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Daniel Gultsch, developer of the Android XMPP messaging app Conversations, announced he is ending the app's paid distribution on Google Play and making it free. In a blog post titled 'Breaking Up with Google Play', he explains his reasons for leaving the store. The move is drawing strong attention from the developer community.

Fox News is promoting its mobile app as a way for readers to stay up to date with the latest headlines and breaking news. The promotion directs audiences to download the app through an app-store link. There is no specific news event attached to the message; it is a straightforward push to move audiences onto Fox News' mobile platform.

App developers are comparing notes on the exact screenshot dimensions App Store Connect and Google Play require, a recurring annoyance every time they ship a release. A 2026 roundup of screenshot sizes and submission rules is circulating among iOS and Android developers, reflecting ongoing frustration with the stores' changing formatting requirements.

Paramount has completed a $52 billion debt restructuring, but its new bonds debuted weakly on markets, drawing investor concern about the media company's financial footing. In separate economic news, Federal Reserve officials signaled they may hold off on further interest rate increases, while pool supplies retailer Leslie's filed for bankruptcy and announced it will close 76 stores. Commentators are weighing what the moves mean for markets and consumers.

A new report warns that the El Niño weather pattern is expected to drive up prices for popular foods as well as critical staple crops. Disruptions to rainfall and harvests linked to El Niño could tighten global supply and raise costs for consumers at the grocery store.

Spirit Halloween's seasonal business model depends on securing short-term leases in vacant retail spaces, and a closer look explains how the company chooses its temporary store sites. The retailer takes over former big-box and mall locations left empty by struggling chains, turning dead retail space into Halloween shops each autumn before closing again.

A busy week in global retail: Hailey Bieber's Rhode opens café rhode in Paris, Outcast runs a pop-up takeover at Portola Festival, JISOO fronts a Salomon campaign, Chanel designs the trophies for the boat race, and RIMOWA opens a flagship store in Shanghai. The roundup highlights how beauty, fashion and lifestyle brands are using pop culture moments and new locations to reach shoppers.

Walmart has introduced a new feature on the electronic shelf labels used in its stores, aimed at helping shoppers. The retail giant has been rolling out digital price tags across locations, and the latest update adds functionality designed to make information easier for customers to access while browsing aisles. Details about how shoppers are responding have not yet been widely reported.

Nordstrom is operating a pop-up space in New York focused on gourmet foods, part of the retailer's broader push to refresh its pop-up format with new concepts. The move reflects how department stores are experimenting with food and experience-driven retail to draw shoppers into physical locations and test new merchandising ideas.

Spirit Halloween is moving into vacant retail locations across Cleveland, filling storefronts left empty by store closures ahead of the Halloween season. The pop-up chain's seasonal occupation of former big-box and mall spaces has become an annual marker of the region's retail vacancies, drawing attention to how many storefronts sit empty and how seasonal tenants briefly revive dead shopping centers.

Publix has purchased a retail plaza near Miami International Airport for $83 million, continuing a broader strategy of buying up shopping centers anchored by its own stores. The Florida-based supermarket chain has been acquiring the properties around its locations, giving it more control over its real estate footprint as it expands across the Southeast.

Marks & Spencer has announced a partnership with Sephora, bringing the beauty retailer's products to M&S stores and online in the UK. The deal is aimed at drawing younger customers to the British retailer, whose shopper base skews older. The move is being discussed as a significant play in the competitive UK beauty retail market.