Tech Roundup: Instagram Refresh, TikTok Live Subscription & More

[A recurring feature on the latest in Science & Technology.]

• Google agrees to let Match Group and Bandcamp offer alternative billing to Android users ahead of a new policy enforcement on June 1, 2022, that requires third-party apps to adopt its in-app payment system (like that of Apple's) for in-app purchases or risk removal from the Play Store.
• The European Union agrees to regulate companies like Apple, setting plans to force "gatekeepers" to open up access to hardware and software, including allowing users to install third-party app stores and sideload apps and making messaging, voice-calling, and video-calling services interoperable.
• Meta-owned Instagram announces a visual brand refresh with updates to its "colors, typeface, logo and other brand elements," including a new typeface called Instagram Sans, with the goal of creating "more immersive and inclusive experiences for our community"; WhatsApp to end support for iOS 10 and iOS 11 on October 24, 2022.
• Snapchat is testing Family Centre, which lets parents see who their teenage children are friends with and whom they are texting in an attempt to give better visibility into youngsters use its service; feature works by allowing parents to invite their teens to begin the monitoring, with the recipients having the option to not participate.
• Link-in-bio platform Linktree becomes the latest company to integrate NFTs into its service; allows users to add a new "NFT Gallery" link to showcase their NFT artwork on the service.

• ByteDance's TikTok launches Twitch-like "Live Subscription" in beta to let viewers pay to subscribe to specific live streamers on the platform.
• OpenSea launches Seaport, a new marketplace protocol which allows users to bundle different digital assets in exchange for an NFT.
• Google to "build out-of-the-box support for braille displays" in its screen reader app Talkback in the next version of Android 13 beta.
• U.K.'s data protection watchdog, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), fines controversial facial recognition software maker Clearview AI a little over £7.5 million for violating privacy laws by collecting people's images without their knowledge and orders the company to delete U.K. citizens' information from its systems. (It's the fifth time Clearview has been ordered to delete national data in this way, following similar orders and fines issued in Australia, Canada, France, and Italy.)
• Xiaomi signs a long-term partnership with Leica and announces a jointly developed smartphone that will launch in July 2022.
• Videoconferencing solution Zoom reports Q1 2022 revenue of US$ 1.07 billion, up 12% YoY, and roughly 199,000 enterprise customers, up 24% YoY.
• Indian fintech company Paytm, which competes with Google Pay and Walmart's PhonePe, reports Q4 2021 revenue of US$ 200 million, up 89% YoY, and a net loss of US$ 98 million, up 72% YoY due to higher expenses.