CEO defends against Path spamming allegations

By Christian Zibreg on May 6, 2013

The Path controversy just wouldn’t die down. Last week, the private social network has gotten itself in hot water (again) by spamming users’ address book contacts with unwanted robocalls and texts, sometimes even after they uninstalled the software from their devices.

It’s a feature rather than a bug, but Path’s poorly designed sign-up process tricked unsuspecting users – the types who don’t read on-screen prompts carefully – into inadvertently mass-inviting their friends to Path.

And because Path taps extra carrier services, text messages would get turned to landlines into phone calls. None of this seems to aggravate Path CEO Dave Morin, who is a former Facebook employee.

He insisted Monday that Path does not spam users and argued his service never sent mass communication without your consent. “Any allegations to the contrary are false,” Morin said… Read More

 

Path updated with enhanced privacy features and more

By Cody Lee on May 4, 2013

Attention Path users: the personal social network has just released a new version of its iOS app. The update brings the application to version 3.0.4, and includes enhanced privacy features, as well as other improvements and bug fixes.

The fact that it includes new privacy tools is particularly interesting, given that Path spent most of this past week dealing with privacy concerns after a user accused its app of ‘erroneously’ sending text messages to all of his contacts…

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Path spamming some with robocalls and texts

By Christian Zibreg on Apr 30, 2013

Path, the private social network, has had somewhat of a rocky start, to put it mildly.

Just as it seemingly recovered from a privacy scandal which also affected Apple and resulted in tighter iOS privacy controls, reports are surfacing alleging the startup is spamming users’ address book contacts with unwanted phone calls and text messages, even after they uninstalled the software from their devices.

Path immediately crafted a non-response confirming an unknown portion of its installed base did fall victim to a glitch in the system… Read More

 

Personal social network Path passes 10 million users

By Cody Lee on Apr 29, 2013

Last month, I downloaded Path for iOS for the third time to try out the app’s new 3.0 update, and I thought to myself “this app is so beautiful.” It’s just too bad that no one I know uses the decidedly more intimate social network.

But just because no one I know uses it, doesn’t mean that no one is using it. Dave Morin, the company’s founder and CEO, announced earlier today that Path has just crossed a major milestone in its short life: 10 million users… Read More

 

Path 3.0 brings private messaging and new digital content shop

By Cody Lee on Mar 6, 2013

Personal social network Path released a significant update to its iOS app this afternoon, bringing the software to version 3.0. The update includes your usual bug fixes and improvements, as well as two new major features.

The first one is private messaging, allowing you to talk with your Path friends in real time and share various types of media. And the other is The Shop—a digital content store of sorts, with premium photo filters and more… Read More

 

Path pays dearly for stealing your iOS address book data

By Christian Zibreg on Feb 1, 2013

The private social network Path was off to a great start following its iPhone app launch in November 2010. The success was, unfortunately, short-lived as the company soon found itself at the epicenter of intense public scrutiny after it was discovered it had been uploading iOS users’ address book to its servers without their explicit permission. Even though Path did apologize and update the app with the necessary changes and user prompts, the startup never really recovered from the eerie privacy scandal.

And as a result, Apple on its end introduced deeper privacy options in iOS 6 so users can select on a per-app basis which apps can access their contacts, calendars, reminders, photos and more. And now comes word that on Friday The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that Path has agreed to pay a whopping $800,000 fine… Read More

 

Apple drops from top 20 privacy ranking

By Ed Sutherland on Jan 30, 2013

Are consumers loosing trust that Apple will keep personal information private? That’s the implication from new rankings showing the iPhone maker fell out of the top 20 most-trusted firms in 2012.

The firm fell to number 21 after being among the top 20 companies viewed as protecting customer data. Mozilla, the maker of open-source web browser Firefox claimed the number 20 spot, according to privacy watcher Ponemon Institute.

Consumer credit firm American Express again took the number one position in the 2012 privacy rankings. Computer maker Hewlett-Packard and Amazon, creator of the Kindle, ranked number two and three. Amazon improved its ranking, rising to third place in 2012, up from the fifth spot in 2011. Although Apple had ranked as high as number 8 in 2009, confidence in the firm’s privacy stance has been shaken over the past year…

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Would you pay for a premium Path service?

By Christian Zibreg on Jan 21, 2013

As much as Path was making waves following its November 2010 debut, little did we hear in terms of plans for the future, excluding the privacy fiasco related to uploading users’ contacts without explicit permission.

That’s a shame because I still hang out on Path, if only occasionally. Apart from learning about my friends’ sleeping habits, Path gives me a much more private environment to catch up on what the people in my closest circle have been up to.

Facebook, despite its rich feature set, just doesn’t allow for such a controllable setting. Confirming earlier whispers, Path’s co-founder and CEO has gone on the record to hint that his company isn’t ruling out the possibility of a paid-for premium service. He also talked about the search feature that has resulted in plenty more engagements and more… Read More

 

Path releases native iPad app

By Christian Zibreg on Nov 1, 2012

Path, a social network where people engage in limited sharing of their daily habits and photos with only a select few closest friends, later today will launch its iPad app. Focused on full-screen experience in landscape, Path puts more of your network at your fingertips with fewer taps. Images of the iPad interface are promising and new features sound interesting enough to give it a a try. My favorite: the improved home screen displaying more activities from your network than is possible on the iPhone version.

UPDATE: a new version of the original iPhone app just went live with support for native iPad experience. Simply update your existing installation to get iPad goodies… Read More

 

Path 2.5 brings enhanced sharing, improved camera and more

By Cody Lee on Jul 26, 2012

The official Path iOS client received a major update last night, bringing the app to version 2.5. The update includes a number of changes, such as enhanced media sharing, an improved camera, and new photo editing tools.

Path 2.5 also includes another cool addition that might just persuade folks to join the social network. New users now have the option to import data from their Facebook, Instagram, and Foursquare accounts into Path… Read More

 

Poll: do you get all worked up over iOS exclusives going Android?

By Christian Zibreg on Jun 5, 2012

When social network Path released its Android app following the successful debut on the iPhone, barely anyone paid notice. But when Instagram went Android, it spurred lots of controversy. Even Apple’s marketing boss Phil Schiller stopped using the app because it “jumped the shark” when it went to Android.

The debate over iPhone exclusives going Android really heated up with yesterday’s announcement of Instapaper of Android, Marco Arment’s read-later program which became a huge success on the iOS platform.

Should Apple work harder to secure iOS exclusives, which have been around in the console business for ages? Or perhaps this is nothing to get worked up about? Cast your vote now… Read More