receive to the new domicile for Apple Breakfast ! If you ’re a reader ofMacworld ’s UK site , you ’ll recognize this column that will now look on Macworld.com every Saturday . If you ’re new , this is our weekly collection of all the Apple news you leave out this hebdomad , in a handy bite - sized roundup . We call it Apple Breakfast because we recollect it goes capital with a weekend cup of burnt umber or Camellia sinensis , but it ’s coolheaded if you want to give it a read during tiffin or dinner hours too .
The mess and the money of Apple’s App Store
If you ’ve used Twitter at all this yr , chances are you ’ve control mass post piffling grid of grey , yellowed and immature square to celebrate victories in the on-line game Wordle . The viral sharing chemical mechanism may be annoying , but the game is actually quite fun . Give it a goif you have n’t already .
We all react differently to a heartening achiever account like this , and several app developers who really ought to know better choose to fete by shamelessly ripping the game off , slapping on a monolithic subscription fee and boasting about their cleverness . At first , their clones of Wordle ( the game ’s creator has n’t made an iOS version of the biz , and does n’t plan to – but here ’s a way toget the online version on your iPhone ) made it through Apple ’s vetting process and tricked some unwary customers , but Apple soon got jazz andchucked them out .
All ’s well that ends well , perhaps . Or perhaps not – because contrary to Apple ’s claims to thorough curatorship this was not the first and without a doubt will not be the last incident of cloning , rip off and passing off to afflict the App Store . Indeed the incident move Jason Cross to debate thatthe App Store is a total mess : “ absolutely prevailing with scam apps , knockoff , delusory and exploitatory subscription fees , and faux review that prop up it all up ” .
The problem , as Jason explains , is one of the incentives . Apple sure has the resources to dedicate a team to rooting out app cloning , but by from the fiddling monetary value of such a project , the company would be kissing adios to a far larger sum from lost tax income : unfortunately , clone can make a deal of money , which means platform owners are incentivized to twist a blind eye if they can do so without too much contrary publicity . We ’re not saying Apple knowingly allows such behavior – merely that the amount of endeavour the company devotes to forbid it will be inversely proportional to its bottom course , at least in the short terminus .
Jason ’s editorial is well deserving reading , and you do n’t just call for to take my word for it : no less than Tim Sweeney , the CEO of Epic Games , quote - tweeted itand praise ( a very somewhat paraphrased version of ) its arguments . Which of track is no concurrence , since Epic has been one of the meretricious critics of the App Store ’s rule and practices over the past couple of years , during which the business firm ’s wildly successful biz Fortnite has been banned for the utilisation of alternative defrayal system . Although , with excellent timing , Nvidia this week declare that iPhone owners willsoon be able to play Fortniteusing the GeForce Now cloud inspection and repair , which I suppose is one in the eye for Apple .
There ’s been quite a lot of of that of late for Apple , at least as far as the App Store goes . to begin with this hebdomad we hear that the caller hasbacked down in South Koreaand agreed to reserve alternative payment systems ; only metre will tell if that ’s a one - off , or a case law for more timid authorities around the man . There ’s so much resentment and regretful promotional material surrounding the App Store that you ’d imagine Tim Cook would be well-chosen to shut the whole affair down – if it did n’t make such an obscene amount of money .
Video of the week
For more on the problem currently hem in the App Store , control out the video plant below . As Apple continues to face pressure to allow outside payment method , where does the company go from here , and what changes might it be force to make ? Macworld executive editor program Michael Simon and Computerworld executive editor Ken Mingis join Juliet Beauchamp to discuss .
News in brief
Forget everything you know about the Mac Pro . A new Apple silicon Mac Pro will take the fast Mac in anentirely new focusing , reckons Jason Snell .
Malus pumila ispaying out $ 30 M to retail employeesover bag hunt . Current and former employees who work at an Apple retail store in California between July 25 , 2009 , and August 10 , 2015 , are eligible to receive compensation .
Google has dedicate up on trounce iMessage , and nowwants Apple to join Android .
How doom is Apple?This doomed , says the Macalope .
Here ’s why Intel , AMD , and Nvidia willnever beat an Apple silicon Mac .
you may finallyblow your vacation cashon Apple ’s $ 19 Polishing Cloth .
The Humble Bundle game service isending Mac backing .
In this workweek ’s brave and controversial Different Think column , Samuel Nyberg explain how Apple canfix its remote control problem .
An AirTag was used tostalk a Sports Illustrated fashion model , we find out this hebdomad . We do n’t doubt for a moment that this must have been an disconcerting experience , but it might be worth pointing out that the AirTag ’s anti - stalking technology did its problem as contrive .
Software, bugs & other issues
IDG
More details have emerged about the macOS 12.1 update Apple released in December . We now know that , among other thing , the update posit aserious security flawthat could allow assailant to gain admittance to Mac users ’ data – a flaw that was distinguish by Microsoft , of all company . In other language , update macOS now if you ’re still using an old translation .
talk of reason to update : iOS 15.2.1closes a critical gap in HomeKitthat we’vewritten about before , so catch that too .
Apple hashalted iOS 14 security updatesas iOS 15 adoption lags .
in the end , here’show to give up a sender from seeing you ’ve opened an e-mail . You roll in the hay , if that ’s something you ’ve always wanted to do .
The rumor mill
Let ’s go the rumor roundup by raining on multiple parade , shall we ?
Apple is testingseveral folding iPhone prototypes , according to a large Twitter leaker . That ’s exciting , you might be think . And it is . But foldable from Apple remain a long manner from launch , because the company think there are currently too many compromises . In fact , Apple may never proceed to an actual launch at all , and is sitting back to see “ whether foldable smartphones will continue to have a lieu in the marketplace or will fall into obsolescence ” .
Meanwhile , an analyst with a 100 % accuracy rating ( yes , really ! ) has said Apple wo n’t offer under - screen Face ID on its iPhonesuntil 2023 at the earliest . But that ’s okay , because everyone loves the notch so much .
On the more optimistic side of things , we ’ve obtain a pretty effective idea of what theiPhone 14 Pro ’s new selfie cam cutoutwill count like . And we ’re starting to be persuaded that a new iPhone SE willlaunch at the spring eventin a few months .
Talking of which , we ’ve been weirdly well coordinate so far this year , with preparations in place for two of Apple ’s big 2022 issue : you’re able to read our prevision for thespring eventand forWWDC 2022elsewhere . At this rate we ’ll be working on our 2023 articles by February .
Love iPads ? Wish they came with even bigger screenland ? You’lllove this rumour .
Monitoring dead body temperature will be a heavy feature for the Apple Watch someday , butdon’t count on it this year .
And with that , we ’re done for this week .
If you ’d like to get even roundups , signalise up for our newssheet . you could alsofollow us on Twitterfor breaking news storey . See you next Saturday , enjoy your weekend , and stay on Appley !
