iOS Software Engineer

Two hours a day: inside Meta's sweeping new teen limits for Instagram and Facebook. Last Updated: August 28, 2026 A daily ceiling of two hours. That is what Meta has now agreed to impose on teen accounts across Facebook and Instagram in the US, and of everything in this settlement, it is the piece the affected users will genuinely notice. Much of the rest of the deal reads like a compliance document. This clause reads like a curfew. What Meta actually signed. As part of a child safety settlement struck with attorneys general nationwide, Meta committed to far-reaching changes for teenage users. The agreement obliges the company to roll out new safeguards on Instagram and Facebook that alter how teens engage with each platform and limit their access at certain hours. Behind the settlement is a nationwide lawsuit claiming that Meta, Google, TikTok and Snap failed to keep children safe and deliberately engineered their platforms to be "addictive." Signatories number 51 US states and territories, among them New York, New Jersey, California, Nevada, South Carolina, Washington, Illinois and many more. The bulk of these protections must remain in force for a minimum of 10 years. That figure deserves a pause. Product policies at this company tend to last about as long as a beta feature. A decade-long obligation backed by 51 attorneys general is another matter entirely. Where the rules don't apply. Every US state will see the changes on Facebook and Instagram, with two exceptions. New Mexico is currently fighting its own legal case against Meta. Florida, which has already prohibited children under 14 from opening social media accounts, falls outside the deal altogether. Texas negotiated its own separate settlement with Meta containing comparable requirements. Which means a parent trying to figure out whether their child's account is affected gets an answer that hinges on their zip code. For a settlement billed as nationwide, that is an awkward result. The safeguards Meta says it's keeping. Meta has pledged to retain a number of protections it already operates. Teen accounts default to more private settings across the board. "Potentially suspicious adults" cannot send them messages. Adults face added friction when trying to find, follow or interact with younger users. The company added that its age-appropriate content restrictions will stay too - the filters that keep posts featuring nudity, sexual content, strong language or dangerous stunts away from teens. None of this breaks new ground. These are existing policies, now bound by a legal agreement rather than announced in a blog post. How comforting that is depends on how much stock you put in the blog post. The $17.1 billion asterisk. Over the next 10 years, Meta owes states $17.1 billion. Yet $5.3 billion of that total is contingent on conditions the company cannot influence. According to Meta, that $5.3 billion will change hands only if TikTok and YouTube match the payment, introduce a daily time cap for teens, impose nighttime restrictions and deploy age assurance measures. The company is publicly urging both rivals to follow suit, arguing that "these protections will only be truly effective if we work with our peers." Stripped of the framing: Meta has tied roughly 31 percent of its own settlement bill to the conduct of two competitors that signed nothing. It is a shrewd bit of negotiating, applying public pressure to TikTok and YouTube while costing Meta nothing should they shrug it off. What to watch for on your kid's phone. For anyone overseeing a teen's account, the two-hour cap and the overnight restrictions are the changes likely to spark arguments at the dinner table. The remainder plays out silently inside account settings that most teens never bother to open. Start by checking your state. In New Mexico or Florida, none of it applies, and the talk you need to have with your kid is simply the one you were already planning.

New patent intelligence report reveals the hidden competitors in the race to build AI Smart Glasses. PatentVest's newest PV Pulse analysis finds Apple's and Microsoft's AI smart glasses-relevant patent portfolios outrank Google's, Snap's, and Samsung's - despite neither company selling an AI smart glasses product. Dallas,TX, Aug. 27, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) - PatentVest, a provider of patent-based competitive intelligence for technology, IP, and innovation leaders, today released its newest PV Pulse report, "Who's Actually Building the AI in AI Smart Glasses?" The report analyzes validated patent activity across 12 companies shaping the category - the seven companies currently building or shipping AI smart glasses, two component suppliers whose IP sits underneath nearly every product in the space, and three large technology companies with no shipping product at all. The analysis finds that two of those three non-shipping companies, Apple and Microsoft, hold some of the strongest AI-capability patent positions in the entire category. Apple's validated portfolio - an estimated 1,550 patent families - is larger than Google's or Snap's, and ranks in the top three across every AI capability area PatentVest measured, including eye tracking, gesture, perception, and voice. Microsoft's AR-rendering portfolio (409 families) is nearly tied with Meta's (445) - the exact patent category behind the Ray-Ban Meta and Orion strategy. Neither Apple nor Microsoft sells a single pair of AI smart glasses today. "Ask most people in this industry who's actually leading the AI smart glasses race, and they'll name the companies with products on shelves," the report states. "The patent office is telling a different story." AMONG THE REPORT'S OTHER FINDINGS: * Meta holds the largest validated portfolio in the category, at approximately 1,900 patent families, with a clear lead in AR rendering, gesture, eye tracking, perception, and wearable form factor. * Samsung's widely cited 1,525-family patent count is misleading: split by legal entity, Samsung Electronics' legitimate glasses-system portfolio is closer to 550 validated families, while the larger share of Samsung Display's count is upstream OLED-panel manufacturing IP, not smart-glasses technology. * EssilorLuxottica - Meta's own manufacturing partner for Ray-Ban Meta - holds an estimated 530 validated patent families on its own, more than XREAL, Xiaomi, and Vuzix combined (approximately 380), despite not being a glasses brand itself. * While Meta, Google, Snap, Xiaomi, and XREAL all reached their highest single-year filing count in 2022, Microsoft's filing activity peaked in 2017 and has cooled since - even as its AR-rendering portfolio remains nearly tied with Meta's. The companies most people assume are competing in AI smart glasses and the companies actually building the underlying IP behind the category turn out to be two different lists, a gap this report is built to surface for anyone tracking the space." The full report includes a company-by-company breakdown across eight AI capability battlegrounds - AR rendering, voice, perception, gesture, eye tracking, privacy, memory/agent, and wearable form factor, along with jurisdictional filing data, portfolio maturity analysis, and a look at which companies built their AI capabilities organically versus through acquisition. The full PV Pulse report, "Who's Actually Building the AI in AI Smart Glasses?," is now available here:https://insights.patentvest.com/whos-actually-building-the-ai-in-ai-smart-glasses. About PatentVest PatentVest is an AI-native intellectual property strategy and IP law company helping technology-driven organizations build stronger, future-defensible patent portfolios while accelerating commercialization and maximizing enterprise value. By combining proprietary AI workflows with experienced intellectual property professionals, PatentVest delivers strategic IP advisory, portfolio management, patent prosecution, and commercialization-focused solutions that improve quality, consistency, and efficiency across the innovation lifecycle. PatentVest is building the next generation of intellectual property workflows by combining AI-enabled automation with expert review and standardized quality controls. Its approach is designed to help innovators make better filing decisions, reduce unnecessary patent spend, and protect their most valuable assets with greater confidence and predictability. Media Contact [email protected]

Pennsylvania's Attorney General has sued Snap Inc., alleging Snapchat misleads parents about mature content and uses features that encourage compulsive use among minors. The lawsuit targets engagement mechanics like Snapstreaks, infinite scroll, and Friend Solar System that drive user behaviour, particularly among younger audiences. The case challenges core features that generate time spent and ad impressions, potentially affecting Snap's path to profitability. Snap has historically operated at a loss, with current earnings at minus $409.9 million. Meanwhile, Snap appointed Rowan Saghayroun as Head of Communications for Saudi Arabia, signalling continued international expansion efforts. The company's narrative projects $8.1 billion revenue and $384.0 million earnings by 2029, requiring 10.0% yearly revenue growth.