active users Archives

AppWizard

March 16, 2026

Russians losing Telegram access as Kremlin moves to block popular messenger

Reports indicate a significant disruption in access to Telegram in Russia, with 7,826 complaints about outages on March 16, according to Sboy.RF. The Russian government has begun efforts to cut off Telegram access as it promotes a state-sponsored messaging alternative, Max, which also faced over 1,000 outage reports on the same day. Telegram, founded by Pavel Durov, has over a billion active users and is known for its censorship resistance, making it critical for information access in Russia and Ukraine. The Russian communications authority, Ruskomnadzor, announced plans to block Telegram in February 2023, escalating tensions. Durov reported that Russia has opened a criminal case against him for "aiding terrorism," highlighting the government's attempts to restrict access to the platform.

AppWizard

March 14, 2026

Africa’s monetisation debate: founders weigh in on mobile, PC, and the realities of game revenue

African founders view the continent's mobile gaming market as facing significant constraints, including challenges related to payments, purchasing power, and infrastructure, rather than being fundamentally broken. Industry leaders like Hugo Obi and Abdallah Elshabrawy highlight that while monetization is a global challenge, it is particularly exacerbated in Africa due to economic realities. Advertising, especially rewarded video ads, is currently the most reliable revenue model, though lower advertising rates necessitate a larger user base for sustainable revenue. Mobile gaming accounts for about 87% of African gamers and 90% of gaming revenue, emphasizing its reach despite higher spending in PC gaming. Founders stress the importance of targeting global audiences and adapting monetization strategies to the diverse payment ecosystems and cultural dynamics across the continent. A hybrid approach to monetization, combining mobile and PC gaming, is seen as a potential future direction for the industry.

AppWizard

March 13, 2026

FBI Investigating After Malware Found Lurking in Steam PC Games

The FBI is investigating malware hidden in several video games on the Steam platform, targeting users from May 2024 to January 2026. The investigation includes games like BlockBlasters, Chemia, Dashverse, DashFPS, Lampy, Lunara, PirateFi, and Tokenova, with some previously removed from Steam for malicious content. Steam had over 132 million monthly active users and more than 117,000 games in 2025. The FBI is reaching out to affected gamers, ensuring victim confidentiality and potential eligibility for services under federal and state law. This incident is part of a broader trend of malware targeting gamers, with previous cases involving fan games and cheat software affecting millions of accounts.

AppWizard

March 11, 2026

New Telegram app lets whistleblowers report fraud without sharing personal data

AlphaTON Capital Corp. and the Midnight Foundation launched the Vera Report, an anonymous reporting application for whistleblowers, on March 3, 2026. The platform uses advanced technologies such as confidential computing, zero-knowledge proofs, blockchain anchoring, and decentralized storage via IPFS. It targets a market of 1 billion monthly active users and addresses significant U.S. fraud losses estimated between 0 billion and trillion, with the DOJ recovering .8 billion in fiscal year 2025, of which .3 billion came from whistleblower cases. On the announcement day, ATON shares declined by 2.07%, with a market cap impact of approximately K. The Vera Report aims to improve privacy and accountability in government and corporate sectors by facilitating anonymous reporting while protecting whistleblower identities.

AppWizard

March 11, 2026

VK’s Max app passes 100 mln users

VK's messaging application, Max, has surpassed 100 million users. It has an average of 70 million daily active users who send over 1 billion messages and make around 28 million calls each day.

Winsage

March 4, 2026

OpenAI’s Codex is now on Windows

OpenAI has launched its Codex agentic coding application for Windows, expanding its reach beyond the Mac platform. The Mac version received over 1 million downloads in its first week and currently has 1.6 million weekly active users, with over 500,000 developers awaiting the Windows version. The Windows version is designed for real-world usage, featuring native sandboxing capabilities and OS-level controls for secure operation. It includes a WinUI skill for Windows application development and mirrors the Mac version in functionality while introducing Windows-specific features. Codex emphasizes managing the agent over just coding, providing a unique interface described as a "command center for agents." It operates on OpenAI’s latest coding model, GPT-5.3-Codex, with options to switch to earlier versions and adjust reasoning levels. Codex for Windows is available to users across various tiers, including ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Edu.

TrendTechie

March 2, 2026

Торренты наиболее популярны в небольших городах

A survey conducted by the ProResearch Center for Modern Studies and the National Agency for Financial Research (NAFI) included 1,600 respondents from 132 localities in 46 regions of Russia to explore torrent usage. The findings indicate that the most active torrent users are in smaller cities with populations between 50,000 and 100,000, while only 13% of users from major cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg regularly use torrent services. Overall, 33% of internet users familiar with torrents engage with them regularly, but 59% of respondents had never heard of torrents, especially among older demographics. Young adults aged 18 to 24 are the most informed about torrents, with 41% having varying degrees of knowledge, and 17% of those knowledgeable use torrents regularly.

AppWizard

March 1, 2026

Spotify Android App Draws Ire For Rigid Gestures

Spotify's Android app relies on mandatory swipe gestures that cannot be disabled, causing usability issues that conflict with Android's navigation system. This design choice has led to accidental actions, such as skipping tracks or altering playlists, particularly affecting users with motor or dexterity challenges. Research indicates that invisible gestures can lead to unintended activations, and guidelines recommend providing multiple input methods. A proposed solution is to introduce a Gestures menu for user customization, allowing users to disable or modify swipe actions. With Android's market share at around 70% and Spotify having approximately 626 million monthly active users, minimizing accidental actions could enhance user experience and provide a competitive advantage.

AppWizard

February 24, 2026

Russia probes Telegram founder Durov to crush messaging app

Moscow is conducting a criminal investigation into Telegram's founder, Pavel Durov, over accusations of terrorism, as reported by the state-run Rossiyskaya Gazeta. The Russian government aims to control Telegram, which has over 1 billion active users, and is promoting a state-supported alternative, MAX. The investigation is based on allegations that Telegram assists terrorist activities, with claims that it serves as a tool for hybrid threats and poses risks to national security. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov noted substantial violations linked to Telegram's operations. In response to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, Russia is increasing its repressive measures and digital surveillance, targeting VPNs and messaging apps to enhance national security. Despite these challenges, Telegram remains a crucial news source in Russia and is used by various groups, including Kremlin officials and opposition figures. Durov opposes government censorship and argues that the crackdown aims to push citizens towards a state-controlled app. He has previously faced scrutiny for his refusal to comply with Russian authorities and has criticized other governments for their influence on digital freedoms. The Russian FSB claims that Ukraine is exploiting data from Telegram for military purposes.

AppWizard

February 23, 2026

Newzoo: Top Games of 2025 on PC & Console

PC and Nintendo Switch are more welcoming to new intellectual properties (IPs) compared to PlayStation and Xbox. The top-selling PC game of 2025 is Battlefield 6, followed by ARC Raiders and Schedule I. New IPs like R.E.P.O. and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 are also performing well on PC. In the console market, sports games dominate revenue rankings for PlayStation and Xbox, while first-party titles excel on Nintendo Switch. Indie and AA games such as Hollow Knight: Silksong, Hades II, Fantasy Life i, and Tiny Bookshop are achieving impressive sales on the Switch. The top games by Monthly Active Users (MAU) include Counter-Strike 2, Roblox, and Fortnite.