theverge--2020-08-14--Facebook accuses the ‘Apple tax’ of stifling its plan to help struggling small businesses

Facebook is launching a new events feature that will let page owners and event organizers create paid online events to try to fill the gap created by the COVID-19 pandemic , the social media giant announced on Friday .
But there ’ s one catch : the platform is going to earn those pages and businesses less on iOS , as Facebook says Apple is refusing to waive its standard App Store fees or allow the company to use its own in-app payment processing system it says would help the event organizers keep more of the money they generate .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ 30 % App Store tax or allow us to offer Facebook Pay so we could absorb all costs for businesses struggling during COVID-19 .
Unfortunately , they dismissed both our requests and [ small businesses ] will only be paid 70 % of their hard-earned revenue , ” says Fidji Simo , the head of Facebook ’ s main app , in a statement .
“ To support small businesses and creators , Facebook will not collect any fees from paid online events for at least the next year , ” Simo adds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and on Android in countries where we have rolled out Facebook Pay , small businesses will keep 100 % of the revenue they generate from paid online events.
” Simo , on a call with reporters on Friday , further clarified that this policy would remain in effect “ while communities remain closed for the pandemic.
” As a result of the Apple fee , Facebook says it plans to label online event ticket purchases on iOS with a new message reading , “ Apple takes 30 % of this purchase.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Apple for review.
, but it shared a proposed image of the order flow on its blog post announcing the new feature : “ With this case , in particular , we think it ’ s really important to be transparent when people are supporting small businesses where their money is going , ” Simo said in the call with reporters in response to a question from The Verge about the proposed Apple label .
“ When people are paying $ 20 for an online event , they think it ’ s all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ % is going to an almost $ 2 trillion company — that ’ s relevant information for people to have .
So we thought that it was an important thing to call out in the context of supporting small businesses.
” The new feature , which exists as part of the main Facebook app , is designed for page owners to “ create an online event , set a price , promote the event , collect payment and host the event , all in one place , ” Simo explains in the blog @ @ @ @ @ @ @ small businesses and those in the entertainment and live event space try to start earning money again following the devastating economic effects of COVID-19 and the subsequent closures of music venues , event spaces , and other venues for public gatherings .
The post says Facebook saw live broadcasts from pages double in June of this year compared to that time a year prior .
The company says pages in 20 countries around the world can now start charging for online events starting today , and it has a list here regarding eligibility @ @ @ @ @ @ @ condemnation of Apple we ’ ve seen from Facebook in the last week .
It also joins a growing swell of anti-App Store sentiment from the tech and gaming industries over Apple ’ s App Store policies and its rules banning or restricting how game companies can offer cloud services and custom in-app payment options .
Just yesterday , Apple removed Epic Games ’ Fortnite from the App Store after Epic implemented its own in-app payment processing system , leading Epic to file an antitrust lawsuit against the company ( and Google as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Earlier this month , Facebook rebuked Apple for forcing it to remove a key component of its new Facebook Gaming app — the ability to play mini-games within the app powered by its browser-based Instant Games platform — to get the software approved in the App Store .
Apple never gave a formal explanation .
Instead , the company pointed The Verge and others to a section of its App Store guidelines , section 4.7 , that dictates how developers can implement HTML5-based games into their apps .
It appears Facebook ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ violates these rules , though it ’ s not clear which ones in particular .
“ Even on the main Facebook app and Messenger , we ’ ve been forced to bury Instant Games for years on iOS , ” Facebook Gaming chief Vivek Sharma said in a statement to The Verge at the time .
“ This is shared pain across the games industry , which ultimately hurts players and devs and severely hamstrings innovation on mobile for other types of formats , like cloud gaming.
” Facebook says it even tried @ @ @ @ @ @ @ guidelines under a new rule Apple introduced at this year ’ s WWDC , following a rather public dustup with software company Basecamp over its new email service Hey .
Instead , Facebook says Apple gave it the cold shoulder .
“ We even appealed the guideline under the new app review process announced at WWDC , ” a Facebook spokesperson told The Verge .
“ We did not receive a response.
” Update August 14th , 3:39PM ET : Added quotes from Facebook app head Fidji Simo from a call with reporters @ @ @ @ @

Facebook is launching a new events feature that will let page owners and event organizers create paid online events to try to fill the gap created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the social media giant announced on Friday.
But there’s one catch: the platform is going to earn those pages and businesses less on iOS, as Facebook says Apple is refusing to waive its standard App Store fees or allow the company to use its own in-app payment processing system it says would help the event organizers keep more of the money they generate.
Apple denied Facebook’s request to waive fees for small businesses
“We asked Apple to reduce its 30% App Store tax or allow us to offer Facebook Pay so we could absorb all costs for businesses struggling during COVID-19. Unfortunately, they dismissed both our requests and [small businesses] will only be paid 70% of their hard-earned revenue,” says Fidji Simo, the head of Facebook’s main app, in a statement.
“To support small businesses and creators, Facebook will not collect any fees from paid online events for at least the next year,” Simo adds. “For transactions on the web, and on Android in countries where we have rolled out Facebook Pay, small businesses will keep 100% of the revenue they generate from paid online events.” Simo, on a call with reporters on Friday, further clarified that this policy would remain in effect “while communities remain closed for the pandemic.”
As a result of the Apple fee, Facebook says it plans to label online event ticket purchases on iOS with a new message reading, “Apple takes 30% of this purchase.” The company has submitted this change to Apple for review., but it shared a proposed image of the order flow on its blog post announcing the new feature:
Image: Facebook
“With this case, in particular, we think it’s really important to be transparent when people are supporting small businesses where their money is going,” Simo said in the call with reporters in response to a question from The Verge about the proposed Apple label. “When people are paying $20 for an online event, they think it’s all going to a local business when 30% is going to an almost $2 trillion company — that’s relevant information for people to have. So we thought that it was an important thing to call out in the context of supporting small businesses.”
The new feature, which exists as part of the main Facebook app, is designed for page owners to “create an online event, set a price, promote the event, collect payment and host the event, all in one place,” Simo explains in the blog post. The goal is to help small businesses and those in the entertainment and live event space try to start earning money again following the devastating economic effects of COVID-19 and the subsequent closures of music venues, event spaces, and other venues for public gatherings.
The post says Facebook saw live broadcasts from pages double in June of this year compared to that time a year prior. The company says pages in 20 countries around the world can now start charging for online events starting today, and it has a list here regarding eligibility.
This is just the second harsh condemnation of Apple we’ve seen from Facebook in the last week. It also joins a growing swell of anti-App Store sentiment from the tech and gaming industries over Apple’s App Store policies and its rules banning or restricting how game companies can offer cloud services and custom in-app payment options. Just yesterday, Apple removed Epic Games’ Fortnite from the App Store after Epic implemented its own in-app payment processing system, leading Epic to file an antitrust lawsuit against the company (and Google as well for doing the same).
Earlier this month, Facebook rebuked Apple for forcing it to remove a key component of its new Facebook Gaming app — the ability to play mini-games within the app powered by its browser-based Instant Games platform — to get the software approved in the App Store. Apple never gave a formal explanation. Instead, the company pointed The Verge and others to a section of its App Store guidelines, section 4.7, that dictates how developers can implement HTML5-based games into their apps. It appears Facebook’s use of in-app mini-games in some way violates these rules, though it’s not clear which ones in particular.
“Even on the main Facebook app and Messenger, we’ve been forced to bury Instant Games for years on iOS,” Facebook Gaming chief Vivek Sharma said in a statement to The Verge at the time. “This is shared pain across the games industry, which ultimately hurts players and devs and severely hamstrings innovation on mobile for other types of formats, like cloud gaming.”
Facebook says it even tried appealing that section of the App Store guidelines under a new rule Apple introduced at this year’s WWDC, following a rather public dustup with software company Basecamp over its new email service Hey. Instead, Facebook says Apple gave it the cold shoulder. “We even appealed the guideline under the new app review process announced at WWDC,” a Facebook spokesperson told The Verge. “We did not receive a response.”


theverge--2020-08-14--ICE just signed a contract with facial recognition company Clearview AI

Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE ) signed a contract with facial recognition company Clearview AI this week for “ mission support , ” government contracting records show ( as first spotted by the tech accountability nonprofit Tech Inquiry ) .
The purchase order for $ 224,000 describes “ clearview licenses ” and lists “ ICE mission support dallas ” as the contracting office .
ICE is known to use facial recognition technology ; last month , The Washington Post reported the agency , along with the FBI , had accessed state drivers ’ license databases — a veritable facial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ termed it — but without the knowledge or consent of drivers .
The agency has been criticized for its practices at the US southern border , which has included separating immigrant children from their families and detaining refugees indefinitely .
“ Clearview AI ’ s agreement is with Homeland Security Investigations ( HSI ) , which uses our technology for their Child Exploitation Unit and ongoing criminal investigations , ” Clearview AI CEO Hoan Ton-That said in an emailed statement to The Verge .
“ Clearview AI has enabled HSI to rescue children @ @ @ @ @ @ @ exploitation.
” Clearview AI has been in the spotlight since a January investigation from The New York Times showed that its facial recognition technology was in widespread use among law enforcement agencies and private companies .
The technology could identify someone just from a photo and put names to faces through its trove of 3 billion images scraped from social media sites — often against the platforms ’ rules .
Federal records also show Clearview signed a $ 50,000 contract with the US Air Force in December 2019 in response to an “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with a clear airforce stakeholder need.
” In May , Clearview said it would stop selling its app to private companies and would “ avoid transacting with non-governmental customers anywhere.
” As first reported by BuzzFeed News , thousands of companies , including the NBA , Bank of America , Macy ’ s , and Walmart , were discovered to be using Clearview ’ s technology .
However , the ICE contract would appear to comply with Clearview ’ s earlier pledge .
Several tech companies have sent cease and desist orders to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from social media posts .
And the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against Clearview in May for violating the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act ( BIPA ) .
The ACLU alleged the company illegally collected information on citizens of Illinois without their consent , later selling access to the information to law enforcement and private companies .

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) signed a contract with facial recognition company Clearview AI this week for “mission support,” government contracting records show (as first spotted by the tech accountability nonprofit Tech Inquiry). The purchase order for $224,000 describes “clearview licenses” and lists “ICE mission support dallas” as the contracting office.
ICE is known to use facial recognition technology; last month, The Washington Post reported the agency, along with the FBI, had accessed state drivers’ license databases — a veritable facial recognition gold mine, as the Post termed it — but without the knowledge or consent of drivers. The agency has been criticized for its practices at the US southern border, which has included separating immigrant children from their families and detaining refugees indefinitely.
“Clearview AI’s agreement is with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), which uses our technology for their Child Exploitation Unit and ongoing criminal investigations,” Clearview AI CEO Hoan Ton-That said in an emailed statement to The Verge. “Clearview AI has enabled HSI to rescue children across the country from sexual abuse and exploitation.”
Clearview AI has been in the spotlight since a January investigation from The New York Times showed that its facial recognition technology was in widespread use among law enforcement agencies and private companies. The technology could identify someone just from a photo and put names to faces through its trove of 3 billion images scraped from social media sites — often against the platforms’ rules.
Federal records also show Clearview signed a $50,000 contract with the US Air Force in December 2019 in response to an “open call for innovative defense-related dual-purpose technologies/solutions with a clear airforce stakeholder need.”
In May, Clearview said it would stop selling its app to private companies and would “avoid transacting with non-governmental customers anywhere.” As first reported by BuzzFeed News, thousands of companies, including the NBA, Bank of America, Macy’s, and Walmart, were discovered to be using Clearview’s technology. However, the ICE contract would appear to comply with Clearview’s earlier pledge.
Several tech companies have sent cease and desist orders to Clearview requesting it remove any data culled from social media posts. And the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against Clearview in May for violating the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). The ACLU alleged the company illegally collected information on citizens of Illinois without their consent, later selling access to the information to law enforcement and private companies.


theverge--2020-08-14--Are emoji reactions actually good?

Are emoji reactions actually good?

Many of us are online a lot more than usual these days , and much more of our communication is entirely virtual as well .
As we enter month six of pandemic life , that means once-small annoyances in virtual communication that you maybe used to let slide may have started to feel like all-consuming social indiscretions .
The Verge newsroom devolved into a debate over such a topic after reading Angela Lashbrook ’ s great piece in OneZero about how Instagram ’ s reaction buttons are a scourge .
You should go read it !
It inspired us to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ arguing over the merits of emoji reactions as a whole .
Some of us are anti-reaction , while others are pro-reaction ( *waves* ) .
The conversation was long and intense enough that we decided to lay out our thoughts in one place .
Ashley Carman : “ Reactions ” are bad for the same reason read receipts are bad ( see here for a full discourse on that ) .
Messages that only get a “ read ” or a “ reaction ” feel like unacknowledged bids for attention .
You ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you want to connect with a person over something you sent , whether it ’ s a link to a story , a meme , or a “ what ’ s up.
” “ A reaction is equivalent to a head nod in response.
” A reaction is equivalent to a head nod in response .
If that happened in person , it ’ d be really strange !
People expect to hear something in return for their reach-out , at least I do .
Now with that said , I do accept @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like a “ see you soon ” or “ I ’ m running late.
” Totally valid !
Just maybe picture someone sending a link or meme as them trying to connect with you — a head nod , or reaction , doesn ’ t suffice .
Nicole Wetsman : Reactions are useful !
I use them a lot when a friend sends a link or a picture or something random in the middle of talking about something else .
The react lets me show that I appreciate the good link or picture @ @ @ @ @ @ @ They ’ re also good in group messages , especially when you come back to your phone to see a bunch of texts .
You can acknowledge that you read back to earlier texts and jump in mid-convo .
It ’ s pretty easy to use them to be passive-aggressive , which is bad , but there ’ s always going to be a way to be passive-aggressive over text .
I like their upside , even if they ’ re another text etiquette thing to be anxious about .
“ Nothing sparks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ‘ thumbs-up ’ reaction in iMessage.
” Makena Kelly : Nothing sparks rage in me more than an empty “ thumbs-up ” reaction in iMessage .
You can “ Haha ” or “ Heart ” my meme , selfie , or message , but if that reaction isn ’ t paired with a follow-up message , you may as well have left me unread .
I ’ ve always thought of myself as a pretty horrible conversational texter .
I live for lengthy phone calls and FaceTime conversations after days or even weeks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ m making the effort to speak with you on the regular over text — coming up with interesting replies and taking a particular interest in the minute details of your everyday life — I expect the same energy in return .
A singular reaction in response to my message signals to me that I ’ m either about to be ghosted or I should just leave you alone .
I don ’ t mind if it takes someone hours to respond , so long as that response is thoughtful in the end @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wrong — I do think that reactions have their place in virtual conversation , just maybe not during a pandemic .
Like Ashley mentioned , if I ’ m running from the train station to your apartment or a restaurant and I receive a “ just got here , we ’ re seated in the corner ” message , I ’ ll quickly “ react ” to notify you that we ’ re on the same page .
But reactions shouldn ’ t be seen as a replacement for conversation .
And truly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thumbs-up ” ing my text is turning your read receipts off seemingly out of nowhere .
Bijan Stephen : Reactions are fine , read receipts are fine , and smart replies are also fine .
What ’ s important , I think , is not being an asshole about how you ’ re using the technology .
Read receipts , for example , only matter if you expect the person you ’ re communicating with not to answer in a timely manner — which would be the case anyway , even if they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ What ’ s important , I think , is not being an asshole about how you ’ re using the technology.
” I think the real problem is that when everyone has gone digital — out of necessity !
— everything becomes gamified .
Which is to say : you can tell if you ’ re really friends with someone — or if they consider you a real friend — super easily now .
A lot of analog relationships linger in that space between “ not texting a bunch ” and “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ while , ” which works when connections with people are primarily ambient and not proactive .
The internet has made us all into people who have to make the first move .
It kind of sucks !
But it really has nothing to do with the technology , imo .
Barbara Krasnoff : Two thoughts .
First , I ’ m not a fast phone typist , and so it takes me forever ( compared with most people ) to return a simple text or chat message .
And if the message comes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ m in the middle of a meeting , at a doctor ’ s appointment , trying to explain Zoom to my mother , or whatever — then my choice is to either ignore the message entirely until I have the time to handle it or do a quick response ( either automatic or via emoji ) until I have time to get to it ... and just hope whoever is on the other end understands .
“ In my mind anyway , a quick emoji ... is better than nothing at all.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , in the age of the dinosaurs , people would contact each other by calling on the phone , and if the other person was busy or not available , eventually , you ’ d have to hang up and call them back .
Later , you could leave them a message .
But although it could be enormously frustrating , the person you were calling wasn ’ t expected to be constantly , immediately available .
Now , they are — but none of us can be , really .
So in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or an automatic reply when I ’ m in a position where I can ’ t type but can only tap a single button is better than nothing at all .
Monica Chin : With all respect , I think a lot of the arguments against reacts are missing the point .
You ’ re all not criticizing reacts themselves ; you ’ re criticizing people who don ’ t want to put effort into responding to messages .
These people have been around since the dawn of the internet , and they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Some of these people just aren ’ t in the headspace to send messages at the moment , some don ’ t like texting at all , some are busy at work , some are just lazy .
Before reacts , these people weren ’ t sending long and heartfelt answers ; they were just sending “ lol ” or “ nice ” or not responding at all .
The existence of reacts doesn ’ t make it easier for these people to half-ass their responses ; it just gives them another @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But why are reacts good ?
Because , I would argue , they ’ re a better vehicle for chat laziness than the others we have at our disposal .
I would much rather get a “ haha ” react than not get a response at all .
It lets me know you read my message so I ’ m no longer waiting and can comfortably message again without worrying that I ’ m double-texting , and it gives me a sense of your reaction .
I think reacts are also preferable to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with cultural baggage that emoji haven ’ t had time yet to build .
Nobody disagrees that a thumbs-up reaction means “ I agree ” and a laughing reaction means “ I acknowledge that this is funny.
” But the message “ haha ” could just as easily mean “ That was really funny ” as “ that wasn ’ t funny at all , and I do not want to talk to you.
” Those sorts of replies are breeding grounds for overthinking and misinterpretation , especially between parties that don ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Reacts simplify things and save us that trouble .
“ The six reactions in iMessage just don ’ t give me enough emotional range !
” Jay Peters : I ’ m pretty pro-reactions , but I ’ m pretty very pro-emoji in general .
( I helped create two of them ! )
But I love emoji so much because I think they add a lot of emotion to computer-based interactions , which can be emotionally difficult to sort through sometimes .
At a time where we ’ re communicating almost entirely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hearing someone ’ s voice or seeing their body language , I think that being able to show that kind of nuance is almost a necessity .
Even if that sometimes means people send confusing or annoying hearts on iMessages .
And I strongly believe that software makers could go a lot further to help people express themselves with emoji reactions by taking after Slack and letting people use every emoji on the emoji keyboard instead of a limited few .
The six reactions in iMessage just don ’ t give me enough @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lead to unsatisfying replies like some of my colleagues have detailed here .
Human emotions are a lot more complex than heart , thumbs-up , thumbs-down , haha , two exclamation points , and a question mark .
Technology companies should give people more ways to easily express their full spectrum of feelings .

Many of us are online a lot more than usual these days, and much more of our communication is entirely virtual as well. As we enter month six of pandemic life, that means once-small annoyances in virtual communication that you maybe used to let slide may have started to feel like all-consuming social indiscretions.
The Verge newsroom devolved into a debate over such a topic after reading Angela Lashbrook’s great piece in OneZero about how Instagram’s reaction buttons are a scourge. You should go read it! It inspired us to spend the better part of an hour arguing over the merits of emoji reactions as a whole. Some of us are anti-reaction, while others are pro-reaction (*waves*). The conversation was long and intense enough that we decided to lay out our thoughts in one place.
Ashley Carman: “Reactions” are bad for the same reason read receipts are bad (see here for a full discourse on that). Messages that only get a “read” or a “reaction” feel like unacknowledged bids for attention. You’re typically sharing or saying something because you want to connect with a person over something you sent, whether it’s a link to a story, a meme, or a “what’s up.”
“A reaction is equivalent to a head nod in response.”
A reaction is equivalent to a head nod in response. If that happened in person, it’d be really strange! People expect to hear something in return for their reach-out, at least I do. Now with that said, I do accept a reaction to simple logistical texts, like a “see you soon” or “I’m running late.” Totally valid! Just maybe picture someone sending a link or meme as them trying to connect with you — a head nod, or reaction, doesn’t suffice.
Nicole Wetsman: Reactions are useful! I use them a lot when a friend sends a link or a picture or something random in the middle of talking about something else. The react lets me show that I appreciate the good link or picture without having to interrupt the conversation. They’re also good in group messages, especially when you come back to your phone to see a bunch of texts. You can acknowledge that you read back to earlier texts and jump in mid-convo. It’s pretty easy to use them to be passive-aggressive, which is bad, but there’s always going to be a way to be passive-aggressive over text. I like their upside, even if they’re another text etiquette thing to be anxious about.
“Nothing sparks rage in me more than an empty ‘thumbs-up’ reaction in iMessage.”
Makena Kelly: Nothing sparks rage in me more than an empty “thumbs-up” reaction in iMessage. You can “Haha” or “Heart” my meme, selfie, or message, but if that reaction isn’t paired with a follow-up message, you may as well have left me unread.
I’ve always thought of myself as a pretty horrible conversational texter. I live for lengthy phone calls and FaceTime conversations after days or even weeks of not chatting. So if I’m making the effort to speak with you on the regular over text — coming up with interesting replies and taking a particular interest in the minute details of your everyday life — I expect the same energy in return. A singular reaction in response to my message signals to me that I’m either about to be ghosted or I should just leave you alone. I don’t mind if it takes someone hours to respond, so long as that response is thoughtful in the end.
But don’t get me wrong — I do think that reactions have their place in virtual conversation, just maybe not during a pandemic. Like Ashley mentioned, if I’m running from the train station to your apartment or a restaurant and I receive a “just got here, we’re seated in the corner” message, I’ll quickly “react” to notify you that we’re on the same page. But reactions shouldn’t be seen as a replacement for conversation. And truly, the only thing crueler than “thumbs-up”ing my text is turning your read receipts off seemingly out of nowhere.
Bijan Stephen: Reactions are fine, read receipts are fine, and smart replies are also fine. What’s important, I think, is not being an asshole about how you’re using the technology. Read receipts, for example, only matter if you expect the person you’re communicating with not to answer in a timely manner — which would be the case anyway, even if they didn’t have them on.
“What’s important, I think, is not being an asshole about how you’re using the technology.”
I think the real problem is that when everyone has gone digital — out of necessity! — everything becomes gamified. Which is to say: you can tell if you’re really friends with someone — or if they consider you a real friend — super easily now. A lot of analog relationships linger in that space between “not texting a bunch” and “seeing each other every once in a while,” which works when connections with people are primarily ambient and not proactive.
The internet has made us all into people who have to make the first move. It kind of sucks! But it really has nothing to do with the technology, imo.
Barbara Krasnoff: Two thoughts. First, I’m not a fast phone typist, and so it takes me forever (compared with most people) to return a simple text or chat message. And if the message comes at a bad time — while I’m in the middle of a meeting, at a doctor’s appointment, trying to explain Zoom to my mother, or whatever — then my choice is to either ignore the message entirely until I have the time to handle it or do a quick response (either automatic or via emoji) until I have time to get to it... and just hope whoever is on the other end understands.
“In my mind anyway, a quick emoji ... is better than nothing at all.”
Second: once upon a time, in the age of the dinosaurs, people would contact each other by calling on the phone, and if the other person was busy or not available, eventually, you’d have to hang up and call them back. Later, you could leave them a message. But although it could be enormously frustrating, the person you were calling wasn’t expected to be constantly, immediately available. Now, they are — but none of us can be, really. So in my mind anyway, a quick emoji or an automatic reply when I’m in a position where I can’t type but can only tap a single button is better than nothing at all.
Monica Chin: With all respect, I think a lot of the arguments against reacts are missing the point. You’re all not criticizing reacts themselves; you’re criticizing people who don’t want to put effort into responding to messages. These people have been around since the dawn of the internet, and they will be around for years to come. Some of these people just aren’t in the headspace to send messages at the moment, some don’t like texting at all, some are busy at work, some are just lazy. Before reacts, these people weren’t sending long and heartfelt answers; they were just sending “lol” or “nice” or not responding at all. The existence of reacts doesn’t make it easier for these people to half-ass their responses; it just gives them another vehicle with which to do so.
“Before reacts, these people weren’t sending long and heartfelt answers.”
But why are reacts good? Because, I would argue, they’re a better vehicle for chat laziness than the others we have at our disposal. I would much rather get a “haha” react than not get a response at all. It lets me know you read my message so I’m no longer waiting and can comfortably message again without worrying that I’m double-texting, and it gives me a sense of your reaction. I think reacts are also preferable to quick one-word responses because the latter comes with cultural baggage that emoji haven’t had time yet to build. Nobody disagrees that a thumbs-up reaction means “I agree” and a laughing reaction means “I acknowledge that this is funny.” But the message “haha” could just as easily mean “That was really funny” as “that wasn’t funny at all, and I do not want to talk to you.” Those sorts of replies are breeding grounds for overthinking and misinterpretation, especially between parties that don’t know each other that well. Reacts simplify things and save us that trouble.
“The six reactions in iMessage just don’t give me enough emotional range!”
Jay Peters: I’m pretty pro-reactions, but I’m pretty very pro-emoji in general. (I helped create two of them!) But I love emoji so much because I think they add a lot of emotion to computer-based interactions, which can be emotionally difficult to sort through sometimes. At a time where we’re communicating almost entirely through digital mediums without the benefit of hearing someone’s voice or seeing their body language, I think that being able to show that kind of nuance is almost a necessity. Even if that sometimes means people send confusing or annoying hearts on iMessages.
And I strongly believe that software makers could go a lot further to help people express themselves with emoji reactions by taking after Slack and letting people use every emoji on the emoji keyboard instead of a limited few. The six reactions in iMessage just don’t give me enough emotional range! And they can easily lead to unsatisfying replies like some of my colleagues have detailed here.


theverge--2020-08-15--Save on Genki’s Covert Dock, preowned games, and more this weekend

Only the best deals on Verge-approved gadgets get the Verge Deals stamp of approval , so if you 're looking for a deal on your next gadget or gift from major retailers like Amazon , Walmart , Best Buy , Target , and more , this is the place to be .
Genki is offering a 15 percent discount to readers of The Verge who buy two or more products from its site .
Two easy picks are its new Covert Dock for the Nintendo Switch along with the Portable Stand or Genki Audio Bluetooth adapter for the Switch to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up buying , just add them to your cart and then paste in the offer code ONTHEVERGE at checkout to save .
If you were thinking about getting the Covert Dock and the Portable Stand together , the cost goes from $ 95 down to $ 80 .
There are more gaming-related deals to absorb because GameStop is hosting a one-day sale on games and accessories that ends once the clock flips over to Sunday .
You can check out everything that ’ s offered in the sale here , but I ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ couple of favorites .
• Pre-owned Xbox One Bluetooth wireless controllers and DualShock 4 wireless controllers are $ 30 ( usually $ 50 ) • You can buy two pre-owned Xbox One or PS4 games , and get the third one for free The $ 250 off deal on the OnePlus 7 Pro I wrote about a few days ago ends this weekend .
Until then , Daily Steals is selling this brand-new model with a full one-year warranty for $ 449 .
It normally costs $ 699 , so it ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ll be getting the mid-tier configuration with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage .
Daily Steals ’ page says that it ’ s the Sprint variant , but it will work on AT & T and T-Mobile .

Genki is offering a 15 percent discount to readers of The Verge who buy two or more products from its site. Two easy picks are its new Covert Dock for the Nintendo Switch along with the Portable Stand or Genki Audio Bluetooth adapter for the Switch to go with it. Whatever you end up buying, just add them to your cart and then paste in the offer code ONTHEVERGE at checkout to save. If you were thinking about getting the Covert Dock and the Portable Stand together, the cost goes from $95 down to $80.
Save 15 percent on Genki gaming products / Use the offer code ONTHEVERGE to score a discount on the new Covert Dock and one other accessory purchased with it. Buy at Genki
Animal Crossing: New Horizons for Nintendo Switch is discounted for the first time at Amazon. Normally $60, it’s $50 for the physical edition.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons / Was $60, now 17% off $50 at Amazon
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate rarely sees a discount from its usual $60 price, but today that’s happening at Amazon.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate / Was $60, now 17% off $50 at Amazon
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
There are more gaming-related deals to absorb because GameStop is hosting a one-day sale on games and accessories that ends once the clock flips over to Sunday. You can check out everything that’s offered in the sale here, but I’m just going to pluck out a couple of favorites.
Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
The $250 off deal on the OnePlus 7 Pro I wrote about a few days ago ends this weekend. Until then, Daily Steals is selling this brand-new model with a full one-year warranty for $449. It normally costs $699, so it’s a huge price drop considering you’ll be getting the mid-tier configuration with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Daily Steals’ page says that it’s the Sprint variant, but it will work on AT&T and T-Mobile.


theverge--2020-08-14--Trump gives TikTok a new deadline: 90 days instead of 45

President Trump issued an executive order Friday giving ByteDance 90 days to either sell or spin off its TikTok business in the US .
“ There is credible evidence that leads me to believe that ByteDance ... might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States , ” Trump wrote in the order , which references national security concerns .
ByteDance is based in China , and the Trump administration has recently suggested that the company could share information about Americans with the Chinese government .
The company has denied it does so .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reprieve from Trump ’ s August 6th order that would have blocked all US transactions with ByteDance , TikTok ’ s parent corporation , due to what the president referred to as an effort to “ address the national emergency with respect to the information and communication technology supply chain.
” Originally , TikTok had a September 20th deadline ; now , it has until November 12th .
The latest executive order requires ByteDance to destroy any TikTok data from US users , and report to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been destroyed .
ByteDance must also destroy any data collected from TikTok precursor app Musical.ly , which the company bought in 2017 .
The original order with the 45-day deadline didn ’ t include those requirements .
“ As we ’ ve said previously , TikTok is loved by 100 million Americans because it is a home for entertainment , self-expression , and connection , ” TikTok said in an email statement to The Verge on Friday .
“ We ’ re committed to continuing to bring joy to families and meaningful careers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for many years to come.
” Microsoft has been in talks to acquire TikTok — though co-founder Bill Gates has since called the potential deal a “ poisoned chalice ” — and reports last week suggested Twitter also was interested .
It ’ s not clear how Friday ’ s executive order affects a potential sale , but Microsoft said it expected to complete the discussions “ no later than September 15th , 2020.
” Theoretically , Trump ’ s original timeline would have been enough for Microsoft , so we ’ re @ @ @ @ @ @

President Trump issued an executive order Friday giving ByteDance 90 days to either sell or spin off its TikTok business in the US.
“There is credible evidence that leads me to believe that ByteDance ... might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States,” Trump wrote in the order, which references national security concerns. ByteDance is based in China, and the Trump administration has recently suggested that the company could share information about Americans with the Chinese government. The company has denied it does so.
The move gives TikTok a bit of a reprieve from Trump’s August 6th order that would have blocked all US transactions with ByteDance, TikTok’s parent corporation, due to what the president referred to as an effort to “address the national emergency with respect to the information and communication technology supply chain.” Originally, TikTok had a September 20th deadline; now, it has until November 12th.
The latest executive order requires ByteDance to destroy any TikTok data from US users, and report to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States once all the data has been destroyed. ByteDance must also destroy any data collected from TikTok precursor app Musical.ly, which the company bought in 2017. The original order with the 45-day deadline didn’t include those requirements.
“As we’ve said previously, TikTok is loved by 100 million Americans because it is a home for entertainment, self-expression, and connection,” TikTok said in an email statement to The Verge on Friday. “We’re committed to continuing to bring joy to families and meaningful careers to those who create on our platform for many years to come.”


theverge--2020-08-15--Telegram launches one-on-one video calls on iOS and Android

Secure messaging app Telegram has launched an alpha version of one-on-one video calls on both its Android and iOS apps , the company announced , saying 2020 had “ highlighted the need for face-to-face communication.
” In a blog post marking its seventh anniversary , Telegram described the process for starting a video call : tap the profile page of the person you want to connect with .
Users are able to switch video on or off at any time during a call , and the video calls support picture-in-picture mode , so users can continue scrolling through the app @ @ @ @ @ @ @ calls will have end-to-end-encryption , Telegram ’ s blog posts states , one of the app ’ s defining features for its audio calls and texting .
“ Our apps for Android and iOS have reproducible builds , so anyone can verify encryption and confirm that their app uses the exact same open source code that we publish with each update , ” according to the post .
In April , Telegram announced it would launch group video calls later this year .
This isn ’ t quite that , but in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ indicated that “ video calls will receive more features and improvements in future versions , as we work toward launching group video calls in the coming months.
” Telegram said in April it had reached 400 million monthly active users .

Secure messaging app Telegram has launched an alpha version of one-on-one video calls on both its Android and iOS apps, the company announced, saying 2020 had “highlighted the need for face-to-face communication.”
In a blog post marking its seventh anniversary, Telegram described the process for starting a video call: tap the profile page of the person you want to connect with. Users are able to switch video on or off at any time during a call, and the video calls support picture-in-picture mode, so users can continue scrolling through the app if that call gets boring. Video calls will have end-to-end-encryption, Telegram’s blog posts states, one of the app’s defining features for its audio calls and texting.
Telegram
“Our apps for Android and iOS have reproducible builds, so anyone can verify encryption and confirm that their app uses the exact same open source code that we publish with each update,” according to the post.
In April, Telegram announced it would launch group video calls later this year. This isn’t quite that, but in the most recent blog post, the company indicated that “video calls will receive more features and improvements in future versions, as we work toward launching group video calls in the coming months.”


theverge--2020-08-15--President Trump now has a profile on TikTok rival Triller

President Donald Trump has joined Triller , a rival to the video sharing app TikTok that he wants ban in the US .
First noted by New York Times reporter Taylor Lorenz , Trump ’ s Triller account ( @ donaldjtrump ) has about 3,500 followers , and his introductory video has more than 590,000 views .
The intro video features clips of the president and audio clips of him saying “ I ’ m a professional at technology , ” and “ nobody can do it like me.
” The other two videos on the account as of Saturday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ making a short speech in which he says “ Joe Biden has no clue , ” and another clip mocking the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee .
Over the past few weeks , as the Trump administration has continued its push against TikTok in the US , Triller is one of several similar apps to see a sharp uptick in users , with more than 700,000 downloads in the past month .
TikTok said in April it had hit 2 billion downloads globally , with 315 million downloads in the first quarter of 2020 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ TikTok , in 2015 , and co-owner Ryan Kavanaugh told CNBC that the company sees itself as the “ adult version ” of TikTok , with content that ’ s “ a little more risque.
” On Friday , President Trump issued an executive order giving ByteDance 90 days to either sell or spin off its TikTok business in the US .
TikTok parent company ByteDance is based in China , and the Trump administration has suggested that the company could share information about Americans with the Chinese government , which the company @ @ @ @ @ @ @ president issued an executive order that would have blocked all US transactions with ByteDance to “ address the national emergency with respect to the information and communication technology supply chain.
” Microsoft has been in talks to acquire TikTok —a deal which co-founder Bill Gates called a “ poisoned chalice ” — and reports last week suggested Twitter was possibly interested .
Microsoft said it expected to complete the discussions “ no later than September 15th , 2020 .
”

President Donald Trump has joined Triller, a rival to the video sharing app TikTok that he wants ban in the US. First noted by New York Times reporter Taylor Lorenz, Trump’s Triller account (@donaldjtrump) has about 3,500 followers, and his introductory video has more than 590,000 views.
The intro video features clips of the president and audio clips of him saying “I’m a professional at technology,” and “nobody can do it like me.” The other two videos on the account as of Saturday afternoon were a clip of the president making a short speech in which he says “Joe Biden has no clue,” and another clip mocking the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.
Over the past few weeks, as the Trump administration has continued its push against TikTok in the US, Triller is one of several similar apps to see a sharp uptick in users, with more than 700,000 downloads in the past month. TikTok said in April it had hit 2 billion downloads globally, with 315 million downloads in the first quarter of 2020 alone.
Triller launched two years before TikTok, in 2015, and co-owner Ryan Kavanaugh told CNBC that the company sees itself as the “adult version” of TikTok, with content that’s “a little more risque.”
On Friday, President Trump issued an executive order giving ByteDance 90 days to either sell or spin off its TikTok business in the US. TikTok parent company ByteDance is based in China, and the Trump administration has suggested that the company could share information about Americans with the Chinese government, which the company has denied. Earlier this month the president issued an executive order that would have blocked all US transactions with ByteDance to “address the national emergency with respect to the information and communication technology supply chain.”


theverge--2020-08-15--Apple stumbled into a war with the gaming industry, and the future of iOS is at stake

Share All sharing options for : Apple stumbled into a war with the gaming industry , and the future of iOS is at stake Apple has always had a complicated relationship with the game industry , but this month that relationship slid into a bitter and very public legal and regulatory war that could shape the future of iPhone apps .
The first escalation occurred when Apple laid out in clear terms why it has no plans to ever approve cloud gaming services from its tech rivals Google and Microsoft .
The second was when Apple kicked the massively popular @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Store after its creator , Epic Games , provoked the company with a rule-violating update .
Epic countered Apple ’ s removal with an antitrust lawsuit , prepared well in advance and complete with a detailed 62-page legal complaint .
It may be a strong enough case to impose long-lasting changes on Apple ’ s business .
But Epic ’ s dramatic public performance — an unprecedented bit of corporate trolling the likes of which we ’ ve never seen — sets up the feud with Apple as a fight bordering on good @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bad guy aggressively taxing and restricting developers .
Epic ’ s complaint argues that behavior also breaks the law .
Epic ’ s savvy stunt sets up its feud with Apple as a fight bordering good versus evil The company is also suing Google on similar grounds , after Google removed Fortnite from its Play Store .
But as Epic made clear in an unprecedented video mocking Apple ’ s iconic “ 1984 ” Macintosh ad — one that also aired directly to players within the virtual world of Fortnite itself — the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ longstanding and often controversial stewardship of the iOS app ecosystem .
The ad features a signature Fortnite character racing into a dimly lit auditorium of corporate zombies , slack jawed and eyes glazed as an anthropomorphic Apple celebrates exploitation of the working class .
The character swings her pickaxe toward the screen , shattering it and displaying a message modeled after the original Apple ad ’ s memorable onscreen text : “ Epic Games has defied the App Store monopoly .
In retaliation , Apple is blocking Fornite from a billion devices .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ becoming ‘ 1984.
’ ” It ’ s a stunning piece of animation because it uses Apple ’ s original underdog persona in the personal computing industry of the 1980s and Orwellian themes of state control to cast Apple as the ultimate villain , its growth and greed having turned it into the very suit-clad enemy it railed against nearly four decades ago .
Individually , either of Apple ’ s moves — yanking Fortnite or banning cloud gaming services — might make gamers skeptical about Apple ’ s control over the App @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to bring the best games to mobile and keep them there .
But together , Apple is at risk of losing a generation of young , game-loving smartphone owners that might prefer platforms and services the iPhone maker has shown it has little control over .
Apple , which has presided as gatekeeper over one of the most lucrative gaming booms of the last decade , has now removed one of the most popular mobile games ever made from its store , one played by kids and teens around the globe .
Many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no need for a gaming console or PC , as Fortnite itself proves .
At the same time , Apple is explicitly and purposefully excluding cloud gaming platforms that could bring the kinds of games that require a dedicated console or PC to those same gamers ’ phones — by using the iPhone or iPad ’ s screen and network connection as mere conduits for a cloud gaming server instead .
APPLE , FORTNITE , AND THE HIDDEN THREAT OF CLOUD GAMING Apple ’ s ban on cloud gaming was not entirely unexpected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
When the company explained why Google Stadia and Microsoft xCloud can ’ t ever exist on iOS , condemnation of the move was swift even among Apple-focused sites .
Macworld called the move a “ patently absurd ” excuse , AppleInsider said it was “ consumer hostile , ” even trusted Apple blogger John Gruber of Daring Fireball called it “ nonsensical ” in his writeup .
That Apple explanation : cloud gaming services don ’ t belong because they offer access to a library of games Apple can ’ t review @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the iPhone and iPad , they must be submitted individually for inspection , subject to user reviews , and findable in search results , Apple suggests .
Games , in Apple ’ s eyes , aren ’ t to be treated the same as music , movies , and TV shows , but rather as software that warrants careful inspection lest they be updated later in ways that violate its strict content guidelines , the company tells The Verge .
Games in Apple ’ s eyes aren ’ t to be treated the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ TV shows , but rather as software Unsaid here , of course , is that all apps peddling digital goods of any kind must pay Apple ’ s 30 percent fee .
Cloud gaming apps , which offer access to many games that contain their own virtual marketplaces of digital goods , complicate that enshrined business arrangement .
How might Apple collect its take if a player is spending money inside Epic ’ s Fortnite , once it ’ s streamed over Microsoft ’ s xCloud instead of locally on their phones ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ a deep hatred for rent-seeking middlemen and marketplace restrictions , has been a vocal critic of the App Store in the past , and he had harsh words for Apple ’ s cloud gaming restrictions .
Last Thursday , he tweeted , “ Apple has outlawed the metaverse .
The principle they state , taken literally , would rule out all cross-platform ecosystems and games with user created modes : not just XCloud , Stadia , and GeForce NOW , but also Fortnite , Minecraft , and Roblox.
” One week later , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Fortnite app with its own in-app payment system , bypassing Apple ’ s 30 percent cut .
It didn ’ t stop there : it also lowered prices for all in-app purchases when using that payment system by 20 percent , claiming that it was passing on the savings to consumers .
( Never mind that if Epic ’ s saving 30 percent and passing along 20 percent , it takes home an extra 10 percent itself . )
Because Apple removed the app , Epic can now claim it has evidence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s using that supposed harm to rile up angry consumers and pit them against Apple with its # FreeFortnite campaign as well .
But really , Epic knew that Fortnite would be banned all along .
As a defense , it had a prepared lawsuit and a full-blown social media campaign ready to allege that Apple is committing antitrust violations with regard to its operation of the App Store and the rules and payment mechanisms that underpin it .
While the lawsuit Epic filed against Google makes similar claims , Android users can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Fortnite with no issue by using Epic ’ s own third-party launcher , downloadable from a web browser .
The same is not true of the iPhone .
This is where Sweeney ’ s earlier complaint about Apple ’ s cloud gaming ban helps illuminate his reasoning .
Epic ’ s lawsuit doesn ’ t seek monetary relief .
Rather it wants the App Store broken up and , short of that , the ability to use its own payment systems or a more generous split on in-app purchases .
From Sweeney ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to any and all game makers trying to build immersive entertainment and commerce platforms that , like Fortnite and other massively multiplayer games , may one day replace the web .
In that context , Epic ’ s “ 1984 ” parody takes on a more self-serious tone , and Epic ’ s fight starts to resemble the virtuous campaign Sweeney casts it as .
In a four-part tweet thread published Friday evening , Sweeney said the fight with Apple was not about money , but about “ the basic freedoms of all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Apple as a company restricting the liberties of smartphone owners by restricting which apps they can install and how developers distribute that software .
With Fortnite , Epic is waging war against Apple ’ s well-established , crystal-clear rules by defying Apple ’ s 30-percent cut in dramatic , public , and legal fashion .
( Few have had the gall to do that before . )
But with cloud gaming , Apple ’ s App Store rules are a little less clear-cut — and frankly , the rules don ’ t even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tech blogger John Gruber did the work of decoding what Apple was actually saying in its cryptic cloud gaming statement , the one about Apple ’ s desire to individually review each and every game , in a blog post last week .
He thinks it is less about individual games needing to be their own apps and more about the very nature of cloud gaming platforms as being , in his words , “ simply verboten.
” Why ?
We don ’ t know for sure , but Gruber postulates it ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ones run remotely in the cloud .
Apple won ’ t say exactly why it won ’ t allow cloud gaming platforms on the App Store ” It is a nonsensical justification , no doubt about that .
But the comparison to Netflix or Spotify is beside the point .
Of course Apple doesn ’ t and can ’ t review every movie on Netflix or every song on Spotify .
But if you think about it , they could review every game on Xbox Game Pass .
Even if it ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them all , ” Gruber wrote .
“ The point is that streaming video and music services are allowed in the App Store ; streaming software ( games or otherwise ) is not , unless it works over the web .
Apple just doesn ’ t want to say that.
” Microsoft issued the sharpest rebuke of Apple ’ s position in a statement late last week , when it said the company ’ s ban on cloud gaming was further evidence it treats game makers and gaming apps unfairly .
“ Apple @ @ @ @ @ @ @ platform to deny consumers from cloud gaming and game subscription services like Xbox Game Pass .
And it consistently treats gaming apps differently , applying more lenient rules to non-gaming apps even when they include interactive content , ” a Microsoft spokesperson said , referencing the kind of experimental interactive videos Netflix has invested in that could be classified as video games .
It ’ s true that examples of Apple ’ s preferential treatment of non-gaming services exist , especially around that increasingly controversial 30 percent cut , often called the “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ services like Netflix and Spotify can pay just 15 percent instead of 30 percent after a customer has been signed up for longer than a year .
More recently , Apple started letting Amazon sell movie and TV rentals without paying the cut at all , as part of a new program that only a small handful of streaming video platforms have been able to join ( the other two are lesser-known services Atlice One and Canal+ ) .
Yet like music streaming services , gaming apps don ’ t appear to qualify @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gaming apps may have made sense in a world where all games must be downloaded and run locally on hardware , cloud gaming is beginning to upend that arrangement in a way that could massively alter the video game industry , similar to how streaming changed Hollywood filmmaking and television forever .
Apple has exempted apps from Amazon and others from paying the 30 percent cut Suddenly , Apple ’ s reasoning behind requiring every game on iOS be submitted individually , instead of as part of a larger portal or subscription service @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , for instance , does Netflix not have to get approval for every new show it puts live on its streaming video app , even those that have interactive elements like Black Mirror : Bandersnatch ?
What of YouTube , with its endlessly growing mountain of user-generated content ?
Apple did not respond to repeated requests for comment on whether there is a specific App Store guideline that says games must be submitted individually , or an exemption for interactive content found in streaming video apps like Netflix or YouTube .
We couldn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the guidelines , and although section 4.2.7 specifically addresses “ remote desktop clients ” in a way that seems to ban “ thin clients for cloud-based apps , ” there does not appear to be any rule saying all games on iOS must be submitted as individual apps .
Cloud gaming offers a different vision of game development and distribution than the one Apple offers , or for that matter Sony and Nintendo .
Games of the future may not need players to own powerful hardware or even to pay full price for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cloud server far away and a monthly subscription service could , in theory , deliver a Netflix-style buffet of all-you-can-play offerings .
All of it would be available on your TV , phone , tablet , or whatever other screen you have handy that can link up with a relatively speedy internet connection .
There are conceivable reasons why cloud gaming poses a threat to Apple .
Apple might not want to hammer out new App Store arrangements for subscription gaming services , or review processes for evaluating every new title on a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It might simply not want to cede control of the user experience when an iPhone simply becomes a tiny wireless TV screen for games running on remote Windows or Linux PCs .
Why build an iOS game when you can distribute through a cloud gaming service without paying the App Store cut ?
There ’ s also the argument that a cloud app is the ultimate version of a piece of software , living anywhere and accessible on any device .
Why in that scenario would a game developer make a dedicated iOS @ @ @ @ @ @ @ purchases and all the other bells and whistles required of an iPhone game , when they could more easily publish the game on xCloud or cut a deal with Google and distribute it through Stadia ?
Doing so in a world where Apple greenlights cloud gaming apps makes such software immediately streamable to mobile devices , without the developer submitting it for Apple review or paying the dreaded “ Apple tax.
” But regardless of the reason , the company ’ s defiance — despite eager pleas from its competitors and the demands @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Change.org petition pleading with Apple to change its mind ) — is setting the stage for a world where iPhone users lack access to what may very well be the future of how video games are played .
Meanwhile , Google , Microsoft , Nvidia , and other platform providers and their partners are coalescing around Android as the forward-thinking platform for the future of mobile and cloud gaming .
Starting September 15th , Android owners will be able to use Microsoft ’ s xCloud , Google Stadia , Nvidia ’ s GeForce @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Parsec and Vortex .
On the iPhone , you won ’ t be able to access any of those platforms .
In many ways , this is yet another chapter in the ongoing Apple antitrust saga .
Critics , regulators , and developers are more concerned than ever that Apple is exerting undue influence over the app makers on its platform , even as it builds its own products and services that compete with those of its developers .
Apple has the added benefit of granting its own products access to iOS hardware @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not .
We ’ ve seen this play out countless times before — to be “ sherlocked ” in the software industry means to have Apple copy a key product or feature and integrate it into its own operating systems or apps , thereby killing the competition in the process .
But the conversation around Apple ’ s power and whether it constitutes monopolistic behavior has grown louder in recent years .
The company now faces two antitrust investigations in the European Union , launched in part because companies like Spotify complained that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ field by using its App Store rules and iOS privileges to stifle its rivals .
The conversation around Apple ’ s power and whether it constitutes monopolistic behavior has grown louder in recent years Earlier this summer , Apple also found itself in a huge showdown with Basecamp , the company behind a new email service Hey that Apple barred from updating its iOS app over disagreements about how the app was designed and whether it should have to fork over the App Store cut .
Similar to a cloud gaming platform , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ service that ran up against Apple ’ s inconsistent stewardship of the App Store , simply because Apple didn ’ t already have a clear rule regulating that type of app .
So when Hey tried to bypass the App Store cut , as many similar enterprise apps have done in the past , Apple blocked Basecamp from updating it , prompting the company ’ s co-founders to launch vocal social media and press campaign to win public favor .
Apple only relented when Basecamp added an in-app sign-up option .
Following the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for developers to appeal App Store guidelines they felt were being unjustly enforced , as Basecamp did .
But Facebook soon claimed the appeals process is just the latest way Apple is unfairly treating gaming : the company says it tried to appeal after it submitted its dedicated Facebook Gaming mobile app to the App Store but was denied , because the app contained access to a platform that lets you play small Flash-style mini games via a built-in web browser .
It wasn ’ t a cloud gaming issue per se , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the denial are similar : Apple doesn ’ t like developers offering access to apps or app stores nested within other pieces of iOS software , except under very specific circumstances .
Facebook removed the ability to play games , and it says Apple then approved the app .
But when Facebook submitted its appeal , it says it heard nothing back .
“ Even on the main Facebook app and Messenger , we ’ ve been forced to bury Instant Games for years on iOS , ” Facebook Gaming chief Vivek Sharma @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ This is shared pain across the games industry , which ultimately hurts players and devs and severely hamstrings innovation on mobile for other types of formats , like cloud gaming.
” Last week , the EU said it was “ aware ” of the cloud gaming ban , Reuters reports , although antitrust investigators declined to comment on whether the decision would factor into its ongoing probe .
On one end , this is shaping up to be a potential antitrust issue , especially if Apple ever builds its own cloud @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it ’ s only the latest altercation in Apple ’ s long and controversial relationship with the gaming industry .
The App Store as it exists today , and by extension the entire iOS platform , owes much of its success to the growth and sustained popularity of gaming apps .
The earliest iPhone success stories were hits like Angry Birds that transformed into massive multimedia franchises .
Later , the biggest game companies on the planet , like Activision Blizzard and China ’ s Tencent , would invest heavily in smaller studios @ @ @ @ @ @ @ King ’ s Candy Crush Saga and TiMi Studios ’ Honor of Kings and Arena of Valor .
Surprise hits like the augmented reality trailblazer Pokémon Go would further establish the appetite for new mobile-first gaming experiences , with the iPhone in the lead as the go-to platform for monetizing this software , despite the fees Apple extracts .
The App Store owes much of its success to the growth and sustained popularity of gaming apps But only in recent years has Apple formally acknowledged the category by breaking it out as one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mobile marketplace and launching its own paid subscription service , Arcade , full of games that Apple paid developers to create exclusively for its own platform .
For a majority of the last decade , Apple treated gaming as a sideshow , choosing to cede the PC market to Microsoft by refusing to equip its laptops and desktops with the GPUs necessary to play more powerful computer games and largely resting on its laurels on mobile as Android struggled with piracy and copyright infringement .
All the while , the game industry , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ treated Apple as a benevolent dictator on iOS , not to be fought with and often in a position of absolute authority .
While Fortnite maker Epic attempted to bypass Google ’ s Play Store by distributing the mobile version of the battle royale hit on its own ( an effort it eventually declared a failure ) , Epic didn ’ t dare try a similar method for the iOS version until this month ’ s in-app payment coup .
( The reason is simple : there is no way for a developer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ without going through Apple and paying its App Store fee , unless they exploit loopholes or target only jailbroken devices . )
Eventually , however , gaming became too big for the tech industry to ignore , and Apple wanted a bigger slice .
The company launched its Arcade subscription in September of last year , and the service has grown to include more than 100 titles all available for download for one monthly fee of $ 4.99 .
It was a bold play to further legitimize iOS gaming as a space with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ d more likely find from well-established indie developers and mobile app veterans .
Subscriptions and gaming haven ’ t mixed well in the past , due to complex factors ranging from the investment required to create a game to the various financial risks inherent in selling them across a vast network of digital markets .
But here was Apple , offering money up front to cover development costs and then some .
And it ’ s largely been considered a success , even if the financial arrangements and Apple ’ s strict @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who can ’ t easily pivot their games to other platforms .
But Apple wasn ’ t alone , and subscription services that involve both buffet-style slates and ala carte marketplaces have begun popping up with cloud gaming technology tied at the hip .
Now , coming on September 15th , is Microsoft ’ s xCloud , which marries two forward-thinking business models for game distribution into one elegant-seeming service .
Microsoft is already an industry leader in subscription services with Xbox Game Pass , which it first launched back in 2017 that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ games , including past and future first-party Microsoft games like the upcoming Halo Infinite , that can be downloaded and kept for as long as you pay the monthly fee .
Every game Microsoft announced for its next Xbox game console last month will come to Game Pass as well .
xCloud could make cloud gaming much more palatable , but iPhone users are getting left out And next month , the Ultimate version of the subscription , which includes access to PC and Xbox games for $ 15 a month , will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ giving subscribers the ability to stream any of the Game Pass titles to their Android phone for no added cost .
The move could make xCloud a formidable competitor to Google ’ s Stadia and Nvidia ’ s GeForce Now , as anyone with a PC or Xbox and an Android phone will be able to enjoy a much more robust library of games across a variety of screens .
Cloud gaming may take many years to fully mature into a technology that can rival running native software downloaded to a device .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ is in the way xCloud is designed : as an added mobile benefit to an already-great multi-platform subscription service .
This could kickstart cloud gaming in ways Stadia , GeForce Now , and lesser-known services like Shadow never could .
The only issue now is that a huge chunk of the smartphone-owning audience won ’ t get to come along for the ride .
That ’ s because Apple has decided such products are not in its own best interests or in the best interests of the platforms it owns and curates , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It ’ s another reminder that Apple ’ s walled garden may be pristinely manicured and comfortable , but it remains small and restrictive even as new innovations continue to pop up in the space beyond its borders .

Apple has always had a complicated relationship with the game industry, but this month that relationship slid into a bitter and very public legal and regulatory war that could shape the future of iPhone apps. The first escalation occurred when Apple laid out in clear terms why it has no plans to ever approve cloud gaming services from its tech rivals Google and Microsoft. The second was when Apple kicked the massively popular battle royale hit Fortnite off the App Store after its creator, Epic Games, provoked the company with a rule-violating update.
Epic countered Apple’s removal with an antitrust lawsuit, prepared well in advance and complete with a detailed 62-page legal complaint. It may be a strong enough case to impose long-lasting changes on Apple’s business. But Epic’s dramatic public performance — an unprecedented bit of corporate trolling the likes of which we’ve never seen — sets up the feud with Apple as a fight bordering on good versus evil, with Apple the corporate bad guy aggressively taxing and restricting developers. Epic’s complaint argues that behavior also breaks the law.
Epic’s savvy stunt sets up its feud with Apple as a fight bordering good versus evil
The company is also suing Google on similar grounds, after Google removed Fortnite from its Play Store. But as Epic made clear in an unprecedented video mocking Apple’s iconic “1984” Macintosh ad — one that also aired directly to players within the virtual world of Fortnite itself — the primary target here is Apple and its longstanding and often controversial stewardship of the iOS app ecosystem.
The ad features a signature Fortnite character racing into a dimly lit auditorium of corporate zombies, slack jawed and eyes glazed as an anthropomorphic Apple celebrates exploitation of the working class. The character swings her pickaxe toward the screen, shattering it and displaying a message modeled after the original Apple ad’s memorable onscreen text: “Epic Games has defied the App Store monopoly. In retaliation, Apple is blocking Fornite from a billion devices. Join the fight to stop 2020 from becoming ‘1984.’”
It’s a stunning piece of animation because it uses Apple’s original underdog persona in the personal computing industry of the 1980s and Orwellian themes of state control to cast Apple as the ultimate villain, its growth and greed having turned it into the very suit-clad enemy it railed against nearly four decades ago.
Individually, either of Apple’s moves — yanking Fortnite or banning cloud gaming services — might make gamers skeptical about Apple’s control over the App Store and the company’s commitment to bring the best games to mobile and keep them there. But together, Apple is at risk of losing a generation of young, game-loving smartphone owners that might prefer platforms and services the iPhone maker has shown it has little control over.
Apple, which has presided as gatekeeper over one of the most lucrative gaming booms of the last decade, has now removed one of the most popular mobile games ever made from its store, one played by kids and teens around the globe. Many of those players are growing up with no need for a gaming console or PC, as Fortnite itself proves. At the same time, Apple is explicitly and purposefully excluding cloud gaming platforms that could bring the kinds of games that require a dedicated console or PC to those same gamers’ phones — by using the iPhone or iPad’s screen and network connection as mere conduits for a cloud gaming server instead.
Google’s Stadia cloud gaming service, launched in November 2019, works on mobile, but only for Android devices as Apple won’t approve an iOS version of Google’s app. Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
APPLE, FORTNITE, AND THE HIDDEN THREAT OF CLOUD GAMING
Apple’s ban on cloud gaming was not entirely unexpected, but it fell on skeptical ears. When the company explained why Google Stadia and Microsoft xCloud can’t ever exist on iOS, condemnation of the move was swift even among Apple-focused sites. Macworld called the move a “patently absurd” excuse, AppleInsider said it was “consumer hostile,” even trusted Apple blogger John Gruber of Daring Fireball called it “nonsensical” in his writeup.
That Apple explanation: cloud gaming services don’t belong because they offer access to a library of games Apple can’t review individually. For games to exist on the iPhone and iPad, they must be submitted individually for inspection, subject to user reviews, and findable in search results, Apple suggests. Games, in Apple’s eyes, aren’t to be treated the same as music, movies, and TV shows, but rather as software that warrants careful inspection lest they be updated later in ways that violate its strict content guidelines, the company tells The Verge.
Games in Apple’s eyes aren’t to be treated the same as music, movies, and TV shows, but rather as software
Unsaid here, of course, is that all apps peddling digital goods of any kind must pay Apple’s 30 percent fee. Cloud gaming apps, which offer access to many games that contain their own virtual marketplaces of digital goods, complicate that enshrined business arrangement. How might Apple collect its take if a player is spending money inside Epic’s Fortnite, once it’s streamed over Microsoft’s xCloud instead of locally on their phones?
Epic CEO Tim Sweeney, who harbors a deep hatred for rent-seeking middlemen and marketplace restrictions, has been a vocal critic of the App Store in the past, and he had harsh words for Apple’s cloud gaming restrictions. Last Thursday, he tweeted, “Apple has outlawed the metaverse. The principle they state, taken literally, would rule out all cross-platform ecosystems and games with user created modes: not just XCloud, Stadia, and GeForce NOW, but also Fortnite, Minecraft, and Roblox.”
Over half of US kids play Roblox, a game that lets you build other games — ones that, presumably, Apple isn’t spending the time to individually approve. Image: Roblox
One week later, Epic made its move. It updated the Fortnite app with its own in-app payment system, bypassing Apple’s 30 percent cut. It didn’t stop there: it also lowered prices for all in-app purchases when using that payment system by 20 percent, claiming that it was passing on the savings to consumers. (Never mind that if Epic’s saving 30 percent and passing along 20 percent, it takes home an extra 10 percent itself.) Because Apple removed the app, Epic can now claim it has evidence of consumer harm, and it’s using that supposed harm to rile up angry consumers and pit them against Apple with its #FreeFortnite campaign as well.
But really, Epic knew that Fortnite would be banned all along. As a defense, it had a prepared lawsuit and a full-blown social media campaign ready to allege that Apple is committing antitrust violations with regard to its operation of the App Store and the rules and payment mechanisms that underpin it. While the lawsuit Epic filed against Google makes similar claims, Android users can still download, update, and play Fortnite with no issue by using Epic’s own third-party launcher, downloadable from a web browser. The same is not true of the iPhone.
This is where Sweeney’s earlier complaint about Apple’s cloud gaming ban helps illuminate his reasoning. Epic’s lawsuit doesn’t seek monetary relief. Rather it wants the App Store broken up and, short of that, the ability to use its own payment systems or a more generous split on in-app purchases. From Sweeney’s perspective, Apple is a threat to any and all game makers trying to build immersive entertainment and commerce platforms that, like Fortnite and other massively multiplayer games, may one day replace the web. In that context, Epic’s “1984” parody takes on a more self-serious tone, and Epic’s fight starts to resemble the virtuous campaign Sweeney casts it as.
In a four-part tweet thread published Friday evening, Sweeney said the fight with Apple was not about money, but about “the basic freedoms of all consumers and developers.” He further cast Apple as a company restricting the liberties of smartphone owners by restricting which apps they can install and how developers distribute that software.
With Fortnite, Epic is waging war against Apple’s well-established, crystal-clear rules by defying Apple’s 30-percent cut in dramatic, public, and legal fashion. (Few have had the gall to do that before.) But with cloud gaming, Apple’s App Store rules are a little less clear-cut — and frankly, the rules don’t even include Apple’s core argument.
Gruber did the work of decoding what Apple was actually saying in its cryptic cloud gaming statement, the one about Apple’s desire to individually review each and every game, in his Daring Fireball post last week. He thinks it is less about individual games needing to be their own apps and more about the very nature of cloud gaming platforms as being, in his words, “simply verboten.” Why? We don’t know for sure, but Gruber postulates it’s because Apple favors native apps over ones run remotely in the cloud.
Apple won’t say exactly why it won’t allow cloud gaming platforms on the App Store
”It is a nonsensical justification, no doubt about that. But the comparison to Netflix or Spotify is beside the point. Of course Apple doesn’t and can’t review every movie on Netflix or every song on Spotify. But if you think about it, they could review every game on Xbox Game Pass. Even if it’s 100 games, they could look at them all,” Gruber wrote. “The point is that streaming video and music services are allowed in the App Store; streaming software (games or otherwise) is not, unless it works over the web. Apple just doesn’t want to say that.”
Microsoft issued the sharpest rebuke of Apple’s position in a statement late last week, when it said the company’s ban on cloud gaming was further evidence it treats game makers and gaming apps unfairly. “Apple stands alone as the only general purpose platform to deny consumers from cloud gaming and game subscription services like Xbox Game Pass. And it consistently treats gaming apps differently, applying more lenient rules to non-gaming apps even when they include interactive content,” a Microsoft spokesperson said, referencing the kind of experimental interactive videos Netflix has invested in that could be classified as video games.
It’s true that examples of Apple’s preferential treatment of non-gaming services exist, especially around that increasingly controversial 30 percent cut, often called the “Apple tax.” For instance, subscription services like Netflix and Spotify can pay just 15 percent instead of 30 percent after a customer has been signed up for longer than a year. More recently, Apple started letting Amazon sell movie and TV rentals without paying the cut at all, as part of a new program that only a small handful of streaming video platforms have been able to join (the other two are lesser-known services Atlice One and Canal+). Yet like music streaming services, gaming apps don’t appear to qualify.
While Apple’s approach toward gaming apps may have made sense in a world where all games must be downloaded and run locally on hardware, cloud gaming is beginning to upend that arrangement in a way that could massively alter the video game industry, similar to how streaming changed Hollywood filmmaking and television forever.
Apple has exempted apps from Amazon and others from paying the 30 percent cut
Suddenly, Apple’s reasoning behind requiring every game on iOS be submitted individually, instead of as part of a larger portal or subscription service, starts to wear thin. Why, for instance, does Netflix not have to get approval for every new show it puts live on its streaming video app, even those that have interactive elements like Black Mirror: Bandersnatch? What of YouTube, with its endlessly growing mountain of user-generated content?
Apple did not respond to repeated requests for comment on whether there is a specific App Store guideline that says games must be submitted individually, or an exemption for interactive content found in streaming video apps like Netflix or YouTube. We couldn’t find one; we reviewed the guidelines, and although section 4.2.7 specifically addresses “remote desktop clients” in a way that seems to ban “thin clients for cloud-based apps,” there does not appear to be any rule saying all games on iOS must be submitted as individual apps.
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
CRACKS IN THE WALLED GARDEN
Cloud gaming offers a different vision of game development and distribution than the one Apple offers, or for that matter Sony and Nintendo. Games of the future may not need players to own powerful hardware or even to pay full price for the title itself. Instead, a cloud server far away and a monthly subscription service could, in theory, deliver a Netflix-style buffet of all-you-can-play offerings. All of it would be available on your TV, phone, tablet, or whatever other screen you have handy that can link up with a relatively speedy internet connection.
There are conceivable reasons why cloud gaming poses a threat to Apple. Apple might not want to hammer out new App Store arrangements for subscription gaming services, or review processes for evaluating every new title on a platform like Microsoft’s xCloud. It might simply not want to cede control of the user experience when an iPhone becomes a tiny wireless TV screen for games running on remote Windows or Linux PCs.
Why build an iOS game when you can distribute through a cloud gaming service without paying the App Store cut?
There’s also the argument that a cloud app is the ultimate version of a piece of software, living anywhere and accessible on any device. Why in that scenario would a game developer make a dedicated iOS title, with touch controls and in-app purchases and all the other bells and whistles required of an iPhone game, when they could more easily publish the game on xCloud or cut a deal with Google and distribute it through Stadia? Doing so in a world where Apple greenlights cloud gaming apps makes such software immediately streamable to mobile devices, without the developer submitting it for Apple review or paying the dreaded “Apple tax.”
But regardless of the reason, the company’s defiance — despite eager requests from its competitors and the demands of consumers (there’s a Change.org petition pleading with Apple to change its mind) — is setting the stage for a world where iPhone users lack access to what may very well be the future of how video games are played. Meanwhile, Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, and other platform providers and their partners are coalescing around Android as the forward-thinking platform for the future of mobile and cloud gaming. Starting September 15th, Android owners will be able to use Microsoft’s xCloud, Google Stadia, Nvidia’s GeForce Now, and lesser known services like Parsec and Vortex. On the iPhone, you won’t be able to access any of those platforms.
In many ways, this is yet another chapter in the ongoing Apple antitrust saga. Critics, regulators, and developers are more concerned than ever that Apple is exerting undue influence over the app makers on its platform, even as it builds its own products and services that compete with those of its developers. Apple has the added benefit of granting its own products access to iOS hardware and software privileges many third-party devs do not. We’ve seen this play out countless times before — to be “sherlocked” in the software industry means to have Apple copy a key product or feature and integrate it into its own operating systems or apps, thereby killing the competition in the process.
But the conversation around Apple’s power and whether it constitutes monopolistic behavior has grown louder in recent years. The company now faces two antitrust investigations in the European Union, launched in part because companies like Spotify complained that Apple was competing on an uneven playing field by using its App Store rules and iOS privileges to stifle its rivals.
The conversation around Apple’s power and whether it constitutes monopolistic behavior has grown louder in recent years
Earlier this summer, Apple also found itself in a huge showdown with Basecamp, the company behind a new email service Hey that Apple barred from updating its iOS app over disagreements about how the app was designed and whether it should have to fork over the App Store cut. Similar to a cloud gaming platform, Hey was a new kind of consumer service that ran up against Apple’s inconsistent stewardship of the App Store, simply because Apple didn’t already have a clear rule regulating that type of app. So when Hey tried to bypass the App Store cut, as many similar enterprise apps have done in the past, Apple blocked Basecamp from updating it, prompting the company’s co-founders to launch vocal social media and press campaign to win public favor. Apple only relented when Basecamp added an in-app sign-up option.
Following the Hey dustup, Apple introduced a way for developers to appeal App Store guidelines they felt were being unjustly enforced, as Basecamp did. But Facebook soon claimed the appeals process is just the latest way Apple is unfairly treating gaming: the company says it tried to appeal after it submitted its dedicated Facebook Gaming mobile app to the App Store but was denied, because the app contained access to a platform that lets you play small Flash-style mini games via a built-in web browser.
It wasn’t a cloud gaming issue per se, but the rules and the context around the denial are similar: Apple doesn’t like developers offering access to apps or app stores nested within other pieces of iOS software, except under very specific circumstances. Facebook removed the ability to play games, and it says Apple then approved the app. But when Facebook submitted its appeal, it says it heard nothing back.
“Even on the main Facebook app and Messenger, we’ve been forced to bury Instant Games for years on iOS,” Facebook Gaming chief Vivek Sharma said in a statement to The Verge. “This is shared pain across the games industry, which ultimately hurts players and devs and severely hamstrings innovation on mobile for other types of formats, like cloud gaming.”
Last week, the EU said it was “aware” of the cloud gaming ban, Reuters reports, although antitrust investigators declined to comment on whether the decision would factor into its ongoing probes.
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
APPLE AND GAMING: A LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP
On one end, this is shaping up to be a potential antitrust issue, especially if Apple ever builds its own cloud gaming app. On the other, it’s only the latest altercation in Apple’s long and controversial relationship with the gaming industry. The App Store as it exists today, and by extension the entire iOS platform, owes much of its success to the growth and sustained popularity of gaming apps. While Microsoft and Sony have long competed to see how many tens of millions of living rooms they can plant their consoles in, Apple has one of the world’s biggest de facto gaming platforms: more than 1 billion game consoles. each one small enough to fit in a pocket.
The earliest iPhone success stories were hits like Angry Birds that transformed into massive multimedia franchises. Later, the biggest game companies on the planet, like Activision Blizzard and China’s Tencent, would invest heavily in smaller studios to help create multi-billion dollar businesses like King’s Candy Crush Saga and TiMi Studios’ Honor of Kings and Arena of Valor. Surprise hits like the augmented reality trailblazer Pokémon Go would further establish the appetite for new mobile-first gaming experiences, with the iPhone in the lead as the go-to platform for monetizing this software, despite the fees Apple extracts.
The App Store owes much of its success to the growth and sustained popularity of gaming apps
But only in recent years has Apple formally acknowledged the category by breaking it out as one of its major app categories in its mobile marketplace and launching its own paid subscription service, Arcade, full of games that Apple paid developers to create exclusively for its own platform. For a majority of the last decade, Apple treated gaming as a sideshow, choosing to cede the PC market to Microsoft by refusing to equip its laptops and desktops with the GPUs necessary to play more powerful computer games and largely resting on its laurels on mobile as Android struggled with piracy and copyright infringement.
All the while, the game industry, and mobile app developers in particular, treated Apple as a benevolent dictator on iOS, not to be fought with and often in a position of absolute authority. While Fortnite maker Epic attempted to bypass Google’s Play Store by distributing the mobile version of the battle royale hit on its own (an effort it eventually declared a failure), Epic didn’t dare try a similar method for the iOS version until this month’s in-app payment coup. (The reason is simple: there is no way for a developer to get any app on the iPhone without going through Apple and paying its App Store fee, unless they exploit loopholes or target only jailbroken devices.)
Eventually, however, gaming became too big for the tech industry to ignore, and Apple wanted a bigger slice. The company launched its Arcade subscription in September of last year, and the service has grown to include more than 100 titles all available for download for one monthly fee of $4.99. It was a bold play to further legitimize iOS gaming as a space with room for polished, high-quality experiences you’d more likely find from well-established indie developers and mobile app veterans.
Subscriptions and gaming haven’t mixed well in the past, due to complex factors ranging from the investment required to create a game to the various financial risks inherent in selling them across a vast network of digital markets. But here was Apple, offering money up front to cover development costs and then some. And it’s largely been considered a success, even if the financial arrangements and Apple’s strict exclusivity requirements pose risks to indie developers who can’t easily pivot their games to other platforms.
Microsoft’s xCloud will lets you play games like Halo on a phone via the cloud — but not if it’s an iPhone. Photo by Nick Statt / The Verge
But Apple wasn’t alone, and subscription services that involve both buffet-style slates and ala carte marketplaces have begun popping up with cloud gaming technology tied at the hip. Now, coming on September 15th, is Microsoft’s xCloud, which marries two forward-thinking business models for game distribution into one elegant-seeming service. Microsoft is already an industry leader in subscription services with Xbox Game Pass, which it first launched back in 2017 and has grown it to include more than 100 games, including past and future first-party Microsoft games like the upcoming Halo Infinite. Each title can be downloaded and kept for as long as you pay the monthly fee. Every game Microsoft announced for its next Xbox game console last month will come to Game Pass as well.
xCloud could make cloud gaming much more palatable, but iPhone users are getting left out
Next month, the Ultimate version of the subscription, which includes access to PC and Xbox games for $15 a month, will get xCloud as an added benefit, giving subscribers the ability to stream any of the Game Pass titles to their Android phone for no added cost. The move could make xCloud a formidable competitor to Google’s Stadia and Nvidia’s GeForce Now, as anyone with a PC or Xbox and an Android phone will be able to enjoy a much more robust library of games across a variety of screens.
Cloud gaming may take many years to fully mature into a technology that can rival running native software downloaded to a device. But where cloud gaming can truly shine is in the way xCloud is designed: as an added mobile benefit to an already-great multi-platform subscription service. This could kickstart cloud gaming in ways Stadia, GeForce Now, and lesser-known services like Shadow have failed to.


theverge--2020-08-15--FDA authorizes COVID-19 saliva test trialed in the NBA bubble

The Food and Drug Administration authorized a saliva-based COVID-19 test that the National Basketball Association helped study .
The testing method , called SalivaDirect , is cheap and could be run by most labs .
Labs could charge as little as $ 10 per sample to run the test , said Nathan Grubaugh , an assistant professor at the Yale School of Public Health and one head of the team developing the test , in a press release .
This is the fifth saliva-based testing method authorized by the FDA .
People can collect a saliva sample themselves by spitting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a healthcare provider insert a swab deep into their nasal cavity .
Many labs have struggled to get enough swabs for COVID-19 tests , and using saliva sidesteps that bottleneck .
The SalivaDirect test also does not use an extra step to pull the coronavirus genetic material out of the saliva sample , so labs don ’ t need specialized extraction kits — which have also been in short supply .
That makes the test slightly less sensitive than other tests , but faster and cheaper .
“ The SalivaDirect test for rapid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ innovation game changer that will reduce the demand for scarce testing resources , ” said Brett Giroir , COVID-19 Testing Coordinator , in a press release .
The SalivaDirect research was funded in part by the NBA , which also helped the Yale team validate the testing method .
The league is playing out the 2020 season inside a “ bubble ” at Disney World , and the NBA players there are tested for COVID-19 nearly every day .
Players had the option of giving a saliva sample for SalivaDirect along with their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the two types of tests to make sure the saliva was just as accurate .
The NBA offered a ready-made group of people to study the method in .
“ What just made this really possible was that they already had staff out there collecting samples , ” Anne Wyllie , the other project head , told The Verge in July .
The Yale team plans to make the testing method available to any lab that wants to use it .

The Food and Drug Administration authorized a saliva-based COVID-19 test that the National Basketball Association helped study. The testing method, called SalivaDirect, is cheap and could be run by most labs.
Labs could charge as little as $10 per sample to run the test, said Nathan Grubaugh, an assistant professor at the Yale School of Public Health and one head of the team developing the test, in a press release.
This is the fifth saliva-based testing method authorized by the FDA. People can collect a saliva sample themselves by spitting into a tube, rather than have a healthcare provider insert a swab deep into their nasal cavity. Many labs have struggled to get enough swabs for COVID-19 tests, and using saliva sidesteps that bottleneck. The SalivaDirect test also does not use an extra step to pull the coronavirus genetic material out of the saliva sample, so labs don’t need specialized extraction kits — which have also been in short supply. That makes the test slightly less sensitive than other tests, but faster and cheaper.
“The SalivaDirect test for rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2 is yet another testing innovation game changer that will reduce the demand for scarce testing resources,” said Brett Giroir, COVID-19 Testing Coordinator, in a press release.
The SalivaDirect research was funded in part by the NBA, which also helped the Yale team validate the testing method. The league is playing out the 2020 season inside a “bubble” at Disney World, and the NBA players there are tested for COVID-19 nearly every day. Players had the option of giving a saliva sample for SalivaDirect along with their swab test. The researchers then compared the two types of tests to make sure the saliva was just as accurate.
The NBA offered a ready-made group of people to study the method in. “What just made this really possible was that they already had staff out there collecting samples,” Anne Wyllie, the other project head, told The Verge in July.