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Apple is more than just the iPhone manufacturer. This $2 trillion company's decisions impact many facets of technology, financials, and everyday life. When the company is rumored to be getting into something new, the entire world pays attention. And since 1997, AppleInsider has been covering this fascinating electronics maker from every possible angle. From details of the next-generation iPhone and MacBook to key indicators expected to drive the company’s stock price, AppleInsider Daily has you completely covered on a daily basis.
Welcome to the AppleInsider Daily podcast for Thursday, February 15th, 20-24. I'm Charles Martin, and we begin today with ... be careful what you wish for.
Progressive web apps, or what Apple calls Home Screen web apps, where you can save a website you visit frequently to the Home Screen to use as though it was an app, are broken in the latest betas of iOS 17.4 currently in testing. In a note explaining this, Apple says it is giving up on progressive web apps because of an EU mandate that web apps must be free to use any browser engine available, rather than just Apple’s engine, WebKit.
Apple explains that by using WebKit as the default, PWAs inherited all the privacy and security features of Safari — but it wasn’t practical for the company to try and bring those features to every other alternative web browser engines because it was too much work, particularly given the small percentage of people using PWAs in the EU. Users there can still save web bookmarks to the Home Screen, which should be sufficient for most users.
Users outside the EU will see no change in Home Screen web apps on their devices, since WebKit is the default web engine for every browser used on iOS and iPadOS for the rest of the world.
In Quick Notes, Meta is encouraging users to buy boosted posts outside of the App Store in order to avoid a 30 percent fee by requiring them to pre-pay for the boosts with an account they've set up on their own site, and this has irritated Apple. The iPhone maker issued a statement noting that in-App purchases have always carried a commission -- which varies from 30 percent down to 15 percent -- to fund the costs of running the iOS App Store and the iOS platform itself, which free apps like FaceBook don't pay for.
Left unsaid by Meta is that one reason users may wish to boost posts from within the Facebook app is the fact that it's easy to cancel or request a refund if needed through the App Store than it is to recover pre-paid funds from the Facebook site or its "Meta Ads Manager" app, which relies on pre-paid fund and thus boosts purchased there don't count as in-app purchases.
Speaking of controversy, Kanye West bypassed his own music distribution label Fuga to release his latest album "Vultures 1" on streaming sites and stores include Apple Music and Spotify. Fuga had originally declined to distribute the album for unknown reasons, but possibly due to either some content on the album specifically, or West's general public reputation for prejudices against certain groups.
It appears West uploaded the album to Fuga's servers after the company refused the album, knowing the automated services would send to all the major players anyway. The album has since been removed by Apple, and the company previously removed the song "Good Don't Die" because of a complaint of copyright infringement by the late Donna Summer's estate. Spotify and others are expected to follow suit.
In rumour news, Taiwan's Economic Daily News is reporting that Apple's next generation of processors -- likely to be called the M4 and A18 -- will have more neural engine cores to better handle on-device AI technology. It's unclear when the M4 processor for Macs and iPad Pros -- or the M3 Ultra for that matter -- might debut, but the A18 is all but certain to arrive in the fall to accompany the next round of iPhones. We expect to hear much more about these chips and Apple's future AI plans this June, at WWDC.
In other tech news, Pelaton has already reversed itself on its plan to force users onto its own Pelaton one-tap tracking and to stop supporting GymKit, which feeds into the Apple Health app, after hearing back from its customers. While this is a welcome about-face, the reaction must have been very strong indeed to cause the company to drop its original plan so quickly, and one has to wonder why Pelaton didn't just do a survey or solicit feedback on the idea first.
In Apple Vision Pro news, a firm called Opto-Fidelity set out to measure how quickly various headsets relay real-world video of users' surroundings back to them, and unsurprisingly, the Apple Vision Pro was the winner, with a lag of around 10 milliseconds, compared to an average of 40 milliseconds from mix-reality headsets from HTC and Meta. We find it odd that Meta's Mark Zuckerberg failed to mention this important factor in his "review" of the Vision Pro.
Maybe it's because he has more to worry about in the social-network space, as TikTok has launched a native app for Apple's mixed-reality headset. Facebook, of course, doesn't have a native app for the Vision Pro at this time -- perhaps the folks over at Friendly, an alternative Facebook app, should create one first.
While you wait for one, Apple Arcade has emerged as one of the best places to find games that are truly ready to take advantage of the Vision Pro's spatial awareness. Though there are only a dozen or so games that offer native versions right now, the number is growing -- and the list already includes popular titles like Bloons, Cut the Rope 3, Jetpack Joyride 2, Super Fruit Ninja, Synth Riders, What the Golf?, and coming soon ... Aito's Odyssey: The Lost City.
Finally for today, an 82-year-old who was given an Apple Watch for Christmas says it may have saved his life after a car hit him. Tony Jauncey was crossing a small roundabout in Kidderminster in Worcestershire, England at the legal crossing when a car on the wrong side of the road cut a corner and drove straight into Jauncey.
He suffered a broken collar bone, cracked ribs, and severe bruising. Remarkably, he did not lose consciousness, and his Apple Watch said it detected a fall and asked if he wanted emergency services.
The driver of the car, along with three off-duty nurses who happened to be nearby, assisted him until rescue personnel arrived. Jauncy credits the watch with potentially saving his life, especially if the accident had happened in a rural area or if the driver had not stayed to help.
You can hear more news and analysis from AppleInsider on the WEEKLY AppleInsider podcast that’s out every Friday, as well as our HomeKitInsider podcast that's out every Monday -- links to both shows are in the notes for this one.
If you would like to support the AppleInsider Daily podcast, we are now accepting sponsorships. Contact information can be found in the show notes.
I've been Charles Martin, and THIS has been the AppleInsider Daily podcast for Thursday, February 15th, 20-24. Thank you for listening.