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The Change-the-Buttons Edition Sunday, July 7, 2024

Epic Says Its EU iOS App Store Is Approved But That Apple Wants A Change, by Wes Davis, The Verge

But the approval is just “temporary,” posted Epic CEO Tim Sweeney, who puts Apple’s request differently. He says the company is “demanding we change the buttons in the next version,” vowing that the company will “fight this.” The apparently conditional approval is just the latest part of the back-and-forth saga between Apple and Epic.

Stuff

The Best Kids' Shows Are On Apple TV+, by Jason Keil, Lifehacker

Apple TV+ has quickly (and quietly) been overtaking PBS’ throne in quality programming for kids, bringing considerable value to this parent’s dwindling streaming budget.

Just Due It: Persistent Notifications For Tasks, by Adam Engst, TidBITS

Due’s claim to fame is that it repeatedly notifies you about outstanding tasks until you mark them as done or reschedule them. It’s nearly impossible to ignore Due, and many of its controls revolve around managing its reminder notifications.

Notes

Rashida Jones Wonders What Makes Us Human, by Michael Schulman, New Yorker

No, but I had heard that, too. You can’t vilify the phone. You can’t have a broken phone. But it’s funny, because with shows like this and “Severance,” it feels like Apple is working out its own feelings about what they are: “Wait, are we the big, onerous, scary tech overlord? Or are we the ones who have the good intentions, and somebody else comes in and changes the course of the good thing we were supposed to do?” At least they’re in therapy about it, is how I feel. To me, the irony’s not lost about Sunny being this shiny, round, white thing that’s taking over my house and permeating my life. I have one of those—it’s called an iPhone. Obviously, this story is its own thing, because it’s set in the near future and there are villains who aren’t necessarily technology. But there is some coming to terms with the fact that technology is expanding and learning much faster than we had ever imagined, and we’re forced to reckon with this existential question: What does it mean to be human?

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I started using Due during the start of the pandemic, when I started working from home, and discovered I was having a difficult time remembering to attend online meetings. I've set as default for reminders to keep pestering me every five minutes, until I either manually mark the reminder as complete, or reschedule it to a later time.

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