Around the world, developers are building apps that break down barriers across gender, race, socioeconomic status, language, and physical ability.
In celebration of Entrepreneur Camp’s fifth anniversary, Apple spoke with alumni app creators whose apps are shaking things up in education, fitness, and mental health. All three women have participated in the immersive tech lab that invites developers from underrepresented groups to take their apps to the next level with one-on-one guidance from Apple experts, engineers, and leaders. Entrepreneur Camp underscores Apple’s ethos that apps for everyone should be made by everyone.
Apple had a surprise in store Wednesday for fans of Japanese manga and the always-stimulating, neo-noir cinema of Takashi Miike — a 19-minute short film made by the filmmaker using only an iPhone 15 Pro.
Titled Midnight, the mini-movie is an adaptation of a lesser-known work by legendary Japanese manga artist Osamu Tezuka. Much of the film takes place in neon-lit Tokyo at night, including a thrilling car chase sequence — a deliberate exercise on Apple’s part to showcase their device’s video capture capabilities in low lighting.
Epic’s plans to release its own third-party app store on iOS in the EU could be in trouble after Apple terminated the developer account it planned to use. In a blog post published today, the company shared a letter sent by Apple’s lawyers, which called Epic “verifiably untrustworthy” and said Apple does not believe that Epic will comply with its contractual commitments under its developer agreement.
Apple has been asked by the EU to explain why it prevented Fortnite video-game maker Epic Games from launching its own online marketplace on iPhones and iPads in Europe and whether this breaches EU technology rules, antitrust regulators said on Thursday.
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"We are also evaluating whether Apple's actions raise doubts on their compliance with the DSA (Digital Services Act) and the P2B (Platform to Business Regulation), given the links between the developer programme membership and the App store as designated VLOP (very large online platform)."
In a letter sent to Epic, lawyers representing Apple said that Epic has proven to be "verifiably untrustworthy." Apple said it cannot be assured that Epic will follow the Apple Developer Program's terms and conditions in the future.
But Apple told Ars that Epic Games Sweden's access to a developer account was granted through a "click through" agreement that was not evaluated by Apple management. Now that Apple management is aware of that approval, the company says it has terminated that agreement following the same logic that led the company to by Epic for reinstatement to the iOS developer program.
Epic seems to be arguing that Apple is forbidden from any sort of oversight over who runs an app marketplace under the DMA. If Epic can’t run its own game store marketplace, Apple isn’t complying with the DMA — that seems to be their stance. Common sense suggests that can’t be right. There’s got to be some sort of line a developer can cross that would justify Apple revoking their developer account. One can argue that what Epic did with Fortnite and in-app payments in 2020 doesn’t cross that line. But that’s not what Epic is arguing — they’re arguing there should be no line, and that Apple should not have the discretion to decide who can run — and keep running — an app marketplace.
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Popcorn-eating-wise, I’m genuinely curious about Apple citing a U.S. court decision as grounds for banning Epic’s Swedish subsidiary from holding a developer account. What happens if the European Commission doesn’t see that ruling as applicable? Epic never lost a lawsuit to Apple in the E.U. So how is this going to pan out?
As the saying goes, pressure makes diamonds, and Apple’s policies are being tested. I hope it can get this right, yet press releases like this one gives me little reason to believe in positive results from Apple’s forcibly loosened grip on its most popular platform. And with the Digital Markets Act now in effect, those stakes are high. I never imagined Apple would be thrilled for the rules of its platform to be upended by courts and lawmakers nor excited by a penalty in the billions, but it sure seems like it would be better for everybody if Apple embraced reality.
I’ve been using Notion Calendar exclusively from the day it was announced, and I’ve become enamored with it. There are elements in Notion Calendar that have unlocked a new level of productivity for myself and our office, such as lightning-fast scheduling and instant Google Meet calls, or the ability to view a database right in the calendar alongside your events.
Notion Calendar isn’t the leader in any particularly calendaring category, but it’s an impressive first foray for the database app.
One of the highlights of the editor is four AI-powered tools—Enhance AI, Sky AI, Structure AI, and Relight AI. With those, you can do a number of tasks like replacing skies, unlocking details, and relighting a photo with a single click.
The latest feature to be added to Proton Mail is the option to hide your email address: That's where you set up an email alias to provide when you buy something or sign up for a social media service, while keeping your actual email address private.
Ergonis Software has upgraded its PopChar character discovery and font exploration utility—initially released in 1987!—to version 10 with a refreshed user interface, enhanced functionality, and streamlined app name (no more “X”).
The new device is geared toward non-insulin dependent diabetics, as well as anyone who may be at risk of developing diabetes.
Around the beginning of 2020, Apple Inc.’s top executives gathered at a former Chrysler testing track in Wittmann, Arizona, to try out the latest incarnation of the car the technology giant had been trying for years to make. The prototype, a white minivan with rounded sides, an all-glass roof, sliding doors and whitewall tires, was designed to comfortably seat four people and inspired by the classic flower-power Volkswagen microbus. The design was referred to within Apple, not always affectionately, as the Bread Loaf. The plan was for the vehicle to hit the market some five years later with a giant TV screen, a powerful audio system and windows that adjusted their own tint. The cabin would have club seating like a private plane, and passengers would be able to turn some of the seats into recliners and footrests.
Most important, the Bread Loaf would have what’s known in the industry as Level 5 autonomy, driving entirely on its own using a revolutionary onboard computer, a new operating system and cloud software developed in-house. There would be no steering wheel and no pedals, just a video-game-style controller or iPhone app for driving at low speed as a backup. Alternately, if the car found itself in a situation that it was unable to navigate, passengers would phone in to an Apple command center and ask to be driven remotely.
Apple, once the undisputed king of the technology world, is now under attack on many fronts.
I don't buy the idea that Apple is better off releasing a 'regular' electric car first, while continuing to research and develop self-driving technologies. Apple is simply not interested in doing 'just' an electric car, and if they have release that, the results will show. And if the self-driving technology that Apple wanted to do never arrives -- which, on hindsight, we know it will probably not arrive anytime soon -- Apple will be forced to maintain a product that it doesn't want exist. That is a bad situation for everybody involved.
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Thanks for reading.