daring-rss

One segment that caught my attention:

Apps removed from the App Store subject to government takedown
demands: 1,462

By country or region:

China mainland: 1,285
South Korea: 103
India: 30
Russia 12
Indonesia: 8
Lithuania: 5
Ukraine: 5
Malaysia: 2
Mexico: 2
Philippines: 2
Thailand: 2
Türkiye: 2
Hungary: 1
Libya: 1
Pakistan: 1
Vietnam: 1

There are footnotes on the China and South Korea numbers. For China it says “There were 1,067 game apps removed for lack of a legally required GRN license.” That’s a 2020 law that requires a government license for any paid game. For South Korea, which one doesn’t think of as a repressive country, it says “There were 102 game apps removed for their inappropriate age rating”, which accounts for all but one of them.

A few other items:

Average weekly app downloads: 787,999,950
Average weekly app redownloads: 1,656,894,821

I long suspected users engage in frequent churn with certain apps installed on their phones, but this seemingly puts a number to it: redownloading previously installed apps is more than twice as popular as downloading new apps. But 788 million weekly app downloads is a big number.

Average weekly automatic app updates: 52,623,848,130
Average weekly manual app updates: 562,782,228

No surprise that automatic app updates dwarf manual updates, given that automatic updates have been the default setting for many years. These numbers indicate there are almost 100× more automatic updates than manual ones. (I update manually, typically each day, because I enjoy perusing the release notes, just in case there’s anything interesting in them. I’m glad Apple still offers manual updates as a setting.)

 ★ 

One segment that caught my attention:

Apps removed from the App Store subject to government takedown
demands: 1,462

By country or region:

China mainland: 1,285
South Korea: 103
India: 30
Russia 12
Indonesia: 8
Lithuania: 5
Ukraine: 5
Malaysia: 2
Mexico: 2
Philippines: 2
Thailand: 2
Türkiye: 2
Hungary: 1
Libya: 1
Pakistan: 1
Vietnam: 1

There are footnotes on the China and South Korea numbers. For China it says “There were 1,067 game apps removed for lack of a legally required GRN license.” That’s a 2020 law that requires a government license for any paid game. For South Korea, which one doesn’t think of as a repressive country, it says “There were 102 game apps removed for their inappropriate age rating”, which accounts for all but one of them.

A few other items:

Average weekly app downloads: 787,999,950
Average weekly app redownloads: 1,656,894,821

I long suspected users engage in frequent churn with certain apps installed on their phones, but this seemingly puts a number to it: redownloading previously installed apps is more than twice as popular as downloading new apps. But 788 million weekly app downloads is a big number.

Average weekly automatic app updates: 52,623,848,130
Average weekly manual app updates: 562,782,228

No surprise that automatic app updates dwarf manual updates, given that automatic updates have been the default setting for many years. These numbers indicate there are almost 100× more automatic updates than manual ones. (I update manually, typically each day, because I enjoy perusing the release notes, just in case there’s anything interesting in them. I’m glad Apple still offers manual updates as a setting.)

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Wayne Ma and Qianer Liu, reporting for The Information (paywalled — MacRumors has a summary):

Apple is developing a significantly thinner version of the iPhone
that could be released as early as 2025, according to three people
with direct knowledge of the project. The slimmer iPhone could be
released concurrently with the iPhone 17, expected in September
2025, according to the three people with direct knowledge and two
others familiar with the project. It could be priced higher than
the iPhone Pro Max, currently Apple’s most expensive model
starting at $1,200, they said.

The people familiar with the project described the new iPhone,
internally code-named D23, as a major redesign — similar to
the iPhone X, which Apple marketed as a technological leap from
previous generations and which started at $1,000 when it was
released in 2017. Several of its novel features, such as
FaceID, the OLED screen and glass back, became standard in
subsequent models.

The iPhone X was a true ground-up redesign of the iPhone. No more Home button (replaced by a gestural interface), Face ID, all-screen design with round corners, and more. It effectively created a fork in the platform.

Left unsaid by The Information is how Apple plans to market this new iPhone. I suspect they’re either describing what Apple plans to call the iPhone 17 Pro, or that it’ll have a new name but replace the iPhone Pro in the lineup. That is to say, I do not think Apple plans to make regular iPhone 17’s, 17 Pros, and this new redesigned and more expensive thinner iPhone.

The screen will measure somewhere between the 6.12-inch diagonal
display of the standard iPhone and the 6.69-inch display of the
iPhone Pro Max, the person added. The rear cameras could be
relocated from the upper-left corner of the phone’s back to the
top center as part of the redesign, another person with direct
knowledge said. […] Ross Young, CEO at Display Supply Chain
Consultants, later said on X that this model would have a
6.55-inch display, which would make it slightly smaller than the
iPhone Pro Max.

The Information isn’t coming out and saying there will only be one size, but it sure sounds like that’s the rumor — and that one size is the current Max size. It’s also worth remembering that there was only one size of the iPhone X (5.8 inches) but its 2018 follow-up, the iPhone XS, added the Max size (6.5 inches). Perhaps Apple plans to ship a 5.8-inch-ish smaller iPhone 18 Pro? Or, perhaps, 6.5 inches is the new regular size and an even larger-display iPhone Pro will come in the iPhone 18 generation?

Speaking of larger-sized iPhones, though, The Information says the Plus models are going away:

In recent years, Apple has released four iPhone models. It plans
to drop the iPhone Plus, one of its less-expensive models, which
has a large screen but lacks the latest-generation processors and
cameras, in 2025, three people said. The Plus, which debuted with
the iPhone 14 and will still be part of the iPhone 16 lineup this
year, has sold below expectations, they said.

 ★ 

Wayne Ma and Qianer Liu, reporting for The Information (paywalled — MacRumors has a summary):

Apple is developing a significantly thinner version of the iPhone
that could be released as early as 2025, according to three people
with direct knowledge of the project. The slimmer iPhone could be
released concurrently with the iPhone 17, expected in September
2025, according to the three people with direct knowledge and two
others familiar with the project. It could be priced higher than
the iPhone Pro Max, currently Apple’s most expensive model
starting at $1,200, they said.

The people familiar with the project described the new iPhone,
internally code-named D23, as a major redesign — similar to
the iPhone X, which Apple marketed as a technological leap from
previous generations and which started at $1,000 when it was
released in 2017. Several of its novel features, such as
FaceID, the OLED screen and glass back, became standard in
subsequent models.

The iPhone X was a true ground-up redesign of the iPhone. No more Home button (replaced by a gestural interface), Face ID, all-screen design with round corners, and more. It effectively created a fork in the platform.

Left unsaid by The Information is how Apple plans to market this new iPhone. I suspect they’re either describing what Apple plans to call the iPhone 17 Pro, or that it’ll have a new name but replace the iPhone Pro in the lineup. That is to say, I do not think Apple plans to make regular iPhone 17’s, 17 Pros, and this new redesigned and more expensive thinner iPhone.

The screen will measure somewhere between the 6.12-inch diagonal
display of the standard iPhone and the 6.69-inch display of the
iPhone Pro Max, the person added. The rear cameras could be
relocated from the upper-left corner of the phone’s back to the
top center as part of the redesign, another person with direct
knowledge said. […] Ross Young, CEO at Display Supply Chain
Consultants, later said on X that this model would have a
6.55-inch display, which would make it slightly smaller than the
iPhone Pro Max.

The Information isn’t coming out and saying there will only be one size, but it sure sounds like that’s the rumor — and that one size is the current Max size. It’s also worth remembering that there was only one size of the iPhone X (5.8 inches) but its 2018 follow-up, the iPhone XS, added the Max size (6.5 inches). Perhaps Apple plans to ship a 5.8-inch-ish smaller iPhone 18 Pro? Or, perhaps, 6.5 inches is the new regular size and an even larger-display iPhone Pro will come in the iPhone 18 generation?

Speaking of larger-sized iPhones, though, The Information says the Plus models are going away:

In recent years, Apple has released four iPhone models. It plans
to drop the iPhone Plus, one of its less-expensive models, which
has a large screen but lacks the latest-generation processors and
cameras, in 2025, three people said. The Plus, which debuted with
the iPhone 14 and will still be part of the iPhone 16 lineup this
year, has sold below expectations, they said.

Read More 

My suspicions were immediately raised by the photograph. That’s just not what ID card photographs looked like in the ’70s or even ’80s. But when #8 calls it fake, you know it’s fake. Go home, Bugs Meany.

 ★ 

My suspicions were immediately raised by the photograph. That’s just not what ID card photographs looked like in the ’70s or even ’80s. But when #8 calls it fake, you know it’s fake. Go home, Bugs Meany.

Read More 

Only took 300 days. (And, as I noted in a footnote a few months ago, with this change I’ll just call it X, not “Twitter/X”.)

 ★ 

Only took 300 days. (And, as I noted in a footnote a few months ago, with this change I’ll just call it X, not “Twitter/X”.)

Read More 

This is one of those stories with no bad guy. Delta’s icon/logo was clearly supposed to represent an uppercase Greek delta (Δ). Adobe’s logo is even more clearly an uppercase A. But Delta’s Δ really does look too much like Adobe’s A. If I were an Adobe lawyer I’d have sent the same letter. (Note that Adobe’s lawyers made no threats and were nice about it.)

What’s funny though is that, taking colors into consideration, Delta’s icon looks more like an upside-down Verge favicon.

 ★ 

This is one of those stories with no bad guy. Delta’s icon/logo was clearly supposed to represent an uppercase Greek delta (Δ). Adobe’s logo is even more clearly an uppercase A. But Delta’s Δ really does look too much like Adobe’s A. If I were an Adobe lawyer I’d have sent the same letter. (Note that Adobe’s lawyers made no threats and were nice about it.)

What’s funny though is that, taking colors into consideration, Delta’s icon looks more like an upside-down Verge favicon.

Read More 

Jodi Kantor, reporting for The New York Times:

After the 2020 presidential election, as some Trump supporters
falsely claimed that President Biden had stolen the office, many
of them displayed a startling symbol outside their homes, on their
cars and in online posts: an upside-down American flag.

One of the homes flying an inverted flag during that time was the
residence of Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., in
Alexandria, Va., according to photographs and interviews with
neighbors.

How in the world did this not come to light before now?

“I had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag,”
Justice Alito said in an emailed statement to The Times. “It was
briefly placed by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbor’s use of
objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs.”

Profile in courage.

 ★ 

Jodi Kantor, reporting for The New York Times:

After the 2020 presidential election, as some Trump supporters
falsely claimed that President Biden had stolen the office, many
of them displayed a startling symbol outside their homes, on their
cars and in online posts: an upside-down American flag.

One of the homes flying an inverted flag during that time was the
residence of Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., in
Alexandria, Va., according to photographs and interviews with
neighbors.

How in the world did this not come to light before now?

“I had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag,”
Justice Alito said in an emailed statement to The Times. “It was
briefly placed by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbor’s use of
objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs.”

Profile in courage.

Read More 

Henry Goldblatt, writing for Tudum, Netflix’s splendidly named in-house blog:

Netflix has an early Christmas gift for you — but it won’t fit
under the tree. On Dec. 25, 2024, we’ll be the global home of the
NFL’s two Christmas Day marquee games: the Super Bowl
LVII-winning Chiefs vs Steelers and Ravens vs. Texans. And mark
your calendar for Christmas Day in 2025 and 2026 when we’ll be
streaming at least one holiday game each year as part of this
three-season deal.

My two questions:

First, who’s going to announce the games?

Second, how strong a bid did Apple make to get these games?

 ★ 

Henry Goldblatt, writing for Tudum, Netflix’s splendidly named in-house blog:

Netflix has an early Christmas gift for you — but it won’t fit
under the tree. On Dec. 25, 2024, we’ll be the global home of the
NFL’s two Christmas Day marquee games: the Super Bowl
LVII-winning Chiefs vs Steelers and Ravens vs. Texans. And mark
your calendar for Christmas Day in 2025 and 2026 when we’ll be
streaming at least one holiday game each year as part of this
three-season deal.

My two questions:

First, who’s going to announce the games?

Second, how strong a bid did Apple make to get these games?

Read More 

Speaking of Apple’s “Crush” ad, Samsung has posted a “response”, depicting a woman guitarist sitting atop a paint-splash-strewn platform standing in for a hydraulic press, with the slogan “We would never crush creativity. #UnCrush”

Rather than sit back and enjoy Apple own-goaling itself last week, they couldn’t resist gracelessly piling on, accomplishing nothing but to remind everyone that they’re Pepsi to Apple’s Coke — content to sit in second place forever, copying not just Apple’s hardware and software designs, but even parodying Apple’s ads. Sad.

 ★ 

Speaking of Apple’s “Crush” ad, Samsung has posted a “response”, depicting a woman guitarist sitting atop a paint-splash-strewn platform standing in for a hydraulic press, with the slogan “We would never crush creativity. #UnCrush”

Rather than sit back and enjoy Apple own-goaling itself last week, they couldn’t resist gracelessly piling on, accomplishing nothing but to remind everyone that they’re Pepsi to Apple’s Coke — content to sit in second place forever, copying not just Apple’s hardware and software designs, but even parodying Apple’s ads. Sad.

Read More 

Benjamin Mayo, 9to5Mac:

The new iPad Pro is here and the inevitable YouTube stress tests
are already online. JerryRigEverything and AppleTrack
posted their bend test videos, and both seemingly came to
the same conclusion: the new iPad Pro holds up well to extreme
force and seems pretty resistant to bending during normal use.

AppleTrack repeated the same bends with the M2 iPad Pro
and the new M4 iPad Pro to compare, and whereas the M4 iPad Pro
came away almost unscathed, the M2 iPad Pro had a definitive curl
in the corner near the cameras. JerryRigEverything praised the
device for its “black magic levels of structural integrity”, at
least when bent horizontally.

Good to know that they really are bend-resistant. But I can’t help but see some incongruity between the performative outrage over Apple’s “Crush” ad last week and the fact that the top-trending tech videos on YouTube today are of people destroying the very same iPads the “Crush” ad was promoting.

 ★ 

Benjamin Mayo, 9to5Mac:

The new iPad Pro is here and the inevitable YouTube stress tests
are already online. JerryRigEverything and AppleTrack
posted their bend test videos, and both seemingly came to
the same conclusion: the new iPad Pro holds up well to extreme
force and seems pretty resistant to bending during normal use.

AppleTrack repeated the same bends with the M2 iPad Pro
and the new M4 iPad Pro to compare, and whereas the M4 iPad Pro
came away almost unscathed, the M2 iPad Pro had a definitive curl
in the corner near the cameras. JerryRigEverything praised the
device for its “black magic levels of structural integrity”, at
least when bent horizontally.

Good to know that they really are bend-resistant. But I can’t help but see some incongruity between the performative outrage over Apple’s “Crush” ad last week and the fact that the top-trending tech videos on YouTube today are of people destroying the very same iPads the “Crush” ad was promoting.

Read More 

Mike Krieger:

Anthropic’s research continues to be at the forefront of AI. When
paired with thoughtful product development, I tons of potential
to positively impact how people and companies get their work
done. And as a two time entrepreneur, I’m particularly excited by
how Claude, along with the right scaffolding and product
features, can empower more people to innovate at a faster pace
and at a lower cost.

Related: Anthropic shipped a native iOS Claude app two weeks ago.

 ★ 

Mike Krieger:

Anthropic’s research continues to be at the forefront of AI. When
paired with thoughtful product development, I tons of potential
to positively impact how people and companies get their work
done. And as a two time entrepreneur, I’m particularly excited by
how Claude, along with the right scaffolding and product
features, can empower more people to innovate at a faster pace
and at a lower cost.

Related: Anthropic shipped a native iOS Claude app two weeks ago.

Read More