🦉 Duolingo Sees Growth Amid TikTok Ban

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Hey Waivly Crew! 🌊 In today’s edition, we’ve got a variety of topics to explore.

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Here’s what’s on the horizon today:

• Duolingo sees 216% spike in US users learning Chinese

• Bluesky is getting a photo-sharing app called 'Flashes'

• Apple pauses AI notification summaries for some apps

• Gemini will soon offer news updates from The Associated Press

Let’s dive in!

STORIES MAKING A SPLASH

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Duolingo sees 216% spike in US users learning Chinese

Amid the looming TikTok ban in the U.S., Duolingo has seen a surge in Mandarin learners as users pivot to the Chinese social app RedNote (Xiaohongshu). With TikTok set to disappear from app stores on January 19 unless blocked by the Supreme Court, many of its 700 million U.S. users have embraced RedNote, sparking unexpected cultural exchanges and language challenges.

RedNote’s default Mandarin interface has driven U.S. users to take crash courses on Duolingo, resulting in a 216% increase in Mandarin learners compared to last year. This spike aligns with RedNote’s rise in mid-January, with many Duolingo users citing TikTok as their inspiration in onboarding surveys.

Appfigures data reveals Duolingo downloads surged 36% across U.S. app stores in early January, hinting at early experimentation with Chinese apps before RedNote's widespread adoption.

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Bluesky is getting a photo-sharing app called 'Flashes'

A new photo-sharing app, Flashes, is being developed for Bluesky by independent developer Sebastian Vogelsang. Built on the AT Protocol and derived from Vogelsang’s earlier Bluesky client, Skeets, Flashes aims to cater to growing demand for open, decentralized alternatives to Big Tech’s social media.

Flashes could capitalize on the trend of users seeking freedom from platforms like Meta, with decentralized apps such as Mastodon and Bluesky gaining traction. This shift is also evident in U.S. TikTok users’ migration to the Chinese app RedNote, signaling a preference for alternatives over returning to Meta.

Vogelsang’s previous app, Skeets, stood out for its focus on iPad users and accessibility features for blind and low-vision individuals, a niche that could continue to be a priority for Flashes.

AI SPECIAL

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Apple pauses AI notification summaries for some apps

Apple is making significant changes to its notification summaries in iOS 18.3, iPadOS 18.3, and macOS Sequoia 15.3. As part of the latest developer previews, the company has suspended aggregated notifications, especially from news and entertainment apps, while it refines the system.

A new disclosure now appears when users enable notification summaries, warning that they are a beta feature and may produce unexpected results. Additionally, users can now choose from the lock screen whether they want app notifications summarized, giving them more control over the feature.

First introduced in iOS 18.1 and macOS Sequoia 15.1, notification summaries faced backlash after their release. To further differentiate AI-generated alerts, Apple now uses italicized text for these notifications, setting them apart from non-summarized ones.

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Gemini will soon offer news updates from The Associated Press

Google has teamed up with The Associated Press (AP) to bring real-time news from the agency to its Gemini app. The financial details of the deal remain undisclosed, but it strengthens an existing collaboration between the two to provide timely information for Google's search engine. Google believes this will enhance the Gemini app by offering users up-to-date news.

Kristin Heitmann, AP's senior vice president, emphasized the longstanding relationship between the organizations, focusing on delivering accurate, nonpartisan news. She expressed pride in Google recognizing the value of AP's journalism in shaping generative AI products.

This partnership follows AP's 2023 deal with OpenAI, which granted the AI company access to AP’s news content dating back to 1985. Since then, other publishers like Axios and Dotdash Meredith have also entered agreements with AI firms to share content.

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THE WAVES

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