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The Third-Party Edition Thursday, August 15, 2019

Apple Explains Why iPhones Now Show An Ominous Warning After "Unauthorized" Battery Replacements, by Chris Welch, The Verge

Lithium-ion batteries can be dangerous when you can’t vouch for where they came from, and Apple is taking a very hardline approach here. The company says its batteries are rigorously designed, tested, and manufactured to meet Apple’s standards (including for safety). Aside from Apple retail stores, all Best Buy locations nationwide are now handling iPhone battery repairs. But if you’re trying to save money or find yourself in a jam where only the neighborhood gadget shop is an option, you might run into this message.

Your Right To Repair Stops Where Apple's Liability Begins, by Jerry Hidenbrand, AndroidCentral

If I have a thing I love using, I'm not afraid to try and keep it alive by repairing it myself or finding someone else to do it if I'm not able. But I can't expect General Motors to be responsible for a custom ignition in my truck nor can I expect Apple to be responsible for a third-party battery in an iPhone.

Apple Threatens Anyone Who Tries To Evade Safari's Anti-Tracking Tech, by Stephen Shankland, CNET

"We treat circumvention of shipping anti-tracking measures with the same seriousness as exploitation of security vulnerabilities. If a party attempts to circumvent our tracking prevention methods, we may add additional restrictions without prior notice," Apple's anti-tracking policy states. In other words, it's a data leakage hole Apple will try to close, and Safari might punish websites in different ways if they try to bypass Apple's approach.

Sidecar In iOS 13 And macOS Catalina: Working Seamlessly Between An iPad And Mac, by John Voorhees, MacStories

Apple made it clear when they introduced Catalyst in 2018 at WWDC that it’s not replacing macOS with iOS. Some tasks are better suited for a Mac than an iPad and vice versa. Sidecar acknowledges those differences by letting an iPad become an extension of your Mac for tasks best suited to it. At the same time, however, Sidecar takes advantage of functionality that’s unavailable on the Mac, like the Apple Pencil. Combined with the ability to switch seamlessly between using Mac apps running in Sidecar and native iPadOS apps, what you’ve effectively got is a touchscreen Mac.

Stuff

App Store Today Editorial Stories Are Now Available On The Web In Full, by Benjamin Mayo, 9to5Mac

Opening these links on an iPhone or iPad will automatically launch the App Store to the native content view. Until recently, if you opened the same link on a desktop browser, it would show the title of the editorial, the hero image, and maybe a one-line description with a direction to see the full experience in the actual App Store.

Now, users can see almost every element of the in-app experience in the webpage. This includes sections, app lists, screenshots with captions and the actual text of the article.

Apple Details Why Some Apple Card Applicants Might Get Declined, by Juli Clover, MacRumors

In a new support document shared today, Apple outlines the various reasons why someone might be declined, including low credit score, frequent credit card applications, heavy debt and low income, tax liens, bankruptcy, property repossession, past due debt obligations, a recent checking account closure by a bank, past due medical debt, and more.

Pandora Expands Podcasting Efforts With New Direct Upload Tool For Creators, by Chance Miller, 9to5Mac

Submissions are handled via the new online hub “Pandora for Podcasts.” The company says creators can submit their shows “for consideration to be included in Pandora’s rapidly-expanding catalog of podcasts.”

Notes

Teen's Tweets From Her Smart Fridge Go Viral After Mother Confiscates Phone, by Kari Paul, The Guardian

A surly teenager has taken the rise of increasingly powerful smart home devices to its logical conclusion – tweeting from her family’s smart fridge after her mother confiscated her phone.