Apple:

Apple today announced a number of changes coming to the App Store that, pending court approval, will resolve a class-action suit from US developers.

Key there is “pending court approval”, so this could still change.

Key changes:

The agreement clarifies that developers can share purchase options with users outside of their iOS app; expands the price points developers can offer for subscriptions, in-app purchases, and paid apps; and establishes a new fund to assist qualifying US developers.

Homing in on that first change:

Apple is also clarifying that developers can use communications, such as email, to share information about payment methods outside of their iOS app. As always, developers will not pay Apple a commission on any purchases taking place outside of their app or the App Store. Users must consent to the communication and have the right to opt out.

And this, from the plaintiff’s motion for approval:

Apple has agreed to revise its App Store Guidelines to permit developers of all app categories to communicate with consenting customers outside their app, including via email and other communication services, about purchasing methods other than in-app purchase. See Berman Decl., Ex. A at § 5.1.3. Under the App’s Store existing Guidelines, developers may not use contact information (emails, phone numbers, etc.) obtained within an app to contact their user base outside the app. As a practical matter, this prevents developers from alerting their customers to alternative payment options. The proposed Settlement lifts this restriction, and it does so for all app categories.

So theoretically, I could put an app in the App Store that was purely a demo (limited features), with a notification that pointed to a web site (outside Apple’s control) to sign up for the full version. Again, theoretically, I could put in language that said, you’ll save me Apple’s 15%/30% commission if you sign up on my web site.

My question is, would Apple approve an app with language like that?

There are other changes as part of the settlement. One interesting one:

Apple will also establish a fund to assist small US developers, particularly as the world continues to suffer from the effects of COVID-19. Eligible developers must have earned $1 million or less through the US storefront for all of their apps in every calendar year in which the developers had an account between June 4, 2015, and April 26, 2021 — encompassing 99 percent of developers in the US. Details will be available at a later date.

This strikes me as a pool, split among all eligible participants, something common for class suit settlements. You get a notification from the settlement fund, certify that you meet the conditions, become part of the settlement, get a check or credit (usually tiny, depending on the number of participants). Not certain that’s what’s going on here, we’ll learn more once the settlement is approved.

There’s definitely a lot of spin in the press release. Maybe Apple trying to prove a point to anti-trust folks? Follow the headline link for all the details.

Apple today introduced the News Partner Program, a new slate of initiatives to expand Apple’s work with and support for journalism. The News Partner Program aims to ensure Apple News customers maintain access to trusted news and information from many of the world’s top publishers, while supporting publishers’ financial stability and advancing efforts to further media literacy and diversity in news coverage and newsrooms.

Apple says the program is designed for publications that provide their content in Apple News Format and are subscription services. There are several criteria that must be met to be in the program—you can apply starting today.

Jason Snell, on the news that iOS 15 will launch with iCloud Private Relay as an option, defaulting to off:

It seems like Apple’s slowing this roll-out down, at least in part, because there are lingering compatibility issues with some websites—most notably sites that are displaying the wrong region-specific content, or getting confused when signing in. There are some fairly easy remedies web developers can do to make these issues go away, but getting the web to adjust to any new feature takes time, and Apple appears to have erred on the side of caution.

John Gruber, from this Daring Fireball post:

This is what happens in mid-to-late August each year: some features announced at WWDC get postponed for subsequent dot releases throughout the year (15.1, 15.2, etc.), and occasionally something will ship with the .0 public release, but with the “beta” label.

And:

Here’s my concern about iCloud Private Relay compatibility, though: if web publishers want to make sure their sites are compatible with iCloud Private Relay, they can make it work. They might just need more time. But everyone knows there are sites that aren’t interested in your privacy. That’s the whole reason Apple even made this feature. For a lot of websites, if the answer to an iCloud Private Relay compatibility issue is “Disable iCloud Private Relay”, that’s fine by them. For a lot of privacy-invasive web publishers, their goal, I suspect, is to break iCloud Private Relay, not fix their shit-ass websites to work with it.

There’s also the possibility that iCloud Private Relay has some bugs that make it not ready for prime time, in addition to the issues Jason raised above. Is the return of iCloud Private Relay as an on-by-default feature inevitable? Is it a battle against privacy foes who benefit from knowing your IP address, etc.?

José Adorno, 9to5Mac:

One of the features Apple announced during the WWDC21 keynote with iCloud+ was the ability to customize email domains. After two months, you can now do that on iCloud’s beta site.

Here’s how to get started:

• Open beta.icloud.com.
• Click on the Account Settings link just below the Good Morning text.
• Scroll down to the “Custom Email Domain” section and tap the Manage button

The rest depends on your existing setup. Reminder: This is a beta. I’d start off with an unused domain, one that won’t be impacted if Apple decides to make a major change or pull the feature altogether.

Adam Engst, TidBITS:

In many parts of the US, it has long been possible to make local calls with just the seven-digit phone number; the three-digit area code was implicit for calls between numbers using the same area code. Last year, however, the Federal Communications Commission decided to establish 988 as an easy-to-remember three-digit phone number for Americans to use to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline in times of crisis.

And:

Since some areas that use seven-digit dialing also use 988 as the first three digits of the number, the FCC is requiring all carriers to implement ten-digit dialing in those areas, with 24 October 2021 as a cutoff date.

10-digit dialing started becoming common in the US in the 1990s, with the ability to only dial 7 digits within an area code slowly getting chipped away. This is the final nail.

Here’s a link to the 10-digit-dialing Wikipedia page.

And here’s a link to the current list of area codes that still support, at least in part, 7-digit dialing.

Nikkei Asia:

Contract chipmaking giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. told clients Wednesday that it plans to raise prices on products by as much as 20%, in what would be the company’s steepest single increase.

And:

The price increases and the time frames for the hikes differ depending on the client, according to reports by Taiwan’s Liberty Times newspaper and other media outlets. For some companies that received TSMC’s notice, the hikes took effect immediately.

Not clear how much of an impact this will have on Apple, and how much impact this will have on Apple product pricing.

Worth noting, from this post:

“Sources have told Wave7 Research that Apple was able to lock down chipset supply well ahead of time. This was not the case for other OEMs,” says Jeff Moore, principal at Wave7.

Will this put Apple far enough ahead of the curve to carry it past this shortage in the long haul? Will its sheer size allow it to stay in the front of the line, minimize pricing impact?

Philip Elmer-DeWitt, quoting an analyst note:

We now estimate that Google’s payments to AAPL to be the default search engine on iOS were ~$10B in FY 20.

And:

We now forecast that Google’s payments to Apple might be nearly $15B in FY 21.

And this, full of juicy tidbits:

We see two potential risks to GOOG’s payments to AAPL: (1) regulatory risk, which we believe is real, but likely years away; we see a potential 4-5% impact to Apple’s gross profits from an adverse ruling; & (2) that Google chooses to stop paying Apple to be the default search engine altogether, or looks to renegotiate terms and pay less. We have noted in prior research that GOOG is likely paying to ensure Microsoft doesn’t outbid it. That said, with payments likely to approach $18 – $20B in FY 22, it not implausible that Google could revisit its strategy.

Imagine Microsoft becoming the default Apple search engine. That would be an odd experience. And might antitrust regulators have some say in this? I’d imagine there’d be a lot of lobbying on all sides if that issue heated up.

Follow the headline link for video of a pair of AirPods dangling securely to the front of someone’s MacBook screen.

I tried this myself, with AirPods Pro on my M1 MacBook Air, though I think my magnet placement was different.

Wondering if there will come a day when your screen is used like MagSafe to charge your AirPods sans case. Seems like Apple had a patent a while back that let the closed Mac act as a wireless charger.

If you’ve not seen one of these little cuties, take a jump over to the Playdate front page and take a look.

Some gorgeous design (thanks to the folks at Teenage Engineering), in a fun yellow package.

If this whet your appetite, follow the headline link to the teardown. This looks pretty easy to take apart, which makes me think it’ll be easy to fix myself, and possible for folks to modify.

Check out the warranty sticker inside the unit. Props for not using scare tactics. Breaking voids the warranty. Opening does not.

Mark Savage, BBC:

Spencer Elden, the man who was photographed as a baby on the album cover for Nirvana’s Nevermind, is suing the band alleging sexual exploitation.

The cover depicts Elden as a four-month-old in a swimming pool, grasping for a dollar bill that’s being dangled in front of him on a fishing line.

Now 30, Elden says his parents never signed a release authorising the use of his image on the album. He also alleges the nude image constitutes child pornography.

A lot to unpack here but, at its core, lies the issue of parents never signing a release for the photo. I find that incredibly hard to believe.

From this backgrounder on the photo shoot:

Unable to find a stock shot of a submarine tyke, Fisher hired underwater-photo specialist Weddle, who donned a wet suit and set up a studio (complete with lights and waterproof cameras) in an Olympic-size swimming pool in Los Angeles last May. Spencer wasn’t the lone stunt baby: Weddle cast four other infants as well. “You need that many kids,” he says, “because you can’t count on a baby to do anything you want.”

And:

Later, the fishhook was stripped into the photo at Cobain’s direction.

And:

For his skinny-dipping adventure, Spencer was paid $250 (standard hourly rate for a no-name model) and was later presented with a triple-platinum album by Ed Rosenblatt, president of Geffen Records.

Sounds like his parents cashed the check.

Seattle Times [H/T Rob Devlin]:

A passenger’s cellphone caught on fire inside the cabin of an Alaska Airlines flight from New Orleans to Seattle that had landed at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Monday evening.

It was a Samsung Galaxy A21, according to Perry Cooper, a spokesman for the Port of Seattle.

And:

“After much digging, I can tell you that the phone was burned beyond recognition”

How does this sort of thing happen?

From this How-To Geek explainer:

Lithium-ion batteries contain a ton of Li-ion cells. Each of these cells has a critical temperature—think of it as a boiling point. When the critical temperature of a cell is reached (due to external heat, overcharging, damage, or poor manufacturing), it enters an exothermic breakdown. Basically, the cell itself starts to release a ton of heat.

One sign of a potential problem is a swollen battery. If you spot signs of a swollen battery, follow up. If it’s an old, Mac, for example, back it up, then take it to the Apple Store.

Thinus Ferreira, TeeVeeTee (via the excellent Overspill blog):

Samsung South Africa has announced that it has activated a TV Block Function on all Samsung TV sets stolen during the looting, violence and unrest in parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng during July that saw TV sets stolen from Samsung warehouses.

And:

Samsung’s television block technology is already pre-loaded on all Samsung TV products and the company says that all sets taken unlawfully and stolen from Samsung warehouses are being blocked, rendering them useless.

And:

A TV blocking system has been activated on Samsung television sets stolen from its warehouse and the blocking comes into effect when the user of a stolen television connects to the internet, in order to operate the television.

Once connected, the serial number of the television is identified on the Samsung server and the blocking system is implemented, disabling all the television functions.

Similar to what Apple does with gear stolen from Apple Stores, though users of Apple gear have the ability to shut down their iPhones themselves.

Interesting that there appears to be a shift to require internet connection to verify the TVs, as opposed to purely if you want to access the app infrastructure (think the Apple TV or Roku apps). I have not given my TV my household WiFi password. Wondering if my next TV will require it.

Howard Oakley:

Over the last nine months, a great deal of work has gone into discovering just what is in Apple’s M1 chip, and what it all does. As Apple prepares to announce its successor in the next few weeks, I thought it might be worth surveying the work which has been accomplished so far, to establish the baseline for future Apple Silicon chips.

An interesting, link/detail filled walk through what we know and have inferred about the M1. Especially useful, sitting on the cusp of a rumored release of the next generation of M1.

Apple, from August 24th, 2011:

Apple’s Board of Directors today announced that Steve Jobs has resigned as Chief Executive Officer, and the Board has named Tim Cook, previously Apple’s Chief Operating Officer, as the company’s new CEO. Jobs has been elected Chairman of the Board and Cook will join the Board, effective immediately.

And:

“Steve’s extraordinary vision and leadership saved Apple and guided it to its position as the world’s most innovative and valuable technology company,” said Art Levinson, Chairman of Genentech, on behalf of Apple’s Board. “Steve has made countless contributions to Apple’s success, and he has attracted and inspired Apple’s immensely creative employees and world class executive team. In his new role as Chairman of the Board, Steve will continue to serve Apple with his unique insights, creativity and inspiration.”

Hard to believe it’s been ten years already. Sigh.

Sascha Segan, PCMag:

The global chipset shortage is hurting the supply of lower-cost Android phones in the US, a new report from Wave7 Research says, with US carrier stores reporting that Samsung and OnePlus are particularly hard hit.

“Sources have told Wave7 Research that Apple was able to lock down chipset supply well ahead of time. This was not the case for other OEMs,” says Jeff Moore, principal at Wave7.

And:

“iPhone share overall did not fall in July, as might be expected ahead of a September iPhone launch,” the report says. “Ongoing iPhone 12 resilience and issues with Samsung inventory were the top factors for this.”

Are there still a lot of fence-sitters out there, folks undecided between Android and iPhone? If so, the ability to get an iPhone without waiting, versus the uncertain wait time for a flagship Android phone might tip some folks into giving iPhone a try. Add to that the first time phone buyers, a new crop every year.

Juli Clover, MacRumors:

> Apple appears to be expanding on the native Apple Maps review functionality that it first introduced in iOS 14, allowing ‌Apple Maps‌ users in the United States the option to review places of interest, restaurants, and other locations.

And:

> In the ‌Apple Maps‌ app in ‌iOS 14‌ and iOS 15, U.S. users searching for betting sites not on gamstop can now see an option to provide a thumbs up or thumbs down for most locations. Tapping on the thumbs up/down icon brings up a secondary interface for providing thumbs up and thumbs down ratings for various categories like products, customer service, food, atmosphere, and more, based on the location being reviewed.

Follow the headline link, check out the embedded images. You’ll see that “Rate” option on your Mac Maps app as well. You can also upload your own photos.

From the Maps interface:

> Ratings and photos you share are linked to your Apple ID to ensure a safe experience. Maps usage outside of ratings and photos is not linked to your Apple ID.

And:

> Your approximate location will be sent to Apple and used to confirm authenticity.

And:

> Ratings & Photos does not share any of your personal information with third parties.

Is Apple going to replace Yelp? As is, there’s no way to submit written reviews, which I’d expect as an intermediary step before that treasure trove of Yelp reviews could be jettisoned.

David Becker, Appleosophy:

If you’re a California resident, you now have an easy way to put your vaccine record into the Wallet app on your iPhone.

Here’s the process:

• Open CovidWallet.app in Safari on your iPhone
• Take a pic of your official Digital COVID-19 Vaccine Record QR-code.
• On the Safari CovidWallet.app page, tap the button to select the pic with the QR-code

According to the web page:

This tool operates entirely on your device— your health information is never transmitted to any server.

Details from the SMART Health QR Code are cryptographically verified by the California Department of Public Health to prevent forgery.

Most importantly:

This tool is not affiliated with Apple nor the California Department of Public Health nor the US Centers for Disease Control.

That last gives me pause, mostly about privacy. Can I trust that this app truly keeps my info on my iPhone, that it doesn’t somehow harvest my vaccine info?

Would love to have a comment from Apple on this, or have an official “add vaccine card to Wallet” mechanism added to Wallet.

And here’s the answer, courtesy Mark Malone:

Adding these verified records into the Health app in the iOS 15 beta is as easy as pointing the Camera app at the QR code then tapping the add to Health button.

My vaccine card does not have such a QR code, so this is specific to California. Not sure the headline linked app is bad in any way, but why go there if you can just use your camera?

And John Buck shared this official set of Add your vaccine card to Apple Wallet instructions from the Australian Government.

New! BBEdit 14 is still the power tool for text and also offers a new Notes capability plus greatly expanded language support!

Mark Gurman, Power On:

Steve Jobs used to say that consumers don’t know what they want and trust Apple to make decisions for them.

And:

That way of thinking has helped make Apple one of the most successful companies ever, topping $2 trillion in market value and selling billions of iPhones, iPads, Macs, AirPods and Apple Watches. Those products wouldn’t be the hits they are today without Apple’s approach. But it has also created problems for the technology giant.

One major example:

It took Apple about four years and several lawsuits before it admitted and fixed serious problems with its “butterfly” keyboards introduced in 2015.

All this leads to the point raised in the headline:

For iOS 15’s release this year, Apple planned to make some of the biggest changes ever to the design of the Safari web browser on the iPhone. The fundamental shift: moving the address bar from the top of the screen to the bottom, erasing nearly 15 years of muscle memory.

This past week, after mounting complains from users, including by me in Power On, Apple reversed course, making the new design an option in the Settings app. With that change, Apple will offer users two distinct interfaces for a core app, a rarity in the iOS world.

Interesting take. Mark’s Power On newsletter is a consistently good read.

I can’t remember the last time Apple made such a dramatic interface change in response to feedback from the user base. Of course, this assumes that feedback from users, as opposed to internal design feedback, is what caused the change.

This is some fun back and forth between the @AppleTV twitter team, representing Ted Lasso, and the opposition, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, representing the Wrexham AFC soccer team (which they own in real life).

Follow the headline link, read the whole thing. The mildest of spoilers on the latest Ted Lasso episode, so be mildly warned.

Side note: Interesting to me that the twitter account is @AppleTV and not @AppleTVPlus. Both of these are real Twitter accounts, but the former has a much bigger following. Simpler, for sure, and everyone knows the intent. But part of what makes the Apple TV+ branding a bit confusing. No matter, good stuff, worth a look.

That’s a lot of cheddar. Worth it, no doubt.

The handwritten part:

Julian, Your generation is the first to grow up with computers. Go change the world! steven jobs, 1980

Interestingly, it was also signed by Apple’s angel investor and former CEO, Mike Markkula.

Who was Julian?

“Julian” was a teenager at the time, son of entrepreneur Mike Brewer who had negotiated exclusive distribution rights for Apple products in the UK and later became the first Managing Director of Apple Computer (UK) Ltd. Julian recalls, “I was sitting in my bedroom writing games on my Apple II when Dad called me down to meet some guests. To my amazement it was Steve Jobs and Mike Markkula. I had the manual with me and only later understood how rare it was for Jobs to sign anything, let alone to write an inscription like this. He got on well with Dad, so I feel the inscription was made with care.”

The winning bidder was Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay, who also bought David Gilmour’s black Strat back in January 2019.

Follow the headline link for a zoomable image and more background on this historic document.

Follow the headline link, scroll to explore various services. There’s the Apple Services ToS, down at the bottom.

Note the various grades. Only two “A” grades, one of them for Duck, Duck, Go.

If you’re on a desktop machine, hover over any of the terms for a tool-tip with more detail. Tap or click around to explore. An interesting project, started in 2012.

Related note: Here’s a link to Apple’s official Privacy Policy, last updated June 1st, 2021.

Back in July, I posted about a machine made by ASML, The most important machine in Apple’s universe.

From that post:

The complex machine is widely acknowledged as necessary for making the most advanced chips, an ability with geopolitical implications. The Trump administration successfully lobbied the Dutch government to block shipments of such a machine to China in 2019, and the Biden administration has shown no signs of reversing that stance.

ASML makes the chip lithography machine that TSMC uses to produce Apple Silicon.

The tweet embedded below starts a thread filled with data, images, and video on ASML and that oh, so vital machine. A fascinating read.

1/ What *exactly* does ASML sell?

Its key product is an extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) machine, which uses advanced light technology to "print" tiny circuits onto Silicon wafers.

Only ~50 are made a year and ASML has a near monopoly on the machine technology. pic.twitter.com/M6xL6QiDzX

— Trung Phan 🇨🇦 (@TrungTPhan) August 22, 2021

Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai, Motherboard:

For more than a year, an active member of a community that traded in illicitly obtained internal Apple documents and devices was also acting as an informant for the company.

Wow!

On Twitter and in Discord channels for the loosely defined Apple “internal” community that trades leaked information and stolen prototypes, he advertised leaked apps, manuals, and stolen devices for sale. But unbeknownst to other members in the community, he shared with Apple personal information of people who sold stolen iPhone prototypes from China, Apple employees who leaked information online, journalists who had relationships with leakers and sellers, and anything that he thought the company would find interesting and worth investigating.

This is a riveting read, a look inside Apple’s efforts at preventing leaks, figuring out who is doing what leaking, and how they are getting their information. A riveting read.

There’s a movie in this!

Apple:

Seventeen-year-old Ruby (Emilia Jones) is the sole hearing member of a deaf family – a CODA, child of deaf adults. Her life revolves around acting as interpreter for her parents (Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur) and working on the family’s struggling fishing boat every day before school with her father and older brother (Daniel Durant). But when Ruby joins her high school’s choir club, she discovers a gift for singing and soon finds herself drawn to her duet partner Miles (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo). Encouraged by her enthusiastic, tough-love choirmaster (Eugenio Derbez) to apply to a prestigious music school, Ruby finds herself torn between the obligations she feels to her family and the pursuit of her own dreams.

The writeup above does a solid job setting up the plot for this new Apple TV+ movie. But the devil is in the details, and those details delivered. If emotional family drama is your bag, take a look at both videos embedded below. Or just head over to Apple TV and start watching.

The writing was tight, the performances, well, extraordinary. Top notch cast, led by Best Actor Oscar winner Marlee Matlin. For me, right up there with Ted Lasso for escapist, feel-good viewing.

CNBC:

Macy’s is joining forces with the owner of Toys R Us to bring an assortment of toys, games and other gadgets for kids to more than 400 of the department store chain’s locations and online.

The Toys R Us shop-in-shops in Macy’s will roll out next year, the companies announced Thursday.

Are you a Toys “R” Us kid? Did you ever go to Toys “R” Us to buy Lego sets, video games, or a new bike?

Glad to see this brand survive, even if only for nostalgia’s sake. Strikes me as good for Macy’s, a way to keep their stores relevant, or at least make better use of their space, adding a draw for parents and kids.

Chance Miller, 9to5Mac:

Netflix has confirmed that it is now rolling out Spatial Audio support to its iPhone and iPad applications. This enables an immersive experience using directional audio filters, and it has been a long time coming to Netflix users.

If you’ve not played with Spatial Audio, you’ll need AirPods Pro or AirPods Max. If you’ve got one or the other, connect them, then head to Settings > Bluetooth and tap the info button (the “i” in a circle) and scroll down.

In iOS 14, there’s a toggle to turn Spatial Audio on, with a link to try it out. In iOS 15, it’s slightly different, just a button to take you to the experience.

As far as the Netflix interface goes, it seems like it is still rolling out. Not clear to me how you can tell what shows support it or how you can tell if it is currently enabled, other than the obvious change in your ears.

This is a cool addition. I’m definitely looking forward to having this experience throughout the ecosystem, on my iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV. Wondering when other apps will join the party.