Snapshot · This Week in Tech (Audio)
Wired found code for a face-recognition feature called 'Name Tag' silently embedded in Meta's AI app that powers its smart glasses, pulling face prints from Meta's servers.
Where this was said
At 1:56:41 · chapter starts 1:39:40
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Wired discovered face-recognition code called 'Name Tag' silently embedded across millions of phones in Meta's smart glasses AI app, pulling biometric face prints from Meta's servers. Meta hasn't enabled it, but the capability is built and waiting. Fr. Robert Ballecer has spent 7 years poisoning facial recognition databases with fake tagged photos to fuzz his identity.
Ad-based monetization works well for game apps where users spend extended time in-session, as seen with Grid and Wordle.
Tool-focused apps like PuffCount are poor candidates for ad monetization because users don't stay in-session long enough.
A hard paywall is a screen that blocks all app features unless the user pays or starts a free trial — it cannot be dismissed.
Mobile apps are primarily monetized through either ads (best for games) or in-app purchases/subscriptions (best for tools).
According to the episode, YouTube outperforms every other social platform for building trust and driving SaaS conversions.
Vasco stated that the majority of his app's user base came directly from his YouTube channel.
SEO Bot features a 'Boost My Domain Rating' button that routes users directly to Listing Bot, an example of in-product cross-selling.
The founder's entire product portfolio is AI-related, making it easier to package products attractively for directories.
The founder attached their SaaS demo to the trending debate about whether AI coding is actually good enough to build a full SaaS product.
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