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A Look at The New New York Times Audio App

Charlotte Henry ·

The New York Times is preparing to make another significant intervention in the audio market by launching a standalone app. The beta version is set to be released on Tuesday. Axios got a preview.

The new app includes a section called “Magazine Stand,” which features narrated pieces from The Times and publishers it works with as part of Audm, a subscription narrated article company The Times acquired in 2020. Publishers participating in the beta launch of the app via Audm include New York Magazine, Rolling Stone, Mother Jones, Foreign Policy and Atavist. It also includes a new carousel that makes it easier for users to binge all of their favorite podcasts from “Serial Productions,” a company The Times acquired in 2020 that created the hit true crime podcast “Serial.”

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Instagram Rolling Out New Teen Safety and Parental Control Features

Charlotte Henry ·

Instragram’s Take a Break feature, which encourages younger users to stop scrolling is now available in various countries. The company also release a blog post outlining further moves it will be making in a bid to protect younger users.

We’ll be taking a stricter approach to what we recommend to teens on the app, we’ll stop people from tagging or mentioning teens that don’t follow them, we’ll be nudging teens towards different topics if they’ve been dwelling on one topic for a long time and we’re launching the Take a Break feature in the US, UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, which we previously announced. We’ll also be launching our first tools for parents and guardians early next year to help them get more involved in their teen’s experiences on Instagram. Parents and guardians will be able to see how much time their teens spend on Instagram and set time limits. And we’ll have a new educational hub for parents and guardians.