Webull, an online investment platform, announced its collaboration with VISA on the Webull US platform. Visa Direct facilitates account funding as well as the movement of funds directly to eligible cards, bank accounts, and wallets. By integrating with Visa Direct, Webull users based in the United States can quickly transfer money between their Webull brokerage account and external bank accounts. The collaboration with Visa Direct allows Webull to implement a “Deposit” feature, which enables fast access to the market and empowers users to seize investment opportunities. While Automated Clearing House (ACH) and other common methods of moving money may take several days, Visa Direct gives users access to their funds in under a minute. Yanilsa Gonzalez-Ore, SVP, North America Head, Visa Direct said, “With Visa Direct, Webull can give their customers the speed, flexibility and protection they want with real-time payments[1], and deliver a simple, digitized experience to securely manage their funds, so they can confidently invest and trade.”
Patreon’s app can now accept web payments circumventing Apple’s own in-app purchases method following the Apple-Epic court ruling
Creator platform Patreon has rolled out an updated version of its app that now allows users to make purchases via the web, in the wake of the Apple-Epic court ruling that forced Apple to allow app developers to include links to alternative forms of payment without being subject to Apple’s commission. Previously, on version 125.4.1 of Patreon’s iOS app, users who wanted to subscribe to a creator’s membership plan would have to do so using Apple’s in-app purchases. In the updated version (version 125.5.0), users now have the option of making a purchase via the web, where they can choose to pay with other payment methods, including credit cards, Venmo, and PayPal, as well as with Apple Pay. The option to use Apple’s own in-app purchases method, meanwhile, is shown only in very small text below the larger, bold “Join” button. This change will likely direct more customers to pay via Patreon’s website instead of through Apple’s in-app purchases. Users who update their app should see the new checkout experience within 24 hours. Patreon also noted creators would now be able to keep more of their money if they didn’t have to pay Apple its commission on purchases.
Consumers can now select Cash App Pay as their preferred payment method when ordering food and checking out on the Domino’s Pizza app
Cash App has announced its new partnership with Domino’s Pizza, giving customers payment flexibility when ordering food. This launch marks the first nationwide pizza restaurant chain to be available with Cash App Pay. When checking out on the Domino’s app, consumers can now select Cash App Pay as their preferred payment method. Cash App users can get access to all available merchants on the app. Cash App says the new partnership allows Domino’s to connect with Cash App’s young and growing user base, building long-term loyalty. According to data from the National Restaurant Association, 79% of Gen Z and 85% of millennials use mobile apps for fast-food orders. Alex Fisher, head of revenue, North America, Cash App Commerce said, “Through this integration we are able to help them unlock incremental value with next generation consumers who we know are looking for convenience and flexibility at checkout.”
PlayStation 5 adds Apple Pay; players are presented with a unique code to scan with their iPhone or iPad, which will then prompt the native Apple Pay checkout
PlayStation 5 users can now use Apple Pay to complete purchases of games and content on their consoles. They will be presented with a unique code to scan with their iPhone or iPad, which will then prompt the native Apple Pay checkout sheet. Users can choose their card and authenticate with Face ID or Touch ID. Apple added support for this code-based system with iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 last year. Apple Pay support is now available on PS5 and is expected to be available on PS4 with a future software update. While not as quick and easy as a one-click purchase, it is a nice improvement for those looking to earn 2% Daily Cash with their Apple Card.
Adoption of RCS protocol is rising, now supporting over a billion messages per day in the U.S., following the adoption by Apple Messages
Google offered a brief update on the adoption of the RCS (Rich Communication Services) protocol, an upgrade to SMS that offers high-resolution photos and videos, typing indicators, read receipts, improved group chat, and more. The company shared that the messaging standard now supports over a billion messages per day in the U.S. This metric is based on an average of the last 28 days, Google noted. The stat is notable because Google fought for years to get Apple to adopt support for RCS on iOS, allowing for better communication between Android and Apple devices. Unlike with iMessage, group chats with Android users couldn’t be renamed, nor could people be added or removed, and you couldn’t exit when you wanted. That changed with the fall 2024 launch of iOS 18, when Apple finally added RCS support to its Messages app. Though the functionality has been upgraded, Apple still displays RCS chats as green bubbles, hoping to keep the stigma of being an Android user intact. This is particularly important among young people in the U.S., where demand for the blue bubbles has cemented the iPhone as teens’ most popular device.
Morgan Stanley research shows Apple Intelligence platform has been downloaded and engaged with by 80% of eligible U.S. iPhone owners in the last six months and has an above average NPS of 53
Consumers’ perception of Apple’s AI platform is more favorable than that of investors, Morgan Stanley said in a research note. Morgan Stanley said it found that the Apple Intelligence platform has been downloaded and engaged with by 80% of eligible U.S. iPhone owners in the last six months, has an above average net promoter score of 53, and is characterized by iPhone users as “easy to use, innovative, and something that improves their user experience.” “While much of the public critique of Apple Intelligence is warranted, and investor sentiment and expectations on Apple’s AI platform couldn’t be lower, our survey of iPhone owners paints a more positive picture,” Morgan Stanley said in the note. Since September, the share of iPhone owners who believe it is extremely or very important to have Apple Intelligence support on their next iPhone rose 15 points to reach 42%. Among iPhone owners who are likely to upgrade their device in the next 12 months, the percentage saying that about the AI platform rose 20 points to reach 54%, according to the note. Morgan Stanley also found that consumers are willing to pay more for Apple Intelligence than they were in September. Those who have used the AI platform are now willing to pay an average of $9.11 per month for it, a figure that’s 11% higher than the $8.17 average seen in September, per the note. While we don’t expect Apple to put Apple Intelligence behind a paywall until the platform is more built out, the potential long-term monetization of an Apple Intelligence subscription could reach tens of billions of dollars annually when considering a 1.4B global iPhone installed base, 32% (and growing) of US iPhone owners have an Apple Intelligence support iPhone, and users are willing to pay up to $9.11/month for Apple Intelligence,” Morgan Stanley said in the note.
Apple Store deploys LLM-based system to offer app review summaries that dynamically adapt, capture the diversity and accurately reflect user’s voice and the most up-to-date feedback
The App Store now offers review summaries in iOS 18.4, providing a high-level overview of user reviews while allowing for detailed exploration. This feature is powered by a multi-step LLM-based system that periodically summarizes user reviews. The aim is to ensure these summaries are inclusive, balanced, and accurately reflect the user’s voice, prioritizing safety, fairness, truthfulness, and helpfulness. This feature is a significant improvement over previous versions. Summarizing crowd-sourced user reviews presents several challenges, each of which we addressed to deliver accurate, high-quality summaries that are useful for users: Timeliness: App reviews change constantly due to new releases, features, and bug fixes. Summaries must dynamically adapt to stay relevant and reflect the most up-to-date user feedback. Diversity: Reviews vary in length, style, and informativeness. Summaries need to capture this diversity to provide both detailed and high-level insights without losing nuance. Accuracy: Not all reviews are specifically focused on an app’s experience and some can include off-topic comments. Summaries need to filter out noise to produce trustworthy summaries.
New York City subway riders to be able to add tap-to-pay OMNY transit card to Apple Wallet, joining SF’s Clipper, Washington DC’s SmarTrip and LA’s TAP card
Apple introduced support for dedicated transit cards in Apple Wallet six years ago, and it has since expanded to include San Francisco’s Clipper card, Washington DC’s SmarTrip card, Los Angeles’ TAP card, and Canada’s PRESTO card. New York City’s OMNY card will soon join the fun of Apple Wallet integration, according to the MTA. The MTA is set to phase out the MetroCard fully within the next year, requiring OMNY to be widely available and easy to use. Major updates involving the OMNY rollout include the launch of a mobile virtual OMNY card for normal commuters and students in Q4 2025 and new integration within the MTA app to manage your OMNY card. If things go according to plan, users will be able to add an OMNY card to Apple or Google Wallet in the coming months, just like in Washington, DC, and San Francisco.
Google’s AI Overviews which summarizes results from the web in a AI-generated text form, is now used by more than 1.5 billion users, . Circle to Search, is now available on more than 250 million devices
By Google’s estimation, AI Overviews is now used by more than 1.5 billion users monthly across over 100 countries. AI Overviews compiles results from around the web to answer certain questions and will show AI-generated text at the top of the Google Search results page. While the feature has dampened traffic to some publishers, Google sees it and other AI-powered search capabilities as potentially meaningful revenue drivers and ways to boost engagement on Search. During its Q1 2025 earnings call, Google highlighted the growth of its other AI-based search products as well, including Circle to Search. Circle to Search, which lets you highlight something on your smartphone’s screen and ask questions about it, is now available on more than 250 million devices, Google said — up from around 200 million devices as of late last year. Circle to Search usage rose close to 40% quarter-over-quarter, according to the company. Google also noted in its call that visual searches on its platforms are growing at a steady clip. According to CEO Sundar Pichai, searches through Google Lens, Google’s multimodal AI-powered search technology, have increased by 5 billion since October. The number of people shopping on Lens was up over 10% in Q1, meanwhile.
Google’s Android devices would be able to include SIM in backups in addition to contacts, call history, device settings, apps & app data, SMS & MMS, potentially making it that much easier to swap phones
Device backups currently save things such as your app list, contacts, SMS/MMS/RCS messages, call history, and some device settings as well. Combined with Google Photos for photo/video backup, that makes it easier to swap phones, especially in the case that your previous device is lost, stolen, or broken. Google is apparently looking to extend on this. New findings suggest that Android devices may soon be able to include your SIM in a device backup, potentially making it that much easier to swap phones. Google’s services would be able to “back up contacts, call history, device settings, apps & app data, SMS & MMS messages, and SIMs.” This is very likely referring to eSIM rather than a physical SIM card, but the utility here is obvious. Google is already working to make it easier to transfer an eSIM between devices, and the ability to back that SIM up would just make things all the more painless when restoring from a device you no longer have access to. There are still a lot of questions around how SIM backup on Android would work, including how carriers would be involved, but it’s a nice idea. As for when it might be implemented, that’s not remotely clear either.