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Google Play has revealed its annual Best of 2024 awards for India, celebrating the apps and games that defined the year. With five of the seven top apps developed by Indian creators, the awards underscore India’s rising prominence in the global tech ecosystem. Mobile gaming also continues to boom, as the country solidifies its position as the second-largest market for gaming downloads worldwide. In a blog post announcing the winners, Google also shed light on how India is the world's second largest market in terms of mobile gaming downloads. "On the gaming front, the Indian gaming scene continues to thrive, with India adding 23 million new gamers in FY24, reaching a total of 590 million. In fact, India now boasts the world's second-largest market for mobile gaming downloads, with average weekly playtime increasing by 30%." Leading Apps: India at the Forefront of AI Innovation The blog post revealed that this year’s top apps showcased India’s innovative spirit, particularly in harnessing AI to meet user needs. Alle - Your AI Fashion Stylist, developed by Hey Alle, emerged as the year’s Best App and also won the Best for Fun award. Leveraging AI, Alle provides personalised fashion advice tailored to users’ occasions, body types, and preferences, reflecting the growing trend of AI-powered app experiences in India. Prateek Agarwal, Co-Founder &amp; CEO, Alle, said in a statement, “We noticed that the recent developments in Gen AI, combined with evolving consumer preferences for visual inspirational content, will create a massive opportunity to reimagine &amp; rebuild how people discover and shop for fashion. This realization led us to start Alle...As a new startup, Google Play has been crucial in helping us reach our early users organically. The platform's detailed analytics and crash reporting have been invaluable - they've helped us quickly identify and fix issues, improving our app stability.” Other app winners included: • Headlyne: Daily News with AI (Best for Personal Growth), offering curated news tailored to individual preferences. • Sony LIV: Sports &amp; Entertainment (Best for Large Screens), delivering immersive content on tablets and other big-screen devices. • WhatsApp Messenger (Best Multi-device App), enabling seamless communication across devices. • Fold: Expense Tracker (Best Everyday Essential) and Rise: Habit List (Best Hidden Gem) also captured user interest with practical and engaging features. The blog post added that India’s dominance in the AI app space is significant, accounting for 21% of global AI mobile app downloads this year, with nearly 1,000 Indian apps and games incorporating AI. Games that thrilled millions India’s gaming industry continued its upward trajectory, adding 23 million gamers this year, taking the total to 590 million. With gaming preferences increasingly reflecting local culture, many award-winning titles integrated Indian storylines and visuals. Squad Busters, a fast-paced multiplayer game, won Best Game for its simple yet engaging design. Meanwhile, Indus Battle Royale Mobile by SuperGaming earned the Best Made in India title for the second year running. Roby John, Co-Founder and CEO of SuperGaming, said in a statement, "We are committed to making Indus a standout Battle Royale experience. Our team has spent over three years thoughtfully crafting its characters, environments, and gameplay features to represent Indian Art and Culture authentically. The community's enthusiasm validates our vision of Indian games thriving globally. Winning this award is an incredible honor, not just as a milestone but also a motivation to keep striving for excellence. Google Play’s expertise and responsiveness have empowered us to deliver world-class gaming, pushing the boundaries of Indian gaming. We’re more committed than ever to raising the bar and making Indian gaming shine on the global stage.” Other top games included: • BGMI (Battlegrounds Mobile India) (Best Ongoing), for its India-centric updates featuring cricket, festivals, and celebrity collaborations. • Bloom – A Puzzle Adventure (Best Indie), for its unique mechanics and creativity. • Clash of Clans (Best Multi-device Game) and Yes, Your Grace (Best Story) also stood out for their engaging gameplay.

Google Play announces best apps and games of 2024 in India: All you need to know

<ul><li>Google has launched a dedicated <keyword id="19896990" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gemini" source="keywords">Gemini</keyword> app in India a few months after its US launch.</li><li>The Gemini app comes with support for nine Indian languages.</li><li>iPhone users will soon be able to use Gemini from the Google app.</li></ul> Google on Tuesday announced the launch of the Gemini app, its dedicated artificial intelligence (<keyword id="19899640" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="AI" source="keywords">AI</keyword>) app in India. The Gemini app was launched in the United States over four months ago. The Gemini app has been launched with support for English and nine Indian languages – Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu. With this, users will be able to use Gemini AI right from their smartphones. Users who have subscribed for <keyword id="20457733" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gemini-Advanced" source="keywords">Gemini Advanced</keyword> will be able to use Gemini 1.5 Pro, the company’s most advanced model. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="How to download the Gemini app on your Android smartphone" comment="subhead" text="How to download the Gemini app on your Android smartphone">How to download the Gemini app on your Android smartphone</cmsannotation> You can download the Gemini app on your Android smartphone from the Play Store<a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.bard"> here</a>. You can also opt in through <keyword id="20012440" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Google-Assistant" source="keywords">Google Assistant</keyword>. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="How to use Gemini on iPhone" comment="subhead" text="How to use Gemini on iPhone">How to use Gemini on iPhone</cmsannotation> On the iPhone, Gemini will be available through the<a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/google/id284815942"> Google app</a>. Gemini access on the app will be available in the coming weeks. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="New Gemini Advanced features" comment="subhead" text="New Gemini Advanced features">New Gemini Advanced features</cmsannotation> Google has also announced new features for Gemini Advanced. To begin, Gemini Advanced now offers a 1 million token context window, which the company claims is the longest context of any widely available consumer chatbot worldwide. This enables it to process and understand vast amounts of information. Gemini Advanced is capable of processing large documents of up to 1,500 pages and videos with hours of playtime. Gemini Advanced has now received document upload support, allowing users to upload multiple large documents, up to 1,500 pages total, or summarize 100 emails. Users can then get answers and insights about these documents or emails. In addition to this, Gemini Advanced has also received a new data analysis feature. Users can now perform complex data analysis tasks by uploading spreadsheets such as Google Sheets, CSVs or Excel files. Gemini Advanced can now clean, explore, analyze, and visualize your data, transforming it into interactive charts and graphs. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Google Messages gets Gemini" comment="subhead" text="Google Messages gets Gemini">Google Messages gets Gemini</cmsannotation> The Google Messages app is also getting Gemini integration. Gemini will help you draft messages, plan events, brainstorm ideas and more right from the Messages app. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/oneplus-to-launch-new-nord-smartphone-today-nord-ce-4-lite-expected-to-launch/articleshow/111075815.cms">OnePlus to launch new Nord smartphone today – Nord CE 4 Lite expected to launch</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/hyundai-motor-india-files-draft-papers-with-sebi-for-indias-biggest-ipo/articleshow/111014559.cms">Hyundai Motor India files draft papers with SEBI for India’s biggest IPO</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/tata-group-reportedly-looking-to-acquire-a-majority-stake-in-vivo-india/articleshow/110987274.cms">Tata Group reportedly looking to acquire a majority stake in Vivo India</a>

Google Gemini app launched in India with support for nine languages

New Delhi [India], September 6 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday advised all the ministers to download the <keyword id="42981" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="G20" source="Orion">G20</keyword> India mobile app ahead of the <keyword id="42982" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="G20-Summit" source="Orion">G20 summit</keyword> to be held in New Delhi this week. The advice came during <keyword id="2238662" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="PM-Modi" source="Orion">PM Modi</keyword>'s interaction with the <keyword id="245371" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Council-of-Ministers" source="Orion">Council of Ministers</keyword> meeting ahead of the significant G20 summit in New Delhi. The Prime Minister said that the app would help the ministers to interact with foreign delegates seamlessly. The Ministry of External Affairs in India has launched the mobile application titled 'G20 India', marking a significant digital milestone ahead of the G20 Leaders' Summit to be held in New Delhi. The app offers users a comprehensive, interactive guide to event-related information. Features of the platform include a calendar for the G20 India 2023 event, resources, media, and insightful details about the G20. The unveiling of the 'G20 India' mobile app amplifies India's ongoing technological advancements and underscores the nation's commitment to leveraging digital tools to facilitate major international events. The government of India has launched a <keyword id="18675735" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="G20-India-App" source="Orion">G20 India app</keyword> ahead of the G20 summit being held under India's presidency on September 9-10 this year. The app will function till India's G20 presidency. According to officials of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, more than 15000 mobile apps were downloaded globally till Tuesday. The G20 India mobile app will help the delegates to interact with foreign delegates in all G20 countries languages. Government officials further emphasize that the mobile is also a navigation facility that helps the foreign delegates move from place to place in the country and to the Bharat Mandapam. With the G20 India app, the Indian ministers can overcome language as well as communication barriers with the foreign delegates. The G20 India mobile app has services built in which people can access in 24 languages. India is all set to host the G20 Summit in New Delhi from September 9-10. World leaders will arrive in New Delhi to attend the G20 Summit. The summit will be hosted at the state-of-the-art Bharat Mandapam Convention Centre at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. Notably, India assumed the G20 presidency on December 1 last year and about 200 meetings related to G20 were organized in 60 cities across the country.

PM Modi asks ministers to download 'G20 India app' ahead of summit

<keyword id="6354427" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="apple" source="Orion">Apple</keyword> removed 1,474 apps from its <keyword id="115504" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="app-store" source="Orion">App Store</keyword> as per requests from various governments to take down such apps in 2022, including a massive 1,435 from mainland China and just 14 from <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword>. According to the company's '2022 App Store Transparency Report', the Pakistan government requested to take down 10 apps while Russia asked to remove seven apps for violating various laws of the land. There were a total 18,412 appeals of app removals from various agencies worldwide (again led by China at 5,484), including 709 from India. Apple restored 24 apps in India after appeals of app removals last year. As of 2022, Apple had 1,783,232 apps in total on the App Store, according to the report. The tech giant reviewed 6,101,913 app submissions and rejected 1,679,694 last year for violating App Store policies. App submissions approved after rejection were 253,466 and total apps finally removed from the App Store were 186,195 in 2022. It was the first report published as part of the company's $100 million settlement with App Store developers in 2021. Category-wise, games (38,883), utilities (20,045) and business (16,997) topped the list of removed apps. Total number of registered Apple developers on the App Store was 36,974,015 while Apple terminated 428,487 developer accounts for violating its policies in 2022. "Since it launched in 2008, the App Store has proven to be a safe and trusted place to discover and <keyword id="8470804" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="download-apps" source="Orion">download apps</keyword>," according to Apple. Earlier this week, Apple announced that its App Store prevented over $2.09 billion in potentially fraudulent transactions in 2022, blocking nearly 3.9 million stolen credit cards from being used to make purchases, and banned 7,14,000 accounts from transacting again. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/zomato-net-loss-narrows-to-188-crore-in-q4-revenue-rises-70-yoy/articleshow/100358894.cms">Zomato net loss narrows to ₹188 crore in Q4, revenue rises 70% YoY</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/indigo-reports-a-net-profit-of-919-crore-in-q4-revenue-soars-76-yoy/articleshow/100331520.cms">IndiGo reports a net profit of ₹919 crore in Q4, revenue soars 76% YoY</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/banks/news/sbi-q4-2022-23-results-indias-largest-lender-posts-highest-ever-quarterly-net-profit-of-16695-crore/articleshow/100327874.cms">SBI Q4 results: India’s largest lender posts record quarterly net profit of ₹16,695 crore, up 83% YoY</a>

Apple removed 1,474 apps on govt takedown requests in 2022, 14 from India

<ul><li>Popular game <keyword id="11213261" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="battlegrounds-mobile" source="Orion">Battlegrounds Mobile</keyword> India (BGMI) is all set to be re-launch in India.</li><li>BGMI was banned in August 2022 by the Indian government. </li><li>BGMI is expected to soon be available on the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.</li></ul>Nine months after the Indian government banned it, the popular battle royale game Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) is making a comeback. BGMI was<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/battlegrounds-mobile-india-official-download-link-how-to-update-bgmi-rewards/articleshow/84058116.cms"> launched</a> in India after<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/india-bans-pubg-wechat-and-118-other-mobile-applications/articleshow/77890776.cms"> PUBG Mobile</a> was banned along with several Chinese applications due to privacy and security concerns. In August 2022, BGMI met the same fate and was<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/why-is-battlegrounds-mobile-banned-in-india/articleshow/93265968.cms"> banned</a> in the country. While the government did not give a reason for the ban, it was reportedly banned due to security concerns. Krafton, the developer of BGMI, said that the government has lifted the ban on the game and is making a comeback in India. This will make BGMI the first app to return after being banned by the government. “We are highly grateful to the Indian authorities for allowing us to resume operations of BATTLEGROUNDS MOBILE INDIA (BGMI). We would like to extend our gratitude to our Indian gaming community for their support and patience over the past few months,” said Sean Hyunil Sohn, chief executive officer, Krafton India. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Government says it’s only a 3-month trial" comment="subhead" text="Government says it’s only a 3-month trial"></cmsannotation> As per Krafton, the game had reached the milestone of 100 million cumulative users a year in India after its launch, when it was banned. BGMI also holds the record of becoming the first e-sports event to be broadcasted on mainstream television and has reached 24 million concurrent viewers and 200 million total viewers. "We would like to express our deep appreciation and gratitude to the authorities for permitting us to restart the operations of BATTLEGROUNDS MOBILE INDIA (BGMI). KRAFTON, Inc. is a responsible South Korean organisation that abides by the law and has put in place several measures to ensure compliance with all applicable regulations,” said Vibhor Kukreti, head, government affairs, Krafton India. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/apple-app-store-prevented-over-2-billion-in-fraudulent-transactions-last-year-banned-282-million-user-accounts/articleshow/100322718.cms">Apple App Store prevented over $2 billion in fraudulent transactions last year, banned 282 million user accounts</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/electric-scooters-and-bikes-may-get-costlier-as-government-looks-to-revamp-the-fame-ii-scheme/articleshow/100321089.cms">Electric two wheelers may get costlier as government looks to revamp the FAME-II scheme</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/how-to-silence-fake-calls-from-unknown-numbers-on-whatsapp/articleshow/100186824.cms">How to silence calls from unknown numbers on WhatsApp</a>

Battlegrounds Mobile India is relaunching soon, but government says final call only after a 3-month trial

<ul><li>Samsung has launched the Galaxy Watch Ultra smartwatch in India.</li><li>The GTR 4 is priced at ₹59,999 and comes in three colour options.</li><li>Here’s my review of the <keyword id="22363626" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Samsung-Galaxy-Watch-Ultra" source="Orion">Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra</keyword> that will help you decide whether you should buy the smartwatch or not.</li></ul> Samsung recently launched the Galaxy Watch Ultra, the company’s premium rugged smartwatch, alongside the<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/samsung-galaxy-z-fold-6-galaxy-z-flip-6-galaxy-ring-and-more-launched/articleshow/111637913.cms"> Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6</a> smartphones. The Galaxy Watch Ultra is the company’s most premium smartwatch offering. The Galaxy Watch Ultra is aimed at users looking for a highly rugged and durable smartwatch, especially those who partake in extreme sports. I have been using the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra smartwatch for a few weeks now, and here is my detailed review of the smartwatch that will help you decide whether you should buy the smartwatch. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="112497472" title="Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 review – the complete package" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> <h2><keyword id="23248225" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Samsung-Galaxy-Watch-Ultra-price" source="Orion">Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra price</keyword> and availability</h2>The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra comes in a single 47mm variant and is priced at ₹59,999. The watch comes in Titanium Gray, Titanium White and Titanium Silver colour options. <h2>In the box</h2><ul><li>Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra </li><li>Charger </li><li>Documentation </li></ul><h2>Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra pros and cons</h2>Pros <ul><li>Durable design</li><li>Health tracking features</li></ul>Cons <ul><li>Some health features are limited to Samsung phones </li></ul><h2>Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra design and display</h2>The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra comes in three colour options – Titanium Gray, Titanium White and Titanium Silver. I tested the Titanium Silver colour variant, which I think is the best among the three options. <div type="image" title="PXL_20240825_105244230" msid="113520433" hostid="261" sizebytes="65724" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra strap&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> The Titanium Silver colour variant comes with a Dark Grey strap. You can easily replace the strap on the Galaxy Watch Ultra thanks to the dynamic lug, allowing you to get different straps. This also means that you cannot use your older straps with the watch. The Galaxy Watch Ultra is the largest among the smartwatches sold by the company at 47mm. Considering the display and the battery size, the watch is on the heavier side at 60.5 grams. Despite being packed with features and offering a durable design, the Galaxy Watch Ultra at 12.1mm is thinner than the Apple Watch Ultra. <div type="image" title="Design" msid="113520482" hostid="261" sizebytes="63856" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra design&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> The Galaxy Watch Ultra has a circular face and is placed in a squarish design with rounded corners. While I was a bit sceptical of the design during the launch, it looks quite good when you actually wear it. It sits well on the hand and makes a separate place for itself in a market filled with circular smartwatches for Android devices. The smartwatch comes with a highly durable case built using Titanium Grade 4 that gives it a premium look and feel. It comes with a matte finish, preventing fingerprint smudges and dust build-up. <div type="image" title="b" msid="113520505" hostid="261" sizebytes="66228" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra design&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> In line with its rugged characteristics, the smartwatch comes with 10ATM water resistance and an IP68 water and dust rating. Additionally, it comes with MIL-STD-810G certification, making it extremely durable. Samsung has claimed that the watch can survive temperatures ranging between -20 degrees Celsius and 55 degrees Celsius. <div type="image" title="Sensors" msid="113520955" hostid="261" sizebytes="39826" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Sensors at the back&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> The back of the watch which is packed with sensors such as the BioActive sensor is made using ceramic and sapphire glass. <div type="image" title="Buttons" msid="113521002" hostid="261" sizebytes="33052" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Buttons on the Galaxy Watch Ultra&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> The Galaxy Watch Ultra features a home button, a back button and a new customisable quick action button. The quick action button is quite handy and can be set to perform various actions such as opening the exercise menu, opening the stopwatch, torch and more. <div type="image" title="Speaker" msid="113521024" hostid="261" sizebytes="29576" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Speaker on the left side&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> The watch comes with speakers on the right side and a microphone on the left side between the buttons. <div type="image" title="Display" msid="113520455" hostid="261" sizebytes="50078" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra display&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> The Galaxy Watch Ultra features a 1.5-inch Super AMOLED always-on-display. It comes with Sapphire glass protection and offers a peak brightness of 3000 nits, ensuring excellent outdoor visibility. The watch is durable and I did not notice a single scratch during my usage. <h2>Software and app</h2>The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra runs on WearOS with One UI 6 Watch on top. This is basically WearOS with Samsung’s tweaks on top. The watch can be connected and managed using the Galaxy Wearable app, which is easy to use. To track your health and activities, you need to download the Samsung Health app. Like any WearOS or Samsung watch, the interface on the Galaxy Watch Ultra is smooth and easy to use. You can install applications from the Play Store and use them on the watch. You get a ton of watch faces and customisation options to choose from. If you aren’t happy with these, you also have the option to download more from the Play Store. The Galaxy Watch Ultra comes with its own watch face, offering a red-coloured night mode. Like most gadgets these days, the watch also comes with AI baked in, allowing you to quickly reply to messages and more. One issue that I faced with the watch is that for some important features such as taking an electrocardiogram (ECG) or getting a blood pressure report, you will need to connect to a Samsung smartphone. These features are not available on other Android smartphones. <h2>Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra features and performance</h2>The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is powered by the Exynos W1000 chipset, equipped with a 5-core CPU, which is claimed to offer nearly four times better performance than its predecessor, along with 30% improved power efficiency. The chipset is paired with 2GB RAM and 32GB of internal storage. The Galaxy Watch Ultra comes with a new Siren feature, allowing you to hold down the Action Button to enable a loud siren, which can come in handy during emergencies. Samsung has packed the device with features and offers a ton of health tracking sensors. It comes with a new Samsung BioActive Sensor, which includes an optical bio-signal sensor, electrical heart signal and bioelectrical impedance analysis sensor. The watch also comes with an optical heart rate sensor, a temperature sensor, a light sensor, a geomagnetic sensor and more. For positioning, the Galaxy Watch Ultra comes with L1+LG dual-frequency GPS, offering improved accuracy. The watch accurately offers activity and fitness tracking, making it a great option for those looking for accurate activity tracking in a smartwatch. The watch was also accurately able to track my sleep patterns, along with blood oxygen during sleep, skin temperature, heart rate and respiratory rate. If you track your sleep regularly for seven days, it starts offering more insights about your sleep patterns and also offers recommendations. Another area where Samsung has deployed AI is to determine your energy score. It uses aspects such as sleep time and activity to help you determine your energy levels for the day. It also offers suggestions if any particular thing needs your attention. One of the key health metrics that the watch offers is ECG and BP tracking. The watch offers alerts for abnormally high or low heart rates and can detect irregular heart rhythms that can indicate atrial fibrillation. The Galaxy Watch Ultra is powered by a 590mAh battery, which is claimed to offer up to 100 hours of battery life with workout detection in power-saving mode. With AOD and regular HR tracking enabled, I managed to squeeze out nearly three days of battery life from the device, which is quite good. Samsung has offered a wireless magnetic charger with the watch and it does not work with regular wireless chargers. It takes nearly 2 hours to charge, so you need to plan accordingly. <h2>Verdict</h2>The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is a feature-packed watch and is the only such option in the market. While watches from Garmin are packed with health tracking features, they lack the OS that Samsung offers and are not as fun to use. The Galaxy Watch Ultra ticks all the right boxes, including a vibrant display, durable design, excellent health and activity tracking and a decent battery life. If you don’t mind the Samsung-exclusive health tracking features and the slow charging speeds, the Galaxy Watch Ultra is an amazing choice. Disclaimer: The content on this website is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as a purchasing guide or recommendation. We advise readers to do additional research, including hands-on usage of the device at a retail outlet, before making a decision. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/alienware-aw3225qf-32-inch-qd-oled-gaming-monitor-review-for-the-perfect-gaming-experience/articleshow/113404175.cms">Alienware AW3225QF 32-inch QD-OLED gaming monitor review – for the perfect gaming experience</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/samsung-galaxy-z-fold-6-review/articleshow/112497472.cms">Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 review – the complete package</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/dell-latitude-9450-review/articleshow/112447785.cms">Dell Latitude 9450 2-in-1 review – a premium business laptop with a compact design</a>

Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra review – premium watch with a rugged design

Quack Quack was downloaded more than Tinder, Bumble this Valentine’s day

Most downloaded social and entertainment apps in India as per App Annie

<ul><li>The most number of <keyword id="1968469" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="social-app" source="Orion">social app</keyword> downloads in the first half of 2021 were from India.</li><li>India also ranked second for the most hours spent in social apps just behind China.</li><li>The App Annie report shows how live streaming and short video content are leading the trends in social apps.</li></ul>India is currently the biggest market for social apps globally in terms of downloads, according to App Annie’s ‘Evolution of Social Apps’ <a href="https://infogram.com/1pmrg199wrmd76s3gpw7gr9w5dbz91z2x9d?live">report</a>. India also takes second place for the most hours spent in social apps. The report highlights how livestreaming is the latest trend in social media and shares statistics on which apps are doing the best and in which markets. According to the report, Asia accounted for the most number of downloads of social apps in the first half of 2021 dominating 60% of the overall market. India is far ahead in the race with over 1.5 billion downloads. It actually has been leading the race surpassing the US in 2018, the report added. Globally, 70 billion social apps have been downloaded to date since 2010. In the first half of 2021 alone, there were 4.7 billion downloads of social apps. This data has been calculated from the App Store and Google Play Store and for social, social networking and communication apps. <div type="image" title="social app downloads" msid="86003650" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Countries with the highest number of social apps downloads in H1 2021.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> The most downloaded social and entertainment apps in India are <keyword id="9555198" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mx-takatak" source="Orion">MX TakaTak</keyword>, <keyword id="819905" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="instagram" source="Orion">Instagram</keyword>, <keyword id="6393600" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="josh" source="Orion">Josh</keyword>, <keyword id="8678883" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="moj" source="Orion">Moj</keyword> and <keyword id="6358096" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="snapchat" source="Orion">Snapchat</keyword>. Among the top five apps, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/advertising/ad-tech/news/mx-takatak-moj-and-josh-are-the-three-most-downloaded-apps-in-india-in-the-last-quarter-sensor-tower/articleshow/81963654.cms">MX TakaTak, Josh and Moj </a>are TikTok-like short video apps. App Annie highlighted how apps like TikTok, MX TakaTak and Snapchat offering short video content and live streaming have dramatically increased. According to the report, there were 740 billion hours spent on social apps in the first half of this year. This accounted for 44% of the time spent on mobile globally. The report adds that there has been steady growth in the past three years. <div type="image" title="hours spent on apps" msid="86003668" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Countries with the most number of hours spent in social apps.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> App Annie predicts that the total time spent in social apps with live streaming in focus is set to surpass half a trillion hours on Android phones alone. In India, people spent almost 160 billion hours on social apps this year on the Android platform. The top five apps that Indians are spending time on are YouTube, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and Truecaller. YouTube continues to remain the leader not just in India but globally as well. App Annie credits the platform’s “depth and breadth of engagement” as the reasons behind it ranking first in streaming and video. But TikTok could soon emerge as the leader in this space as it has already crossed YouTube in terms of average time spent per user in the US and UK. In terms of consumer spending, the most popular apps in India are Hotstar, Chamet, Tango Live, Truecaller and ZEE5. Chamet is a one-on-one multiplayer video and voice chat app that lets you connect with people from around the world. Tango Live is a social live streaming app where people get paid for hosting live videos. India, however, is not among the top countries when it comes to consumer spending ranking 17th in the list. The US has the highest consumer spend accounting for 30% of the total market. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/protonmail-faces-criticism-after-leading-police-to-the-arrest-of-a-climate-activist/articleshow/85999452.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">ProtonMail faces criticism after leading police to the arrest of a climate activist</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/whatsapp-to-soon-let-you-hide-your-last-seen-from-specific-contacts/articleshow/85997894.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">WhatsApp to soon let you hide your ‘Last Seen’ from specific contacts</a>

India accounts for the highest number of social app downloads globally: App Annie

<keyword id="6651735" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="homegrown" source="Orion">Homegrown</keyword> social commerce platform <keyword id="3480589" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="meesho" source="Orion">Meesho</keyword> on Wednesday announced that it has become the most downloaded e-commerce app globally in October 2021. Meesho saw over 57 million downloads across the <keyword id="115504" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="app-store" source="Orion">App Store</keyword> and the Play Store from August to October, 2021, as per App Annie, making it the most downloaded app across all categories in <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword>. "We have always kept our users at the heart of our innovations. Whether it is our industry-first 0 per cent commission model for sellers or building a nimbly-sized application, we are ensuring Meesho is easy to use for users even from the farthest corners of our country," <keyword id="3480590" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="vidit-aatrey" source="Orion">Vidit Aatrey</keyword>, Founder and CEO, Meesho, said in a statement. "Our success comes from a laser-sharp focus on building for India's Tier 2 markets. With an aim to democratise internet commerce for everyone, we will continue to digitise India's unorganised retail industry with more Bharat-first initiatives," Aatrey added. According to a recent Sensor Tower, during this period, the homegrown social commerce platform also became the only Indian company and e-commerce platform to feature among the top 10 most downloaded non-gaming apps across the world in October 2021. With new additions such as sports and fitness, pet supplies, automotive accessories among others, Meesho has now grown its roster to over 700 product categories. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/ola-electric-scooter-test-rides-begin-in-delhi-bengaluru-ahmedabad-and-kolkata/articleshow/87625927.cms">Ola S1 and S1 Pro test rides begin in Delhi, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad and Kolkata, buyers from other cities complain</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/heres-how-you-can-protect-your-smartphone-from-exploding/slidelist/87625685.cms">Here’s how you can protect your smartphone from exploding</a>

Meesho becomes most downloaded e-commerce app globally

<ul><li>Given that trawling through millions of profiles is cumbersome and time consuming, <keyword id="2874438" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="happn" source="Orion">Happn</keyword> will now allow users to find dates based on common interests.</li><li>Six categories of locations will enable users to find other people who visit the same places like restaurants, bars or even concerts.</li><li>So far Happn has only used geolocations to match users who have been in the same location over a period of time.</li></ul>Whether you like going for a standup comedy show or dining at a Michelin-starred restaurant, you can now swipe the right person based on common interests. The Gen Z and millennials on the dating circuit are now looking for mates with core common interests and hobbies and thus dating apps are now catering to this need by making it easier to choose like-minded people. After bombarding users with millions of profiles based on unrelatable algorithms, dating apps are now looking to finetune searches so that users can find their perfect mates/crushes using activities and places that can bring them together. Thus, France’s Happn is the latest to have hit the refresh button. From location based matches, it is now looking to allow users to look for their crushes using common interests and preferred destinations like restaurants, events and even parks. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Navigating sheer volume" comment="subhead" text="Navigating sheer volume">Navigating sheer volume</cmsannotation> Dating apps have become intimidating because of the sheer volume of profiles that users have to trawl through before finding a suitable person. To make matters worse, women are fearful of encounters with “creeps” and “stalkers.” Remember the infamous Tinder Swindler? In a bid to make the lives of users easy, dating platforms are trying to make things easier by matching profiles using common interests rather than common locations or similar bios. Even with this, users have had to trawl through scores of profiles before finding their perfect match. With rising disenchantment, platforms are looking at fixing major pain points and the overload of profiles. Dating is big business across the world, as young people are increasingly using them to form new connections. Global consumer spending on dating apps was $4 bn in 2021, up 96% since 2018. It is estimated that by 2027, dating services as a whole will generate €7.5 bn in revenue worldwide in 2023. Given that India has a large population below the age of 25 years, dating apps are training their guns on India. At last count Tinder had 75 mn active users in India and Happn had 35 mn, while Bumble has well over 40 mn users. Not surprising that France’s Happn has hit the app refresh button this year to create better social engagement among its 35 million users in India. The platform is currently available in 18 countries and has 135 mn users globally but India incidentally is its biggest market. So far the app uses geolocations to suggest matches to people. So if you have crossed paths with someone during the course of the day or week, the app will recommend these people to you. In theory this sounds great because it will throw up a person you may have crossed paths with but never actually met in person. But users say that this was rather limiting because their choices were restricted to those who visited the same place as them or in a radius of 250 meters. Given that this app uses geolocation to connect users who have passed each other, the chances of encountering bots is that much tougher. The app is now looking at other means to help people connect with each other based on their social interactions. The French dating app is now using common interests to help find dates/crushes, even though this app prevented bots from masquerading as active users on their app. Happn will now offer six location categories across 18 countries and 40 cities. In India, this feature will be launched across 5 cities with more than 1000 locations. With this Happn hopes it will become the perfect 360 degree platform at the crossroads between dating and social networking. In conversation with Business Insider, <keyword id="17703221" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="karima-ben-abdelmalek" source="Orion">Karima Ben Abdelmalek</keyword>, CEO and President of Happn, says, “When we tell the story of meeting someone, the place is always part of it. We therefore wanted to make the places memorable. Putting meeting places at the heart of the experience is an obvious choice for us. We are happy to highlight all these points of interest because we believe that they create social links and are a guarantee of trust, two essential ingredients for a successful encounter." According to Abdelmalek, the app has launched Crush Points, which will be based on places they love to visit. This feature seeks to connect users through their social preferences and not just geolocation. She says: “If we look at Happn today, it is among the top 5 must download apps in the world. More dating apps will be used than ever. Young people are using dating apps to meet people, date and even marry. But we know we have to change and contribute to the new culture around dates by making it safe for them to meet and engage.” Happn’s recent upgrade is aimed at providing the best of both worlds to its users, which is dating and social networking. Its new feature ‘CrushPoints’ is designed to help singles to connect not just through chance encounters based on locations but through their favourite places. Today, Happn is going even further with CrushPoints, which enables singles to meet other singles who like and visting the same places as them. This feature will be available in 18 countries and over 40 cities, which include local Indian cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune. It will allow singles to add to their profile a selection of favourite destinations across 6 categories – events, bars, restaurants, sports, culture and outdoors. They can then learn the favourite places of people they are crushing on and find a place they both would like to meet. Happn will allow users to find places either on other users’ profiles or on the map, which will be at the heart of the application. By browsing the map, users can explore different locations and find singles who have favourited them, thus discovering people with shared interests. This feature will also help to create a real community. Places will be recommended by other singles and will be certified by other users on Happn as trusted places to arrange to meet someone for the first time. WIth the pandemic becoming a distant memory, Happn is hoping to make interactions more real. The drawback could possibly be that the app is currently only focused on India’s top five cities.

Happn hits the refresh button – Launches Crush Points for users who wish to connect on shared interests

The government's Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) platform will democratise e-commerce for millions of small retailers in <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword>, paving the way for the rise of more dedicated distribution and logistics companies, Infosys Chairman and Co-founder <keyword id="44604" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="nandan-nilekani" source="Orion">Nandan Nilekani</keyword> said on Tuesday. According to him, ONDC will not be limited to a few players but everyone in India - a person owning a small grocery store, a small electronics retailer or a restaurant owner - bringing millions of such people to the e-commerce marketplace and buyers will come from any consumer app. "Today, India has achieved financial inclusion in about seven-eight years with homegrown technologies like Aadhaar, UPI, QR code and more. The next step is to connect millions of small retailers to mainstream e-commerce with ONDC to create a robust digital public infrastructure," <keyword id="36748" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="nilekani" source="Orion">Nilekani</keyword> said during a <keyword id="6357886" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="phonepe" source="Orion">PhonePe</keyword> launch event. The fintech major announced the launch of a new Shopping app called "<keyword id="4310825" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="pincode" source="Orion">Pincode</keyword>", built on top of the ONDC platform. The app will focus on hyperlocal commerce and is now available for download on Google Play Store and <keyword id="115504" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="app-store" source="Orion">App Store</keyword>. Pincode is currently live only for customers in Bengaluru and will launch in other cities very soon, said the company. Nilekani said that the government is going to democratise e-commerce to take it to the masses. PhonePe said ONDC can foster the rapid growth of a new hyperlocal e-commerce business model. Apart from local buyers and sellers, such a model will also benefit other ecosystem participants like the last mile logistics and inventory management players "Pincode is built on the ONDC network, which allows us to generate demand for merchants digitized by various seller platforms in an inclusive manner while creating new opportunities for growth and driving innovation at scale," said Sameer Nigam, CEO and Founder PhonePe. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sports/news/ipl-2023-rajasthan-royals-and-royal-challengers-bangalore-emerge-as-experts-top-picks/articleshow/99243483.cms">IPL 2023: Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore emerge as experts' top picks</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/personal-finance/news/two-tax-regimes-rise-of-freelancers-drive-people-to-tax-experts-chartered-accountants/articleshow/99243392.cms">Two tax regimes &amp; rise of freelancers drive people to tax experts, chartered accountants</a>

ONDC to foster hyperlocal ecommerce business model in India: Nandan Nilekani

<ul><li><keyword id="6358096" type="DEFINITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="snapchat">Snapchat</keyword> completes two years of its first office in India.</li><li>It has so far witnessed a daily user base growth of 100% for the past 5 quarters.</li><li>Snapchat’s parent company Snap Inc. plans to expand the app’s presence in India with increased hiring, content partnerships and hyperlocal experiences.</li></ul>Snapchat’s parent company Snap Inc. launched its first office in India in August 2019. It has so far reported an upward trajectory in terms of user base in India, a market which its chief executive Evan Spiegel once <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/snapchat-ratings-drop-to-one-star-on-app-store-after-evan-spiegels-poor-countries-like-india-comment/articleshow/58206334.cms">reportedly said “poor” for Snapchat</a>. In its recent June quarter earnings report, Snap <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/snapchats-records-highest-growth-in-users-since-going-public-in-2017/articleshow/84670141.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">reported </a>a global revenue of $982 million, more than double as compared to the previous year. Snapchat also registered its highest user growth to 293 million daily active users. Earlier this year, Snapchat revealed it has crossed 60 million users in India. “We’re experiencing more than 150% growth in daily active users over the last year and consistently we are in triple-digit growth rate five quarters in a row,” Nana Murugesan, managing director of International markets at Snap Inc. told Business Insider India in an interview. Murugesan did not reveal the current statistics for Snapchat’s user base in India, but added that the company had a “healthy growth” in the country and that India is a “significant part” of their global community. The company is also expanding its team in India to focus on local augmented reality (AR), TikTok-rival Spotlight, partnerships, market development, sales and creative strategy. “What you’re going to see is a significant doubling down of our commitment to India, whether it’s on the teams, on the community, on the partnership, we’re very pleased with our overall India story,” Murugesan said. Hyperlocal experiences Snapchat’s key focus in India is to create hyperlocal and culturally relevant experiences for users, according to Murugesan. It launched the third landmarker lens in India, which can be experienced at India Gate in New Delhi. Snapchat users who are nearby India Gate will be notified to point their camera at it, and the monument will be embellished with the tricolour. Snapchat’s landmarker lens lets users create AR experiences at select popular locations like the Buckingham Palace in London and the Eiffel Tower in Paris. In India there are three Snapchat landmarker lenses including the newly launched one at India Gate, and Gateway of India in Mumbai and Taj Mahal in Agra. The company also has dedicated AR lenses for different religious and cultural festivals in India. It also launched the language learning lens that aims to make learning Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Punjabi, and Telugu easier for users. Snapchat’s language learning lens uses AR and machine learning (ML) to translate objects in real-time in different languages. The app is also available in nine Indian languages -- Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu. Partnerships Adding to the company’s strategy of reaching every smartphone user in India, one focus area for Snapchat is partnerships. “Our strategy is to make Snapchat accessible across all smartphones out there,” Murugesan said. Earlier this year, Snapchat partnered with Sharechat to integrate Snap’s camera kit into the startup’s short video platform, Moj. There are 150 Snapchat lenses available on Moj so far. “We shared our augmented reality technology with Sharechat’s Moj, they integrated our technology into their camera. It’s been exciting to see all the momentum out of that. From our partner’s perspective, it’s been a very fruitful and exciting journey as we share Snap’s camera kit,” Murugesan said. A more recent partnership for Snapchat was with Google and Reliance Jio for JioPhone Next. The low-cost 4G smartphone jointly developed by Google and Jio will come with Snapchat lenses integrated into its camera. “What you’re going to see here is JioPhone Next, the camera that will integrate Snapchat’s augmented reality lenses, which will be highly customised for local Indian users. So the people can enjoy lenses which are at the core of Snapchat, in a very native way without having to do anything. That’s going to be a very interesting way for us to engage with a very large part of the Indian demographic,” Murugesan said. This partnership is being looked at as a way for Snapchat to tap into a wider demographic of early 4G smartphone users or those who upgrade from feature phones to 4G smartphones. Murugesan highlighted the fact that Snapchat’s core feature is AR which makes the app “pretty sophisticated” so the company needs to make sure that it works on just about any device and on any network condition. TikTok-rival ‘Spotlight’ Snap’s seriousness for the Indian market can be seen with the company bringing almost every new feature and product here. Earlier this year, it launched <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/advertising/ad-tech/news/spotlight-snapchats-answer-to-tiktok-and-instagram-reels-launched-in-india/articleshow/81532302.cms">‘Spotlight’</a>, its TikTok-rival, in India. Murgesan said that the company has been seeing a “healthy adoption of Spotlight” in India. Without giving details, he added that the $1 million a day fund has really helped with the adoption of Spotlight. Snap announced it will pay creators up to $1 million a day for using Spotlight based on the number of views the videos get. At Snap’s partner summit in May this year, the company said it paid creators over $130 million globally. It also made changes to the fund saying that creators will now be paid millions per month. “We have seen incredible creativity and growth on Spotlight this year, including a tripling of daily submissions quarter-over-quarter and an all-time high in the daily number of creators posting to Spotlight. We will continue to pay creators millions per month to anyone who makes the top Spotlight Snaps, which is primarily based on engagement and relative performance of Snaps,” Murugesan said. Content partnerships Another area Snapchat has focused on is content partnerships. It has so far partnered with 60 local channels from 32 different publishing partners. Content of different genres ranging from news to Bollywood, beauty, comedy, and art are displayed in the app’s Discover section. It also partnered with comedian Vir Das for a new comedy series ‘VirDas -The Most Epic Max Show’. Another <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/advertising/ad-tech/news/snapchat-launches-creator-shows-a-series-with-3-5-minutes-long-episodes-features-vir-das-and-anushka-sen-in-its-first-original/articleshow/83603487.cms">creator show</a> it launched was with Indian television actress Ansuhka Sen for a cooking show called “What’s On My Plate”. Snapchat also launched its first non-English Snap Original show ‘Phone Swap India’ which turned out to be a huge hit in India, according to Muregesan who credits the show’s unique concept as the reason behind it. Phone Swap is a reality dating show where the participants have to go through each other’s phones and decide whether they want to go on another date. This show was especially popular with India’s Gen-Z, which is also Snapchat’s core user group. “You will see us do more of these types of things. It was the first time we’ve tried something like this so you’ll probably see us doubling down on these kinds of concepts,” Murugesan added. In addition to Spotlight and content partnerships, Snapchat also launched customised games for users in India. It partnered with MoonFrog Labs to launch a custom version of Ludo Club, and it also made a localised game concept called “Dosa Dash” that is based on one of its popular games, ‘Ready Chef Go’. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/snapchats-records-highest-growth-in-users-since-going-public-in-2017/articleshow/84670141.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Snapchat records highest growth in users since going public in 2017</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/advertising/ad-tech/news/snapchat-launches-creator-shows-a-series-with-3-5-minutes-long-episodes-features-vir-das-and-anushka-sen-in-its-first-original/articleshow/83603487.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Snapchat launches Creator Shows, a series with 3-5 minutes long episodes; features Vir Das and Anushka Sen in its first original</a>

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