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Photo by Smith Collection / Gado / Getty Images

The wait(list) is over.
Waymo is opening up its robotaxi service to anyone who wants to ride in San Francisco. Previously, customers interested in taking a ride in one of the company’s driverless cars needed to sign up for a waitlist, which could take weeks or months to open up.
Waymo began its commercial test service in the city in August 2021 with a rollout to “trusted testers” — preapproved riders, some of whom were asked to sign nondisclosure agreements. In March 2022, Waymo began offering driverless rides for its staff. Since then its been giving rides to regular people who sign up for its waitlist, which the company says approximately 300,000 people have done since it first launched.
Now, Waymo’s driverless ridehail service will be available to anyone who downloads the app and requests a ride. This is similar to how Waymo operates its robotaxi service in Phoenix, which has been open to the public without a waitlist since 2020. And it comes at a time when Waymo is trying to cement its lead in the robotaxi industry, as some of its competitors are hamstrung by mishaps or a need to keep testing.
Waymo is trying to cement its lead in the robotaxi industry
Waymo has been operating in the Bay Area for years, slowly expanding its service area and introducing more driverless vehicles to its fleet. The fact that it’s now opening up its service to all residents of San Francisco — population 808,437 — is a sign of growing confidence from the Google spinoff.
It also comes amid heightened scrutiny of the driverless car industry after a series of crashes and complaints from city officials about obstructions and delays. Earlier this month, Waymo issued a software and mapping recall for all its vehicles after one of its robotaxis crashed into a telephone pole. Federal safety investigators are also looking into dozens of incidents in which Waymo’s robotaxis were involved in crashes. And some residents are openly hostile to the idea of driverless cars, such as the crowd of revelers that destroyed a riderless Waymo last February.
Opening up the service to more people who want to pay money to ride in its driverless vehicles is a crucial step toward the normalization of autonomous vehicles. And it’s important for Waymo — and its parent company Alphabet — to turn a historically money-losing operation into one that can break even or perhaps even be profitable.
There’s a long way to go before then. In the meantime, Waymo will be dealing with more mundane concerns, such as how to make sure it has enough vehicles available to meet demand and how to position its vehicles to answer ride requests in a timely manner. If Waymo can’t keep pace with human-powered services like Uber and Lyft, it won’t stand much of a chance at success.

Photo by Smith Collection / Gado / Getty Images

The wait(list) is over.

Waymo is opening up its robotaxi service to anyone who wants to ride in San Francisco. Previously, customers interested in taking a ride in one of the company’s driverless cars needed to sign up for a waitlist, which could take weeks or months to open up.

Waymo began its commercial test service in the city in August 2021 with a rollout to “trusted testers” — preapproved riders, some of whom were asked to sign nondisclosure agreements. In March 2022, Waymo began offering driverless rides for its staff. Since then its been giving rides to regular people who sign up for its waitlist, which the company says approximately 300,000 people have done since it first launched.

Now, Waymo’s driverless ridehail service will be available to anyone who downloads the app and requests a ride. This is similar to how Waymo operates its robotaxi service in Phoenix, which has been open to the public without a waitlist since 2020. And it comes at a time when Waymo is trying to cement its lead in the robotaxi industry, as some of its competitors are hamstrung by mishaps or a need to keep testing.

Waymo has been operating in the Bay Area for years, slowly expanding its service area and introducing more driverless vehicles to its fleet. The fact that it’s now opening up its service to all residents of San Francisco — population 808,437 — is a sign of growing confidence from the Google spinoff.

It also comes amid heightened scrutiny of the driverless car industry after a series of crashes and complaints from city officials about obstructions and delays. Earlier this month, Waymo issued a software and mapping recall for all its vehicles after one of its robotaxis crashed into a telephone pole. Federal safety investigators are also looking into dozens of incidents in which Waymo’s robotaxis were involved in crashes. And some residents are openly hostile to the idea of driverless cars, such as the crowd of revelers that destroyed a riderless Waymo last February.

Opening up the service to more people who want to pay money to ride in its driverless vehicles is a crucial step toward the normalization of autonomous vehicles. And it’s important for Waymo — and its parent company Alphabet — to turn a historically money-losing operation into one that can break even or perhaps even be profitable.

There’s a long way to go before then. In the meantime, Waymo will be dealing with more mundane concerns, such as how to make sure it has enough vehicles available to meet demand and how to position its vehicles to answer ride requests in a timely manner. If Waymo can’t keep pace with human-powered services like Uber and Lyft, it won’t stand much of a chance at success.

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More than just a lazy remaster, the new Pill includes unexpected features like lossless audio over USB-C. And like recent Beats products, it equally appeals to the iOS and Android crowds. Beats has been out of the speaker game for a long time. Its last speaker, the Pill Plus, was discontinued in 2022 after being introduced years earlier. Since then, Beats’ parent company, Apple, has focused on home speakers like the HomePod and HomePod Mini, ceding the portable market to brands like Bose, Sony, JBL, Anker, and countless others. But now, after a not-at-all-subtle celebrity teaser campaign, the Beats Pill is making a comeback.
The 2024 revamp, on sale today for $149.99, has a familiar design. But on the inside, everything has changed, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised by just how much the new Pill is capable of. At its core, you’re getting a mono Bluetooth speaker. And while there are always sound quality tradeoffs at this compact size — that’s just physics — it’s the extras and bonus features that really help the refreshed Beats Pill stand out from previous models.

This time around, the Pill supports lossless audio playback over USB-C. You can use that same USB-C port to charge external devices, a convenience also offered by many competitors. There’s a detachable lanyard that makes the Pill easy to carry around, and the device is rated IP67 for dust and water resistance. Battery life has doubled to a maximum of 24 hours, and Beats still includes speakerphone functionality.
Like all of the brand’s recent headphones and earbuds, the Pill is designed to natively support both Android and iOS: on both platforms, you can take advantage of one-tap setup and Find My / Find My Device. There are no hands-free “Hey Siri” voice commands, and don’t expect AirPlay integration, but Beats has checked off practically every other feature that I could ask for. As a result, the Pill feels like its most focused product in a long time.
The Pill comes in three colors — red, black, or gold — with a metal grille and silicone wrapped around the rest of the speaker for added durability. The top controls are nicely laid out, with a power button on the left side, a center button for track controls, and volume to the right. All of the buttons are easy to feel for even when you’re not looking at the Pill, and they have a very satisfying click. Inside the enclosure are a redesigned woofer and tweeter.

The physical controls are simple and easy to memorize.

Beats’ marketing materials claim the racetrack-style woofer is capable of 90 percent more air volume displacement and stronger motor force compared to the Pill Plus and that low-end distortion has been reduced. Both the woofer and tweet have a 20 percent upward tilt that allows sound to reach your ears more naturally when the Pill is positioned on a desk or table. Even though the Pill can’t output stereo like the Pill Plus could, the actual components have improved. If you want true stereo playback, you can wirelessly link two Pills together. (Two can also be paired in the regular mono listening mode if you want to use them in different rooms during a party.)
People generally use speakers like this for very casual, noncritical listening — be it at home, when traveling, or for weekend trips to the beach. And in the majority of those scenarios, the Beats Pill sounds perfectly good. Not all tracks handle the mono mixdown gracefully, so occasionally you’ll land on a song that leaves you wanting for more. It’s just not as immersive. But mono is the norm among many speakers of this size. And for the most part, I’ve been satisfied with the Pill’s sound performance. It’s clear, can crank fairly loud, and is tuned well for today’s chart toppers.

The 2024 Beats Pill comes in red, gold, or black.

If you want the best audio fidelity this speaker can offer, there’s always the option to plug in over USB-C. I like having the choice, even if it might seem like overkill for this class of speaker. Whenever a USB-C cable is plugged in, the Pill determines whether it should be receiving a charge from that device (like a laptop) or providing juice to it instead (if it’s your phone). You can manually decide which way the charge goes by triple-tapping the power button. Double-pressing the button activates your phone’s chosen voice assistant, so you can access either Siri or Google Assistant; it’s just not hands-free like on a HomePod or Nest Audio. I was pleased with the Pill’s speakerphone functionality. Beats’ noise-suppression algorithm did an impressive job of isolating my voice from background noise on calls.
There’s really not much to dislike about the remastered Beats Pill if you can get past its mono output — and I think many people will have no trouble doing so. It works well and can withstand any outdoor adventures you bring it along for. The battery lasts a long time, and you get plenty of bonus features beyond Bluetooth playback. If Beats were charging more than the $150 asking price, I’d probably be less effusive about recommending it. But as it stands, it feels like there’s barely an Apple / Beats tax at play here. The Pill is more than competitive for what you’re paying.
Photography by Chris Welch / The Verge

More than just a lazy remaster, the new Pill includes unexpected features like lossless audio over USB-C. And like recent Beats products, it equally appeals to the iOS and Android crowds.

Beats has been out of the speaker game for a long time. Its last speaker, the Pill Plus, was discontinued in 2022 after being introduced years earlier. Since then, Beats’ parent company, Apple, has focused on home speakers like the HomePod and HomePod Mini, ceding the portable market to brands like Bose, Sony, JBL, Anker, and countless others. But now, after a not-at-all-subtle celebrity teaser campaign, the Beats Pill is making a comeback.

The 2024 revamp, on sale today for $149.99, has a familiar design. But on the inside, everything has changed, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised by just how much the new Pill is capable of. At its core, you’re getting a mono Bluetooth speaker. And while there are always sound quality tradeoffs at this compact size — that’s just physics — it’s the extras and bonus features that really help the refreshed Beats Pill stand out from previous models.

This time around, the Pill supports lossless audio playback over USB-C. You can use that same USB-C port to charge external devices, a convenience also offered by many competitors. There’s a detachable lanyard that makes the Pill easy to carry around, and the device is rated IP67 for dust and water resistance. Battery life has doubled to a maximum of 24 hours, and Beats still includes speakerphone functionality.

Like all of the brand’s recent headphones and earbuds, the Pill is designed to natively support both Android and iOS: on both platforms, you can take advantage of one-tap setup and Find My / Find My Device. There are no hands-free “Hey Siri” voice commands, and don’t expect AirPlay integration, but Beats has checked off practically every other feature that I could ask for. As a result, the Pill feels like its most focused product in a long time.

The Pill comes in three colors — red, black, or gold — with a metal grille and silicone wrapped around the rest of the speaker for added durability. The top controls are nicely laid out, with a power button on the left side, a center button for track controls, and volume to the right. All of the buttons are easy to feel for even when you’re not looking at the Pill, and they have a very satisfying click. Inside the enclosure are a redesigned woofer and tweeter.

Beats’ marketing materials claim the racetrack-style woofer is capable of 90 percent more air volume displacement and stronger motor force compared to the Pill Plus and that low-end distortion has been reduced. Both the woofer and tweet have a 20 percent upward tilt that allows sound to reach your ears more naturally when the Pill is positioned on a desk or table. Even though the Pill can’t output stereo like the Pill Plus could, the actual components have improved. If you want true stereo playback, you can wirelessly link two Pills together. (Two can also be paired in the regular mono listening mode if you want to use them in different rooms during a party.)

People generally use speakers like this for very casual, noncritical listening — be it at home, when traveling, or for weekend trips to the beach. And in the majority of those scenarios, the Beats Pill sounds perfectly good. Not all tracks handle the mono mixdown gracefully, so occasionally you’ll land on a song that leaves you wanting for more. It’s just not as immersive. But mono is the norm among many speakers of this size. And for the most part, I’ve been satisfied with the Pill’s sound performance. It’s clear, can crank fairly loud, and is tuned well for today’s chart toppers.

If you want the best audio fidelity this speaker can offer, there’s always the option to plug in over USB-C. I like having the choice, even if it might seem like overkill for this class of speaker. Whenever a USB-C cable is plugged in, the Pill determines whether it should be receiving a charge from that device (like a laptop) or providing juice to it instead (if it’s your phone). You can manually decide which way the charge goes by triple-tapping the power button. Double-pressing the button activates your phone’s chosen voice assistant, so you can access either Siri or Google Assistant; it’s just not hands-free like on a HomePod or Nest Audio. I was pleased with the Pill’s speakerphone functionality. Beats’ noise-suppression algorithm did an impressive job of isolating my voice from background noise on calls.

There’s really not much to dislike about the remastered Beats Pill if you can get past its mono output — and I think many people will have no trouble doing so. It works well and can withstand any outdoor adventures you bring it along for. The battery lasts a long time, and you get plenty of bonus features beyond Bluetooth playback. If Beats were charging more than the $150 asking price, I’d probably be less effusive about recommending it. But as it stands, it feels like there’s barely an Apple / Beats tax at play here. The Pill is more than competitive for what you’re paying.

Photography by Chris Welch / The Verge

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Image: Beats

After several months of leaks and public sightings, the Beats Pill speaker has returned. Available to order beginning today for $149.99, this portable Bluetooth speaker looks very similar to past versions, but it now offers IP67 dust and water resistance and USB-C wired audio and supports native software features like Find My / Find My Device across both iOS and Android.
The new Pill — available in black, red, or gold — will be in stores as of June 27th. Like many speakers in its price category, it’s a mono speaker, though Beats claims the redesigned tweeter and woofer combo is sonically superior to the very old Beats Pill Plus. Other specs include battery life “up to 24 hours,” speakerphone functionality, and the ability to pair two Pill speakers together either in stereo or mono for synchronized playback if they’re in different rooms.

Image: Beats
The USB-C port can charge the Pill and juice up external devices and also works for line-in audio.

Beats has been on a long run of trying to appeal to both Android and iOS customers equally, and the Pill continues that effort with one-tap pairing, Find My / Find My Device, and other tricks for both platforms. The speaker’s USB-C port is versatile: it can charge the Pill as well as external devices and also supports line-in audio.
I’ve had some time to test out the 2024 edition of the Beats Pill, and you can read my full review for all the details.

Image: Beats

After several months of leaks and public sightings, the Beats Pill speaker has returned. Available to order beginning today for $149.99, this portable Bluetooth speaker looks very similar to past versions, but it now offers IP67 dust and water resistance and USB-C wired audio and supports native software features like Find My / Find My Device across both iOS and Android.

The new Pill — available in black, red, or gold — will be in stores as of June 27th. Like many speakers in its price category, it’s a mono speaker, though Beats claims the redesigned tweeter and woofer combo is sonically superior to the very old Beats Pill Plus. Other specs include battery life “up to 24 hours,” speakerphone functionality, and the ability to pair two Pill speakers together either in stereo or mono for synchronized playback if they’re in different rooms.

Image: Beats
The USB-C port can charge the Pill and juice up external devices and also works for line-in audio.

Beats has been on a long run of trying to appeal to both Android and iOS customers equally, and the Pill continues that effort with one-tap pairing, Find My / Find My Device, and other tricks for both platforms. The speaker’s USB-C port is versatile: it can charge the Pill as well as external devices and also supports line-in audio.

I’ve had some time to test out the 2024 edition of the Beats Pill, and you can read my full review for all the details.

Read More 

Imagine the exact middle between an iPhone and a Kindle. That’s the Palma. | Image: Boox

There are really only three things you need to know about the Boox Palma. One: it’s about the size of a smartphone. Two: it runs Android, with the Play Store. Three: it has an E Ink screen. There are other specs and features I’ll get to, but that combination — smartphone, Android, E Ink — is the Palma’s whole reason for existence.
In a couple of months of using the Palma, a $280 device that has been on sale since last fall, that combination has turned out to be exactly what I needed. Because it’s smartphone-sized, with a 6.1-inch screen and an overall footprint just a smidge larger than the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus, I can hold it in one hand and fit in my pocket. Because it runs Android, I can download any app I need. And because it’s E Ink, the battery lasts somewhere between four days and a week, the screen is easy to look at even in the dark, and — and this is the most important part — most apps are just awful to use.
Sure, the Palma can technically download TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. It can even, stutteringly, play videos from those apps. But because of E Ink’s low resolution, slow refresh rate, and overall black-and-white-ness, it’s a crummy enough experience that I’m never tempted to do so. Instead, I find myself doing the things the Palma’s screen is built for. This thing is first and foremost an e-reader. It’s just that, unlike all the other e-readers, this one lets you read in whatever app you like to use.
The first app I downloaded onto the Palma was Amazon Kindle, which is where all my digital books are. And before you’re like, dude, why didn’t you just buy a Kindle, the second app I downloaded was Readwise Reader, an app for reading and organizing longform articles, PDFs, and just about anything else. Already, I’d accomplished something no other e-reader offers. Then, I downloaded a couple of news apps, Flipboard, and the note-taking app Obsidian.
Two months later, those are still the apps I use most on the Palma. Boox preinstalls a few others, like a voice recorder and a music app, but I barely touched those. Who needs ‘em when I have Android! I downloaded Pocket Casts and Spotify instead, and now my Palma is my iPod in addition to being my Kindle. When I go out for coffee in the morning or to walk the dog in the afternoon, only the Palma comes with me.

Image: Boox
The rare marketing image that actually matches how I use the device, every night before bed.

I’ve been amazed by how much of my phone activity disappeared when I put all my listening and reading onto another device. I never noticed how often I’d dig my phone out to change songs, only to get pulled in by a Slack message or a Gmail notification. (Come to think of it, thanks to the “Notification Mute” feature in Boox’s version of Android, I don’t think I’ve gotten a single notification the whole time I’ve had this thing.) Now that I’m bringing the Palma and not my phone with me to the coffee shop, I’m getting more reading done because TikTok isn’t remotely tempting on this device. I’m actually offline most of the time — I’ll just take it off Airplane mode to sync the various apps, then shut off the connection and go back to reading. A device that is easy to have with me, that can technically do everything but only makes it easy to do the stuff I want, has been everything I wanted.
“It’s just the absolute perfect amount of friction,” Craig Mod told me when I recounted my experience with the Palma. Mod — a blogger, author, and bookmaker who has been writing about digital reading for years — loves his Palma, too. He wrote a blog post about it in May that got a lot of people excited about the device — he reckons he convinced at least a few hundred people to buy one. “You wouldn’t want to go surf YouTube and be like, ‘All right, let me watch MKBHD,’” he says. “But if I needed to… I could pop into that for a second.”
“It’s just the absolute perfect amount of friction”
That friction is a function of the device itself: E Ink screens just don’t refresh fast enough to look good playing video. Serviceable in a pinch? Sure. But not good enough to really suck you in.
Like me, Mod said the Palma’s combination of size and screen sold him on the device. “It’s perfect one-handed, it’s not heavy, it’s not going to fall on your face in a weird way,” he said. “You’ve got it in your hand with your thumb on the volume controls, and you can easily go through an article until you fall asleep.” Did I mention you can set the Palma to flip pages when you press the volume buttons? Love that. Mod called the Palma “a gentle lullaby of a reader.”
Matt Martin, the CEO of calendar startup Clockwise and another new Palma owner, echoed the sentiment. “I aspire to read more,” he said. “I aspire to not spend the 30 minutes before bed on Instagram Reels.” He downloaded the New York Times app, Instapaper, Libby, and Kindle and said he’s been reading more and Reels-ing less ever since.

Image: Boox
The Palma is definitely a reader first, but I’ve enjoyed it as a music and podcast player, too.

“There’s the old anecdote we were all taught in Psych 101,” Martin said, “which is that physical environment matters. I think a separate device matters here: sometimes you’re reading, and you’re in a slow section, and you have that random thought, like, what was that thing I wanted to buy on Amazon? And you’re there without thinking about it.” A device like the Palma adds just enough friction to stop that train before it goes too far.
Mod has enjoyed the Palma so much that he wants Boox to go even further. “I would love to have this thing as my main driver,” he said, “so much more than the dopamine casino iPhone where it’s vying for your attention every two seconds.” He also wants Boox to get rid of the camera on the back of the Palma, which, candidly, I’d completely forgotten about until he mentioned it. I suppose it’s nice to have in a pinch, but a point-and-shoot this is not.
Boox didn’t build a perfect gadget here. Not by any stretch. The plastic body is a little flimsy, the screen is set pretty far behind the bezels, everything takes a half-second longer than it should, the screen can be unresponsive at times, and I wish it would full-refresh the E Ink to remove ghosting a little more often. (There’s a dedicated button for doing that last part, though, which helps.) For a $280 e-reader, I’d expect a little more polish in both hardware and software. Worst of all, the Palma runs Android 11, which is already wildly out of date, and I’m not counting on Boox updating it soon or ever. More than likely, my Palma will just slowly stop working, app by app, over the next couple of years. That’s particularly frustrating given how simple my needs are; for playing music and reading articles, there’s no reason this shouldn’t last forever.
All Boox really did was put together the right set of ingredients
All Boox really did was put together the right set of ingredients — size, screen, apps — into something that feels less like a replacement for my smartphone and more like a complement to it. I keep finding small new things I like doing on the Palma rather than my phone; I have The New York Times’ games app on there now for some E Ink crosswords, and I just installed the Roku app, for instance, so now it’s a backup remote control and a place to plug in my headphones when I need to listen quietly.
This year has been filled with companies trying to overhaul the way we use our gadgets. Humane, Rabbit, and others have introduced wild new kinds of devices, hoping we might find new and different things to do with them. The Palma represents a much less ambitious — but maybe much more likely — alternative: it just tweaks the smartphone formula, leaving what works but subtly changing the device’s strengths and weaknesses. It’s not as bright, not as fast, not as frictionless. Instead, it’s quiet, simple, sane. And I love it for that.

Imagine the exact middle between an iPhone and a Kindle. That’s the Palma. | Image: Boox

There are really only three things you need to know about the Boox Palma. One: it’s about the size of a smartphone. Two: it runs Android, with the Play Store. Three: it has an E Ink screen. There are other specs and features I’ll get to, but that combination — smartphone, Android, E Ink — is the Palma’s whole reason for existence.

In a couple of months of using the Palma, a $280 device that has been on sale since last fall, that combination has turned out to be exactly what I needed. Because it’s smartphone-sized, with a 6.1-inch screen and an overall footprint just a smidge larger than the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus, I can hold it in one hand and fit in my pocket. Because it runs Android, I can download any app I need. And because it’s E Ink, the battery lasts somewhere between four days and a week, the screen is easy to look at even in the dark, and — and this is the most important part — most apps are just awful to use.

Sure, the Palma can technically download TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. It can even, stutteringly, play videos from those apps. But because of E Ink’s low resolution, slow refresh rate, and overall black-and-white-ness, it’s a crummy enough experience that I’m never tempted to do so. Instead, I find myself doing the things the Palma’s screen is built for. This thing is first and foremost an e-reader. It’s just that, unlike all the other e-readers, this one lets you read in whatever app you like to use.

The first app I downloaded onto the Palma was Amazon Kindle, which is where all my digital books are. And before you’re like, dude, why didn’t you just buy a Kindle, the second app I downloaded was Readwise Reader, an app for reading and organizing longform articles, PDFs, and just about anything else. Already, I’d accomplished something no other e-reader offers. Then, I downloaded a couple of news apps, Flipboard, and the note-taking app Obsidian.

Two months later, those are still the apps I use most on the Palma. Boox preinstalls a few others, like a voice recorder and a music app, but I barely touched those. Who needs ‘em when I have Android! I downloaded Pocket Casts and Spotify instead, and now my Palma is my iPod in addition to being my Kindle. When I go out for coffee in the morning or to walk the dog in the afternoon, only the Palma comes with me.

Image: Boox
The rare marketing image that actually matches how I use the device, every night before bed.

I’ve been amazed by how much of my phone activity disappeared when I put all my listening and reading onto another device. I never noticed how often I’d dig my phone out to change songs, only to get pulled in by a Slack message or a Gmail notification. (Come to think of it, thanks to the “Notification Mute” feature in Boox’s version of Android, I don’t think I’ve gotten a single notification the whole time I’ve had this thing.) Now that I’m bringing the Palma and not my phone with me to the coffee shop, I’m getting more reading done because TikTok isn’t remotely tempting on this device. I’m actually offline most of the time — I’ll just take it off Airplane mode to sync the various apps, then shut off the connection and go back to reading. A device that is easy to have with me, that can technically do everything but only makes it easy to do the stuff I want, has been everything I wanted.

“It’s just the absolute perfect amount of friction,” Craig Mod told me when I recounted my experience with the Palma. Mod — a blogger, author, and bookmaker who has been writing about digital reading for years — loves his Palma, too. He wrote a blog post about it in May that got a lot of people excited about the device — he reckons he convinced at least a few hundred people to buy one. “You wouldn’t want to go surf YouTube and be like, ‘All right, let me watch MKBHD,’” he says. “But if I needed to… I could pop into that for a second.”

That friction is a function of the device itself: E Ink screens just don’t refresh fast enough to look good playing video. Serviceable in a pinch? Sure. But not good enough to really suck you in.

Like me, Mod said the Palma’s combination of size and screen sold him on the device. “It’s perfect one-handed, it’s not heavy, it’s not going to fall on your face in a weird way,” he said. “You’ve got it in your hand with your thumb on the volume controls, and you can easily go through an article until you fall asleep.” Did I mention you can set the Palma to flip pages when you press the volume buttons? Love that. Mod called the Palma “a gentle lullaby of a reader.”

Matt Martin, the CEO of calendar startup Clockwise and another new Palma owner, echoed the sentiment. “I aspire to read more,” he said. “I aspire to not spend the 30 minutes before bed on Instagram Reels.” He downloaded the New York Times app, Instapaper, Libby, and Kindle and said he’s been reading more and Reels-ing less ever since.

Image: Boox
The Palma is definitely a reader first, but I’ve enjoyed it as a music and podcast player, too.

“There’s the old anecdote we were all taught in Psych 101,” Martin said, “which is that physical environment matters. I think a separate device matters here: sometimes you’re reading, and you’re in a slow section, and you have that random thought, like, what was that thing I wanted to buy on Amazon? And you’re there without thinking about it.” A device like the Palma adds just enough friction to stop that train before it goes too far.

Mod has enjoyed the Palma so much that he wants Boox to go even further. “I would love to have this thing as my main driver,” he said, “so much more than the dopamine casino iPhone where it’s vying for your attention every two seconds.” He also wants Boox to get rid of the camera on the back of the Palma, which, candidly, I’d completely forgotten about until he mentioned it. I suppose it’s nice to have in a pinch, but a point-and-shoot this is not.

Boox didn’t build a perfect gadget here. Not by any stretch. The plastic body is a little flimsy, the screen is set pretty far behind the bezels, everything takes a half-second longer than it should, the screen can be unresponsive at times, and I wish it would full-refresh the E Ink to remove ghosting a little more often. (There’s a dedicated button for doing that last part, though, which helps.) For a $280 e-reader, I’d expect a little more polish in both hardware and software. Worst of all, the Palma runs Android 11, which is already wildly out of date, and I’m not counting on Boox updating it soon or ever. More than likely, my Palma will just slowly stop working, app by app, over the next couple of years. That’s particularly frustrating given how simple my needs are; for playing music and reading articles, there’s no reason this shouldn’t last forever.

All Boox really did was put together the right set of ingredients — size, screen, apps — into something that feels less like a replacement for my smartphone and more like a complement to it. I keep finding small new things I like doing on the Palma rather than my phone; I have The New York Times’ games app on there now for some E Ink crosswords, and I just installed the Roku app, for instance, so now it’s a backup remote control and a place to plug in my headphones when I need to listen quietly.

This year has been filled with companies trying to overhaul the way we use our gadgets. Humane, Rabbit, and others have introduced wild new kinds of devices, hoping we might find new and different things to do with them. The Palma represents a much less ambitious — but maybe much more likely — alternative: it just tweaks the smartphone formula, leaving what works but subtly changing the device’s strengths and weaknesses. It’s not as bright, not as fast, not as frictionless. Instead, it’s quiet, simple, sane. And I love it for that.

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Image: Alex Parkin / The Verge

This year’s Surface Pro and Surface Laptop really only needed to do one thing in order to be a success: work. After more than a decade of overpromising and underdelivering on all things Windows on Arm, Microsoft needed these new Qualcomm-powered devices to at least prove they could compete with the Intel- and AMD-powered chips on the market.
So far, it looks like good news. On this episode of The Vergecast, we catch up with The Verge’s Tom Warren and Nathan Edwards while they’re mid-review on the new devices. We talk about processor performance, emulation issues, battery life, AI features, and much more. The overall takeaway? These new devices may not have changed the PC game just yet, but they can hang. And that’s a start.

Before we get to that, though, we talk about the internet’s surprise new gadget obsession: the Boox Palma. After launching last year without much fanfare, the smartphone-sized device with an E Ink screen and access to the Google Play Store has become a hit among readers — and anyone looking for a way to use their favorite apps in a simpler, less distracting way. We talk to a few folks who love their Palmas and take the device for a spin ourselves.
After that, and after we talk Surface, we take a question from the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or vergecast@theverge.com!) about the future of PCs now that Copilot Plus seems to be taking over. Is this the end of the line for x86 and Intel, or is this just a new kind of computer to go along with all the others? We have some thoughts.

If you want to know more about everything we discuss in this episode, here are some links to get you started, beginning with the Boox Palma:

The Palma’s website
Craig Mod’s blog post: New Pop-up Walk, Reading Digitally in 2024

Color E Ink and Android are an exciting, excruciating pairing
Is E Ink finally ready for prime time?

And on the Surfaces (we’ll update these links once our reviews are live):

Microsoft announces an Arm-powered Surface Laptop
The new, faster Surface Pro is Microsoft’s all-purpose AI PC
A first look at Microsoft’s new Surface Pro with Arm chips inside
Microsoft’s new Windows chief on the future of the OS, Surface, and those annoying ads

Image: Alex Parkin / The Verge

This year’s Surface Pro and Surface Laptop really only needed to do one thing in order to be a success: work. After more than a decade of overpromising and underdelivering on all things Windows on Arm, Microsoft needed these new Qualcomm-powered devices to at least prove they could compete with the Intel- and AMD-powered chips on the market.

So far, it looks like good news. On this episode of The Vergecast, we catch up with The Verge’s Tom Warren and Nathan Edwards while they’re mid-review on the new devices. We talk about processor performance, emulation issues, battery life, AI features, and much more. The overall takeaway? These new devices may not have changed the PC game just yet, but they can hang. And that’s a start.

Before we get to that, though, we talk about the internet’s surprise new gadget obsession: the Boox Palma. After launching last year without much fanfare, the smartphone-sized device with an E Ink screen and access to the Google Play Store has become a hit among readers — and anyone looking for a way to use their favorite apps in a simpler, less distracting way. We talk to a few folks who love their Palmas and take the device for a spin ourselves.

After that, and after we talk Surface, we take a question from the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or vergecast@theverge.com!) about the future of PCs now that Copilot Plus seems to be taking over. Is this the end of the line for x86 and Intel, or is this just a new kind of computer to go along with all the others? We have some thoughts.

If you want to know more about everything we discuss in this episode, here are some links to get you started, beginning with the Boox Palma:

The Palma’s website
Craig Mod’s blog post: New Pop-up Walk, Reading Digitally in 2024

Color E Ink and Android are an exciting, excruciating pairing
Is E Ink finally ready for prime time?

And on the Surfaces (we’ll update these links once our reviews are live):

Microsoft announces an Arm-powered Surface Laptop
The new, faster Surface Pro is Microsoft’s all-purpose AI PC
A first look at Microsoft’s new Surface Pro with Arm chips inside
Microsoft’s new Windows chief on the future of the OS, Surface, and those annoying ads

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Image: The Verge

Patreon is gearing up to allow gifting on its subscription platform, alongside a host of new features to help content creators build their communities. Artists, writers, podcasters, and other content creators will also soon be able to sell individual posts and even set a countdown clock for the release of new work.
“Gifting is one of the all-time most requested tools for creators on Patreon — and now it’s in the works,” says the Patreon team in a blog post. “We’re testing the ability to gift membership to fans for a set amount of time.” The gifting feature will be available in a new promotions tab on the subscription-focused creator platform and will be part of other new tools for discounted products and automated offers.
Creators will also be able to open up their community chat sections to all free and paid members, alongside the new countdown clock that also includes a live chat feature. Promoting content is also getting a little easier, with auto-generated shareable clips that can be used on other social networks.
All of these changes are “coming next” to Patreon, but there are no promises on exactly when they will arrive. Patreon is making these improvements because the company sees a shift happening in the creator economy, where the follower model has increasingly been disrupted by algorithmically curated feeds.
“Creators want a place where people who sign up to see their future work actually see it,” says Patreon. “Creators have been playing by platforms’ rules, but they’re ready to play by their own. And that’s what we’re here to help them do.”

Image: The Verge

Patreon is gearing up to allow gifting on its subscription platform, alongside a host of new features to help content creators build their communities. Artists, writers, podcasters, and other content creators will also soon be able to sell individual posts and even set a countdown clock for the release of new work.

“Gifting is one of the all-time most requested tools for creators on Patreon — and now it’s in the works,” says the Patreon team in a blog post. “We’re testing the ability to gift membership to fans for a set amount of time.” The gifting feature will be available in a new promotions tab on the subscription-focused creator platform and will be part of other new tools for discounted products and automated offers.

Creators will also be able to open up their community chat sections to all free and paid members, alongside the new countdown clock that also includes a live chat feature. Promoting content is also getting a little easier, with auto-generated shareable clips that can be used on other social networks.

All of these changes are “coming next” to Patreon, but there are no promises on exactly when they will arrive. Patreon is making these improvements because the company sees a shift happening in the creator economy, where the follower model has increasingly been disrupted by algorithmically curated feeds.

“Creators want a place where people who sign up to see their future work actually see it,” says Patreon. “Creators have been playing by platforms’ rules, but they’re ready to play by their own. And that’s what we’re here to help them do.”

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Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD. | Image: Nintendo

This was supposed to be the year the Nintendo Switch rode off peacefully into the sunset. After a packed 2023 that included hit Legend of Zelda and Super Mario games, the Switch had little on the calendar this year and the prospect of a successor looming. And yet, here we are after a hectic few weeks of gaming news, and Nintendo might just have the most exciting lineup for the rest of the year, besting the likes of Xbox and PlayStation.
In the Switch era, it seems the company’s greatest strength has been consistency. This likely harkens back to a seemingly boring restructure at Nintendo in which the company merged its handheld and console development teams in order to focus purely on the hybrid Switch. It certainly seems to have worked: unlike its predecessor, the Wii U, the Switch hasn’t had prolonged periods without a first-party Nintendo game. Sure, a lot of them are remakes or ports, but then again, so is the device’s bestselling title.
The launch of Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD on June 27th kicks off what looks to be a very solid run from Nintendo for the rest of the year, which the company kept secret until a Nintendo Direct earlier this month. It will be followed by Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition in July, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom in September, Super Mario Party Jamboree in October, and Mario & Luigi: Brothership in November.

Image: Nintendo
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom.

In terms of quantity, Nintendo’s lineup is comparable to its competitors over the same period. (I’ll have to reserve judgment when it comes to quality.) Xbox Game Studios has a new Flight Simulator, a pair of strategy games, Obsidian’s latest RPG, a Starfield expansion, and likely Indiana Jones capping things off, along with multiplatform Call of Duty. Sony Interactive Entertainment, meanwhile, has the adorable Astro Bot, a multiplayer shooter called Concord, a PC port of God of War Ragnarök, and Lego Horizon Adventures (which is coming to the Switch in addition to PC and PS5).

The difference is that the Switch has been out three years longer than the most recent Xbox and PlayStation, and Nintendo is clearly gearing up for its successor. It’s not usually this way: the latter years of a console’s lifespan are typically muted, while the company focuses on the next generation. It’s not the time when you get a much-anticipated twist on the Zelda formula. Nintendo even has major Switch games going into next year.
Similarly impressive, even the games that don’t necessarily seem that exciting — namely ones that already exist on other platforms — have still been turning out great. Luigi’s Mansion 2 is a remake of a portable game that debuted more than a decade ago, and yet, it looks, plays, and feels much like its modern predecessor, the excellent slapstick comedy Luigi’s Mansion 3 from 2019. (Even if the new game is lacking Gooigi.) It’s the kind of silly and playful game that few major developers outside of Nintendo have really explored, and it stands out because of it. Its release follows other well-made ports from this year like the Another Code collection and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.
The major test for Nintendo will be maintaining this consistency across console generations. The company has often had an uneven success rate with new platforms; the megahit Wii and Switch were preceded by consoles that both underperformed and struggled when it came to a dependable release schedule. It’s hard to gauge the potential for a Switch successor without knowing anything about it, but a steady stream of high-quality Nintendo games will certainly go a long way toward avoiding the dire days of the Wii U.

Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD. | Image: Nintendo

This was supposed to be the year the Nintendo Switch rode off peacefully into the sunset. After a packed 2023 that included hit Legend of Zelda and Super Mario games, the Switch had little on the calendar this year and the prospect of a successor looming. And yet, here we are after a hectic few weeks of gaming news, and Nintendo might just have the most exciting lineup for the rest of the year, besting the likes of Xbox and PlayStation.

In the Switch era, it seems the company’s greatest strength has been consistency. This likely harkens back to a seemingly boring restructure at Nintendo in which the company merged its handheld and console development teams in order to focus purely on the hybrid Switch. It certainly seems to have worked: unlike its predecessor, the Wii U, the Switch hasn’t had prolonged periods without a first-party Nintendo game. Sure, a lot of them are remakes or ports, but then again, so is the device’s bestselling title.

The launch of Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD on June 27th kicks off what looks to be a very solid run from Nintendo for the rest of the year, which the company kept secret until a Nintendo Direct earlier this month. It will be followed by Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition in July, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom in September, Super Mario Party Jamboree in October, and Mario & Luigi: Brothership in November.

In terms of quantity, Nintendo’s lineup is comparable to its competitors over the same period. (I’ll have to reserve judgment when it comes to quality.) Xbox Game Studios has a new Flight Simulator, a pair of strategy games, Obsidian’s latest RPG, a Starfield expansion, and likely Indiana Jones capping things off, along with multiplatform Call of Duty. Sony Interactive Entertainment, meanwhile, has the adorable Astro Bot, a multiplayer shooter called Concord, a PC port of God of War Ragnarök, and Lego Horizon Adventures (which is coming to the Switch in addition to PC and PS5).

The difference is that the Switch has been out three years longer than the most recent Xbox and PlayStation, and Nintendo is clearly gearing up for its successor. It’s not usually this way: the latter years of a console’s lifespan are typically muted, while the company focuses on the next generation. It’s not the time when you get a much-anticipated twist on the Zelda formula. Nintendo even has major Switch games going into next year.

Similarly impressive, even the games that don’t necessarily seem that exciting — namely ones that already exist on other platforms — have still been turning out great. Luigi’s Mansion 2 is a remake of a portable game that debuted more than a decade ago, and yet, it looks, plays, and feels much like its modern predecessor, the excellent slapstick comedy Luigi’s Mansion 3 from 2019. (Even if the new game is lacking Gooigi.) It’s the kind of silly and playful game that few major developers outside of Nintendo have really explored, and it stands out because of it. Its release follows other well-made ports from this year like the Another Code collection and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.

The major test for Nintendo will be maintaining this consistency across console generations. The company has often had an uneven success rate with new platforms; the megahit Wii and Switch were preceded by consoles that both underperformed and struggled when it came to a dependable release schedule. It’s hard to gauge the potential for a Switch successor without knowing anything about it, but a steady stream of high-quality Nintendo games will certainly go a long way toward avoiding the dire days of the Wii U.

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The Cybertruck is suffering from real-world issues. | The Verge / Photo by Bloomberg, Getty Images

Tesla is again issuing a physical recall of its Cybertruck. This time it’s recalling 11,688 of its electric pickups due to a faulty windshield wiper that could reduce visibility for the driver, and 11,383 Cybertrucks due to trim in the truck bed that could come loose and create a road hazard for others.
These new recalls follow a recall in April affecting 3,878 Cybertrucks over the risk of a jammed accelerator pedal.
Issues with the gigantic wiper had surfaced in owner forums in recent weeks and reportedly delayed Cybertruck deliveries on short notice. The NHTSA recall notice for the wiper says that “excessive electrical current can cause the front windshield wiper motor controller to fail.” Tesla service will replace the wiper motor, free of charge.
Regarding the trim, “Tesla service will apply adhesion promoter and pressure sensitive tape or replace missing applique as necessary, free of charge,” according to a separate NHTSA notice.
Elon Musk once said that “we dug our own grave with Cybertruck.” Last week, dozens of the polarizing Cybertrucks were defaced with the words “Fuck Elon” in black spray paint while parked in a public parking lot in advance of today’s recalls. Well, at least the man got paid.

The Cybertruck is suffering from real-world issues. | The Verge / Photo by Bloomberg, Getty Images

Tesla is again issuing a physical recall of its Cybertruck. This time it’s recalling 11,688 of its electric pickups due to a faulty windshield wiper that could reduce visibility for the driver, and 11,383 Cybertrucks due to trim in the truck bed that could come loose and create a road hazard for others.

These new recalls follow a recall in April affecting 3,878 Cybertrucks over the risk of a jammed accelerator pedal.

Issues with the gigantic wiper had surfaced in owner forums in recent weeks and reportedly delayed Cybertruck deliveries on short notice. The NHTSA recall notice for the wiper says that “excessive electrical current can cause the front windshield wiper motor controller to fail.” Tesla service will replace the wiper motor, free of charge.

Regarding the trim, “Tesla service will apply adhesion promoter and pressure sensitive tape or replace missing applique as necessary, free of charge,” according to a separate NHTSA notice.

Elon Musk once said that “we dug our own grave with Cybertruck.” Last week, dozens of the polarizing Cybertrucks were defaced with the words “Fuck Elon” in black spray paint while parked in a public parking lot in advance of today’s recalls. Well, at least the man got paid.

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Photo: Aurora

Uber’s freight hauling business will use Aurora’s driverless trucks on routes between Dallas and Houston as part of a new “long-term” deal that builds on a three-year-old commercial pilot.
Uber Freight will be one of Aurora’s first customers on the Texas route launching later this year. Launched in 2017, Uber Freight connects truck drivers with shippers, much in the same way the company’s ridehailing app pairs drivers with those looking for a ride.
Aurora, which was founded by former executives from Google, Uber, and Tesla, has said it plans to deploy 20 fully autonomous trucks this year. When it does, those trucks will be hauling goods for Uber Freight customers.
Uber Freight will be one of Aurora’s first customers
The two companies are also launching a program called Premier Autonomy, which enables carriers an “early and streamlined” way to access the Aurora Driver, which is the branding used by the company to describe its driverless technology. Aurora is offering its customers access to its Aurora Driver tech through a subscription, rather than trying to own and operate its own fleet of trucks.
Premier Autonomy members will also get “access to over 1 billion driverless miles through 2030” as well as “seamless integration” of the Aurora Driver into the Uber Freight platform. Aurora president Ossa Fisher said in a statement that the program will give “hundreds” of carriers access to driverless trucks that might not otherwise have it.
Of course, Uber and Aurora have numerous ties. Drew Bagnell, former head of Uber’s autonomy and perception team, was one of the three co-founders of Aurora. The ridehailing company had been developing its own self-driving truck as part of its larger investment in autonomous technology but later was forced to off-load it to Aurora. Ballooning costs, plus the tragedy in Arizona when an Uber self-driving car struck and killed a pedestrian, forced Uber to pull the plug on its AV project.
Previously, Uber Freight said it would work with Alphabet’s Waymo on deploying driverless trucks, but the Google spinoff has since scaled back its trucking division and is now relying on manufacturing partners like Daimler to spearhead its ambitions. Aurora is also working with several other partners, including Volvo and Continental.
Aurora has avoided a lot of the negative press of its robotaxi peers, mostly by staying below the radar. Still, the company is struggling to right its finances. Aurora reported a net loss of $165 million in the first quarter of 2024, which is a 16 percent improvement over the same period the year before.

Photo: Aurora

Uber’s freight hauling business will use Aurora’s driverless trucks on routes between Dallas and Houston as part of a new “long-term” deal that builds on a three-year-old commercial pilot.

Uber Freight will be one of Aurora’s first customers on the Texas route launching later this year. Launched in 2017, Uber Freight connects truck drivers with shippers, much in the same way the company’s ridehailing app pairs drivers with those looking for a ride.

Aurora, which was founded by former executives from Google, Uber, and Tesla, has said it plans to deploy 20 fully autonomous trucks this year. When it does, those trucks will be hauling goods for Uber Freight customers.

The two companies are also launching a program called Premier Autonomy, which enables carriers an “early and streamlined” way to access the Aurora Driver, which is the branding used by the company to describe its driverless technology. Aurora is offering its customers access to its Aurora Driver tech through a subscription, rather than trying to own and operate its own fleet of trucks.

Premier Autonomy members will also get “access to over 1 billion driverless miles through 2030” as well as “seamless integration” of the Aurora Driver into the Uber Freight platform. Aurora president Ossa Fisher said in a statement that the program will give “hundreds” of carriers access to driverless trucks that might not otherwise have it.

Of course, Uber and Aurora have numerous ties. Drew Bagnell, former head of Uber’s autonomy and perception team, was one of the three co-founders of Aurora. The ridehailing company had been developing its own self-driving truck as part of its larger investment in autonomous technology but later was forced to off-load it to Aurora. Ballooning costs, plus the tragedy in Arizona when an Uber self-driving car struck and killed a pedestrian, forced Uber to pull the plug on its AV project.

Previously, Uber Freight said it would work with Alphabet’s Waymo on deploying driverless trucks, but the Google spinoff has since scaled back its trucking division and is now relying on manufacturing partners like Daimler to spearhead its ambitions. Aurora is also working with several other partners, including Volvo and Continental.

Aurora has avoided a lot of the negative press of its robotaxi peers, mostly by staying below the radar. Still, the company is struggling to right its finances. Aurora reported a net loss of $165 million in the first quarter of 2024, which is a 16 percent improvement over the same period the year before.

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Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge

How much would it cost Google to let third-party app stores like the Epic Games Store live inside its own Google Play Store, with access to every Android app? Google says the reputational damage can’t be calculated — but that it’d take 12 to 18 months and upwards of $60 million to build and maintain the technical underpinnings.

We’re still waiting to find out what Epic actually won in its surprise victory against Google last December, after a jury decided the Google Play app store and Google Play Billing are illegal monopolies — but we know what Epic wants. The Fortnite developer’s biggest ask was arguably for Google to open up its own Android app store, forcing Google to carry other competing app stores inside its walls.
Last month, Judge James Donato ordered Google to figure out how much all that would cost, and you can read Google’s full answers in the document below.
But here’s the TL;DR:

12–16 months and $27.5 – $66.9 million to offer “catalog access” (letting third-party app stores access Google Play apps)
12 months and $1.7 – $2.4 million to offer “library porting” (letting users transfer ownership of their Android apps to a third-party app store in bulk)
12–16 months and $32.1 – $67.7 million to distribute third-party app stores within Google Play
A redacted amount of money to review apps and app updates carried by third-party stores.

While $61.3 million may sound like a lot of money on the low end (or upwards of $137 million on the high end), we saw in court documents that Google makes billions of dollars in profit from the Google Play store every quarter — for 2021, the company’s own forecast suggested the store would produce nearly $12 billion of profit in a single year. That’s over $31 million in profit each day.
Google also argues it should be entitled to collect a fee from third-party app stores if it were forced to go through with these changes.
Again, it’s not all about the money. As you can read in the full document, Google claims that Android app developers “would suddenly face a host of regulatory and compliance risks associated with advertisement and distribution of their apps around the world” if Google were to let any app store take its catalog of apps.
It also argues that user safety and its reputation are at stake because “ill-intentioned app stores could then intermingle the apps from Google’s catalog with malware or pirated apps from their own catalog,” among other examples.

“These proposed remedies would require a dramatic redesign of the Play Store and Android that would harm Android users and developers, the trust and safety of the Play store, and the Android ecosystem and require Google to become a forced dealer for its competitors,” Google writes.
Epic will now get a chance to question Google’s estimates, and file a rebuttal. The court is scheduled to have a final hearing on August 14th.

Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge

How much would it cost Google to let third-party app stores like the Epic Games Store live inside its own Google Play Store, with access to every Android app? Google says the reputational damage can’t be calculated — but that it’d take 12 to 18 months and upwards of $60 million to build and maintain the technical underpinnings.

We’re still waiting to find out what Epic actually won in its surprise victory against Google last December, after a jury decided the Google Play app store and Google Play Billing are illegal monopolies — but we know what Epic wants. The Fortnite developer’s biggest ask was arguably for Google to open up its own Android app store, forcing Google to carry other competing app stores inside its walls.

Last month, Judge James Donato ordered Google to figure out how much all that would cost, and you can read Google’s full answers in the document below.

But here’s the TL;DR:

12–16 months and $27.5 – $66.9 million to offer “catalog access” (letting third-party app stores access Google Play apps)
12 months and $1.7 – $2.4 million to offer “library porting” (letting users transfer ownership of their Android apps to a third-party app store in bulk)
12–16 months and $32.1 – $67.7 million to distribute third-party app stores within Google Play
A redacted amount of money to review apps and app updates carried by third-party stores.

While $61.3 million may sound like a lot of money on the low end (or upwards of $137 million on the high end), we saw in court documents that Google makes billions of dollars in profit from the Google Play store every quarter — for 2021, the company’s own forecast suggested the store would produce nearly $12 billion of profit in a single year. That’s over $31 million in profit each day.

Google also argues it should be entitled to collect a fee from third-party app stores if it were forced to go through with these changes.

Again, it’s not all about the money. As you can read in the full document, Google claims that Android app developers “would suddenly face a host of regulatory and compliance risks associated with advertisement and distribution of their apps around the world” if Google were to let any app store take its catalog of apps.

It also argues that user safety and its reputation are at stake because “ill-intentioned app stores could then intermingle the apps from Google’s catalog with malware or pirated apps from their own catalog,” among other examples.

“These proposed remedies would require a dramatic redesign of the Play Store and Android that would harm Android users and developers, the trust and safety of the Play store, and the Android ecosystem and require Google to become a forced dealer for its competitors,” Google writes.

Epic will now get a chance to question Google’s estimates, and file a rebuttal. The court is scheduled to have a final hearing on August 14th.

Read More