A year has passed since South Korea enacted a law requiring Apple and Google to allow access to third-party billing systems for app payments, but critics say it has done little to change the U.S. tech giants' dominance.
[...]
In addition to the 26% commission paid to Apple and Google, app developers are charged fees by the external payment processors and credit card companies. The result is a payment burden similar to what came before the new law. Few app makers have switched.
Small developers have seen growing success over the course of the last two years, according to an Apple-commissioned study conducted by economists at Analysis Group. Data shared today highlights the ways the App Store has benefited independent App Store developers.
If you aren’t familiar with Hazel, the general idea of the app is that you can set it up to watch specific folders on your Mac and perform actions based on what files are in those folders. Hazel can flag files, show system notifications, move things around, and even run AppleScripts to extend things even further. There are even people who use Hazel to OCR their invoices and file them away based on the contents of those invoices…it gets pretty advanced if you want it to.
We’re not going to get that advanced today, but I wanted to share some practical uses for Hazel that I’ve found really helpful in my day-to-day life.
Matter has the promise of finally uniting the smart home under one standard, and slowly, that promise is coming to reality. Currently, Google is rolling out an update to its Nest Thermostat that adds support for Matter and allows the thermostat to be linked with Apple HomeKit. Here’s how it works.
It’s unknown why Meta has decided to discontinue its Messenger app for watchOS. Messenger joins a list of other platforms that have sunsetted their Apple Watch apps over the past several years, including Slack, Uber and Twitter.
The question, however, remains of what to do once you reach your goal. In the distance goal case I just cap the graph at 100% and say “GOAL ACHIEVED!”. That didn’t feel like the right path here. You could easily be far exceeding your step goal and so I want to keep the live activity relevant here.
Apple has been in the process of relocating its first-ever Apple Store in Fairfax, Virginia, and the redesigned Tysons Corner store is set to open on Friday, May 19. May 19 will mark the 22nd anniversary of the date that the store originally opened on May 19, 2001.
Apple said on Friday it would open its first online store in Vietnam next week, as the iPhone vendor doubles down on emerging markets to drive growth amid slowing sales in China.
[...]
Online stores often precede the opening of retail stores. Apple already sells products in Vietnam via licensed vendors and has multiple suppliers that assemble its gadgets in the country for export.
If you want to regulate profit margin, regulate profit margin. Don't pretend you are giving choice or freedom or whatever and you are not meddling in how businesses do businesses.
~
Thanks for reading.