Links
I’ve heard this story before
Andy Bell: Just Use Fucking Paper, Man
I’ve given up this week and gone back to paper and a pencil and I feel unbelievably organised and flexible, day-to-day. It’s because it’s simple. There’s nothing fancy. No fancy pen or anything like that either. Just a notebook and a pencil.
Links
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
Links
Straight to jail
Oliver Darcy on his new, excellent Status newsletter: Zucker-Bucks Under Pressure
Notably, Zuckerberg's GOP-friendly behavior comes
Links
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
Links
“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
Links
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.
Links
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
Links
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
Links
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
Links
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
Links
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
Links
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
Links
Apple gets its pound of flesh from struggling creators
From the Patron blog today:
As we first announced last year, Apple is requiring that Patreon use their in-app purchasing system and remove all other billing systems from the Patreon iOS app by November 2024.
This has two major consequences for creators:
1. Apple will be applying their 30% App Store fee to all
Links
Choose your fighte…billionaire!
M.G. Siegler: A Time to Kill... Xitter
This has all been instituted under the guise of free speech, but that is, of course, bullshit. If Xitter wants to be the haven of truly free speech, it should be a completely open source and un-monetized network that no single company controls. When you have
Links
The opposite of claim chowder
Ezra Klein back in February 2024: Democrats Have a Better Option Than Biden
Everybody I have talked about this, literally everybody, has brought up the same fear. Call it the Kamala Harris problem. In theory, she should be the favorite. But she polls slightly worse than Biden. Democrats don’t trust that she would be
Links
You thought that was good news? Sucker!
M.G. Siegler on his relatively new Spyglass blog (running on Ghost, which always makes me happy): Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Fees for EU Developers
Basically it feels like Apple is making the changes that the EU clearly is angling for, but doing so in the most pedantic way possible, all but ensuring that the
Links
Telling users how to save money will soon be allowed on iOS 🥴
Apple: Updates to the StoreKit External Purchase Link Entitlement
Developers can communicate and promote offers for purchases available at a destination of their choice. The destination can be an alternative app marketplace, another app, or a website, and it can be accessed outside the app or via a web view that appears in the app.
Links
Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure?
Jason Snell on Six Colors: Apple’s permissions features are out of balance
But what Apple’s testing in the latest macOS Sequoia betas is brutal because there’s no end to it. It’s a subscription you didn’t buy and can’t cancel. Yesterday, I was prompted to give temporary permission by an
