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The Lock-in-Customers Edition Friday, June 3, 2022

Apple’s Software Strategy Is More Important Than Ever, by Lauren Goode, Brenda Stolyar, Wired

It’s a hardware company first and foremost, and its custom-designed silicon now sits at the center of its “control the whole computing stack” strategy. But it could be argued that Apple’s software strategy now matters more than ever. It’s what keeps customers “locked in” to Apple hardware. It includes Apple’s fast-growing, multi-billion dollar services business. Every time Apple makes a tweak to its App Store, whether it’s limiting advertising tracking tech in iOS or evolving its content moderation policies, the company’s decisions are scrutinized—because its software just has that much influence over our lives.

Apple Wants To Make The iPad More Laptop-like With iPadOS 16, by Wesley Hilliard, AppleInsider

Apple is set to announce a slew of new operating system updates during WWDC on Monday, but it seems the biggest changes may be coming to iPadOS. A new report from Mark Gurman suggests that Apple will make the iPad more laptop-like with new multitasking upgrades.

[...]

The redesigned multitasking interface would make it easier to see what apps are open and switch between tasks. Windows would be movable and resizable similar to macOS, unlike the existing solution which places two windows side-by-side with fixed positions.

Apple Agrees To Improve Working Conditions For Retail Employees Amid Unionization Efforts, by Juli Clover, MacRumors

Apple is planning to make employee schedules at retail locations more flexible in an attempt to improve working conditions, reports Bloomberg. The changes come as employees in some Apple stores have been working toward unionization.

Going forward, Apple will make sure that there are at least 12 hours in between each shift an employee must take on, up from the current 10 hour minimum. Employees will not have to work past 8:00 p.m. for more than three days a week unless they choose to work late shifts.

Stuff

Harry Styles Helps Apple Bring Back Its Iconic 'Silhouettes' Ad, by Daniel Kreps, Rolling Stones

In the commercial, out Thursday, Styles grooves to his own Harry’s House opener “Music for a Sushi Restaurant” in the same animated style as the Apple ads that notably ran nonstop on TV screens in the early 2000s to trumpet the iPod — complete with the iconic neon colors and trippy visuals. But this time around, the wire-free and Jet-free “Silhouettes” spot is highlighting the third generation of AirPods, featuring immersive Spatial Audio technology.

Craft Is A Phenomenal Document Tool For macOS. Here's How To Use It, by Jack Wallen, ZDNet

Every so often I run into a tool that looks on the surface to be pretty average but once I start digging in, I realize there is so much more than meets the eye. That's exactly what Craft was to me at first. It seemed as if it was nothing more than a fancy note-taking tool with a swell interface that was probably a bit more confusing than need be.

But then something sort of magical happened -- I started using the app. Once I understood just how Craft could be used, I realized Craft was so much more than a note-taking tool.

WorldWideWeb: A Simple Web Server Utility For Mac, iPad, And iPhone, by Alex Guyot, MacStories

Solidly developer-focused in scope, the app serves files from a local directory to an automatically generated URL, making these files available to any device on your local network. While there are sure to be more inventive use cases for such a utility, its general purpose is for testing simple websites built on the Web’s greatest primitive: HTML.

PopClip Review: Supercharge Your Ability To Select And Paste Text On Your Mac, by Glenn Fleishman, Macworld

Why turn to a pop-up bar? It speeds the time from selection to outcome, making it an intuitive drag-and-click operation instead of requiring menu navigation or copying and pasting into an app or Web site. For actions you perform many times a day, you’re shaving off friction and time.

Develop

Swift Student Challenge Winners Show Off WWDC 22 Swag And Free AirPods Pro, by Filipe Espósito, 9to5Mac

As shared by some developers on Twitter, they have just received their awards for winning this year’s Swift Student Challenge. Those who have been selected by the company are getting a free year of Apple Developer Program membership, as well as an exclusive sweater and black beanie with WWDC branding and the Apple logo in yellow.

Notes

The Afterparty Creator On Reddit Theories And Killer Reveal, by Adam Chitwood, The Wrap

There were also fan theories about Walt being the killer because of his use of a non-iPhone in an Apple TV+ series, for which Miller revealed they had to get special permission.

“We had to get special permission to use a non-iPhone, which we did use with Walt,” Miller said. “We had Walt use a generic phone as a way to, again, mislead the audience into thinking maybe Walt was the killer because he was the only one that didn’t use an iPhone. That theory that Rian Johnson had put out there, it was true that [Apple] didn’t like having villains use Apple products in shows and movies. We thought we should definitely use this to our advantage.”

Square Bringing Tap To Pay On iPhone Support To Its POS App Later This Year, by Chance Miller, 9to5Mac

Square announced today that it is signing on to support Apple’s new Tap to Pay on iPhone feature. The feature, which was announced by Apple in February, allows businesses to use an iPhone to accept contactless payments without the need for any additional hardware.

Apple Refuses To Add Support For 5G Network Of Smaller Operator Citing Insufficient iPhone Sales, by Živé.sk

Other option is to wait for Apple to „unlock” the technology for every carrier even without the agreement. Rough estimate given by Apple representative was 2 to 3 years of waiting time. Small provider at the meeting accused Apple of misusing their power, to which iPhone-maker argued: „It is not power misuse, we are just more precise, and we will not be satisfied with half quality.”

Bottom of the Page

Let's hope Apple's revamp of iPad's multitasking interface will not be as bad as Apple's revamp of Safari's interface last year. :-)

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Thanks for reading.