While Apple champions all sorts of things, including individual privacy, user security, being a positive element for the environment, and no software backdoors which could give government agencies too much access. The reality is, if it wants to work in certain markets, then it must abide by local laws, regulations, and even demands. Which can lead to some noteworthy changes.
It has been a few months since the trial between Epic Games and Apple wound down. Now, the judge leading the trial has made an initial ruling. And it's a big win for Epic (and Fortnite).
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez-Rogers has filed a permanent injunction against Apple, with the ruling arriving early on Friday morning. This applies some major pressure to Apple, and it's a giant setback for Apple's App Store rules moving forward.
Apple and Google are no longer allowed to force developers to exclusively use their own payment system (and consequentially be subjected to service fees), at least in South Korea.
Last week, we reported that the South Korean government was looking to vote on the Telecommunications Business Act, a bill that includes an amendment that aims to force Apple and Google to make some sweeping changes to their digital storefronts. In South Korea the bill is known in short-hand as the "anti-Google bill," but obviously a lot of the focus is more on Apple's App Store. Generally speaking, though, the South Korean government believes this bill should help reign in any company with a monopolistic, or dominant, market position.
Some people believe it's a negative that Apple controls so much of the iPhone experience. Some of those people would point to the Mac and say, "See? They don't have to have such a heavy-handed approach" and maybe they're onto something. But a lot of folks out there don't see it the same way, calling Apple's "guiding hand" just one less thing they need to think about on a day-to-day basis.
With Google prepping to soon launch YouTube picture-in-picture on iPhone, now YouTube Premium subscribers can experimentally try out the picture-in-picture (PiP) on iOS.
There is a lot of attention on how Google and Apple handle their respective digital storefronts. Some of that attention is all about making changes -- especially when it comes to Apple's App Store. And it looks like one bill from a major economy could set the stage for future change across the board. Which Apple is obviously not too pleased with.
Google bills Stadia, its cloud-based gaming platform, as the "one place for all the ways we play." While that's true thanks to the fact that Stadia can be accessed across a range of devices, it turns out that Google's dreams for video games were much, much bigger just last year. So big, in fact, one could call it planned global domination.
Having spent six full months on Mars, NASA's Perseverance Rover has already snapped up 125,428 photos, and it's showing no signs of slowing down.
Google is putting chapter markers (determined by video timestamps) on YouTube's search results page to make it easier for users to jump straight to a specific point in the video.
Pixel phones include an 18W USB-C power adapter in the box, but the upcoming Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro flagships will ship without Google's standard in-box charger.
Google recently updated its mobile YouTube app for iOS and Android with a handy looping option. You can now set a video on repeat, which wasn't previously possible in the mobile app.