Matthias Gansrigler:
But once the Mac App Store hit, I transitioned all my apps to it pretty much right away. It’s just so convenient: no license creation, no license verification (apart from receipt validation, but that has become more convenient recently), easy updating, no handling of payments, invoices, refunds, and the potential of getting featured to lots and lots of users.
[…]
Besides all that, it was high time I set up a way to also sell my apps outside of the Mac App Store.
Without a licensing system for my apps, I’ve been unable to participate in software-bundles and/or collections. Lots of companies and corporations cannot purchase apps from the Mac App Store due to policies. Individuals who want to purchase my apps for work are unable to do so because of those same policies. I also am unable to give individual discounts to customers when need be.
And while I am a strong proponent of the Mac App Store, I also believe in giving people a choice.
[…]
A “Merchant of Record” is a company that handles payments, invoicing, refunds, taxes, etc for indie software developers and other businesses.
There are actually quite a few to choose from: FastSpring, PayPal, Paddle, Stripe, and Gumroad, just to name a few.
He went with Paddle.
Previously:
Business Mac Mac App Store macOS 15 Sequoia Paddle Payments ScreenFloat
Brent Simmons (release notes):
The theme of this release is using less bandwidth (and, as a consequence, less battery). It fixes a conditional GET issue and it now pays attention to Cache-Control response headers and 429 response codes.
It also fixes an AppleScript bug I reported.
Previously:
AppleScript Mac Mac App macOS 15 Sequoia NetNewsWire RSS
FTC (tweet):
The Federal Trade Commission will prohibit data broker Mobilewalla, Inc. from selling sensitive location data, including data that reveals the identity of an individual’s private home, to settle allegations the data broker sold such information without taking reasonable steps to verify consumers’ consent.
Under the FTC’s proposed settlement order, Mobilewalla will also be banned from collecting consumer data from online advertising auctions for purposes other than participating in those auctions, marking the first time the agency has alleged such a practice was an unfair act or practice.
CFPB:
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today proposed a rule to rein in data brokers that sell Americans’ sensitive personal and financial information. The proposed rule would limit the sale of personal identifiers like Social Security Numbers and phone numbers collected by certain companies and make sure that people’s financial data such as income is only shared for legitimate purposes, like facilitating a mortgage approval, and not sold to scammers targeting those in financial distress. The proposal would make clear that when data brokers sell certain sensitive consumer information they are “consumer reporting agencies” under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), requiring them to comply with accuracy requirements, provide consumers access to their information, and maintain safeguards against misuse.
Karl Bode:
This time the FTC is taking aim at Gravy Analytics and its subsidiary Venntel, which the FTC announcement and complaint says violated the FTC Act by illegally selling sensitive consumer location data without obtaining verifiable user consent for commercial and government uses.
Nick Heer:
As usual, I am conflicted about these policies. While they are yet another example of Lina Khan’s FTC and other government bureaucrats cracking down on individually threatening data brokers, it would be far better for everyone if this were not handled on a case-by-case basis. These brokers have already caused a wealth of damage around the world, and only they are being required to stop. Other players in the rest of the data broker industry will either self-govern or hope they do not fall into the FTC’s crosshairs, and if you believe the former is more likely, you have far greater faith in already-shady businesses than I do.
Previously:
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Privacy Web
Steven Levy (MacRumors):
We are here to discuss Cook’s big move in this high-stakes environment: the impending release of Apple Intelligence, the company’s first significant offering in the white-hot field of generative AI. Some consider it belated. All year, Apple’s competitors have been gaining buzz, dazzling investors, and dominating the news cycle with their chatbots, while the world’s most valuable company (as I write) was showing off an expensive, bulky augmented-reality headset. Apple has to get AI right.
[…]
[Apple Vision Pro is] an early adopter product, for people who want tomorrow’s technology today. Those people are buying it, and the ecosystem is flourishing. The ultimate test for us is the ecosystem. I don’t know if you’re using it very much, but I’m on there all the time. I see new apps all the time.
[…]
It’s clear to me that if you zoom out way into the future, and you look back and ask what Apple’s biggest contribution was, it will be in the health area. That’s what I really believe.
On the one hand, who could be against health? But I find it a bit disturbing that Cook focuses on an area where Apple is providing top-down, closed solutions, albeit seemingly good ones. It’s kind of the same deal with some of the newer services and Apple Intelligence stuff. Press a button to auto-generate a “personalized” Memories movie. Read the curated news in a siloed app. Ask HomePod to play songs from Apple Music but not your own library.
HyperCard this is not. The Apple I like is focused on making tools to empower users and making open platforms to empower developers (who in turn help empower users). I think of iLife, built-in scripting languages, RSS in Mail, and bundled developer tools that didn’t need a membership and permission to call certain APIs.
Apple invented the personal computer and the modern smartphone. Its platforms and their ecosystem are a multiplier for the work of hundreds of millions of people. If Cook meant health in that scientists are using Apple platforms to help cure diseases, that would be one thing, but he’s talking about stuff like using Apple Watch to tell you that you aren’t sleeping well and using AirPods to diagnose your own hearing loss. These are important but small ball. I guess the implication is that there’s much bigger stuff in the pipeline that will overshadow Apple’s pre-Cook accomplishments. I’ll believe it when I see it.
[Apple Park has] promoted collaboration even more than I thought. That was a key component of the design, but there are so many places here where you just unexpectedly run into people. In the cafeteria, at the coffee bar, outside when you’re going across the pathway.
Previously:
Apple Apple Intelligence Apple Park Apple Vision Pro Artificial Intelligence Augmented Reality Health Tim Cook visionOS visionOS 2
