Smallerik
Inside the line · Outside the line

Five jurisdictions, twenty-eight pieces. One handset that behaves differently on each side of the border.

Smallerik covers who sets the rules on a phone, jurisdiction by jurisdiction, and what the numbers show.

Section 5 of five

The place where all of this is finally settled

WhatsApp, WeChat, TikTok's US divestiture law, Telegram, Duolingo's streak mechanic, BeReal's sale, and the retention numbers on AI assistant apps since 2023.

5 piecesThe Apps

BrusselsThe CourtsThe NumbersThe StoresThe Apps
An adult looking at a smartphone screen in an indoor public space, the phone screen bright against the ambient light, face visible and in focus

Everything in The Apps

5 pieces
  • Smartphone screen glowing in the dark, showing a home screen with app icons including Instagram and GmailPhoto: Deyvi Romero / Pexels

    The Apps · piece 1

    One App That Contains the Others

    WeChat's superapp architecture — mini-programs, payments, identity — and why it represents a model that neither Apple nor Google's store rules were written to accommodate.

    Covers Tencent's published platform figures and the regulatory questions the model raises in markets outside China.
  • A hand holds a smartphone displaying the TikTok logo on its loading screenPhoto: greenwish / Pexels

    The Apps · piece 2

    TikTok and the Law That Named It

    The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (2024), its timeline, the court challenges ByteDance brought, and where the divestiture process stood as of the most recent published filing.

    Every date from the Congressional Record and published court dockets.
  • A hand holds a smartphone outdoors showing the emergency dialer with 112 enteredPhoto: cottonbro studio / Pexels

    The Apps · piece 3

    The Streak Mechanic as a Revenue Strategy

    How Duolingo's streak counter became the central mechanic of its subscription conversion funnel — what Duolingo's published earnings reports say about daily-active-user to subscriber ratios, and what it demonstrates about the subscription model the app-economy numbers now rest on.

    WhatsApp, WeChat, TikTok's US divestiture law, Telegram, Duolingo's streak mechanic, BeReal's sale, and the retention numbers on AI assistant apps since 2023.
  • Close-up of a smartphone camera app icon beside a notification badge showing one alertPhoto: Brett Jordan / Pexels

    The Apps · piece 4

    BeReal's Rise and Its Sale

    BeReal's growth from 2022 peak downloads to its acquisition by Voodoo — the published retention figures, the advertising model it never fully launched, and what the arc illustrates about virality without a monetisation structure.

    Sources: Sensor Tower download estimates and Voodoo's acquisition announcement.
  • App Store icon with three pending updates shown on a smartphone home screenPhoto: Brett Jordan / Pexels

    The Apps · piece 5

    The Retention Problem

    AI assistant apps — ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude — since 2023, with published download and monthly-active-user figures showing a consistent gap between install spikes and sustained engagement.

    Covers what the top-grossing chart position says about whether subscriptions are converting. Sources: Sensor Tower and Appfigures estimates, attributed and dated.