develop an app for insomnia came from observing how doctors in Japan overprescribe sleeping pills.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jan 6, 2026
Japanese startups tout chatbot-powered apps as treatment for medical conditions
These prescription-only apps are designed to help treat a range of conditions, such as hypertension, alcohol addiction and insomnia.
Betting money through online casinos is illegal in Japan, but a National Police Agency-commissioned report released last year estimates that 3.37 million Japanese have used online casinos.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Jan 5, 2026
App that blocks gambling sites may offer lifeline for addicts in Japan
Anti-gambling advocates praise Gamban, but say that much more needs to be done to curb addictions.
Yu Ishikawa, Mercari’s head of cross-border business development, says the platform has an unmatched lineup of unique Japanese items.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 2, 2026
Mercari goes global with anime and manga leading the way
It wants to be the go-to marketplace for international customers seeking high-quality Japanese entertainment products.
Japan triples departure tax in push to combat overtourism
Tourists in Yanaka Ginza, Tokyo, on Wednesday. Japan tripled its International Tourist Tax (departure tax) to ¥3,000 from ¥1,000 on Wednesday for all travelers leaving Japan, regardless of nationality.
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
More facilities in Japan placing sanitary bins in men’s restrooms
A sanitary bin with an awareness sticker placed in a men's restroom in the Nagasaki Municipal Government building
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
Why is the yen so weak and what can Japan do about it?
Japan spent ¥11.7 trillion ($73 billion) between late April and late May to prop up the weak yen.
Six of the best: rikishi of note in each sumo division
Kazuma (right) faces off against future <i>yokozuna</i> Onosato during the All Japan Amateur Sumo Championships at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo in December 2020.
Some startups see opportunity in an aging Japan
Yasmin Baba, CTO of Amilis, wins the Grand Prize at the Pitch2Tokyo Grand Final on Feb. 19.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Digital marketer Netyear zeros in on generative AI
Digital marketer Netyear zeros in on generative AI

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER