Archive for July 28, 2020

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

Schiller Interview Before the App Store Hearing

Stephen Nellis (via MacRumors):

But when the App Store launched in 2008 with 500 apps, Apple executives viewed it as an experiment in offering a compellingly low commission rate to attract developers, Philip W. Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing and top executive for the App Store, told Reuters in an interview.

“One of the things we came up with is, we’re going to treat all apps in the App Store the same - one set of rules for everybody, no special deals, no special terms, no special code, everything applies to all developers the same. […]” Schiller said.

Repeating this doesn’t make it so. It was a high rate compared with the alternatives at the time, and there most definitely are different rules, different ways of enforcing the rules, and special deals.

Previously:

Update (2020-07-30): See also: Nick Heer.

MarsEdit 4.4

MarsEdit 4.4 now supports Micro.blog and can search the values of custom fields. However, there seems to be a regression that causes the app to beachball for 30 seconds each time I publish a post.

Update (2020-08-03): The performance regression is fixed in MarsEdit 4.4.2.

Red Sweater:

In January, 2020, Google stopped allowing MarsEdit customers to authenticate with the [Blogger] service, because MarsEdit is not a “verified” app. The guidelines for making MarsEdit comply with Google’s requirements are rigorous, and there is no guarantee that MarsEdit would continue to be supported for the long term. We decided to to end support for the service rather than invest any more effort into what would be, at best, a lackluster user experience with the lack of photo-uploading support.

macOS 10.15.6 Bug Causes Crashes With Virtualization

Hartley Charlton (tweet):

Users of virtualization software have reported that macOS 10.15.6 crashes repeatedly when running virtual machines.

A regression in the App Sandbox component of macOS 10.15.6 is reportedly leaking kernel memory, causing macOS to crash. The purpose of an App Sandbox is to provide protection to system resources and limit an app’s access to resources, such as memory.

VMware engineers have today diagnosed the issue and filed a “comprehensive” report with Apple, including a minimal reproduction case which should allow them to easily identify and address the issue.

It apparently also affects VMware on Big Sur, but not Parallels.

Jeff Johnson:

This is the problem with Apple now. Not the major updates, which were always buggy, but the minor updates. There’s never a “stable” version anymore. Not even 9 months later. “Bug fix” updates are just as likely to introduce new bugs.

Previously:

Update (2020-08-26): Mr. Macintosh:

Apple released the 5th Supplemental Update for macOS Catalina. This time around, the fix is for memory leaks with virtualization software . You can read more about the issue from Howard Oakley and a VMware engineer. The other fix has to do with the brand new 2020 5k 27-inch iMac.

See also: Howard Oakley.

New EU Regulations for App Stores

Seth Barton:

The rules, which you can see here in full if you’re happy to fight through them, or as discussed here by the EGDF’s Jari-Pekka Kaleva on GI.Biz, cover a wide range of ongoing issues that developers have with stores.

Platforms will have to provide 30 days notice to publishers before removing content from stores, allowing them time to appeal or make changes to their software. So no immediate and opaque bans (article 4).

The regulations (in article 5) will force stores to be more transparent in how their ranking systems work, letting publishers understand how ‘trending’ apps are being chosen for instance.

Geoff Keating:

The 30 day period is for the termination of “all services” (deleting the developer’s account). Removal (“restrict or suspend”) from the App Store can be done immediately, so long as reasons are provided.

Steve Troughton-Smith:

Apple needs to disclose any preferential treatment it gives to big developers & publishers

Apple must have an external mediator for disputes that can’t be resolved by App Review

David Barnard:

Ranking transparency will likely give more ammo to black hat ASO than it does conscientious developers.

[…]

If Apple weren’t pushing so hard on revenue and could’ve better policed themselves, I don’t think they would’ve invited this mixed [bag] of regulation from the EU.

Previously:

Steve Wozniak Sues YouTube Over Bitcoin Scams

Monica Chin:

According to the lawsuit, filed in the Superior Court of the State of California, crooks have been posting videos on the platform claiming that Wozniak is hosting a bitcoin promotion. They convince users that if they send bitcoin to a provided address, “Wozniak” will return double the amount.

[…]

The plaintiffs, which include Wozniak and 17 other individuals, allege that YouTube is aware of these scams but has nonetheless not taken the videos down.

Via John Gruber:

They won’t stop these scams, but if you upload a video with a copyrighted song they’ll have it down in about a minute.

Quinn Nelson:

YouTube’s copyright system is so broken and so stupid. It has no respect for Fair Use and permits ludicrous claims from alleged copyright holders without punishment for abuse. It discourages creators from attempting to create transformative and educational art from prior works.

[…]

I get why YouTube has to create a copyright system; however, real DMCA claims require that they be done in good faith under penalty of perjury. YouTube’s system has ZERO punishment for false claims and only serves to benefit YouTube itself and huge media conglomerates.

Christina Warren:

I’ve had people try to claim copyright on Microsoft videos on Microsoft’s YouTube channel as their own — people who are in no way connected to Microsoft. And then I’ve had to FIGHT YouTube to get the claims of people that literally ripped my channels videos dismissed.

Previously: