04-21-24 -

Making a Mountain Out of Molehill-Sized M4 News
Here’s how I see the current state of Apple’s Macintosh hardware lineup, three-and-a-half years into the Apple silicon era and midway through the M3 generation. Apple is a company that in many ways is built around an annual schedule. WWDC come...

04-19-24 -

Face the Critic: Ian Betteridge Edition
Ian Betteridge, quoting yours truly on non-consensual tracking back in 2020 and then my piece yesterday on the EDPB issuing an opinion against Meta’s “Pay or OK” model in the EU: I wonder what happened to turn John’s attitude from “n...

04-17-24 -

European Data Protection Board Goes There, Rules Against Metas Pay or OK Model
Eric Seufert, on Threads: The EDPB — the EU’s legislature of privacy authorities — adopted a draft opinion today determining that large online platforms can’t offer a “pay or okay” model as a strict binary and must also ...

04-09-24 -

From the Department of Spending Tim Cooks Money: Online Photo Storage Is Sure...
Some follow-up comparison points regarding my gripe today about Apple’s new commercial telling iPhone uses they needn’t worry about photo storage: The free tier for Google Accounts offers 15 GB of storage. That’s still not much, and only a...

04-08-24 -

[Sponsor] Pok Pok
Pok Pok is a delightful Apple Design Award and App Store Award winning collection of digital toys for kids aged 2–7. Designed by parents and educators unhappy with the apps they found, it has no ads, no overstimulating sounds, and no addictive g...

03-29-24 -

More on the EUs Market Might
A couple of follow-up items regarding my column the other day, in which I idly speculated about whether the DMA might lead Apple (and/or perhaps Meta and Google) to pull back from the EU market. First, a correction/clarification. Based on Six Col...

03-26-24 -

The EUs Share of Apples Global Revenue
A few readers have asked about my speculation that Apple, along with the other DMA-designated gatekeepers (none of which are European companies of course), might reasonably pull out of the relatively small EU market rather than risk facing disprop...

03-25-24 -

[Sponsor] Kolide: Looking Past the Smoke and Mirrors of the MGM Hack
When MGM Resorts suffered a $100 million hack in September, CEO Bill Hornbuckle wasn’t too worried about the lost revenue, because cyber insurance would cover the tab. “I can only imagine what next year’s bill will be,” he joked. Weeks la...

03-25-24 -

European Commission Opens DMA Non-Compliance Investigations Against Google, A...
European Commission press release today: Today, the Commission has opened non-compliance investigations under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) into Alphabet’s rules on steering in Google Play and self-preferencing on Google Search, Apple’s...

03-18-24 -

My 2023 Apple Report Card
Last month Jason Snell published his annual Six Colors Apple Report Card for 2023. As I’ve done in the last — 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018 — I’m publishing my full remarks and grades here. I’m late publishing this year because I fo...

03-15-24 -

Quickly Toggling Closed Captions on Apple TV (But Not in Netflix)
I know it’s a trend for people to just leave closed captions enabled whenever they’re watching TV, even for shows and movies in which they can easily understand the dialog. I can’t do that though, because I find captions highly distracting i...

03-13-24 -

Apple Adjusts DMA Plan to Offer Direct Downloading of Apps From the Web (With...
Apple Developer News, yesterday: Developers who’ve agreed to the Alternative Terms Addendum for Apps in the EU have new options for their apps in the EU: Alternative app marketplaces. Marketplaces can choose to offer a catalog of apps s...

03-12-24 -

[Sponsor] CloudSLAW
After years of reading DF I’m finally a sponsor! But for a personal passion project, not a product. I want to make cloud security knowledge accessible to anyone, with or without security or cloud experience, for free. Cloud Security Lab a Week...

03-11-24 -

Once More Unto the Apple/Epic/European-Commission Breach, Dear Friends, Once ...
Three weeks ago, when Epic Games announced their approval from Apple for a new Apple developer account, under Epic’s Swedish subsidiary, and their intention to use that account to create an Epic Games Store app marketplace in the EU, the assumpt...

03-09-24 -

Sponsorship Openings at Daring Fireball and The Talk Show, Early 2024 Edition
After being sold out for months, the upcoming sponsorship schedule at DF is unusually open at the moment — including this upcoming week. Weekly sponsorships have been the top source of revenue for Daring Fireball ever since I started sellin...

03-08-24 -

Apple Reinstates Epics EU Developer Account
Epic Games: Apple has told us and committed to the European Commission that they will reinstate our developer account. This sends a strong signal to developers that the European Commission will act swiftly to enforce the Digital Markets Act...

03-06-24 -

Apple Terminated Epics EU Developer Account
Welp, so much for my theory that Apple was making nice with Epic Games — letting bygones be bygones and allowing Epic to open an iOS games marketplace in the EU. Epic, on their company blog: We recently announced that Apple approved our ...

02-28-24 -

Poll Results on Apples FineWoven iPhone Cases
Prompted by a post from Joanna Stern complaining about the durability of Apple’s FineWoven iPhone cases — the new material replacing their previous leather cases — I ran a poll over the weekend on Mastodon, Threads, and Twitter/X, wi...

02-21-24 -

Apple Sports
Apple Newsroom: “We created Apple Sports to give sports fans what they want — an app that delivers incredibly fast access to scores and stats,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Services. “Apple Sports is availab...

02-21-24 -

[Sponsor] Sonar Mac App for GitHub/GitLab Issues
Sonar is a new Mac app for GitHub and GitLab issues. We combined the lightweight UI of a to-do app with the power of enterprise-level issue tracking, all in a native app built by long-time Mac geeks. Sonar saves all your changes directly to GitHu...

02-16-24 -

The European Commission Had Nothing to Do With Apples Reversal on Supporting RCS
The European Commission, earlier this week: Yesterday, the Commission has adopted decisions closing four market investigations that were launched on 5 September 2023 under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), finding that Apple and Microsoft shou...

02-15-24 -

Phil Spencer Puts Apples Money Where His Mouth Is
The Verge’s Tom Warren landed an interview with Phil Spencer, Microsoft’s Xbox CEO, regarding their (sort of) announcement that four previously-exclusive Xbox games are going cross-platform to PlayStation and Switch: Launching a few Xbox e...

02-13-24 -

[Sponsor] Nylas for Email and Calendar APIs
Nylas just launched API v3 last week. They rebuilt an already-great API platform with the developer experience and productivity in mind — redefining what a modern API should look like. One API for email, calendar, and contacts has never look...

02-07-24 -

[Sponsor] Infos
Infos remembers everything, so you don’t have to. From your partner’s social security number to the seasonal settings for your heating, Infos stores all the little pieces of information you have been struggling to organize. Infos’ super sim...

02-02-24 -

Simple Tricks and Nonsense
Upon launching Apple’s Encounter Dinosaurs app for Vision Pro — an immersive 3D experience — you see a butterfly a few feet in front of you. As it flutters about the space in front of you, if you reach out your hand, the butterfly wi...

01-30-24 -

The Vision Pro
For the last six days, I’ve been simultaneously testing three entirely new products from Apple. The first is a VR/AR headset with eye-tracking controls. The second is a revolutionary spatial computing productivity platform. The third is a breakt...

01-29-24 -

[Sponsor] WorkOS
WorkOS is a modern identity and user management platform that enables B2B SaaS companies to accelerate enterprise adoption. Free up to 1 million MAUs, WorkOS brings a modular approach to B2B Auth with enterprise-ready features like SSO, SCIM, and ...

01-26-24 -

Apples Plans for the DMA in the European Union
Apple yesterday announced a broad, wide-ranging, and complex set of new policies establishing their intended compliance with the European Union’s Digital Markets Act, which comes into effect March 7. There is a lot to remark upon and numerous re...

01-22-24 -

[Sponsor] Day One Journal App
Day One has launched its new Shared Journals feature, providing a collaborative space for reflection and connection. Start today and enjoy a special offer exclusive to DF readers.  ★ 

01-18-24 -

Like the Sixth Finger in an AI-Rendered Hand
Brent Simmons, “Corporations Are Not to Be Loved”: Apple doesn’t care about you personally in the least tiny bit, and if you were in their way somehow, they would do whatever their might — effectively infinite compared to your ow...

01-17-24 -

Coming to Grips With Apples Seemingly Unshakable Sense of Entitlement to Its ...
Tim Sweeney, yesterday at 10:30am: As of today, developers can begin exercising their court-established right to tell US customers about better prices on the web. These awful Apple-mandated confusion screens are over and done forever. Th...

01-15-24 -

[Sponsor] HEY Calendar
A few years ago, HEY shook the email world with a fresh take on a category that was left for dead. And now we’ve done the same with calendaring. The all-new HEY Calendar brings flexibility, personality, and a radical new point of view to the b...

01-13-24 -

Margrethe Vestager Met With Tim Cook Yesterday, But I Doubt Anything Happened
European Commission chief Margrethe Vestager is on the West Coast meeting with U.S. tech executives. Here’s her entire statement on meeting Tim Cook at Apple Park, posted on Twitter/X (I’m surprised she posts on a U.S.-based platform, rather t...

01-12-24 -

Al Gore, Mac Nerd and Internet Pioneer
Apple press release, on 19 March 2003 (about seven months after I started writing Daring Fireball1): Apple today announced that Albert Gore Jr., the former Vice President of the United States, has joined the Company’s Board of Directors. M...

01-11-24 -

[Sponsor] Its Meh
You don’t want the daily deal at meh.com today. At least, you probably don’t, statistically speaking. But you should go look. Because if you do want it, you really want it, at least for this price. And the cost of checking is, what, 15 second...

01-08-24 -

Heyja Vu: App Store Rejects 37signalss New Hey Calendar App
David Heinemeier Hansson: Apple waited until end of business on Friday to send us the formal rejection of the HEY Calendar app. It seems they love to play these little games to try to drown any controversy with the cover of a weekend. But w...

12-28-23 -

Beep Beep
There’s a lot to catch up on since last I wrote about Beeper. Long story short, they’ve been playing — and no surprise, losing — the cat-and-mouse game with Apple. What I had been seeing during the week before Christmas is that Bee...

12-26-23 -

[Sponsor] Fantastical
The best calendar (and tasks!) app for your Mac, iPad, iPhone, and Apple Watch. Get Fantastical now for 20% off for up to 24 months and love your calendar again! Offer valid through January 10, 2024.  ★ 

12-26-23 -

[Sponsor] Fantastical
The best calendar (and tasks!) app for your Mac, iPad, iPhone, and Apple Watch. Get Fantastical now for 20% off for up to 24 months and love your calendar again! Offer valid through January 10, 2024.  ★ 

12-18-23 -

[Sponsor] Obsidian
Obsidian is a flexible writing and note-taking app that adapts to the way you think. Download Obsidian. Obsidian helps you create connections between your notes so you can organize your thoughts. Link anything and everything — ideas, people...

12-14-23 -

App Store Rankings as a Proxy for Social Network Momentum
On the occasion of Threads opening up to users in the EU, here’s Apple’s year-end list of the App Store’s “2023 Top Free Apps”, in order (alas, it doesn’t seem like I can link to this list — it exists only within the App Store ap...

12-12-23 -

iOS 17.3, Now in Beta, Includes New Stolen Device Protection Feature
Joanna Stern and Nicole Nguyen, reporting for The Wall Street Journal (News+ link): If you enable the new Stolen Device Protection, your iPhone will restrict certain settings when you are away from a location familiar to the iPhone, such as ...

12-11-23 -

Beeper Mini Is Back, But Without Phone Number Registration
As hinted by their team over the weekend, Beeper is going to play the cat-and-mouse game with Apple. From cofounders Eric Migicovsky and Brad Murray on the Beeper blog: Phone number registration is not working yet. All users must now sign in ...

12-10-23 -

Beeper? I Hardly Knew Her.
Beeper is a company founded by Eric Migicovsky, who is best known as the founder of the now-defunct Pebble, which made groundbreaking smartwatches a decade ago. Migicovsky founded Beeper to create a meta-platform for disparate messaging apps —...

12-05-23 -

[Sponsor] Obsidian
Obsidian is a flexible writing and note-taking app that adapts to the way you think. Download Obsidian. Obsidian helps you create connections between your notes so you can organize your thoughts. Link anything and everything — ideas, people...

11-18-23 -

More on Sam Altmans Ouster From OpenAI
Kevin Roose, reporting for The New York Times: An all-hands meeting for OpenAI employees on Friday afternoon didn’t reveal much more. Ilya Sutskever, the company’s chief scientist and a member of its board, defended the ouster, accordin...

11-18-23 -

Qualcomms Awkward Boasting Regarding Its Forthcoming X Elite Platform
Monica Chin, reporting for The Verge last month, “Qualcomm Claims Its Snapdragon X Elite Processor Will Beat Apple, Intel, and AMD”: Qualcomm has announced its new Snapdragon X Elite platform, which looks to be its most powerful computing...

11-15-23 -

[Sponsor] Vanta
Shortcut compliance — without shortchanging security. Vanta brings GRC and security efforts together. Integrate information from multiple systems and reduce risks to your business, all without the need for additional staffing. And because ...

11-10-23 -

Vision Pro, Spatial Video, and Panoramic Photos
Yesterday Apple released developer beta 2 of iOS 17.2, the first version of iOS to include support for capturing spatial video with iPhone 15 Pro models. Today came the public beta, enabling the same feature. Apple invited me to New York yesterday...

11-06-23 -

The 2023 M3 MacBook Pros
I’m glad that two weeks ago I griped about the complexity of the current iPad lineup. Three Pencils that are compatible with a complicated matrix of iPad models. iPad Pro models with the front-facing camera on the short side, but a 10th-generati...