Steve Thomas - IT Consultant

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney is none too pleased with Apple’s new App Store rules, dubbing them once again a case of “malicious compliance” and filled with “junk fees.” As reported earlier this week, Apple decided it will charge fees on “sideloaded” apps in the EU — that is, apps and games downloaded from outside […]

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Apple has announced a raft of changes incoming to iOS in the European Union as the iPhone maker prepares to roll out its response to the bloc’s ex ante competition reform, the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Back in September, the EU designated Apple as one of six so-called “gatekeepers” subject to the DMA, listing the […]

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Alongside the numerous changes Apple is making to its platforms to comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), the company is also updating its rules around streaming game services and other apps that provide access to mini-apps or games. The changes could impact companies like Netflix, which has expanded into mobile and cloud gaming […]

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No wonder YouTube launched Shorts. A new study of children’s online habits found that children ages 4 through 18 spent a global average of 112 minutes daily on TikTok’s short video app in 2023, an increase from 107 minutes the year prior. And although YouTube remains the world’s biggest streaming app among this demographic, kids […]

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A new weather app, Weather Up 3.0, launching today, is pushing the boundaries of what iOS 17’s interactive widgets are capable of. The app is introducing fully interactive widgets, where you can tap on the forecast displayed on the widget to see more details about current conditions or the days ahead. The idea, explains developer […]

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Alinea Invest, a fintech app offering AI-powered wealth management aimed at Gen Z women, has $3.4 million in seed funding ahead of the launch of a virtual AI assistant that will help users with their investing needs. The fundraising comes on the heels of 225,000 downloads of Alinea’s app, leading to a revenue run-rate of […]

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There’s a reason why some people are die-hard Microsoft Outlook fans. It brings together your emails, your calendar events and your contacts in a single app. But… it’s Outlook. And some people can’t stand its convoluted interface. Amie, one of the most innovative apps in the new wave of calendar apps, is adding emails to […]

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Apple is determined to take a slice of in-app purchases, no matter how users access apps or make their payments, it seems. After dropping commissions to 27% following a court ruling that said Apple had to allow app developers the ability to point to their own payment options via the web, the company is now […]

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X, formerly Twitter, today announced support for passkeys, a new and more secure login method than traditional passwords, which will become an option for U.S. users on iOS devices. The technology has been adopted by a number of apps as of late, including PayPal, TikTok, WhatsApp, and others. Today we’re excited to launch Passkeys as […]

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Artisse, one of the many AI photo creation apps that let users generate photos of themselves using uploaded selfies combined with prompts, has raised $6.7 million in seed funding, following AI selfies’ viral moment. Similar to others on the market, Artisse users upload photos of themselves to train its AI on their images, then use […]

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It’s not just Netflix, Spotify, and YouTube that don’t have apps for Apple’s Vision Pro at launch. New App Store data indicates the new mixed reality headset and Apple’s foray into virtual reality has so far seen only a tepid response from app developers. As of this weekend, the AR/VR device’s App Store has just […]

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A bug on X, formerly Twitter, was causing numerous posts over the weekend to be flagged as “Sensitive Media,” thwarting the company’s own attempts to make its platform more approachable to advertisers. According to the X Safety account in a post, the issue has now been fixed and the team is working on removing the […]

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