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I found a new fediverse analogy I love
David Imel explaining the fediverse on the latest Waveform video:
Just like the United States is a federation, right? Like this group of states with independent laws, but also this higher order of laws under the Constitution that could freely move and trade with each other. A federated social network is kind of the same
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Straight to jail
Oliver Darcy on his new, excellent Status newsletter: Zucker-Bucks Under Pressure
Notably, Zuckerberg's GOP-friendly behavior comes
You might be wrong
There’s a common refrain in online discussions about software that “most people don’t use or need that, it’s just a niche that doesn’t matter.” As someone who works in user experience every day, I’m constantly surprised by the divergence between how I assume users use my software versus how they
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How dare you want more
Allison Johnson writing for The Verge: European iPhones are more fun now
Whining about stuff is a treasured American pastime, so allow me to indulge: the iPhone is more fun in Europe now, and it’s not fair.
And Federico Viticci linking to the above piece: The DMA Version of iOS Is More Fun Than
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“What is a photograph?” is just getting more complicated
Allison Johnson for The Verge: Google’s AI tool helped us add disasters and corpses to our photos
In our week of testing, we added car wrecks, smoking bombs in public places, sheets that appear to cover bloody corpses, and drug paraphernalia to images. That seems bad. As a reminder, this isn’t some piece
Netflix is more serious about games than you might expect
Yesterday, Netflix announced that Monument Valley 3, the next game in a what has been an iconic game series on iOS. The game is coming December 10 and will be exclusive to Netflix subscribers and available on iOS and Android. Monument Valley 1 and 2 will also be coming to Netflix Games in September and
Members
Cartoons are so back (members post)
I’m watching more cartoons this year than maybe ever before. Today we explore some of the reasons I think that might be.
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The “hot” feature people want in the new iPhones
Steven Knight from SellCell: iPhone 16 Pre-Launch Survey: 62% of iPhone Users to Upgrade to iPhone 16
The second rumored feature the 2000 iPhone users want to see with the 16-series is the thermal control to avoid overheating, with 26.8% of those surveyed stating that this will positively affect their purchase intent.
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Everywhere you want to be
Myke Hurley talking about Apple opening the NFC chip to other payment apps on the iPhone during today’s episode
Members
My movies tier list for 2024 (members post)
Today I'm attempting the impossible: 71 movie tiers handed out in half an hour. Can it be done?! Well, I did it already, so yes, but it was a lot of fun along the way.
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Shareshot is my new favorite way to share screenshots
Marc Palmer: Launch Day! Shareshot 1.0 Is Live in the App Store 🎉
Today we launched Shareshot! We’ve been
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What is X in 2024?
Casey Newton on Platformer: X Is Just a Political Project Now
The Trump years were characterized by constant (and almost totally baseless) criticism on the part of Republicans that platforms had abandoned their political neutrality to promote Democrats. During those years, had Mark Zuckerberg hosted a friendly interview with Joe Biden on Facebook Live, Congress
Apple
Is this the slow decline of the Apple “cult”?
My “quirk” on this blog years ago was the fact that I, an Apple fan, would try using Android and Windows devices for extended periods and share my thoughts on those products. Whenever I tried to go all-in on one of these other companies’ products, I’d look around for indie bloggers and enthusiast
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Apple opens up NFC to payment apps world wide, not just in the EU
Apple today: Developers can soon offer in‑app NFC transactions using the Secure Element
Starting with iOS 18.1, developers will be able to offer NFC contactless transactions using the Secure Element from within their own apps on iPhone, separate from Apple Pay and Apple Wallet.
So just like they were going to be forced
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Some high-profile app updates are getting roasted. Here's what I think happened (members post)
A few high-profile app updates have recently gone down like a lead balloon. I have a lot of sympathy for the developers involved, and today I wanted to explain what I think happened with Overcast specifically.
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It’s bad for consumers and it’s bad for Patreon, but what are you going to do, not ship on iOS?
John Gruber: Nick Heer on Patreon Creators Paying the Full 30 Percent App Store Rate for New Subscriptions
The whole notion of a platform like Patreon just doesn’t fit with the App Store’s model of taking a fee out of every single transaction for digital goods or services. It could, perhaps, if Apple
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Power tools and RSI
John Gruber: The Mac Is a Power Tool
Safety by default, but don’t get in the way of power users doing their jobs. And when the user needs an override for the safety features, there is an override, and the situation will make clear to the user that needing to use the override is
